IGN

• PS2
• 2.2 / 10
• États-Unis

The Shield is one of the most boring, generic games we've ever played, even with a strong character like Vic Mackey. There's really nothing about the gameplay, visuals, sound, or story that can justify a purchase. Both gamers and fans of the show should avoid this one entirely, or else be doomed to a life of self-hatred for spending money on this bust.

• DS
• 7.5 / 10
• États-Unis

• DS
• 5 / 10
• États-Unis

Perhaps it's Sudoku burn-out. But mostly it's just that a Battle version of Sudoku isn't as fun as the packaging would lead you to believe. It's definitely different compared to the rest of the DS sudoku lot -- it's not aiming to be the straight-forward Sudoku winner, and it would never win that fight. You want the real puzzle deal, grab Brain Age. If you have a bunch of friends ready to waste a bunch of time competing in head-to-head grid challenge, well, then this one's your game.

• PS2
• 8.4 / 10
• États-Unis

Simply put, I loved this game. By no means is it a title for everyone, but if you're in the mood for a clever strategy game that is fun, features beautiful fight scenes and gives you more than 15 crazy characters to command (Who wins in a dragon/chimera fight? The viewer!), Grim is a must play. That said, I can't score this game as high as my heart wants me too. The bookshelf system is great, the levels and cutscenes are colorful and picking and choosing how to take down your enemy is amazing -- but the lack of an in-battle save is a deal breaker. I shouldn't have to pick between the 80-minutes I've put into a battle and my life.

• DS
• 7.8 / 10
• États-Unis

Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championship 2007 is an all-around impressive presentation of Konami's card-battling craze. Most of the things now holding the design back from true greatness are wishlist features – voice chat during battles would be nice, as there's no current way to communicate with your opponent – and other additions could further encourage new players to give the game a try. The lengthy, detailed tutorial mode is a big step in the right direction, but this package cut out any kind of single-player adventure. One step forward, one step back. If you've never given Yu-Gi-Oh a try and are curious, you can safely start here – just supplement your play with some episodes of the show and you'll fill in the blanks. And if you're a hardcore duelist already, definitely invest in this Championship. You'll be entertained for hours, days, weeks and months to come – and you might just become the #1 battler in the world.

• DS
• 4 / 10
• États-Unis

I have a hard time understanding what O3 and Milestone were going for with this game. The main game is empty, the multiplayer is fun but shallow, the graphics are weak and including so few vehicle types and combat options gives the game a very narrow focus. Even Combat on the 2600 offered biplane and jet modes, and that game came out 25 years ago. The end result is a game that is never awful, but severely lacking in every area. Don't buy this game; if you're a combat nut, there are better war games on the DS, most notably the aforementioned Advance Wars: Dual Strike. If your buddy already has a copy of Tank Beat, though, go ahead and try out the multiplayer mode for an hour. That's really all this game comes down to.

• WII
• 6.5 / 10
• États-Unis

Though the game has its merits and can be fun to play with a friend, there just isn't anything noteworthy about Golden Axe II that would set it above its own predecessor. It's like a rerun of the scene from 1991 – new players may have discovered the Golden Axe franchise through downloading the original on the Virtual Console, but will be disappointed to find that this follow-up does nothing new with the design. If that's you, don't bother spending the 800 Wii Points on this one. If you haven't yet downloaded either one, and want to, then this sequel gets the very slight nod on the merits of its minor improvements, like the upgraded magic attack system. But only the most nostalgic of Sega fans should consider owning both, because it's like having the same game downloaded twice.

• NES
• 3.5 / 10
• États-Unis

So it seems we've run out of potential positives. There's no redeeming Lode Runner here, and no getting past the fact that investing similar money for Battle Lode Runner would be a much wiser move. Gran this only if you're nostalgic for NES releases, otherwise, step up and grab the superior sequels.

• X360
• 8.6 / 10
• États-Unis

It's been years since I played the original POP. It's a game I couldn't finish as a kid, but thanks to Gameloft's friendly redesign, I've raced through it four times now. The seeds of Ubisoft's recent Prince trilogy on Xbox can be found here -- even the dark alter-ego of the Prince plays a role. Prince of Persia Classic is certainly short, but it's oh so sweet. This is one of the best games released on XBLA to date and the template all future enhanced classic games should follow. If it weren't for the brevity of the experience, POP Classic would be, well, an instant classic. Still, if you can accept that you won't get more than a couple hours enjoyment from the $10 download, do yourself a favor and check out Prince of Persia Classic. It's one of the elite among Xbox Live Arcade games.

• WII
• 8.5 / 10
• États-Unis

So it's more, more and more. That's Sonic the Hedgehog 2, all summed up. It's a true sequel to an established hit game – taking the characters, gameplay and overall feel of the original and enhancing each one. Sonic 2 became even more of a hit than its predecessor, probably thanks to word of mouth praising the first game and converted fans wanting to get in on the ground floor once the sequel hit. And because this one was such a big seller in its original release, it's since been included in a wealth of retro re-releases and classics compilations. This Virtual Console version is an easy thumbs-up, as the game itself is spectacular. But check to make sure you don't already own this same game in five other ways first – because, if so, you may want to use those 800 Wii Points for another purpose.

• PC
• 7.5 / 10
• États-Unis

• WII
• 8.5 / 10
• États-Unis

Scarface: The World is Yours was an impressive game on previous consoles, and it’s just as entertaining and immersive on Wii as ever before. IR control gives the game a more streamlined feel, and Wii owners that fit in the hardcore crowd will absolutely eat this one up, as it’s currently one of the deepest and most entertaining experiences on the system. And while the package is essentially GTA: Vice City with the Scarface license coated over it, we’ve actually had more fun exploring Miami than Vice City, as there’s more to do, better vehicle, weapon, and asset management, and nearly every hotspot from the movie is created brick for brick. When you explore Montana’s mansion, you’re in the mansion from the movie. When you head over to the beach-side club, the bartender recognizes you from the beginning of the first movie (the oh-so-famous “lizard tongue” scene, to be exact). Everything in Scarface fits with the movie, and while it suffers from the same open-world issues as GTA and the like – characters and items fade in, AI isn’t always the sharpest, and the world has a somewhat “unpolished” look to it – the control, immersion, and overall soul of the game is there. Scarface is a deep, engaging, mature title on Wii, and widely recommended to anyone who can handle its vulgar nature. Vice City, eat your heart out.

• WII
• 7.6 / 10
• États-Unis

Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree is largely a success, which makes it -- like Wii Sports -- a surprisingly difficult project to rate. As everyone knows, the title falls into the emerging "casual" sector -- a target demographic less concerned with graphics and more concerned with accessibility, or so we're told. From that perspective, the title is great -- it is both easy to pick up and really fun to play, especially with friends. What Wii Degree demonstrates is that Nintendo really has the magic touch when it comes to the utilization of its remote. Very few third party titles incorporate that tangible, tactile responsiveness -- the sensitive controller rumble you feel when you're navigating menus in Wii Sports, for example. Wii Degree is fun to play partly because you really feel like you're reaching out and touching the puzzles and objects in the game with Nintendo's controller. That sense of polish goes a long way. Of course, it's also fun because the puzzles themselves are smartly developed and very engaging, if not downright hard. I swear, every time I encounter the bird cages I want to pull my hair out. There is no doubt that the effort was inspired by its DS predecessor, but with new minis, a robust multiplayer mode and even WiiConnect24 support, it certainly distinguishes itself and gives Wii owners a reason to take notice. It's not perfect, though. It's shallow, for one. It only features 15 or so activities that you'll burn through quickly, even if you'll keep coming back. A couple of challenges fall short, like those that rely on the Wii remote's internal speaker. The hallways and rooms of the Big Brain Academy are presented in 16:9 widescreen mode, but the minis themselves unfold in 4:3 for some stupid reason. And I honestly think Nintendo dropped the ball by failing to include a genuine online mode for over-a-network mental battles. I think Wii Degree is a really strong first effort -- one that I can recommend to everybody. However, it also feels like a foundation -- the beginning of a home console franchise with a lot of room to grow. You're going to have fun here, but in three or four years we'll look back at this game and it will pale by comparison to its inevitable sequels.

• DS
• 5.5 / 10
• États-Unis

Ultimately it's a game that's chock full of instant gratification but not much else. The design's all about exploiting the combo system, but it never really offers much in the way of a challenge. It's simple to find a slot for many of the different variations of three-square tiles, and, at least in the first half of the levels it's easy to keep a combo string going. On the whole, Trioncube is less about brain power and more about finger speed, which doesn't sound like a bad thing when it comes to Tetris style puzzler, but believe me -- if you don't have anyone to play in competition mode, you'll wear this one out quickly.

• PS2
• 7.4 / 10
• États-Unis

I had fun with Ultimate Ninja 2, and I only know the basics about the show and Naruto's tale. The story of trying to protect Leaf Village is engaging (albeit confusing at times), the fights look cool, and there's tons of stuff to unlock. However, I thought the implementation of controls and combos took away from the fun. Although there's a list of moves, as long as you memorize your special technique and then alternate between circle, X and square, you're going to win. While the results look good, they feel empty -- it wasn't like I was picking the moves I was winning with. So, you end up sleep-walking through a lot of the fights and then getting slammed by cheap challenges. After my umpteenth loss to Kabuto, I felt more like moving on to another game than continuing to face-off with the blocking bastard.

• X360
• 8.9 / 10
• États-Unis

• DS
• 3 / 10
• États-Unis

I'm all for classic remakes, especially at the "bargain" price point. But Devilish was a bad and uninspired port of a forgetable Genesis/Game Gear title when it hit the Nintendo DS in Japan a couple months after its launch, and it coming out as new two years later doesn't do that design any favors at all.

• X360
• PC
• 6.8 / 10
• États-Unis

A title needs a well-designed core of gameplay to be a success - we're not disputing that. But it's the extras and unlockables that keep people around. Shadowrun has no visible persistent statistics, no way to modify character models, nothing, outside of Achievements, to serve as reward. As gamers, it's rewards we crave, be it of the narrative variety, in-game items, new options or modes, or something entirely different. Shadowrun completely ducks away from the gaming tenet that sometimes the utterly superfluous can be the most necessary. Since this game's rewards are restricted to and reset after every match, there lacks that overarching sense of accomplishment that should be associated with a game designed to be played for endless hours. Appeal is further lessened by the game's poor art style, which bestows little to no sense of character to any of the models, unless you consider derivative designs to be of positive value. If you're somehow able to brush aside the shoddy presentation, poor server management, limited number of playable maps, and lack of long-term extras, you'll find a well-designed nucleus of gameplay here. It's such a solid center you'll spend numerous hours uncovering new tweaks and wrinkles on how to best eliminate opponents. Curious? Pay the hefty full price of admission to see for yourself.