The sporadic and rote boss battles don't ooze as much personality - sitting back and shooting rocks at eyes on stalks as they open isn't exactly epic - and none of the grunt henchman, from reptiles to rhinoceros beetles, provide any combat challenge against Scrat's surprisingly powerful kicks and frantic tail-smacks.

Stripped of the strategic elements, this title is left as little more than an average first-person shooter with a smidgen of cool stealth gameplay.

Unfortunately the addition of the excellent multiplayer modes and the surprisingly well executed DS conversion aren't enough to make it a must-buy. [NGC Pocket]

Offers a metric ton of activities for you to engage in. The sheer variety is unheard of for this genre (on a console anyway), and it all works. That said, little of it is outstanding, and while all the pieces are in place, there isn't a single aspect of this game that will blow you away.

Ground tricks are frustratingly hard to perform, but otherwise, Crusty Demons will make sicko adrenaline junkies smile.

Online this succeeds as a fast and fun laugh-a-minute racer. But offline, this suffers, especially in comparison to the king: "Burnout 3." [Xbox World]

FIFA Street 2 just isn't much fun to play, plain and simple. It won't gain many supporters from the soccer enthusiast set, nor arcade sports fans. The multiplayer isn't even that great - shunning online completely.

The single-player is slow and unforgiving next to the white-hot motoring antics of the online experience.

If you like "SSX," you won't like Freekstyle - don't be fooled by superficially-appealing first impressions. [PSM2]

Sadly, this is a curiosity and nothing more. Sonic CD isn't bad but the others make us feel, well, uneasy. [NGC]

As a Mario game it fails. As a pinball game it fails. As a combination of the two it's one of the most annoying games imaginable. [GamesMaster]

It's jerky, it hurts your eyes, it's short on personality and after a while, even your boss's constant swearing starts to get on your nerves. [GamesMaster]

A game that passes the time, and melds together a number of fine titles, but whose every individual element can be found in a more satisfying form elsewhere. [PC Gamer UK]

Although not bad, Namco have delivered a racer completely devoid of both excitement and exhilaration. [NGC]

A real disappointment. Solid and sturdy but a game that seems very dated compared to "GTA" and "The Getaway." [GamesMaster]

Fun for a while but lacks the madcap pace of previous incarnations. Why change it so much for consoles? [Xbox World 360]

An average adventure game, well-presented but repetitive. Youngsters should find it easy to play. [GamesMaster]

Kids will probably have a blast with this, but anyone else will find it brain cell-destroyingly tedious. But we'd like more games with Zebras please. Zebras are ace. [PSM2]

A stealth game that tries to be challenging but just ends up being punchy, moody and fickle. Not a pleasure to play. [GamesMaster]

Truth is, "THPS4" is better in every respect. [PSM2]

You could play this and fight your desire to stop playing at every moment or you could play "Disgaea" and enjoy yourself. Your choice.

Add 20 to the score if you absolutely love this stuff. But for casual hack 'n' slash fans, DW5 is unremarkable, slightly lasy and a grave missed opportunity. Sorry. [PSM2]

Will you want to spend over 100 hours, crawling here, there and everywhere to get into in it? That's the question. A lot of you aren't, for Evil Islands doesn't stand out either as a great genuine strategy or as a bonkers RPG.

Stupid stupid stupid stupid.

If you can play this on a computer, do so. If you already own The Sims 2 for GameCube and are considering paying full price again to get the Pets feature, don't.

That's not to say it's a terrible game, either, but it's a long way down the track from the instant rewards, utter playability, simplistic fun and almost child-like innocence of the PlayStation original.

Colourful and action-packed compared with its two predecessors, but the novelty's all gone.

As for the versus mode, it might succeed in entertaining a couple of people for about half an hour or so, but that's all that saves Kengo from being a complete dud.