Halo's attempt to re-imagine real-time strategy for consoles is simplistic and surprisingly drab.

An almost total success and one of the best ever strategy games, with amazing scope and accessibility.

A flight simulation so shallow you barely need to hold the joypad to become a top gun.

The graphical downgrade has certainly been handled with less grace and the new controls are more twitchy and unpredictable than the old ones.

Sonic speeds ever further away from his roots and into one of his most ineptly-designed games so far.

It's barely any different from its predecessor but it's still the best skiing sim on any console.

The Phantasy Star Online legacy still goes unfulfilled, as the portable version treads water.

One of the best looking games ever, but also one of the least ambitious in terms of anything else.

You'll be laughing at, not with, this parody - which perpetuates every cliche it sets out to mock.

50 Cent's second game is an enjoyable slice of dumb fun that has plenty to teach more serious shooters.

The combat is excellent but everything else disappoints in this overblown and unlikeable role-player.

It should never have been made, but this abridged zombie slasher avoids being a complete disaster.

The Vietnam War has never seemed so horrific in this shockingly poor first person shooter.

Further proof of the Wii's gift for first person shooters, if only a more experienced developer would try.

From the creator of Katamari Damacy comes something even stranger that redefines the idea of gameplay.

Superior, but still badly flawed, portable real-time strategy that lacks both depth and variety.

The most innovative real-time strategy for years, even if the story mode isn't as good as multiplayer.

Forget Worms and all the rest, when it comes to parabola-judging multiplayer mayhem this is the best.

It may beat Gran Turismo for realism but the real trick here is making driving a Koenigsegg seem dull.

The best version of Street Fighter ever, the best 2D fighter ever and probably the best multiplayer ever.

After a string of disappointing downloadable expansions, for well respected games such as Fable II and Fallout 3, this provides almost everything a Grand Theft Auto IV fan would have been hoping for.

An almost heroic debut for the explosive penguins, spoilt only by a foolishly inflexible control system.

There's a lot to admire in this role-playing classic, but still just as much to infuriate and bore.

Pretentious and restrictive, but also one of the most spectacular visual and aural experiences on the PS3.

The Windows timewaster comes to Xbox Live Arcade, but the only real addition is a hole in your wallet.

First-person shooter meets survival horror, but the primary psychic phenomenon here is deja vu.

It's better value than the Virtual Console, but it's still a lazy effort.

The best lightgun game never to have seen the inside of an arcade as Headstrong outdoes Sega Japan.