A game that never quite finds a level of consistency to fully engage you. [June 2018, p.114]

Its rudimentary puzzles may not satisfy point-and-click fans, but those who enjoy interactive drama will be happy to tune in for Episode Two after this solid season premiere.

Temple Run 2 is a beautiful looking, natural extension of the series that never breaks stride for a second. The game's only liability is that, as beautiful as its environments may be, their unceasing repetition can eventually grow wearisome. Like a child hearing about the concept of living in heaven for eternity and asking, won't I get bored?

An exercise in turning the volume up to maximum and keeping it there. The sound it emits is powerful, but with its constant presence can become mere noise. PlatinumGames has mastered the way of the ninja as a furious mass-death machine, yet somehow Ninja Gaiden 4 isn't a true killer. [Issue#417, p.100]

Even on the least realistic setting, the game can be fearsomely complicated and the manual and tutorials are little help. [May 2007, p.91]

The extra depth is arresting – combatants plunge from one part of a stage to the next, crashing through glass and tumbling down stairs. While its 3D arenas arguably make for a more fitting showcase of 3DS's capabilities than launch title Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition, the two share a further thrill as you turn the 3D off and watch the framerate double.

Really, this is a game of strong, simple virtues: knockout action, beautiful character design, lovingly articulated models, crisp sound and overall polish. Every now and then it'll overstretch, at which point it falls. [Jan 2007, p.76]

In keeping with the original, Otogi 2 is something of an empty vessel, but it's one of the most ornate and accomplished around, possibly the most excessively and obscenely beautiful videogame yet made. Games that are this electric and uniquely rewarding don't come along very often, whereas those with more complexity are commonplace. Take your pick. [Mar 2004, p.104]

Trepang2 may not know many tunes, but it truly commits to those it does. [Issue#387, p.116]

Yes, the planet looks prettier than it did before we arrived, but this is a rare act of beautification that leaves a bitter aftertaste. [Issue#384, p.114]

There’s nothing revolutionary in Eternal Sonata, but it’s a well-executed RPG with style in abundance. [Nov 2007, p.98]

For every moment of epiphany, wide-eyed with an awareness of a resolution, there's an equal number of blunderingly hapless wins, falling or jumping accidentally to new and advantageous positions. [June 2008, p.89]

Why roam freely (when the game lets you, which is by no means always) when all that's out there to find is an empty trek between jarring episodes of production-line gaming? [Christmas 2005, p.105]

Windjammers 2 also cements Dotemu's position as the premier upholder of exquisite and sympathetic sequels to discarded classics. A triumph. [Issue#368, p.118]

No Shin'en game plays as good as it looks; this one, however, comes closer than most. [Issue#341, p.120]

Tropico is as vibrant and capricious as the setting, and never dry or formulaic in the way that other management games can tend to be. [Christmas 2009, p.106]

That speed and flow, ultimately, is a fantasy - one that's ever harder to appreciate when you're constantly being knocked off course by rockets. [Issue#376, p.104]

So while in some ways it's a pity this most malleable of heroes should be forced to return to old haunts instead of breaking new ground, this 2D homecoming is more invigorating than we could have anticipated. [Issue#383, p.121]

A few interface niggles and the eventual feeling of repetition don’t hold back a creative reimagining of a game type that, thanks to the execution, is as important as it is enjoyable. [Nov 2007, p.96]

To tackle the more inventive operations dreamt up for Wii with superior tools will be enough to convince the Trauma fans. [Nov 2008, p.102]

As we play, we realise that Pathologic 3 is rich in a large variety of relatively shallow systems. [Issue#421, p.116]

While there isn't the sense of playing something that opens up a new era for a genre long written off as dying, there is a simple freshness and a delightful accessibility which might endear it to an even wider market. [July 2004, p.106]

Word games are only as good as their dictionary is reliable, and while Quarrel has one of the best around, it's occasionally hamstrung by Microsoft's Victorian sensibilities.

There's enough skill on display to suggest that these tales might actually be worth telling. [Sept 2009, p.99]

A series that has spent too long paying bashful tribute has, at long last, emerged from the shadow of its classic debut. [Issue#332, p.112]

Yes, Wipeout 2048 conjures a less fanciful racing grid than we've seen previously, and it's also a less immaculate, less finessed racer than the home console iterations of the series we've played down the years. Instead, it's an attempt to try something new on the newest of platforms. While it may not offer something for everyone, when it flies, it soars.

A game of canny, and often quite annoying, design. [June 2018, p.120]

Zombie Gunship obviously has its influences, but it works them into something surprising: a slow-mo high-score shooter, a grainy panorama of survival horrors, and a greater sense of an undead horde than the rest of the App Store's zombie shooters put together.