Their reception of this element varied: Tim Soete of GameSpot felt that it was " morally questionable ", while the Game Revolution reviewer noted that it was " done in a tongue-in-cheek manner ," and he was " not personally offended ".

GameSpot noted that Majora's Mask suffered from a frame rate which appeared choppier and inconsistencies in the audio.

" Justin Calvert of GameSpot noted that " the Special Edition looks much better and is the only way to play if you want to hear ... what characters are saying, whereas the original game's interface is less clunky.

GameSpot noted the " exciting and somewhat strategic " battle system, which requires the player exploit the enemies ' weak points.

Armada was noted as one of the few good Star Trek games to be made, garnering a 7. 9 out of 10 from GameSpot.

GameSpot also noted the slight twists in resource and unit mechanics, but concluded that the game was more or less a standard RTS.

Both GameSpot and IGN noted several bugs causing video and sound problems, as well as alt-tabbing causing the game to crash.

In addition, the game's artificial intelligence was not regarded as particularly challenging, with GameSpot noting that " enemies follow the same sorts of predictable patterns that may remember from previous Doom games " while GameSpy stated the way enemies would spawn to attack the player was " gimmicky "; the reviewer noted that players would realize that picking up a lone armor vest would cause a variety of zombies to emerge from hidden compartments in the dark.

Although sites like GameSpot admitted that the camera flaws in the original Sonic Adventure were " infinitely more frustrating by comparison " the sequel was still noted to " retain some of the quirky camera work ".

GameSpot noted that the game's audio did fit the game, although they commented that it " is largely recycled from Mario Party 4 ".

GameSpot noted that although the story's switching between the Covenant and Human factions made the plot more intricate, it distracted the player from Earth's survival and the main point of the game ; while Edge labeled the plot " a confusing mess of fan-fiction sci-fi and bemusing Episode-II-style politics.

Erik Wolpaw, writing for GameSpot, noted that as most expansion packs were mediocre, " it's appropriate that Gearbox Software's Opposing Force, the official expansion for the genre-redefining Half-Life, in turn sets a new standard of quality for future action-game mission packs ".

" GameSpot writer Glenn Rubenstein noted the excessive use of voice acting in Star Fox 64, highlighting Slippy's voice as androgynous.

The Nintendo 64 port received positive response for being faithful to the arcade version with GameSpot giving it a " Great " 8. 9 and IGN a " Great 8. 8 ", though they noted that the graphics were not as good as the ones from the arcade.

GameSpot previewed a localized copy of The Lost Age in February 2003, and noted that the game built on its predecessor's graphics engine, with " the environments in the game featuring rich detail with little touches — such as birds that fly off as you approach.

The artificial intelligence of the Pikmin was noted by GameSpot as improved over the original, though IGN remarked on reoccurring shortcomings, such as Pikmin getting stuck behind walls or breaking away from the group.

GameSpot noted that Sakura's character has largely been used in the series as a form of comic relief, as well as often stating the obvious.

GameSpot noted that the good points of the game include playing as a dolphin, the more challenging levels than the first game and also the music, but that negative points come from the fact that it is still easy to get lost as well as slow hit detection and poor turning, which results in " cheap hits ".

GameSpot noted that Elaine is usually much more proficient at escaping trouble " than the so-called hero who comes to save her ", while the video game culture journal Eludamos approved of the character for allowing a level of " feminine expression which did not necessary always conform to passive ideals of the damsel in distress ".

" GameSpot noted that the game's loading times were a " bit long " and that the game crashed on occasion, but said that these problems are not significant ; while IGN, though noting that the game slowed down " a bit in intense battles involving a lot of spellcraft or dazzling backgrounds ," said that " bugs were nearly nonexistent.

Although the addition of Goro and Shao Kahn was praised, GameSpot noted that the other ports were better, while also commenting on Goro's appearance which looks " anemic ".

The IGN, GameSpot, and GameSpy reviews noted the GameCube version features superior graphics, substantially faster loading times, and more responsive controls than the PlayStation 2 version, resulting in lower scores for the latter.

The site Allgame described Decay as an " added bonus " for the PlayStation 2 version of Half-Life, but noted that as the game was designed for two players, it significantly suffered when a single player attempts to play it by switching between two characters, a point that both GameSpy and GameSpot agreed on.

GameSpot noted that it was difficult to use the stylus immediately after the game prompted the player to draw the Magic Seal, thus forcing the player to use their fingernail on the touch screen.

The relative difficulty of the game and its length was also brought into question, with GameSpot noting that the game could be finished in five hours and " is fairly easy as far as Castlevania games go ".

In retrospective reviews, Allgame, GameSpot and IGN regarded MoO as the standard by which turn based strategy games set in space are judged, although Allgame regretted the lack of a multiplayer option.

A number of reviews of Episode One were disappointed by the lack of new characters for the Combine, although GameSpot praised the improved AI for Combine soldiers and the addition of new abilities, such as rappelling down buildings.

GameSpot writer Ryan Davis contrarily found the controls to be simple and responsive, but respectively agreed with Beaudion on the lack of move diversity between characters and with Dunham on its slow pace.

GameSpot awarded the Close Quarters Battle version of game a rating of 8. 3 / 10, commenting that " SWAT 3's most impressive feature has to be the amazing artificial intelligence employed by friend and foe alike " and praising the graphics and level design, but criticising the lack of multiplayer in the initial release, the tendency for some dialogue to repeat, the need to " radio in " every suspect or hostage secured, and the need to restart missions from scratch should the player be killed.

Bethany Massimilla of GameSpot wrote that the lack of " dozens of characters of all types " allows the game to remain simple, letting the player become very familiar with the main characters.

GameSpot criticized the warp system for using confusing symbols that did little or nothing to indicate the warp's destination, and weighed the fun of impaling vampires with the Soul Reaver against the lack of challenge presented by bosses and most enemies.

"" RPGamer also praised the design change, though they felt that Shion's lack of glasses in that episode was " amusing ".< ref > In a review of the first volume of Xenosaga: The Animation, GameSpot compared Shion and KOS-MOS to " the ultimate fanboy fan-service pair ", feeling that Shion was an example of a " cute, yet smart glasses girl ".

Greg Mueller of GameSpot felt that the guns were nearly useless because of a lack of a target lock or manual aim, combined with an ineffective auto-aim.

Despite enjoying the variety and appearance of Strikers stadia, GameSpot noted only cosmetic differences among them, and criticised a lack of physical features to make them more interesting.

The game received a " fair " 6. 9 / 10 from GameSpot, which states that a lot of role-playing game players would be turned off by its lack of story and randomly-generated dungeons, but those who are looking for some lighter fare of role-playing game may like it.

IGN gave it a 7. 2 out of 10, GameSpot gave it a 7. 4 out of 10, and PSXExtreme gave it a 7. 1 out of 10, while Game Revolution gave it a C, for its sensitive penalty system and lack of online capabilities.

" The review by GameSpot stated, " A thick, unsettling atmosphere fills this ambitious first-person action adventure, which makes up for some frustrating moments and dated graphics with plenty of chills, variety, and originality.

" GameSpot also saw it as an improvement to the series, stating " the levels in Sonic 3 offer more interaction than those in previous games, in the form of such things as zip lines, fireman's poles, and giant tree trunks that you can climb by running upward inside of them.

GameSpot said that while the game is " decent enough to make it worth the $ 5 price the Wii's Virtual Console ", it features " questionable design decision " and can get confusing if players don't have the help of walkthroughs.

In his review for GameSpot, Frank Provo found it " absolutely astonishing that Nintendo let 13 years go by before making Super Metroid readily available again ", but considered the most important thing was that players " can now play this masterpiece without having to track down the original Super Nintendo Entertainment System cartridge or fumble with legally questionable emulators ".

The RPG system was another point of contention ; GameSpot described the job system as " badly unbalanced " because the player can develop skills outside their career choice.

GameSpot referred to the game as " a faithful and amusing adaptation of the collectible card game " calling the gameplay " addictive ", but found it to be overall less satisfying than the original Pokémon role-playing games, stating that its goal of " collecting all 226 pieces of paper just doesn't satisfy like " catching ' em all " can and does.

GameSpot praises the gamemakers for taking " a character from the original game named Manon Batiste and " placing " her in the lead role so that her full story can be told.

GameSpot called the game ’ s visuals " impressive ," and that the player " can easily think that or she is playing a real-time cartoon ".

" GameSpot praised the game's story and said that the voice acting and music is " great " and that the game can " also be funny ," but stated that the game is " quite thin in both action and adventure " and also criticised certain elements of the gameplay.

On November 13, 2007, GameSpot reported that Interplay Entertainment has announced that it will restart its in-house development studio and has plans to develop a MDK sequel among other classic Interplay IPs if Interplay can secure financing.

GameSpot stated that among the projects Interplay has said it wants to develop are sequels to Earthworm Jim, Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance, Descent, and MDK, provided it can find the financing.

The shooter portions of Geist aren't all that special, but there's a lot more to this game than meets the eye " from GameSpot and " The concept is refreshingly inventive and Geist is propelled into something much greater than a FPS clone " from IGN, but also " Unfortunately, no sooner does Geist suggest it can blossom into something fresh and exciting that it ’ s undermined at every turn by a frustrating insistence on being nothing more than a mundane firstperson shooter " from Edge.

GameSpot were also positive about the game saying it's " an adventure that can be enthralling despite its many problems ".

GameSpot rated the game a 6. 5 / 10, which indicates a mediocre score, stating " This latest Tomb Raider can be rewarding for those who can suffer through its cumbersome controls, numerous highly difficult gameplay sequences, and occasional bugs.