Xiaolin Showdown is a bad game, plain and simple. In a genre where speed and chaos is an important part of gameplay, Xiaolin Showdown's fights are out and outright tedious.

With such a drastic difference in features and entertainment value between Stewie and the rest of his kin, one wonders why he didn't just get his own game. As it stands, you'll have to play through some pretty irritating nonsense just to get to the good stuff, and it's just not worth the effort.

If you love the idea of playing an interactive commercial for Ford Motors and own both an Xbox and a PS2, then go with the PS2 version. The graphics are about the same and the slightly longer load time on the PS2 will give you a much needed break from this monotonous racer.

Don't let the Live Enabled packaging fool you - there's no online racing, only a few limp content downloads and local four-player split-screen.

With the failure of its flagship story mode, Super Monkey Ball Adventure becomes a rather dull product that has little reason to exist.

To its credit, WarPath does contain some of the cheesiest weapon and vehicle names this side of an '80's Dolph Lundgren flick-we're guessing this is the only game where you'll arm yourself with the Tyrant, Judge, Violator or Wolverine before driving off in your Maverick, Hornet or Razorback.

You know the drill: games based on movies tend to bite.

If you're a fan with your heart set on a dragging video game (in whatever sense of the word), you'll probably find enough to keep yourself amused for a short time, even as you hope for something a whole of lot better in the future.

Maybe it's a good thing that there's no online play - it's best to keep these ugly player models, awkward animations and irritatingly short sound loops away from the internet, where they might breed and multiply.

The actors (not from the film cast) sound utterly bored throughout their lengthy speeches; the only thing that trumps the highly questionable French accents is a guy who actually says "woof woof" on behalf of a virtual dog.

Even for kids, Over the Hedge is absurdly frustrating with its busted camera and indoctrinating logo-storm.

Even for kids, Over the Hedge is absurdly frustrating with its busted camera and indoctrinating logo-storm.

The Hustle might aim to be an affordable budget diversion, but even a bargain price can't make this deeply flawed game worth buying.

If you have 127 friends who also hunger for 2D fighters trapped in a 3D world, perhaps you can all play Neowave together. You won't have to worry about the rest of us interfering.

One more thing: the swearing. Normally we don't mind, but the script for Streetwise sounds like it was written by a grade-schooler who'd just discovered cursing. Foul language is overused to the point where the effect isn't gritty at all. In fact, it's just laughable.

Plays more like a kind of arcade light-gun shooter with legs, and feels like it needed a better script and about six more months of development time.

Totally devoid of fun for any age. Non-existent level design and about three ideas repeated endlessly. Steer clear. [NGC]

Batman Begins feels more like work than fun. Look at Spider-Man 2 to see how superhero games should be done. [NGC]

If not for the board game pain, this would have been OK. But as it is, it's just another lifeless Mario Party to sling on to the slowly growing pile. [NGC Pocket]

It's hard to imagine anyone splashing their moolah on Ninty's new handheld and being happy to entertain themselves with pedestrian ports of antique titles such as Rayman DS.

We like guns, we like city envirnments, and we like laughable drugs and violence references. AND we like arresting people. But we don't like Narc. No. Sorry. [PSM2]

Atari should be shamed and ashamed for having the sheer gall to release something this broken. To do it twice is inexplicable. [PC Gamer UK]

The new isometric view makes even the simplest of tasks extremely annoying, judging jumps is painfully tricky, Rayman has strangely forgotten how to swim and combat is, frankly, a mess. [NGC Pocket]

A run of the mill platformer that does nothing we haven't seen a thousand times before. It also makes little effort to take advantage of DS's unique interface.

A game that will appeal to easily-impressed foetuses, but alienate the rest of us by being incredibly simple and simply unfulfilling. [PSM2]

Graphics are heavily influenced by "The Sims" but with fewer animations, while the repetitive gameplay makes playing the missions unlikely despite bosoms. The exposed pixels do not make up for a simplistic and tedious game - invest in the real thing instead. [GamesMaster]

Shallow and void of any kind of challenge, if you like games, steer well clear of Sprung - it's one date that you definitely want to stand up.

Perhaps the most stinging criticism we could hurl at Ridge Racer DS is that it makes Need for Speed Underground 2 look half-decent - and that is just plain wrong. [GamesMaster]

Looks terrible, plays worse. Ageing side-scrolling combat and dour mission objectives create something truly worthless. Like the peasants, its revolting. [PSM2]

It's virtually identical to the mono-screened GBA version and, given that the SP is a significantly smaller and cheaper machine, The Urbz' DS incarnation is all but redundant. [NGC Pocket]

The AI of the opposing race cars is laughable (they often get flummoxed by simple things like passing other vehicles), as is the behaviour of the rest of traffic, with vehicles seemingly stranded in the middle of the road. [NGC Pocket]

The first rule of Fight Club is - don't buy Fight Club. The second rule of Fight Club is - DO NOT BUY FIGHT CLUB. Do you need to hear the other six? [GamesMaster]

A shoddily stitched together beat-'em-up which is appealing for minutes. Quite frankly we'd rather have our backyard occupied by the Groundforce team. [PSM2]

The way forward is to embrace the future, and let the games of old contained on this disc finally Rest In Peace. [Xbox World]

There's something about a sweaty slapfest that so far only really works with the big boys of the console world. [GamesMaster]

Slow, tiresome and, fundamentally, a bit broken. [PC Gamer UK]

All a bit pointless, really. We've no love for something as simple as this while Ratchet and Jak just get increasingly complex. Let Crash die with some dignity. [PSM2]

The cities are huge and beautiful, with country-appropriate cars, and while the gameplay is muddy, it's easy to see how it could have been better. But as it is, DRIV3R is all flash and little substance.

It's not the worst game we've played and it certainly looks pretty. But Ribbit King is tedious with a capital Tee. Anyone with a brain need not apply. [PSM2]

Not a terrible game as such - it tries to be entertaining - but it's a repetitive and technically poor use of a license. [NGC]

There's abundant animated cleavage for the truly desperate. However, the heart of the game - the actual driving - is outclassed in every aspect. Don't bother. [PSM2]

A mosh-pit of quality ideas thrown apart with little or no regard. The result? A frustrating and near-unplayable missed opportunity of a gem of a survival horror game. [Xbox Gamer]

The Great Escape is saved by a few good set-pieces and the licence, but it's hard not to feel hard done by. Those willing to endure yet another stealth game could find their morale ebbing away by the end of this. [Edge]

The whole look and feel of the game suggests that most of the budget was splurged on the licence alone, leaving very little left in the kitty for production values or a solitary new idea. [PSM2]

Guilty Gear's opponent AI isn't so much bad as utterly non-existent. [Edge]

Sadly, the result is more Benny Hill than Silent Hill, there's no claustrophobia or tension, it's just hack-shoot-hackshoot- sod-this-where's-Halo. [XGamer]

TreyArch has excelled itself, not just failing to get [the camera] right, but setting mind-blowing new standards in incomprehensibility. [Edge]

Too dull to make much of a splash. All you really do is run through the levels again and again, without feeling any sense of achievement when you unlock something new or win a race. [Playstation Max]

The levels are barren, boring and repetitive, and the character animation is poor. [GamesMaster Magazine]

A pale Star Wars-based imitation of "Mario Kart." Just plain bad.

Don't approach Battle For Naboo at all. Just walk away. Please.

A damning indictment of how sickeningly money-minded the industry can be. More than that, it's a munting great dog-egg of a game. Avoid.

Blurred, standard visuals, limited circuit choice, atrocious handling, weak engine note, unforgivable loading times, undemanding structure, highly irritating. What else would you like to know?

Imagine taking a swig from a can of beer, only to find that, not only is it flat and warm, but some git's been using it as an ashtray. Prepare to experience Vanishing Point.

Donald Duck isn't only lacking in ambition and ideas, it's lacking in any standout features at all. Worst of all, it's tedious and endlessly irritating. Avoid at all costs.

All in all, the nasty, pixellated graphics, lax controls, repetitive enemies, slim variation and frustrating, leaden gameplay make for an effort that reeks like a maggot-infested corpse.

Even Batman himself can't resurrect the extinct gameplay this game features. Dreadful stuff indeed.

One of the worst driving titles ever to have graced a videogame platform.

In attempting to make its mark by trying to be something a bit different, WCW Backstage Assault has instead ended up being the lamest thing since Long John Silver.

A mess of half-arsed ideas, evil loading times, and a pace that's shockingly sedate.

Dull, unenjoyable and incredibly shoddy, failing to deliver even the most basic of racing thrills.

Please would Red Storm kindly take their hands off this poor knackered cash-cow's red-raw udders and do something new? Tango down.

Atrociously inept, this is the perfect example to illustrate just how bad games can get. Utterly without merit.

Put simply in automotive terms, this latest NFS is (naturally) a Porsche where "GT2" is a McLaren F1 - more fun, better looking and ultimately every driver's fantasy.

If the "Streets of Rage" / "Dynamite Cop" genre of game is your thing, you'll love it, but if not, it'll simply leave you cold.