Bar a few trivial issues, it’s a marvelously playable title.

Magical Melody is a decent game and if you have the time to invest in it your affections toward it will grow.

Beyond that annoying [grip] inconvenience, On Tour is a surprisingly decent package - however it has to be said that the sound quality from the DS speakers is a bit weak (it gets better with headphones, though), and to complete Expert Mode you need to be Slash crossbred with Jesus.

Generic space marines fighting upon a generic future landscape will be tough to sell, terrain deformation or otherwise. The proof will be in the pudding, we guess – but we’ll be surprised if this moves the Earth.

All the important elements are there and it will provide hours of good, hardworking fun, but it’s hard not to lament the unrealised potential that could have been unleashed had those elements been fitted together into a more complete and coherent whole.

The camera, a hybrid of both fixed perspectives and occasional manual control, frequently fails to focus on an enemy when you’re locked-on and attempting to attack, leaving you vulnerable to unseen counter moves.

A game such as this is much like a big bag of mixed lollies. There’s yummy stuff like Freckles and Sherbies, but there will always be a big, yucky aniseed ball or three lurking in the bag to keep a nasty taste in your mouth.

Tries to cram WAY too many styles in, but multiplayer is tops.

Harvest Moon’s open-ended goals and non-violent gameplay were always well ahead of their time, but the problem has always been one of repetitiveness.

A surprisingly charming game – more charming than initially expected. It features a reasonable cast of characters that represent both franchises and is choc-a-block with impressive moves and exhausting combos. It might not have the depth and content to win the respect of fans of other franchises, but unfussy brawlers will get a kick out of taking it for a rumble.

The real surprise was the final level against Underboss, where you chase him up an under construction building with crews of underlings coming out the woodwork, packing some nasty hand to hand weaponry, like wrenches, pipes, crowbars and baseball bats.

So while it’s a nice nostalgia trip and makes for an interesting twist on the Meier formula, it’s people who have either never played Civlization IV before (we’ve been told they do exist) or those who have played it to death and want a bit of a change who will get the most out of this title.

Best in multiplayer, it offers thrills, but lacks substance.

Arkanoid was a sensation when first released in ’86, but its flaws are inescapable. Being a faithful adaptation of the original arcade experience, this hand-held version tempers nostalgia with frustration.

Repetition is the biggest flaw in the game, but it doesn’t ruin the experience, by any means. As mentioned earlier the graphics are a lot crisper, the gunplay is a lot tighter, and the managerial side of the game isn’t without the odd moment of satisfaction. The Godfather ii is a decent enough sequel of a decent enough game, diehard fans of the movie should hit it up, to everyone else: this is an offer you can refuse, if you’d like to.

If you desperately want to know what being an unstoppable kick arse fighting machine is like then X-Men Origins: Wolverine is the Big Mac for which you have hungered. Sure it may not have the class and flavour of a $50 steak, but it tastes f..king awesome when you’re drunk.

If wading knee deep in the dead to get at a piece of armour that’s 5% better than what you’re currently wearing isn’t the kind of adventuring that excites you, then you’re in trouble, because Too Human is exactly this type of game. Kill, loot, compare, equip, repeat.

It’s one of those out-of-nowhere games that really does get cooler and cooler the more you play it. It’s so much fun in fact, that if you told us to pick a fun activity for the afternoon and our only choices were between: chucking a Dark Sector disc into the PS3 for a play, or chucking a metal Frisbee at our annoying neighbour’s greenhouse – we’d almost certainly choose both.

All the pieces are there, it’s just missing that magic spark that turns a good game into a great one.

A fun, cheeky, crash-tastic ride to the finish line.

It breaks our Rare-loving hearts to type it, but Banjo Kazooie is a game that is best rented and demoed extensively first, rather than bought on an impulse.

This last mode is particularly inspired, allowing Net-connected gamers to head online, identify the biggest game of the week, and then go about rewriting/confirming history.

The tracklist is epic. It’d want to be, because it’s really the only thing the game has going for it.

Fabby low-pressure gaming for kids or any lovers of all things bright.

It’s not about mastering strings worth of combinations or sussing out whether your right hook does more damage than your left, it’s about goofy fun – plain and simple.

If you’re into arcade TC4, you’ll really dig this.

RACE Pro may not have the content to hit the market like a wrecking ball but it has focused its resources on excelling on the road and adding variety.

There are a lot of creative ideas, and the look, as a whole, is dead sexy, but a bit more spit and polish and a tad more life in the non-combat areas could have really helped put this on the map.