At best, this might have been a cute piece of original downloadable content on a system that sorely needs some. As a full price piece of software, it's genuinely worth less than forty quid's worth of dog-eared primary school maths books.

Like a lot of grumpy Eastwoods, Juarez treads the line just West of parody with Ray's juxtaposition of gravely scripture one minute, and then little red circles with lines through them hovering over whiskey bottles the next.

What you're buying into is a fantastic celebration of a timeless classic, and one that does something genuinely interesting with the gameplay to make it relevant now. The problem is, basically, is that it's been put in totally the wrong price bracket for what is an impulse buy. A curiosity.

It takes the inspirational level design of the original, improves upon the atmosphere, and makes the whole thing so much more fun thanks to the hugely refined control and camera system. Far from being a tired, cynical cash-in exercise of a brand past its prime, Tomb Raider Anniversary goes back to its roots and shows how remakes should be done.

Even with expectations duly lowered to allow for the usual make-do approach taken to most licensed kids games, the sheer hideousness of this title still crept up and sucker-punched me right in the soul. There's not a single element of this game that is fun, even in the most tangential use of the term.

Spaceforce can't be recommended despite some interesting ideas.

Execution is near-flawless throughout, and while the presentation's a bit on the garish side (and seemingly influenced by Q Entertainment's Meteos, which is a sort of hyperactive sideways space-based Panel de Pon anyway), you can stick to the graphical layout you like best by tweaking options pre-game.

As the Story Mode can be cleared in a couple of hours you're left to find fun in one of the game's simple multiplayer modes (download play or Wi-Fi) but these do little to enliven the repetitive and staccato move, stop, point, shoot, flow of play leaving a meagre and shallow title that's difficult to recommend.

Fresh, but slightly sanitised, Rock Legend isn't a game you're going to play intensively for months. However, note the price (GBP 12.50), and purchase anticipating two or three weeks of quirky, leather-trousered amusement, and you shouldn't be disappointed.

It's too old, and too dull.

Obviously the game is targeted with a marketing sniper's precision to appeal to a certain type of young girl, but it's well crafted enough to interest a wider, inquisitive audience.

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

If you want to play with chums, you're going to have to reselect your gang for every two-minute game, as the interface will dump you all back in the wild as soon as it's over. Easier is jumping in with strangers, but none of the tracks/games hold enough allure to inspire much of this.

Expertly put together and able to cater for both those that want a quick and simple race and those that want a true to life racing experience, Forza 2 is unquestionably one hell of an achievement. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got things to calibrate. So, so many things...

A well-designed, well-conceived game.

A well-designed, well-conceived game.

Mario Party 8 is a "would have, should have, could have" kind of game. With such an depressingly long list of wasted possibilities, and so many other mini-game collections available for Nintendo Wii (The excellent Rayman Raving Rabbids, for one) It would be wrong of me to say you should pick this up.

There's a genuine sense of achievement and enjoyment when a seemingly impossible level suddenly clicks (or crushes) into place, and the confident way the game uses its central conceit as more than just a gimmick is undeniably reassuring and appealing.

Fan of the first two games will initially feel at home here but, under prolonged scrutiny it reveals itself to be the weakest of the set.

Most importantly, it's got that utterly absorbing hypnotic je ne sais quois that all the best games have, and it's that which will keep you coming back for more and more, checking out all the characters and all the play modes, and devoting an unhealthy amount of time in the quest for dominating other players, both online and off.

It's brilliant because it presents a slick and fast-paced management puzzle within firm boundaries and rules that manages to teach the player all of its lessons before he or she gets bored and moves on.

Xevious has been bettered hundreds of times over down the years, and only the most diehard retro fiend will want to part with their cash for this now.

Charming little platform riot, but not a game that has aged well at all. Perhaps one for curious Spectrum owners to download - if only to check out what the original looked like.

Artistically Odin Sphere is one of the most marvellous videogames we've yet played. The inimitable character designs, varied and exquisite backgrounds, glorious soundtrack, considered voice acting and engaging storyline pull together in a consistent way few other games manage. However the game they clothe fails to engage in a similar way.

The combat's inexcusably awful. The duelling is absolutely mind-numbingly uninspired. The platforming and exploration feel tacked-on, overly basic and adds little variety, and the fetch quests plumb new depths in their tedious pointlessness...One of the most dreadfully vacuous and uninspired movie tie-ins in recent memory.

The games are irritating and forgettable, the scoring system is bizarre, the play modes make no sense and the constantly shrill urban-cartoon-hipster presentation feels like some ninja chav just injected a pint of boiling hot Red Bull into your eyeballs.

Weighing in at little over the price of an XBLA download (about a tenner from the right shops), Art of Fighting Anthology is a rare bargain - especially from new.

This particular package has much better presentation than the last one, with all games sorted into chronological order (a small but valuable point), and various useful options that make the experience far better than most retro collections. Nice one, Taito.