IGN

• X360
• 5.7 / 10
• États-Unis

The stake through the heart of Dance Dance Revolution Universe 2 is its refusal to adapt new gameplay mechanics or inventive modes. We’ve been playing the same DDR for the last ten years and it’s high time that gamers stood up and demanded an overhaul of the formula. It’s ludicrous for people to continue to pay full price when all they’re really getting is an updated song list. Two games; sure, three games; fine, but nearly ten years of the same game has got to be stopped.

• DS
• 7 / 10
• États-Unis

• WII
• 5.5 / 10
• États-Unis

This kinder, gentler edition of Ecco the Dolphin's adventures is certainly more accessible in the early going. It's easier to get into compared to its predecessors, which might have been too challenging and intimidated players in the past. But beyond the initial ease of adjustment to the design, Ecco Jr. proves to offer little more – its lack of any sense of danger or urgency keeps it from being as engaging as the first Ecco game, or The Tides of Time, and it would be very hard to justify spending 800 Wii Points on this title over those two superior games. Ecco Jr. might still hold some appeal for younger players, who would benefit from the very same features that hardcore gamers would find to be at fault, so it could be considerable for you if you're a fan of the franchise and you have a young son, daughter, niece or nephew you'd like to introduce to Ecco's world. But beyond that possibility, stay well away from these shallow waters.

• PC
• 8 / 10
• États-Unis

Universe at War is a great, well-balanced design that's marred by a predictable sci-fi concept and a disappointing campaign. The individual factions have remarkably inventive and flexible strengths that allow for tremendous variety in terms of tactics. That they could all be so different and still remain relatively well balanced is a testament to the time and attention that Petroglyph spent on this game. On the other hand, the giant robot, alien invasion, woken gods angle has been done to death by this point so there are bound to be some RTS vets who give up on the game before they can appreciate the strength of the design. The campaign's lack of freedom only underscores this problem. Fans of the standard RTS approach will find a lot to love here, but it may require too much digging to get down to the good stuff.

• WII
• 2 / 10
• États-Unis

There is actually a hint of cruelty in Nintendo allowing this game -- and many of Conspiracy Entertainment's budget Wii games -- to crowd shelves. They are just disappointment pressed into a disc, hidden inside a colorful box like some sort of gaming booby trap. Billy the Wizard is easily one of the worst games for the Wii and the kind of thing that kills momentum, much like that final crushing wave of crap that sealed the fate of the seemingly unstoppable Atari 2600.

• DS
• 4.5 / 10
• États-Unis

You obviously know what you're getting into when you get a game branded with Alvin and the Chipmunks: popular songs with high-pitched soundtracks. Fine, I've come to terms with that and sucked it up…and I don't want to kill myself after hearing screechy vocals to "It's Tricky," "Video Killed the Radio Star," and "Walking on the Sun." But this Sensory Sweep-developed rhythm game doesn't offer a challenge to anyone but the youngest of the young crowd, and the payoff for withstanding the nearly dozen songs in the game isn't worth the effort. Unless your kid has a fixation for the furry, save his and your sanity and simply pick up the infinitely more enjoyable and satisfying Elite Beat Agents.

• PS2
• 3.5 / 10
• États-Unis

Even if you were completely charmed by Philip Pullman's work or enjoyed the movie adaptation, there's absolutely no reason to give this game a try. Even the music, as pretty as it is, can't redeem such poor gameplay and atrocious presentation. There have been a ton of great game releases recently, so just give one of those a try instead. We assure you that you're not missing anything by sitting this one out.

• WII
• 5 / 10
• États-Unis

So, overall, Double Dribble earns itself a solid rating of "pass it by." It can be fun and nostalgic to sit down and compete with a friend in two-player mode, but it's just such a basic and old design that even any early appeal it might have won't last long. What's most encouraging about Double Dribble coming to the VC, though, isn't anything about this particular game – it's that it's a sports game from Konami. And old-school players know that sports games, from Konami, from the NES, also include Blades of Steel. That's a title that's aged much more gracefully over the years, so let's hope that Double Dribble's Wii Shop debut is a sign that the Steelers will be skating again soon. ...and maybe we'll get a better basketball game somewhere in the next 200 VC releases.

• DS
• 5.5 / 10
• États-Unis

I owned Impossible Mission those many years ago, but my version – the one released on the Atari 7800 – was literally an impossible mission due to a game breaking bug that worked its way into the final product. Even with the knowledge of that bug, I really wasn't all that hot for the Impossible Mission design. I love reliving old-school designs, but in the case of the Nintendo DS version it should have been one of several games instead of a headlining solo outing.

• PSP
• 9 / 10
• États-Unis

• DS
• 7.2 / 10
• États-Unis

Jewel Quest Expeditions is a solid puzzle experience that has a bit of Déjà vu if you've played a handful of other, higher profile Nintendo DS games. There's a bit of unique personality to this title, but not really enough to say so, especially if you're already working through the much more satisfying and complete Puzzle Quest. You can't beat the price, though – fifteen bucks as of this writing is the perfect price tag for a game this simple and casual.

• PS2
• WII
• 8 / 10
• États-Unis

Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 is far from being a failure of a game. When looking at the core gameplay, and ignoring the titles before it, BT3 is a fast, fun, and amazingly deep experience for fans of the award-winning anime. There are more characters here than in any other fighter out there (161 total), with a huge story, impressive library of information and extras for each of the fighters in the game, and as much fan service as there is actual gameplay throughout. After so many iterations of the same design, however, we’ll admit the series is starting to lose steam, and while newcomers to DBZ fighters or loyal fans may swear the contrary, we couldn’t shake the overwhelming “been there, done that” feel. The main story mode is thinner, the modes gained from PS2 disc fusion could have simply been included on both PS2 and Wii without the need for previous purchases, and the online for Wii is currently broken. Yes, the core fighting experience is better, and with nearly 200 fighters there’s a ton to see and do in BT3. With such a mix of positives and negatives overall though, it’s hard to recommend Tenkaichi 3 for purchase when you could just as easily pick up BT2 for a fraction of the price, or skip a year and wait for the inevitable sequel to come along. Should online play be fixed, however, or if you’re looking for the single largest roster of fighters out there in an experience that’s astonishingly true to the anime, Budokai Tenkaichi 3 is still a great choice. A word to the wise though: There’s always another DBZ game on the way.

• WII
• 3.2 / 10
• États-Unis

The wave of Wii shovelware has officially begun, and we don’t see it letting up any time soon. On the plus side, companies like Midway seem to have no misconceptions that titles like these are actually gunning for review scores over Wii Play, Wii Sports, and the like. Game Party sits right along with the dozens upon dozens of titles out there that aim directly for ignorant shoppers; it's box art bait, plain and simple. Do the games work? Despite some odd control issues and annoying bugs, yes, they technically work. Are they fun? Not really, and the lack of polish can be infuriating. There's no Mii integration, no real reason to replay the games (unless you want 175 playable characters instead of 125, and we know you do), and no single person on the planet - friend or enemy - that we'd recommend this one for. If you're looking for a somewhat worthy design akin to Game Party, pick up Carnival Games, or go with something like Wii Play. The former has a ton of customization and a decent style, while the latter includes a free controller along with your kick in the crotch.

• X360
• 7 / 10
• États-Unis

Contrary to what some might be thinking, GripShift isn’t a bad game by any means. It has more gameplay than most XBLA titles and certainly will last you a good while if you want to trudge through all 120 challenge levels as well as the 25 race maps (several of each type are exclusive to the Xbox 360 release) but it’s made extremely clear early on that it really doesn’t have a point or a focus. Some will be able to take it for what it is, but I need some sort of glue to hold my games together, some sort of over-arching point as to why I’m playing them, sadly GripShift doesn’t have any of that. Again, it’s not a bad game by any stretch of the imagination, and some will likely garner hours of enjoyment from it, but it needs more focus to truly excel in the crowded arena of XBLA releases.

• PS3
• X360
• 7.4 / 10
• États-Unis

NCAA March Madness 08 is a solid basketball title and is definitely a step above what we saw from Live 08. The fluidity of the game has been ironed out a bit and even though the basketball itself doesn’t behave as well as we’d like, the March Madness franchise is definitely making strides (albeit short strides) in the right direction. There aren’t enough gameplay additions that push the package forward to warrant dropping the cash if you already have last year’s game, but if you’re a diehard fan or haven’t laid your hands on March Madness in a few seasons, March Madness 08 is the best effort we’ve seen on this round of consoles.

• DS
• PS2
• PSP
• PC
• 4.6 / 10
• États-Unis

Were the pacing of the game a bit slower, the power-ups either removed or toned down, the building portions a bit deeper, and the modes more involving, 7 Wonders of the Ancient World could've been a decent title. Unfortunately, extremely shallow and simplistic play without the tiniest hit of challenge really makes this a weak pretender to Bejeweled's throne. The visual flaws of the title stand out more on a standard TV than the smaller screen of a handheld as well. If you need a puzzle game, there've been a number of recent releases that will tide you over much better than this one.

• X360
• 5.7 / 10
• États-Unis

We can handle repetitious gameplay in our dungeon crawlers -- it’s generally mindless fun. When you add in a total lack of variety in dungeon and mission design and toss a bunch of generic monsters our way, it just becomes mindless. Though there aren’t any other games like Arkadian Warriors on the Xbox Live Arcade, there certainly are a lot better ways to spend your time and money.

• WII
• 7.5 / 10
• États-Unis

Pokemon Snap's arrival on the Virtual Console comes with both positive and negative considerations. On the plus side, the added Wii functionality and ability to share your photos with friends is definitely notable and one of the most interesting and encouraging features we've seen added to a classic game release, well, since the VC first launched last year. But on the negative end, Snap is a game that's certainly showing its age now more than ever before – its franchise has gone on and grown through the past decade, and it's still crippled by only featuring a small subset of the very first generation of Pocket Monsters. What the Snap concept really needs isn't a VC re-release with a bit of added-in photo sharing – it needs a sequel. A full-on follow-up made for Wii that updates the design, adds in more of the newer monsters and natively encourages picture swapping from the start. It's a concept that could find a perfect home on WiiWare if not developed as a full retail release, and could make use of the motion-sensing abilities of the Wii Remote to become your "camera." You've taken a right small step in a positive direction with this release, Nintendo. Now take this bit of momentum and carry it forward to its logical next stop.