Mr Mirra may have been around for a long time, but it seems that it is possible for an old rider to need to learn some new tricks, because a lack of originality and options, as well as some below par design, overshadow the better qualities of Dave Mirra BMX Challenge.

And as a repeated plea to skeptics, don't pass this up just because it 'looks like Metroid' - pick it up because it's as intriguing, and in some ways more so, than Nintendo's excellent franchise.

The gameplay is a bit watered down by comparison to titles past, but for a dungeon crawler this is actually really engaging and enjoyable.

An exceptional title in every way. It has all the elements you need for a potential classic; massive production values, jaw-dropping visuals and sound, intricate and engaging storyline, fast-paced and immersive gameplay.

My biggest concern is that the performance and system requirements will turn potential players - and module developers - away from the game, and it won't have the reach and long life of its predecessor.

Visually Liberation is outstanding, keeping the rustic color palette and de-saturated look of the original perfectly while adding even more environmental details.

What once was my favourite Dreamcast game is now a PSP game that is too much of a tease to love.

It's ugly, shallow, stupid fun.

The top class game that the original should've been and ultimately an impressive sophomore effort for a series I'm increasingly psyched to hopefully watch grow and evolve in the years to come.

F.E.A.R. really is a shooter with everything - exceptional enemy AI, amazingly detailed graphics with truly entertaining rag doll physics and proper reactions when you land a hit on an enemy, a fantastic range of weapons and an online mode that's tremendously addictive.

Actionloop offers up a good amount of modes for fans of this format - more so than Zuma by far - but the setting really pales in comparison to similar titles out there.

While Vice City Stories may strike you as being formulaic and unoriginal, know that the similarities are merely skin deep; dig a little deeper and you'll discover an experience with the kind of production values, Rockstar-gloss and utter playability that the GTA titles are reputed for.

If you like football games and you want to be impressed by something that plays fantastically well and looks next generation, then this is without doubt a fine purchase and a big step in the right direction for the FIFA series.

Don't pass this up just because it 'looks like Metroid' - pick it up because it's as intriguing, and in some ways more so, than Nintendo's excellent franchise.

The thing about Dungeon Siege: Throne of Agony is that it's the same as every other hack and slash RPG.

I really wanted to love Secret Files but I walked away feeling disappointed. The moment I finished it, I cleared it off my hard drive, since there's practically no replay value and no part of the game that I enjoyed enough to replay.

Pokémon fans will lap it up, but will likely be left craving the more traditional Trainer-based titles when the game comes to a close.

There's a lot of enjoyment and variety to be found here, and Nightfall certainly adds enough for fans of Guild Wars to make the purchase, while the fact that there's no monthly fee is enough of a plus point to recommend this to MMORPG fans who haven't tried Guild Wars before.

I am very disappointed with Dark Messiah Might and Magic, yet I will leave it installed on my system for some time. It is a deeply flawed game and one of the worst launches in recent history - certainly the worst Steam launch to date. Yet it is a blast; the visual effects and combat system and, yes, kicking Orcs off ledges and ghouls into spikes are all a lot of fun, if not particularly satisfying beyond the short term.

It's got style, class and lots and lots of violence, as well as a kick ass soundtrack.

If you're a fan of the film and of violent games, then you should really enjoy yourself. It's got style, class and lots and lots of violence, as well as a kick ass soundtrack.

A fantastic game. It's got everything - easy, varied and interesting combat, a huge roster of superheroes and supervillains, gorgeous visual effects, plus it's easily the most entertaining game I've played online in a long, long time.

Appealing to a multitude of fans, including those of Marvel, action-RPGs and multiplayer, most gamers should feel little hesitation in giving Marvel: Ultimate Alliance a try.

Much better than the original game. There have been a few minor tweaks here and there, although the same problems exist such as the lame ground battles and useless galactic map. However the addition of the Zann Consortium is a masterstroke indeed.

Great value in terms of quantity and quality - unlike some retro collections that surround one or two perfect games with several bad ones (think EA Replay), this is not the case here.

Although it's more of the same from the Monlith camp, if you enjoyed F.E.A.R. then you'll be rejoicing as you play through this next chapter.

Flushed Away isn't a terrible game, but it does nothing to encourage me to go and see the film again, and tarnishes what is easily one of the funniest films of the year.

Long-time die-hard fans of Dynasty Warriors may well find a lot to like here, and truth be told there are a lot of battles to plough through, provided you've got the patience. However, for everyone else - including anyone who vomits at the mere mention of the series - this offers absolutely nothing to hook you.

I understand that the slow-paced adventure gameplay isn't for everyone, but there is so much to love here that I firmly urge each and every one of you reading this right now to open your mind and try it for yourself.

A solid platform action game that would be fun without recognizable characters. It's well balanced - easy enough for its core audience to complete while still being reasonably challenging - and the personality of the characters shines through.

Juka and the Monophonic Menace could have been much better, had the puzzles been more challenging and more variety inserted into the world around you.

It's a fun experience that I played for a few hours and will probably never touch again.

A really enjoyable game - if you're a fan of the film and of violent games, then you should really enjoy yourself. It's got style, class and lots and lots of violence, as well as a kick ass soundtrack.

Flushed Away isn't a terrible game, but it does nothing to encourage me to go and see the film again, and tarnishes what is easily one of the funniest films of the year.

The campaigns are vast and varied, with interesting stories to hold you attention, while the three Legends Trails offer up even more varied missions with a much stronger emphasis on castle building and besieging.

Despite being simple to pick up and play, Magical Starsign hides a complex game underneath. No doubt part of this simplicity is intentional in order to entice the younger audience that this title seemingly wants to attract. However, there is more than enough here to keep RPG enthusiasts of all ages entertained.

If you happened to have purchased or rented Cars in any of its previous incarnations, your first question is going to be "should I care about this version?" Most likely not.

A classic game that's enjoyable to play both in single player and online multiplayer. With so many fighters, finishing moves and secrets to choose from, the replay value is very high. The few negatives in the lag and matchmaking issues online cannot detract too much from the overall experience.

Even though it's not quite a stunner, Heroes is an engaging and interesting addition to the PSP's expanding library.

Contact is one of the most imaginative game concepts yet on the DS and fortunately for us all there is a deep and satisfying role-playing gameplay system to back up that concept and make it a thoroughly enjoyable and long-lasting adventure.

It's not one of those games you'll play forever, but I suspect that for many it will be one of those games that sits on the shelf so that any time you're feeling particularly evil or you've just had a bad day, you'll load it up and go eat some people.

My biggest disappointment with SpongeBob SquarePants: Creature from the Krusty Krab is that by trying too hard to be trendy and make full use of the DS hardware the developers have turned a fun if unremarkable game into one that is annoyingly sub-par.

The best thing about all this is the price - for under nine bucks you're getting about four hours of gameplay (a little less if you're really smart or *gasp* cheat, you cheaters!) and with five more chapters on the way, the cost is absolutely affordable.

A wonderful presentation and spurts of youthful fun could not curb the boredom a Swiss cheese, overly nostalgic storyline and "I've done this before but with more violence" gameplay handed to me.

A great game that's certainly worth playing if you enjoyed any previous Splinter Cell titles, but don't expect to see a huge leap in terms of gameplay, or the ingenious level design of years gone by.

Despite a few issues, the gameplay experience in Battlefield 2142 is overwhelmingly positive - this is a rock solid shooter that requires your twitch skills as well as strategic planning and extensive use of group tactics. The sense of immersion is enthralling.

As an introductory to the world of simulated games it does an exceptional job, and even for hardened veterans of the genre there's still fun to be had, yet without the depth of its predecessors or the hook to keep you playing for any length of time, it falls short in providing the long term enjoyment that sim games usually pride themselves with.

I have absolutely fallen in love with Destroy All Humans! 2 - it's fantastic fun to play, even when you're not engaged in missions but just wandering the streets messing with the humans.

An excellent beginning to what could be an incredible franchise.

A disappointment, considering that the Xbox, PS2 and GBA versions are so much fun to blaze through.

There're no stunning next-gen visuals to be found, and it doesn't help that it has such strong competition to live up to from its own predecessors.

I'm disappointed at the lack of defining complexities that grace every Sim game that appears on the PC platform. It's almost insulting - console users aren't dumb, we can handle some dimension!

The Sims 2: Pets isn't for life - it's just for Christmas… this Christmas!

If your love for the beautiful game is still as strong as ever or if you've never played a football game before and are looking for a PSP game to quench your budding thirst for footie, then FIFA 07 is as good a place to start as any.

The night lighting effects have been so vastly improved in FSX that it bears no resemblance to FS2004 whatsoever.

Possesses the bare minimum requirements of everything a modern racer should have and unfortunately nothing more.

Fans of Cabela's console titles will find a game quite unlike their home version, in my opinion a change for the worse.

It's a great addition that might get more kids who get this game interested in creating them. Heck, it sure beats those awful 'you can make video games' commercials that run on G4 all day and night.

An excellent beginning to what could be an incredible franchise.

I have absolutely fallen in love with Destroy All Humans! 2 - it's fantastic fun to play, even when you're not engaged in missions but just wandering the streets messing with the humans.

I'm disappointed at the lack of defining complexities that grace every Sim game that appears on the PC platform. It's almost insulting - console users aren't dumb, we can handle some dimension!

Bad writing, average graphics, poor sound and gameplay with seemingly no direction and little resemblance to the Bikini Bottom world combine to bog down a really good storyline concept and what could have been a good platform adventure game, but instead feels like sections of platform adventure jumbled with poor flying and racing.

Sure, it has some faults, particularly in the area of graphics and sound, but when a company decides to rather focus on making the game actually fun instead of making the graphics superb and forgetting all about the gameplay then I can't complain too much!

Bad writing, average graphics, poor sound and gameplay with seemingly no direction and little resemblance to the Bikini Bottom world combine to bog down a really good storyline concept and what could have been a good platform adventure game, but instead feels like sections of platform adventure jumbled with poor flying and racing.

Mortal Kombat: Armageddon is without doubt the most comprehensive Mortal Kombat game ever.

It is better than the original in terms of content and extras, the controls and graphics are better than many other PSP games and the overall experience is great fun.

The insistence on maintaining the frequent random encounters as an integral part of the gameplay drags the experience right down, and the fact that you can't save whenever you like is not good either.

This new Legend is one you'll enjoy immensely while it lasts and crave once it's over.

Much like many of the dubbed anime movies released in the early Nineties, with ridiculous voiceovers and outlandish Japanese humor hiding intriguing stories and characters, it will take a certain type of person to dig past the bad to reach the good - hence all the polarized reviews that God Hand has received.

It is undeniably the best of the series and it has more than enough content to offer. However, the problem is that the difference in price between the 06 and the 07 edition of the game does not correspond favourably with the number of improvements that have been made.

The most complete and deep handheld golf game I have ever played - but it isn't the most fun. Compared to the excellent PSP version of Hot Shots Gold, Tiger Woods feels a bit dry and flat.

For the game's younger target audience there is a fun, easy going action-RPG and light-hearted storyline waiting to be discovered in Avatar: The Last Airbender, and one that lasts at least a good six to eight hours with plenty of optional side quests, mini-games and unlockable content.

I am left in a bit of a conundrum - here is a game where I barely passed the first boss battle and neither of my kids were able to defeat that first boss (my older son would have managed eventually it but after about twenty minutes he wanted to get back to Pokémon Ranger and didn't care if he ever saw Avatar again!)

Despite its flaws, The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning on the GBA does offer a decent handheld-sized bit of side-scrolling platformer action, looking and sounding pretty good in the process. But disappointingly the game comes and goes in the blink of an eye, lasting only around two hours tops with no replay value to speak of.

This new Legend is one you'll enjoy immensely while it lasts and crave once it's over.

For the game's younger target audience there is a fun, easy going action-RPG and light-hearted storyline waiting to be discovered in Avatar: The Last Airbender, and one that lasts at least a good six to eight hours with plenty of optional side quests, mini-games and unlockable content.

It is undeniably the best of the series and it has more than enough content to offer. However, the problem is that the difference in price between the 06 and the 07 edition of the game does not correspond favourably with the number of improvements that have been made.

This new Legend is one you'll enjoy immensely while it lasts and crave once it's over.

For the game's younger target audience there is a fun, easy going action-RPG and light-hearted storyline waiting to be discovered in Avatar: The Last Airbender, and one that lasts at least a good six to eight hours with plenty of optional side quests, mini-games and unlockable content.

Mortal Kombat: Armageddon is without doubt the most comprehensive Mortal Kombat game ever.

Dark Crusade isn't just another collection of random missions and some new units; it's an expansion so crammed with new stuff that it's almost an entirely a new game -and not something that Dawn of War fans will want to be without.

Plenty of depth, great sound and visuals, copious amounts of unnecessary swearing, oodles of violence and an awesome central character in Tony Montana - it's not quite GTA IV but if you can't wait until next October then you should definitely say hello to this little friend!

Plenty of depth, great sound and visuals, copious amounts of unnecessary swearing, oodles of violence and an awesome central character in Tony Montana - it's not quite GTA IV but if you can't wait until next October then you should definitely say hello to this little friend!

Plenty of depth, great sound and visuals, copious amounts of unnecessary swearing, oodles of violence and an awesome central character in Tony Montana - it's not quite GTA IV but if you can't wait until next October then you should definitely say hello to this little friend!

I personally wouldn't recommend ArchLord to anyone; there are much better games out there and much better ways to waste a few hundred hours or so.

The concept of splitting up the gameplay into a myriad of mini-games and separate just doesn't work and just about all of it is inexplicably boring.

It's easy to pick up and play, but very difficult to put down - some of the levels will leave you with a big grin on your face, while others will have you coming back with a fresh approach to try and try again, and the amount of replay value in this game should have you coming back months down the line, just to beat previous scores, check for new downloadable levels online and maybe have a wireless battle with your friends.

still not quite as refined or smooth as Pro Evo, FIFA 07 is certainly kicking at the heels of its great competitor.

Although still not quite as refined or smooth as Pro Evo, FIFA 07 is certainly kicking at the heels of its great competitor.

Although still not quite as refined or smooth as Pro Evo, FIFA 07 is certainly kicking at the heels of its great competitor.

If you can get past the technical issues, Neverend is a very good entry in the RPG/Adventure genre that's best suited for those who play games to experience new worlds, not new technology.

Lots of people will buy this because it is the Family Guy game. Lots of people will be disappointed. Some won't be, but these are the people who bought the Knight Rider game and then went out and bought the sequel. Don't be one of those people.

Lots of people will buy this because it is the Family Guy game. Lots of people will be disappointed. Some won't be, but these are the people who bought the Knight Rider game and then went out and bought the sequel. Don't be one of those people.

Despite the lack of depth and bullfighting, all of the action is pretty fun - this won't be the most fun you have playing a game this year, but the set ups and environments work pretty well at delivering tense moments and engaging gun battles.

The only real issue I have with Defcon is that there's no way to do a quick rematch; you need to head back to the lobby and set up the same match if you want to get payback against the folks who out-nuked you.

Those magnificent occasions when you're hovering at 2,000 feet above the ground on your parachute actually justifies playing it through.

A gaming triumph and a truly next-generational offering - indeed, it's offering next generation gameplay for PS2 and Xbox owners too, and anyone wanting a taste of where gaming is heading really needs to pick this up now.

There is nothing fundamentally new with Paraworld, but there is also nothing significantly wrong.