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

Casual egg-chasers who played the predecessor could sidestep this and not miss much. But those of you hard-headed types with ears too cauliflowered to hear our warnings will probably buy it regardless. [August 2013, p77]

Spiders has been ambitious here but the team’s budget restraints and questionable writing hold Mars: War Logs back. Even with one’s ‘go underdogs!’ hat on, this Martian sand-fest offers less true grit than it does constant chafing. [August 2013, p75]

Tries to be charmingly hard, but the design simply does not match the vision. [August 2013, p76]

In the end, Pacific Rim: The Videogame feels like a trap. It’s designed to lure in the casuals, offer them the barebones framework of a fighting game, and drown them with a tsunami’s worth of paid DLC options. [September 2013, p79]

R.I.P.D.: The Game is basically Atlus’ previous released game, God Mode, stripped of its more interesting features and re-skinned by an intern. It’s an aggressively boring, disastrously ugly, barely-functional mess that will make the majority of those who play it feel dead inside. [September 2013, p79]

You’re looking at an insanely simplistic sidescrolling platformer with a handful of power-ups and ‘special skilled’ Smurfs to swap through. Doing our due diligence, we road-tested this with a six and a nine-year-old. After 30 minutes, they wanted to go play outside. Says it all, really. [October 2013, p83]

The lead’s voice actor is completely miscast with all of the depth and nuance of an English dubbed 1980s Jackie Chan movie, the story doesn’t engage you at all and its telling is plodding and laboured. Let this experience slip from your mind and… Fade to Black. [November 2013, p82]

If you’re yet to buy yourself a FIFA game on the Vita, then you probably don’t see the problem in all this. But even still, we’d recommend you just go out and buy yourself last year’s game and save 20 bucks. [December 2013, p80]

An uninspired, inexpensive stocking filler. Nothing more. [December 2013, p83]

Generic shooter whose epic bugs are not limited to its alien antagonists.[Christmas 2013, p81]

Given how unfriendly the steering is in Hot Wheels: World’s Best Driver, you should take its subtitle very seriously. Nobody, short of a vehicular virtuoso without global equal can keep these cars in a straight line. [Christmas 2013, p81]

A painfully generic puzzler that tries nothing new, outstays its welcome. [March 2014, p81]

A fun dexterity test deepened by its clever use of perspective. [March 2014, p81]

PlayStation owners didn't get this on console for a decade. We didn't miss much. [May 2014, p83]

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

Probably should have kept to the arcades, but worth a look if you've got the extra coin. [July 2014, p82]

Polished and super addictive if you're a Tony Hawk's tragic or a leaderboard troll. [October 2014, p82]

Even the hardcore will be sorely tested by this. [December 2014, p78]

To the right crowd, hilarious. But overpriced and kinda stupid for everybody else. [Christmas 2014, p75]

The now-gen survival horror revolution's here – and it only took 8 bits to get us there. [Christmas 2014, p77]

If you're desperate for the roster updates, buy it. Everybody else, don't touch. [Christmas 2014, p77]

Yes, RCR is back, as big and gloriously cheesy-bad as ever. Everything’s been tweaked, honed and maximised. There’s more chiptunes, better this, better that, all available via PSN for under 20 bucks. Look, it’s just better, right? [January 2015, p69]

Rugby 15 is messier than a Jackson Pollock painting and even buggier than Mimic. Pass. [Feb 2015, p75]

EDF fans may “BFD” but it's beaut for bug blatters of a strategic bent. [Feb 2015, p79]

It doesn't add much to what's familiar about Monopoly, but it's a faithful adaptation. [Feb 2015, p81]

With more oven time this could have been that novelty birthday cake you always wanted but never got as a child. Instead it's just a muffin of disappointment. [March 2015, p76]

A serviceable attempt at polishing up an antique. Controls are still wonky. Visual presentation is more up and down than that pesky zombie who just won’t die. [February 2015, p76]