Buoyed by a promising concept and Suda51's reputation, we expected and experience comparable to God Hand or Bayonetta. What we got is witless – an embarrassment that shames itself and the industry as a whole. It's idiocy that outstays its in record time. [July 2012, p78]

Like a new wrestler getting a push, the fans will determine if 2K’s series succeeds or fails. [April 2015, p80]

Don't let the fresh new franchise face and the Frostbite screens fool you. Rory McIlroy's has applied some serious back-spin to this once features-rich series. Budget buy this duff. [October 2015, p71]

Improves upon the original in only minor ways, is still repetitive and reliant on you ignoring its unpolished nature, because bewbs. [August 2014, p77]

Offers a great visual upgrade, but the UI and various other tappy mechanics break down in later difficulties. [August 2014, p78]

We love that Way of the Samurai 4 is batshit insane, and about as Japanese as a toilet that sings and shoots rainbows. Even still, that quirkiness quickly gives way to seriously rough edges. Clunky, repetitive combat isn't helped by comically bad animations, and when the visuals aren't bland, they're shredded to pieces by screen tearing. [November 2012, p78]

Buy this looking for massive evolution, and you'll be the one who gets tormented. [October 2015, p79]

Expected features like continuing from the middle of the stage are absent, probably to expand the slender content as much as it can, but it clearly has a heart of gold and lashings of style. You'll like it more with a co-op partner, but Scott Pilgrim is much better. [November 2012, p79]

Most people won't feel the need to replay this eight or so times to piece together all endings into one full nest of a whole. [October 2015, p79]

A brave competitor to Sony's mud king, but it's all a bit too bland to get revved up over. [Nov 2008, p.96]

ROTF is a snack to finish - expect to knock the whole thing, both Autobot and Decepticon campaigns, over in a day - yet there's a perverse sense of accomplishment when the credits roll, despite the hit-and-miss graphics, awful music and weak sound effects. [Sept 2009, p.69]

We can’t help but feel as though this port was booted out of the door without so much as a kiss goodbye. Case in point: you still have the option to toggle ‘vibration’ on and off in the settings menu. Come on, guys... really? The Jak and Daxter Collection should be played by anybody who hasn’t already. But our advice: skip past this port and go for the home console version instead. [September 2013, p74]

Like him or otherwise, Eddie Van Halen is a guitar hero, no doubt. This game just doesn't reflect that. [Mar 2010, p.76]

The problem is the level design in the game is absurdly old hat. While there are a handful of mission types, like Direct Action, Covert, and High Value Target, the levels they take place in and the related objectives are painfully bland. "Move to this point and activate this switch. Now go down the stairs and activate this other switch." Blah, blah, blah… [April 2012, p73]

For all its unfamiliarity and family-over-friendliness Legends of Chima is a technically solid production that should please its intended audience. Oldies can skip it and continue to vainly hope for LEGO Die Hard. [September 2013, p75]

Escape Plan feels way too barebones an experience. There aren't many gamers out there who'll want to revisit and three star puzzles they barely fumbled through the first time due to iffy controls. [April 2012, p74]

The game looks crusty. The sprites introduced last year are pixilated and their animations limited. Plus the game lacks any creative flourishes during the massive super moves. We love the idea of a stunning 2D fighter, but there's no technical or artistic creativity here. Note to SNK – invest some money to make it look like a cartoon made by a ninja Walt Disney. [January 2012, p.76]

In the end the experience of piloting an F1 car around the world's premiere race tracks isn't here. This is one racer that gets the black and white flag for bad behavior. [April 2012, p74]

Top co-op, but solo is forgettable. Unpolished, too. Drug addicts with severe delusional parasitosis will see fewer bugs than a Wildlands player. [May 2017, p73]

When a well-planned incursion comes to fruition, the game is rewarding; the rest of the time, it's plagued with camera weirdness, clipping errors and a clunky combat system. [April 2012, p75]

The good looks of most JRPGs will be in some way anime-influenced, but Time and Eternity is flat-out anime that you play. With that comes the often cringe-worthy plotting of the latterday art form, too.[September 2013, p77]

Flatout’s schtick is its physics-heavy racing, but that engine is antiquated now. Like the nitro it ungenerously ekes out – fun in short bursts only [May 2017, p79]

So-so fighting but an okay diversion. The AR is really cool, though. [March 2012, p63]

Someone forgot to add "fun" to the jetpack. [Mar 2010, p.75]

There’s depth here – you can tool about with settings, text chat to your engineers and view race telemetry – but it will frustrate some. The racing itself, though, is good. SBK fans will likely have a lot of time for this title. Solid, but not for everyone. [Aug 2009, p.68]

There are 14 different rule sets to check out, but all of them fall victim to repetition. Gameplay revolves around dragging your finger across the front display to choose the area where you wish to hit, before pulling it down and then flicking. Rinse. Repeat. Woo. Pass. [April 2012, p78]

The integration of tilt steering and rear touchpad gear shifting is nice, but beyond that, this is a wafer-thin, learner burner experience best left to racing rookies. [April 2012, p78]

You can go online and play with your mates, but it doesn’t do enough to be exciting or even pretty to look at. Diagnosis: take one dose of Final Fantasy XIII and start another of Valkyria Chronicles. [May 2010 p.79]