Mercenaries 2 has lived up to its expectations to be a fun and crazy game about having a hell of a time in a war zone.

Your thumbs will ache in the morning and you may need to fork out a hundred dollars on a new controller but sometimes we all need a bit of cartoonish mayhem in our lives.

If, however, you're after something inoffensive to entertain the youngsters without having to explain about death, the birds and the bees or any other adult themes, you could do worse.

It features some classic nostalgia from the 80’s, a fair amount of strategy mixed with skill and is pretty addictive – especially in online multiplayer where you can have four player dogfight mayhem.

It's a decent adaptation of a fun card game, and at 400 Microsoft Points it's priced just right. If a few things were tidied up this would be one of the elite card genre titles, but it still holds its own against the competition.

Yes, it looks wonderful and, yes, it sounds pretty good too. But that’s about as far as the praise can be stretched.

I can’t help but feeling that, while a good deal of effort has gone into enhancing the essential Viva Piñata experience, the limitation of things I can put in my garden when there is so much on offer really does kill my buzz.

The ability to approach missions as you want to or just cruise around town in a tank, blowing stuff up is something you can't get anywhere else and simply must be experienced.

If you want a co-operative multiplayer game that will keep you hooked for hours, this is the one for you.

A solid expansion of the space stage. You won’t find a deep adventure game here, just a lot of small quests and a solid level editor to add to the strange mix of genres that is Spore.

My biggest gripe with Tales of Vesperia is cosmetic, so let me say that while it bugs the hell out of me, it doesn't detract from the overall playability of the title. The writing, and the voice acting, is pretty effing terrible.

Hardcore golfing fans (and I do mean hardcore) will probably find this a contender for game of the year, but for everybody else there are more charming, accessible, and fun golfing games on the market.

In the end Galaga Legions provides the fast, intense and unforgiving gameplay modern shooters tend to go easy on.

The combat is fast, frantic and fun, requiring you to think and move quickly, and each of the classes are very different to play. Sure there's not much variety in the type of bad guys you come up against but the enemies which are present are generally very nice to look at and very satisfying to obliterate with your weapon of choice. It's easily the best action RPG on the 360 and arguably the best on any of the modern consoles.

The most accurate description of American Football on a videogame console that I’ve ever seen.

The graphics are an amazing painterly mixture of abstract and cartoonish styles – it actually looks like a living painting you’re waltzing through. The music is of an equally high quality, switching between string compositions and folk music.

With its subtle but significant changes to the gameplay, and with the leaderboards providing excellent motivation for just one more go, Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 will last players until their skills plateau. Even those that are loath to get into the fuzzy area of downloadable content and digital rights management owe it to themselves to purchase this game. It’s simply that good.

It’s much easier to get into than Tekken or Virtua Fighter, and the characters are generally – in my opinion at least – much more interesting.

Siren is nothing new but is a short, spooky distraction.

Although the gameplay is limited and only takes around 30 minutes to clock (per plane), 1942: Joint Strike is still a satisfying gaming experience.

The game is a success thanks to what has remained unchanged. Though we're now 3D and have some wonderful cinematics, this is still the Final Fantasy IV you fell for in 1991. And for those who have yet to fall for the classic, this is a good place to start.

Elefunk is a nice, addictive puzzle title with enough levels to make it worth the initial download.

Golf: Tee It Up! is an XBLA worth getting your hands on, and at 800 MS points, will provide a reasonable bang for your buck.

For new players, it may be a stepping stone to true greatness. Fans of the older Civ games may enjoy it for nostalgia. It may also serve as a 'nicotine patch' for megalomaniacs; a healthier alternative to wasting whole days taking over the world. The serious Civ fans, however, should keep to their PCs: this one isn't for them.

If shooting your balls into the mouths of clowns is your thing then go for it. Otherwise you'd be better off waiting until it's half price, if only to play the addictive Frog Leap.

Even breaking virtual World and Olympic records and having them displayed online for eternal glory is possible. But for others wanting a fun arcade-like game, Beijing 2008 is likely to just end up being too much work.

If, however, you're like me and have a whole bunch of friends who grew up with Soul Calibur, you're going to be spending all your time in Versus mode.

If you are a fan of the band, then you should most definitely Walk This Way. If you’re simply looking for a new Guitar Hero fix, you may wish to rent the game first, or look towards the next downloadable content for Guitar Hero III.