In short, this isn't going to please anyone, apart from the few of you who are after a decent Virtua Racing for the lounge.

It's turned my head, even if it's not quite the 'trip' that it might have been.

This is a genre that demands brilliance of concept and execution, variation in play conditions, subtlety of design and careful management of the endgame, and while most of the best-rated puzzle games come close in a few areas, Lumines sweeps across the lot.

In short, there's no real feeling of accomplishment when you level up, which means there's no real incentive to do anything other than belt through levels in a bid to get them over with quickly and move on.

It's so rich with options that it can seem overwhelming, and although there's clear fodder there's also consistency and thoughtfulness in a lot of areas.

Your veritable cast iron "mixed bag" of timeless gems and pointless curios in which some work well on the DS, some don't and as long as you can deny all knowledge of seeing the Remix mode retro gamers won't be totally offended.

Studio Liverpool has come up with a near-perfect equation for this sort of game, layering everything up in a manner that keeps you coming back hour after hour, with enough tracks to beat under subtly but crucially different circumstances that you never find yourself tiring of a well-beaten track.

While Act of War doesn't transcend its genre, in terms of doing the pure "Red Alert" thing, there hasn't been anything as competent and thrilling in ages.

Of course the idea with Deluxe is that even if that's beyond you so much has been brought together that there's enough to entertain regardless.

Of course the idea with Deluxe is that even if that's beyond you so much has been brought together that there's enough to entertain regardless.

The whole thing just feels a bit half-baked, with moody but unimaginative environments, done-to-death one-dimensional characters, exceptionally tired gameplay mechanics that favours basic A-to-B object collection rather than injecting anything even vaguely resembling a puzzle and a combat system that's at best functional, and at worst unhelpful.

The core concept - whilst interesting, different and certainly as well executed as it can be - never quite hits the level of compulsiveness and excitement that other high-score games like "Meteos" and "Zoo Keeper" and, to a certain extent, the Mario 64 DS mini-games have already hit.

Maybe the shoddy controls won't even bother you. Alternatively, if you're willing to use the d-pad, Rivals is a decent game that has an interesting mix of car customisation, skill-based driving and reasonable speed.

It's not really simulating football; it's emulating football spectacle, and with the addition of Challenge mode and a clever reward structure on top of an accessible and plainly enjoyable arcade experience it does that effectively enough to be a worthy purchase for footy lovers who want to, as the yanks would have it, punch a hole in the score bag.

Becomes so compelling that you're rarely at a loss for motivation. If you're not simply revelling in the design or your own massive combos, you're hopelessly addicted to securing the requisite number of bananas and coming through unscathed against the boss.

The beauty of it is the ability to play it however you want, either going for all out rushes or a more strategic squad-based approach.

A total waste of a fantastic licence - incredibly anti-climactic, a mere six hours long, full of uninspired levels and identikit enemies, and achingly tedious to play. Once finished I had to quickly uninstall it lest I ever accidentally clicked on that hateful icon again.

Sure, Capcom has completely over-compensated by making the game initially too hard, but once you get over this frightful difficulty hump, one of 2005's most accomplished and enjoyable games emerges from the fug.

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.

If dabbling in the Sims 2 appealed, but you desired something with a bit more structure, an application to the Sims 2 University is well worth filling in.

What's most disappointing about the whole thing, though, isn't so much the lack of me-too deathmatch variants, but that LucasArts didn't bother to allow players to play the campaign mode co-operatively as Red Storm achieved so successfully in the likes of Ghost Recon 2, Rainbow Six 3 and Black Arrow... As it is Republic Commando deserves huge respect for managing to be the best Star Wars shooter ever.

By losing virtually everything that made the Settlers unique, Blue Byte has ended up with something that - somewhat predictably - that's the same as everything else, but not as good. From an original to the photocopy of a photocopy of a photocopy.

Namco has gone all out to present the ultimate Tekken experience for long-term fans while enticing potential newcomers with its sassiest ever line-up of characters.

The first couple of hours of the game are fantastic, as you're introduced to the universe, the ships, the stunning battles and the interesting gameplay, but for the average strategy fan, the realisation that the game is all about increasingly complex micro-management of your ships and crew is something of a let-down.

The AI is still taking the piss rather than pumping the lifeblood as it should be... After four games, it's shocking to discover that the AI cars still follow a clear line around each track, heartlessly cut back in front of you even when it's obvious you'll hit them as a result, ram your back end and allow you to crawl around the inside of them on corners you have no right to overtake on by using them as buffers.

Ys simply falters in the face of the better games now on the market, and in that context, it's hard to recommend it as much more than a curio for the hardcore RPG fan.

If you fancy the idea of action-oriented "Deus Ex" then a rental is completely essential as you'll easily romp through it inside two evenings.

In a way, by selling this series on history alone, Capcom is killing its chance of having a future.