The result, Llamasoft's best game since Polybius, is dazzling in every sense of the word. [Issue#382, p.114]

There's a pleasingly wide range of enemies to fight. [Sept 2012, p.110]

The Gunstringer's biggest problem, however, is that it's a score-based shooter with little incentive to return. With only one weapon type available at any given time, there's none of the tactical interplay between attacks that makes aiming for high scores in Child Of Eden so tempting.

Shuggy's a clever game rather than a truly smart one – a smart game wouldn't do half as much to undermine itself along the way – but it's still worth sticking with to its bitter and infuriating end.

A large number of possibilities awaits the ambitious tactician. From tunnelling assaults to flying barrage defences, Perimeter relies on the imagination of players to become genuinely interesting. [Aug 2004, p.105]

Ultimately, Makai Kingdom feels more about brutal stat farming than true tactics… Makai Kingdom’s key strategy isn’t so much tactics as just sheer weight of numbers, of accumulation and refinement of properties. [Oct 2005, p.86]

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]

Great concept; questionable delivery.

A smart and engaging exploration of what Nintendo's strange new machine can muster. Historically, thirdparty releases on a console launch day have been chequered and timid affairs made by inexperienced teams fearful of losing their footing on unknown terrain. When Ubisoft Montpellier's ZombiU works in smart union with its host console, however, it frequently delights.

The highscore table and note-perfect humour (which, just like the pixel-art graphics and whimsical audio, strikes the perfect balance between faux-naivety and self-awareness) proves more than enough to keep you playing in the traffic.

In its present form, Hero Academy is a fairly lightweight confection, but it digs its nails in until you find yourself impatiently anticipating the notification alert, and then starting a fresh battle with a random opponent to shorten the wait.

Boss fights aside, Ubosoft's consideration for its subject matter throughout is striking. [Sept 2014, p.104]

If there's surprising strategic depth alongside the amusement of the premise, though, the package itself is on the miniature side. [Issue#420, p.107]

In short, the system - mostly magically - works. [Issue#407, p.94]

None of this matters too much when you're taking one gamble after another and they're all paying off. [Issue#376, p.108]

"Killzone 2" has the technology and spectacle; FEAR 2 has class, direction and a most mischievous sense of humour – and technology and spectacle. [Mar 2009, p.84]

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]

The synthesis of all The Sims Medieval's many personalities and inspirations creates something genuinely unique and compulsively entertaining. It's a funny and sweet time sink, and something that any Sims fan can wholeheartedly enjoy.

There is a design challenge here. [Issue#417, p.116]

This beautiful, high-velocity leap into the unknown deserves points for style AND daring. [Issue#367, p.102]

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]

Puzzles are too child-friendly, their solutions more fiddly than mentally taxing. The pleasure earned from cracking Miymoto’s designs is instead targeted by flashy 2.5D level design – snaking sights that admittedly look wonderfully crisp on Wii – and set-pieces for the impatient. [Mar 2009, p.95]

It's a tremendous shame, because the bosses themselves are a finely conceived, smartly designed and varied bunch. [Issue#296, p.121]

This dazzling, determinedly populist experience was not made according to the standards other games are made by, and when judged – or even just described – by those standards, it might seem slender to the point of frailty. [Christmas 2005, p.101]

No task is impossible alone, but the ease of co-op mustn't cloud the the fact that Atlus is still to find that sweet spot between virtual and actual brain surgery. [Mar 2008, p.100]

It might not be a system seller, but provides further compelling evidence of the Wii controller’s lofty potential. [July 2007, p.92]

What a shame that a story whose opening promises to wade into deeper waters should resort to paddling in the shadows. [Issue#375, p.118]

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.