Proves that what works as a prototype does not necessarily translate to a final product. [May 2015, p.123]

Nobody, nobody at all, walks into a game shop and thinks: "Hey, goblins are pretty cool. Today I want to be a goblin." When the goblins in question have been rendered with almost no character or charm, this merely compounds the lack of emotional connection. [Mar 2004, p.106]

A largely muddled package. [Nov 2010, p.95]

Prince Of Persia’s overalls structure never quite compels, it offers too few distractions to qualify as a sandbox, nor does it possess the quick narrative impetus of more linear games, ultimately feeling a little shallow and repetitious. [Jan 2009, p.84]

Given the power at the player's fingertips to rewind, pause, fast forward and even record time, the scope for creating some genuinely engaging and ingenious situations is still as immense as it ever was. But, in actuality, everything is blandly obvious and ironically one-dimensional, and the use of the rewind function is still as chronological as it ever was. [Jan 2005, p.91]

No characters stand out to give the game verve, and Dracogenics does nothing to inspire efforts to take it down. [Oct 2015, p.118]

Embracing and supporting a community project like this is still a commendable move, and one that Mega Man's passionate fans may see as encouraging. But only his most die-hard followers will be willing to overlook such unwelcome, avoidable flaws.

Headstrong's effort shows a developer of some calibre, with a clutch of decent ideas, bowed beneath the weight of a multimedia franchise and hobbled by family friendly obligations. Its execution is uneven besides, but the challenge is so light that its flaws are largely irrelevant - and, unfortunately, that applies to the game's few triumphs too.

For all its luxurious visuals, it knows little about how to marry them to gameplay, or how to end the suffering of artists who 
see their work butchered to meet gameplay's demands.

Repetition is the point. [Issue#401, p.116]

There’s no sense of strength or weight to your actions despite how extravagant the carnage becomes.

Just as Double Dash's random nature levels newcomers and experts but means the game will never be as satisfying in the long term, so Gacha Mecha Athlete's flaws are initially forgivably amusing, but ultimately wearing. [Sept 2004, p.103]

Like Borderlands, the promise of fresh guns, equipment and powered-up skills offers an incentive to press on. But unlike its parent series, the combat in Legends means it's not worth doing so.

Unlike iOS title The Room, here intricacy proves a weakness, and Open Me doesn’t have the rich atmosphere of Fireproof Games’ award-winning puzzler to compensate for its mechanical awkwardness.

With no meaningful equivalent to the communal goals and tactical layovers that gave Planes a stay of execution, once the paywall stalls your progress like leaves on the line, there’s little reason to continue. Even for those who’ve ‘supported’ NimbleBit with regular IAP donations, you suspect the Bux stop here.

Mission design feels particularly lazy this time round, Locomotive seemingly jotting down amusing cutscene scenarios before finding tenuous ways of tying ‘destroy this’ or ‘abduct that’ tasks to the constant stream of ooh-er references to ‘big willies’ and ‘meat’ in the dialogue. [May 2008, p.97]

Gratifying though it is to see your decisions produce such tangible results, Where The Heart Leads is consistently let down by its storytelling. [Issue#362, p.120]

Where B-Boy crucially disappoints is in the execution of its gameplay. The turn-based nature of its stages is interminably frustrating. [Oct 2006, p.94]

Given that its bland combat is little enhanced by the ability to create cover, you suspect that the promises made for the technology have simply dug its own grave. [Dec 2008, p.90]

At its best, Orgarhythm's disparate ingredients coalesce into scenes of thrilling tribal warfare, a winningly eclectic soundtrack stirring your men to march into battle. Too often, however, you end up feeling like your fragmented cabal: disorientated, frustrated and battered into submission by an unforgiving enemy, with little reason to keep on fighting.

The overall impression is of a game that’s both bravely and badly designed, and weighted towards the latter. [July 2006, p.84]

It’s a solid concept, but Honeyslug struggles to develop it in any meaningful way.

The plot may be filled with sub-Lynchian fumbles, but it weaves an intriguing story, while the charismatic muddle of awards that accompanies each solution goes some way to wiping away the grey memory of what you're actually being congratulated for.

This simply has the air of a development team biting off more than it could chew. [Issue#139, p.118]

If the Old West is anything, it's a giant myth, and one that the Call Of Juarez games have always embodied. What The Cartel replaces this with – a mishmash of 
The Shield and conspiracy theories – is a much less substantial vision, played out within a world with no real resonance to it.

Feels cheeky to be criticising a scrolling beat 'em up for being too shallow, but TMNT is possibly one of the most tedious ever. Repetition is only acceptable when you're repeating something gratifying. [Jan 2004, p.109]

This less ambitious, full-priced follow-up is a lesser experience in every sense. [Issue#349, p.92]

This may not suffer the indignity of being delisted, but it's highly unlikely anyone will remember it in a decade's time. [Issue#395, p.122]