There’s more to be got out of this new kind of play than Nintendo has found this time around, and some of it could be better implemented. But, for now, it offers an experience that can’t be matched. [July 2005, p.89]

It's worth pushing through a few early stumbles for the wry smile and inner warmth it leaves. [Issue#378, p.117]

The perspective might be different, but practically everything else from those games has its analogue here. [Issue#378, p.118]

Horses is a fascinating work, capable of moments that lodge in the memory, such as the late-game sequence when the projector's whirring finally stops and the tired clomp of footsteps registers to our ears like the sound of freedom. [Issue#419, p.122]

It delivers on 5th Cell's unlikely conceit far more capably than expected, and fulfills a blueprint so bizarrely ambitious almost nobody believed it was possible. [Nov 2009, p.92]

The sense of immersion is about as unparalleled as you can get without an Oculus Rift strapped to your head. But the campaign feels overlong and stretch marks begin to appear towards the end of the roughly 20-hour adventure. This game could have benefited from some strategic dismemberment of its own, performed by a shrewd editor who knows how to sever redundant limbs.

It may not be the most refined of strategy games, but it's an entertaining, accessible and outstandingly polished example of its type. [July 2015, p.108]

Apart from minor graphical tweaks and two fresh characters, VF4E remains much the same game. [May 2003, p.102]

Seeing the game from beginning to end reveals its true artistic merit: it never gets stale; every episode has been drawn with minute care and attention. It would have been an incredible achievement if the gameplay had matched the outstanding art direction. [Dec 2003, p.94]

If the nostalgic, arcade sensibilities of Cosmic Heroes may not hold us as long as Absolum's Roguelike depth, then, mastering our favoured dynamic duo - to borrow a phrase from a rival universe - just might. [Issue#419, p.122]

Like its predecessor, The New Colossus is a stunning technical achievement and an unusually stylish act of videogame cinematography. Yet where the first game gleefully took a scalpel to what had come before, there's no old order for The New Colossus to overthrow: just a New Order that it struggles to live up to. [Christmas 2017, p.104]

Although the decision to lengthen the already generous cut-scenes may deliver the odd treat for MGS veterans, many will find their duration exasperating. Crucially, though, some of the reworked sequences end up interfering with the game's pacing while failing to bring anything of substance to the experience. [Apr 2004, p.102]

The triumphs, however, will have you punching the air: accept that they are sometimes extremely hard-won and you might well consider this a keeper. [Issue#378, p.120]

It's a peculiar idea to grasp, but it's impossible to argue with how successfully Game Freak has taken one simple design decision and made it integral to movement, combat and puzzle solving. [Mar 2006, p.95]

These fascinating windows into the lives of people unwittingly close to the end are your reward for being thorough. [Issue#388, p.123]

With a wealth of weapons, unlockable characters, hidden relics and buff-providing cards, Galante has adopted the kitchen-sink approach to fleshing out his game. [Issue#378, p.121]

Could allowing complete freedom to draw support sharply designed puzzles? Mid-way through the completed game’s 80-plus levels, you’ll still be wondering. [Mar 2009, p.94]

What we've got here is one of the most thoughtfully constructed fighters we've ever played, but Fantasy Strike initially presents as off-puttingly amateurish, and we fear few are likely to give it the second chance it deserves. [Issue#336, p.122]

Even as you reflect on the rarity of a blockbuster that's willing to take real risks, you'll be left with the uncomfortable realisation that ten years wasn't quite long enough, after all. Those jagged edges are, in the end, just a little too sharp. [Feb 2017, p.110]

Sacrificing a degree of nuance at the altar of spectacle is a trade-off most Halo fans will be happy to make. Yet, at times it feels like you're just smashing toys together and watching the carnage unfold. But what wonderful toys they are. [May 2017, p.114]

Unadventurous Everybody's Golf may be, but it's wonderfully executed, and its presence at Vita's launch is welcome. With their endlessly smiling characters, cheery J-tunes and bright skies, Everybody's Golf titles are the best Nintendo-esque games a Sony console has ever seen, and this latest iteration is no exception.

It’s a game that rewards the long-haul with deep, inventive missions which eschew the usual fetch and kill structure, ensuring that the many hours spent in Fallout 3’s wasteland aren’t wasted. [Christmas 2008, p.88]

Ultimately, Alan Wake is every bit as compulsive and satisfying as the fiction on which it riffs, but it also runs the risk of being equally forgettable. It’s a game that delivers the requisite number of twists, turns and thrills, but the only real revelations take place on those scattered manuscript pages.

Beneath the drab visuals, then, Taito's unlikely classic remains a game of skill and wit, as well as proof that no-frills fun can still be found in the strangest of places.

A breathtaking way to polish off the definitive videogame nostalgia project, certainly - padding aside, the first 30 hours of Remake suggest that this is change for the better. By the conclusion, though, you may feel like things are going off the rails in more ways than one. [Issue#346, p.80]

The game’s inimitable character bursts at the seams of what was clearly a limited budget. There is none of SquareSoft’s dull-eyed cinematic waste here, which will no doubt alienate swarms of both genre fans and critics. But the charm of the title coupled with its breathtaking breadth and depth will win over more discerning gamers. [Aug 2005, p.91]

Underneath the mundane masculinity and grimy gun-toting clichés lies a heavily structured and well-considered score-attack game – one that’s worth excavating for all the short-lived interest it holds. [Feb 2008, p.88]

Homeworld 3 isn't quite the homecoming we had hoped for. At worst competent, at best exceptional, it has been crafted with evident care, though the originals still cast a shadow as dense as a black hole's event horizon. [Issue#399, p.108]