IGN

• 32X
• 6 / 10
• États-Unis

Star Wars Arcade is one of the better games for the 32X, which isn’t saying too much since the add-on's legacy is an industry joke. Played through the prism of 1994, though, you can see the incredible promise of actually having SEGA's 3D arcade games at home, even if it was a short experience. If you're a dead system collector with a soft spot for the 32X, Star Wars Arcade is one of the three must-haves for the add-on.

• PSP
• 7 / 10
• États-Unis

In the end, Spider-Man: Web of Shadows Allies Edition is a welcome throwback to the Spider-Man games of old. More than a few times I found myself using the D-pad to hop around an enemy and reminiscing about playing Spider-Man on my SEGA Genesis. The action is simple, but the quirky humor, Spidey's trademark verbal jabs, and slick style make the game a lot of fun to play. Still, I can't recommend the game too highly. If this was a $20 game, I'd have no problem telling you to fork over your cash, but problems such as the inability to hit enemies who are lying on the ground or running at you, the game's awkward pauses, and the fact that Spider-Man kind of glides across stuff sours the $40 deal.

• PS2
• 5.5 / 10
• États-Unis

I remember a time when NBA Live was an awesome franchise and each year’s installment was a must-have for sports gamers and fans of NBA ball, but those days are long gone. NBA Live 09 for the PS2 is disappointing in almost every way, unless you absolutely loved NBA Live 08 and couldn’t imagine any way that EA could have improved on that offering. NBA Live’s days on the PS2 appear to be numbered, and its quality of life has diminished to the point that, if you play this game for any length of time, you’ll be begging for them to remove the franchise from life support and let it die a merciful death.

• PS2
• PS3
• WII
• X360
• PC
• 5 / 10
• États-Unis

MotoGP 08 delivers a basic motorcycle racing experience and little else. If you crave customization, tight controls, or dynamic crowds and tracks, stick with a previous MotoGP game. Die-hard fans of the real-life motorcycle racing championships will no doubt be interested in this game just for the personalities, prototype bikes and tracks. They’re all here, but that’s where the fun ends. Overall, this is a functional but unexciting trip to the races.

• PS3
• WII
• X360
• 3 / 10
• États-Unis

Playing Rock Revolution is like getting kicked in the teeth, and not in a rock 'n’ roll way. The cover songs are bad, the gameplay is unintuitive and dull, the options are extremely limited and the drum peripheral is horrid. There are very few redeemable qualities here, and the overall experience feels live a step backward for music games in general. With so many other options on the market, there’s really no reason to play Rock Revolution.

• DS
• 8 / 10
• États-Unis

Once again, DS owners prevail. Console owners have to deal with a sloppy 3D experience, but on the handheld we get ourselves a tight and satisfying experience that has nothing to do with the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, or Wii games of the same name. Even after five Spider-Man games on the platform, the developers of Web of Shadow manage to give us a fresh take on the franchise and pull off a great job making it.

• PC
• 7.2 / 10
• États-Unis

FIFA 09 on PC is a solid soccer offering that lands somewhere in between the PS2 and Xbox 360 offerings in terms of overall quality. It has the feature set to please the legions of footie fans out there as it combines the PS2 and 360’s feature list, but some aspects of the game are held back on PC. Namely the visuals and controls. Here’s hoping that next year’s game will differentiate itself a bit better from other versions while still retaining a similar overall quality.

• DS
• 9 / 10
• États-Unis

This is the part of the review where we'd normally make our final call to arms, or throw some quotes up for readers to highlight for years to come, but I'm not going to do it. I can't say this is a better game than Dawn of Sorrow, because, truthfully, I'm not sure that it is. Order of Ecclesia is a stronger effort than Portrait of Ruin, and for those that can go into it with the understanding that it's a much harder, less focused (at least for the first half of the game), but still amazingly entertaining Castlevania product, it's a must-buy. The animation is better than ever, the music is top notch and some of the best we've heard on DS, the new style works wonderfully, the Glyph system and two-handed, magic-based combat works like a dream, and there's more motivation in Shanoa's story than most Castlevania titles. That said, it still isn't a hugely story-focused game, the title gets off to an odd foot with small areas that can be completed 100% in their first pass, there's a distinct lack of in-level props or "ideas" that keep the product going until the second half, and very little exploration that would hook new gamers to the Castlevania series if they aren't already veterans. Once you push through to the second half -- or just trust this review when it says it's all worth it in the end -- there are many unforgettable moments and impressive boss battles to be had, but this is a Castlevania that breaks the convention, and maybe goes a bit too far down that road from time to time. Is it an amazing game? Absolutely. Stronger than Portrait of Ruin, Circle of the Moon, and Harmony of Dissonance? Is this reviewer's opinion, yes. The best on DS, or top in the series? I just don't think so.

• WII
• 5 / 10
• États-Unis

Boogie is a decent dancing game, paired with an awful karaoke game. The motion control is hit or miss, but the movements are energetic. The quality of the song selection is decent, but the sound quality is bad. The covers are terrible, and the singing portion of the game is rigid and bizarrely censored. It's the wrong design for a party game, making everything fiercely competitive. Boogie is a game that can be fun for a couple minutes, but the time and dedication it takes to unlock everything and the clashing gameplay keeps it from every being the superstar it wants to be.

• PS3
• X360
• PC
• 8.9 / 10
• États-Unis

Ubisoft Montreal has done some great things with Far Cry 2; the product of putting a gigantic development staff and what must have been a gargantuan budget behind developing a new kind of first-person shooter on a new engine. The formula still needs work in terms of enemy AI, quest structure, and giving the player more to do to fill in all that open space, but as it is, it's still a standout achievement. More importantly, it has nowhere near as many bugs as something like S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, a title that bears many similarities. Add to the roughly 25 hour single-player campaign a remarkably easy-to- use map creation tool and a full multiplayer suite, and you've got one of the most complete overall gaming packages of the year, as well as one of the most ambitious.

• PC
• WII
• IOS
• ANDROID
• SWITCH
• 9 / 10
• États-Unis

World of Goo is an amazing downloadable PC game that you simply must buy. It's got beautiful music. And it controls really well. So if you value any or all of these qualities, and hopefully you do, you should not hesitate to add it to your My Games List via Steam. I've given it a slightly lower score on PC versus WiiWare because it lacks the cooperative mode found in the Nintendo build and also because it retails for $5 more. But even at $20, you'll be hard-pressed to find a better, more engrossing downloadable game.

• DS
• 5.9 / 10
• États-Unis

I appreciate the attempt to inject more strategy into the Super Collapse formula, and Dropcast definitely has a cool art style. The pieces don't come together, though, and it ends up feeling like a rush job with poor translation and cheap AI. Instead of empowering the player and letting us get the hang of the mechanics, the game starts kicking your ass from the beginning. Even when you do win a match you don't get a sense of satisfaction because it feels like a fluke. Playing against a human opponent is slightly more tolerable, but the wonky spell mechanics still keep Dropcast from satisfying.

• WII
• 8.2 / 10
• États-Unis

What it really comes down to is that Clash of Ninja has been around for nearly four years now on Nintendo consoles, and it's time for a serious, serious update. Once again Clash of Ninja Revolution is a great game, but it's also the same core experience we've been playing for years now, and it's making steps in the right direction, but inches at a time, instead of true leaps. 16:9 is now supported in addition to 480p display, there are new characters, more options, a stronger story mode, and a few new stages, so while this would currently be the definitive version of Clash of the Ninja, the rest of the Wii software is constantly raising the bar, and Naruto is moving only steps at a time. If you don't own any yet, and you're looking for a great fighter on Wii, you won't find much better (outside of Smash Bros) than Clash of Ninja Revolution 2. If you're a repeat buyer though, it's time to start weighing how important those few characters and added stages are; especially when you know a bigger, hopefully better fighter is on the way again next year.

• DS
• 5.8 / 10
• États-Unis

For the most part Legend of Kage 2 has its charms, but it just feels a little too much like an awkward throwback. While it's nice, for better or for worse, to see games embrace a game with a look and feel of a classic SNES game, these types of games still need to focus on tight gameplay. And that's where Taito's revival hurts the most: it doesn't look great or sound great, but ultimately Legend of Kage 2 doesn't play that hot either. It's good for a quick romp but it's certainly nothing special.

• PS3
• X360
• 8.5 / 10
• États-Unis

Midnight Club: Los Angeles is a great racing experience with a few mars on its paint job. The cars handle fantastically, the city is nearly perfect, the GPS stuff is awesome and customizing your ride is great. It is way too hard, however, even right from the start. Rep points help to make sure you progress even if you can't win anything, but it's annoying to keep coming in at the end of the pack and rarely nabbing the top of the podium. Fans of street racing, and especially the Midnight Club series in general, will find a lot to like here, but don't expect an easy time on the streets.

• X360
• 9.2 / 10
• États-Unis

Part of what makes the main Portal experience so successful is that the game draws you in quickly, subtly creates a believable world with every new room and then begins to slowly draw back the curtain. Much like a fine malt liquor, Portal sneaks up on you. By the time you realize what’s going on, it’s too late – you’re in its grasp, and you might as well stay up all night. If you didn’t play The Orange Box, you missed out on that experience, and now’s your chance to do so. If you’ve already played Portal, however, the draw of Still Alive is less clear-cut. If you’re mainly interested in the humor and atmosphere of the original, you might be disappointed with this download. And if the puzzles are more your thing, there’s definitely a lot of extra content here, but at a hefty price that PC gamers didn’t have to pay.

• PC
• 6.9 / 10
• États-Unis

• DS
• 3.5 / 10
• États-Unis