We've played worse Pokemon knock-offs over the years. [Christmas 2011, p.72]

Contains the essence of the Wii game, although it lacks a lot of the content. Should be cheaper to compensate. Isn't. [Christmas 2011, p.72]

In essence this is identical to the game you destroyed and rebuilt last year. But whe it's this much fun it would be riddikulus to complain. [Christmas 2011, p.70]

A solid and punchy racer that lays it on too thick with the gimmicks and then forgets to put any bends in. All the same, this is a strong restart for NFS. [Christmas 2011, p.69]

N-Space's reach exceeds DS's grasp. Give this nonsense a miss and wait for their excellent Heroes of Ruin on 3DS instead. [Christmas 2011, p.68]

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]

A gorgeous title. [Christmas 2011, p.65]

A tasty protein shake for the target audience - a guilty pleasure for fans. [Christmas 2011, p.64]

Insert ear plugs and dust off those reflexes: 2D platforming is back. [Christmas 2011, p.62]

As complete a racing game as you could hope to play. [Christmas 2011, p.54]

Excellent use of 3D combined with some genuinely tricky puzzles make for one of the best 3DS head-scratchers available. Just be prepared to get stuck.

Still a substantial package - especially on the online-starved Wii - but messy with it. Try GoldenEye instead - it was built for Wii and is all the better for it.

A C64 platform game in 3DS clothes, and not very convincing ones at that. [Dec 2011, p.79]

A monstrosity...Please don't indulge this. [Dec 2011, p.77]

Lame object hunt. [Dec 2011, p.77]

Certainly feels like a chore. [Dec 2011, p.77]

The evidence trails are so insultingly simple to follow that even the Italian police couldn't bodge them. [Dec 2011, p.75]

The game chugs harder than Captain Haddock at a distillery. [Dec 2011, p.75]

Mario Kart 7 will put this pretender to shame. [Dec 2011, p.75]

The by-the-numbers platforming is both predictably lazy and embarrassingly cheap. [Dec 2011, p.74]

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

In short, you should avoid this like a bear hug from Doc Octopus. [Dec 2011, p.74]

A thoroughly pleasant surprise. [Dec 2011, p.74]

The tracklist is weaker too. [Dec 2011, p.73]

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

Almost as surprisingly great as the Wii version, so worth the money. [Dec 2011, p.72]

The 3D judders horribly. [Dec 2011, p.72]

A delightfully tacky ninja fantasy. [Dec 2011, p.71]