A superb technical showcase, but the engine will be put to bolder use in time. [June 2011, p.85]

A monster adventure at a stunner of a price. People who don't buy this shouldn't call themselves gamers.

Unites casual gamers and tennis fanatics in the best game in the series. [June 2011, p.95]

Busting semi-famous faces has never been so much fun. Essential viewing for fight fans. [Aug 2010, p.86]

Not a patch on DMC3 but, the moment we finished the game, we played it all over again. It's that good. [Apr 2008, p.78]

As good a band-based music game as we're likely to get. Until The Beatles arrive. [July 2009, p.83]

While far from as deep as the PC games, Revolution is a fine achievement, extremely accessible and great fun to play.

Lacking genuine belly laughs but excess ingenuity stacks the books in this one's favour. [May 2011, p.121]

Gruelling but rewarding. [Dec 2011, p.101]

Impressive basketball sim that manages to be instantly accessible. [Christmas 2008, p.76]

The best Worms ever. [Sept 2009, p.103]

A stunning music game. [Jan 2010, p.72]

Makes killing into an artform, and backs it with a Score Attack which was nearly great. [May 2011, p.94]

Ballsier, brassier and better than anyone could have expected - including Obsidian. [Issue#98, p.82]

Some amazing moments, some truly abysmal. Saints Row is wildly imaginative but the lack of technical polish and the weak combat mar the creativity. [Feb 2012, p.100]

Not quite the perfect sequel we envisioned, but still pretty close to it. [Mar 2009, p.76]

High calibre fun. [Christmas 2009, p.74]

A beast of a game. There's no point owning any other American football sim. [Dec 2010, p.98]

Rez resurrected. Brilliant with or without a controller, Eden could last you a lifetime. [Aug 2011, p.92]

Essential for nubies - not for historical purposes, but because it's still an exemplary shooter, even now. [Christmas 2011, p.109]

A furious and intense shooter that just won't let up - even when it probably should. [Issue#98, p.95]

The same great game it was last year, only with more pointless bolted-on bits.

A super-comprehensive racer...Impressive. [Dec 2010, p.90]

Even with the barest bones of a Battlefield game it's utterly complete. [Sept 2009, p.102]

Packs a fancy new jet that can take off vertically. [Feb 2012, p.112]

A great game and one of only a few platformers on Xbox; keep a spare pad handy though. [Apr 2008, p.96]

Disappointing only because of how high it sets the bar in its early stages. [Dec 2009, p.74]

A beautiful and varied title, but you feel it might be holding something back. [Aug 2007, p.66]

Co-op? Great. Single-player? Not so much. Not nearly as good as we hoped - but you'll still love it with two. [Apr 2009, p.62]

Not the best on 360, but certainly not the worst. [Dec 2009, p.80]

A wonderful sandbox title that branches off from the "GTA" tree rather than feeding off it; when you set off a huge chain reaction of barrels, you’ll see the game "Saints Row" wished it was. When you climb to the top of the Agency HQ and peer down at the world, you’ll see the game "Just Cause" could never be. And every so often, you’ll see another moment of brilliance; a reminder of the game you want GTA IV to be.

The best new fighting engine around, with a very sparse game wrapped round it.

Individually this game should be superb and if you’ve never played a previous version this should be your first point of call. However, taken as part of a continuous series, this is a fairly pointless offering as it offers very little in terms of innovation.

The best Fallout DLC to date. [Nov 2011, p.112]

Water Castlevania's roots and a rollicking adventure sprouts forth. Brilliant, bloody fun.

Behold - the finest score attack arcade game on Live Arcade since "Geometry Wars." [Sept 2007, p.96]

Fun enough, but not the facelift we were hoping for. Plus, online totally carries it. [Sept 2008, p.70]

A purer football game than FIFA 10 and the perfect companion to this year's World Cup. [June 2010, p.86]

It's the definitive version of SPF, but still one for the experts or those with lots of time to spare. [Nov 2007, p.96]

This is the birth of a special franchise, end even with its teething problems the beginning has been well worth waiting for. [July 2010, p.77]

A deceptively hardcore and thigh-slappingly funny platformer with secrets and challenges galore. [Nov 2011, p.111]

The best tower game ever. [Dec 2009, p.104]

Still a brilliant shooter, but needed better levels and more new content. [May 2008, p.81]

Kinect's best launch title. [Feb 2011, p.102]

Manages the double whammy of being easier to play and deeper than Live.

Swallow the shame of buying this and you'll own one of the 360's finest. [Dec 2008, p.94]

A solid, thrilling but aimless racer, given firm direction thanks to the genius of Autolog.

Everything just feels so tight, so slick, so-self assured. Yes, it might take you five minutes to get used to the lightning quick, almost slippery feel to the controls, but when those controls 'grip', you start to realise you're being guided by one of the best.

No forced ending that reeks of a hastily finished game: just a full stop at the end of a seriously good story. [Sept 2007, p.82]

A rollicking online racer, but the marriage of fantasy and reality doesn't sit comfortably. [Aug 2010, p.100]

Too hard to be fun, too mean not to frustrate, but challenging enough to be rewarding. [Christmas 2008, p.92]

Not quite the number of the beast - but from Schafer it's a minor disappointment. [Christmas 2009, p.94]

The grind-heavy mechanics may be for online obsessives, but solo players shouldn't bother. [Dec 2008, p.103]

Despite the name on the box, AODA's latter half makes it a supporting act to Butcher's Bay's main attraction. It doesn't matter how many triple twists and double somersaults a gymnast pulls if he smashes his face on the landing, and AODA crash lands pretty bloody hard. Fortunately, it's a broken nose limited to a small part of a packed box. [Apr 2009, p.82]

A huge game for a tidy price. [Oct 2009, p.104]

The best. Only better. A 2D game of this quality, lushly redesigned, is worth a hundred 3D romps. [Sept 2007, p.94]

It's good, but not good enough - proving the loudest car on the grid is rarely the healthiest. [July 2010, p.88]

As a remake it holds up better than any other shooter from the same era. [Feb 2012, p.90]

It's certainly a good game, but we want to wage war against Sawyer from Lost, not our 360 controller.

Too much streamlining has blunted FFXIII's hooks. This isn't epic, it's arduous. [May 2010, p.67]

A timeless classic, but one we've played to death before. Still, 400 points isn't bad value. [Dec 2007, p.96]

The infrastructure is definitely in place for a corker of a kickabout but the important thing - that intangible soul - is still frustratingly missing.

Enslaved is a rare game: a title with shades of Beyond Good & Evil great-ness set in a decimated world that's genuinely striking to explore. You'll have played better adventures before, but you'll be hard pressed to name a more captivating one.

Promises much but proves to be a limited, lacklustre take on the RTS. [Apr 2009, p.77]

It's a game of two halves, but the good half carries the bad. [Dec 2011, p.103]

Okay if you're looking for feature-filled b-ball - but EA do it better. [Jan 2008, p.78]

The best fantasy looter on 360 (Sacred II included), but the lack of multiplayer hurts the package. [June 2011, p.118]

A smart mix of retro twin-stick shooter and current tech, and a glorious throwback to arcade blasters of olden times. [Christmas 2011, p.111]

So, turns out there's room in this world for both GTA IV and Saints Row 2, then. Truly, they are utterly opposite sides of the same sandbox coin. If you were in any way disappointed with Rockstar's return with Liberty City then we have absolutely no hesitation in recommending you buy this.

It plays a lightning-fast, ultra-competitive game, and the statistics are unbeatable in their completeness. [Oct 2007, p.96]

An astonishingly ambitious adventure that's, largely, beautifully executed. [Jan 2008, p.72]

A gently challenging head-scratcher with lovely presentation and a worthwhile story to tell. [May 2011, p.121]

Not as smart as Defence Grid but more fun, this is brains, brawn and great big balls for ten pounds. [June 2010, p.121]

A lengthy campaign which stands the test of time. [Christmas 2011, p.108]

In stark contrast to the first game, you'll never be at a loss for something to be getting on with. You never feel compelled to do anything by the book and every session you play, you'll find yourself concentrating on a new part of the game, continually getting distracted by something else along the way.

Vision of the future, relic of the past - after such a long wait, Rage turns out to be both a triumph and a tragedy. In 2011, this just doesn't cut it. [Christmas 2011, p.104]

Consistently slick in almost every regard: animation, level design, and combat. Stylish and memorable. [July 2011, p.119]

Lacks the appeal of a "Hexic" or a "Lumines," but a surprisingly solid puzzler nonetheless. [Apr 2008, p.96]

Not pretty, but smart as a whip, and constantly quick and accessible. [Christmas 2008, p.74]

One of the best board games of recent decades, translated perfectly to Live. [Aug 2007, p.91]

As true a game as you're ever likely to see - it's a merciless, but fair, must. [Aug 2008, p.72]

Newcomers are likely to get more out of this new trilogy's opening than veterans, who know much better. [Feb 2009, p.74]

One of the prettiest games you'll ever see and the best air combat going. [Christmas 2007, p.81]

Shame they couldn't have spruced it up for 360 but it's still great fun. [May 2008, p.85]

Not the best Tekken, but the biggest. Still daft, still fun, still second rate.

One of the prettiest games on Live Arcade and one of the most fun multiplayer games on 360. [Sept 2009, p.103]

A so-so game on an engine so old it's literally powered by steam. [Christmas 2009, p.92]

Outdated and barely altered since 2007, this is still a brilliant spot of golf. [Aug 2009, p.93]

If Condemned was the starter, this is the main course. Gory, dark and great. [Apr 2008, p.64]

Fun, imaginative and eccentric, this is a bold revival of a once moribund franchise and one of the year's bravest, most unexpectedly enjoyable games. [Nov 2011, p.104]

A firm five on the Keanu Reeves Extreme-O-Meter, but on the Xbox World scale, it's a [4-star]. [Apr 2009, p.105]

An incredible piece of tech and an even better piece of design, From Dust is a place to lose yourself in. [Oct 2011, p.104]

It's a bridge between loon-o-shooters and interactive modern FPS'. That's it, though. [Christmas 2008, p.60]

An intuitive port of two excellent games. Without doubt, one of the best things you'll find on XBLA.

Does for Spitfires what Forza does for Ferraris. The best combat flight sim ever made.

Definitely the best Skate effort yet - but more of an update than a truly worthy sequel. [July 2010, p.86]

A kiddy game at heart, that's now packing more bang for your buck.

A bold experiment in storytelling that shines all the brighter for its many imperfections. [Jan 2011, p.93]