A decent addition to your collection, but it hasn’t evolved.

Ghostbusters: The Video Game does not quite have the charm of the films, nor does it have the depth and technical prowess of either system’s AAA titles, but we’re all better off for its existence. When it’s on form the game is a thrilling blend of pretty visuals, great physics and challenging action and when it loses its way it still never tramples on your childhood memories, providing the voices, the music and the icons that’ll keep fans happily busting on to the very end.

Grand Slam Tennis still comes highly recommended, both as an epic party game, a great online experience, and one of the better tennis experiences on the system.

Exudes a certain endearing charm that makes it quite a playable game.

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

Everything that's wrong comes down to a lack of polish, and a poor choice in multiplayer game management.

Calling EndWar shallow would be unfair — streamlined would be a far better descriptor. Unit detail and animation is intricate, and stacks of research went into concocting the sleek weapon systems of 2020AD. Each skirmish is brutally acted out before your eyes, but these animations are the icing, not the cake. For you are not a soldier — you are a general. Once you get into the mindset of a commanding officer, EndWar takes on a life of its own.

F.E.A.R. 2 is just a solid video game: nothing more, nothing less. It won’t blow your mind, and it won’t change your life, but it most certainly won’t disappoint.

Just like your typical medical soap, there’s a seemingly endless 42 episodes to contend with, plus bonus challenges.

The platforming and combat are both pretty straightforward; the game’s main challenge is its puzzles, of which there are plenty.

From the get go, Elfman’s score immediately sets the tone and puts you in a familiar place.

The graphics in Multiwinia have a certain retro functional aesthetic that fits in perfectly with both the theme of the game and the style of play – simple and elegant, with very little to distract you from the gameplay at hand. Little has changed from Darwinia and system specs are kept comfortably low as a result. The game is quick to load and quick to play, which is all that a game like this should be.

Intuitive team controls, fantastic presentation, superb sound and impressive visuals (particularly the paratrooper models) make Hell’s Highway far better than we ever would have guessed. That said, it’s going to be divisive for all manner of reasons.

If you’re after an intense shooter that rewards style, enforces persistence and encourages competition, then The Club is taking members now. You should probably sign up.

ATV Offroad Fury Pro ticks every box it has to without particularly excelling in any specific category.

There has been a surprising amount of thought and attention to detail put into Battlestations: Pacific, even though it often plays like an arcade title. The problems with the game are few and far between, so if you’re after an epic historical action title with plenty of bang for your buck, this should definitely be your port of call.

Despite such tactical bugbears, this really is a fun game to play, and the lively atmosphere will keep you coming back for more.

Though the frame-rate sputters now and again, watching dozens of mounted little gremlins scurry about causing havoc at your bidding is an absolute riot. It’s a guilty pleasure. Don’t worry, we won’t tell if you don’t.

Fans of the original Stalker will love Clear Sky – without a doubt, it’s everything the original was, but with a fresh take on the world of the Zone and an engine that impresses rather than just scrapes by.

A thoroughly entertaining game that has a wide appeal for young and old. The low level of violence and simplicity of challenge makes it easy to play. A good solid family game that we highly recommend.

The king of the team-based multiplayer hill!

Casual gamers looking for a pick-up-and-play tennis game are likely to be disappointed by Top Spin 3. But for those who are willing to invest some time in coming to grips with the game’s controls, there’s a seriously good tennis game here that will deliver a lot of satisfaction.

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.

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

H.A.W.X feels more like a Top Gun movie than Ace Combat ever did. It mixes in some refreshing new innovations that keep the missions exciting, and the appeal of that four player online co-op mode simply cannot be denied. If you’re an Ace Combat diehard, we recommend deviating from your usual flight pattern to acquire this target. Alternatively, if you’ve been ground-based gamer all these years and you’re looking for an accessible game that looks and plays great, we recommend you grab a copy of H.A.W.X and buzz the counter at your local game store.

A ‘must-have’ for Queen fans; a ‘should-have’ for regular SingStar players.

If you like either Sonic, or RPGs, you have to buy The Dark Brotherhood. It’s as perfect a handheld RPG as we’ve ever played.

Outside of the new “Be A Legend” mode, there’s very little reason here for existing PES owners to upgrade. "PES5" on PS2 is still the pinnacle of the series.

The game has three game modes and 50 levels, so even when you’ve beaten the ever-increasing-in-difficulty Inventor Mode (basic puzzles and mechanics) you can take them all on again in Time Challenge Mode (30 second time limit) and Move Challenge Mode (ten moves only).

The feeling of progression and development is a great draw as well.

Feels reassuringly familiar, but also fresh and new.

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.

Small gripes aside, Mercenaries 2: World in Flames is a title for anyone who’s ever stomped on a sand castle, mashed together Tonka trucks, or blown something up. It’s big, it’s bad, and the thrill of demolishing everything in sight never gets old.

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.

It's neither a good depiction of the real thing, or fun.

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.

It’s exciting to see something that is simultaneously comfortably old school yet refreshingly new school hit our Wii screens.

Clank is a bit of a 007 wannabe – suave robo-tux and all!

A thoroughly entertaining game that has a wide appeal for young and old. The low level of violence and simplicity of challenge makes it easy to play. A good solid family game that we highly recommend.

It’s fun, and certainly worth checking out, but rather than sitting back and enjoying the ride you’ll find yourself frustrated by some of the bewildering design decisions.

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

Another problem is with the measly amount of game modes on offer.

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.

We really had an absolute riot playing this bad boy. It was a mesh of the best aspects of a bunch of different titles we dug and a blast to knock out, though the repetitive boss battles irked us a little.

The brilliant thing about these finishing animations is that they take advantage of the environment you’re in. These aren’t repetitive, pre-cooked animations. If you’re near a chair, Bourne might slam his enemy into it.

The consistent humour of the game as well as the hours of gameplay that can be casually enjoyed cooperatively with friends makes Sacred 2 stand above the usual clone variety of fantasy RPG.

The truth of the matter is that Star Wars: The Forced Unleashed is an enormously fun game, which will suck you in with its story, frequently blow your mind with its visuals and, perhaps most importantly, will fulfil your Jedi fantasies like never before. And that, Star Wars fans, is worth the price of admission alone.

A sugar rush of mini-game madness.

Like we said, if you look at Skate It as a place to screw around and have a little fun on a skateboard you’ll have a tremendous time. It’s not a particularly complete game in any other sense. One for real skating fans, for sure dudes.

Perhaps best of all, though, the developer has managed to create a graphically rich and detailed version of 13th Century Japan that’s positively dripping with atmosphere.

An above-average dungeon crawler.

If you’re after something dramatic that makes good use of Wii controls, Disaster is well worth a look.

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

We’re surprised to hear ourselves say it, but we actually had as much fun playing The Conduit, as we did with Metroid Prime Corruption. It really did blow us away!

When the gameplay is playing to its strengths – three faction combat, survival-hunting element, spooky jungle terrain – it is thoroughly enjoyable. Only occasionally does it slip into the old-school generic FPS territory which should, like the game’s reptilian protagonists, be well and truly extinct by now.

Considering that Buccaneers was created by just two individual developers, the end result is quite impressive.

Another year, another fair-to-average open-world Spider-Man action game.

On a format where there’s plenty of rhythm-action competition, Samba still has enough to make you jump around like a toddler on Refreshers.

We really wanted to like Infinite Undiscovery, but it was too much of a case of been there, done that (or more the case of been there, done that, and done it better). It has some cool concepts, yet they never really felt fully hashed out.

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.

Another year, another fair-to-average open-world Spider-Man action game.

If you can lose yourself in Steel Panthers style strategy games on the PC, Panzer Tactics DS could be for you. If Civ makes your head spin, then give it a miss.

A passionless racing cocktail that’ll fail to start your engine.

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.

This game is versatile, and has tons of activities — it’s probably price-competitive with those huge jumbo books of crosswords you can buy down at the Newsagent. But it doesn’t have the same soul, and it denies you such simple pleasures as ignoring the rules completely and entering rude words in all the boxes.

The gameplay is refreshing and addictive, the strategic elements have you constantly assessing the situation and working the angles, and it has a decidedly non-Japanese, JRPG feel to it. Slick, fun, intelligent and rewarding, let’s hope this is the direction turn based affairs take in the future.

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.

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.

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.

BAJA is a real wolf in sheep’s clothing – a robust, addictive and unique racer that handles better than DiRT and sounds better than Forza disguised as unassuming release schedule filler. It even supports up to four-player split-screen, which is great considering split-screen of any type is a real rarity these days. It’ll probably vanish without a trace, but right now we’re turning off the driving aids and screaming off into the sunset.

It’s not for everyone, and it’s certainly not Game of the Year material, but if you do pick it up and manage to overlook its flaws, you may find yourself pleasantly surprised.

Aside from a story mode and some amusing unlockable minigames the only discernable difference between Space Oddity and the Worms games of ten years ago are the Wiimote controls.

While it may not have the staying power of a New Super Mario Bros or creative juices flowing out of every orifice, it’s enough to put a big smile on most gamers’ faces.

We couldn’t really recommend purchasing Wheelman – not at full price anyway. For the sheer fact that it isn’t necessarily painful to play, you might want to chuck some cash in Wheelman’s general direction when it inevitably hits the bargain bins, but that, as they say, is your whack.

NFS of old was about hot cars, hot pursuits and miles and miles of open road, and Undercover make a semi-successful fist of recapturing some of this magic. Looks great, plays fine. There’s no getting around the fact, however, that Undercover is basically Most Wanted with a new lick of paint. Can somebody please green-light Hot Pursuit 3? Surely the open-world horse has been well-and-truly flogged?

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.

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

You get a lot of maths for your money in Maths Training. The randomised content across the dozens of different puzzle types should be enough to keep one busy (if not amused) for some time.

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

If Nintendo had either ponied up for some proper songs people would want to listen to or, preferably, found some way to allow you to make up your own tunes entirely, this could’ve been something even more special.

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.

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.

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.

In the shadow of this missed opportunity, Impossible Mission is just a tease.

The more time you’ll spend with Shaun White, the more the lack of polish makes itself apparent.

A depressingly average Pokemon game that fails to rekindle the kleptomanic, ‘gotta-locate-and-subjugate-them-all’ antics that made the original titles so fun and addictive.

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

Sight Training has no story at all, and no context beyond the potential to improve skills useful in your everyday life. It is simply a tool – a good one. If you want to improve your vision, it’s an affordable first step.

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.

Alone in the Dark clearly had the potential to be something nearer to a nine, or at the very least an eight, but it just didn’t turn out that way. It’s a curio though, and maybe worth picking up if it ever gets released at a more budget price.

After ruthlessly playing the game without mercy, we’d say that it’s a worthy addition to the franchise. However, we think that it’s a shame that you’re not given greater rewards for skillful stealth kills as opposed to stumbling into fights and mashing your way to victory.

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

While acceptable as a guilty pleasure or five-minute filler with a friend, we’re not quite sure what sector of the Star Wars fanbase Lightsaber Duels will appeal to. With none of the original characters or locations to help older fans overlook the game’s foibles, and a control system that might not suit Star Wars-loving younglings, it could end up missing the mark completely, which is a shame as with a little more attention this could have been a fan favourite.

Yes, it looks pretty, but without the competitive spirit and creativity of other party games, Party Animals gets old faster than a progeria sufferer. This one is sadly a bit of a party pooper.

The end result is a much paler, disappointing conversion that besmirches the good name of the series and sets the ‘Consoles can do Strategy games too’ campaign back a number of years.

Visuals are ugly and uninspired.

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.

While die-hard Tolkienophiles will doubtless find something to go rabid over with Conquest, the average gamer may find themself slightly disappointed with this offering. It just feels too much like "Battlefront" with a new lick of paint, rather than a groundbreaking improvement of an aging formula. If you plan on going into Conquest with single player action on your mind, you may find the plot to be an afterthought, and the gameplay overly repetitive.