Approach GripShift with realistic expectations, and a pleasant, if not revelatory, experience will be forthcoming.

Dipping into the unlocked levels on their own in quick-launch seems without purpose, but the campaign mode scores highly during its first run through, even if there’s not quite enough game to make you want to face the challenge again.

Black is great fun, to be sure – it's just not some divine revelation. Instead, it has nothing to show you that you won't see within two days, at the outside.

The pickup-and-play nature of the Checkmate mode lends itself perfectly to the portable medium, but it's no more than a simple puzzle experience that can be found on millions of Desktop PCs. [JPN Import]

An enjoyable, though fairly standard platformer, but one that has a great amount of charm to it. You’ll spend an average of 15 or so hours running around, collecting power-ups and items, jumping from high ledges to other high ledges, and fending off beasties along the way. That isn’t very long.

Two things ruin it though; the first is that the seeming blank refusal of the designers to refit the game's format so that it works as a card game. The second is that it's simply dogged by so many wincingly schoolboyish mistakes that it would be unconscionable to score it higher than that "Buy by all means but be forewarned" number six. [JPN Import]

A rather inconsistent experience, in difficulty, enjoyment and general polish, but one that is saved by the core arcade simplicity that is occasionally given a chance to truly shine.

Derivative and flawed mechanically, it is nonetheless a superlative tie-in. By integrating into its source material rather than paying homage, it enriches the franchise as a whole – something a great many similar efforts have failed to even attempt.

Combining last-generation visuals with next-generation control is never going to result in a satisfactory outcome.

DEFCON’s main issue is the lack of depth.

It is just a crying shame that the online capabilities of the console were not properly harnessed, and that there is a shocking lack of any real extras for those who already own the original versions.

While single player offers enough to keep things new, the same cannot be said for multiplayer.

Whenever the player is required to utilise aerial combat within an enclosed space the camera blithely decides to exhibit erroneous behaviour, and offers no rhyme or reason as to how it can be controlled in its new form. This is utterly catastrophic for any kind of action game because it inhibits the player from interacting with the in-game environment, and means having to battle with the game system instead.

Without the burden of the name, it would be looked upon as an above-average mix of air and land combat; however Namco had a lot to live up to and haven't quite delivered the quality expected.

But, in the short time it takes to reach the end, it will have already become old hat and it doesn't hold up to repeated playing, even on the frustrating higher difficulty setting. This makes it only essential for the more hardcore Jason Bourne fan.

LSW2 is a quality title, but it suffers the same problem as the films it parodies.

Cases of repetitious dialogue occur far too frequently, as does the odd graphical glitch. Plus the somewhat childlike visuals and script may turn off those who fell in love with the more mature humour of the early LucasArts titles.

Those looking for an RPG-lite experience to ease them into or even help them return the world of RPGs, or looking for a chunk of throwaway fun, will no doubt enjoy Contact as an easygoing romp.

A hybrid of a game that, whilst doing nothing outstandingly original, is still enjoyable, especially when joined by a fellow human player.

A decent-enough third-person shooter, then, rendered considerably more appealing if an admirer of the strip. If so, the score below can safely have a [+10] Fanboy Modifier (to hit) applied to it.

Big Brain Academy is a lot of fun, but its ability to improve brain power is probably a little more contrived than with Brain Training.

It's great fun in the two-player mode and, like any other lightgun game, is a good laugh for post-pub blasting. It's just a shame that Sega didn't make more of an effort with this release.

The tracks are well designed, but with such simplistic gameplay it can get repetitive quickly. The greatest sin, though, is the lack of tournament or tally within the multiplayer game.

Fans of the original will no doubt like it more simply because it's based on Rainbow Islands and shares many of its virtues, but newcomers may find it somewhat lacking. [JPN Import]

The core mechanics have barely changed since the days of Symphony of the Night and as we pointed out in no uncertain terms when we reviewed Dawn of Sorrow , the format is growing stale now.

Those thus far unacquainted with Koei’s output, but well versed in the likes of "Advance Wars" and "Final Fantasy Tactics," will find much to enjoy here.

Soldier of Fortune: Payback is not a bad game, it's just not one with universal appeal.

For those willing to spend the time to discover the subtleties of the handling model, lower their record times by milliseconds, attain Triple-A standard in all the mission modes, they will find a game which will satisfy their craving for a good arcade racer for quite some time.