Despite the posthuman setting, these puzzling exhibitions are gently life-affirming, offering warmth and ingenuity in equal abundance. [Issue#351, p.104]

This series offered some of the most memorable hours we spent holding a gamepad during 2012. [Feb 2013, p.102]

The biggest addition is the inclusion of collectables from each course, which provides a great incentive to exploring in Freeride mode, and brings a touch of Amped's atmosphere to a game that was all about the rush. [Dec 2003, p.106]

Boktai re-invigorates almost every aspect of the tired dungeon-and-items formula. The light-sensor technology works flawlessly and opens up a host of possibilities for future games. A beautiful game in almost every respect. [Oct 2003, p.92]

Much of the attraction is largely due to the variety of racing on offer, but it's the overall quality of that racing that is responsible for ensuring Race Driver 2 remains an intensely engaging ride. [May 2004, p.102]

A great marriage of presentation and design, spun with ravishing verve.

Regardless of the amount of familiarity, though, Echoes is as solid and tangible as ever: the uncluttered HUD, the gentle rumble as Samus touches down from her unfaltering jumps, the ingeniously tucked-away power-ups, the smoothness and surety of movement. Its combat and exploration, if taken separately, can feel a little hollow and basic, but taken together they're still a powerful combination for a rewarding adventure. [Christmas 2004, p.76]

For a game that covers everything from drift events to time trials and eliminators, not to mention bumper-to-bumper tuning options, a top-tier physics model and authentic handling, Shift has enough precision and purpose to give anyone pause. [Nov 2009, p.98]

Klei's Saturday morning cartoon style visuals intersect smoothly with your ninja's slinky animation and flowing moves, and the range of visual effects (position-betraying lightning strikes, a blurred fog of war-style filter on activity beyond your sight line) folds neatly back into the game's light-and-shadow based stealth systems. The result is a slick and striking game, one with presentation worthy of the potent and flexible set of powers at its core.

One of the most quietly devastating moments involves a character simply shaking their head softly. [December 2016, p.110]

This dazzling, determinedly populist experience was not made according to the standards other games are made by, and when judged – or even just described – by those standards, it might seem slender to the point of frailty. [Christmas 2005, p.101]

This is a wonderful, expansive piece of sequel-craft that has already drawn us in for a second go-around at a higher difficulty, with no fear that we've scraped the ceilings of its systems and stories. For something like that, we'll take a bit of instability any time. [Issue#407, p.90]

This stands as software that will give back to the user as much as they are willing to put in. Without goals, with nothing there to ‘win’, Electroplankton is its own reward. [June 2005, p.93]

It's taken two near-miss games to get here, but Insomniac has finally nailed the art of war, lock, stock and around 20 smoking barrels. [Christmas 2004, p.89]

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]

This isn't just the most satisfying detective game since Obra Dinn, but one that has a similar transportive quality, the world unfolding like a flower's petals as you steadily cultivate your knowledge of it through the wonderfully weird plants that flourish within. [Issue#369, p.118]

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]

Its biggest adventure to date isn't flawless, but the Dark Knight is far from one to underestimate. [Aug 2015, p.106]

It remains disarmingly single-minded throughout, yet any repetition is offset by intuitive, precise controls, and satisfying audiovisual feedback.

It's disappointing that basic irritants are still evident in the singleplayer game. But it's the online version - which takes the hunter/hunted metaphor to chilling extremes - which ends up being one of the most nerve-racking gaming experiences of all time. [Apr 2004, p.98]

This is a simple game at heart, a game about learning the rules, becoming really good at manipulating the elements, and then getting a huge high score to brag about. And who could argue with that? [Oct 2007, p.98]

That Disgaea 3 is perhaps the finest of its self-referential and casually wicked yarns, is almost an irrelevance. We’ve got numbers to think about. [Dec 2008, p.97]

Like many of its predecessors, The Origami King marches to an eccentric rhythm at times, but in a challenging year, you'll struggle to find a game that strives to consistently to put a smile on your face. [Issue#349, p.88]

What Dynamic Hunting captures is the back-and-forth rhythm of Monster Hunter fights, the swings between danger and all-out attack, the wounds and the frenzies.

If you take away the window dressing, the epic sounds and the preordained surprises this is a derivative, one-note and sometimes flawed game, but see it as a spectacular amusement ride and you can play and it's a distinguished achievement. [Christmas 2003, p.110]

Few other titles’ enemies have the power to flood you with real horror as they scramble and skitter towards you. [Christmas 2007, p.98]

It’s the combination of this collective roleplay with direct competition that makes the game so compulsive. As such, Blade Symphony is as close as you are likely to get to the fantasy of slowly becoming a master swordsman.

The trappings of high society barely conceal the violence yet to come, and the air crackles with anticipation. [Issue#384, p.108]