One of the most enjoyable gaming experiences I've had for a long time.

It has interesting features and plenty of action and intense shootouts to keep you entertained (especially when you get your grubby hands on the gatling gun) but between these parts you're left wandering around a dull environment with very little to keep you occupied.

Adapting the grappling hook idea and gameplay from Bionic Commando has given the game some depth, as have the other gadgets and gizmos. The graphics too have captured the essence of the cartoon, so fans will be pleased. However, it loses out on some fairly mediocre sound and some overly easy and repetitive gameplay.

The promises of fully destructible environments and John Woo signature shootouts just seemed too good to be true. But Midway stepped up to the plate and proved all the skepticism dead wrong, producing one of the most viscerally appealing videogames to be released in years.

A decent enough expansion that's worthy enough of the Battlefield name, while at the same time providing a different enough experience to avoid an overly familiar feeling.

The ability for Meltdown to be played by all ages and by the casual gamer through to the most hardcore make it a game that almost everyone can enjoy.

Although it still posses many of the same problems, and it's difficulty spikes range from mildly difficult to insanely impossible, with a strict attention to historical detail and missions designed to test you strategic skills to their maximum, Red Tide can be an immensely rewarding game, but one that does require a great deal of patients and discipline.

The run-and-gun portions of Dead to Rights come together so perfectly that you become enraptured by your ability to take down hordes of bad guys in classic Jon Woo style. It's these intense, visceral, wicked gunfights that make you forget reality and draw you completely into Slate's fantasy world of fast and furious gun-slinging action.

Oozes superiority, quality, class and eminence; it's a cut above the rest, taking the fighting genre and painting it red.

The less patient and more action-oriented gamers might not warm to it so much, but if you're the kind of gamer that enjoys the chance to get a good sniping spot on your favourite online shooter, then this really is one game you must play.

Even if you never touch the new maps or vehicles or game modes (which you will), the skill advancements and extra items for each specialization alone are a tremendous reward that is available for the standard game modes and maps. What this doesn't do is address any core technical issues with the game.

If you're looking for something different and stimulating, something that could even, perhaps, improve your thought process, Brain Training achieves that very well and does exactly what it sets out to do.

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

There will be some gluttons for punishment out there who will love Silicon Studio's tribute from end to end, and more power to them for their perseverance against all good reason, but the vast majority of gamers in this day and age will find that 3D Dot Game Heroes wears out its welcome all too soon.

The game's only real downer, the sound, which is drab and uninspiring, is easy to overlook and becomes background anyway. Pool Paradise creates a very enjoyable challenge for a single player, has an excellent and almost limitless lifespan in two-player, and above all it's a snip at just £20.

If you can get by the issues caused by the limitations of the GBA, Need For Speed: Underground offers a solid racing experience for any GBA owner and features more replayability than its direct competition, thanks to the highly customisable cars and varied races.

I came into Rugby 06 with an open mind, I was hoping for the FIFA engine with rugby elements and I was let down.

Mechanic Master is a fantastic concept but one that hasn't realised its full potential. It's undoubtedly a fun game and one that I really enjoyed playing through, but it's a little too easy and the selection of items could do with expanding, to increase the complexity of the puzzles.

It's not quite a massive revival of the game and won't topple World of Warcraft from its impervious throne, but it does add a lot more content to a game bursting at the seams with things to do.

An old game in new clothing.

At heart, Puyo Pop Fever is an entertaining and downright addictive little puzzler, and therefore gets the stamp of approval for those after something refreshingly light-hearted.

Following through on a game plan of innovation and entertainment, they stuffed the game to the brim with personality.

There really is a wealth of options for all types of gamers to get stuck into, be it the accessible but hugely fun mini-games or the incredibly in-depth Franchise mode.

A Sherman Tank of a game - tough, armed to the teeth and... erm... more heavily armoured at the front!

A multiplayer deathmatch with bots would have also have been welcome, although I have yet to see any war game incorporate this feature, so maybe it's just not technically viable on current-gen machines.

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.

Pool Paradise creates a very enjoyable challenge for a single player, has an excellent and almost limitless lifespan in two-player, and above all it's a snip at just £20.

More serious gamers and hardcore Tony Hawk's fans might want to look elsewhere but this is great as an introduction to extreme sports games and great fun for any Disney fan.