Midnight Club 3 may have more cars, more customisation options, new special moves, look better and sport an enhanced online component this time around, but the lack of a tangible challenge and carelessly implemented progression system rips the soul out of what was an immensely promising series.

I've had more fun playing Mercury than any other PSP game so far. It is my new "Zoo Keeper." That is all.

But no amount of colourful 3D graphics and soothing jazz can make up for tiresome puzzles, empty levels, unoriginal weapons and endless backtracking.

The cheapness of the visuals and lack of convincing delivery from the voice actors ultimately knocks off a few marks, but on the whole it's a decent package that true aficionados of the genre will welcome as an interesting departure. ["Obscure"]

Despite the Good Cop trappings, this really is one of the most macho games I've recently played; all guns, tactics and difficulty.

What Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga delivers in spades is an interesting, atmospheric RPG experience with an enjoyable battle system, fabulous music and an excellent visual style that set it well apart from RPG cliches of recent years.

It's not offering anything revolutionary, and you could argue that it doesn't fix anything that was wrong with it last time out, but the new toys are a lot of fun, it still stands out for looking absolutely stunning and given that it lasts about as long as most full priced shooters you're getting good value for money.

"Riddick," "Halo," "Half-Life 2" - these are games you can play again and again and find new things. In Doom III it's hard to find anything fundamentally new on the second level.

If you're a Star Wars fan wondering where the magic went, look no further.

The dictionary definition of the average hackandslasher. It's a brand well and truly stuck in a rut of its own making and deserves no more than average marks.

The bottom line for us is that it has morphed into a dumbed-down experience that is no longer anywhere near as gripping and compelling as it once was, and while the multiplayer does bail out the overall value of the package to a large extent, it can't mask the decline elsewhere.

Possibly the worst videogame Nintendo has had the misfortune to publish. Avoid at all costs; this is disgracefully bad.

With an attractive PBEM option and game durations that can be measured in hours rather than days, this is definitely the grand-strategy title for those of us lumbered with obligations like jobs and school.

There's still a very small part of us that can't help but still be slightly impressed by the appearance of a 3D platformer on a handheld, but given the control issues it's not a happy marriage.

I'm keenly aware that Twisted Metal has "an audience", and I'm not belittling the people who like it. Heck, I remember a time I found it enjoyable belting around loosing off missiles. But it's such a disposable form of entertainment.

In the unlikely event that you're a newcomer, this is as good an example of the series (or indeed the genre) as any other, and not only well stocked but also the only thing like it on the PSP at the moment.

The good news: it's fun to play and nice to look at, and does a fine job of showing off what the PSP can do. The bad news: it's all over in the time it would take you to nip down Blockbusters, rent a copy of the movie and watch it. Skipping the credits.

Stands out as an absolute colossus that towers over the competition - on any format.

Even if the surface mistakes were removed, its problems are so fundamental to its design that it's hard to imagine it transcending into a serious competitor for the big boys.

If I had to put a score on it, it would very likely be an eight edging towards a nine, and, in this hypothetical scenario, I'd probably also spend tonight lying awake - not excited about tomorrow (Merry Christmas, by the way), but haunted by the suspicion that I was being too harsh. [JPN Import]

In short, this isn't going to please anyone, apart from the few of you who are after a decent Virtua Racing for the lounge.

It's turned my head, even if it's not quite the 'trip' that it might have been.

This is a genre that demands brilliance of concept and execution, variation in play conditions, subtlety of design and careful management of the endgame, and while most of the best-rated puzzle games come close in a few areas, Lumines sweeps across the lot.

In short, there's no real feeling of accomplishment when you level up, which means there's no real incentive to do anything other than belt through levels in a bid to get them over with quickly and move on.

It's so rich with options that it can seem overwhelming, and although there's clear fodder there's also consistency and thoughtfulness in a lot of areas.

Your veritable cast iron "mixed bag" of timeless gems and pointless curios in which some work well on the DS, some don't and as long as you can deny all knowledge of seeing the Remix mode retro gamers won't be totally offended.

Studio Liverpool has come up with a near-perfect equation for this sort of game, layering everything up in a manner that keeps you coming back hour after hour, with enough tracks to beat under subtly but crucially different circumstances that you never find yourself tiring of a well-beaten track.

While Act of War doesn't transcend its genre, in terms of doing the pure "Red Alert" thing, there hasn't been anything as competent and thrilling in ages.

Of course the idea with Deluxe is that even if that's beyond you so much has been brought together that there's enough to entertain regardless.

Of course the idea with Deluxe is that even if that's beyond you so much has been brought together that there's enough to entertain regardless.

The whole thing just feels a bit half-baked, with moody but unimaginative environments, done-to-death one-dimensional characters, exceptionally tired gameplay mechanics that favours basic A-to-B object collection rather than injecting anything even vaguely resembling a puzzle and a combat system that's at best functional, and at worst unhelpful.

The core concept - whilst interesting, different and certainly as well executed as it can be - never quite hits the level of compulsiveness and excitement that other high-score games like "Meteos" and "Zoo Keeper" and, to a certain extent, the Mario 64 DS mini-games have already hit.

Maybe the shoddy controls won't even bother you. Alternatively, if you're willing to use the d-pad, Rivals is a decent game that has an interesting mix of car customisation, skill-based driving and reasonable speed.

It's not really simulating football; it's emulating football spectacle, and with the addition of Challenge mode and a clever reward structure on top of an accessible and plainly enjoyable arcade experience it does that effectively enough to be a worthy purchase for footy lovers who want to, as the yanks would have it, punch a hole in the score bag.

Becomes so compelling that you're rarely at a loss for motivation. If you're not simply revelling in the design or your own massive combos, you're hopelessly addicted to securing the requisite number of bananas and coming through unscathed against the boss.

The beauty of it is the ability to play it however you want, either going for all out rushes or a more strategic squad-based approach.

A total waste of a fantastic licence - incredibly anti-climactic, a mere six hours long, full of uninspired levels and identikit enemies, and achingly tedious to play. Once finished I had to quickly uninstall it lest I ever accidentally clicked on that hateful icon again.

Sure, Capcom has completely over-compensated by making the game initially too hard, but once you get over this frightful difficulty hump, one of 2005's most accomplished and enjoyable games emerges from the fug.

Despite the criticisms, Team 17 has still managed to pull off an impressive evolution of a much-loved series. The core game has remained barely unchanged, but the 3D engine introduces a lot of unexpected elements to get used to, both good and bad.

If dabbling in the Sims 2 appealed, but you desired something with a bit more structure, an application to the Sims 2 University is well worth filling in.

What's most disappointing about the whole thing, though, isn't so much the lack of me-too deathmatch variants, but that LucasArts didn't bother to allow players to play the campaign mode co-operatively as Red Storm achieved so successfully in the likes of Ghost Recon 2, Rainbow Six 3 and Black Arrow... As it is Republic Commando deserves huge respect for managing to be the best Star Wars shooter ever.

By losing virtually everything that made the Settlers unique, Blue Byte has ended up with something that - somewhat predictably - that's the same as everything else, but not as good. From an original to the photocopy of a photocopy of a photocopy.

Namco has gone all out to present the ultimate Tekken experience for long-term fans while enticing potential newcomers with its sassiest ever line-up of characters.

The first couple of hours of the game are fantastic, as you're introduced to the universe, the ships, the stunning battles and the interesting gameplay, but for the average strategy fan, the realisation that the game is all about increasingly complex micro-management of your ships and crew is something of a let-down.

The AI is still taking the piss rather than pumping the lifeblood as it should be... After four games, it's shocking to discover that the AI cars still follow a clear line around each track, heartlessly cut back in front of you even when it's obvious you'll hit them as a result, ram your back end and allow you to crawl around the inside of them on corners you have no right to overtake on by using them as buffers.

Ys simply falters in the face of the better games now on the market, and in that context, it's hard to recommend it as much more than a curio for the hardcore RPG fan.

If you fancy the idea of action-oriented "Deus Ex" then a rental is completely essential as you'll easily romp through it inside two evenings.

In a way, by selling this series on history alone, Capcom is killing its chance of having a future.

If you like the sound of Second Sight, make sure you play it on a console. It is possible, we suppose, that you might get on with the PC version, but in truth we just can't see it.

It's one of those games that seems to be actively trying to bore or frustrate you at every turn, and it's so charmless and poorly designed that it makes you wonder whether it was just that nobody had the heart to say anything.

Xenosaga 2, is a big commitment for any gamer. If you want to get the most out of the game you're looking at weeks of concentrated staccato playing/watching/playing/watching as you work your way through the huge narrative arc.

With the dreadful lack of effort in the PS1-like visuals, and ghastly AI, even those with especially designed tattoos should consider their old friend exactly that: old.

Bugs aside - and indeed notwithstanding the bugs in our case - it's relentlessly entertaining and commands your attention as well as anything else on the handheld to date. We only wish it put up a bit more of a fight, and did more to take advantage of a system that once seemed purpose-built for it. [Import]

If it was ten solid levels of proper Star Fox space combat delivered with the same degree of glorious detail and a challenge that rose from the promising double boss-fight climax of the second section to the kind of crescendo Star Fox reached at its peak then they would fit like silk gloves.

Once the combat stops being a one-button-win it builds into a genuinely captivating series of varied events and manages to present the futile bloodlust in an unsympathetic light, yet making the process of limb removal, beheading or carving someone's torso straight down the middle a thrilling experience.

It's one of those games that reminds you how far we've come over the years, because it's just full of the old bad design habits that we all used to take for granted.

Sadly, as far as Sims clones go, it's actually one of the best... but you'd probably be better off going for one of its better expansion packs than spending money on this. It's just a little too slight a proposition for a full game.

Stranger's Wrath simply isn't a better game for having first-person mode, and many of us would have maybe preferred the choice.

The portability, extra modes and various refinements of the DS version make for a much more satisfying game than the Flash effort we're continually referencing, but the DS is already home to a good few equally satisfying puzzlers (including "Mr. Driller" and "Polarium") and we'd seriously suggest looking to them before haggling for a copy of Zoo Keeper.

But the trouble is, as soon as you remove the novelty death sequences it's actually the dictionary definition of the average third-person shooter.

Overall not a bad attempt to move the Mario Kart formula into the skies by any means, but one that's initially far too easy, then bizarrely too tough, and chock full of fairly irritating and unavoidable shoot-'em up-boss encounters that simply take you away from what you'd rather be doing.

By no means a bad game. It's just horribly average, with some hugely disappointing lows counterbalanced by some genuinely excellent high points.

Maybe if any of the significant flaws of the original had been ironed out, and the missions were actually compelling, we wouldn't mind, but the excitement and thirst for vengeance of the original has been replaced by exceptionally ordinary shoot-'em-up missions, one on-rails shooting section, and a few awful stealth encounters.

A relentlessly compelling title that feels so rich with atmosphere, breathless excitement and palpable tension that virtually all our minor quibbles go out of the window.

If you can accept that it won't last you as long as you might like, then your quest is clear: leave no stone unturned in your search for this game, and then leave none of its stones unturned either.

Maybe it gets a little too tricky for its own good sometimes, maybe it's just plain dull between missions, but when it gets things right it's a brilliantly enjoyable all-action extravaganza of blockbuster proportions.

Intriguingly, the presence of an all-encompassing online mode called Conquest ties up all the various strands of multiplayer game into a coherent whole.

As far as block or blob-based puzzlers go, Puyo Pop Fever is perfectly adequate, but the PSP happens to have a few better alternatives: "Lumines" offers a more classy experience, while "Koloomn" is a more original title, and one that will take every brain cell to master.

In the end, it's a golf game fundamentally redesigned to its detriment, shorn of many of the little things that made up the rest of its appeal, and now merely flawed but enjoyable.

The definitive way to experience one of the games of the year.

Overall, despite the admittedly sloppy combat, Kuon manages miraculously to be even less than the sum of all its parts, diminishing and lowering the playability of the game as a whole.

It'll still have the piss ripped out of it for being a spreadsheet number crunching exercise, a game that reduces passion into numbers, but take no notice. It's an abstract extrapolation of emotions. A beautiful game of the beautiful game. Chaotically absorbing.

There's just too much about it that gets up our nose, and however much we jam our finger up there trying to straighten it out, favouring the outside line or not, it still slides back and forth just out of reach.

A really excellent GBA game which pushes the little system to a degree that few games have tried.

Would be an impressive game even if it weren't based on Lord of the Rings. It's a clever and well-constructed strategy title with plenty of innovation of its own, and a genuinely great use of the franchise. Easily the best of the Lord of the Rings games to date.

While there's a thrill in returning to locations you're familiar with ten years on in game terms, it can't overwhelm the realisation that these are just the original levels stripped bare and re-fabricated according to Obsidians whims.

Offers too much tedium and not nearly enough fun, mic or no mic.

If the parent release fulfilled your thirst for Mentalist twitch shooting and you feel like topping up then you can't really complain at what's on offer here, but for us it's almost the dictionary definition of an average shooter. For those wanting something a little more cerebral and fulfilling, this sure as hell isn't it.

The gameplay is a castrated version of "Warcraft III" - you can see the hallmarks of a fine specimen, but the testosterone is all long gone - while the script is cringeworthy in places, reminiscent of the very worst desperate "Lord of the Rings" wannabes in fantasy fiction writing.

Drill Spirits may not use the DS's new features to conduct a symphony orchestra whilst penning sonnets and bringing democracy to Cuba, but when the underlying game is this gripping we refuse to sit around using its relative lack of invention as a stick to beat it with.

"The Sands of Time" set such a high standard in virtually every area that anything less was always going to be disappointing, and discovering that many of the bits that were nigh on flawless are less taxing, less focused, or are just the same with a scar across the face, is deeply upsetting.

Certainly one of the more passable products of the recent retro-gaming fad, but packaged up in the guise of a modern RPG - without the decency of the NES Classics range in terms of admitting to its own clapped-out state - it's going to be a major disappointment to most who pick it up.

The fort-versus-fort gameplay definitely doesn't gel with the Worms dynamic. Instead it robs a once-proud series of almost everything that made it so memorable, and the result is a game that tires as much as it feels tired.

This is the greatest fantasy MMO in existence, the absolute state of the art in orc-bashing. But the nagging feeling I can't shake is that, for me, that's not quite enough anymore.

If you forget about the campaigns - and God knows, you're going to try and forget about the campaigns - the skirmish is an entirely competent example of its genre, and its inclusion enough to make this not actually an actively worthless game per se.

While the repetitive nature of the sub-games is what really keeps this away from true greatness, what leads to an increasing sense of the game being a chore is something as simple and ethereal as a wind.

The designers didn't love this game, they just threw together poorly understood ideas from other games like "Halo" and "Half-Life" so that the management chimps responsible for the project could be satisfied that it was ripping off popular products.

Even pointlessly simple card matching games like Luigi's "Pair-A-Gone" and "Memory Match" had us playing relentlessly, whiling away Tube journeys and whiling away stolen moments at all manner of the day and night.

With a bit more humour behind it and some slightly more adventurous mission design, Payback could have been a must-have. As it is, it's a perfectly enjoyable way to spend a few hours and it certainly does a decent enough job of emulating "Grand Theft Auto's" media-baiting exterior.

It's a straightforward sequel with a few more bells and whistles than before, and it lowers the bar of entry somewhat compared to the GameCube original.

Only poor pacing early on, a frustrating mechanical legacy and a sense that Konami still hasn't quite cracked the union of storytelling and gameplay prevent this scoring higher.

It's no fun to drive, and in fact driving itself is something of a challenge. On top of that, having begun life on other formats (including N-Gage), it makes only a token gesture to adapt to the DS's featureset, allowing you to navigate menus but do nothing else with the stylus, allowing wireless multiplay but demanding multiple copies of the game, and using the bottom screen for little more than a topographical overview of the course with markers for each car.

Half-Life 2 has astonished us from start to finish. Valve has done to the FPS genre what restaurants in Chinatown do to ducks; shredded it, smothered it in a delicious sauce of their own devising, and served it up in a way which you simply couldn't have imagined when looking at them in the pond.

Easy to sum up: Game isn't finished.

It's so obviously a lot of good games. And we're feeling a degree of magic. But in the end Feel the Magic isn't quite enough to sate us.

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.

A great package that any squad gaming fan will take to immediately - it's not everything we hoped it would be, admittedly, but don't let that put you off what is still a worthy offering.

Completely harmless and sure to get a giggle from younger gamers.