For all its foibles, Raven's brand of brazen, aimless carnage is a gruesome thrill with just enough dynamism in each battle to keep its anachronistic heart beating. [Oct 2009, p.88]

This stands as software that will give back to the user as much as they are willing to put in. Without goals, with nothing there to ‘win’, Electroplankton is its own reward. [June 2005, p.93]

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]

Outbursts of light and colour and shape, simple enough that they have the potential to become iconic. [Issue#379, p.104]

A sandbox where waypoint distances are measured in pixels, and journeys are over in seconds, is surely one worth celebrating. [Issue#334, p.122]

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]

There are bold ideas floating around Unbeatable's ether, but for the most part it feels like an underpowered B-side. [Issue#420, p.102]

Nintendogs + Cats is a near match for the DS original. Were it not for the visual pampering it would be entirely possible to replace the old game with the new without the kids noticing. [Apr 2011, p.91]

Squeak Squad overall is a polished, impeccably designed pushover. [Feb 2007, p.84]

Anarchy Reigns sits awkwardly, then: its balanced multiplayer mode means a fixed moveset and an unremarkable singleplayer campaign, while the high online player count means matches too often descend into scrappy pileups. Neither its on- or offline offerings are essential, but Platinum has shown that an online brawler can work. It's rough around the edges, sure, but it's a proof of concept to build on.

A delight. [Oct 2016, p.118]

It turns out the mountain really does have something to say, but it's only when the noise is gone that its message can really be heard. [Feb 2017, p.116]

If there isn't a great deal of sophistication, there also isn't much in the way of mucking around. Flying up the screen making things go pop has been reliably entertaining for decades. [Oct 2005, p.95]

Aged environments and models are wheeled out and the interface is surprisingly clunky and obtrusive. There is a solid game here to prop it up, but it's indicative of the no-frills production that even the robotic announcer seems to be phoning in its performance. [May 2004, p.103]

What began as a celebration ends with nostalgia’s bubble being cruelly pricked.

There's a single moment of joy in Fallout Shelter. It comes right at the beginning. [Sept 2015, p.122]

Like the movies that doubtless inspired it, Shank ultimately has more style than substance. It looks fantastic but it's hardly a lengthy game, and it does little to trouble your brain. As throwaway entertainment goes, though, it's solid popcorn stuff.

The game isn’t clear how its surgeries work – which bits need be cut where, and with what tools – not a problem when you’re merrily and messily experimenting, but annoying if you’re keen to progress. Still, few games take that odd, occasional gulf between what you intend to happen and what actually occurs on screen and fill it with such comedy.

It's handsomely shot, produced and scored, solidly acted. [Issue#373, p.108]

There's also a sneaking sense that Origins is stuck in the past. As a reimagining of the original game with modern visuals, it's a triumph, but it doesn't do much to move the realtime tactics genre forward, with little of the innovation seen in, say, Mimimi's Shaodow Gambit: The Cursed Crew. [Issue#410, p.116]

None of this is nearly enough to spoil everything Scarlet and Violet get right, such as some of the best (and downright strangest) monster designs in some time, and absorbing final act and postgame, and a soundtrack that could well be a new series peak. [Issue#380, p.121]

When directing death from above, Strike Team offers a glimpse at what might have been, but when it’s time to go loud, the whole thing collapses as limply as the enemies you’ve dropped.

Nintendogs + Cats is a near match for the DS original. Were it not for the visual pampering it would be entirely possible to replace the old game with the new without the kids noticing. [Apr 2011, p.91]

There was never any doubt that Total Overdose would fall foul of one of its genre's various pitfalls, but it's unfortunate that it ultimately had to be one as irksome as excessive length... At its best, the game still shakes up a loud and spicy Mexican cocktail, but what it’s added to the mix has been more than enough to weaken the taste. [Nov 2005, p.103]

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

A delightfully strange and often surprising piece of work; it’s more plaything than game, perhaps, but the smiles it generates will be broad and frequent.

It's impossible not to feel disappointed with a title that, to judge by it's opening, ought to have competed on an even footing with "Super Mario Sunshine." Instead it's an uneasy compromise between the splendour of the early levels and the inadequacies of later missions. [Dec 2003, p.88]

The puzzles are generic. [Issue#348, p.104]