It's hard, though, to shake the feeling that the only reason this game is free to play is that nobody would pay money for something so scrappy and generic.

While the hacks and cheats may be gone, they have simply been replaced by new chaos and a design disorder that does everything in its power to dissuade anyone but the keenest of sentimental subscribers.

One of the better examples of the early RPG genre, and a game of depth and longevity that really stands out alongside its platform and fighting peers. It's hard to imagine who'd want to grumble about a weighty adventure like this for such a low price.

It's a game that requires and occasionally enforces patience, but like all great road trips it's about the journey, not the destination.

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.

If you loved the original games then that might carry you through to completion but for those who are new, prepare for a long slog.

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

The game always looks good, and it amuses sporadically, but there's no heart - and following on from the similarly scattershot All 4 One, it sets a worrying precedent. Ratchet and Clank are in danger of losing their way. Insomniac needs to regain confidence in its still-popular series and play to its strengths rather than chasing trends for the sake of change.

It's unlikely that fans will be left with anything other than positive memories of a franchise that never quite got the praise it deserved.

Generous and inventive, this 3D platformer is filled with charm. [Recommended]

Forspoken takes it time to get over a wobbly start, but there's something worthwhile here amongst the noise.

Scrappy design and presentation mean that it's hard to give Zombie Driver a more enthusiastic thumbs up - but as a particularly goofy example of the sort of guilty gaming pleasure that rarely gets a look-in amongst the autumn blockbusters, it's impossible to dislike.

The gameplay variation is there for all to see, and when it hits the mark it - believe it or not - is every bit as enjoyable as the very best the genre has to offer, with some true high points to look back on.

My best memories of playing Worms with my friends were all about things backfiring hilariously, victory through blind luck, and big explosions, and the DS can't seem to show enough or process enough to deliver these things.

As relentlessly daft and shallow as it is, Nail'd is a very hard game to dislike. It's almost tailor-made for a weekend rental, which should give you enough time to rinse the single-player, have a few knockabout online races, and return it before the simplicity and repetition sours the happy memories of your brief time with it.

Two players, two developers, but half the story: this spin-off isn't firing on all cylinders, but the combat is still hugely satisfying.

It's not perfect, perhaps, and the whole thing feels pretty slight, but The Secret of the Unicorn's clever and deeply charming - a Tintin game for everybody, and not just the super-fans.

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

Sumo Newcastle's debut is an engrossing but substanceless heist game - and an interestingly grim take on Robin Hood.

Even after a week of playing it, the trick and combo system just feels like you're cheating the whole time - or being cheated - when what you really want is to feel the thrill of scoring glorious goals, not the smugness of humiliating opponents.

There is a great, great game yet to be made in this subset of the football sub-genre, where the depth of a beat-'em-up lurks beneath accessible showboating, but this isn't it.

If you're willing to put in the effort, it can steadily win you over. Obsidian can't really compete with the bigger boys in the RPG field, then, but it's carved out a little space to call its own. With ambition instead of budget, and integrity instead of polish, in the end the choice of whether to persevere or not is pretty easy to make.

Disney has clearly tried to make a vastly more flexible and more varied game to Pokémon but, in doing so, has broken that game's more elegant flow and focus of ideas.

4am is too obfuscated for serious music producers who will grow frustrated at the limited number of samples and the lack of visual feedback over which tracks and effects are active at any one time. And the experience is also too inscrutable for beginners, who will find themselves lost in the matrix of noise, unsure of how it may be truly directed or tamed. A fascinating toy, then, but a toy nonetheless.

DarkStar One is undoubtedly a bit of a throwback. It's not the all-singing, all-dancing AAA space combat title which could still make a lot of console owners' days, but it does go an awfully long way to proving that a game of that calibre is eminently possible on consoles, as well as providing an entertaining diversion.

Overall, NBA '08 is not a bad game. It just tries to make up in presentation what it lacks in depth.

It's one of the richest, most cohesive entries in the point-and-click genre I've seen for a long time, and I'm a little sad that it didn't come out fifteen years ago. Just think of all the sequels we could've had by now.

Platform game fans would be better served by Jak & Daxter, while action game fans can go back to God of War. Bloodlines isn't a terrible or frustrating game, but it's as unnecessary as all those chickens.