The series is so hemmed in by its own history - and the demands of fans - that it is largely unable to innovate. As such, the PSP version, while a solid iteration of an eminently playable formula, is able to grow only in width rather than concept. [Sept 2006, p.85]

It’s one of the happiest pieces of software ever released, constantly throwing tunes, trinkets and new tricks at the player simply to amuse them. [Jan 2009, p.93]

Like the Trebhum, The Eternal Cylinder thrives despite its deficiencies, relying on a unique ensemble of qualities to find a way. [Issue#367, p.118]

This is not, then, the kind of game you pick up and play between train stops, but one to sit down with when you've got an afternoon stretching out in front of you. [Issue#338, p.118]

If you can stomach the precarious ethical nature of a game that takes American intervention in the very serious political quagmire that is Somalia as its subject matter, then this game makes for a varied and engrossing piece of gun-action. [May 2003, p.101]

THUG2's biggest step forward – it's stripped-down Classic mode – is one it takes back. It's as refreshing as it is nostalgic, taking on old-school Tony Hawk's levels and goals with THUG's improved trick set, and proves to be a necessary antidote to the mouthy fluster of the career mode, offering up pure, disciplined high-score play against the clock. [Dec 2005, p.117]

For all its mechanical innovations, however, Aaero can't consistently match the synasthetic joy of its biggest influence. [April 2017, p.119]

This is a fine debut. Backbone uses its seductive looks to enrich a conceptually thoughtful and carefully plotted-out world, and delivers real surprises within a genre that is all about adhering to time-honoured conventions. [Issue#361, p.116]

Perhaps its greatest achievement is defying comparisons to Rock Band and emerging as its own game. GHWT might be a little rough around the edges, but it’s a good stab at reinvigorating the franchise. [Christmas 2008, p.96]

You can take the massively multiplayer game out of the PC, then, but perhaps not the PC out of the game. The endless beta testing, the freewheeling project management, and the agonies and ecstasies of the results. [Apr 2011, p.88]

As a place, Los Angeles simply isn't as much fun as Liberty or Vice. Too much of this silicon LA exists simply because the designers wanted to show that it could be done rather than because it serves any gameplay purpose. [Christmas 2003, p.107]

A brave game in many ways, then, but above all, an enjoyable one.

For better and worse, Octopath Traveler manages to evoke the games its creators grew up with, without ever quite matching the profusion of new ideas that made them so beloved in the first place. There's still much to enjoy here, but if Acquire had shared the courage of its protagonists' convictions, this could have been a journey worth making eight times over. [Issue#323, p.104]

Turns out that Tekken's big new idea for online play is rather underwhelming: you can customise your outfit and fight with it on. [Dec 2009, p.103]

It's a bold first effort from the studio - the first spark of something great, perhaps. [Issue#338, p.122]

It turns out the mountain really does have something to say, but it's only when the noise is gone that its message can really be heard. [Feb 2017, p.116]

SpeedThru is a game best experienced in short bursts, not least because the startling image depth may prove a strain for tired eyes. Still, this is further evidence of the eShop's relevance in the face of strong competition from Nintendo's peers.

While its appeal may have some age restrictions, some of those minigames are deceptively distracting, and doubly so. [Jan 2007, p.85]

Undersized and profoundly linear, but that cannot shake its solidity and the sheer intensity of the spectacle it creates. The most fun thing you'll get on the PC this side of Christmas. [Christmas 2003, p.108]

Yes, we've been here before, but Puzzle Fighter is one of the handful of Tetris clones that at least lies in the same league as Pajitnov's masterwork. [May 2003, p.102]

It's in the great outdoors where Forbidden West comes to life - which is ironic given how often we're told it's dying. When the story's leash is off and we're free to luxuriate in its world and the wider cast's personal tales (one sidequest, involving a missing friend and an unrequited romance, is an exemplar of the form), it's not hard to understand why the first game was so popular. This is, then, more of the same in every sense, and your feelings towards the first will determine whether you see that as a recommendation. [Issue#369, p.100]

Sure, it’s another great instalment of Wipeout, but under the gloss it’s little more. [Dec 2007, p.90]

Plenty of games have flourished around the slaughter, scale and destruction of war, but few have managed to realise a soldier's role and worth - disposable, vulnerable, pivotal - as well as this. [Apr 2005, p.100]

Resident Evil 5 is a good game. The surprising, and sad, thing about Resident Evil 5 is that it feels old. [Apr 2009, p.112]

A sensitive update for a series many thought would stay stuck in the past.

If you were that kid who was pulled away from the TMNT cabinets by an angry mum, who couldn’t wait for Golden Axe to appear on a home console, and who played Streets Of Rage 2 over and over, Castle Crashers is for you. [Nov 2008, p.103]

Like playing with a good camera, though, this is really its own reward - something that's a joy to fiddle with for hours at a time, even if no one but you is interested in the results. [Issue#367, p.123]

Granted, this is hardly the most drastic of sequels, but it didn’t need to be: instead, it stands as an indicator that, even as the DSi heads ever deeper into the online space, on some level at least, it’s still business as usual.