The stylised visuals looks great after all these years (and better than most things on GBA, it has to be said), and the exacting, refined gameplay formula still had us as hooked now as it did back then.

This is undeniably still a good, enjoyable and very pretty game. Nevertheless, at this time, from this developer, Eurogamer won't be alone in mourning the fact it's not nearer a perfect, staggering and beautiful one instead.

If you've already sampled the mesmeric magnificence of either of the PSP versions, or of the Xbox Live version, or of the mobile phone version, you won't be surprised, or challenged, by anything included here.

There is depth here, especially for patient or committed fans, but the mercenary way that the game dangles this potentially richer gameplay as bait for overpriced DLC purchases sticks in the throat.

The lack of real depth to the combat engine means it'll never match up to the standard of its loftier genre peers, and the absence of any co-op or multiplayer mode in a game this demented is inexcusable, but it does make for a more shamelessly enjoyable blade-swinging romp than the similar but oh-so-dull "Heavenly Sword." And it has more naked boobs.

Playing with others is amazing, but #IDARB doesn't help me out if I don't have quite that many friends available. Instead, it's watchable.

One of those games which stands inches away from greatness.

As pretty and playable as it is, in no sense is inFamous: Second Son a post-Grand Theft Auto 5 open-world game. It's just a tidier, shorter and shinier one. It's easy to enjoy and has a winning personality, but it's reluctant to deviate from a stale streetmap of game city. It's no rebel, then. In fact, it's a conformist.

Hot Pursuit sees the publishing behemoth finally doing justice to its properties.

Ironically, it's a game that'll probably be criticised for not being the same game as before. But actually that's one of its strengths. Especially if, like me, you're a massive fan of Rogue.

Snobbery be damned, Life Stories is a thoroughly enjoyable crossover between an established series and the world of casual games.

There's a good day or so's simple, colourful fun in there for those who can stomach Bomberman's sugar-coated world.

This is DLC that sticks to what has worked in the past while taking tentative steps towards a different formula in which Call of Duty is many games under one banner. Action movie, slasher horror, sci-fi conspiracy - they're all in here, and often competing with each other.

Even hardened FF fans can't escape the fact that this is little more than a solid, functional port of a four year old game. As potentially enjoyable as it is (if you put the hours in), and as much content as there is in this all-encompassing release (if you really put the hours in), things have moved on considerably in the MMO scene in the intervening years.

This is no Trials HD, but it's still great to play as a chummy pass-the-controller game, and nice to have stuck on an SD card for a rainy Sunday afternoon when there are no Columbo re-runs to watch on television. Nostalgic, colourful and modest, this is retro-gaming at its least self-conscious.

The inescapable truth for Konami is that it has not just failed to better itself, but has gone backwards to the extent that it's no longer our favourite horror series ("Project Zero 2" ["Fatal Frame 2"] claims that throne for now). [JPN Import]

It falls short of its predecessor, which succeeded thanks to cheeriness, simplicity and fluidity. However, it still stands out ahead of its own worst Jackass era, and many of the new inclusions, especially the video editing and Nail The Grab, deserve your attention.

Mild improvements in traversal and combat are quickly overwhelmed by the creaking systems onto which they have been grafted. Revolutionary Paris is one of the most beautifully realised environments in a series that has had its fair share of them, but the game you play doesn't really do it justice.

Although P.N.03 is plainly flawed, with a little perseverance the gameplay still shines through as something relatively new and engaging.

There have been several crucial moments that made me laugh out loud, and others that made me feel a sense of cerebral accomplishment - feelings that are all-too rare when playing an FPS.

In its newly 'remastered' form, Dementium is easily one of the most interesting games to appear on the DS in some time, and certainly should have a great appeal to anyone looking for a decent horror offering.

While it does have hidden depths, then, they're not much more than handfuls of sand scooped out of the bottom of a rock-pool. Fun though it undoubtedly is, it isn't very vicious or memorable. A bit like that Disneyworld ride, actually.

While the platformer and the puzzler in Henry Hatsworth are perfectly competent, they're nothing special. Neither could be described as classic examples of their genre, and neither offer anything new. The switching mechanic does add interest, but not quite enough to make Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure a great game.

The impenetrable story makes it a no-go for younger gamers who might be more willing to forgive its adolescent excesses. But for the twenty-six, twenty-eight, thirty-year-olds who it's aimed at, the game has little to offer beyond polished sentimentality.

There are new Achievements, and lots of new things to tinker with, but not a lot of incentive to plod through the campaign missions again or start over ranking up your multiplayer stats.

A wargame that only hardcore wargamers could love. Historically accurate to a fault, vast in scale, unnecessarily complex and poorly presented, it isn't going to win any new fans for the genre.

A fairly unremarkable Sims expansion pack on the same disc as a new cut of the original game.

At PixelJunk Monsters' price-point, Ninjatown would be an essential purchase, but as a full-price DS release it stops slightly short. That said, it's still a likeable, accessible and deceptively complex little strategy game, worth 20-odd quid of any pocket strategist's money, and it keeps on giving, feeding you something new and fun to play with right up until the fist-eatingly difficult last few levels.

Personally, I found the handling a touch too heavy for my tastes, with accurate cornering a skill that needs more practice than most fair-weather fans will want to bother with. Committed bike nuts, however, will be in hog heaven.

While you could argue that it's relatively short, it has variety: new enemies are introduced on almost every level and each boss is distinctive, differing in size, strength or attack pattern to the last.

There's little alternative out there if you're hankering after some old-fashioned twitch gaming wrapped up in beautifully presented threads, but our advice is to make sure you've got some mates to play it with first, or it's likely to end up as one of those titles that you'll quickly tire of if you're on your lonesome.

They've managed not to mess up any of the things which made the original so enjoyable. The control system is still intuitive, the camera does what it's supposed too, there's a good amount of gory moments and genuine scares and the whole thing has bags of atmosphere.

One Epic Game gets by through the tautness of the level design, the unexpected variety, and its ability to keep you coming back for more even when you're being driven around the twist by its playful arrogance.

It simply can't compete with the genius of its many competitors, particularly the Sony first party efforts of late.

Overall, between the inconsistent campaigns and the botched co-op feature, there's enough here to nibble away at what is an otherwise enjoyable RTS game, and you can add the finer points of control to that list of grumbles as well if you're an impatient sort.

For something so apocalyptic, it feels like it's got a bright future ahead of it.

What lies beneath its rather unspectacular veneer is a really well designed game that approaches the conflict from a different angle and provides a solid platform for a hugely entertaining game.

R-Type Tactics lies among that enjoyable second tier of turn-based games currently occupied by the likes of Warhammer 40,000: Squad Command.

Unfortunately though we can't really see Kirby's latest adventure lasting anybody for particularly long, multiplayer games and secret hunting notwithstanding.

For newcomers to the scene, getting into the designer's desired mindset will arguably prove too daunting, but veteran adventurers will admire the new ground that Siren breaks and its chilling atmosphere, and be able to forgive some of its basic flaws long enough to follow through with what is, at times, an immensely challenging and absorbing experience.

If you're a gamer that embraces the open-ended trial-and-error gameplay, and don't mind that it's neither the best example of stealth nor action gameplay, then this will serve you well.

Pandemic failed to make the core gameplay as compelling as it should have been and we're left reflecting on a game where no one play component really stands out as being good enough, and the missions just lack the spark that more solid core mechanics would have leant them.

Sonic Chronicles is undeniably a nice-looking game, and its slick presentation makes for an enticing experience to begin with. The longer you play, however, the more the cracks start to show, and what seemed like a potential minor classic is soon reduced to just "pretty good".

As it stands, it hasn't re-ignited much other than a vague feeling that we should pull the PC version out of the cupboard and play it again.

At full price it's hard to justify a purchase in our view as it's simply not all that essential or different from anything that's gone before, but if you ever fancy a quality party game that you can slip out when the time is right for some multiplayer action and see this game knocking around for a more realistic price then you won't be disappointed.

As a single-player game, Sonic Rivals 2 is brilliant fun. It's fast and exciting and pretty and happy, just like the old games. And like the old games, it's a bit hard. It could have done without the silly battles but the races are so good they're worth putting up with.

The dojo is amazing. All fighting games from now on need to step up.

World of Tanks: Xbox 360 Edition is limited in features right now, but is rich in potential. It's not a well-oiled machine yet, but it's still fun to take for a spin. Given that it costs absolutely nothing to climb aboard, it's hard not to recommend.

"Clumsy stew" is a good description for Uprising in general. The multiplayer maps are decent but a little too interested in goofy novelty over core mechanics, and Zombies mode continues its slow and awkward evolution towards something interesting. Everything contained in this package has its moments, but in the long term I suspect players will gravitate back towards the maps that play to COD's inherent strengths, rather than its reputation for high-concept bombast.

Had Namco spent a bit less time on the forgettable Scenario Campaign and more on sorting out the netcode, however, this could have gone higher. A miracle patch would be very helpful.

With the full complement of players, NBA Jam is great fun in short bursts, but it's impossible not to feel that EA has swamped a simple game with extraneous modes desperately to try and justify a retail release.

Basically What's Cooking? With Jamie ****ing Oliver is great if you're after an interactive cookbook. There's an extensive selection of excellent recipes, the instructions are easy to follow, the step-by-step system works well and the shopping list feature is useful. If you're after an actual ****ing game, though, **** this ****. Jamie should have put his *******s on and ripped off an existing classic, like me.

As it is, for all the added beauty and inherited class, I don't think there's enough freshness or sophistication here for that to happen.

If you're willing to put the hours in, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games is a highly entertaining party game.

Fun, yes, but not exhilarating in the way that the best games should be. It also lacks the painterly detail of Battlefield 2's levels, which seem so natural in the density of their trash-strewn details.

Sadly, just as your monster hunting hero is prone to do, it comes within striking distance of greatness, but then swings hopelessly wide and just misses the mark.

Seen through adult eyes, it's a sweet but slender surfing game that's consistently amusing.

Despite dodgy localisation issues - which actually serve to limit the game’s appeal - Devil Kings remains an entertaining battlefield game that marries its wild, over the top style with enough substance to keep you plugging away.

It's deceptively tricky, hiding a razor-sharp puzzle game beneath its cutesy exterior, but it's the sort of intuitive and methodical difficulty that won't scare your mum.

What impressed in 2007 is no longer enough, and while Starhawk is a perfectly fine entry in the third-person multiplayer shooter genre, it's unlikely to inspire much long-term passion in its current state.

As with the first Puzzle Quest, then, the concept is what's truly brilliant - the one-more-go aspect of spatial challenges threaded into the reward schedule of an RPG. While the middling implementation's been somewhat improved this time around, the result is still a game that's supremely effective rather than genuinely brilliant.

Where the game falls down is its length; at around eight hours it's going to take you less than a good weekend session to plough through it, and for £40, frankly that's not good enough. It's "Luigi's Mansion" all over again.

EA Sports UFC is a game capable of brilliance. It's let down by some curious design decisions, signs of a team perhaps too interested in capturing non-essential moves seen on YouTube rather than nailing the essence of the sport. But when it flows against human competition, it offers beautiful destruction and glorious drama. Landing a picture-perfect head kick in the final minute of the fifth round of a title fight? Well, it doesn't get much better.

Ms. 'Splosion Man may lack the impact of its predecessor and the taut focus of rival Super Meat Boy, but it nevertheless offers an explosive start to the summer season of Xbox Live Arcade releases, a game surprisingly freshened by lipstick and a bow.

The game quickly gets repetitive, and becomes one of those retro games you'll dip into now and then rather than have extensive score-beating sessions on like the best games on Xbox Live Arcade.

A game that a small number of people will rightly love and cherish, but overall it's an uneven experience - one that feels like it knows what it wants to be, but has resigned itself to existing in a world where it can't quite get away with it.

It's revealing that Warriors' most famous track, Bohemian Rhapsody, is the one that most clearly highlights its limitations.

With its delightful liquid physics, Liqua Pop could be the most salubrious casual distraction since Osmos.

This HD edition builds subtly on the 3DS foundations, but thankfully doesn't crush them under the needless AAA junk that has dragged the series so far off course. That leaves a game that is just rough enough around the edges to win over fans who still pine for the series' heyday, and suggests the saga might yet come back to life.

Far more fun than it reasonably ought to be, Steambirds is the kind of game whistling was invented for.

Want instant pick-up-and-play entertainment from a game that doesn't take itself too seriously? Then FIFA 10's Wii waggling action is the way to go, so long as you're prepared for the novelty to wane fairly quickly.

For all its speed and visual attraction, Climax lacks the tactile thrill of OutRun's drifting and can often feel more like a frantic scramble to paint the screen with your cursor than a measured challenge.

This isn't the most charismatic racing series around, perhaps, but Road Trip is a surprisingly enjoyable instalment nonetheless. It's colourful, cheerful and a decent showcase for Sony's brand new hardware.

Hollow as the game itself might be, the exterior has more than enough charm to tease you onward. If EA can just pull the core concept out of the dark ages, what comes next should be worth everyone's time.

Until Koei can refine the long game, Dynasty Warriors will continue to slip from relevance, in much the same way as Xiahou Dun's good eye, or Sun Quan's colourful beard, have done before it.

It probably won't finish on many best-of-the-year lists, but if our experience is anything to go by then Lock's Quest will live long in any DS cartridge slot.

You can't escape the feeling that Rockstar just isn't as good at a pure third-person shooter as it is with the open worlds of Grand Theft Auto or Red Dead Redemption, and in this linear context it's much harder to put up with its usual missteps in mechanics and difficulty.

Luckily for EA, the crucial single-player element really does have a lot going for it, and for once it's possible to consider World Cup as more than simple by-the-numbers cash-in effort.

Essentially the same game that didn't come out over here on the SNES 12 years ago. Except better, and with more content, and with easy touchscreen navigation of menus.

For now, those prepared to invest the necessary commitment, ignore the blandness and live with the game's failings will find that – once on the dirt, gravel, snow or asphalt – WRC FIA World Rally Championship delivers moments that are indisputably thrilling.

The characters are funnier, the stories more interesting and the gameworld that little bit more interactive thanks to the hairy companions running around. Let's just hope that volume 3, Castaway Stories, features a smoke monster and mysterious hatches.

It's a blast from start to finish and somehow manages to be greater than the sum of its parts. It's perhaps a classic example of the ideal game to rent.

This is a meaty (ten hours!), funny and very well-presented adventure title with superb aesthetics, and despite its zany-for-the-sake-of-it puzzle design, it will find a place in the heart of any fan of the genre.

A stunning simulator that true racing enthusiasts will be able to marvel at for months, but one that will be an incredibly daunting prospect for those of us just merely looking for racing entertainment. It truly goes off the scale in terms of difficulty if you've any intention whatsoever of playing it remotely seriously, and I've never come across anything quite this brutal.

While it's undoubtedly fun for a few rounds, developer Tons of Bits' debut WiiWare effort feels like it lacks a little substance to make it worthy over the longer haul.

If you can accept the pleated pixels for what they are, can appreciate the accomplished fluidity of the on-screen animations and - more importantly - are prepared to invest time into learning a technically demanding yet ultimately rewarding combat system, then Arcana Heart 3 is one of the most flexible, diverse fighting games that money can buy. It's far from perfect - and the variety it offers will be too spicy for some - but it effortlessly positions itself next to the current cream of the crop as a colourful, curious alternative.

The combat may lack depth in skill terms - certainly you wouldn't compare it to something like Ninja Gaiden in terms of technique - but in the end Neo's the perfect embodiment of stuff you want to and now can do in a game. It's just the Path that's the problem.

Double Trouble is still undeniably a lot of fun - clever ideas, decent puzzles, and so on - but rather like the name, which seems to be struggling to fit the standard jokey Game Name: DS format, the end result isn't quite good enough.

For all its ambition and the obvious effort put into creating a fun and somewhat original title, Ghost Master doesn't have a lot of life in it past the initial novelty of scaring the crap out of people.

It's better in some areas than 6, and is certainly brilliant played against real people, or just picked up and played properly with the nitrous turned off in arcade mode. But it's not really as challenging.

Art Academy's potential to encourage latent talent or simply inspire a new hobby shouldn't go unnoticed.

If the SmackDown! series doesn’t start making proper innovations instead of these minor cosmetic tweaks year after year, there’s every chance we’ll get a little bored of it. For now, though, SmackDown! is still as good as wrestling games can get.

In a time when Xbox Live Arcade seems to be lurching towards bigger and slicker titles, Rocket Riot takes you back to the early days of the service, when colours were bright, goals were simple, and the score meant everything.

Sonic Generations still doesn't do much to dissuade us that the hedgehog's best days are distant memories, but at least it is a worthy tribute to them, capturing the subtler elements of the original Hedgehog's enduring appeal although still falling foul of some of his weaknesses.

Nemesis too is not without its rough patches, but still represents a return to form of sorts, another solid Sherlock adventure that showcases better understanding of character, narrative, structure and pace than most of its genre peers.

This is a fresh-feeling game, full of drama, atmosphere and surprises. If you like your tactics titles realistic and don't mind having your Manassas whipped by a bayonet-sharp AI now and again, it's likely to be the best £20 you spend this year.

Being able to swap profiles using Wi-Fi is a nice touch, but we don't need to be touched, we need to be manhandled.

In time the control system becomes second nature and weaving in and out of the moving mazes created by the gargantuan enemies around you feels like more of a dance than a chore.