@Jaxith: if they're "putting words in someone's mouth" its probably because this review is infuriatingly vague about its problems with the game. it's just poorly written, it doesn't argue any of the points it makes. Lots of games made two decades ago still hold up just fine.

This is a very bad review. Nothing you said describes what about the game actually feels "dated", why enemies being on set paths is a bad thing, why the tough challenge is a bad thing. It's just a hastily written blog post, there isn't any insight or criticism here. Why should I hold this review as any more valuable than a tweet? Why should you get a paycheck for what essentially amounts to a flat, vague description of what the game is followed by a "But I think this game doesn't hold up well." I could write an article like this in my sleep, it requires no effort. You hardly even need to have played the game to write an article like this. You just need to paraphrase wikipedia then add a few singular lines of qualitative judgement without any argument or context. Why is the gameplay dated? I dunno. How exactly is the difficulty unbalanced? I dunno. Your article certainly didn't tell me.

Why don't you discuss the mechanics of the games at all? The jumping physics? The pace and flow that is set by carefully-timed and precisely-placed obstacles? Breaking crates to unlock secrets? Learning the level layouts in-depth to complete the time trials? The gimmicks like motorcycles and planes, besides the fact that they exist? How do these things shape the game experience? Does the game communicate its mechanics well and push the player to play it in a fun and satisfying way, and reward skill? Write an article that actually shows you can look at the game from a different angle than some average joe on the street and can give people actual insight about whether or not the game might be for them.

Instead we just get a lazy statement of "If you liked this game back then you will like it now, but if you never played it before you might not like it if its a game that you don't like because its an old game and old games are old". That's not criticism, it's a cop-out.

I give your review a 4/10. Gamestop should really rethink their standards if work of this low quality is considered acceptable.