I'd say for “fans of the genre” but this game simply isn't good for anyone. [May 2015, p75]

Not without its rough charm, but clearly the bridesmaid to FFXV's babe. [May 2015, p76]

MXGP isn't without its flaws, but if you're a motocross fan, you don't have a lot of options. [July 2014, p80]

All-star Battle is strictly for fans, unless you want Japanese culture to slap you in the face. [July 2014, p80]

A worthy entry that cannot escape being pinned down by some crucial flaws. [Christmas 2013, p82]

It was a worthwhile dig, but it just isn't a patch on genre leaders. [May 2009, p.64]

Pure Pool is as succinct a product as its name suggests. Expect solid ball-on-ball action but little more. [October 2014, p82]

The cinematics, while cobbled together from a ‘90s cop movie handbook, are more polished than most. If you were starving, you could lick this dish clean and be satisfied. But it wouldn’t taste like anything you hadn’t eaten before. [June 2010 p74]

You'll burn through each movie pretty fast; there are only a few hours of gameplay here. The levels are designed with unlockables in mind to prompt multiple playthroughs. If you get sucked into high scores you'll likely want to give it a few goes to try and boost it. [December 2010 p79]

Artistic, and absorbing for a time. But the whimsy gives way to shallowness. [October 2014, p83]

Just follow the quest arrows, and spank everyone in your path. Rinse and repeat. Mental patients weave baskets because it’s calming - this is the same deal. [Sept 2009, p.70]

If you’re looking for a chill experience, are ok to wait for content patches, and have a high tolerance against repetitive tasks, we say boldly go. But probably only after a price drop. [November 2016, p62]

Having a plethora of events is all for nothing if it’s just a blizzard of deja vu. If you can’t keep the grind compelling, you’ll freeze players out in no time. [February 2016, p80]

Start the Party! is great for younger kids, but the young at heart will find the fun is spread pretty thinly. The game also doesn't completely live up to its title as a 'party starter', or its exclamation point for that matter. This mainly because 'multiplayer' is a missed opportunity thanks to it relying upon a pass-and-play style rather than head-to head. [November 2010 p67]

Clocking in at a paltry five hours to complete on 'hard', The Force Unleashed II feels shorter than an Ewok's genitals. Length hang-ups aside, Lucasarts has tightened up almost everything iffy about the original game, but they also managed to drop a hydro-spanner into the parts that were working fine to begin with. For example, TFU had a stellar, award-winning Star Wars plot – this sequel's storyline comes dangerously close to breaking established canon and, like Jabba's Sarlacc, it sucks you in, only to take you absolutely nowhere. [January 2011 p74]

Each time you start [a minigame] it feels like you're forcing yourself to drink your own urine whilst frying in the desert: you don’t want to do it, but must to make it to the end. [Sept 2009, p.66]

Multiplayer is pretty limited in variety, all team-based, and with a fistful of maps. Couple this annoyance with the fact that the rest of the game doesn't attempt to raise the bar in any way – and only lasts a paltry five hours – and Blood Stone starts to feel like a very pedestrian shooter. Honestly, we doubt even Xenia Onatopp on herbal Viagra could squeeze thrills out of this short ride. [January 2011 p79]

In the end, its linearity, lack of gameplay diversity, and the low latency feel of your in-game actions all conspire to trip this tiny dancer up. Wait for it to become a PlayStation Plus freebie. [November 2016, p78]

Attacks are doled out with three face buttons and although there's a tights fistful of combos to learn and modifiers on the shoulder buttons for variety and occasional defensive manoeuvres, we literally took down a clutch of enemies by bashing the controller against our butt. No joke. [October 2012, p78]

Obviously, after eleven years the visuals haven't fared so well either. Back in the pre-GTA days Sega's take on San Fran was drool-worthy. Nowadays it's like driving through a bad cubist nightmare. Newer gamers who go in expecting some of the modern creature comforts – like traffic AI, lip synching or a physics system that makes a lick of sense – will be slapped in the face with a culture shock. Anyone who doesn't want their objective arrow to act like a broken ouija board won't like this game much either. [February 2011 p81]

If you like Terry Gilliam's work you'll love the art aesthetic here as you romp through art history, visiting historical figures as you go. It's quite funny if you can appreciate its sense of humour, too. [October 2012, p79]

As the final nail in the coffin of this two-part series, CLoS2 is more than a little rusty. [April 2014, p78]

It’s never a good thing when gamers have to blindly drop their hard-earned cash on an unpolished ride. Especially one whose engine needed way more time spent up on the hoist in the tuning phase. [Christmas 2016, p58]

Riding boats, a new character, a couple of new skills and light tower defence mechanics is pushing that full retail tag, especially when you can pick up the original for less than half the price. [June 2013, p70]

A bold and innovative reboot of a classic, but definitely geared for the hardcore. [June 2013, p76]

Solo players might enjoy this, as long as they don't stray online. [June 2014, p82]

Critically the balance from FIFA 12 has been exaggerated and attackers now have emphatic control when set. So aggressive defence is out, replaced instead by ad nauseam jockeying that slows the action to a grind while attackers dangle the ball with footloose poetry. It's fist-in-thetelevision frustrating at times, and at one point we perused the pause menu looking for the "Hire cartel sniper to take out dribbler" option. [April 2012, p68]

What you’re left with is Max Payne 3 if it was stripped of half its budget, created by Michael Bay and forced into a co-operative experience. Fans might get a kick out of the fire and limb filled explosions, and the cameos from older characters in the series, but make no mistake, it will be short-lived. [June 2013, p78]