It gets seven because it's a great example of technical gameplay and a completive attitude to giving gamers value for money, but if we see the same thing again we won't be able to be so kind.

Arguably the finest example ever made of the truly traditional Japanese RPG. It may be clichéd, and altogether a little too bright and happy for its own good, but Tales of Symphonia is nonetheless epic, enjoyable, and superbly constructed.

It almost feels awkward to play something this understated, but once you get over that you realise that all you need to have fun is a few squares of track snapped together creatively - and that you don't need in-game radio stations, real-time reflections or modern cityscapes to make your case.

Even the main characters - the ones voiced over in cut-scenes - have an annoying American accent that just shatters the whole illusion, and they sound like they're talking to you through a king hangover mixed with a few pints of disinterest.

The structure itself is brilliant, but within it is nothing more than the padding of a relentless succession of ultimately quite simple challenges that you soon tire of.

We missed some of the more intricate aspects of the original, and the ability to carry veteran troops forward between missions is a glaring omission, but despite a few niggling faults, it's still one of the best single-player RTS titles we've ever played, and is well worth the price of entry for that alone.

It's the quirky, totally un-golf-ish tasks that give the thing depth.

The simple, unpalatable, grisly truth for everyone connected to this important summer blockbusting title is that it's so far away from being the title it deserved to be, it could well be reflected upon as one of the biggest disappointments in the history of videogames.

The only problem, in truth, is that it's outrageously difficult to play against experienced campaigners that know the maps inside out and all the tricks. But against your equally (in)experienced mates, it's a fantastic way of experiencing stealth gaming multiplayer.

It may not have a licence behind it, it doesn't feature online play, and it could do with a few zanier tables and quirks to match the presentation, but until somebody comes along with a game of pool that plays this well - and is this accessible - it's by far and away our clacker of choice.

Undoubtedly a highly enjoyable action romp with a clutch of deal clincher ideas that are well-realised and far from being mere gimmicks to brag about on the box.

It has an uncanny knack of holding your interest, rarely feels frustrating, and deserves to be heralded among the very best titles on the format.

The major problem with the game is that you have to learn how to use it. The beauty of the likes of "Virtua Tennis" and, to a lesser degree, "Top Spin," is that you don’t.

A true classic. It may not have the admirable depth of "Final Fantasy Tactics Advance" or "Fire Emblem," but it has twice the character - and twice the fun.

Sonic is a bit like the band you used to love when you were a nipper but just refuse to change their sound: they keep a loyal crowd and play all the hits on demand for nostalgia's sake, but the new tunes sound like the old ones. Only the real obsessives need worry about this one.

It won't satisfy everybody - and we'd stress again the importance of approaching it as a new experience inspired by an old favourite rather than expecting the expected - but those who band together to tackle the evil sorcerer Vaati will likely be spellbound by a tremendously well-designed example of modern multiplayer gaming.

The gripes are really mainly relating to the individual games, which for anyone remotely experienced will quickly become far too familiar and untaxing to warrant extended interest.

The gripes are really mainly relating to the individual games, which for anyone remotely experienced will quickly become far too familiar and untaxing to warrant extended interest.

Apart from the fact that it's a largely seamless gameplay mechanic, sensibly balanced and gloriously fresh and interesting to play, it's also an ingenious premise that deserves further exploration - indeed, this is one of the few times you'll see us crying out for a sequel.

Often masterful, rarely boring, and beautifully presented - from the minimalist HUD and maximalist visuals to the reactive Gregson-Williams-inspired scoring and conversational feel of the dialogue. It is a critical darling because it dares to keep changing and still manages to maintain a high standard in spite of this. It satisfies our lust for variation and our lust for technical excellence.

No lie, you'll finish the lot in a day. You can try and collect all the extras (Japanese radish and Chinese cabbage are all there for the taking), but there's no getting away from the fact that there's not enough in here to warrant shelling out full whack, no matter how perfect a slice of arcade action it may be.

There's something so pleasingly honed about the overall structure of Deadly Shadows and how that integrates with the gameplay mechanic - and in terms of getting your money's worth, there are few games that suck you in quite as much.

It won't come as anything new or inspiring to anybody who's tackled a DK title before, but it engages the brain in ways that we enjoy being probed, and for all its age the formula is still as sound as ever.

A near masterpiece, managing to not only stay utterly faithful to the subject matter, but in many respects creating a benchmark mech shoot 'em up that practically bends the PS2 out of shape for technical merit.

The story may not be the most earth shattering we've heard, the voice acting (though delightfully it's British!) can be a touch jarring on occasion, and it's initially frustrating and rather basic and rough around the edges in some other respects, but nevertheless it grows into something that you can happily sit down and chip away at all evening without getting too worked up.

It's let down dreadfully by the truly monotonous nature of the gameplay later in the game - and, perhaps most damningly of all, by the fact that the game is simply ridiculously short.

This empty feeling you get from playing The Omega Strain will be etched all over your drained face within minutes - it's a depressingly bland experience, and frankly not one we'd advise anyone but the most committed online console gamer to even bother having a look at.

If you come away unimpressed from playing RSC 2, we'd advise you to seek medical attention, because in 25 years of playing driving games no other title comes close to its startlingly lifelike environments, its impressively realistic yet fun handling system nor the overwhelming sense of fun that permeates the single player and most of all the multiplayer.

A reasonably clinical package with a decent though not spectacular footy game somewhere under the glitz and licensing efforts, but you'd still be better off scouting around on the transfer lists for a better value signing. Not everyone's as much of donkey as Heskey.

It wasn't the linearity that was the issue, nor the overall polish; more that the game ultimately lacks ambition and creativity in the gameplay department - until the last eight or nine levels there's little on show that hasn't been done better before.

That it's over in a few short hours (whatever your abilities) and that everything's very contrived and undemanding is, in fact, rather the point.

Focused excellence.

A highly polished, mostly highly enjoyable hackandslash romp with only occasional lapses into tedious gaming by numbers same-old-same-old object hunting and respawning enemy laziness.

No one should really expect it to be cutting edge entertainment, although it does succeed in providing a new spin on long abandoned gaming principles. Despite its overtly simplistic nature, it's still a blisteringly entertaining romp in small doses, providing you take it in the right spirit.

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.

Later in its shelf life, Groove will be an excellent little budget purchase to have in your collection for those amusing drunken party moments, but right now at £29.99 we'd strongly advise potential EyeToy converts to check out Play before they go splashing the cash on "Groove."

But while it does output a far greater degree of detail than the open spaces of GTA can afford, at no stage does it get anywhere near matching the accomplished environments of, say, "Splinter Cell," and its almost complete lack of narrative gives the proceedings a completely hollow feel to them.

Apocalyptica's lazy design and sheer lack of imagination is more than enough to ruin any chance it had of developing the relatively interesting premise. Forgive Konami, father, for they have sinned.

It's not perfect, and we hope Nintendo takes the concept further, but it's still well worth checking out even for a few hours' worth of hilarity.

At the very least a more responsive stick-based system would have been a plus. but as it stands it almost feels too much of a simulation at the expense of action - although doubtlessly some of you will admire that approach.

For the PAL consumer, it's one for the absolute die-hards we're afraid, and even they might have issues trying to live with the lack of online play.

The all-new split-screen multiplayer modes are a bit hit and miss, but still welcome nevertheless.

It's yet another example of a distinctly average "extreme sports" game that lacks the polish and creativity of the real-life sportsmen it's trying to emulate-slash-harness.

It's yet another example of a distinctly average "extreme sports" game that lacks the polish and creativity of the real-life sportsmen it's trying to emulate-slash-harness.

In the final analysis, it just maybe lacks the creative edge and imagination that would have catapulted it into classic territory. We just didn't really care about what we were fighting our way through.

Feels like a total waste of time, and if we had any white boots right now we'd ram our studs through its rubbish cover so it could never bother us again.

What's immediately apparent is that it's been balanced incredibly carefully.

Epic has created the mother of all first-person shooters with this game - over a hundred maps, a selection of diverse and extremely well balanced game modes, built in voice communications, intelligent bots, a great offline play mode, good network code, a superb server browser and a solid graphics engine. Onslaught alone is worth the price of entry, but the game as a whole is a stunning package.

For what is one of the few Xbox-only Japanese titles, you'd expect much more than almost featureless corridors, and only the occasional glimpses of artistic talent from Namco's team.

It's a life you'd want to live, and it's a truly refreshing escape from the pressures of reality into an imaginary utopia poised on the edge of an ocean.

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.

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.

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.

Tenchu isn't a particularly complex beast, and it doesn't take long to get the most out of it, so it's a nice alternative if you're bored of creeping around gloriously detailed locations pretending to fight terrorism. On the other hand, only a few shiny surfaces and high-poly models stand between this and the visual mediocrity of most PS2 titles.

As it is though, it's a good, solid, disquieting action game that ought to serve fans of the macabre and whodunnit-with-demons perfectly adequately, but stands little chance of threatening the crowns of the Silent Hills, Resident Evils and Project Zeros of this and other worlds.

You certainly can't fault Firefighter F.D 18 for fiery originality, but its ambitions are cruelly extinguished by overly simplistic game design and a clunky control system makes it the kind of cult curiosity that only the true hardcore would ever dare parting cash for.

We're sorry to heap such bile on a game that we actually like at times, but it's a bit like hearing a bad cover version of a song that you've grown to like that some people still maintain is rubbish. Our advice? Buy the PC version of Mafia.

As for those of you who cherished the original game? This is the best pair of rose-tinted spectacles money can buy, and a good alternative to the anti-climax of seeing how a once-cherished favourite has aged.

Possibly the wisest tweak is the balancing of the gameplay, which with a bit of practice ought to see players able to compete with Colin and co. within the matter of an hour or so. Previously the barriers to entry seemed to be set inexplicably high.

If you can tolerate the predictable levels, bad AI, targeting nonsense and the general sea of mediocrity that persists throughout then you might discover a flicker of entertainment.

No other game manages to deliver on the potential of controlling a ninja with this much flair and authority - it is, no bullshit, one of the finest action games ever made. Sever my spinal cord if I'm lying.

Playing "Wave Race" again earlier today, we just had more fun.

Everything or Nothing represents progress, and proves that the abysmal "Nightfire" was a genuine blip rather than a sign of things to come, but the more discerning gamer will still come away nonplussed.

If only there were a few more moves to learn, and a bit more imagination than room after room of contrived fight sequences against hordes of identikit enemies.

It's the sort of game where you still yearn for goals even when you're 5-0 up in injury time. [JPN Import]

In the face of such opposition, Nightshade, a pretty damn poor game when stacked against PS2 contemporaries like "Devil May Cry" or "Castlevania," simply doesn't have a candle to hold.

As a single-player experience, Unreal 2 is undoubtedly one of the more forgettable shooters on the Xbox; joining the likes of "Jedi Academy" and "Soldier of Fortune 2" in that club of below par PC ports that have been unceremoniously dumped on owners of this capable machine.

Every minute of that five hours was excellent, and Zero Mission takes its place as one of the finest titles in the GBA's already impressive pantheon of platformers. However, we can't help but wish that it had been longer.

It simply feels more natural to select attacks, items and suchlike on the smaller GBA screen, and actually do the combat and exploration on the main TV screen - while there's even an added element of gameplay from the fact that each player gets a different map on their GBA.

Vietcong and its expansion pack ultimately succeed in providing an approximation of the horrors of jungle warfare. The shit-scared feeling of imminent death is translated as well as anyone has managed to date, although perhaps for many FPS fans this might not equate to a fun gaming experience.

When it's good it's fantastic, but when it's not it's a spirit sapping experience. That's Mafia in a nutshell - a flawed classic that'll certainly provide good rental value if nothing else.

The camera is crap, the scale is awkward, the story and characters are basic and cringe-worthy, the combat is tedious, the platforming and puzzling is too basic, and I was well bored of it by the time I conquered the final level with the first of the four Teams, which wasn't even that long after I first grabbed it out of the shrink-wrap.

The camera is crap, the scale is awkward, the story and characters are basic and cringe-worthy, the combat is tedious, the platforming and puzzling is too basic, and I was well bored of it by the time I conquered the final level with the first of the four Teams, which wasn't even that long after I first grabbed it out of the shrink-wrap.

For fans of the first game, Maximo Vs. Army of Zin is a must-have, and if you like platform games with a slant towards combat then this is also an ideal purchase.

It offers more of the great hack and slash gameplay that - for some strange reason - no one has emulated properly since the first Dark Alliance. On the other hand, the magic of the original has definitely been diluted, where it really should have been enhanced.

If you have any respect for the way games should be made then give Interplay a clear message that it simply has to do better than this to compete in the games market. Treat BOS with contempt it deserves and avoid it at all costs - even buying this at a budget price would be irresponsible.

Because for all it brings to the table - space combat, Halo's shield, varied levels - not one single aspect is truly worthy of praise.

For those expecting massive advancements or a radical departure from the original, this will come as a disappointment. A more honest, realistic assessment would be to treat this as a mission pack, and for those who do just want more of the same, you'll come away a satisfied customer.

The camera is crap, the scale is awkward, the story and characters are basic and cringe-worthy, the combat is tedious, the platforming and puzzling is too basic, and I was well bored of it by the time I conquered the final level with the first of the four Teams, which wasn't even that long after I first grabbed it out of the shrink-wrap.

It's a strong package that suffers partly because we were promised so much in the first place, partly because so much of it is available online for free, and partly because the new stuff is exactly the sort of thing Valve would have released for free in times gone past.

If "Morrowind," fantasy and claustrophobia are not your favourite things, then there really isn't a point.

An undeniably alluring little isometric shoot-'em-up with some tolerable flaws, and if, like me, you plan to get stuck into the PC sequel in the near future, then it offers a succinct and vital refresher of key plot points.

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

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

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

Still, discarding relatively minor mechanics issues, Crimson Butterfly gets along by virtue of its intensely unnerving atmosphere, crafted by delicious graphics, decent storyline and even better-than-usual voiceovers.

In other words, it's just like all those other racing games you read about but never buy. Except, in this case, it's a tacit reminder that Namco has slipped so far down the field that it's actually being lapped - by games we bought almost five years ago. Oh sod it: ARGH!

In other words, it's just like all those other racing games you read about but never buy. Except, in this case, it's a tacit reminder that Namco has slipped so far down the field that it's actually being lapped - by games we bought almost five years ago. Oh sod it: ARGH!

A generation ago this would've been held up as a fine game, but it's been radically usurped in almost any area you care to mention, and in this day and age just slapping a licence on the front of the pack isn't enough to make it anywhere near interesting.

You're probably looking at a good thirty to forty hours of gameplay before you start to touch on the high-level possibilities of X2.

A game that will live long in the memory, and needs to be played from time to time just to refresh the senses and reinvigorate the gamer inside us all.

An action title that relies on keeping the player immersed and focused on the game as much as possible. But if you're asked to spend literally 20 per cent of your playing time staring at a loading screen, then that sense of excitement and immersion quickly ebbs away.

Certainly an excellent game, but in becoming a much more accessible and polished title than its predecessor and taking significant advances in storytelling, it has left behind some key aspects of gameplay and much-loved variety from the first title.

It's a stunning little game to play for a while after the pub or while waiting for a taxi to turn up, and a complete contrast to the involved multiplayer experience you'd get with FF:CC. If a copy lands on your lap, you'll probably love it - you just wouldn't pay thirty quid for it.

I polished off the three main Match Race cups, most of the Time Trials (to unlock the better boards), the final Extreme Challenge and most of the Gate Challenges, not to mention completing each Trick Attack course to a decent standard, well within one five-hour sitting.

As for its translation to Xbox, it's a revelation. Not only is it as visually faithful as anyone could reasonably expect, with no discernible compromises save for the resolution, but even the controls feel right.

For many, most of the titles on show will be obscure, but if you want to dip your toes into the bewildering waters of the '80s arcade, this is probably the best introduction released to date.