An unappealing mix of role-playing clichés and purposefully limited gameplay options that has little to do with Final Fantasy, past or future.

There are some interesting ideas and visual effects at play here, but they're not nearly strong enough to support such a monotonous adventure.

The move to the Wii hasn't brought with it any significant changes, just more wasted potential.

A genuine improvement on the first game, although not without some obvious flaws - and the growing sensation that it's all shlock and no substance.

The old Guitar Hero magic is still there but the almost complete lack of new ideas isn't going to do anything to halt the decline in music game sales.

Pity for poor Tecmo is probably the main reason why Epic Games won't be suing over this embarrassingly inept clone of Gears Of War.

More realistic than ever, but not necessarily a better game as a result of it - especially as the frontline features and options have seen little change.

You don't need to be a Front Mission fan to get upset about the wasted potential in this lifeless, one-dimensional shooter.

The script might be highly distasteful but the rest of the game is a surprisingly enjoyable variant on the Harvest Moon workaholic simulator.

A great start to Codemasters' Formula 1 career, with astonishing visuals, great attention to detail and superb handling.

The most significant sequel in Civilization history maintains all of the series' most intriguing features while greatly improving the accessibility and combat.

Hardcore dungeon crawling that somehow manages to make repetitive combat and scrawling on virtual graph paper addictive and satisfying.

Its claim to being combat-evolved grows ever more tenuous, but Bungie's last Halo is still the most fully featured first person shooter ever.

It shuns the more raucous fun of Boom Blox, but this is still one of the better Move games so far and a good tech demo.

Probably the best Space Invaders update yet, with a dazzling mix of new and old gameplay, graphics and sound.

The fundamentals haven't changed from the Dreamcast days but the new online mode and other refinements make this the best Phantasy Star for some time.

PopCap Games' best game and probably the best ever Tower Defence – and it works just as well as you'd hope on the Xbox 360.

An improvement on the first game, but this still lacks the variety and thrills to be considered a true top gun.

The new gold standard in console real-time strategies, and one that isn't afraid to invent new ideas as well as reinterpret old ones.

Mindlessly enjoyable in its way, but also hugely repetitive and despite four versions of the character it never seems to make the most of any one of them.

Easily the best downloadable extra so far and the only one to realise that Mass Effect 2's true strength is in character and melodrama, not action.

The potential for a great game is here, but the repetitive questing, arcane plotting and thoughtless battles means its never properly roused into action.

Unoriginal and blandly presented, but an effective vindication of Move - with at least half of the games being the best ever adaptations of their sports.

By no means the worst mini-game collection there's ever been but in terms of genuine party entertainment it's only a few steps above the Tory Conference.

It's a gift for fans of the show, but in terms of repetition and combat this is just a little too similar to the 16-bit games it seeks to pay homage to.

Ham-fisted controls and storytelling turn Samus into a clumsy blabbermouth, with a game that squanders all the series' best tricks and adds none of its own.

An interesting halfway house between demo and full game, whose brevity may even save it from some of the criticisms of the main release.

Geographically speaking this is set in the real world but apart from the co-op options this still suffers the same delusions and deficiencies of previous Ace Combats.