Prototype does what it does, and does it with distinction. [Aug 2009, p.90]

Black Sigil's big-picture rewards are too fleeting and familiar to justify the considerable effort. [Sept 2009, p.101]

The poor relation of its canceled 360 and PS3 brothers. This is a stripped-down version of a game that never was, offering only fleeting glimpses of a magnificent concept through a console and engine that could never, even with four more years to work at it, have handled it. [Aug 2009, p.98]

Rock Band: Unplugged’s heart is genuine and soulful, evidence perhaps that, in game-making as much as music-making, it pays to never forget one’s roots.

Far more than just a quirky and adept multiplayer romp, then, Swords & Soldiers has found a deeply satisfying sweet-spot where chaos and control are almost perfectly balanced, and the result is a game that towers above everything else WiiWare currently has to offer.

Granted, this is hardly the most drastic of sequels, but it didn’t need to be: instead, it stands as an indicator that, even as the DSi heads ever deeper into the online space, on some level at least, it’s still business as usual.

In many ways, Trash Panic represents the kind of inventive, inimitable Japanese release that comes all too infrequently – but here, such creativity has not been enough to turn an interesting idea into a brilliant one.

For its fights alone Knights In The Knightmare is a worthy effort, another semi-successful attempt to find the sweet spot for stylus-driven roleplay. [July 2009, p.101]

Though the explosions scale with progress, and the act of detonation continues to be a giddy pleasure, Mars could do with a thicker atmosphere.

Though the explosions scale with progress, and the act of detonation continues to be a giddy pleasure, Mars could do with a thicker atmosphere.

If there’s one great story in The Sims 3, it’s of how the biggest game in the world continues to act like it, expanding in some respects, shrinking in others, but always evolving. And it’s about EA learning more and more how to act like the world’s biggest developer, the production values, build quality and feature set here being almost overwhelming.

Even if some of the fundamental stuff has been sacrificed to the creation of this huge world, Fuel still makes it across the finish line on a far-from-empty tank. [July 2009, p.97]

Even if some of the fundamental stuff has been sacrificed to the creation of this huge world, Fuel still makes it across the finish line on a far-from-empty tank. [July 2009, p.97]

Just when the whole thing seems in danger of becoming a cold study in design brilliance, however, the on-screen clock comes into its own, raising the game’s temperature by turning each challenge into a speed-runner’s dream.

The concept at the core of Yosumin Live is robust, but it fails to hold up under extended play. Either Square Enix has happened upon a brilliant mechanic that has yet to fully bloom or one that it has been unable to sustain. The scant progression Yosumin has made in its transition from webgame to XBLA release indicates that perhaps it is the latter.

The game's ambition far outstrips its creator's abilities: damned by execution rather than intent, but damned nonetheless. [July 2009, p.99]

The game's ambition far outstrips its creator's abilities: damned by execution rather than intent, but damned nonetheless. [July 2009, p.99]

At its best, Infamous is an amped-up Crackdown - a game about bounding across a cityscape, discharging your enemies however you please. Even if ropey execution impedes its appeal, Infamous still has this essential spark. [June 2009, p.88]

The game's ambition far outstrips its creator's abilities: damned by execution rather than intent, but damned nonetheless. [July 2009, p.99]

Undisputed can be complex one moment and crude the next, the dominant ‘full mount’ position (the holy grail of ground-and-pound fighters) far too achievable against even experienced opposition.

While the fattened numbers - levels, game types, building tools - are the products of mere evolution, the lean, focused fun is new to the mix. [July 2009, p.94]

So wasteful of its source material that it should be held up as an example of how not to handle this kind of production. [July 2009, p.101]

The overriding impression is of a game that's physically too big for its action. [June 2009, p.88]

The most comprehensive remake Nintendo has ever undertaken. [July 2009, p.94]

A simple bloodsport, and only a rudimentary level-up system affords any sense of progression. [Aug 2009, p.106]

While See the Future undoubtedly delivers on its title, giving you a single feverish glimpse of a potential new direction for the series, this odd collection of entertainments offers far more than a mere early-warning hype machine dressed up with a few free haircuts for your dog. In its cheeky refusal to conform, it’s also a chance to see Albion’s present, and take another look at a game that’s both fascinating and gently flawed.

An extremely unambitious sequel. [Jan 2009, p.92]

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]