Although features are a good thing, they don’t help much when the game itself has an uninteresting premise, clumsy controls, unappealing looks, and is just no fun to play.

It's incredibly fun and easy to pick up, as well as looking and sounding simply gorgeous.

While it may have some niggles with backtracking, lame endings and button-mashing combat that hold it back, overall the game is as engrossing as they come and certainly one worth investing a chunk of time into.

Mini Ninjas is obviously a game that was created with children in mind, and in the 'good, clean, wholesome fun' department, it truly excels. Of course adults used to more meat on the bone in their action titles might find it a bit lacking.

Considering the budget price being asked (£14.99/US$24.99 at launch) it's worth it just for the 8-bit classics alone, though good luck finding this one anywhere but an online retailer.

Altering the mechanics of the single-player game could have made it more appealing to a broader range of gamers, but as it stands it can only be recommended for multi-player sessions or gamers who are up for a high level of challenge and have a lot of patience.

Gradius ReBirth was a bit too short and easy compared to previous Gradius games (especially because previous games in the series already were pretty short), but with Contra ReBirth, Konami has struck the balance just right: there's only five levels, but they're all decently sized and quite challening to get through.

The games in this third Clubhouse Games Express package are all good fun and certainly executed well, but it's difficult to recommend them too highly when you can get the entire package of games for less than $20.

Overall this stripped down DSiWare version of Puzzle League is a pretty solid puzzler with clear and concise gameplay. There is a fair amount to keep avid puzzlers busy and for the price tag the game really is a bargain. It’s a pity that the game lacks the multiplayer action of the original, but then for only 500 Nintendo points, the game is still a steal.

The game's cutesy graphics bely what the game is really like - shaking your Wii Remote until your arms are about ready to fall off. For 500 Wii Points, thankfully, the blow isn't too bad, but unless you'd really like to test which of your friends can shake the fastest, we'd recommend staying far away from this one.

As is the case with most multi-part games and stories, Chapter 2 of Tales of Monkey Island doesn't really do much interesting stuff in terms of story progression. It plays exactly the same as the first chapter, just with different puzzles, so if you enjoyed that, you'll most certainly enjoy this.

Cursed Mountain is a game of considerable quality, with no shortage of commendable assets - an intelligent story, well-crafted immersion into a foreign world and a high standard of audio and visual presentation mark it out as a game well worth a buy.

If you’ve passed on the Prime series until now, your excuses for doing so have dwindled considerably.

Not only are there tons of new puzzles for fans to sink their brains into, but the brand new storyline is as enthralling as ever and will keep you glued to your DS until the very end.

Adorable visuals, quirky background tunes and an urgently addictive gameplay mechanic all add up to a truly unique and rewarding action-puzzler.

It goes without saying that Pop Plus: Solo is a highly recommended purchase, there are very few other games on the DSiWare service that come close to matching the extremely high quality of this title.

For diehard fans of oddball Japanese titles the fact that Minon: Everyday Hero has some decent gameplay and nice trappings which add spice to what can sometimes seem like a mundane gaming scene the price is probably worthwhile.

For people unfamiliar with the series, perhaps first-time DS owners, this game is an ideal download as it offers a nice introduction to the brain training series and indeed can perhaps be viewed as a cheaper alternative to the full title with the bonus of not having to carry around the game cartridge.

Family Slot Car Racing is certainly an accessible racing game, but the game is so faithful to the real slot car racing experience that it's unlikely anyone who doesn't already like slot car racing will find it interesting for more than a few plays.

Children won't have the patience for this, and there are much better things to spend 800 points on. In summary, PictureBook Games: Pop-Up Pursuit is the perfect reason to discontinue family game night.

The game proved itself to be accessible and enjoyable to everyone, regardless of any previous experience of the sport, with the hard-and-fast Showdown take on gridiron offering immediate gratification, and the Huddle-Up and Road to Superbowl modes giving plenty of scope for matches other than the traditional head-to-heads.

While the program is simple enough for people of all ages to create a project, it still manages to offer up an almost endless amount of creative power limited only by the amount of time and effort users are willing to put into their projects.

A beautiful looking game which is also lots of fun to play. It’s true that it is not a massive game, you should be able to beat it 100% in just 3 hours, but those 3 hours will be completely filled with pure platforming bliss. This is exactly the sort of thing we want to see more of on WiiWare and comes highly recommended to all.

The game's mechanics are simple enough for gamers of all ages to enjoy, but there's also enough depth and replay value to keep those looking for a slightly more varied gameplay experience coming back for more.

While Rock n' Roll Climber is an interesting and rather realistic take on the rock climbing sport, its meticulous control system and sluggish pacing might prove to be a bit of a stumbling block for gamers looking to dive right in head first.

Much like the first Brain Age Express DSiWare release, Brain Age Express: Arts & Letters once again manages to offer up a small sampling of brain training exercises from the retail title in a more condensed DSiWare package.

Developers SKIP Tokyo have executed another simple puzzle concept flawlessly, with both main game modes proving highly addictive and enough to keep you coming back to beat your previous high score.

Competitive Mech fans will be in heaven with this release. While the single-layer aspect of OverTurn is a little underwhelming and can be completed with relative ease, the impressive nature of the online multiplayer is practically worth the price of purchase alone.