A contemptible chore. [Winter 2009, p.57]

Top-class music game with great tunes and difficulty levels to suit beginners and experts alike. Shame about the 'aspirational' pricing. [Winter 2009, p.50]

Simplistic and repetitive and not at all realistic, but quite endearing all the same. [Christmas 2009, p.61]

There isn't much to separate Africa from the first SimAnimals. [Christmas 2009, p.70]

This is barely one evolutionary step beyond the likes of Sonic & Sega All Stars Racing. [June 2010, p.71]

It's the same DDR as it ever was, but the inclusion of even more gimmicks just waters it down rather an improves it. Hard to recommend. [Apr 2010, p.66]

Works better than the first. [Christmas 2009, p.64]

25 quid for four minigames. [Christmas 2009, p.70]

A decent yarn with unashamedly retro mechanics. [Christmas 2009, p.67]

Bitten by a radioactive librarian, MSHS developed a superhuman ability to suck the life from the room. [Winter 2009, p.63]

An old-fashioned platformer with no challenge, no depth and no real point. Buy some classics on Virtual Console instead. [Winter 2009, p.50]

There's a ridiculous amount of content here for those who fancy it. [Winter 2009, p.84]

It looks younger and is simpler to play than previous seasons but there's still plenty of challenge here. Goals galore! [Dec 2009, p.54]

You're basically doing the same thing. [Feb 2010, p.68]

For non-Bakugan followers this is, quite literally, balls. [Christmas 2009, p.70]

We don't like it, but can't be bothered to hate it. [Feb 2010, p.66]

It's totally broken. [Jan 2010, p.74]

Lovingly crafted, sure, but for a game revolving around the rich variety of jelly beans A Boy And His Blob can be flavourless stuff.

It addresses just about every criticism we had about the summer game. [Winter 2009, p.44]

Solid if unspectacular. [Winter 2009, p.64]

Truly scary and, for fans of the films, probably worth experiencing, but this is frustrating and clumsy to actually play. [Dec 2009, p.62]

Better than average film tie-in. [Christmas 2009, p.70]

Weak, tiresome and devoid of almost any excitement whatsoever. [Winter 2009, p.66]

Cuter than it is fun. The Squeeballs need more time in the toy factory before they're unleashed on gamers again. [Winter 2009, p.62]

They didn't get their heads around the stylus. [Winter 2009, p.70]

The most interesting thing from the PC original put into a simple platform game that's marred by some unexciting minigames.

The main problem with Spore Hero Arena isn't that the detail of your creature is lost in a haze of pixels, but that the whole game is rather dull. [Winter 2009, p.70]

Easy, boring and often massively annoying. Yet another entry on the ever-growing list of sub-par Star Wars games. [Winter 2009, p.56]

A game that doesn't know what it wants to be and ends up much less exciting than it should have been. Atmospheric but empty.

Sure, this is one for the younger gamer, but it's witty, varied and has great visuals. [Dec 2009, p.61]

The whole game feels a bit incoherent, but there's enough charm to carry it through. [Winter 2009, p.70]

Another brave effort at roping in friends and family for pretend sportery but it lacks polish. [July 2009, p.61]

It's worth putting up with the nonsense as this is a satisfying action RPG. [Dec 2009, p.68]

Solid and playable but not terribly exciting. [Christmas 2009, p.65]

A pretty poor detective yarn with (literally) two-dimensional characters. [Winter 2009, p.67]

It'll take more than invisible crates to win us over. [Nov 2009, p.65]

It's nice to see a developer bothering to make a good quality game for junior gamers, but the books are better. [Winter 2009, p.70]

What could have been a great celebration of a truly odd universe is scuppered by a lack of effort. [Dec 2009, p.56]

It's devoid of charm or technical merit. [Feb 2010, p.69]

Another joyless lump of registered trademarks designed with vulnerable kiddies in mind. [Winter 2009, p.63]

It's just not much fun. [Winter 2009, p.70]

Bleach fans will dig the story, but they'll also hate the weak writing. Everyone else should stick with Fire Emblem. [Feb 2010, p.65]

A staggering work of technical ineptitude. [Dec 2009, p.71]

There's very little incentive to keep going. So, er, we didn't. [Dec 2009, p.71]

Fight past the awkwardness for an indispensable original. [Dec 2009, p.58]

A flaccid gallery of joyless minigames. [Winter 2009, p.68]

Achingly slow. [Winter 2009, p.70]

Offensively lame. [May 2010, p.68]

With a swing of his fist Bowser barges his way into the pantheon of classic Ninty heroes. Expect a wide grin from start to finish.

A suitably reverential tribute to the world's most enduringly lucrative band. [Dec 2009, p.53]

Expect the depth of an RPG and you may be disappointed, but for latent ninjas this blisteringly quick and beautiful action title will be like manna from heaven. [JPN Import; July 2009, p.64]

It has all the elements of a brilliant game, but they don't quite come together as the classic it could have been. Very good all the same. [Nov 2009, p.54]

Although it has a good stab at open-world platforming, this soon turns into a chore. [Nov 2009, p.58]

It just doesn't have the required spark. Disappointing. [Nov 2009, p.66]

A decent racer with a good track editor, if you haven't already got something similar. [Dec 2009, p.69]

The party features raise the bar for multiplayer gaming. [Dec 2009, p.65]

The whole thing feels quite cheap. [Winter 2009, p.70]

A grand old gaming franchise that's looking extremely creaky in 2008 on Wii. [June 2008, p.52]

Mountain? Full marks. The curse? Less impressive. [Nov 2009, p.62]

Harvest Moon should stick to the cow-tending. [Dec 2009, p.70]

Isn't sudoku-y enough for sudoku fans, and not detective-y enough from mystery fans. [Dec 2009, p.70]

There's a seriously massive amount of gameplay per pound here. [Oct 2009, p.58]

If you can crack our ultra-difficult score riddle, this is definitely a game for you. [Nov 2009, p.61]

This latest attempt to wrestle Pokemon from the hands of children and replace it with Disney's own Spectrobes fails again. [Nov 2009, p.59]

Localisation hasn't improved this fatally flawed game. It's a shame, as some good ideas have been smothered by lame controls. [July 2009, p.72]

It's well intentioned but underfunded. [Christmas 2009, p.64]

The gameplay lands with a thud on the "it's just cheap" side of the fence. [Dec 2009, p.71]

For anyone who doesn't 'get' in-depth gridiron action but wants in on the fun. [Dec 2009, p.60]

Certainly not dreadful, and better than the first Family Trainer, but if feels like a budget release with a full-price tag. [Nov 2009, p.69]

A big pot full of bum. [Dec 2009, p.64]

Pokemon. With dinosaurs. Not the most imaginative idea and there's not a lot to it, but Fossil Fighters will scratch that pet-battling itch. [Nov 2009, p.71]

A dumb, frustrating and forgettable shooter, but a completely unpretentious one too. [Nov 2009, p.64]

It's not worth your time and money. [Nov 2009, p.72]

Uninspired. [Apr 2010, p.74]

It is still the same old Puzzle Bobble, so it's only worth 69. [Nov 2009, p.73]

Buying three extra peripherals and playing with others WILL make you happier... you won't want to take the trip alone. [Sept 2009, p.56]

Funny, exciting, intelligent, weird and rewarding. This is what happens when great minds dare to be different. [May 2009, p.42]

The stylus controls are unresponsive, the graphics are uninspiring, the story is inconsequential, the tasks are repetitive and the music's appalling. [Nov 2009, p.72]

Appalling voice acting makes this feel very shoddy, though with the sound turned down it's a passable 'entry level' point 'n' clicker if you can find it cheap. [July 2009, p.77]

A sedate management game that's a little lacking when it comes to variety or excitement. [Aug 2010, p.77]

It's worse than the last game in almost every way. Except potions. Making potions rocks. [Sept 2009, p.64]

Progress is hampered by clunky controls that see Harry bumping around like a dog wearing one of those post-operation plastic collars. [Oct 2009, p.69]

An engagingly simple puzzler rendered a bit clunky by the motion-controlled bits. You'll keep playing, though, and the multiplayer's a good laugh. [Oct 2009, p.61]

At least this is short so you won't have much time to get bored. [Oct 2009, p.68]

The promise of new items is a great incentive for a walk. There just needs to be more to do when you get home. [Oct 2009, p.64]

A disappointing experience if you're only going to play alone, but okay as an online shooter. It's like two games in one - one above average, the other a big rubbish. [Sept 2009, p.62]

A deep, dark role-playing title with an unusually excellent story. [Oct 2009, p.65]

As undemanding as this kind of thing gets. [Sept 2009, p.54]

We know the subject matter is huge robots thumping other huge robots, but it doesn't have to be as mindless as this. [Sept 2009, p.67]

We know the subject matter is huge robots thumping other huge robots, but it doesn't have to be as mindless as this. [Sept 2009, p.67]

A very pleasant diversion and a great start for genre newbies. [Aug 2009, p.75]

The game's entirely stylus controlled, which generally works well, but it can descend into incoherent screen-swiping during combat. [Aug 2009, p.77]

Rock solidly made and full of evil-flavoured charm, but you can't help but wish this had been so much more. The Little King still rules Wii. [Aug 2009, p.58]

An old classic, with the emphasis on old. Still scares and enthralls, but the puzzle design is tired and the conversion is shockingly lazy. [Oct 2009, p.60]

It's slick, it's fun and it's a Stay Puft-sized treat for fans of the series. [Sept 2009, p.60]

Contains both ghosts and busting, but neither is as fun as it should be, despite good intentions. A chore to play through. Boo. [Sept 2009, p.68]

You'd think that the Wii would be suited to a darts game. It may very well be, but this sure ain't it. [Apr 2008, p.67]

Worth a look for puzzle fans. [Oct 2009, p.69]