A small diversion, in other words, that lives up to both parts of the equation. [Issue#365, p.118]

Beautiful and varied. [Aug 2015, p.122]

This is a game with ambitions that now outstrip the confines of an atrophying engine, but beneath the exterior lies a world rich in atmosphere - the credible and pervading horror of a landscape drawn with unusual finesse. [Mar 2010, p.95]

For the duration of its story, it grips like a grasping, otherworldly arm. [Issue#371, p.104]

Sega Superstars Tennis is well-crafted, lovingly garish, and it plays a solid game. [Apr 2008, p.97]

It's far too easy for veterans in singleplayer, but with four sets of the ludicrous peripheral - an unlikely scenario, admittedly - and each player tapping out their own, interlinking rhythm the game becomes a uniquely entertaining experience. [Feb 2004, p.111]

This serves well as a third chapter, conscripting much of what has gone before while upping the testosterone and providing some glamorous distractions to pry your attention away from how little control you actually have over events. [Christmas 2006, p.81]

This is not a conventional pinball game with well-designed skillshots and a challenging layout, but since when was Pokemon ever conventional? [Nov 2003, p.99]

Stray from the beaten track and Crystal Bearers is a different game...That it is so oddly buried is inexplicable, but you can't deny the fun of excavation. [Feb 2010, p.94]

While refinement might be the best way to make a good game better, it certainly isn't the best way to justify the cost of a second sequel in as many years. [June 2010, p.101]

It may not give Supercell sleepless nights, but if you've ever thought Clash Royale could be improved by adding Cinderella on a motorbike, well, fill your boots. [Issue#330, p.120]

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

Everything is unabashedly cheerful... It's a shame that later levels begin to run out of steam, repeating tasks over and over as a contrivance for lengthening narrative. [Oct 2006, p.90]

It's strangely fitting that there should be moments of boredom: if the world occasionally seems too big and your destination too distant, well, isn't that what being a kid's all about? [Issue#337, p.112]

Some elements of story and gameplay are left disappointingly underdeveloped, and the grand environmental puzzles of the opening section become all but absent in the later locations - but when Belli's running for her life, you won't stop to notice.

When Before the Storm embraces its individuality, it produces stunning moments. [Issue#315, p.106]

There is some enormous potential here, and for all its failings Assassin’s Creed deserves to be played, and its achievements savoured. [Christmas 2007, p.82]

For all its minor shortcomings, if one of the main design goals of The Skywalker Saga was to make you fall in love with Star Wars again, on that particular front it is an unequivocal triumph. [Issue#371, p.110]

Sure, at times it's a little messy, but isn't that just part of the business of being human? Would that we could all create havoc with such irresistible style. [Issue#392, p.121]

It's a game built from pluck and resourcefulness, in other words: thoughtful when it can afford to be and stoically reliable – for the most part – when it can't.

A Mario sports title that appeals beyond its ready-installed fanbase - strong, clean visuals and animation certainly help - but one that might not entrance them long enough to turn into major league love. [Oct 2006, p.95]

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]

With a room of onlookers, it's certain to provoke some of the most raucous laughter you'll hear playing a videogame this year. [Issue#392, p.122]

In spite of its commitment to a single brand, Ferrari Challenge is rich in content for those prepared to navigate its obtuse structure. [Aug 2008, p.97]

It's insubstantial but sweet, then: Trinket Studio's game may not linger long on the palate, but while it lasts, this delicate confection leaves a pleasant taste indeed. [Issue#315, p.118]

With superior spoils for S-rank performances, all that strategy nonsense is fully justified. [Issue#374, p.114]

There's enough here to compel us to move the app to a prominent position on our home screen for easy access - close to the bottom, of course. [Issue#392, p.123]

Despite these imperfections, The Quarry still delivers a deliciously hammy horror tale, filled with personality and humour. [Issue#374, p.116]

The locales in Life is Strange feel much less like rigidly framed theatrical scenes and more like real places. [March 2015, p.102]

And if this animalistic chaos all sounds a little too weird, consider this: strip away the surface strangeness, and you're left with a surprisingly identifiable tale of a mammal negotiating the pits and pitfalls of the concrete jungle, constantly worrying about sex and death as they try to make their way in a hyena-eat-elephant world. Well, at least until the velociraptors arrive.

All told, it's a slight, essential basic little game. [Issue#315, p.121]

While there are awkward moments on this malignant management escapade, it’s never less than charming. The exaggerated ‘60’s spy-movie design is familiar and entertainingly fresh, and although flawed, it’s still far more appealing than Republic. [Nov 2004, p.104]

Hits more than it misses. [Sept 2010, p.95]

Despite its flaws, we're compelled to return. [Issue#374, p.118]

That conviction gives it charm next to the bloat of certain other Star Wars games, but when you're skimming the hull of an exploding frigate, it's hard not to wish for more. [Issue#352, p.102]

There's not doubt that chasing the 'Ippon Master' bonus is where the most fun is to be had. [Issue#348, p.98]

It instantly shares the same atmosphere and pleasure as the original Sonic classics did 15 years ago, even if it does little to move them forward. [Christmas 2005, p.111]

These smart updates to the classic RPG formula mean the wilfully archaic design choices that remain in place stand out all the more. [Issue#398, p.110]

While it can be trying, Tales of Kenzera remains a piece of classy engineering, supported by evocative landscapes, meaty audio effects and a score that combines traditional Bantu sounds with modern electronica. [Issue#398, p.114]

It captures the original's atmosphere of inescapable threat but struggles to engineer new possibilities within it, though its take on player death is worth a longer discussion. [Issue#352, p.110]

While Schneider may have moved onto 3D physics-based destruction in more recent years, there's something to be said for the enduring appeal of a 2D twin-stick shooter - and Devastator is a good one. [Issue#371, p.120]

Festival Of Blood has plenty of ideas, very few of which are its own, but such is the way of the open-world superhero game. Where it succeeds is in casting aside the main game's mechanics in favour of fast, graceful movement around one of the most generous worlds available on the download services.

After that initial sugar rush, Shredder's Revenge inevitably feels a little thin. [Issue#374, p.121]

Its game may rarely do anything you haven't seen done better elsewhere, but the developer knots a slew of disparate elements together with no little skill, leaving the whole feeling irresistibly fresh. [March 2013, p.102]

If Desert Storm 2 has one flaw, it's that there are only ten maps and these usually channel the player down avenues rather than provide ample playgrounds for strategic experimentation. [Nov 2003, p.100]

In truth, when it does attempt to tug firmly on the heartstrings, Neva is never as effective as we might have feared. But the images it leaves behind are indelible. [Issue#404, p.114]

As an empowering journey, Showtime proves THIS princess doesn't need a plumber to rescue her; you sense its intended audience will crush a grape as Peach follows suit. [Issue#397, p.122]

As a place, Los Angeles simply isn't as much fun as Liberty or Vice. Too much of this silicon LA exists simply because the designers wanted to show that it could be done rather than because it serves any gameplay purpose. [Christmas 2003, p.107]

Carve is briefly thrilling, but complete the final tournament and you're left treading water. [Mar 2004, p.102]

Exquisitely presented. [Sept 2010, p.100]

Black Box’s sequel ultimately struggles to offer any single compelling justification for its own existence. [Feb 2009, p.93]

Fans of TrackMania Nations and its Stadium course, in particular, will have a hard time adjusting to the heavy, drifty handling that is, for the moment, the only way to race in TrackMania 2.

As uneven and unpolished as it is, Fallen Order is still the best game to emerge from EA's stewardship of the Star Wars license, even if that's to damn it with faint praise. [Issue#340, p.98]

The Umbrella Chronicles will inevitably attract attention for its roots above all other considerations, but it's a good game on its own terms, bringing together distinct genres and making it all work. [Jan 2008, p.86]

In its present form, Hero Academy is a fairly lightweight confection, but it digs its nails in until you find yourself impatiently anticipating the notification alert, and then starting a fresh battle with a random opponent to shorten the wait.

With "Denied Ops" dropping the Conflict ball and "Call Of Duty 4"’s snappy splendour drowning any tactical sense, it’s a likeable and distracting continuation, but one that won’t be difficult to usurp. [Apr 2008, p.90]

At a time when, more than ever, connecting with others starts by working on ourselves, this endearing twist on the tend-and-befriend genre is a friend indeed. [Issue#348, p.106]

Rage is a stunningly rendered FPS, but one that seems caught between a desire to innovate and the desire to be true to the template its creators defined.

It’s on Live, though, that Ten Hammers truly explodes into life, the absolute requirement for tactics creating jumpy matches that outgun anything so far on Xbox or its baby brother. [Apr 2006, p.92]

Shuggy's a clever game rather than a truly smart one – a smart game wouldn't do half as much to undermine itself along the way – but it's still worth sticking with to its bitter and infuriating end.

Ms Splosion Man might have done little to fix the 
first game's flaws, but it confidently follows up on its raucous appeal.

A bright colorful package that has managed to - happily - disrupt our time with the other big Roguelikes of the minute. Maybe all you really need is a few great ideas. [Issue#352, p.120]

The original title won fans for its shocks and surprises; the second takes no risks. While its ultraviolence is slick and satisfying, its shtick has calcified. [Apr 2010, p.92]

This is a sorely flawed game, but also a truly majestic one... a beautiful and ambitious manifesto for what games can give you that nothing else can. [June 2004, p.98]

Buy into Arma 3 now and you’re buying into many promises. Bohemia’s pledge of a coherent campaign, its promise of a wider array of military toys to play with, and its intent to tweak and update AI errors, scripting issues, and pathfinding problems. But these promises are backed up by thousands of the world’s most dedicated players, people who’ve spent years crawling through Arma 2’s rough terrain to find the comparatively even ground of Arma 3. Buying Arma 3 at launch is buying a promise, then, but few games are so meticulously realised, or show so much promise.

To focus on what's missing would be to overlook the joys that remain. [Issue#340, p.106]

An incredibly solid universe with barely a technical glitch to be found, but it's soulless and almost bereft of plot or character. This is a sandbox game that's begging for a purpose. [March 2005, p.80]

Thankfully Richard and Alice do manage to engage, the awkward stiltedness to their early conversations naturally easing into a more flowing rapport. Neither are as a delight to read as Alice’s son Barney, however, whose perfectly captured five-year-old’s speech patterns provide both humour and heartbreaking moments of poignancy.

Singleplayer is weak - despite well-worked tutorial and mission modes it always feels like target practice for combat with friends - and the lack of online support disappoints. But despite a potentially hazardous dimensional switch, it remains as appealing a way of antagonising your friends as ever. [Dec 2003, p.108]

An enthralling title on its own terms, and, given the bombastic direction of its Clancy-game brethren, probably the closest fans will get to true tactics for some time.

With incessant dialogue boxes and the option to tweet every other scrap of text you come across, this second iOS outing from Fable designer Dene Carter has picked up some of the worst habits of smartphone gaming.

The frenetic, bite-sized missions are perfect for PSP, bursting with combat and highly detailed. Not before time, Sony has proved that PSP can run and gun with the big boys. [May 2006, p.96]

To focus on what's missing would be to overlook the joys that remain. [Issue#340, p.106]

Ubisoft has taken a flawed game of boundless promise, destroyed some (but not all) of its appeal, fixed some (but not enough) of its problems, and jeopardised the whole endeavour by making the same mistake twice and rushing it to market before it was steady on its feet. Prince of Persia is strong and supple enough to survive this with many of its immense virtues intact. But it deserved so much better. [Christmas 2004, p.80]

What it lacks in tactical depth, it returns doubly so in its offbeat charm whether through the crackpot mutterings of its cast of characters or its increasingly nontraditional modern-day island locales. [Oct 2006, p.93]

At heart, Dangerous Golf simply wants you to make a big, beautiful mess, and it's an invitation that proves surprisingly hard to resist. [Aug 2016, p.108]

If Indika won't be everyone's tempo, it proves you can work small miracles when you dare to shed familiar habits. [Issue#398, p.122]

To focus on what's missing would be to overlook the joys that remain. [Issue#340, p.106]

Though the explosions scale with progress, and the act of detonation continues to be a giddy pleasure, Mars could do with a thicker atmosphere.

By far the most slickly produced and gorgeously rendered version of the series, the pacing this time around is even more fluid than its predecessors – less an open-ended matter of hide and seek, and more focused on the stylish, dramatic pursuit and capture that its TV and silver-screen themes would seem to require. [Oct 2005, p.89]

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]

It's tricky to pick dourly over the faults in a game that refuses to take itself seriously, even when the fate of Japan itself is at stake. [Nov 2018, p.114]

Games with distinct souls are rare things, but Persona 3 succeeds in displaying a mesmerising personality that touches the many well-crafted aspects of its curious and singular approach. [Nov 2007, p.94]

There's less motivation to persevere in erecting a monument to your skill when there's no one around to see it. [March 2015, p.112]

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]

For a game that promises a degree of freedom in how you approach a job, you'll often find there's a clearly preferred way of doing things. [Aug 2017, p.112]

The game starts slow, a feeling exacerbated - or perhaps caused - by the easiness of the battles. But you'll play it and play it. Every time you try to stop you're just one battle away from mastering that skill, for earning that new job. [Dec 2003, p.105]

There's no denying that Project Gotham Racing 2 is one of the most aesthetically accomplished titles ever produced. Yet this doesn't stop PGR2 from feeling a little heartless. In terms of excitement PGR2 is found wanting. [Christmas 2003, p.113]

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]

Ubisoft has taken a flawed game of boundless promise, destroyed some (but not all) of its appeal, fixed some (but not enough) of its problems, and jeopardised the whole endeavour by making the same mistake twice and rushing it to market before it was steady on its feet. Prince of Persia is strong and supple enough to survive this with many of its immense virtues intact. But it deserved so much better. [Christmas 2004, p.80]

The whole thing is just so gleefully off its head that you can forgive its little missteps. [Aug 2016, p.114]

It only betrays itself completely once – in a dismally conventional boss battle around halfway through – though at times Spartan threatens to become routine, it never does, thanks to its strong character, handsome looks and sheer, irrepressible verve. [Nov 2005, p.96]

The Unsung War doesn’t break any boundaries, but it perfectly fulfils expectations. What might look unambitious is in actuality an adventure that whisks you through brilliantly rendered backdrops with a touch more polish than previous iterations, always flying hard and successfully conveying the buzz of aerial combat. [Jan 2005, p.90]

It froths with colour and confidence, revelling in its influences as you grind your way to the top. And make no mistake, it is a grind – one best taken in short doses and requiring the basest of mental activity but one that has enough content, unlocks and options to compensate.

Fantastic Four and Captain America-themed tables complete a package of rare value on the eShop; this may not be the finest version of Marvel Pinball you can buy, but Nintendo's store can only benefit from more third-party offerings of similar quality.

A return to Hogwarts to relive Harry Potter’s school years, this remaster features an enjoyable adventure for fans who haven’t taken this trip before. Though the games are still fun to play, the experience doesn’t offer anything new (other than updated graphics) from the original releases. While the Harry Potter movie world keeps expanding, game fans get a rehash, which is something of a downer. If you haven’t played the Lego Harry Potter games before, this is a great package in terms of value and sheer amount of gameplay. Otherwise, it would be better to play one of the newer releases in the franchise.

If Pocket Paradise makes you want to throw it against something, though, it’s only because it succeeds in making gardening compulsive. [Oct 2008, p.96]

There's much to recommend in Endless Space 2, and its art and writing has the potential to open up a complex genre to a new audience, but there's no escaping the fact it'll be a better game in six months. [Aug 2017, p.116]