Only falls short of its own grand ambitions. [Jan 2012, p.103]

"Quotation Forthcoming"

There's enough frenzied destruction to entertain for an afternoon - just leave your brain at the door. [Aug 2008, p.94]

There's plenty to do and the sheer size of the city will keep you busy for weeks. But Carbon's new features don't stand out enough to make it warrant an immediate purchase if you've already raced through Underground 1 and 2, Juiced or Midnight Club.

While the first half hour of Sonic Generations is jarring, it's really worth sticking with. There's a lot of fan love here, from showdowns with your rivals - Metal, Shadow and Silver - to revisiting some familiar but excellently reworked levels. But it's a scarring shame that the Sonic 1 emulation reminds you how smooth Sonic should be. And he isn't.

Respectable though its faith to the old-skool way is, it's not going to satisfy the modern gamer. If you and your three mates still adore the original arcade game you'll get a kick out of playing this prettier version, but everyone else will be snoozing within the hour.

Unexpectedly good stuff, despite its flaws.

Played on a gamepad, Powerstar might not have the grandma-pleasing intuitive appeal of a Kinect-powered title, but it's still a sweet and inclusive family game.

It's an inconsistent package that doesn't fully deliver on the single-player, nor distinguish itself enough in multiplayer to make it an Xbox Live contender. A real shame.

Losing Kinect doesn't lost the joy of this ride. [Aug 2012, p.107]

Lococycle is as hard to put down as it is hard to love. Even if the comedy scratches your itch, there will be times when the shortage of depth and aversion to polish become impossible to forgive.

It's a harrowing tale, but a frustrating one too. Odd arcade touches and cost-cutting measures poke through the skin like broken bones. Bluffing your way out of a fight sounds promising, but it's a clunky, repetitive business and bodycounts are high.

For all its shallowness, I couldn't help but fall for Zoo Tycoon. While its charms may indeed be too quickly exhausted, they're potent while they last, and there's an overpowering wholesomeness that's difficult to resist. There are a lot of great ideas, wonderful moments and potential memories to be made here that make it more than worth a look, but much like my experiences with real-life animal parks, Zoo Tycoon becomes less likely to delight upon each subsequent visit.

If you long for the carefree carnage of Destruction Derby and you're happy to ply the bulk of your trade online this is well worth a look. Otherwise you'll probably want to write this one off.

We'll find out next year if WWE's stable-change to 2K really changes the world of digital man-squeezing, but for now, like Wrestlemania, WWE 2K14 is a comforting combo of familiarity and nonsense.

In terms of what you actually do, though, Burial at Sea is fairly tepid stuff - a fetch quest followed by shoot-outs that introduce Infinite's Tears and Skylines to Bioshock 1's Splicers and turrets, a puzzle that involves finding a new Plasmid, a puzzle that involves doing X of Y, and a boss encounter that's all about attrition.

An old-fashioned shooter in both looks and gameplay, but done with enough conviction that you can be forgiving. [June 2006, p.58]

Our x-ray vision can see through this one. Not quite super enough. [Christmas 2006, p.126]

Over the Hedge isn't anywhere near perfect, but it's still reasonably entertaining and not quite bad enough to be dismissed as a 'cash-in' (aren't most games made for cash?). [Aug 2006, p.62]

Button bashing by the numbers and very repetitive. Only superhero fanboys need apply to this Justice League. [Jan 2007, p.125]

A basic-yet-endearing trip down memory lane. Don't bother if you owned these games in a past life, though. [April 2006, p.92]

A jaunty, fairly interesting collection of mini-games, but it's been done better a hundred times before. [April 2006, p.89]

A great license and great idea scuppered by the 'seen it all before' feel of the gameplay. Big shame. [Nov 2006, p.72]

In spite of its unspectacular style and its translation-glitch quirks, Over G is a little weird, but lots of fun. [Aug 2006, p.92]

Retro action without much new to offer. [July 2009, p.97]

While its core modes are shallower than the competition, NBA Live 15 is breezy and fun to play on the court. [Jan 2015, p.82]

The best thing that can be said about ProStroke Golf...is that you can speed through a game pretty efficiently. [Issue#65, p.97]

Unlike the game's spotting endings, our conclusion has a bit more force to it: Holmes is guilty of gimmickry, but gets time off for good intentions. [Dec 2014, p.78]