SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1 might not bring anything particularly new to its now-outmoded platform, and there are certainly superior alternatives to most all of the games it collects out there, but as a confirmed crowd-pleaser and in terms of sheer bang for your buck, you'd be doing the gaming industry of yesteryear a disservice if you were to overlook it on those grounds.

If you just want an interesting and slightly challenging way to pass the time then this is a bit too difficult so knock the score down a notch, but if you're a crossword pro then add a point or two - oh, and that six letter word was 'plague' just in case you're reaching for the dictionary.

Everything about it is unpolished (save for the bearable shooting), from the graphics to the lack of any comprehensible plot, demonstrating why you should just go and see the movie instead.

The thing that stops it short of the perfection it's aiming for though is that it's like a magic trick. Initially you'll stumble around, stunned and trying to take in how it all works, but as soon as you get it, you cross that invisible line from audience member to magician, and, while the pleasure of the ingenuity remains, the magic is gone.

There is no alternative that comes anywhere close to capturing the joy of virtual existence in Liberty City - and that's exactly why it deserves full marks, because it pushes the envelope for immersive, modern, virtual worlds further than any other game - that and the fact that it simply has to be played by anyone with an interest in videogames.

It's prettier, more detailed and more fun than ever before; it may have stuck to the same formula, but it's as effortlessly brilliant as ever.

Mario Kart Wii has more variety, more to do, and ultimately more to keep you coming back than any Mario Kart before it (and as a hardcore advocate of the SNES original, I never thought I would find myself saying that); but more than that, it is a flagship title for the Nintendo Wii. Not only is Mario Kart Wii the most important title that will be released on the format this year, but it will stand the test of time as one of the best games the Wii has to offer.

With a mediocre physics system and a severe lack of alternative modes, you can't help but wonder whether SouthPeak's creation would have found a better home on the newly-created WiiWare service, where simplicity and value go hand in hand.

The hardcore will love its every moment, but casual gamers looking for a gateway drug into the role-playing genre won't give it a second look; like an arthouse favourite or a good long book, it's slow to pick up but impossible to put down.

Be it the basic, largely pointless Story Mode or the by the numbers Multiplayer Mode, Battle of the Bands never ceases to feel like a missed opportunity and a huge disappointment.

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time isn't a lazy game, it's just that the template it's based upon is far too antiquated to meet the needs of today's gaming audience, yet not enough to satisfy dungeon hack enthusiasts.

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness isn't a lazy game, it's just that the template it's based upon is far too antiquated to meet the needs of today's gaming audience, yet not enough to satisfy dungeon hack enthusiasts.

Jack Keane is the most enjoyable point-and-click adventure I've played in a long time. It will appeal to almost every adventure fan, as the puzzles gradually get harder, while the game successfully reproduces the vibrant, humorous and slick atmosphere and antics of beloved classics of this proud genre, like Sam & Max and Monkey Island.

The slick look and easy to use feel of Europa Universalis: Rome combine with its astonishing depth and freeform style to provide a truly compelling and quite unusual game experience.

Graphically it's a huge step up not only from GT4 but from every racing game (and indeed most games) that we've seen so far, and I'm sure it'll look even better in the full game.

Okami is a beautifully presented, supremely playable, wonderfully original game that's well worth purchasing.

It is very good. Next time around I'd like to see a smidge more variety in the puzzles, perhaps a few more mini-games and maybe a multiplayer mode for some of those mini-games would be good - oh, and checkpoints in the longer levels!

You can actually download better items on the Sims Item Exchange on the official site for free, where talented fans make new items for the sheer buzz of a little bit of praise and recognition and not for your pocket money, so if you're hankering for a house makeover then I suggest you look there instead.

Sherlock Holmes: Nemesis is certainly a great addition for the currently somewhat parched adventure game genre, one that'll entertain both fans of the books and players who love to stretch their minds, keeping them busy for a while.

Hardcore gamers need not apply, but with terrific voice acting, marvellous controls, a sense of humour and a difficulty curve that refuses to patronise, this game will certainly find a place in the heart of every young - and young at heart - gamer.

If only the graphics were prettier, some better character customisation was included and the punishment for death had been significantly reduced, then Baroque could have been sitting smugly near the top of the Wii game chart, instead of floundering about in the lower regions.

Overclocked: A History of Violence is an excellent game - if you're looking for a mature adventure that will get your heart pounding then this is definitely for you.

FlatOut: Head On looks a bit like a nice slice of cake, but in reality it's more of a biscuit. It's not even a particularly pleasant biscuit, either; the first bite or two is nice enough, but after an hour or so you'll begin to taste the bitter unfairness of the AI, or the stale mini-games, or the… well, you get the idea.

Its most distinguishing feature is the quality that permeates the experience; a light-hearted-but-engaging romp in a fantastical world of alchemy and demonic teddy bears, Mana Khemia is a testament to the flexibility of RPG design - and it's a lot of fun (except that damn theme song!)

When you are attempting to implement two gameplay styles then you'd better be careful that there are no distractions or irritations to the player, or the tentative grip a game has to build upon will be lost. Stranger is still just clutching out with a gauntleted hand.

Dark Sector may not be original and it may not have a great story, but if you are looking for a solid action game to spend a dozen or so hours with then you can't go too far wrong.

Excellent implementation of an intuitive control system, an engaging storyline and the many tactical differences between the three factions on offer all add up to make Universe at War: Earth Assault a fairly good game.

It's no Resident Evil, and if you're new to the genre then really that's the place to start, but ObsCure II does provide a few scares and there are far worse ways to spend a few hours on a dark, lonely night.

One major plus point in Obscure II is the inclusion once again of co-op play, still a feature that remains unique to this series and one of those things that has you wondering why developers such as Capcom haven't implemented team play into their own survival horror games.

It's not groundbreaking and Skarin's slow pace can make it a chore at times, but a lot of love and creativity has been injected, and the result is an experience that will entertain the majority of gamers.

Like most tie-ins to anime franchises, Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 3 should only be considered by fans of the series - and those who have delved deep into Naruto lore will marvel at the fan service and attention to detail lavished upon this most recent release from Namco Bandai.

Another six months in development and a little play-testing would have done Opoona the world of good - and from the inconsequential whimper of its arrival at retail, the wait could hardly have hurt - but as it stands, this is an able RPG that's brought down by some questionable design decisions.

Fans of Ninja Gaiden or just of great action games in general will find a lot to like here.

It could have been a fantastic adventure game with the intriguing idea of using multiple characters simultaneously and its engaging story. However, the many flaws, including its glitch-riddled graphics, short length, and lack of direction, keep it from the adventure gaming hall of fame.

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII is a better game for Ishimoto's reassuring work and, despite its faults, the overall experience is well worth your time.

There have been no improvements made to the shoddy multiplayer implementation in the intervening year, which is still rife with disconnect and synching issues - long before you get to the complexities of unit balancing.

Despite its shortcomings, Condemned 2: Bloodshot is a good game by all accounts.

It's difficult to find a better party game for the PlayStation.

A decent and enjoyable, if quite silly, game.

This is without doubt the best representation of golf of recent times and anyone with even a mild interest in the sport will love it.

If you're looking for something to entertain the kids this Easter, wish to take a walk down Nostalgia Lane, or just want something decidedly refreshing to settle down to, you could do far worse than SEGA Superstars Tennis.

A considerable improvement over its already fantastic predecessor. The addition of customization options to the single player game - and allowing that progress to transfer over to all of the other gameplay modes - is by far the best enhancement, while the beefed up AI is as impressive as we'd hoped and the refined co-op play offers a great range of options.

Minor reservations aside, Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 is the rarest type of sports game; one that redefines the way you think of the genre.

George of the Jungle is a poor effort that, while looking fairly good and staying true to the style of the TV show, features derivative, repetitive gameplay, coupled with such poor controls and such a ridiculously high difficulty that it's rendered almost unplayable.

The longest episode of the season, and perhaps the longest episode of the entire series.

Robo Jam is one of the most amusing and pleasant games on the PlayStation 2, and its reams of mini-games ensure that the fun is delivered by the bucketload. It's absolutely fantastic!

However, given SEGA's approach to criticism held against the first instalment, the final chapter in this series has the potential to reach a near-perfect balance if handled correctly.

Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles - Ring of Fates surpasses the Gamecube original in terms of scope, ambition and gameplay, offering some truly inventive multiplayer moments.

At present it feels like one of the worst games in the series to date, with issues such as slowdown and poor editing options hampering the experience. Yet it still has the potential to be without a doubt the greatest football game yet.

Konami have done a great job of making Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 on the PS2 a game that stands firm against the competition of its next-generation versions, and indeed is a cut above the rest in certain respects like the number of stadiums on offer.

Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 is arguably the best football game to own for your PSP (or any system for that matter).

Buzz has done it again - fast, frantic, accessible family fun with a huge range of questions, Buzz!: The Hollywood Quiz promises great fun for many gamers and non-gamers alike this winter - and not just the film buffs either.

Despite the many problems with Wild ARMs XF, I'm impressed by what X-Seed has produced, from a gameplay standpoint at least.

Imperium Romanum ticks all the right boxes; with an intuitive and easy to understand interface, a varied mix of scenarios to play through and a substantially improved graphics engine, there's a lot to like about it - but it isn't perfect.

House of the Dead 2 is a frustrating game that's best forgotten and whilst House of the Dead 3 is definitely an improvement, it's still nowhere near as good as The Umbrella Chronicles.

It's still good fun, but it's by far the weakest game of the series - and the shortest too, with barely a dozen planets to explore - while its sparse, basic, PSP-quality graphics really are a big disappointment.

With the exception of long time fans of the series, it's hard to recommend World Heroes Anthology to anyone with any real conviction. Thanks to its lack of originality, below par animations and questionably implemented controls, World Heroes Anthology can be seen as little more than an average collection of Street Fighter II clones.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl offers incredible value for money - there are masses of characters, levels and game modes to explore, the music is fantastic, the gameplay is superb and the production values are through the roof.

It has plenty of redeeming and rewarding features to offset its linear limitations, but it was designed to be played with a friend, so approach with caution if you don't have Xbox Live or a friend to partner up with.

God of War: Chains of Olympus takes almost everything that's awesome about its older siblings, including the sex scene mini-game, which has become a series standard, and miniaturized it to fit on the PSP.

With enjoyable characters and a story that's great fun, along with a host of things to see, do and find that will take you hours and hours to fully discover, Bully can definitely stand up to some of the bigger boys on 360 and is the perfect way to while away your time until the ever-nearing release of "Grand Theft Auto IV."

Soulstorm doesn't offer an awful lot of new content, aside for the new maps for skirmishes and multiplayer. The multiplayer is still the highlight of this series and tactically decimating your opponent or friends is a source of endless enjoyment, but the single player in this expansion fails to inspire; there needed to be more involvement with the running of your territories (see the Total War series) for a map-based campaign to work and be really engaging.

If you ever wanted to see a digital replica of you playing baseball inside of a game, The Show is going to let you live the fantasy!

MLB '08: The Show is everything you'd expect from a handheld baseball title.

The meat of the mode sandwich for 2K8 is again the Franchise Mode.

So much potential is wasted in poor execution, unfinished code and sloppy graphics that I can only recommend this game if you really have nothing else to play or are simply aching for a new WWII style shooter.

While the atmosphere and character of the island and its locales are faithfully represented, sadly, the characters lack the same recognisable identity.

I would go so far to say that it's one of the best games on the system. The only reason it didn't score higher is because of its ultimately repetitive nature and its lack of a multiplayer mode.

It's a shame that Capcom have just lazily ported the original across to PS3 without addressing any of the problems that existed in it.

I'd happily blow a couple quid on this game down at the amusement arcades, so why not pay a bit more and own it? It's a good catch, all things considered!

The sheer frustration of actually finding a match and then trying to communicate with all your buddies to win by using effective teamwork almost renders the multiplayer unplayable at this point.

For a lighthearted dose of online vehicular manslaughter, Frontlines: Fuel of War is a mildly derivative fun couple of hours' worth of gameplay, if you can get it running and if you can forgive the ridiculous server browser, weak weapons and uninspired maps.

A lazy port of a rather under-whelming PC release. The Wii has been criticized, and rightly so, for porting over far too many sub-standard games with poorly implemented use of the Wiimote tacked on to justify their release - And Then There Were None will do nothing but strengthen that argument tenfold.

The biggest problem with Destroy All Humans!: Big Willy Unleashed isn't the terrible camera, the lacklustre graphics or the uninspiring mission structure; it is purely the way that this isn't a proper Destroy All Humans! game. Yes, you do destroy some humans, but the most fun aspect of the first two games has not been used enough here.

If you already own one or more of the previous Buzz! Junior titles then (unless your kids are absolutely nuts for dinosaurs) there's not really enough new content to justify a purchase; there's only so much you can do with four colours and a big red buzzer.

A great title that's fantastic value for any hard-headed platforming fan, thanks to its rock-solid game mechanics and a wealth of content and modes.

Although the style, or lack thereof, has seriously hampered The Club, it's still a brilliantly addictive title and one that will hopefully prove popular enough to turn this not so little experiment into a long running franchise.

It's essential in a time when online leaderboards and frag counters are very much in style.

Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors is a decent attempt at bringing the Dragon Quest series to a new, much younger or more casual audience while trying to cater for long-time fans.

As much fun as Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney is, it's just not the big leap forward that the series should have taken, as a number of little niggles conspire to lower the score slightly.

And love it or loathe it, I get the feeling that Dynasty Warriors will be around for many years to come.

No one can deny that the game has got style - it oozes it from the menu screen and onto the football pitch in typical EA fashion - however, it lacks the depth and substance to make it appeal for more than a couple of hours, after which you may start to question the wisdom of your investment.

Audiosurf revels in its simplicity.

Wipeout Pulse is undoubtedly the greatest racing game on the PSP, if not the greatest game ever made.

Not only does it possess a great story but also a few technical achievements that need to be experienced, namely the first person view and physics-based interaction and puzzles.

Lost Odyssey isn't an RPG classic. It doesn't break new ground and it has its problems, but that doesn't keep it from being great.

After nine episodes and nearly a year and a half, this stuff hasn't begun to feel old or tired.

With a fantastic main quest that will keep you hooked to the end, extra tough puzzles to keep you thinking after the main story is complete and weekly downloadable content to be made available in the future, Professor Layton and the Curious Village is a very strong package indeed.

All the elements that make a decent console shooter are present in Turok: the sound, the gameplay, the weird and wonderful weaponry. They're all polished, but none of them are shining and the result is a shooter that should have been classic but is missing that vital spark that transforms a shooter from a bit of fun to a compelling and addictive experience.

Devil May Cry 4 is a stunning triumph of an action game that easily competes with greats like "God of War II" and "Ninja Gaiden Sigma."

Devil May Cry 4 is a stunning triumph of an action game that easily competes with greats like "God of War II" and "Ninja Gaiden Sigma."

A harmless piece of entertainment that might amuse those who are fans of the film and too young to really steep themselves in something complicated, but it's too obtuse and repetitive for older players.

My Horse & Me is an unfinished product, an experiment in making a horse game on the Wii and somebody somewhere should be ashamed to have slapped a $30 price tag on it.

A brilliant game, and also a very long one. The shortest missions will take several hours, if you're lucky, with online missions having the added bonus of being saveable so you and your friends can carry a private war out over a course of days if necessary.

Whether you played Rez back in 2001 or missed out on it, you should snap up Rez HD. The same creative gameplay, visuals and music are still there, along with some welcome additions that are sure to satisfy those who have played the game before.

A fantastic game that serves to not only pay tribute to Bomberman's proud heritage and introduce a new audience to the old classic, but prove that there's a new lease of life for Bomberman in 2008 and on the Wii.

Pursuit Force: Extreme Justice is a high-octane, lighthearted, linear game and it's a must play for every PSP owner. Most importantly, the game is fantastic fun to play, using every section of its large amount of modes to make you enjoy every moment.

A great game and a big success. The sheer variety of mini-games on offer and their usage of the touch screen in a multitude of ways makes the single player fun and the multiplayer mode a real joy to play, locally or online.