A functional, pared-down JRPG and a feisty but flawed translation of the side-scrolling beat 'em up into the third dimension. [Apr 2010, p.94]

It's hard to find too much fault in a game that's so in love with its inspirations, but Rise & Shine is at its best when it's being itself. [March 2017, p.104]

It's doubtful you'll endlessly return past the few hours necessary to beat the game, but for now it remains both a welcome introduction to a new system and its own unique and rewarding experience.

It's one example of too much going on in a game that is crammed with ideas, borrowed and new, all fighting for attention. [Issue#347, p.92]

It's disappointing to find that a game so reliant upon riding earthy mounds, avoiding rocks and leaping chasms leaves the player feeling disassociated from the environments. For all the sensory feedback you could as well be controlling a futuristic hoverboard. [Oct 2003, p.102]

Old hands will still find much of the personality and singular vision of the franchise intact, but it's the newcomers, ironically, who might find Insect Armageddon a jarring mix of old-fashioned thrills and modern gameplay trends.

This cosy, likeable platformer gives 3DS players a superior alternative to Arzest's insipid New Island. [March 2017, p.105]

Where a little Innocence went a long way, this gloomy, protracted Requiem proves that a lot doesn't always stretch so far. [Issue#378, p.104]

The craftsmanship is easy to admire, but 1001 Spikes can be a hard game to love. [Sept 2014, p.117]

The game feels somewhat tormented by its turgid dialogue and a one-note plot, both given preference over the raw thrills of doing kickflips in hell. [Issue#419, p.108]

You can call it feature creep or over-ambition, but it's the surfeit of content that almost buries the game's achievements. [June 2010, p.100]

The stakes are raised in the closing stretch, but the drama is undercut by the story's brevity. [March 2017, p.106]

It’s worth experiencing for the artistry in its visual flair, excellent cutscenes and one or two inspired directional moments, but as a game? The previous generation God Of War has the definite edge. [Oct 2007, p.86]

With handsomely designed environments, and a deviously three-dimensional approach to level design, Kororinpa is exactly the kind of simple, sustaining software that the Wii needs to build on. [Feb 2007, p.84]

A tasteful translation of an enduring classic, but it remains too cautious to satisfy those looking for innovation. [May 2007, p.95]

Modern Warfare II's problems are old ones, then, as are its strengths. But there are fewer of the latter than in 2019's reboot, and that should concern fans. [Issue#379, p.112]

Rather than creating a character, you're stuck as the brooding, white-haired monster slayer Geralt. Anyone who enjoyed the role last time will be happy to bear with him while the game meanders to its point. Anyone else will need an extraordinary level of patience.

While the appeal of Ghost Rider palls in the long term (the game is simply too samey, unless your thirst for fighting overrides your need for variety and pacing) it’s a strong and well-considered title. [Mar 2007, p.86]

The process of mastering it? Let's just say it's not quite our tempo. [Issue#370, p.123]

There's nothing revolutionary in Lethal VR, but it's an accessible, frequently enjoyable showcase of what its host hardware is best at, let down only by the decision to bring a knife to a gunfight. [Tested with HTC Vive: Jan 2017, p.118]

It is still a little deflating. While some detective work is engaging, too much of it is throwaway, repetitive and, worse, overused. Tailing missions are the worst offender, simplistic, overlong, tightly scripted and seemingly everywhere. In its cutscenes, its combat and its tales of the lives of struggling, troubled, randy everyday people - in all the tings that make it a Yakua game, in other words - Judgment excels. In the things that seek to make it stand apart, it disappoints. Whether this is a one-off experiment, or simply the first of many, remains to be seen; if it's to be the latter, much remains to be done. [Issue#335, p.102]

The island and its minigames, side conversations and beautiful backdrops hold their charm, and part of us earns to remain in Demonschool's world. Unlike Faye, though, we begin to resent that demons keep tearing us out of it. [Issue#419, p.114]

It's in Mafia II's second act that it takes a real dive, and familiarity plunges into cliché. When the writers run out of literary coal, there's little to keep you on the rails, and nowhere to take a time-out. It descends into a festival of stereotypes and expletives, laying waste to the hints of narrative depth proffered earlier and offending beyond justification as it ticks the down-and-dirty genre boxes.

If not the spiralling success we hoped, this sweet-natured and sincere game provides an afternoon's worth of uplifting altruism. [Issue#347, p.104]

While it doesn't do enough to earn a place in the halls of Valhalla, there is still pleasure to be had in sprinting and fighting through these Elysian fields. [Issue#378, p.112]

As much as The Chant contains a solid action adventure, then, it could do with more suitable clothing. [Issue#379, p.116]

There are flashes of brilliance in Stellar Blade, still, most often sparked by the titular weapon. But it's too broad and with that a little underdone. If only Eve's initial clarity of purpose had been more contagious. [Issue#398, p.106]

This is a welcome conversion of Bliozzard's cherished 16bit strategy actioner and well worth a punt for those who like to challenge their grey matter as well as their reflexes. [May 2003, p.103]