RR3D is the most convincing handheld iteration of the series to date, and an encouraging illustration of how 3DS's flagship feature can be more than a pretty visual twist. [May 2011, p.104]

3DS was the perfect opportunity to take Super Monkey Ball back to its GameCube glory days. Instead we find a game that has spent so many years honouring various types of hardware, it has forgotten its own original aim. [May 2011, p.102]

Housemarque's adventure wears its ambitions so openly that the comparison is inevitable. By no means a classic on those terms, Outland is nonetheless a well-executed game that - hopefully - lays the groundwork for future iteration upon its central ideas.

By no means a classic on those terms, Outland is nonetheless a well-executed game that - hopefully - lays the groundwork for future iteration upon its central ideas.

Portal 2 delivers, and it does it in style, creating one of the most meticulously designed, thrilling and delightful playgrounds we've ever seen. It's a game with a magical take on momentum, where single bounds over tall buildings are business as usual, where every surface is a potential launchpad, and the entire experience is a belly laugh.

At worst, the game's deliberate openness means theme and gameplay have a tenuous relationship.

Whereas Super Meat Boy accounted for its punishing difficulty by creating micro levels, most of which could be traversed successfully in just a minute or two, Wakfu frequently commits the cardinal sin of using extended sections of grind to raise the stakes during its seismic and vaguely arbitrary difficulty spikes.

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.

The gloriously beautiful landscapes; the vital Jim Guthrie soundtrack; the pounding desire to see, explore and accomplish more of this ambient quest: these save the game from itself. It may be uneven in tone, but S:S&S is a triumphant experience nonetheless. It's a brand new page in the dusty book of adventure games, and an inarguable statement as to how much art and music can give to gaming.

An enthralling title on its own terms, and, given the bombastic direction of its Clancy-game brethren, probably the closest fans will get to true tactics for some time.

The 3DS' first fighting game happens to be a version of one of the genre's best, and it's lost little in the conversion to a portable system. Token additions, such as the cute-but-unworkable Dynamic (3D) View, bulk out the package, but it's what's stayed the same that's the real triumph here. SSFIV is just as vibrant, fluid and confident as ever – and it's just been unshackled from your TV.

Swarm will provide a stern test of both skill and patience.

Swarm will provide a stern test of both skill and patience.

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]

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]

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]

One of the 3DS launch line-up's visual standouts: colourful, crisp and with horizons that have never looked so distant. It's disappointing, then, that you'll discover its limits so quickly. [Apr 2011, p.90]

The triumph of SpaceChem is that overcoming these situations is more a case of inventing a solution than discovering one - creating a technique on your own terms that, once learned, you find yourself reusing in later stages. [Apr 2011, p.101]

A shrewd and often brilliant game that reaches its destination with most of its goals realised, not discarded and left in the dust like the forced march of its predecessors. [Apr 2011, p.94]

You can take the massively multiplayer game out of the PC, then, but perhaps not the PC out of the game. The endless beta testing, the freewheeling project management, and the agonies and ecstasies of the results. [Apr 2011, p.88]

With such a focus, People Can Fly has made the best game possible: one which is smart enough to make a case for looking dumb. [Apr 2011, p.86]

Fight Night has tirelessly rebuilt itself when many expected retirement. Cautious improvements from Round 4 - the removal of the cut-man game and automation of recovery - have been confidently reinforced, while ring physics, ragdolls and cloth dynamics are in a different class to the chaotic Round 3. [Apr 2011, p.103]

Yakuza 4 is ultimately too set in its ways to welcome anyone new to the family, and too laden with cutscenes to let its nuances. [Apr 2011, p.99]

While PixelJunk Shooter 2 may seem more like an expansion than a standalone game, there's no shortage of new ingredients to enrich what was already a lively concoction. [Apr 2011, p.97]

Motorstorm has a special relationship with chaos, and if you can keep your head when all about you are throwing their controllers, you're just as likely to lose. Less battle than survival racing, it's happy to let fairness be a stain on the tarmac. [Apr 2011, p.95]

Despite deep customisation (right down to the trajectories of your bullets) and some truly striking monster designs, it's impossible to shake the feeling that you're playing an inferior imitation of a better game. [Apr 2011, p.103]

The 3rd Birthday remains a strong proposition, marrying eastern and western design sensibilities to produce a strong and relevant update to a latent, outmoded series. [Apr 2011, p.92]

Its faults are many, but they're magnified by the obvious comparison: this isn't an alternative to COD, but a game in thrall to it. [Apr 2011, p.84]