For better and worse, they conjure fond reminiscences of the originals and the developer that made them. [Issue#394, p.102]

Go Mecha Ball can be as frustrating as it is exhilarating. [Issue#394, p.104]

With only the graphical layer receiving much attention it lacks the necessary breadth and depth to elevate itself far beyond the status of nostalgic curio. [Jan 2009, p.97]

As it stands, for all the words you cycle through, Until Then does its best work when it focuses on the visual and the novel. [Issue#400, p.123]

Slitterhead remains a curio worth examining - original and, yes, full-blooded in its approach. Lacking the subtleties of more psychological horror, Bokeh Game Studio justifies its flood of plasma and mountains body count both mechancially and thematically. In the end, though, it's the same anarchic roughness and lack of restraint that drags it down. [Issue#405, p.114]

A game of canny, and often quite annoying, design. [June 2018, p.120]

The hope and expectation generated by a successful launch dissipates all too quickly, leaving these lovers floating aimlessly among the stars, a spaceship without a rudder. [Nov 2015, p.123]

Its lead's epiphanies - or 'bolts of brilliance' - are his most underwhelming moments. [June 2018, p.122]

Despite a fair few moments of awe, the governing and familiar impression here is of compromise. The vivid aesthetic and precise audio of the console versions have respectively been mellowed and overplayed, the design beaten into handheld shape and accordingly bruised. [Apr 2006, p.93]

Comparisons with "Halo" are inevitable. Unfortunately, Fire Warrior shows how developers can steal elements from superior games, while fundamentally misunderstanding why they worked so well in the first place. [Nov 2003, p.101]

Underneath these niggles and inconsistencies lies the kernel of a solid and interesting game that could blossom if pursued in a future release. [June 2008, p.96]

The variety of the controls is overdone, making the game complex and confusing, and there's no customisable multiplayer. Nonetheless, this is a welcoming, capable and entertaining take on what gaming used to mean. [Aug 2004, p.106]

The result is competent and complex, but not convincing enough to raise any significant emotion other than impatience. It feels like a clockwork approximation of football, lacking the grace, variety and scope of FIFA.

Treyarch has taken just enough from COD4 to make World At War a broad success, but it remains firmly in its shadow. [Christmas 2008, p.90]

You can call it feature creep or over-ambition, but it's the surfeit of content that almost buries the game's achievements. [June 2010, p.100]

To appreciate the game's dilemma, look no further than its multiplayer modes, which have so little room for manoeuvre that they needn't have existed at all. [May 2007, p.94]

It's entertaining, but if SOCOM II is the pinnacle of Sony's online achievement - and it is - then Microsoft has convincingly won the online battle. At least for this round. [Mar 2004, p.100]

This is a game whose best moments are diluted by a torrent of filler, whose beauty is obscured by its technical shortcomings, and whose obvious potential is squandered by a lack of polish. That weird orange sky is, alas, the least of its problems. [Christmas 2016, p.110]

We can't help wondering if a narrowing of scope, instead of crowbarred-in construction mechanics or a baffling option to interact with NPCs that function like in-world AI chatbots, may have given this fiction real room to breathe. For now, there are too many winds blowing in different directions. [Issue#418, p.108]

Solo players are likely to be left wondering what happened over all those years. [Issue#403, p.112]

A game with energy and personality in abundance, but it fizzles out too easily [Issue#358, p.114]

There's enough vim and vinegar to Sunday Gold's central gimmick that we wouldn't mind playing a sequel. [Issue#377, p.118]

Without a greater degree of authorship - a few lightly scripted cases in predesigned cities to complement the sandbox mode - Shadows of Doubt is too prone to be bewildering or illogical red herrings, shrouding the experience in uncertainty. [Issue#403, p.113]

As a series, Civilization is being quietly surpassed. [Christmas 2016, p.114]

Pikuniku's got legs, even if it lacks the stamina to fully get over the finish line. [March 2019, p.122]

Shadowrun has too many cooks: it’s a heady broth initially, and the possibilities might seem unmatched, but ultimately it turns out to be limited fun. [Aug 2007, p.88]

Like its titular star, the game tends to transform, flipping from triumphant to frustrating, and back again.

Look at it one way, and it's a choking journey with unprecedented attention to unease and psychological horror, a game framed with unparalleled sophistication. From another angle, it's just a clunky PSone throwback, with all the design wit of a dodo. [Aug 2004, p.92]