The contemplative Myst-like puzzles clash heavily with the underwhelming gunplay, but you'd be surprised just how much of the gruesome atmosphere manages to seep through.

What it lacks in mechanical depth, it makes up for with style, creativity, and heart, and that's a triple threat that most games would never come close to achieving.

Don't let the goofy bongos fool you: this is one of DK's best titles, a fist-to-face combo of stylish platforming and intense action that demands you sharpen your skills at every chance.

While it occasionally gets too obtuse for its own good, Kojima and Del Toro's "playable teaser" is an unforgettable nightmare whose tragic disappearance only makes it all the more captivating.

Nostalgia be damned: video games, platformers or not, don't get much more engrossing or much more fun than this.

It's staggeringly ironic that a game with such a harsh commentary on the very idea of "sequels" would be a near-flawless example of one.

Against seemingly impossible odds, it translates the core elements of its series with dedication and honed study, while being a watershed moment for immersion in video games.

Beyond its tense atmosphere and wild setpieces stands a horror-action triumph with near bottomless levels of depth, ensnaring its genre archetype into new levels of terror.

It's Hideki Kamiya and Capcom firing on all cylinders, with an incredibly challenging, massively replay-able, and damn near perfect action game.