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.