This is the best entry in its genre since Bayonetta, and might just be the best game Ninja Theory has made to date.

Puzzle hunting is the only hassle in an otherwise laidback world. This niggle aside, Professor Layton remains a fine antidote to dull Sunday afternoons. [Dec 2010, p.99]

Brimming with self-assuredness both in its characterisations and its functionality, and measures its pace and progression with an ever more aggressively beautiful interface and environment design, capturing even more galactic and universal scale than the original. [Sept 2005, p.88]

The seamless integration of voice commands into a polished, thoughtful upgrade is Harmonix's slick finishing move. Dance Central 2 is a typical music game sequel – it works better, offers more, yet feels fundamentally the same – but it's a practised improvement to an already eye-catching routine.

We're ready to see what the future holds for The Creative Assembly after Total War. We're also, however, delighted by the studio's seemingly indefatigable ability to bend its own rules and brew up new playstyles, as it brings one of gaming's greatest licensed adaptations to a thunderous conclusion. [Issue#370, p.114]

Plagued by imbalance, the Round 3 career can serve up over 50 bouts before one goes the distance. The new stun punch – a thunderclap of a haymaker – helps to ensure first to third round knockouts for the vast majority of fights. [Apr 2006, p.82]

Amplitude is actually the perfect sequel. Not an expansion pack; a game that doesn't set out to mimic its forefather, but seeks to change the rules slightly without wholly perverting the initial concept. [June 2003, p.92]

This is a game built from great art and clever mechanics, but it's an adventure born of both deeds and words.

We may have no experience of 1980s Taiwan, but Devotion carries the tang of authenticity in both the sharply observed detail of its setting and its more imaginative flourishes, including a gorgeous interactive storybook episode. [Issue#331, p.122]

Every single moment of Four Swords is magically familiar and every single moment is dazzlingly fresh...Whether being experienced in the competitive, co-operative cackle of multiplay, or the captivating atmosphere of singleplayer, the extraordinary virtues of the game itself remain the same. [May 2004, p.96]

The game's frustrations are notable, but never spoil the appeal of controlling that indefatigable little guy. [July 2010, p.100]

The plot is revealed in awkward clumps which never quite dovetail. There's no question, however, that Namco has managed to twist out a tale that sustains your interest across both discs. [Oct 2004, p.106]

This is a stupefyingly linear experience. While the individual stand-offs and shoot-outs are exhilirating, the removal of any sense of choice or any requirement of tactical thought makes this more of a theme park ride than a military operation. [Christmas 2003, p.117]

When so many games are trying to defend their value by cramming every mode and style into one unpalatable mix, it's refreshing to play something that's conceived with such vibrant, capricious clarity. [May 2004, p.104]

For those who favour Vice City above all else from GTA's back catalogue, it's the perfect 80's revival: a chance to live in the past, and love it. [Christmas 2006, p.80]

Watching a plan come together, guns and voodoo and bear traps working in perfect harmony, is incredibly satisfying. [Issue#348, p.90]

Diablo still contains enough impulsive monster-slaying to entertain, but the trek from its home on PC has left it diminished.

For dedicated Ghosts GRAW 2 is a no-brainer. For the rest of us it's just the exact game "Advanced Warfighter" should have been and would have beeen if the clock wasn't watching; Ubisoft rewriting history and charging us twice for the privilege. [May 2007, p.89]

It's a resourceful little game, then, mining laudable variety from an economy of ideas. It's amusing, too, littering its backgrounds with visual gags, including a sly reference to Angry Birds - even if one cake-related joke proves a meme too far. And it saves the best for last, with a final level that offers some thrillingly silly catharsis, managing to one-up its most obvious inspiration in the process.

A surprisingly conservative game from Rockstar. Its absorption of cover mechanics makes Payne feel more familiar than he should, but even then his signature tricks are over a decade old. This is a game about a world-weary killer doing the only thing he knows how to, and for all its spectacular action beats there's something apt about Max's fatigue.

The strongest MMO launch for a long while, and the genre’s deftest ever take on PVP – but its appeal may yet prove too narrow. [Christmas 2008, p.93]

While it's unlikely to win as many hearts as Resident Evil 4 did, it's an equally important and remarkable entry in the series' tumultuous timeline. [March 2017, p.94]

This is a gentle refinement, ironing out kinks, sewing on a few accouterments, and leaving everything else the way it was. [Christmas 2015, p.110]

The same game you've been playing for seven years - or perhaps even longer. And for that it's a thorough success. [Mar 2008, p.97]

What it does have is something an Activision or EA would kill for: a game built up around one good idea that drew in a community of unprecedented size. And that counts for a lot against PUBG's flaws: its rough-edged movement, animations, collision detection, character customisation, spectator functionality, and presentation. Perhaps you might hear all that and think this isn't worth your time. To do so would be to miss out on an absolute, and absolutely deserving, phenomenon. [March 2018, p.106]

All things considered, it’s about the best game called ‘DJ Hero’ we were ever likely to see. It deserves extended play.

It's a shame that Forza's much-vaunted AI tech proves an ill fit for open-world racing. [Dec 2014, p.112]

This is a smart, savvy evolution of the "Spire" formula, one you suspect Mega Crit, flattery be damned, would have been happy to put its name to. [Issue#348, p.105]