Let's hope Namco has a patch in the pipeline. [June 2008, p.124]

Even though each puzzle is explained before it gets tough a few stages down the line, there are still a few that are a little too complex for their own good (as if the game wasn’t frustrating enough already.) [Aug 2005, p.96]

It’s a perfectly playable game, but a frankly boring one that quickly becomes a chore to play. [Christmas 2008, p.102]

Street Trace boils down to a mostly random arena shooter where victory is assured through lucky button mashing rather than any kind of skill. [Nov 2007, p.126]

An anemic release, even for a budget title. [Issue#119, p.100]

If only the developer hadn’t completely messed things up with its restrictive camera angles and unfair challenges then it could have had a uniquely fun DS game on its hands. [Mar 2009, p.120]

As a catalogue of all the errors you can ever expect to see in a clunky first-person shooter Fall Of Liberty excels. [May 2008, p.120]

Even at a budget price point, this is one slip-up that can't be blamed on banana skins. [Issue#112, p.120]

Erase those memories of halcyon days spent nurturing your arthritis with the original coin-op, because Streetwise does it no kind of justice. [May 2006, p.124]

Thanks in part to an atrocious camera, extremely dislikeable characters and a handful of amazingly frustrating sticking points, all this iteration of Sonic The Hedgehog manages to achieve is a yearning for the old days. [Apr 2007, p.129]

Occasionally playable, but just mostly horrible. [Issue#108, p.116]

Reprehensible on both qualitative and thematic levels, Naughty Bear is a downright disgraceful attempt at a game. [Issue#99, p.116]

With combat relying on clever use of items and plenty of RPG-esque searching and equipping, Rengoku does show some potential, but it’s far too little, and with so many better-quality titles already on the market, it’s definitely too late. [Mar 2006, p.116]

Still thinking of buying this? You must be out of your mind. [Issue#106, p.106]

As the game shifts from its early crew introductions, it’s obvious that the layers of game mechanics underlying the experience are either incompetent or awkwardly implemented. For instance, stealth is required in a handful of missions, but the act of navigating between cover is frustratingly cumbersome, occasionally exacerbated by your partner claiming the next vital protection point.

Erase those memories of halcyon days spent nurturing your arthritis with the original coin-op, because Streetwise does it no kind of justice. [May 2006, p.124]

Game Republic may throw a whole bestiary of mythological Greco-Roman creatures at the player, but when killing them feels so unremarkable, the end result feels like a lot of wasted effort. [Aug 2010, p.127]

Things On Wheels is too pedestrian to catch on in the demanding Live Marketplace, and too frustrating to be fun. [Feb 2009, p.121]

It could be worse. Hugh Jackman could be in it. [Christmas 2011, p.120]

A lifeless carcass in the FPS mould lies in its wake. [Issue#109, p.104]

The sluggish fighting feels surprisingly weighty. [Issue#115, p.102]

There's simply not enough material here to justify the asking price, and the small amount on the disc is sub-par entertainment on almost every level. [Dec 2009, p.111]

An affront. [Issue#96, p.114]

A fumbled attempt at an interesting yet obviously tricky fusion of genres and no amount of laughs - intentional or otherwise - can save it. [Oct 2009, p.131]

Even at the bargain-bin price that Rock Revolution is undoubtedly going to hit mere weeks after it is released, the game is an irredeemable waste of time. [Feb 2009, p.114]

It highlights Kinect's flaws rather than showcases its strengths, sending out one, clear, reverberating message – Kinect simply isn't refined enough to unite the hardware with the hardcore.

Had the handling and collision detection been improved, then Wheelspin might actually have been a good game. [Issue#91, p.114]

Our review code froze four times during play, each occasion coming as a blessed relief, a welcome respite from the tedium. [Issue#101, p.111]

It’s a solid FPS, but its failure to provide a truly original take on an ever-tiring genre or something even vaguely resembling half-decent AI means that it could never be considered anything better than plain average. [Aug 2007, p.114]

You’ll likely find that the motions are easily confused and unresponsive, with some situational moves, such as weaving, next to impossible to pull off with the degree of consistency that would make their inclusion worthwhile. [Apr 2009, p.122]

It's not a game. [Issue#118, p.106]

Kung Fu Rider remains virtually the same from the first moment until the last, and singularly fails to justify its frankly baffling price tag. [Issue#101, p.126]

The huge, sprawling levels, multiple routes and breadth of choice on offer may be countered by awkward controls and uninspired vehicle sections, but there's a modicum of entertainment beneath the obvious design flaws if you look hard enough. [Aug 2009, p.114]

To say that the gameplay feels clunky is a huge understatement. Throw in a cover system that defies belief, which is often essential for boss encounters, and it's a tiresome slog. [Oct 2009, p.128]

There are some laughs to be had at its expense, and everything here works, but that's absolutely all it does. [Issue#122, p.110]

Multi-player over Xbox Live … is the only reason anyone should consider investing in Bomberman Act:Zero. [Oct 2006, p.132]

If Amy ever had a chance of keeping its head above water and surviving these problems, the awful checkpoint system ensures it drowns in them.

Declassified is a sorry way to end 14 years of coding history at Nihilistic. The kindest thing you can say about it is that it's a reasonably authentic facsimile of the Call Of Duty blueprint, yet it feels like the work of an artist who is painstakingly tracing a masterpiece but lacks the craft to replicate the magical that made the original so attractive in the first place.

In practice, Gundam: Crossfire is barely playable. We blame the game’s frame rate which we reckon must run as low as 10 fps and only as high as what looks like about 20fps. [Jan 2007, p.103]

This fun mockery of a bygone age becomes nothing but a regrettably cumbersome slog. [July 2008, p.120]

It's as if the developer simply ceased to care, or ran out of time, or both. Who knows? What we do know is that Terminal Velocity has crafted something truly loathsome and undeserving of its heritage. [Issue#135, p.108]

We Rock: Drum King proves that drumming simply doesn't satisfy without the acknowledging thwack and rebound of stick meeting skin. [June 2009, p.118]

Like booting up a mediocre run-and-gunner from the mid-Nineties. [Issue#109, p.114]

What would we change? Just about everything. Rogue Warrior isn't broken, but it is bland and characterless. [Feb 2010, p.128]