It would be easy to score this game as plain mediocre. After all, it essentially works, displays a misguided and seemingly half-hearted attempt at innovation, looks pleasant enough, passes the time and will likely meet the low expectations of its surprisingly large fanbase. But should such calculating mediocrity be continually excused?

If you're planning on playing the single-player much, it's an abomination, and you shouldn't touch it with a bargepole; and on Xbox Live, it's simply so flawed as to be unplayable in anything other than a basic 1v1 lobby, which arguably makes it into a pretty poor investment unless you have a friends list teeming with people who want to play.

What you end up with is thirty battles masquerading as a fairly rigid sports league, in which you can try each fight as many times as you like, using whatever weaponry you want.

Coupled with more exciting levels in the latter stages of the main mode, and the thrill of hitting triple-digit scores in Loopnastics, Wik is like a web-game that grew up.

This is a rare PSP game that's not a poor translation of a PS2 flop from four years ago, or a disappointingly crippled version for the handheld. It's a spot-on, virtually perfect miniature version of the PS2 smash.

If you can be bothered to go looking for it, Koloomn might be a good investment. Otherwise, particularly for those of us already mesmerised by Lumines or quite happy with our range of DS puzzlers, perhaps, it's almost too simple, and I can think of at least a handful of block puzzle games I'd rather play instead.

Should you want to, you can almost play Monopoly, Boggle, Yahtzee and Battleships on it. Just in a really tacky, and depressingly lonely way. And you might want to take advantage of the wireless multiplayer, but really that just makes you weird. Play proper board games if you're in the same room, for goodness sakes. It's a lazy mess, and you deserve better.

While fun once through, the broken online component and repetitive design means this'll soon be consigned to a dusty game shelf never to be played again.

There's a depth of enjoyment to Final Fantasy IV Advance - even pathos - that few other games can match.

Far too similar to games that are wonderful. So while it's not hideous or unplayable, it constantly reminds you of a far better game you could be playing instead.

Somewhere along the line there was a wholesale misunderstanding of what made Sands of Time good, and the result of the change in approach is a game that manages to be less likable in just about every single way.

It's very good at what it does, but it doesn't offer anything new.

Eventually, the mire of frustrations, constant reloading, harsh difficulty level, bugs and generally poor design wears you down. Rabid strategists will appreciate the game's saving grace, the combat system, and may find themselves more tolerant. Good luck to them. They'll need it.

Here's hoping they'll do better with the sequel, if there is one, and produce a game with real charm, inventive level designs and plenty of fast-paced action - the game Tokobot should have been, in other words.

I'm playing this version through with, if you can't tell, my girlfriend, and the aspect of simply playing the game with others, either on the same cart, of across Wi-Fi, is a whole new experience, one absolutely fraught with joy, laughter and loveliness.

It's charmingly designed from the ground up to be as fun and accessible as possible, yet despite its astonishing simplicity, it still managed to hold our interest well beyond our expectations.

It takes a measured approach to combat, pitches the atmosphere at the same eery, mysterious level that we loved about the first game, and wraps it all up with one of the more flexible control systems imaginable (quick point though, Ubi: why can't I invert the look up/down?) that make it possible to enjoy the kind of trap laden environments that would make Lara's eyes bleed at the prospect.

If you've been desperate for an RPG and would willingly drown yourself in a sea of Final Fantasies then it might be a little on the simplistic side.

Quotation forthcoming. [Mar 2006]

It's gorgeous. It's cute. It's surprisingly deep. It's deeply satisfying. And it's oh so hilariously funny.

As a package it's excellent to have two timeless games to dip back into whenever you feel like it, but there's still the niggling feeling that Nintendo's pricing strategy for such things is bordering on insane.

Offering encouragement and useful tips, as well as warnings about common exercise mistakes and pitfalls, the on-screen trainers are a fantastic resource.

There's the Mario Kart-esque attacks. An immediately obviously very stupid idea. And they're so poorly integrated that they destroy everything in their path.

But what ultimately takes some of the gloss off Bejeweled 2 isn't so much the overly harsh conditions required to earn achievements or unlock the extras, but the limitations of the control pad itself. Unlike the original PC version, or Zoo Keeper on the DS, you can't be as instant and intuitive when you're moving a cursor around the screen.

One of the best buys on Xbox Live Arcade, even comes with a copy of the PGR2-vintage Geometry Wars (complete with its own leaderboards), and - for the cynics - offers one of the most decisive demo versions, too.

But if you're in the mood for one of the more cerebral, calming puzzle experiences around, you could do a whole lot worse than fire Hexic up when you're between games - if only to trounce the high scores of your buddies.

All round, Mutant Storm Reloaded is the kind of sympathetic update that reminds us exactly why gamers gets so foamed up about supposedly outdated concepts. Sometimes things just work, and always will.

It probably won't occupy you for more than a few evenings of play, but you'll enjoy them.