Crippled by unavoidable errors. [Issue#91, p.125]

There's little here that inspires us to recommend DUB Edition above any of the other pimping opportunities that are either out already or due to make an appearance soon, and it's certainly only worth bothering with if you're willing to invest a fair bit of time. [May 2005, p.120]

Lushly presented, and with enough of that trademark Rare wit to keep you smiling, it's inoffensive enough fare before the real games arrive, but it's going nowhere Nintendo's not been already.

Henry Hatsworth In The Puzzling Adventure isn't a bad game; it's two half-decent ones. [May 2009, p.126]

MotionPlus adds a welcome layer of immersion, but it never does enough to completely mend the game's flaws. Matches are often frustrating, shots will still bounce past your player and the AI will sometimes second-guess you, placing you in a poor position to return a serve. [Sept 2009, p.126]

Sudeki is sure to be seen as a letdown by the hardcore RPG community, but there are still enough features here to recommend it. [Sept 2004, p.106]

Once you’ve unlocked everything in single-player, this will end up the kind of game you switch on every now and then when you’ve got people over and you remember you have it, a relatively cheap distraction that’s old-fashioned fun but ultimately fails to stand out.

Its presentation and entirely un-engaging story let it down, but the game itself is very much worth playing after those suffocating first few hours. [June 2006, p.127]

Between the variety, the playability and the great feeling of accomplishment that comes from completing one of the many tasks, FMX is really quite good fun. Overly ambitious but fun nonetheless. [Oct 2003, p.115]

While Ubisoft's commitment to the struggling Vita format is to be applauded – the console is in dire need of exclusives of this calibre – Assassin's Creed III: Liberation lacks the lavish quality of its big-screen relatives. Hardcore fans will not doubt be more forgiving and will quite rightly warm to the game's feisty heroine, but she deserves a better vehicle than this to showcase her talents.

There’s a lot to love, really – it’s just marred by clumsy controls, one of the worst cameras in recent memory and some odd design choices. Provided you can form a strong enough bond with Trico that the curtain never drops to reveal the rusty old cogs that make the game tick, The Last Guardian is a beautiful and unique experience. But the second anything causes that curtain to budge, it becomes clear that it just isn’t very good at the fundamentals of videogame mechanics, and the beast is slain.

There are no huge faults here and the key problem is that the series seems happy to potter along without trying too hard - a strategy that is obviously doomed to fail. [July 2005, p.118]

Not quite a Jaffe classic. [Issue#187, p.83]

For every area in which Max slips up the sheer magnitude of the technical achievement saves the day. Aside from slight grievances with accuracy and unseen foes, this is as faithful a port as you're likely to play on a handheld this year. [Feb 2004, p.108]

Well crafted, but lacking depth. [Issue#199, p.82]

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.

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

Dream is ambitious, but players will need to be persistent and forgiving to enjoy what it has to offer them. [Issue#166, p.98]

While Killzone is fairly satisfying, with suitably gung-ho action, there's never any variation, meaning what seems fun becomes wearisome after an hour or so. [Christmas 2004, p.96]

Although Nintendo has introduced a few new features since release, Super Mario Run still feels like it’s missing something. It looks and feels like a proper Mario game, but it can quickly become so tiresome that we no longer play. It’s all too easy to exhaust Tour Mode and the Kingdom has no staying power. The free tier will be plenty for most Super Mario Runners, and for the full investors, you’ll soon be reduced to a few daily Rally runs.

The repetitive nature of the majority of missions soon takes its toll, and the primary motivation for progressing soon becomes the desire to see how nice the next level looks, not the love of playing the game. [Apr 2006, p.110]

Shining Soul II doesn't really pack enough charm to distinguish itself as anything other than a solid yet unspectacular RPG. It even struggles to differentiate itself from the first game, looking and playing almost exactly the same. [Apr 2004, p.101]

Thankfully, Overlord doesn’t take itself too seriously and due to its sheer simplicity it remains a fun game to play. [July 2007, p.118]

When all its cylinders are firing, APB can be quite fun, but that enjoyment is blunted by the fact that its action mechanics and driving are both so clunky. [Issue#99, p.108]

A good proof of concept for VR RPGs. [Tested with HTC Vive; Issue#176, p.83]

On a mechanical level at least, Symphonica is a decent rhythm-action game, with lots to keep your fingers busy across a variety of proven tunes, but the overall presentation and attention to detail lacks the x factor that iNiS is best known for. Yes, it's a comeback, but it's not quite the comeback we hoped for.

It will certainly give your grey matter a workout, but it's clear that this would be better suited to mobile. [Issue#166, p.99]

These robots have heart, but not depth. [Tested with HTC Vive; Issue#176, p.84]