Basic game mechanics, but a wealth of content to uncover. Definitely an acquired taste. [May 2010, p.81]

A nostalgia-fest which hasn't aged well - but it will still bring a massive smile to the faces of old blokes. [June 2010, p.118]

The actual racing is sluggish and generally skill-free, but the mini games are top fun. [Sept 2007, p.96]

Platform shooters don't get much better, but the plop filter and slowdown problems let it down. [Mar 2008, p.94]

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

A solid and well-implemented offering, but also shallow and lacking in variety. [Jan 2011, p.85]

Looks hyper-generic. Isn't. [Dec 2009, p.105]

Richer than most kiddie Kinect options. [Feb 2012, p.107]

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

Smarter, cheaper, longer and funnier, but the combat's just as dull and there's just as much of it. [Jan 2009, p.104]

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

Flawed in places, abysmal in others - but it's hard to hate it as much as you should. [May 2008, p.74]

Quirky. It's the best racer of a pretty bad bunch. [Jan 2011]

Like a reversed Lost Odyssey: loads of ideas, totally dump story. A chore. [July 2009, p.84]

Lacklustre gunplay is helped by an efficient, albeit simple, bird's-eye view. [Nov 2009, p.88]

Should've followed 3-on-3 NHL Arcade's XBLA lead. [Feb 2011, p.108]

Hulk himself is a terrific creation. The game that surrounds him? Not so much. [Sept 2008, p.75]

There's fun (in parts) but this is technically iffy and delivers a limited world.

We'd be happier with a full rebuild of the original game. [Christmas 2011, p.110]

Out-dated and out-gunned, Elements feels like a failure on 360. It may have been a hit on PC two years ago, but since then gaming has moved forward, leaving us wishing for a true sequel to Dark Messiah rather than this half-arsed port.

A significantly better showing, but still not a patch on the classic Hawk offerings of old. [Jan 2011, p.83]

Tether the choreography to controls and you'd be on to something. [Jan 2009, p.78]

Too much plot, not enough variety and not nearly enough action. Shame.

A pretty good recycling of a braingougingly boring gameplay template.

Not a complete disaster but still a long way short of fun. It's just...okay. [July 2008, p.80]

As much as we love EDF's template, the sequel needed to impress more than this. [Oct 2011, p.88]

Still manages to crawl under your skin. [Christmas 2011, p.109]

Grab a shovel. [Feb 2010, p.91]

This latest entry offers plenty for fans, but makes no concessions to anyone else. [Feb 2009, p.80]

Black Bean has secured the licence for three years and we're sure they'll make the most of it eventually. This is just a foundation from which they can build. Little more.

Dishing out this weak score is like putting an adorable puppy out of its misery. [Sept 2009, p.84]

Play basketball on half a court while Chuck D disses your sister. Nope. [June 2008, p.79]

An acquired taste, and horribly aged, but the ultra camp bloodletting isn't especially poor. [Issue#98, p99]

Average, tedious missions and all-round mediocrity make for a pretty dismal night in.

Surprisingly compelling fare. [Feb 2010, p.90]

Everything it does ha been done better many times before - and not least by its own decade-old predecessor. [May 2010, p.94]

It's not terrible by any stretch but it is utterly forgettable and, even though its belated release comes at a time when most shooters have packed their bags and headed for the safety of 2010, simply doesn't pack near enough pizzazz to stand out from the throng. Fans of BJs everywhere wail as one as another once-proud franchise bites the dust.

Not half as crap as many would have you believe, this'd make a top pressie for the little 'un. [Feb 2008, p.78]

By yanking the dragon's latest into adolescence, both kids and adults will be disappointed. [Jan 2009, p.75]

Weak action, poorly executed characters, and an odd plot. [Feb 2010, p.92]

Bond's Ops are crude, overlong slogs - padding, pure and simple. [Feb 2012, p.104]

A surprisingly solid platformer that soon becomes repetitive. 3D's fun, though. [Nov 2009, p.92]

A cheery enough companion to the movie, let down by huge frustrations. [Christmas 2007, p.85]

Could have done just as well on the original Xbox. [Jan 2010, p.93]

A brave concept fails to disguise a lame racer not worthy of sniffing "F-Zero"'s fumes. [Oct 2007, p.84]

A sad step back in the quest to get a deep RTS to work well on the Xbox 360. [June 2010, p.89]

Nothing wrong with a game of cards, but this one doesn't warrant the expense. [Feb 2008, p.84]

The GoldenEye curse continues - just keep parying for a Rare XBLA release instead. [Jan 2009, p.76]

Repetitive, confusing and bland fare that takes PoP's template and messes it up. [Feb 2011, p.100]

Fighting giant robots on giant maps never felt so slow, boring and grey. [Sept 2007, p.79]

A wasted opportunity - frustrating to play and too ugly to love. [Dec 2011, p.98]

Identikit levels and a dumb premise make for one average Spidey game. [Christmas 2007, p.72]

With no improvements since MotoGP 09/10, GP 10/11's flaws show themselves even more. [May 2011, p.98]

As bog-standard a shooter as we've ever played, marinated in a gallon of blood.

Easy and irritating. [July 2007, p.96]

A frustrating mix of good and bad - we'd take it over "Blacksite" and co though. [Christmas 2008, p.63]

Moon is a clever zombie map fraught with panic and drama - something which CoDBLOPS already has in ample supply. Bluntly put, a rip-off.

Just behind the beautiful swan's plumage hides the monotony of an ugly duckling. [Christmas 2009, p.84]

Of the three Naruto games on Xbox 360, this definitely gets the bronze. [Issue#98, p.89]

Lots for fans, little for everyone else. You've played this one before and it was better last time. [Aug 2007, p.70]

Mediocre - not through technical incompetence but simply an absence of enthusiasm. [Sept 2009, p.88]

Contains a few neat innovations, but it's too clumsy to let you really enjoy them. [June 2009, p.76]

Good for a few laughs with some mates (and some DLC), but it's still a bit of a turkey. [June 2011, p.100]

A whole lot of average. [Feb 2011, p.105]

Distinctly underwhelming. [Christmas 2011, p.106]

An uninspired slog with weak characters and messy action. But mech fans are masochists. [Issue#98, p.92]

MLB-standard presentation can't cover up for junior league gameplay. [Oct 2011, p.85]

Not what you expect from the makers of Total War: a flawed real time strategy, with zero thrills. [June 2009, p.74]

The trouble is, while their numerous parodies of classic games are often missile-guided barbs that'll nuke your funny bone, they're surrounded by an absolute shatfest in gameplay terms that, stripped of its Grade A license and related idiosyncrasies, would normally be taken outside, beaten with a stick, strung up and strangled until dead.

Were it not for the technical faults Blacksite would be a just-about-half-decent FPS, albeit one with an identity crisis. The graphics aren't all that bad, but you can never really see them because of the staggeringly arse-flavoured frame rate.

Fantasy co-op for the desperately bored. Tip: never compare your game to Gears... [Sept 2011, p.88]

Functional but bland. [Nov 2011, p.112]

A potentially not bad Pixar tie-in that gets very average, very quickly. Shame. [Sept 2008, p.82]

Painfully familiar in a Dynasty Warriors style. [Jan 2010, p.86]

Unfairly difficult platforming lumbered with controls that aren't up to task. Fight against both for a rewarding experience, or climb back into your coffin.

As long as people insist on buying them, they'll keep on making them. [Dec 2008, p.92]

Best wait for "Stoked" instead. [Jan 2009, p.79]

This needed to be 80% faster and 150% slicker. [Sept 2010, p.104]

Faint praise = damned. [July 2011, p.97]

The 360 already has its share of top-grade fighters, making this instantly obsolete. [June 2010, p.99]

A total non-event throughout. [Jan 2011, p.80]

The front-end, sporting an excruciatingly bargain-basement 'extreme sports' vibe, sums Nail'd up quite beautifully.

Dry, charmless rundown of the Olympic events with a direction-less single-player. [Aug 2008, p.49]

If anything, the fighting is more frustrating than ever. [Dec 2011, p.111]

With very little progress since the last Narnia, even huge fans will want a price cut. [Sept 2008, p.83]

A big disappointment. [Christmas 2011, p.113]

The world needs more risk-takers like Wideload. But this gamble didn't pay off. [Dec 2008, p.83]

Certainly faithful to the fiction but inferior to the last game in almost every single way.

Fleetingly daft fun but this is too expansive, too charmless and too hard. [Nov 2009, p.91]

If you need to satisfy your perverted cravings for dwarf tossing, go and play Oblivion (yet) again. But, please, don't buy this. [March 2011, p.100]

Bang for your buck - but the bang of a party popper rather than a nuke. [Mar 2009, p.79]

Perversely, and in spite of its difficulty, Facebreaker can still be completed with just two buttons.

Lack of imagination and repetitive combat send this hurtling into Mount Doom. [Feb 2012, p.96]

Some fun to be had, but not for long. [Feb 2011, p.108]

Could have done something really worthwhile with the genre, but... didn't. Nazi stuff.

Not the worst FPS on 360, but it's a clear second place. Nowhere near good enough. [Apr 2008, p.68]

Pretty, vacant. How 18 months' development could result in a game so trite is beyond us. [May 2011, p.101]

A semi-decent racer hidden behind layers of bad design and presentation. [Christmas 2008, p.72]