For fans of the franchise it’s got everything you’d expect on a basic level – outlandish characters, a well-told story and a selection of mini-games and extras – but with little effort to break new ground or extend its appeal outside a crowd familiar with names like Pahn, Gremmio and Viktor, Suikoden IV simply doesn’t seem like a 2005 release. [March 2005, p.100]

An insipid and trite game that struggles with plot, consistency and character, settling instead for a mindless headlong charge. [Mar 2009, p.118]

Forts Under Siege might have enough reward on offer but the series is still relying on gamers to meet it halfway by investing ample time and patience in learning its demanding intricacies. [Dec 2004, p.112]

Alpha Protocol threatens absurdity only on rare occasions - generally its plot is well conceived and told, particularly when you factor in the multiple narrative strands that can be followed. [July 2010, p.112]

Its simplicity counts against it in the long term. [Issue#155, p.131]

Yet another canny elaboration of what continues to be a deeply beloved series of videogames. [Issue#159, p.108]

Touch & Roll is a fun package, but the control problems force you to all but disregard the main game and treat it, instead, as a collection of mini-games. [Mar 2006, p.102]

For some, Citizens Of Earth will be worth playing through on the strength of its humour alone, but the myriad of technical and design flaws that make the experience more frustrating than it needs to be are certainly no joke.

We can’t imagine that general Rock Band players could justify buying a whole disc just for 18 songs from one band. [Feb 2009, p.123]

Eufloria is significantly more expensive than many games of this type, but it will eat into your life more efficiently than most of them. [Christmas 2009, p.114]

Like Wii Sports before it, this game knows its audience and how to keep them entertained. [Christmas 2008, p.117]

Each stage is a trial-and-error affair, which is good for longevity but may put some players off. [Christmas 2009, p.129]

ReCore is breezier, smarter and more accessible than a lot of its moneyed, would-be contemporaries. Traversing its empty open world is a chore, but when the game carries you indoors and places you inside one of its finely tuned dungeon-style levels, it’s unquestionably good, old-fashioned fun.

Rigidity under the façade of freedom … prevents Rogue Ops from being aything other than a sub-standard stealth clone. Against the competition, which is growing stronger by the month, it's hardly surprising, but we expected better than this. [Feb 2004, p.110]

Beige. [Issue#152, p.119]

The touch controls start off feeling a little detached, but it will grow on you. [Issue#158, p.109]

A cheerful snowboarding game which, once mastered, provides a great deal of wintry entertainment. [Mar 2006, p.114]

For every moment of satisfaction, there's an equal moment of frustration to match it. It's probably just as well for Ubisoft that the novelty of Nintendo's Wii Remote will carry Red Steel as a launch title. [Christmas 2006, p.110]

It’s a real shame that a game with such promise has to be scored so low because of inefficiencies within the industry, especially if the version that’s on retailers’ shelves is now far tighter than the copy in our possession. [Dec 2006, p.125]

Ultimately, you can only drive where you're supposed to drive - something we never expected to say about a Crazy Taxi game. [Issue#152, p.120]

Approached with acceptance of its limitations and a willingness to cede true freedom, Afrika can still be a remarkable, memorable experience. [Dec 2008, p.121]

You'd have to have a hell of a lot of spare time and cash to make room in your life for this. [Issue#119, p.119]

Tiger Woods remains the most accessible golf game, but ProStroke is easily the title for those who find a lack of challenge in its competitors. [Oct 2006, p.124]

Outlaw Golf 2 is actually a great game, but wading through the cut-scenes and commentary is hard work unless your sense of humour stopped developing when you were 15. [Jan 2005, p.115]

A hugely frustrating experience, then. Lords Of Shadow 2 is a game with flair and gusto that constantly bogs itself down with design choices that should have never made it past the first week of studio meetings. Dracula deserves better.

Bizarre inconsistencies. [Issue#141, p.106]

Offers little new but still manages to entertain with its blend of reanimated allies, intense action and slapstick humour. [Issue#93, p.128]

A highly polished action title with a Co-op mode that should provides hours of gameplay after completion. [Sept 2006, p.117]

The Order clearly sees itself as some sort of bridge between the world of games and cinema, but it fails miserably to create the essence, tones or rewards offered by either medium.

Horror muted by brevity and flat atmosphere... Imitating teen-horror movies is a novel idea, but duplicating their running time and feeble horror leaves the game wanting. [Nov 2004, p.106]

One of the most frustrating aspects is the unbalanced difficulty curve. You're thrust into some tough and often unfair opening levels, only to find the challenge dropping dramatically as you progress deeper into the admittedly enjoyable storyline. [Sept 2004, p.116]

Futuristic racing never felt so outdated. [Sept 2008, p.117]

A fun game ruined by poor implementation. [Issue#190, p.79]

Manages to be inviting without being too condescending. [Issue#112, p.124]

At its best, it's an inferior retread of some of the first game's finer moments, but at worst, it's dangerously forgettable. [Issue#107, p.112]

Breath of Life will have its fervent champions, but it won't go supernova. [Issue#159, p.113]

Arguably succeeds more as a mood piece. [Issue#100, p.134]

There's no denying the dungeons are a minor addition, however, so anyone who owns the original 3DSWare release may not see the value in upgrading. Everyone else, you'll need to still have that childlike sense of play and a certain ability to make your own fun – or at least some children of your own – to get the most out of this.

This being Pro Evo it’s still possible to knock the ball about with reasonable proficiency and score the occasional memorable goal, but if it’s handheld football you’re after, then this is simply not the right console. [Mar 2007, p.110]

Nintendo was keen not to force "Mario Kart DS" in a typically DS direction, so we see no reason why Diddy Kong Racing DS wasn’t treated in the same way. [Apr 2007, p.118]

As Dangerous Golf begins to build on its core mechanics – causing as much damage and mayhem as you can before putting the ball in a hole to bank your score – it continues to deliver a fresh take on the concept.

This situation isn’t helped by an array of dreary technical problems either: scenery is flat and lifeless, dirt and dust effects are disappointing, while the sound effects will leave you wanting. This, combined with a frequently erratic frame-rate, produces a game that desperately needed more time and money for the developers to fully realise its vision. It’s a shame, because Rally Evo boasts such an attractive feature set – and from a studio we know is capable of mastering simulation mechanics – but this year it just couldn’t compete with Codemasters’ stellar return to the scene.

By trying so hard to justify exciting new uses for the DS's touch screen, NST has forgotten such crucial elements as a rear view mirror or the ability to track your opponents on each map.

Certainly different and endearing, but struggles to keep up with the initial momentum. [Issue#149, p.116]

Unique ideas hampered by finickity gameplay. [Issue#205, p.74]

All too often you'll find yourself thinking about what might have been and how another game - more than likely to be the sequel - is bound to do all of this better in the years immediately ahead. [Issue#75, p.104]

The kind of puzzle game you can put your feed up and coast through on a laptop, or sit back in your office chair and play at your own pace. [Issue#112, p.122]

Consistently, SAO:LS made us feel frustrated and a little ashamed with ourselves for actually sitting through it. Die-hard fans of the franchise may find something to enjoy thanks to the relentless fan-service but others would do better to go and actually play an MMORPG.

It might have started off as a joke, but the funny thing about Goat Simulator is that it’s a much better game than it has any right to be.

It's just hard to shake the feeling that Islands of Wakfu is, at its heart, something of a promotional item for its bigger brother. [Issue#109, p.103]

Outside of novelty value, there's little reason why anyone should pick this up with their Vita over the vastly superior WipEout 2048. [Issue#119, p.97]

Highly entertaining, in its own unique way. [Issue#139, p.117]

The overall tactile quality is of a PS2 title that has migrated to a more powerful system and finds itself surrounded by far tougher birds. [Dec 2009, p.126]

Conflict: Global Storm is such an improvement over the debacle that was Vietnam that it's amazing to think they came from the same developer. [Nov 2005, p.118]

The action never inspires. [Issue#142, p.124]

You'll quickly realise that it's button bashing and not finesse that will aid you in your quest. Add to this a tacked-on rhythm-action game and you're left with a shallow and derivative game that offers no redeeming features. [Nov 2003, p.122]

The ideas Grin has introduced work well within the plot put forward by the comic books, it's just a shame they don't hold up over an extended period. [May 2009, p.110]

The story and characters are excellent and the game is enjoyable, but the open world detracts from the experience rather than adding to it. [Issue#257, p.62]

The game is a weak attempt to get your money, by patronising and giving you exactly what you expect... An ugly game that's affecting all its attitude. [Issue#191, p.76]

Super Bomberman R doesn’t ruin the classic B-Man recipe, but with a price tag as big as The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, you can’t help feeling this is a digital-only arcade title with the wrong price stuck to its box.

There's a major flaw in actually controlling Mario, as the physics just don't seem to act as they should - aiming at specific targets can be extremely tricky at times, making completing some tasks more infuriating than challenging. It's a shame, because everything else about Super Mario Ball is so impressive.

We can only come to one conclusion here: Odama really isn't any fun to play. At all. [May 2006, p.122]

It may have its good points, but when it comes down to it PowerUp Forever isn’t as good as many of the other similar titles available over Xbox Live. [Feb 2009, p.113]

It’s the same old formula with a few moments of motion-controlled inspiration. [Aug 2007, p.111]

A nice collection, but nothing excels. [Issue#186, p.79]

It offers all the right elements that the genre needs, but fails to utilise them in any particularly original, entertaining or - indeed - working state. [Issue#162, p.112]

Rather than providing the knockout punch they are intended to give, the comic extremity of the executions tends to diffuse the tension the game so effectively manages to build. [Aug 2007, p.106]

Story aside, everything that’s in the game is very competent and enjoyable but it doesn’t quite go out of its way enough to push the envelope as far as the overall experience goes, when compared to where the genre is today. [Oct 2004, p.116]

If Sony Cambridge had placed as much emphasis on the gameplay mechanics as it had recreating the show’s style, then 24: The Game would have been an excellent action title. [Apr 2006, p.102]

There are worse wrestling games out there. At least Rumble Roses is solid, if you can put up with its general silliness. [June 2006, p.114]

The game is so immensely frustrating and linear that moments of fun are few and far between. [Apr 2006, p.124]

A very accessible game for all to play, and a pretty decent way to spend a few pounds and a couple of hours of your time. [Nov 2007, p.109]

You'll quickly realise that it's button bashing and not finesse that will aid you in your quest. Add to this a tacked-on rhythm-action game and you're left with a shallow and derivative game that offers no redeeming features. [Nov 2003, p.122]

Pointless in VR, but still a compelling puzzler. [Issue#183, p.83]

A compelling story but mundane survival gameplay. [Issue#204, p.68]

Diversity in the playable cast doesn't equal diversity in gameplay, though. [Issue#160, p.104]

The game is so immensely frustrating and linear that moments of fun are few and far between. [Apr 2006, p.124]

An offhand effort that adds little to the series. [Issue#172, p.87]

No matter how many minigame collections Ubisoft cranks out, Rabbids will still remain charming and enduringly funny. [Issue#104, p.127]

Heatseeker is one of the more substantial playing experiences currently available on the Wii, and perhaps the first multi-platform release that feels superior rather than compromised. [May 2007, p.120]

Wonderfully horrible. [Issue#180, p.47]

By not setting impossible standards, and despite its derivations from countless other better shooters. BlackSite has achieved that most important of objectives: it is entertaining from beginning to end. [Jan 2008, p.129]

It's the epitome of an average game and one of the most disappointing 3DS releases of recent times. [Issue#135, p.121]

PixelJunk Racers is perhaps the most unlikely sort of game to appear on the boastfully next-gen PS3 but that also makes it one of the most enjoyable titles on the system. [Dec 2007, p.116]

Be prepared to get occasionally frustrated by a rather limited solo experience. [Issue#136, p.98]

If the game left less to chance, perhaps we'd be somewhat more ready to join their ranks. [Issue#149, p.120]

Outside of a few key moments when things get changed up, gameplay is only ever average at best. [Issue#138, p.108]

A poor payoff for hours spent trudging through this black-and-white world. [Issue#147, p.120]

Trinity Universe's combat lacks the depth that Nippon Ichi and Gust have shown in the past. It too often feels repetitive, clunky, and lacking the strategy we've come to expect. [Aug 2010, p.124]

Charming but leaves you feeling underwhelmed. [Issue#184, p.82]

It's only the aesthetics that truly let Athens 2004 down. With a clean, unfussy menu system, it's disappointing to find this gives way to rough in-game visuals and limited animation....Nevertheless, the substandard veneer doesn't dim the shine of the gameplay. [Aug 2004, p.113]

Feels like a trip back to the last generation. [Issue#99, p.122]

Lost Planet 3's mere existence? It's a mystery. [Issue#140, p.102]

For the money it's a very interesting take on the genre with a captivating style. [Issue#162, p.111]

It bears no relation to the real thing: fine if it’s fun, but unpleasant and frustrating when it’s not. And it’s really not. [June 2007, p.127]

An interesting but frustrating space oddity. [Issue#172, p.94]

This isn't too bad for a couple of hours of button hammering with two friends. [Issue#118, p.112]

Dynasty Warriors 5: Empires would be less annoying if we hadn’t played it about eight times before. [July 2006, p.132]