The safety of brand outweighs the desire to innovate. Sword fighting doesn't work with the remote. [Aug 2007, p.47]

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]

Utterly tiresome. [Oct 2007, p.76]

Despite being reasonably deep, it's just too dreary to recommend. [Dec 2006, p.54]

This version is way too lightweight to recommend it as truly entertaining outright, but what it lacks in structure, is compensated in spades by its cute charm. [Nov 2007, p.41]

The coolest of all cool ideas, pieced together in a profoundly uncool way. Wait for MotionPlus to throw up something more substantial.

Pretty good motion controls, so why ruin them with bog standard, dull events? [May 2009, p.64]

There are some nice DS-specific ideas here, but not enough to keep you playing. [May 2009, p.79]

Mostly horrible, with a side order of decent enough. [Feb 2009, p.58]

This is a truly sub-par DQ effort. Genius Sonority managed to spoil "Pokemon Battle Revolution" and they weave that same inept magic here. [JPN Import; Oct 2007, p.64]

There's a fan-pleasing storyline. [May 2010, p.68]

Heralded by some as a potential "Pilotwings" replacement, this is in no way as deep, clever or fun. Naff missions tackled in a vehicle not even remotely handling like a plane. [JPN Import]

The ball-shooting itself is all-but-identical to the last game. [May 2012, p.98]

It's a massive rip-off of Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training. [Christmas 2011, p.77]

Despite plenty of colour and 'cheeky' dialogue it's as uplifting as a Wilfred Owen poem. It also lacks the personal touch that a physical board game provides. [Jan 2012, p.104]

You absolutely must play "Pac-Man Vs" before you die. [Dec 2007, p.52]

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

"Trauma" heads may want to rent but it's too light to consider buying. [Feb 2009, p.76]

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

Where's Wi-Fi? RPG mode? Not a total wash-out, but it is limited. SNK should have spent more time combing the rules and less combing Dante's hair. [JPN Import; Mar 2007, p.73]

Stylish but cliched presentation hides a flimsy boxer. [Feb 2008, p.71]

Wholly unnecessary. [July 2010, p.62]

There's so few games, and it gets so madly repetitive, that you may as well spend your pennies on the site itself. [June 2007, p.70]

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]

A dream come true for '80s kids. But where's the game? [Oct 2007, p.66]

Nintendo's autopilot platformer: fun, familiar, predictable, silly and brain-sappingly simple. At the end of the day, not terrible. Just massively underwhelming. [JPN Import; January 2007, p.74]

Much like a value supermarket sausage, this is 18% Sonic and 82% sawdust. Avoid it. [May 2009, p.56]

Looks like it should be fun but the minigames are mostly sub-Monkey Ball rubbish and the controls leave us as cold as Kawawii's frosty peaks. [Nov 2011, p.60]

Does an awful lot, but it fails to do any of it well. [Dec 2011, p.52]

A competent, by-the-numbers platformer that isn't nearly as vile as we were expecting. [Aug 2006, p.61]

It's got the basics, and fans can have fun, but it's effectively pointless if you've got a DS, and definitely pointless if you've got a GameCube. [Nov 2006, p.74]

It's nice to see someone trying something new, but they're overreaching. Not so great action and not so great strategy gets you this confusing pile of not so great stuff. [July 2007, p.69]

You know us, we love to champion the odd outsiders, but Baroque drinks your praise only to then puke it in your lap. Horribly interesting. [July 2008, p.62]

Dungeon-crawling is deadly dull. [Dec 2006, p.50]

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

The tunes aren't great and the gameplay is lifeless. [July 2008, p.58]

Ignore, ignore, ignore. [Aug 2007, p.70]

There's no close-up work, only abstract coarse plotting between cookers and customers and, as such, it's a bit tedious. [Christmas 2007, p.70]

No amount of Simpsons love justifies sitting through this much clumsy mediocrity. [Jan 2008, p.42]

A game for hardened Gleeks only. [June 2011, p.67]

Basic approach. [July 2010, p.67]

More of the same culinary-based action again, but this time it's more of the same in three dimensions and for up to four players. [Christmas 2011, p.68]

"Quotation Forthcoming"

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

Button-mashing with a few RPG-ish stats thrown in. More of a light breeze than a huge hurricane; don't expect to be blown away by this title. [Feb 2007, p.73]

It's uneventful, with overly simple graphics and gameplay, and the lack of visual feedback you get whilst playing merits packing both horse and cartridge off to be 'put to sleep.' [Feb 2007, p.83]

A zombie-infested mall doesn't make much sense without zombies to infest it. Poodles and parrots are among the most irritating substitutes imaginable. [Apr 2009, p.50]

A hugely disappointing sequel to a great puzzler. More of the same would have been better than this. [Nov 2009, p.68]

A massive waste of time. [Christmas 2010, p.70]

Although you can access extras and minigames, it's rather plain. [Aug 2006, p.66]

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

There's no reason to choose this over the officially-endorsed Mario and Sonic alternative. [July 2012, p.99]

It's harmless, but hardly worth bothering with. [May 2008, p.74]

Boring, truncated and better experienced elsewhere. [May 2011, p.64]

An unsophisticated disappointment. [Aug 2006, p.67]

It makes chess look like [a] snap and will make children cry. [Sept 2007, p.71]

Forgive the game's ruff edges and pug ugly looks and you'll find there's a fair amount of fun in this barking mad idea. [Nov 2011, p.68]

Our hopes were raised by the decent control scheme. But the gameplay is as messy and tangled as the great man's hair. Leave this one ringside.

Dungeon-crawling is deadly dull. [Dec 2006, p.50]

Far too simple to satisfy as an anime fighter and too bitty to enjoy for any length of time. [Sept 2007, p.71]

The characters are still charming but they're fronting a dull, lazy game. [June 2009, p.60]

Digging fanatics will dig exploring every last square of earth, but Namco haven't dug deep enough to create a truly compelling and fresh experience. [Oct 2006, p.68]

We found it tough to love. [Dec 2011, p.74]

Not what we were hoping for from such a great developer of music games. [July 2009, p.66]

Turn the sound down and you may get a few hours' fun out of this one. [Apr 2011, p.75]

Running is done clumsily with the D-pad, while the stylus is only used in minigames. [Sept 2007, p.70]

A clean, logical layout and superb handwriting recognition - we're sure crossword aficionados stateside are having themselves a grand old time. [Aug 2007, p.70]

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

The platforming's stupidly fiddly, the driving is very dull, and the obstacle dodging is the worst sort of touch-screen bodging nonsense. [Dec 2006, p.54]

The innovation of the new Wii gameplay modes is dulled by the fact you're playing a game you probably already own in its 'real' form. [Feb 2009, p.65]

Funny and frustrating in equal measures. [January 2007, p.77]

It soon gets highly repetitive. [Mar 2011, p.72]

The soul-sappingly slow racing lets this down. [Aug 2011, p.68]

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]

Doesn't make great use of the Wii controls and EVE can be a sod to fly around. [Oct 2008, p.70]

Frustrating in a hurl-the-cartridge-into-the-North-Sea way. Easily the worst of the three versions. Unacceptable! [Dec 2006, p.40]

Hardly epic and in no way legendary, but this contains mild thrills - if you can come to terms with how outdated it all is. [Aug 2009, p.71]

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]

The sad effects of aging in all their glory. Populous used to crack top ten games lists in 1990. Populous DS isn't even one of the top ten games this issue.

There's very little actual game. [Feb 2009, p.77]

We can't deny the initial thrill of creating your own dungeon and looting it for meat, but it wont' take long before its charm turns into sheer annoyance. [Dec 2008, p.64]

It's not that it's badly made or anything. It's just a bit dull, and there's only so many polygon peppers we want to chop. [Dec 2006, p.43]

Courses are angular and riddled with pop-up, and the impression of speed is created by what looks like dandruff flying off your car's roof. [Feb 2009, p.76]

Far too expensive for what it is. [Dec 2011, p.73]

More a party game than a sports sim, but not a particularly good one. [May 2010, p.64]

The feeling that it's all a bit slapdash never really goes away. [March 2012, p.107]

Fans of the movie might get suckered in but this is uninspired stuff. While the remote is great in most games, it's no dance-mat replacement. [January 2007, p.50]

Very poor value for money. [JPN Import; June 2008, p.68]

It's neither educational or entertaining enough. [Jan 2010, p.72]

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

Little more than an uninspired remake of a vastly superior original. [June 2010, p.65]

A mediocre compilation of five average games. [Apr 2009, p.59]

Only the most hardcore fans are going to persevere with it, and even then it just doesn't work properly. [Jan 2008, p.52]

An unexceptional entry in a prolific series. [May 2012, p.99]

This is okay for what it is, but what it is certainly isn't worth 30 quid. [July 2008, p.73]

What's fun for free isn't always worth paying for. It's why our theme park, Jump Into Piles Of Leaves World, went into administration. [Aug 2009, p.72]