It's one of those games that's simple to grasp, but bastard hard to explain.

Another dollop of glorious GameCube genius.

Every bit of Devil May Cry's been carefully orchestrated, and the effort pays off - there's rarely a dull moment.

[Games Radar Rating = Direct Hit] AvP2 isn't a revolutionary game, but a collection of previously-seen elements, all put together seamlessly and balanced so well that it emerges as a rather beautiful Frankenstein's Monster.

Don't expect depth, merely an ongoing rush of a pure gaming high. Bliss!

It's the perfect way of working out if your flatmate's a robot - only a heartless cyborg assassin wouldn't love these fluffy little pups - but it's not for those that are easily bored of endless, patient training and failure. [NGC Pocket]

The only downsides are that there are no female players (come on Sega!) and in Exhibition mode you can only set up one set matches - there are no full-on grand slams.

The best conventional RPG -- carefully side-stepping "Deus Ex's" entirely different brilliance -- in recent years.

The best console RPG since Squaresoft's "FFVII" on the PlayStation. Get ready for a monster phone bill.

Bungie really has outdone itself, and better than that, it's positively ushered in a glorious new era for the greatest multiplayer shooter on the planet. [Xbox World UK]

An unconventional - hence invigorating - impetuous, inciting, and utterly, utterly playable first-person multiplaying affair.

A fine racing sim, and a fantastic F1 title. Highly recommended indeed.

It would be churlish to criticise the game for a bit of net slowdown because, whether you're playing online or offline, this is without doubt the best basketball game ever. Nothing but nylon!

It's still the most cinematic, engrossing Zelda we've ever played, and as such, deserves nothing but the absolute highest recommendation. Flaws are present, sure, but we'll burn our entire library of games before we say Twilight Princess is anything but incredible.

No matter what your tastes are, after just an hour in Mario's new world, we can guarantee that you?ll not want to move from your chair. Ever.

One of the most rounded and comprehensive packages you're ever likely to see, something that makes it worthy of recommendation to all discerning Pokefans out there.

It's in full-on four-player mode that Power Stone 2 attains genius status. As long as you've got three mates up to speed on the game, you literally won't be able to put your joypads down.

Near-perfect in every conceivable way, "Deus Ex" is pure gaming ambrosia. As in food of the gods, not tinned rice pudding.

Listen: Insane works. It works because it's multiplayer, it works because it's simple, and it works because it's fun. You'd do well to remember that, but you won't, because you're so desperate to replay the cliched gaming you've already experienced on your thousand-pound calculator. Stupid. All the best...

If William Blake made a videogame, it would be this. If that isn't a recommendation, nothing is.

The grand-duke of the soldier sims. If you have even the slightest interest in the subject matter, it's a must.

Pushing the humble PSone to its absolute limits, Square have done the impossible and actually improved on FFVIII's visuals.

Despite the split-screen, there's little discernible slowdown and the visual detail remains spot-on. Psygnosis used Sony's Performance Analyzer, which enabled them to squeeze every last drop out of the PlayStation, and the result is virtually no pop-up and the crispest visuals imaginable.

Madden NFL 2001 pushes the mighty "ISS Evolution" into a two-way fight to be the greatest sports game on any system. Ever.

The most important action game yet made for the PC. Well worth the long wait.

It's the perfect way of working out if your flatmate's a robot - only a heartless cyborg assassin wouldn't love these fluffy little pups - but it's not for those that are easily bored of endless, patient training and failure. [NGC Pocket]

GTA sells on the back of violence and lives through the unequalled freedom on offer. These are classic games for the best reason there is - they are just fantastic, almost unlimited fun. The Xbox versions are no great leap over the originals but who cares? Brilliant stuff. [Xbox Gamer]

Quite simply fantastic. The most universally appealing Dreamcast title yet.

It's going to take something pretty damn special to knock this off the top spot. Now suit up and scramble soldier

Far from being the cash-in we'd all expected, this is one of the best puzzlers money can buy. Excellent stuff indeed.

One of the most rewarding and downright fun games on the PC. It's gripping, addictive and quick. What more could you ask?

[Scoring note: "Direct Hit" = 100] A ram-jammed, brain-scrambling eye shag.

A stunning visual banquet, masterfully blending all the necessary ingredients for a cracking fantasy RPG. We're not likely to see many better PS2 titles this year.

It's tricky. Plunge in with the right attitude though and this will keep you happy for months.

It's still by far the finest crafted game of its ilk on the N64 and it positively oozes class from every pore.

A truly relentless wrestling game that will smack your head into several metal posts before grabbing your feet, twirling you around and launching you several furlongs over empty space.

A phenomenally high standard for survival horror, Resident Evil 4 is an intensely satisfying game of quite astounding quality. [NGC]

An essential, and long-lived, purchase. This is one shooter that you're going to want to savour.

The true magic of Alien Resurrection is that you almost always feel insecure, no matter the quantity or quality of munitions at your disposal.

Believe the hype. The new Best Game Ever just rode into town, and it's going to be sticking around for a long time.

More action-packed than the original was.

It does Sanrio Kittyness, it does scratched-up art weirdness, it does the Bust-A-Move house style, it does angled cartoon smoothness, it does colour, minimalism, random squiggles and it does it all with an enthusiasm that's so rare in all its rivals.

A great game, but it's never going to replace "Goldeneye" or "Perfect Dark." Both games do things bigger and better and more often.

A blaze of fiendish difficulty and strategic brilliance. You're about to be sorted.

If you intend to play it properly, you'll discover that it's enormously complicated. Frighteningly so. And that's what makes it so good.

Combine full-on racing with a track design that should have "Wipeout's" makers hurrying back to the drawing board and then chuck in "Tony Hawk's" stupendously addictive tricks and you have PS2's finest moment to date.

With solo modes consisting of time trials, endurance tests or battles against virtual players, and wickedly competitive multiplayer games, Meteos is the most compellingly perfect puzzler we've played in years. [NGC Pocket]

A brief affair, a perfectly formed kinetic buzz. And, a long time after you've finished with it, you'll still hear the sounds. Repeat after us: Click. Thud. Buchhhhaaaaa.

Put simply, this is the best 2D beat-em-up that we've played on any format so if you're a fan of the genre and choose to veer away from stunning 3D fighters like "Soul Calibur," this is the game for you.

Awe-inspiring to behold, deep, absorbing and epic to the nines, Overworks' sky-faring RPG sets a standard that will most others will never attain. You have been told.

This is as unsettling and absorbing an adventure as you could hope for.

This has more invention and genuine touches of class than the majority of PS2 games have in total.

Not the revolutionary title many had hoped, this is nonetheless as complete and professional a racer as you could wish for.

An essential purchase for anyone who's ever enjoyed being on the right end of a shotgun.

Sonic may be in a rush, but Sega clearly wasn't when they crafted this glorious game. [NGC Pocket]

Despite this being the fourth UK instalment and despite the core concept being one of the simplest things since Tetris, Wario Ware Twisted feels utterly unique. [NGC Pocket]

The scope for customisation, combined with the excellent battle system, a beautifully drawn game world, and an engrossing (if somewhat cliche) story means that Grandia 2 easily rivals the likes of "FF."

Polished to a piercing gleam, considered beyond mortally tangible thought, it's the best beat 'em up we've played in years.

There are so many modes, multi-player games and features that could easily have you seeing less and less daylight as time goes on.

A sensory assault of the highest calibre with gameplay to match. It's brilliant, plain and simple. Cock your leg over the saddle and forget those four wheel zimmer frames.

With over 40 characters taken from the Marvel comics and Capcom's past games, there's no shortage of variation either.

The unstoppably addictive bastard puzzle cousin of "Missile Command," Fantavision's perfectly presented and hypnotically beautiful

The characters actually have... well... character. We know their history, their allegiances, their grudges, and even the colour of their panties in certain circumstances.

Yes, it doesn't add much that's new but -- oh, let progress be damned.... Love this game. It. Is. Fun.

What saves "The Sims" from becoming an unmanageable and nightmarish mess is the incredibly intuitive and easy to use interface.

A romp to remember and a multiplayer taste to acquire and savour.

Play it loud, on a big-assed TV, until you've mastered every character, your girlfriend's left you and the bank has repossessed the goldfish.

Now you're talking perfection... incredible graphics and first-person shooter action, with one of the best, most elaborately orchestrated videogame plots ever seen.

A gorgeous and absorbing space combat sim, but one that takes time to get to grips with.

Almost immediately after your first play you'll realise that underneath the cloak of controversy that will forever shadow GTA3 sits a truly special, groundbreaking and brilliant game. You'll love it.

But don't take it that lightly: it's cute good- looks and sense of humour don't detract at all from what is an exquisitely crafted game of tennis.

Alternately frantic, considered and hilarious; utterly gorgeous throughout and outstandingly innovative. Absolutely essential.

More game play, more parks, more sounds and more options than you can shake a stick at - Tony Hawk's just got better.

Every second drips with absolute cool and there's literally not a boring moment in the entire game, bar the over-lengthy but disposable cut-scenes.

If you own a Dreamcast, you really would be an unadulterated fool not to purchase this game. For JSR, quite simply, rocks.

A fantastically comprehensive and playable wrestling sim - if it's actually possible to simulate something that isn't 'real' in the first place.

Adds nothing to the well-worn formula but wraps everything up in a glossy package which makes the previous outings look like primary school projects. This is classic Resi at it's finest.

It's the perfect way of working out if your flatmate's a robot - only a heartless cyborg assassin wouldn't love these fluffy little pups - but it's not for those that are easily bored of endless, patient training and failure. [NGC Pocket]

What does make it great is that it actually delivers on nearly everything it promises while still being fun to just pick up and play.

Ultimately, Chaos Theory leaves the player stunned, excited and thoroughly satisfied. A landmark achievement in stealth gaming. [Xbox World]

The biggest, deepest, most spectacular strategy game ever made.

It's SSX's cooler, meaner, smarter brother - and still the most exhilarating game on PS2.

Constantly surprising, always delightful, never less than utterly stunning, this journey through the looking glass into a new and perfectly formed world is escapism of the very highest order.

It's safe to say that UFC is bloody hard, in all senses of the word.

The introduction of the revert is a handy addition to you stunt arsenal, but it doesn't have the same game-changing effect that the manual had in number two. Which is good, as it adds an extra touch but doesn't meddle with a beautifully balanced control system.

Bizarre Creations haven't done much but develop Metropolis Street Racer, mapping out San Francisco, Tokyo and London in fantastic detail for what I can safely say is the best racing game that I've ever played.

Lost man-hours this week are a solid testament to this game's gripping compulsiveness. It's one of the most addictive PS2 games yet produced. Strange, but true.

Being too uncoordinated to dare attempt one of those arcade dancing machines, it's the first game we've played that has actually made us feel light-headed. It's also exactly what DS needed after the disappointing absence of a genuine must-have title among the US launch releases. Virtually perfect. [NGC]

Touch! Kirby has replay value, it uses the touch and double screens brilliantly, it constantly plays with its own elegant control scheme, and, as the icing on the cake, is not only impeccably presented throughout (the backgrounds and soundtrack are truly magnificent) but it also comes with a nice pink stylus. You can't argue with that. [NGC Pocket]

Ignore Harvest Moon and you'll be ignoring one of the cutest and most original RPGs you're ever likely to see. It ought to be on everyone's 'must play' list.

Amanda De Cadenet -- remember her? -- once said in an interview that she'd rather have five minutes of filth than half an hour of arduous bump 'n' grind and, at last, we understand what she meant.

Shudderingly comprehensive, divinely paced and - despite the million of words already written in feverish anticipation - it has the ability to surprise at every turn. This is PS2's defining masterpiece – a sunspot of rare polished magic from experienced developers working at the peak of their powers. [PSM2]

The gameplay, plot and soundtrack are all outstanding individually, but when blended together create an essential experience...What we're trying to say is this is simply the best videogame GamesMaster has played this century. [GamesMaster]

As close as a game has ever come to being flawless. A sublime exercise in action gaming that'll blow your mind. This is why you play videogames. [PSM2]

The best of the bunch yet. If you've never indulged in tactical espionage action before, you really have no excuse to let this pass you by. Absolutely vital. [PSM2]

Wind Waker may copy the previous games a lot, but it's emulating some of the best ever made. As such, singing its praises is like preaching to the choir.

A bit plot heavy, but that's a tiny criticism of one of the most inventive, ambitious and downright fun games to play, well, <I>ever</I>.[GamesMaster Magazine]

A game of a higher order of magnitude than any of the previous pretenders to the throne. The polish and the stratospheric production values mean that Half-Life 2 is a magnificent, dramatic experience that has few peers. [PC Gamer UK, Dec 2004, p.66]