Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa is a great example of a kid’s property done right.

Games of this nature need to decide, up front, who their intended audience is. Otherwise, you end up with a game that tries to be accessible to children, yet provide enough depth to please older gamers.

The restrictions put on car selection, unlockable content, and course layout act as a leash on the player. This ultimately makes the game frustrating, as you struggle to escape the leash. Then it makes it boring, as you accept the fact that you can't change the game.

A fun game, but with its relatively short length and simple visual design, it may not be attractive to most gamers out there. No cartridge save feature marks the final nail in the coffin.

A better-than-average game for kids, and one that will keep them on their mental toes, to boot.

You'll sincerely want to accomplish goals, unlock characters, and share the experience with friends, but the game's got so much on its spinning plate there's no way to grow reasonably accustomed to any one aspect, and it's far too frenetic to be pick-up-and-play friendly.

Line Rider 2: Unbound is a fairly decent port of an interesting Flash game, but there are some problems keeping the Wii experience from fully living up to its potential.

The game is ridiculously easy, but proves to be extraordinarily addictive.

A solid port of the original PSX game, but that's part of the problem: It is a port with no enhancements and a hefty price tag to boot.

Trailblazers is a compilation of gorgeous race tracks with not a lot to do on them. If a sequel ever manages to come about, it’s easy to imagine a version of Trailblazers with better combat, a wider variety of ways to take advantage of painting the track, and more changes/tweaks besides, but until then this is a wasted opportunity on Supergonk’s part. Trailblazers can be fun, but it’s fleeting.

The loading issues may plague the experience somewhat, but Raving Rabbids Travel in Time stands out on Wii in a crowded mini-game compilation field. The game works best as a family experience, aiming toward a younger demographic, but boasts some impressive online integration that even the most hardcore gamer will enjoy.

A shining example of what an arcade collection can and should be, featuring plenty of takes on classic arcade favorites accessed through a friendly, polished interface.

If I could overlook that pesky lock-up bug (which, for a review, I really can’t) I’d say they’re only about 30 yards short of a touchdown.

The boss battles are downright silly.

Unless you’re a hardcore racing fan, you’ll want to save this one for a rental on a slow day.

Gabrielle’s Ghostly Groove 3D is a fun rhythm game for kids, but it needs to work on its footwork before it enters the dancing game hall of fame. It spends far too much time chatting in rehearsal than it does performing, and even then the game’s over before it’s barely begun. If Gabrielle had a wider repertoire of steps to her name, Ghostly Groove 3D‘s worryingly high eShop price of £12.59 might have been more palatable, but ultimately it leaves us screaming for all the wrong reasons.

A mildly fast racing game with mediocre techno beats, unbalanced gameplay, but “wow” worthy environments.

For the traveler looking for a tutorial in classic solitary gaming, you could do worse than Travel Games for Dummies.

If you like the soundtrack or are willing to look past it, you’ll have a lot of fun punching and kicking to the beat of the music in KickBeat: Special Edition.

The game may have its issues, but it’s still a great love letter to classic 16-bit JRPGs.

Overall, Balls of Fury for DS delivers surprisingly solid touch control ping-pong action on the go.

If you’ve never played this title before, add a couple of points for being one of the least informed gamers out there. There’s no shame in that.

The only major drawback of Pogo Island is the island concept itself. Rather than including the board game and the poorly conceptualized minigame challenges, including a greater number of Pogo.com games would have been a better choice.

Regardless, Crystal Defenders R1 is a solid introduction to tower defense and a decent appetizer to build anticipation for its follow-up.

If you like early 2000s 3D third person platformers, this is worth a look, but be aware that it isn’t as modern as the current promotional material might make it out to be.

From my overall experience with Paleo Pines, I had the most fun when discovering and befriending dinosaurs, but the rest of the game can feel like a chore at times. The jankiness of the movement makes farming more difficult than it needs to be and although the open-world section is decently sized, it has invisible boundaries on small cliffs or ledges that can break the immersion of the game world. Despite my gripes with the gameplay, the art style of the game is charming and I’m a fan of how adorable the art team rendered the dinosaurs. The world and characters also blend well together and the only real issue I had with the visuals was that the corners of the skybox could sometimes be seen and the stiffness of the human animations. Also, while doing the townspeople’s tasks, which can be a bit fetch-questy, it becomes noticeable how empty certain sections of the game world are. However, the prospect of getting more dinos to live on your ranch is what warrants launching the game up at least a couple times.

Superbly utilizing the unique features of the Wii remote, this game is highly recommended for all ages, sexes and levels of experience. You can almost smell the food cooking, the only regret is you can't taste it.

An excellent attempt for Infogrames and I can't wait to see what they will come up with for the sequel.