The AI falls prey to cheap tricks consistently; almost all of the characters have to be unlocked through the single player and to unlock all of the drama scenes you need encyclopaedic knowledge of the series itself.

There's no getting away from the fact that FlatOut 2 is damned good fun, and will bring you back to the days of Destruction Derby and its ilk. However, as much as we appreciate the tweaks – and that's really all they are – to the first game, there are still a few too many fundamental flaws which bring out a wail of frustration or a tut as you consider how easily certain annoyances could have been avoided.

Even though Prey is far too short, devoid of any challenge and guaranteed to leave you disappointed, it still manages to be one of the finest old school first person shooters out there.

Its simplicity is its strength, and its weakness – while traipsing around looking for annoyingly hidden items and backtracking is almost completely avoided, the limited direction of the game reduces its chances of holding your interest for long enough to play it all the way through.

Its simplicity is its strength, and its weakness – while traipsing around looking for annoyingly hidden items and backtracking is almost completely avoided, the limited direction of the game reduces its chances of holding your interest for long enough to play it all the way through.

Even though Prey is far too short, devoid of any challenge and guaranteed to leave you disappointed, it still manages to be one of the finest old school first person shooters out there.

There’s no getting away from the fact that FlatOut 2 is damned good fun, and will bring you back to the days of Destruction Derby and its ilk. However, as much as we appreciate the tweaks – and that’s really all they are – to the first game, there are still a few too many fundamental flaws which bring out a wail of frustration or a tut as you consider how easily certain annoyances could have been avoided.

The fact that the game can be enjoyed by adults (provided you don’t mind playing through an extremely easy game) as well as kids epitomises just how strong Madagascar is, particularly as it’s a movie licence.

As far as we’re concerned, as much as we love the Cossacks series and the thinking-man’s gameplay behind it, we do think it’s time to move on in terms of technology. Cruel, but kind.

The fact that the game can be enjoyed by adults (provided you don't mind playing through an extremely easy game) as well as kids epitomises just how strong Madagascar is, particularly as it's a movie licence.

Its simplicity is its strength, and its weakness – while traipsing around looking for annoyingly hidden items and backtracking is almost completely avoided, the limited direction of the game reduces its chances of holding your interest for long enough to play it all the way through.

What this game is about is mayhem, destruction and style, all of which it has in bag loads. It doesn’t have the most original gameplay, nor is it the most sophisticated game of this type, but it is essentially an officially licensed John Woo game, doing what a lot of wannabe John Woo games have been doing for a few years now.

As a game it's fairly average, but the presentation is top notch.

The fact that the game can be enjoyed by adults (provided you don’t mind playing through an extremely easy game) as well as kids epitomises just how strong Madagascar is, particularly as it’s a movie licence.

The fact that the game can be enjoyed by adults (provided you don't mind playing through an extremely easy game) as well as kids epitomises just how strong Madagascar is, particularly as it's a movie licence.

Even with the adapted controls, Ape Escape: On The Loose is a splendid version of the enjoyable original.

One hell of a game. Fans of the series will find answers to some of their questions and find new ones to ponder over by the game’s close, while gamers unfamiliar with the Camera Obscura would do well to check it out right after the first two. It’s chilling, it’s engrossing and there’s even extra unlockable content.

There’s no getting away from the fact that FlatOut 2 is damned good fun, and will bring you back to the days of Destruction Derby and its ilk. However, as much as we appreciate the tweaks – and that’s really all they are – to the first game, there are still a few too many fundamental flaws which bring out a wail of frustration or a tut as you consider how easily certain annoyances could have been avoided.

The great multiplayer and co-op are worthy of the price alone, and as familiar as it feels, the single player game is still a tremendous experience, albeit a little short.

If you know sod-all about sea-faring, and don’t have the desire to spend several hours learning about it before getting to blow stuff up, then watch The Hunt for Red October and get Silent Hunter III.

Roogoo is a strange creature, combining cutesy childlike design and whimsical story with fiendish gameplay and a steep challenge curve. Stripping away the fluffy exterior reveals a meaty core that will satisfy even the healthiest of gaming appetite for the time it will take to finish.

If you’re a dedicated enough player to have a nicely customised character with a reasonably full tech tree, or even just someone who enjoys a weekly dose of almost-massively multiplayer sci-fi FPS gaming without the monthly fees, the decision to get hold of Northern Strike will be an easy one to make.

As a game it’s fairly average, but the presentation is top notch.

GFH will be an absolute boon for anyone who has fond memories of its MegaDrive predecessor, but it's still the kind of game that'll upset people who don't take kindly to frustration. In other words, if you were pissed off by games like "Ninja Gaiden," you'll get pissed off with this.

With more than a dozen planets to fight on, plus the space battles above several of them, and the large selection of weapons, kits and vehicles, Renegade Squadron goes a long way to provide you with the kind of variety and longevity you look for in a game like this.

While the strategy is surprisingly engaging and addictive, you do need a lot of stamina and patience to get there, which instantly alienates a huge number of potential buyers.

Developers Slant Six have done a good job fitting a new genre into both the PSP itself and an existing series: it was about time the third person tactical action sim made its way onto a handheld.

Certainly improves on the original PSP game and in many ways ends up being a better game on the PS2. While it comes much closer to fully capitalising on the ingenuity of the core concept, there’s still a feeling that the series is not quite there yet, with the PSP version lacking refined controls and the PS2 version requiring a little more depth for a home console game.

Offering little in the way of innovation, it will keep fans of the series very happy and is definitely an essential purchase if you have ever enjoyed a DW game in the past.

Nevertheless, we can’t help but feel that it’s all a little on the dated side. An RTS that hasn’t been designed for the C&C crowd isn’t a bad thing, but Rome: Total War has already demonstrated that more tactical offerings are capable of crossing the boundaries and appealing to all sub-sets of RTS gamers.

While obviously not for those seeking an arcade fix, Another Code is an absolute must for those who are always on the lookout for a decent adventure.

As a game it's fairly average, but the presentation is top notch.

While SBK-07 is a game that will appeal to Superbike geeks, it’s only as geeky as you want it to be.

Sega Superstars’ many minigames may be of a decidedly variable quality, but those that are decent easily make up for the duds. All the Sega hallmarks are there, from the robust and colourful graphics to the faithful and sometimes nostalgia-inducing soundtrack.

There’s certainly enough depth here to entertain most combat veterans and with a little more in the way of new content it would no doubt have done better following on the success of Battlestations: Midway. Overall an entertaining history lesson that doesn’t let a few minor flaws spoil the fun.

Project: Snowblind is pretty straightforward stuff and consists mainly of linear, corridor based action, but it does its job as well as any other shooter available on the PS2.

In the end Sudeki is not without its disappointments, but it also has its moments. Unless you take particular objection to the stylistic setting, it's still worth a throw of the dice.

No game can claim to be as visually and aurally stunning as Killer7. There has been no video game as heavily and expressively stylised before, with the beautiful, cel-shaded visuals forming an integral part of the game, rather than a back of the box bullet point.

There are hours and hours of RTS fun to be had in Age of Empires III, but the problem is that we’ve all come to expect more over the years from our real time strategy games, and you can’t hide a lack of progress with shiny graphics and lovely physics-related cannon exploits.

There’s a magical quality to the characters and to the way the narrative progresses with its humour and warmth, and it’s this that makes the experience probably the most unique RPG the PSP has.

The lack of offline multiplayer is a real shame as it would have been much easier to recommend, even if it meant having to constantly ask other players to avert their eyes. Still, Xbox Live Arcade is very much in need of more games like this and it’s well worth checking out.

It’s great if you want a chilled out, thoughtful experience that’s slow paced almost all the time, but if you fantasise about pursuing a life of white knuckle action and adventure against those great looking backdrops, you’re SOL.

The amount of content and the price point is just on the right side of comfortable, with the story trading ambition for authenticity. As a result, this first game can be called 'pretty good', but it’s still a little short on awesomeness.

As hardened gamers, we love really original ideas, especially when they’ve been implemented with care and attention to detail.

Evil Genius is a flawed strategy title very much in the Dungeon Keeper mould, but that doesn’t mean there’s no fun to be had. It’s certainly entertaining enough to keep you playing, but the numerous faults do serve to irk throughout, which ultimately strips away some of the pleasure.

Civilization Revolution feels like a bloated XBLA or PSN game. Strip away the disappointing visuals, bloody annoying introduction video that plays every time you start a fucking match, all the bells and whistles and you’re left with something could have been a true revolution. As it stands, this is just a good case of Civilization Devolution.

The game is a real mixed bag of action and strategy that, while not quite recreating the magic of X-COM, gives a pretty good showing of itself.

As a result, this first game can be called 'pretty good', but it’s still a little short on awesomeness.

Civ has the glitz and the glamour, while EUIII has huge depth and enough gameplay options to ensure that the game is never going to play the same way twice.

Episode Two is still thoroughly ridiculous and amusing, but compared to the first episode it pales, feeling much more like a stop-gap than a fully-fledged follow-up.

Everything about the game is over-the-top, including the story, and in our book that’s no bad thing. Like diving around and shooting bad guys in slow motion? Buy this.

Supreme Ruler 2020 is a big step on from what has gone before in the series. It doesn’t stand head and shoulders above the pack, but it certainly rubs shoulders with the big boys and doesn’t come off looking cheap and a little embarrassed. It makes the job of being a psychopathic dictator just that little bit more fun.

We may not call Bunjigai a classic, largely thanks to its less-than-refined story and level design, but as an action-packed hack and slash experience this game has it where it counts.

Technically the game stands up well, but feels a bit rushed in places, leading to some rather uninspired level design.

No game can claim to be as visually and aurally stunning as Killer7. There has been no video game as heavily and expressively stylised before, with the beautiful, cel-shaded visuals forming an integral part of the game, rather than a back of the box bullet point.

With a steep learning curve, fiddly controls and some tough levels, Heroes is not for everyone.

Civilization Revolution feels like a bloated XBLA or PSN game. Strip away the disappointing visuals, bloody annoying introduction video that plays every time you start a fucking match, all the bells and whistles and you’re left with something could have been a true revolution. As it stands, this is just a good case of Civilization Devolution.

Episode Two is still thoroughly ridiculous and amusing, but compared to the first episode it pales, feeling much more like a stop-gap than a fully-fledged follow-up.

As with its namesake, Evolution doesn't hold many surprises, being a by-the-numbers retread through environments and situations that will now be more than a little familiar to veterans of the series.

For the die-hards who take their games like they take their women – angry, violent, unforgiving, underdeveloped and occasionally gratifying – Ninja Gaiden 2 is a fine follow-up, especially with its punishing achievements and four difficulty settings (Very Hard, Insane, Chuck Norris, Double Chuck Norris). For everyone else Ninja Gaiden 2 is an exercise in futility that’s just not as polished, balanced or enjoyable as its predecessor.

We’ve also learned that its d-pad isn’t kind to the thumb when playing beat ‘em ups.

The PSP port in itself is not perfect, but with 6 and a bit full games, all of which are pretty damned well polished side-scrolling shooter experiences, it comes pretty easy to recommend to anyone looking for a bit of classic coin-op action.

Sometimes it’s too complex and sometimes it leaves you feeling hopelessly powerless over certain situations, but these facts are more of an inconvenience and don’t significantly affect your chances of success.

In the grand scheme of things, we’d probably rate GTA: Liberty City stories as being somewhere between GTA III and GTA: Vice City. That should give you some level of guidance when considering whether or not the £20 asking price is worth it.

The irony is, despite Meteos: Disney Magic being an inferior update, it’ll probably sell more purely due to the fact that the Disney licence is there. The fact that said licence has been wasted is hugely disappointing, as is the mishandling of some of the updates to the thankfully still-good gameplay.

With more characters than anyone could possibly master in one lifetime and plenty of variety in the form of Motor Kombat (we’re still laughing after playing this) and the Konquest adventure mode, not to mention the scary number of unlockables to be found, it’s enough to make you start daydreaming at what they could do on the next gen consoles.

Vice City fans might have fun with the game for a while, returning to familiar haunts one last time, but ultimately Vice City Stories is a great handheld game through and through, and this PS2 port does little more than emphasise the difference between the formats.

The greatest shame is that developer Saber Interactive wasn’t bold or ambitious enough to really capitalise on the one or two good ideas they actually had, and that’s ultimately the difference between a game that is just good and a game that is great.

If the idea of hacking through lots (and we mean lots) of monsters, collecting truck loads of loot, customising characters, engaging in diplomacy and ultimately dominating over rival factions doing the same, all without getting too bogged down in things like story or adventure, then Depths of Peril may well be a game for you.

A competent and enjoyable blaster and a great way to while away some time with friends. It's far from sophisticated, but does strive – and largely succeeds – to keep things fun.

Anyone who has played through FEAR will probably have been starting to tire of the dark and increasingly familiar locations by the time they reached the final (and slightly clunky) scenes of exposition, so a couple more evening’s worth of the same thing is unlikely to appeal to anyone who’s after something more.

The greatest shame is that developer Saber Interactive wasn’t bold or ambitious enough to really capitalise on the one or two good ideas they actually had, and that’s ultimately the difference between a game that is just good and a game that is great.

Don’t expect it to raise your IQ, but do expect it to kick off a long, long line in copycat titles.

A game that you’re going to like a lot or you’re not going to like at all, depending on your tolerance for genuinely challenging gun battles, genuinely unsettling creepiness and genuine-looking bland industrial environments.

It doesn’t look as good as it could quite easily have done, and nowhere near enough progression from the first title has been made to justify it being referred to as a sequel. However, the engine is still solid enough to provide an enjoyable and often blister-inducing game of tennis.

Resistance is very much like the PS2’s Killzone: overtly grey, rather good fun and nothing groundbreaking.

While the RTS battles are nicely contained within a chirpy story dripping with quality presentation, this never fully compensates for the limitations of its combat engine.

It’s a nice game, but not an outstanding one. Try it with that in mind and you won’t be disappointed.

All in all Hasbro Family Game Night is not without niggles and annoyances, but it still represents decent value given the cost of the physical games and there are a number of nice touches to keep your interest, such as the unlockable items and customisable game room.

The third and arguably best Fight Night game is a fantastic fighter, but also stands out as the most flawed in the series, and reprehensible in its commercialism.

The multiplayer really does save this latest Final Fantasy game from suffering the indignity of a bad score due to incompetent AI.

Epic in places, bland in others, Dungeon Siege: Throne of Agony is certainly a premier dungeon crawler on the PSP, but doesn’t quite live up to the PC games on which it is based – not that they were ever true classics to begin with.

Unsurprisingly, it’s a hit and miss affair. That’s just the internet for you.

As standalone PSP games go, Revelations is still among the most enjoyable you can buy, but those technical issues don’t do any favours for a game that may already be too confusing and challenging for total newcomers.

More than any previous episode, SBCGFAP Episode 4 does what the best web cartoons do, which is provide a highly amusing storyline and imaginative visual humour; but, it also suffers from some of the same problems as the cartoons do.

Volition has layered misogyny and brutality throughout what is an entirely civilian setting, and without GTA’s deft wit, Saints Row is the kind of title the British tabloids have been waiting for.

More than any previous episode, SBCGFAP Episode 4 does what the best web cartoons do, which is provide a highly amusing storyline and imaginative visual humour; but, it also suffers from some of the same problems as the cartoons do.

Still, not bad when you consider it'd cost you the same to get a GBA cartridge with just one NES game on it, and what price nostalgia, eh?

The single player mode will likely only last you a short time, and once the novelty of the various games (as fun as they are) wears off, you’ll be left wanting something a little more substantial, especially from the multiplayer mode.

For the two or three evenings that this will last you, there’s enough going on to keep you pushing forward to the end.

While it undoubtedly falls short in certain key areas – the imperfect controls, the repetitive side missions, the slightly bland engine... – it will certainly be more than adequate for any Spidey fan feeling the need for some web-slinging.

Even with the sheer volume of stuff to do in the game, there have no real improvements over the last game in the series, aside from the inclusion of the ad-hoc multiplay – they’ve even taken a step backwards by forcing players to team up in order to take on half the quests.

For the two or three evenings that this will last you, there’s enough going on to keep you pushing forward to the end.

FlatOut is a fun racer in the vein of Destruction Derby that just about manages to carve a niche for itself. If you’re looking for a physics-heavy racer with some demanding courses then its worth checking out.

This year’s MotoGP cements the foundations laid in titles gone by, without actually building anything of substance upon them.

If you or your family like your games with a healthy dose of mental gymnastics then Safecracker is a pretty good bet, and isn’t too bad value for the money.

If you enjoyed Catan and Carcasonne then you'll be right on track with this.

While it undoubtedly falls short in certain key areas – the imperfect controls, the repetitive side missions, the slightly bland engine... – it will certainly be more than adequate for any Spidey fan feeling the need for some web-slinging.