Generality, representation, and control have been the central issues in machine recognition. Model-based recognition is the search for consistent matches of the model and image features. We present a comparative framework for the evaluation of different approaches, particularly those of ACRONYM, RAF, and Ikeuchi et al. The strengths and weaknesses of these approaches are discussed and compared and the remedies are suggested. Various tradeoffs made in the implementations are analyzed with respect to the systems' intended task-domains. The requirements for a versatile recognition system are motivated. Several directions for future research are pointed out.