Rally fans should have already grabbed this, but I’d even go as far as to challenge non-racing fans to take Dirt for a spin – the challenge of trying to master any given stretch of beautiful road is made compelling enough to try again and again.

All things considered, SimCity may have just been too big to fit on a handheld. That said, if you can cope with the limitation of one save slot and some small text and graphics, SimCity DS might be worth it check out.

There's nothing about the PSP Rainbow Six Vegas that doesn't feel like a cheap cash in, in hopes that some fan of the console games might mistake this for something of the same quality.

As a stealth game, Tenchu Z hits the right notes with all the creeping around and silent killing, so it'll likely offer a few thrills for fans of the genre. But since it lacks useful "stand-up and fight" mechanics any casual players will likely suffer boredom with all the careful sneaking around through drab environments.

As I said, some of the multiplayer magic was lost in the transition to Wii, which puts a kibosh on some of the fun.

You Are Empty is four years too late.

It’s for kids, so it’s not difficult to unlock most of the stuff in a few hours of play, but this isn’t one of those games that’s aimed at me, at the older, core gamer.

Gearhead gamers will thoroughly enjoy the true-to-life car behaviors and the ability to modify cars to unlimited extremes.

The basic elements are all there and, as long as you go into the game with your eyes wide open as to what to expect, Shadowrun offers a very solid experience.

Mario Party 8 has sold extremely well but it seems to be riding the crest wave of previous Mario Party titles, because there’s nothing worth coming back for.

Pirates of the Caribbean : At World’s End keeps the cycle of poor movie to game transitions going. While it maybe a visually impressive game, that doesn’t make up for the lack of depth in the gameplay and uninteresting story.

Shrek the Third doesn’t feature a lot of surprises in its linear beat ‘em up romp, though there are a couple of occasions to bust out the catapults to break down castle walls, which can be fun, especially if you’re playing against a friend in one of the separate multiplayer modes.

While the little kids won’t especially notice or even care about the some of the graphical quirks and choppy animation – Puss in Boots is the main culprit – any older gamers will likely be distracted but if you’re just playing the “hard” parts of the game, it’s not so bad.

Even with that raised expectation, C&C 3: Tiberium Wars more than meets my stringent standards for the franchise, and Electronic Arts’ EA Los Angeles team proves once again their skill at designing an excellent RTS title for the Xbox 360.

Though Aftershock might edge Afterlight for combat and UFO: Extraterrestrials might be a better X-COM clone for purists, Afterlight feels like the most thoughtfully designed and fun of the UFO titles to date.

All in all, Spider-Man 3 was a tremendous bore and I think that I’ll go play some more of Spider-Man 2 to try and get the taste out of my mouth.

The main components of the Spider-Man 3 – the fighting, the webslinging in a wide-open environment, lots of villains – are spot on but most everything else just feels somewhat incomplete or at least unpolished, particularly the story.

So it’s a lot of fun when you first get started and learn to swing around, but the missions are going to get tiring and boring rather quickly.

The Bright Side of the Moon has a stellar and hysterical script, which taken in the entirety of the season, simply cannot be topped today.

Pokémon Diamond or Pearl will satisfy any fan of the previous games: it’s accessible, it’s fun, it features online play and trading, and the battles are more involved than ever, and you’ll get hours of enjoyment out of it – as long as you play against people your own age.

Pokémon Diamond or Pearl will satisfy any fan of the previous games: it’s accessible, it’s fun, it features online play and trading, and the battles are more involved than ever, and you’ll get hours of enjoyment out of it – as long as you play against people your own age.

There are some other amusing so-good-it's-bad features, like the selection of awful porno music or the quasi-sulty voiceovers in the tutorial.

Overall, it’s short but its fun. It’s also a decent price and it looks like it may be one of the last original platforming games we’re going to see on the PS2. Go on, be ‘Brave’.

Super Paper Mario does a nice job of bringing the Paper Mario series to the Wii.

With save points laid at logical points throughout, there’s little chance you’ll be frustrated with some of the more difficult puzzles or encounters in Rival Swords, making it a great entry point for newcomers to the series – even if the story will likely seem convoluted.

Gamers looking to enjoy a new level of Sims revelry should definitely send out an invite to Celebration! Stuff.

Just as before, gameplay isn’t much of an hour-eating affair, clocking in around two hours to complete, which goes back to the norm for the first three episodes while disappointingly straying from the longer gaming session to be had in Abe Lincoln Must Die!

Metal Slug Anthology is already a tremendous deal for your money, and it's definitely worth checking out for anyone into chaotic old school mayhem. The Playstation 2 version is also the best one for your money, since it isn't hampered by the control or loading issues of the other ports.