For those who love score attack systems and shooting things then membership of The Club is certainly recommended.

Despite these small problems, however, this is still essential playing for long-time fans, and for new entrants: buy this game, play it, and then get the others.

Lost Odyssey is a long arduous journey, but it is one that’s filled with a story that continues to flesh out its characters right to the very end.

There’s no other game on the DS with gameplay quite like this and every DS owner should try it for themselves.

Burnout Paradise is a superb title that offers a glimpse into how the racing genre is evolving. While not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, what it offers is sublime entertainment.

There can be no more complaints from gamers looking for a unique experience when gems such as this are out there to be sampled. Miss it at your peril.

Once all areas of the map have been fully explored, the replay value is threatened by repetition, but amongst the violence and destruction found elsewhere in videogames, it will always be refreshing to sit back – cup of tea in one hand, a remote in the other – and simply just relax in the deep blue.

Shooters are quite thin on the ground for the DS, so fans of the genre will find enough here to keep them going for a good while, particularly in the quest to attain gold medals for each and every planet in every galaxy.

Mass Effect has the yearnings to be an epic and it almost achieves it.

It has nigh-on perfect aiming, hilarious and fun levels, longevity through skill progression and variety not normally seen in an arcade game.

Galaxies is a fresh take on the concept, one where all the new additions are a genuine plus for the play experience and add so much to the overall game.

Fast paced and full of relentless action, Uncharted: Drake`s Fortune is a pleasure to play from start to finish.

Despite its quality it won't set the world on fire like it did back in the Eighties, but it's a poignant and subtle reminder of how games used to be written and how wonderfully brilliant games back then could be.

Being blunt, Kane and Lynch: Dead Men is a sickly mess of a game with the multitude of negatives undermining every positive.

There is a superbly realised first third of a game there, but the combat and linear mission structure, coupled with the awful storyline help to undermine the quality apparent elsewhere.

Umbrella Chronicles achieves greatness by being more than the sum of its parts. It takes the established Resident Evil genre, throws a dormant light-gun element into the mix, stirs it all together and still comes up with something that will amaze and thrill fans of both. This is an essential purchase for anyone who is a fan of Resident Evil, light-gun games or just action games in general. For devotees of all three, this is nothing short of gaming nirvana.

The King Of Fighters XI is as easy on the eye as any version yet, and benefits from a playability overhaul and the inclusion of a majestic tag battle system. It is as frustratingly difficult to beat as ever, thanks to the joypad-smashingly evil bosses, but remains compulsive and playable. [JPN Import]

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

Mario has not grown older, but younger with time: more slender, more supple, more graceful. It is as if the boundaries of the genre have become transparent, allowing a unique light to shine forth. Super Mario Galaxy will influence gaming perceptions, sure to replenish any lost passion. It will frequently hug your inner child, evoke tears of joy and tug at the heart. It is everything we have always desired, more than we could possibly have dreamed.

Instead of creating the game they promised themselves in the design documents, the end result is a spaceship sized wreck of catastrophic proportions and with very little redeeming qualities to prevent it from being placed at the very bottom of the bargain bin where it belongs.

As a monster-collecting game, Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker isn’t in the same league as Pokémon. As an RPG however, it’s a big success.

A great game with a group of friends, and one which could help shift a pound or two, but the necessity to unlock events for multiplayer and the near-vertical difficulty curve for later circuits are hard to overlook.

Quite simply, Call of Duty 4 is a stunning game and quite difficult to fault. It looks, sounds and plays brilliantly and offers an unrivaled online experience.

Those who’ve never experienced the story and fun on offer should take a look and owners of the original game still owe it to themselves to buy this game.

Add to that the fact that each level also has a set number of collectables and the overall result would require someone with the talent of being able to reduce their body state to near-hibernation in order not to die from the boredom of it all.

With the furore objectively moved aside, Manhunt 2 is left a game which has tremendous atmosphere but that unfortunately counts for nothing when hampered by sloppy controls and poor implementation.

Battalion Wars 2 is a good game with some minor issues that do not detract from its overall quality or enjoyment.

Arguably, Guitar Hero III has the best selection of music in the series so far, and although there are fewer slow-paced songs than before, there is a nice mix of modern and classic tracks within the 70+ licensed soundtrack.