Whether you wasted your youth on a salty pier arcade with the series, or met Vic Viper for the first time in this review, Gradius will quickly become your pet name for twitch gaming thrills.

Cars is by no means a terrible game, just a very average one. And 'average' is not the sort of thing you'd expect anyone to happily spend £30 on. Go see the film five times instead.

But with even the most thumb-tied tot capable of completing Cars DS in less than five hours, any Pocket Gamer reader is likely to end up feeling pretty shortchanged.

It's colourful and more fun (especially in multiplayer) than the similar Brain Training, but Big Brain Academy doesn't have much longevity.

A tough puzzler that lacks immediate charm, but offers a lasting challenge for those who persevere.

The freedom and range of item management creates huge scope for personalised gameplay and strategy, and while the dawdling pace won't suit many, those able to respect the game's qualities should find the experience very rewarding.

Field Commander is a polished, well-presented game with loads of options, but it's let down by weak AI. Best enjoyed via multiplayer.

The best PSP football sim to date.

One of the best platform outings in all of gaming, an instant classic when it first appeared, which even with some newness thrown in remains almost perfect today.

Lack of challenge, cluttered screens, dumbed-down controls and repetitive gameplay make Guilty Gear Dust Strikers a brawler to avoid.

Not the finest poker sim around but a solid and comprehensive effort nonetheless.

If you're committed to the cause, Dr Kawashima's Brain Training will give your grey cells a daily workwork for weeks, but it ain't no game.

The basics are creatively executed, but, while enjoyable, the resultant experience falls far short of reinventing anything – let alone brilliance.

Attractive but with deep issues, Red Hot Rumble's contribution to the PSP library can often be an incoherent, confused mess.

A little light on true 'classics' and over-reliant on shooters but excellently converted to PSP, which should at least delight the old-skool crowd.

It may have little grounding in reality, but Me & My Katamari is so unique and delightful – from the very germ of the idea through to its jaw-dropping, coherent and bursting-with-character execution – that it's one of those games you simply must play.

Metal Gear Acid 2 is certainly big and complex, but unfortunately it's not particularly clever.

An action adventure on the most ambitious scale – a stunning achievement, and a showcase PSP title.

An engrossing strategy game with a rich array of units, excellent replay value and a history lesson thrown in.

A truly independent voice amongst the blockbusters, this artistic puzzler deserves to be a breakout hit.

Thanks to brilliant design, fantastic gameplay and its in-built rumble device, Drill Dozer is one of the best 2D platformers you'll ever play.

Mixing cute with boring, Tamagotchi Connection Corner Shop quickly becomes so routine you should be paid £5 an hour to play it.

Different, satisfying but also limited.

It might look a bit dated now, but Final Fantasy IV Advance is a classic gaming experience.

Admirable in its variety and scope but in terms of presentation and technical execution it's a bad beat.

Infected is more akin to a mild tummy bug than a potentially life-ending bout of Ebola. To be fair though, it's probably more entertaining than either.

A polished and entertaining experience, Metroid Prime Pinball is only let down by its lack of proper pinball tables.

The gambling introduces a fresh and very welcome dynamic to the beat-'em-up genre, but such innovation is dealt a low blow by a mediocre fighting engine.