It may produce an experience which is as gruelling as it is compelling, but that’s a badge of honour the game wears with pride. [Nov 2006, p.86]

In the great crapshoot of Namco thirdperson action games, it’s a better than average throw. [Nov 2006, p.92]

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 just a murky brew of meaningless, exploitative dysfunction filling an empty game, and it leaves a bitter taste. [Dec 2006, p.90]

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]

Bad Day LA is the game people often say they want and then ignore when it arrives; it prizes ambition over execution and flair over finesse and both pays the price and reaps the rewards for daring to do so. [Sept 2006, p.82]

Eden has composed a beguiling, intoxicating hymn to the open road, and every car lover will want to join its chorus. [Oct 2006, p.82]

For some, Yakuza will feel dangerously dumb, due to its unrefined and relentless combat, but it's just as dangerous to risk overlooking its capacity to be fiercely capable and loveably playful in plenty of other ways, always aiming to provide captivating entertainment. [Oct 2006, p.84]

There’s little doubt that Sony has pulled out a plum – and given the PSP its first real mascot in the process. [Aug 2006, p.82]

It’s a unique offering for 360 owners – as it would have been for Xbox – certainly, but one who’s highlights can’t match those of the RPGs currently burning brightly on PS2. [Apr 2006, p.87]

This is far, far more than a nostalgic return to form - instead, it's a game so adept at exploiting its own heritage that it can integrate thorough modernity into its design without denting its retro appeal in the slightest. [Sept 2006, p.78]

It’s just too hard, the physics too capricious, and the tasks too frustrating for words. [Aug 2006, p.85]

It’s a souring of Bomberman’s classic formula, and it hasn’t been compensated for with any new thinking, leaving older editions to continue reigning supreme. [Nov 2006, p.91]

It's a whole that still offers an intricate series of diversions - some old, some new - but one that has lost some sparkle, despite its sharper, more colourful looks. Most players will get sick of Disgaea 2 long before Disgaea 2 gets sick of them. [Sept 2006, p.80]

While Rockstar made its millions capturing the grotesque allure of fantasy crime, every character in this me-too endeavor is simply grotesque. It has a taste for hot coffee, but only knows how to serve it straight. [Oct 2006, p.88]

Ultimately, the tiny, intricate design just doesn't give Command enough elbow room to develop true depth or challenge, but it's thoroughly satisfying all the same, and a worthy side-show to the Star Fox circus. [Oct 2006, p.87]

It’s a high-profile demonstration of the fact that those who created this much-loved universe have lost their understanding of what originally made it so engaging. [Apr 2006, p.91]

Ninety-Nine Nights deserves a better score... That's a strange ways to put it, but it comes from the fact that its most grating flaws occur at such a fundamental level that it's a mystery they were ever tolerated at all. [JPN Import; June 2006, p.89]

On balance, its lack of ambition is supported only by a very basic underlying solidity in its execution: too weak to tackle bigger monsters, but strong enough to soldier on with some perseverance. [Nov 2006, p.89]

Thematically eccentric, mechanically shambolic and technically stunning, Dead Rising is the kind of infectious experience that yearns for a sequel. [Oct 2006, p.80]

Where FlatOut felt like racing in a field, FlatOut 2 feels like racing on a film set. It has been reshaped into the archetype, competent arcade racer. [Aug 2006, p.89]

Where FlatOut felt like racing in a field, FlatOut 2 feels like racing on a film set. It has been reshaped into the archetype, competent arcade racer. [Aug 2006, p.89]

It’s just too hard, the physics too capricious, and the tasks too frustrating for words. [Aug 2006, p.85]

Where FlatOut felt like racing in a field, FlatOut 2 feels like racing on a film set. It has been reshaped into the archetype, competent arcade racer. [Aug 2006, p.89]

It's just too hard, the physics too capricious, and the tasks too frustrating for words. [Aug 2006, p.85]

The series is so hemmed in by its own history - and the demands of fans - that it is largely unable to innovate. As such, the PSP version, while a solid iteration of an eminently playable formula, is able to grow only in width rather than concept. [Sept 2006, p.85]

The charismatic animation and evocative, sunset-hazed setting make up for a lot of the game's shortcomings, and although limited in lasting appeal, Miami Vice is solidly and imaginatively made. [Sept 2006, p.86]

While most shooters handle the genre's design tradition like fragile cargo, careful to ensure that its arrangement of pieces doesn't fall into disarray, Prey cranks it like a Rubik's cube, cocking its world delightfully askew. [Sept 2006, p.76]