The fact that Arkedo has made such a simple gimmick work as well as it does over a longer distance is a testament to the developer’s skills at providing cheerfully mindless variety. [Feb 2009, p.95]

While the game remains focused on atmosphere and aesthetics, concessions have been made to a more dynamic style of play. [Sept 2008, p.86]

What a pity, then, that the story is the one element that doesn't have the courage to stay true to its narrative successor. [Issue#354, p.110]

Robotic and methodical, and firmly in second place. [Dec 2009, p.97]

The plot proves strong enough to keep even the most disappointed player clicking through the dialogue trees, and in the final chapters the endless conversations finally give way to something more engaging. [Mar 2007, p.80]

Prototype does what it does, and does it with distinction. [Aug 2009, p.90]

Playing Blek is pure intuition, not a puzzler so much as an act of freeform creation. That’s quite a feat within a genre which can feel so stiff and prescribed.

While Snowblind never truly escapes the feeling of being a well-dressed, derivative run’n’gun shooter, it never fails to get the running and gunning right, and in that respect, at least, it’s a sound success. [March 2005, p.86]

In the end, it's only a singleplayer mode away from true greatness - but if we've learned one thing from fighting games this generation, it's that none is ever going to get everything right. [Issue#344, p.118]

As a complete game package Conker: Live & Reloaded is tremendously good value. Significantly, it also shows a company finally back on form. [Aug 2005, p.93]

Packed with detail, both in terms of its environments and mechanics, this is a game that pays back investment in spades. [March 2012, p.122]

There are plenty of smart ideas here, but a fair bit of dreck, too. [Oct 2016, p.120]

This isn't old school for old school's sake, it's a reminder that there's more to reviving classic material than nostalgia. Sometimes, it's about showing the modern industry where it lost its way. [Issue#386, p.108]

It's a generous package, and even more so given that a purchase of the Vita version nets you a PS3 copy as well, your progress persistent between the two versions. Other launch games may better sell Vita's touch, tilt or AR capabilities, but there is no better advertisement for its connectivity.

It's a simple rhythm-action title at its core, with a set of bolted-on RPG mechanics of little worth. But then players aren't here for those mechanics, they're here for the memories. Bearing that in mind, Theatrhythm Final Fantasy achieves exactly what it sets out to do.

Atmospheric, tense, and sometimes unfairly hard, Test3′s roguelike is another welcome entry in a resurgent genre.

This may not be the best choice for a player without an existing co-op team, but if you do have three friends who are willing to learn, and die, together, it's a work of unmissable claustrophobia. GTFO indeed. [Issue#368, p.110]

The results are uncommonly nuanced and tactile, though perhaps that's no surprise given its creator's keen interest in digital sculpture.

While it ties its narrative strands neatly enough to work as a standalone story, Mizrahi and Scout would be well worth a sequel. [Issue#344, p.114]

It helps, too, that the story is surprisingly engaging. [Issue#413, p.116]

Yes it is almost the same, but when it's brilliant fun, and no other publisher is releasing games like this, who cares? [June 2003, p.104]

Not only is Road Trip competent, it’s full of character, with cartoon styling and gentle humour eschewing the too-cool, branding-heavy nature of its peers, while also being one of the console’s better looking titles. [Christmas 2008, p.101]

But if it feels rather like a rough draft (moreso, even, than the original Assassin's Creed), then we'll be fascinated to see if this VR incarnation gets any fraction of the iterative treatment long enjoyed by its predecessors. [Issue#393, p.112]

Yes, Justice’s new shriek adds a new trick to his repertoire, but besides this and a few new touchscreen forensic gizmos, this there is little change from the GBA ports. [Apr 2008, p.95]

With that, a largely flat Metroid is further degraded, from disappointing to a little bit embarrassing. Nintendo games have tested our patience before, but rarely in so many ways at once, and not without a core brilliance that makes such transgressions forgivable. Whatever ideas swirled in your mind back in 2017, you can't have been dreaming of this. [Issue#419, p.100]

What’s left is, while smartly streamlined, a thoroughly orthodox game within a well-established type, a niche within a niche that’s getting smaller all the time.

Yes, it's a little too familiar in places. [Issue#392, p.114]

There are just too many of the simple things wrong, and too many areas where you feel that corners have been cut rather than obsessed over. [Sept 2008, p.88]

Like its enigmatic protagonist, Unravel is never anything less than charming, even during moments when it doesn't quite hold together. [April 2016, p.108]

Admittedly, there's little here to quicken the pulse, and some of later objectives are troublingly fiddly, with sensitive motion controls and increasingly intricate level design proving uncomfortable bedfellows. But otherwise this is an unusually clever, polished and robust eShop release that offers several hours' worth of dizzy delights.

The picaresque form allows the levels to function as discreet puzzles rather than as parts of a story arc: the objective remains pure and always the same. The obstacles and methods open to you are what change, and it's in these areas that Contracts has both expanded and improved. [June 2004, p.103]

What's here is enough to be going on with, but we'll have to wait till next year's updates and in particular, that possibly seismic battle-royale mode, to discover whether this is truly a Battlefield that stands apart. [Jan 2019, p.114]

Such bastard generic cross-pollination will be of keen interest to those who have pigeonholed the console RPG as yesterday's bread, as Dragon Quarter variously suceeds in its misfit marriage. [June 2003, p.98]

Soul Bubbles is so enchanting, its fundamental behaviour so neatly realised, that you can forgive it being a little simple. [July 2008, p.97]

For the most part the puzzles are well-pitched, with clues subtly seeded into the dialogue. [Issue#347, p.106]

Only a sense of familiarity dogs an otherwise engaging diversion: the Minis cover a lot of ground in these 180 levels, but at times it’s well-worn territory they’re walking.

Often dwarfing the key action, these minigames are a manifestation of a series that’s been unrecognisably perverted from its original purpose, flashes of brilliance or speed only serving as a reminder of what has been lost. [Nov 2007, p.99]

Diverting and wonderfully weird as it may be, but Side Order doesn't supplant Octo Expansion as the series' singleplayer peak. [Issue#396, p.119]

With global events offering in-game rewards for communities who team up to service a single destination, it has a shifting short-term goal to keep you checking in, but you may struggle to justify your continued involvement in the long game.

Yes, it can be sticky work, but it says much for this bracingly exciting game that you'll be itching to put our headset back on just as soon as you've cooled off. [Issue#323, p.116]

In terms of creating an atmosphere and playing with it, there’s nothing quite like it on a handheld system. [Christmas 2007, p.96]

A new high-water mark for the series. [April 2017, p.114]

While it lasts, Mutant Year Zero presents a fresh and involving take on the genre, but its linearity isn't quite such an ideal fit. [Issue#328, p.116]

At worst, the game's deliberate openness means theme and gameplay have a tenuous relationship.

With combat that feels lightweight and inexact by comparison, in service of a broader structure which doesn't quite suit the core mechanics, the game's strengths - in particular, that winning, distinctive aesthetic - don't provide enough of a spark to let Ashen find its own way in the dark. [Issue#328, p.108]

The most successful episodes find ways to hold us captive. [March 2016, p.122]

In terms of the game’s central challenge, it excels at dividing the player’s attention between ambitions for continuous expansion and the manual maintenance of the empire as it stands. [Sept 2007, p.97]

The effect is like trying to play chess after a double espresso, and if we fumble as often as we triumph, that's just more reason to keep coming back. [Issue#365, p.110]

We find ourselves absorbed by Boulder's story, enough to witness all the grisly premature ends that meet him before he finally gets his hard-won feelgood finale. [Issue#393, p.120]

With its celebration of the little things in life, which rarely affords neat resolutions, Afterlove EP is a beautiful tribute not only to Jakarta but to its dearly departed creator. [Issue#408, p.122]

People of Note is a gratifying, if ultimately ephemeral, hodgepodge of ideas - a pleasant distraction but hardly an instant classic. [Issue#423, p.116]

The Wonderful 101 draws on ideas from Kamiya’s previous games – Viewtiful Joe’s cartoonish charm, Okami’s brushstroke mechanic, Bayonetta’s setpieces – but in concert they’re messy, hamstrung by cluttered visual design and a clumsy central mechanic. Stretched over a large frame, they wear thin quickly. There’s a good game in here, but it’s smothered by the need to conform to its host platform’s feature set, and a distorted concept of value for money.

However unchanged its engine might be, Kingdom remains one of the few shining instances of Eastern craftsmanship applied to the Xbox. Once its addition of custom battles and bolstered online modes is coupled to its undeniably generous campaign, this ongoing road to fruition readily justifies its toll. [Nov 2005, p.106]

The Tormented may read more as a mystery than a truly frightening horror story but, if it’s to be a conclusion to this dark and lonely diversion from the beaten track, it will be a fitting and deserving one. [Jan 2005, p.87]

This inability to decide where World Tour lies among the many paths the series has taken previously is the game’s true problem. It demonstrates both why Camelot is so trusted by Nintendo, and why it has been stuck making sporting spinoffs for so long. Camelot seems unsure of whether it would prefer to be held by the hand or simply set free, and ends up putting the player in that same awkward middle ground.

It's infectious, and it is difficult to imagine that anyone with any affection for rock music could fail to appreciate it. [Dec 2015, p.116]

An unpretentious blast of good-humoured bedlam – well-pitched towards the five-minute attention spans served by fellow PSN title Calling All Cars. [Jan 2009, p.94]

It is, in other words, a competent handheld version of Killzone, and those who bought a Vita on that promise will be amply satisfied. Others will squint, line up their sights on a speck in the middle distance, squeeze the trigger and hope for the popup confirming their aim was true, and wonder if this is really what handheld gaming should be.

It's a testament to the strength of Pedro's core premise that you'll likely persevere through design fumbles, odd pacing and wonky writing in search of more bonkers ultraviolent combos and leaderboard glory [Issue#335, p.108]

If not quite a giant leap for the 3D platformer, Big Hops is an accurate title after all. [Issue#420, p.106]

It's never stronger than in its opening hours, and if it never quite recaptures that first heady whiff of discovery, it at least keeps you on the edge of your seat thanks to its punishing design, the stakes rising in tandem with your achievements.

Yes, the ideas are simple and well-worn, but they're treated with care and elegance, with a shimmer of luxury sprinkled across the top. [Issue#414, p.110]

Style can be substance, but it's fuel that burns quickly. [Issue#391, p.119]

We need more games like this - ones that are confident and individual - but we need them to be less roughly hewn. The core of the game is solid, but the way it's applied throughout the levels just isn't interesting enough. [Mar 2004, p.98]

RIGS is a compact but deep package, then, and one executed with a confidence that belies its launch-game status. [Christmas 2016, p.112]

Encounters feel needlessly protracted - born of a stubborn refusal to admit the game’s fundamental lack of content. The layout of scenery predetermines your every gambit before enemies blithely meander into your squad’s unlimited gunfire. [Apr 2005, p.101]

Though the setting is clichéd and you’ll have experienced all the tricks Frictional has pulled to construct Black Plague’s menacing atmosphere before (echoed voices, bestial groans, oppressive shadows, flickering lights), they’re highly effective. [Apr 2008, p.96]

Despite a multitude of improvements and a much larger offering than its predecessor, Dirt 4 somehow feels less spirited. Had "Rally" not existed, this latest game would've felt like more of an event, but in its current form it doesn't quite achieve the potency of its more focused forebear. [Aug 2017, p.106]

A revised, marginally stronger example of the virtual motorbike racing we’ve come to expect from the franchise. But owners of MotoGP ’06 may want to skip a year. [Oct 2007, p.96]

The game never judges you, offering no morality system despite the frequent dilemmas and difficult choices its systems organically generate. But it certainly tests you. This is as close as we’ve come to putting our lazily daydreamed zombie survival plans into effect.

The major strengths of the original title remain undimmed; this is as consumate an example of Koei's design skill as its predecessor and every bit as enjoyable - in spite of having seen it all before. [Dec 2003, p.109]

By the final reckoning, we're invested in how it all shakes out; perhaps the biggest surprise of all is that the titular weapon is not, in fact, Gunbrella's most powerful asset. [Issue#390, p.132]

A collection of ideas executed with variable success, which at times coalesce to form an effective whole, and at others feel like flashy distractions from an otherwise unambitious central formula. [Christmas 2010]

Max Payne isn't a bad way to spend a train journey, but those who've already played the original will have little reason to buy the conversion, apart from to smile at how mini-Max so cutely apes his big brother. [Apr 2004, p.110]

Reveals that the series can be both a chaotic toy box and a lattice of fantastical set-pieces that unfold meaningfully. [July 2011, p.126]

Crucially, Autosport’s career structure and nuanced vehicle handling combine to alleviate any potential frustration for players weaned on effortless victories.

Many will be satisfied by the simple existence of a COD game on the day next-gen hardware launches, but this is a missed opportunity nonetheless. The studio that defined the console FPS in the current generation has declined to do the same here. By the time it gets another chance, it may be too late.

It draws you in after your first few taps of the screen, and it's smart enough to keep things brief, topping off a short campaign with an endless mode and a limited selection of unlockables.

Meltdown deserves its own unique place amongst rolling puzzlers and, eventually, to have its timelessness and solidity recognised as a benchmark. [Nov 2006, p.88]

Codemasters had a hard act to follow in Grid, but with this sequel it’s delivered a dazzling package that can proudly take its place among the best racing games of this generation. It not only smooths off nearly all of the awkward edges that have plagued the studio’s ongoing attempts to cohere its racing games with driver-focused storylines, but it does so with enough pomp and spectacle to send current-generation hardware off with a memorable bang.

Levels lose the false drama of scripted sequences but take on something much more satisfying. Everything that happens in Airborne’s dropzones, from shameful deaths to GI Joe heroics, feels like it’s because of you, and it usually is. [Oct 2007, p.92]

Stripped by necessity to its basest form to allow for the limited inputs of the handheld, and this time greatly enhanced and personlaised by character artist Gez Fry's gorgeous anime-inspired designs, Rebelstar may be their most accessible title to date. [Dec 2005, p.112]

For all its simplified inputs and friendly onboarding, 2XKO may fail to convert those who already harbour skepticism toward fighting games, or indeed toward League of Legends itself. [Issue#421, p.108]

It's a delightful time. [Issue#333, p.118]

It's brash and beautiful, and in looking outside its own boundaries has found fresh ways to keep you coming back to the danger zone.

It’s a masterclass of design purity: every one of these elements exists for a reason, and its potential is exploited to the fullest. But Samurai Gunn’s genius lies in its dizzying speed. It condenses organic, balletic setpieces worthy of an action flick finale into mere seconds, the ground filling up with the bloodied pixel remains of the fallen.

With a little more in the way of technical polish and a few more hours of playtime thrown in, this would have been one of the best film-based games of all time. [July 2009, p.90]

More old than new, New Super Mario Bros 2 is an inverted Galaxy, more content to remix old stomping grounds and sprinkle on new gimmicks than take Mario to places he hasn't hopped through before.

Its pacing is hindered by slow movement speed, and nuance is lost as the incidents increase in frequency and topics of conversation shift from the social to the situational. [March 2016, p.120]

Yet there is heart in Banishers, and it beats strongest in the doomed romance at its centre. There's emotional heft in its ending, too. [Issue#395, p.110]

Dead Rising 3 is a sandbox in the purest sense, one that urges you to experiment with its innumerable toys at your leisure. The result is an open world that, in spite of its reanimated inhabitants, feels more alive than most.

Kids are often underestimated, but that doesn’t mean their games should be. Lego Star Wars has an appeal that goes beyond age, even if it’s one that rarely goes beyond 20 minutes at a time. [May 2005, p.84]

There are dozens of puzzles, with a Resident Evil-like fetishism for clicking locks and mechanisms. [Issue#416, p.112]

Alien Hominid is just about an essential title for anyone who’s caught themselves yearning for a forgotten past, or to any young blood wondering what people mean when they say they don’t make them like they used to. [Jan 2005, p.97]

So yes, there's definitely something strange about this place - and it's those peculiarities that, for all its flaws, make this Call worth heeding. [Issue#354, p.102]

Nintendo is famed for sprinkling around mechanics other developers would build entire games on, but here the effect is quite irritating. [Oct 2008, p.97]

Encounters feel needlessly protracted - born of a stubborn refusal to admit the game's fundamental lack of content. The layout of scenery predetermines your every gambit before enemies blithely meander into your squad's unlimited gunfire. [Apr 2005, p.101]

Mere hours after playing it, Hue is already vanishing into the background of our minds, leaving only a vague sensation of something more tangible. [Nov 2016, p.123]