Compared to "Virtua Tennis," the undisputed king of the tennis franchises around here, Mario Power Tennis is a bit fuzzier and more forgiving in every respect, but, unless you turn them off, the power shots shift the dynamic in quite a different direction.

It has managed to genuinely take the series forward in technology terms, offering up much more engaging firefights than ever before, which are far less forgiving and require a hell of a lot more thought and skill than simply charging in like you're immortal.

We've used the word a few times during the review, but "chore" probably sums up TRON 2.0 if we were to plunge to our most uncharitable.

One of the best of its genre, of that there is no doubt. But is it really acceptable to release a game that's so similar to the previous two that it would take the most devoted fan to spot the difference at first glance?

Easily our favourite EyeToy game to date.

That Killzone doesn't live up to expectations shouldn't come as a major surprise to anyone; that Sony has chosen to release such a damp squib at this outrageously competitive time of year most definitely is.

If you're looking for an ATV game that offers solid arcade-style gameplay, a wide range of events and decent offline multiplayer options, Offroad Fury 3 does the job.

This isn't SmackDown! vs. Raw. It's last year's SmackDown! with a few mini-games, an updated (and therefore poorer) rota and embarrassingly duff online play.

There are some truly magic moments here that transcend nostalgia. Even now, that first time you achieve absolutely blinding speed is exhilarating.

It's too easy. Yes, there's a Hard mode, and Evil mode if you can be bothered to play through it that many times, but if you've got a solid grounding in role-playing games, you'll walk through it.

Intelligent, macabre, scary, superbly directed and perfectly pitched for casual players and more hardcore gamers alike, this game does for survival horror what the influx of Japanese and Korean movies has done for horror cinema in recent years.

The thrill of taking control of the family in action is soon soured by some nasty control and camera glitches, but youngsters who can't get enough of seeing Mrs Incredible stretch herself around won't really care about the finer points of directional play.

It's no exaggeration to say that you could be still be playing this when the next GTA game comes out, even if it takes Rockstar another two years to finish. It's not perfect then, but so much of it is so good that you won't care.

There hasn't been high-level management game with this level of wit, style and vision since the dear departed Mucky Foot's "Startopia." This is as good as its genre gets, and deserves recognition.

It's just not the Grand Theft Auto experience most people will be gunning for, and certainly not for this price, not a chance in hell.

It's exactly as the name describes - the ultimate incarnation of the game so far.

But while dumbing down the RPG premise for the casual console gamer might work for some people, it ultimately fell down for us by making the main action portion of the game really quite tiresome.

It's not a bad game to any degree, is technically very polished with beautifully rendered craft bursting with technical detail and slick in almost every sense - but it lacks soul.

"Burnout 3" may have surpassed our expectations in a number of areas, but it's worth remembering that OutRun2 falls short in terms of longevity, not play mechanics. When it comes to speed and immediacy it's easily comparable, the handling is something else entirely, and in technical terms there's only one truly beautiful journey between the two games, and it's taken in a Ferrari.

It is impossible to shy away from the realisation that H&D as a franchise needs a bit of a pep up in several areas and is gradually being left behind in a genre it once dominated.

Sometimes, though, familiarity and simplicity are exactly what's called for, and for those of you that just can't get enough of these dumb-arsed shooters, Crisis Zone has a certain cultish appeal that's just on the right side of admirable.

It may well be widely-regarded as being up there with the best Vietnam-based FPSs (and we're thinking Vietcong on PC specifically, which shades this), but stood next to the likes of Call Of Duty its bothersome AI leaves the game hamstrung in one of the most crucial areas.

On one hand, the game is an incredibly unique and original departure from the normal conventions of this genre, offering the kind of dark stylish twist that RPGs have lacked for so long and building onto it some very solid gameplay. Balanced against that, however, is the somewhat unforgiving battle system and, most crucially, the whole random battle issue.

Where "Gregory" and "Joe" were as often inventive and ingenious as they were incomparable to anything else on the shelves, Under The Skin's clever thinking dried up before it even made it off the blackboard.

Anyone over a certain age is likely to be highly embarrassed if they get caught playing it though, and for flip's sake, don't actually buy the thing unless you wipe with ten pound notes.

As generic as a platformer can be. It's a game in the tradition of the original "Jak & Daxter," but comparing the two is like holding a light to the abyss.

What we have here essentially is an exceptionally polished product with a smattering of new additions that, Xbox Live aside, don't make an especially significant leap forward after last year's return to form.

There are about five games out of the 20 that we'd ever want to spend time with again, and another half-dozen modern day fillers that have been usurped massively since, while the rest are just truly awful reminders of why things are better just the way they are.