It's easy to assume that Gyromancer is a clone of Puzzle Quest...The truth, perhaps, is that it's simply an improvement on the formula. [Jan 2010, p.98]

A Toyko Tale is brief and entirely linear – in the main, you’re simply walking between numbered waypoints, though you can unlock certain dialogues by losing your servant status – but Ayabe transports you so utterly to an unfamiliar time and place that it matters little. By the outlandish and oddly touching final act showdown, you’ll be a rapt spectator, cheering on the heroes alongside Sohta and his newfound friends.

While the logic-based puzzles are never too perplexing, they can require a little too much back-and-forth travel between adjacent rooms, occasionally wearing out the good impression made by each gorgeously rendered setting.

It isn't more than the sum of its parts, but those parts are at least expertly arranged to foreground the very best in firstperson athletics. [Issue#369, p.104]

At its best, Cultist Simulator is quietly riveting, conjuring a palpable atmosphere of intrigue and danger as you juggle the risk and reward of harnessing otherworldly powers. During a bad run, however, it can feel like a rather inefficient way of telling a fairly miserable story. [July 2018, p.118]

After the first game, the series was in need of a rethink; now all it needs is refinement. [May 2010, p.94]

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]

It's not going to change your life, but for a dozen or so hours, this genial adventure might just make it a few shades brighter. [July 2018, p.120]

It delivers on its promise of realising pursuit scenarios in a fast-paced and energetic manner – it's a pleasing experience, but not exceptional. [Dec 2005, p.102]

Uprising may not break any new ground in a genre that is arguably an endangered species, but it does a good job of breathing life into the dying breed. It's a reminder that an artist's eye, when met by a designer's understanding of modern tastes, can revitalise a struggling brand and make the old feel new again.

You'll want to see each and every one of Pendragon's journeys through, even knowing that its survivors are set to live miserably ever after. [Issue#351, p.100]

In a game that succumbs a little too often to 'numbers go up' design, it's much more of a thrill to see them go DOWN occasionally, then have to strive just to get back on an even keel. [Issue#369, p.112]

Renegade Ops sees Avalanche successfully putting a thoroughly modern spin - and more than a few spin-outs - on well-worn mechanics. If you're reading, EA, we know just the team for that Strike reboot.

A superior bit of stuff and nonsense, it makes a bigger splash than you'd think. [Issue#360, p.121]

Our bond with our mechanical companion might have been even stronger when faced with a bit more hardship - by the time things really kick off, the story is nearly over. Nevertheless, Far: Lone Sails' ambiguous, strangely tranquil post-apocalypse is beautifully atmospheric, with a touching message: as long as you have hope, you are never truly alone. [July 2018, p.122]

In the end, we're rather glad we stuck our beaks in. [Issue#351, p.102]

If you've found yourself thinking Pokemon has been showing its age of late, Pokemon Legends: Arceus proves, like members of its playbase, it's more than capable of maturing, too. [Issue#369, p.114]

A co-op game that's alternatively tense and funny, and occasionally both. [Issue#360, p.122]

Multiplayer can be riotously scrappy fun as you clash hands and obscure one another’s view, evoking the memories and spirit of manic bouts of air-hockey at local arcades.

While the beauty and evocative nature of Kairo’s world has survived the transition from its original PC form to iOS unscathed, the controls have not. Movement is flighty and unwieldy, and in desperate need of a sidestep.

As a portable title, Untold Legends knows that its payoff has to be immediate and frequent and it graciously complies, with even the briefest morning commute diversion yielding at least one quest completed, at least one level gained and frequently another full wardrobe change rounding off a constant feeling of accomplishment. [June 2005, p.86]

Single- and multiplayer minigames – and, more interestingly, a fully self-contained production-quality construction kit supporting a viral and burgeoning custom-level trading community – round off an already complete package, making Gripshift one of the PSP's finest and full-featured games to date. [Dec 2005, p.110]

The chemistry of control, animation, AI and environmental damage systems is absolutely spot on, both in finding Hard Boiled’s groove and providing coherent, rhythmic and unpredictable action. [Nov 2007, p.91]

Goat Up isn't the most challenging game Llamasoft has ever made, but it's certainly one of its most imaginative and lovely: meanness would seem out of place. No other developer could, or would, turn the twitch platformer into a farmyard idyll.

Beautifully detailed with impressive lighting, accurately modelled protagonists and a terrific sense of speed. A refreshing and captivating direction for the series. [Christmas 2003, p.115]

Its clumsiness of presentation and lack of explanation might be partly excused as aesthetic choices that enrich even as they frustrate. But perhaps its truest accolade is in returning the horror of survival itself to the survival horror genre.

Assuming its most patience-testing proclivities don't put you off, there's a good chance it'll capture your heart. [Issue#351, p.104]

Proportionally, far more casual players will finish this than ever finished Super Metroid or Contra III, and their enjoyment might even compare. Sat nobly between emulated coin-ops and overpriced turkeys on high street shelves, Shadow Complex is something of a Live Arcade landmark.