TrackMania isn't a hugely polished game, but it's a breath of fresh air to play a game with a half-original concept. It feels (and, critics might add, looks) like the games of my youth (and so the rest of the team's middle-age), when originality sold as much as generic graphical kiss-kiss-bang-bang. [PC Zone]

It's a shame then, that the Franchise mode omits goals, mini-camps, morale, and spring training. Want even less? You can't challenge calls after a play, and the promised 'hard-hitting' animations during a tackle turn into a weird and glitchy dance. And tragically, there's no Superstars mode. Once you've done feasting on the visuals, you've got a bargain-basement Madden at a real-world price. [Official UK Xbox Magazine]

All this beauty is mildly tainted by the fact that there are a few glitches in the game. Now and again a car will disappear, and you can drive through trees.

Our only major gripe is that much of its content, i.e. gameplay modes, many of the tracks, and of course all the characters, are from previous SSX games. With the usual selection of half-pipe, racing and trick modes, there's not a great deal of new content in here for SSX veterans to discover, outside of mastering the new control system.

Made less accessible by its flagrant lack of polish. A cursory manual, a poor tutorial, terrible animations, weak voiceovers and an unsightly interface immediately count against it.

What's missing is any kind of plot-based campaign - what you play solo is the same as multiplayer, only with bots instead of blokes to back you up or blow you up. The one-player ain't fun, basically.

Red Dead's venomous cocktail of sassy action, swish visuals and sharp scenarios make it a fresh and ballsy alternative to most other third-person console blasters currently roaming the paddock.

So 1080 isn't massively original, but it does have one killer gimmick in the form of avalanches.

The Urbs may have style and attitude, but it's still essentially the same Sims flavour. It requires patience, it's high maintenance and has little action (it's a girls game).

But underneath the pretty graphics JetPac Refuelled is pretty much the same game we played a quarter of a century ago. We doubt it'll grip a new generation of gamers as much as it did back in the day but you'll get your money's worth.

There's no doubt that there's a huge amount of gameplay here, but at 30, perhaps it's a bit too expensive to warrant buying. Depends on how much you love your retro games. [PSW]

It's good to see Ubisoft completely rewriting history, rather than just slightly altering it, to spin one of the series' most absurd and intriguing yarns. Washington as a comical cartoon villain is entertaining, and the Wolf Cloak makes stealth less frustrating than it was in the vanilla game. Still, it isn't a vastly different experience, and if you've already bled Assassin's Creed 3 dry, you might find this add-on a little too familiar at times.

Battle side alone is worth the price of admission.

If you absolutely must have Shinin' playing on your telly then this could be worth picking up, if not the Xbox Live Arcade edition is a much more solid and prettier looking version of the visceral puzzler.

Fritz Chess 9 is designed to teach and train chess players, and should be treated as such. If you're looking for an authentic chess xperience, we suggest getting a real chessboard. [PC Zone]

The option to use realistic damage will reward all that time spent in the single-player game nailing head shots too. Those of you with a Multitap will have great fun here. [PSW]

Despite the basic gameplay, there is a reasonable level of satisfaction to be had racking up the combos and unleashing the head-chopping moves on the armies of ninja goons you face off against.

It's a welcome and entertaining addition to an excellent game. [PC Zone]

Excellently scripted set-pieces and dialogue perforate a seemingly endless store of enemies, the surroundings soon become all too familiar and the console-restricted engine disappoints graphically.

Fans of the first game won't believe the treat Atari's dished up, and anyone looking for a hugely impressive brawler fused with a great story and lots of guns will find everything they want. If nothing else, this is a vast improvement - it undoubtedly is The One. [Official UK Xbox Magazine]

A definite improvement on "Rising Sun," but the squad control has been done better in "Brothers in Arms," and "Call of Duty" provides the same level of intensity. Instead of being a standout title, European Assault is really just another WWII shooter. [PSW]

As a platformer, Disney Epic Mickey's mechanics are disappointing. It's a shame - because this really is a good game hampered by some bad gameplay systems, rather than a bad game held up by a few good ones.

Tweaks to the multiplayer modes are welcome, but are hardly enough to turn it into a world-beater. A bigger cause for celebration is that I didn't come across any of those diabolically awful tunnels that plagued the full game.

Every bit as fun as it is unoriginal. And football's ace.

Spartan is great fun, but we can't help but feel a little disappointed that the mighty Assembly's console debut isn't much more than a pretty-looking "Dynasty Warriors." [Official UK Xbox Magazine]

Not a massive improvement on the PS2 games, but Beautiful retains all the humour and joy you'd expect. For 360 owners, especially, Beautiful Katamari is a refreshing change of pace.

A game that feels vaguely like chewing an endless pile of cream crackers. The cream crackers of vaguely interesting turn-based combat, interspersed with the odd sultana of story and the out-of-date marshmallow of film footage. [PSW]

Hawx could do with a fair bit of polish before it (inevitably) comes around for a second flight, then - and a sluggish start to the solo campaign doesn't help much either. It's far from perfect, but the ERS formula does provide a small but much needed fresh idea to the tired genre, which means many Clancy and Ace Combat fans alike will be glad they played it.