The major strengths of the original title remain undimmed; this is as consumate an example of Koei's design skill as its predecessor and every bit as enjoyable - in spite of having seen it all before. [Dec 2003, p.109]

By the final reckoning, we're invested in how it all shakes out; perhaps the biggest surprise of all is that the titular weapon is not, in fact, Gunbrella's most powerful asset. [Issue#390, p.132]

A collection of ideas executed with variable success, which at times coalesce to form an effective whole, and at others feel like flashy distractions from an otherwise unambitious central formula. [Christmas 2010]

Max Payne isn't a bad way to spend a train journey, but those who've already played the original will have little reason to buy the conversion, apart from to smile at how mini-Max so cutely apes his big brother. [Apr 2004, p.110]

Reveals that the series can be both a chaotic toy box and a lattice of fantastical set-pieces that unfold meaningfully. [July 2011, p.126]

Crucially, Autosport’s career structure and nuanced vehicle handling combine to alleviate any potential frustration for players weaned on effortless victories.

Many will be satisfied by the simple existence of a COD game on the day next-gen hardware launches, but this is a missed opportunity nonetheless. The studio that defined the console FPS in the current generation has declined to do the same here. By the time it gets another chance, it may be too late.

It draws you in after your first few taps of the screen, and it's smart enough to keep things brief, topping off a short campaign with an endless mode and a limited selection of unlockables.

Meltdown deserves its own unique place amongst rolling puzzlers and, eventually, to have its timelessness and solidity recognised as a benchmark. [Nov 2006, p.88]

Codemasters had a hard act to follow in Grid, but with this sequel it’s delivered a dazzling package that can proudly take its place among the best racing games of this generation. It not only smooths off nearly all of the awkward edges that have plagued the studio’s ongoing attempts to cohere its racing games with driver-focused storylines, but it does so with enough pomp and spectacle to send current-generation hardware off with a memorable bang.

Levels lose the false drama of scripted sequences but take on something much more satisfying. Everything that happens in Airborne’s dropzones, from shameful deaths to GI Joe heroics, feels like it’s because of you, and it usually is. [Oct 2007, p.92]

Stripped by necessity to its basest form to allow for the limited inputs of the handheld, and this time greatly enhanced and personlaised by character artist Gez Fry's gorgeous anime-inspired designs, Rebelstar may be their most accessible title to date. [Dec 2005, p.112]

For all its simplified inputs and friendly onboarding, 2XKO may fail to convert those who already harbour skepticism toward fighting games, or indeed toward League of Legends itself. [Issue#421, p.108]

It's a delightful time. [Issue#333, p.118]

It's brash and beautiful, and in looking outside its own boundaries has found fresh ways to keep you coming back to the danger zone.

It’s a masterclass of design purity: every one of these elements exists for a reason, and its potential is exploited to the fullest. But Samurai Gunn’s genius lies in its dizzying speed. It condenses organic, balletic setpieces worthy of an action flick finale into mere seconds, the ground filling up with the bloodied pixel remains of the fallen.

With a little more in the way of technical polish and a few more hours of playtime thrown in, this would have been one of the best film-based games of all time. [July 2009, p.90]

More old than new, New Super Mario Bros 2 is an inverted Galaxy, more content to remix old stomping grounds and sprinkle on new gimmicks than take Mario to places he hasn't hopped through before.

Its pacing is hindered by slow movement speed, and nuance is lost as the incidents increase in frequency and topics of conversation shift from the social to the situational. [March 2016, p.120]

Yet there is heart in Banishers, and it beats strongest in the doomed romance at its centre. There's emotional heft in its ending, too. [Issue#395, p.110]

Dead Rising 3 is a sandbox in the purest sense, one that urges you to experiment with its innumerable toys at your leisure. The result is an open world that, in spite of its reanimated inhabitants, feels more alive than most.

Kids are often underestimated, but that doesn’t mean their games should be. Lego Star Wars has an appeal that goes beyond age, even if it’s one that rarely goes beyond 20 minutes at a time. [May 2005, p.84]

There are dozens of puzzles, with a Resident Evil-like fetishism for clicking locks and mechanisms. [Issue#416, p.112]

Alien Hominid is just about an essential title for anyone who’s caught themselves yearning for a forgotten past, or to any young blood wondering what people mean when they say they don’t make them like they used to. [Jan 2005, p.97]

So yes, there's definitely something strange about this place - and it's those peculiarities that, for all its flaws, make this Call worth heeding. [Issue#354, p.102]

Nintendo is famed for sprinkling around mechanics other developers would build entire games on, but here the effect is quite irritating. [Oct 2008, p.97]

Encounters feel needlessly protracted - born of a stubborn refusal to admit the game's fundamental lack of content. The layout of scenery predetermines your every gambit before enemies blithely meander into your squad's unlimited gunfire. [Apr 2005, p.101]

Mere hours after playing it, Hue is already vanishing into the background of our minds, leaving only a vague sensation of something more tangible. [Nov 2016, p.123]