Black Box’s sequel ultimately struggles to offer any single compelling justification for its own existence. [Feb 2009, p.93]

Earned In Blood might not seem like a radical departure from the original but the gloriously cascading AI and open maps have effectively transformed it into a very special WWII experience. The fact that there's nothing quite like it in such a crowded genre speaks volumes. [Dec 2005, p.103]

As the more intimate title suggests, this may be as much about Croft's brand awareness in the face of unprecedented (and Uncharted) competition. [Oct 2010, p.96]

With its pulsing, ever-changing playing fields and foppish rhythm-action audio elements, one of the main reasons to play Fractal is simply to enjoy its wonderful aesthetics.

Alluringly lurid, but ultimately disposable. [Dec 2009, p.92]

It's almost shocking how seamless, engrossing and accessible Fahrenheit is. It's sad, then, that it shows weakness in the one area where it needed to be stronger than any other game: the script. [Oct 2005, p.84]

It's certainly fun, but at times it's more than that: around the parody of leveling orbits a whole universe of bigger and better systems to lose yourself within. [Feb 2010, p.92]

Spiritfarer loses itself in so much tiresome back-and-forth, ladling on delightful incidental details in the hope that you won't notice that each character's story has become little more than an extended shopping list. [Issue#350, p.96]

The control system deserves special mention, as it could so easily have been crude or overwhelming. Instead, it's sophisticated and sensitive, catering solidly enough for corridor-cleaning run'n'guns while allowing ambitious flights of TK fancy. [Aug 2004, p.100]

Its thesis - that a multiplicity of cultures leaves a society profoundly enriched - has never seemed more urgent and vital. [Issue#390, p.130]

An efficient and well thought out expansion. Short, tight and intense, it's a considerably different experience from Medieval proper and well worth experiencing. [June 2003, p.105]

Vietnam is not about skill or proving your worth. It's about taking part in recreations of famous battles, crawling on your belly, loving every minute. And when it works, nothing can touch it. [Apr 2004, p.103]

It refines the core shooting and user interface, but otherwise adds only a clutch of enjoyable yet nonessential extras, such as settlements and armour pieces. [Jan 2016, p.106]

By juxtaposing a hero who retreats in denials against an antagonist who'll go to any lengths to change the past, The Drifter offers a poignant take on trauma, and the ways it keeps gnawing at the soul the longer we refuse to process it. [Issue#414, p.123]

Ultimately, this is a Metroidvania not in any loose sense but a direct descendent of both parents. [Issue#407, p.102]

A brainteaser that's nervy, humbling, and strangely energising. If you can handle the stress, SpellTower is magnificent.

In a catalogue festooned with gems, this wild heart glitters brightest of all. [Issue#338, p.96]

Fortunately, it has a reliable stream of Gilbert gags, puns, and musical numbers to fall back on, ensuring that just as the challenge eases off, the charm comfortably picks up the slack.

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]

No other combat game has maps this lavish, or ambitiously designed. [Nov 2007, p.88]

Warhawk's manic pace makes for an instantly gratifying experience, and its brilliantly implemented notion of flight and considered balance among combat options more than compensate for the slenderness of its offering. [Oct 2007, p.90]

Funny and miserable, disgusting and endearing, the end result is a game that's smart enough to have things both ways, offering an often brutal critique of certain religious sacraments, while wallowing comfortably inside the rituals of one of gaming's oldest genres.

The steadily dwindling friend tallies on our post-run leaderboards are convincing proof that Runner’s sharpest edges remain intact.

Those who like their puzzlers to have a supplementary hook will find it wanting on that front, then, but you will struggle to find more ingenious challenges than these in any other game this year. [Issue#371, p.121]

In reckoning so candidly with the conflicting emotions we've experienced over the past few years, Mediterranea Inferno achieves a purgative potency few of its peers can match. [Issue#390, p.135]

Waking Mars is ultimately a game about ecological balance, but it's the balance of a different kind – of art, narrative, and puzzle mechanics - that makes it so very satisfying to play.

Beyond the obvious aesthetic appeal of the jump to HD, New Super Mario Bros U doesn't make a particularly convincing case for Nintendo's new console, and there's very little here that couldn't have been done on Wii. But if it isn't a great showpiece for the console, it may have to settle for being a very good Mario game, perhaps the finest of the plumber's side-scrolling adventures since his 16bit heyday.

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]