Review Archives (Staff Reviews)

You are currently looking through staff reviews for games that are available on every platform the site currently covers. Below, you will find reviews written by all eligible authors and sorted according to date of submission, with the newest content displaying first. As many as 20 results will display per page. If you would like to try a search with different parameters, specify them below and submit a new search.

Available Reviews
	.hack Part 1: Infection review (PS2) Reviewed on February 17, 2003 Let the buff guy go in and take the damage while you back him up with healing spells to keep him from dying. If he should die, you can always revive him with the appropriate item. Unfortunately, your buddies won't return the favor. Even if you buy them healing items and hand them over, those friends of yours will just stare blankly at your ghost should you happen to perish in battle.
	Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus review (PS2) Reviewed on February 09, 2003 As Sly Cooper, you'll be able to learn quite a bit as one page of the Thievius Raccoonus after another falls into your paws. There are somewhere around 15 moves--some of them merely enhancements of simpler ones--that you can learn. But here's the best part: none of them are required. You can go through the game without learning a single one if you're so inclined.
	Jet X2O review (PS2) Reviewed on February 04, 2003 Don't pass through enough gates or perform enough tricks and your opponents will leave you in their wake for certain. Get too experimental and try tricks you can't manage, and you'll wipe out and loose a huge chunk of that carefully-acquired rocket power. Success in a race means you've learned to walk the fine line between daring and intelligent, with just enough attention to each attribute.
	Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time review (SNES) Reviewed on January 30, 2003 Part of the problem is that the turtles are mostly fighting the same enemies, no matter what twist the story may take. You see the same guys in just about every stage, with only the occasional difference that is likely to be the same guy with a palette swap and a slightly different AI routine. You'll learn to anticipate what moves you should make not by shape, but by color.
	Darkwing Duck review (NES) Reviewed on January 27, 2003 Play control is tight as can be. If you die, it's not because Darkwing Duck failed to jump where you told him to. He can hop with the best of them, grab onto beams above him, and fire several shots at a time. Switching to his special weapon is a snap, too. You'll find yourself comfortable with the controls to their fullest extent within the first five minutes of play.
	Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball review (XBX) Reviewed on January 24, 2003 If you lose your team partner, it's a major loss. You then have to work your tail off to get another team member so you can go back to playing volleyball. This is done through what serves as the other majority of the game, the gift exchanging. See, each girl has likes and dislikes, besides the whole winning and losing thing.
	Gungrave review (PS2) Reviewed on January 19, 2003 The lumbering goon of a main character, Grave, is well-equipped for fighting the mindless goons of this world, but wouldn't last a minute if he were up against the misfits from Streets of Rage, Shinobi, or pretty much any other game where the opposition actually fights back.
	Panzer Dragoon Orta review (XBX) Reviewed on January 18, 2003 Choosing the proper form for the task at hand becomes monumentally important. One part of a stage may seem near impossible with one skill set, but another will blaze through it in no time. Often, particularly in a boss battle, the best choice is not one form, but a combination of the two. For example, you might need to glide around to an enemy's rear side, then switch to the attack style with tougher firepower to bring down the foe's gauge quickly.
	Shinobi review (PS2) Reviewed on January 15, 2003 But then there are those who'll love the challenge, revel in the startlingly addictive gameplay, and see past the mundane-looking environments, amazing themselves with the slick, fashionable elegance the game's artwork possesses.
	BMX XXX review (GCN) Reviewed on January 03, 2003 There is some nudity (even if it's bad) and some humor (even though it gets old fast) and there's enough stuff to do that you'll be busy for a while (even though you won't be having much fun). If that sounds about like an experience you want, pick up the game.
	Dead or Alive 3 review (XBX) Reviewed on January 03, 2003 It's easy to forget you're looking at polygons. When a butterfly flaps past, or a rushing waterfall cascades down a moss-covered cliff, you won't be thinking how many polygons that must've taken. You won't likely be thinking about anything technical at all, in fact, because everything looks so natural. This is true of everything from the leaves to the breasts.
	Metroid Fusion review (GBA) Reviewed on December 08, 2002 You run around, shooting hostiles, collecting powerups such as energy and rocket containers. You fight bosses and gain items which permit you access to new areas, and every now and then you get a nice little story sequence/cutscene. All of this is revamped from the other Metroids, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Except, a new element has been introduced, which changes the gameplay flow notably.
	Rygar: The Legendary Adventure review (PS2) Reviewed on December 07, 2002 Without a doubt, Rygar: The Legendary Adventure is a perfectly acceptable follow-up to its excellent predecessor, and a good title in its own right (particularly if you liked Devil May Cry and the sequel's release in 2003 seems too far away). With generally impressive visuals and a terrific sense of atmosphere, it seldom goes wrong.
	Metroid Prime review (GCN) Reviewed on November 29, 2002 Metroid Prime is not a first-person shooter, however. Nintendo itself has hailed the title as a first-person “adventure,” and for good reason; throughout the game, the player must pay close attention to his or her surroundings, observing and thinking more than shooting.
	Metroid Fusion review (GBA) Reviewed on November 29, 2002 The average player will tackle this game’s adventure in about 12 hours of total gameplay, while the hardcore Metroid player could beat it in half that time. And since Metroid Fusion does not benefit at all from the linkup with Metroid Prime, there are no real bonuses to keep you playing. However, speedy players will be rewarded with different endings, and finding every item in the game proves to be quite a time-consuming task.
	Ninja Assault review (PS2) Reviewed on November 26, 2002 Another thing they did which generally works is set it so that if you're hovering about and an enemy appears in the general vicinity of where you have the cursor positioned, your aim will snap to that foe. You can practically lock on as the enemy skitters about, reloading as necessary. Not always is this the blessing you may think.
	Donkey Kong 3 review (NES) Reviewed on November 25, 2002 What this means is you can't leave a section of the screen unwatched. Do so and you're likely to lose a life. You have to guard the flowers but generally the path to success is avoiding bugs while you pelt the ape with spray until he is backed up against the top of the screen. When he reaches the top, the stage is over and you can advance to the next. The problem is that your spray is rather weak, as a general rule.
	Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance review (GCN) Reviewed on November 23, 2002 The originals were filled with dark undertones, monsters, spirits, gods, pits of spikes, and so forth. That's still true in the newest title. But for the first time ever, you don't get all that mature content at the cost of gameplay.
	Super Mario Sunshine review (GCN) Reviewed on November 16, 2002 This freeform sense of interaction with the environment helps immensely in immersing the player into the game’s sunny, tropical atmosphere, and lets the player become comfortable with Mario’s new moves, most of which involve the water pack.
	Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 review (GCN) Reviewed on October 26, 2002 Level design is meant primarily to provide you with the afore-mentioned objectives, rather than a cool place to skate like fans of the franchise are used to. Save a few cool areas here and there--the rooftops of Alcatraz and the pens at the zoo come to mind--most of this is just open space with a few dull rails to keep you moving.

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