You can overlook the sloppy graphics, the poor narrative and the occasional rudimentary puzzle, because the design of Penumbra sometimes reminds you how inspired it is, offering the player some genuinely interesting puzzles in a properly spooky setting.

It is fair to say that I was completely amazed when I booted the PSP up for a quick go, and then realised that I was still playing the damned game four hours later. I can’t reiterate enough, that I never thought that a handheld FPS could work as well as this.

The only issue I have with the package as a whole is the random shoddiness of the emulation. One minute you can play through a section with all guns blazing from every part of the screen and you’ll get bucketloads of slowdown occurring.

The bottom line is if you can put up with some quirky controls and are a massive fan of the originals then this is probably worth a look. However, if you are a purist and perhaps have a favourite Metal Slug outing, then you should wait for it to appear on the Virtual Console.

Overall, this is a none too shabby collection. The decision to buy will depend on your desire to have a true arcade version of the games and how sentimentally attached you are to each title.

This game may be worth playing in about a year’s time when Obsidian has finished patching this clunky monstrosity, but right now, it’s a strictly average affair.

There are games out there that are five and six years old that do point and clicking better than this. That’s not to say that it’s distinctly flawed, because it runs along just nicely. It’s just not very good.

Petroglyph have done a nice little job on expanding what was already a good game. Granted it isn’t the same as all the other RTS games out there, but isn’t that what you want – a little diversity? If the first game left you wanting more, which it certainly did for me, Forces of Corruption will most certainly fill a void in your Star Wars craving.

Surprisingly solid for the greater part, don’t get me wrong here. Unfortunately, it’s let down by a lack of any real challenge and fails to really inspire or capture the player in any way at all.

It's a game trapped in the past. Not the 80's as such, but in a time long before GTA showed the world what spatial freedom was all about. Freedom is a word that Radical has toyed with, not exploited. Ergo, in the case of Scarface, the world is never truly yours.

A great puzzle element, eye grabbing funky visuals and a nice array of bonus features gives a nice sprinkle of longevity for any puzzle fan. Well worth checking out, even if it can be the most unfairly frustrating game ever created at times.

Sometimes, try as you might, you can’t put your finger on what makes a game fun to play, and this is one of those occasions.

A terrible shame and no mistake. Just a little variation in the missions would have been enough to send the game into the upper echelons of greatness. As it stands, you’re looking at a massive amount of style over not a great deal of substance.

The attention to detail in Yakuza is extraordinary but the overall effect is like getting everything you wanted for Christmas and not being allowed to play with it.

If you come into Enchanted Arms looking for something as epic as the Final Fantasy series then there’s a hefty chance you’ll leave disappointed. That’s not to say this is a bad game at all. Enchanted Arms plays like most would expect - an average RPG. Nothing more, nothing less.

UGAG can very comfortably be compared to a Rubik’s Cube – it isn’t very pretty or enticing, it’s just an extremely straightforward, ball-bustingly hard challenge. It almost deserves two separate scores. If you like a challenge, then add [30] more points to my final score. If you prefer a bit more of an easier time, then detract [50].

The ability to build your own weapons and suchlike with things that you’ve found is a nice inclusion which – while limited – works out to be cheaper than going to ye olde item shoppe to pick up a new blade every time your favourite one decides that it’s going to break.

Lazy level design and the inability to die make the game too easy, leave you questioning why you want to carry on, and may even lead you to just not bother completing the game.

It looks old, it plays old, the music is just annoying, the cut scenes are poor, the video sequences of amateur re-enactors, and the sound doesn’t utilize modern systems like EAX.

One minute you’re watching a badly rendered cutscene telling you about the different forces, the next you’re looking at a live-action portion of the movie that doesn’t serve to improve your comprehension of the story whatsoever.

If you liked the "Codename: Panzers" or "Sudden Strike" series, you’ll love Rush for Berlin. It’s a challenging and fun game with some real highlights and nice surprises in most levels.

It’s well put together, a joy to behold and a marvel to look at, but it’s just a lot of never ending sameness.

The graphics are poor, the game play is old fashioned, the music is just plain annoying, but it has character. This attribute alone elevates it above the rest of the samey RPGs out there, but it still manages to be just that – samey.

I hate to say it, but even though Rockstar have released Liberty City Stories at an absolute steal of a price, this feels like a desperate cash-in. The PSP’s biggest selling game to date has been ported over quickly, and without a great deal of care. It shows.

The seemingly simple process of having a working camera and an enemy lock-on system has been neglected and as a result we’re left with a ‘nearly’ title – one of those ‘it could have been really good’ situations.

Just taking the best points of a fine gaming series does not a good game make. As a huge Advance Wars fan, I’m appalled that another developer could take such liberties, but they do say that imitation is the best form of flattery.

X-Men: The Official Game isn’t all bad, and I’ve probably made it sound a lot worse than it actually is, it’s just that if you’re looking for a yardstick for middle-of-the-road gameplay and average execution, you’ve found it.

When you’re on the fifth one in the series and it doesn’t play all that different to the first one, it’s probably time to stop. That’s not to say that Ace Combat Zero is a bad game, it’s just that you’ve seen it all before, done it all before, and got the t-shirt.

World Poker Tour isn’t a complete loss. If you want poker on the go, then this is a fine choice. Just don’t expect to use it as a training tool, or to hone your skills, since the gameplay more often than not suggests that the title should be World Bingo Tour. Fun and atmospheric at times, very, very frustrating at others.

Good, but not nearly as great as the entire world would have you believe.

Although Kao the Kangaroo: Round 2 seems to constantly offer up a new genre at every point the action might otherwise become dull and lifeless, there is a persistent feeling during play that the game never seems to stand on its own feet.

What surprises me about Top Spin 2 is exactly how accurately it resembles a real game of tennis.

Unfortunately, now the major problem of mundane backtracking has been remedied, the minor flaws have become overly pronounced. Despite this, Kingdom Hearts II is still a hugely pleasurable experience.

It’s probably the most depressingly average game I’ve ever encountered. It doesn’t even try to be good, because it can’t be bothered. It just plods along, at it’s own pace, chucking enemies at you every now and again.

Online play is fairly lag free and will add some longevity to the game, but the only thing that would really save Rumble Roses XX would be a whole new set of moves for each of the characters on offer. There are only so many times you can punch and kick your opponent until they’re vulnerable to a pinfall before you start looking elsewhere for your thrills.

Had Evolution been released as a full price game the short single-player campaign would have been a huge disappointment, but considering that it retails for under £20 and there's an impressive set of online game modes included as well, it's a steal.

A solid game idea realised with some weak online play and a mixed graphical performance means that there are many titles that are more deserving of your money for the 360 right now.

Some high points aren’t enough to counteract the amount of confusion that reigns on the too-small screen, though, and we’re left with a somewhat average title.

While it is playable – Onimusha enthusiasts will still probably enjoy it – there isn’t a huge amount here that you won’t find in previous instalments. And that’s it; ultimately there just isn’t anything here that hasn’t been done better by another game.

A missed opportunity. Dynasty Warriors was a poor attempt at a launch title, and whilst this second title in the Warriors series is a fair bit better, it still leaves a great deal to be desired.

If you aren’t a Dragon Ball Z fanatic, then you’re pretty much looking at a very average beat ‘em up with some pretty graphical effects and a few aerial manoeuvres. If you are a fan, then I have a feeling that this will fill a portable gap, but certainly not for long. Badly flawed in places, but not a terrible way to pass the time.

Nothing comes across as 24 except for the plot and the cut scenes which is only a small part of it. I’m now off to get a Happy Meal and to watch Judy Garland sing with a bunch of midgets with funny hats.

A solid title for the greater part, but is not only flawed, but not massively difficult to beat. However, I'd rather play a game that made me smile for four hours and one that made me frown for twenty.

As far as racing games go, Full Auto’s arcade handling provides a welcome change to the rigours of the superb "Project Gotham Racing 3," but the slowdown and – in some cases – downright bugginess means that it won’t ever take you to gaming nirvana.

At times, things look great and play well, but this is all too rare. For the majority of your playing time, you'll be doing the same things over and over again, whilst wandering through what's fast becoming the stock set of urban environments.

Rugby 06 just doesn't begin to fix those flaws and the addition of a very few new features, coupled with possibly the worst commentary I've heard in a sports game for a long time, mean that the game just doesn't do enough.

PQ is but a one-trick pony. It does what it says on the box and very little else. Your brain will get a workout, but 30% of the time it’ll be a practical one as per the title, with the other 70% being used to think of other games you could be playing on your PSP. Original yes, fun…not so much.

The cracks show very clearly after the game drags you in by providing a trouble-free first mission, and they are enough to completely kill the game for anyone who only has a passing interest.

UFO Aftershock is, in short - strategy gaming brilliance, spoilt by lacklustre interfaces and controls, and one truly terrible camera.

Xtreme Legends is – quite simply – the game that Dynasty Warriors 5 should have been. Some real improvements have been made, and the game is much deeper than it ever has been before.

A testimony to computer gaming brilliance crippled by a premature release.

Some things are incredible. Some things are dull. It seems that the game’s good points outweigh the bad though – even if only by a bit.

Like long car journeys, rainy days or when there's nothing on TV, playing Trapt is one of those times when you have to make your own fun. The only real puzzle here is who but the most ardent strategy fans and death fetishists will bother.

It really does little better than Tekken or DOA. Possibly time would have been better-spent working on a PS3 title rather than releasing this. It’s time for the genre as a whole to move forward.

To enter the racing genre successfully, you need to have some boiling hot IP, promotion that would make EA jealous, or some gameplay twist so innovative that the next bored developer will rip you off instead of vice versa. Jak X has none of those.

If you’ve seen the TV show, don’t play poker but fancy having a go yourself, then it’s a perfect initiation to the game – complete with some of the crazy calls and raises that go on from inexperienced and tilting players. For the hardcore poker fanatic though, there’s a massive, massive amount of room for improvement.

Unique in that it is the only war strategy game available for the Xbox. It isn't unique in joining the stacks and stacks of mediocre games that take a good idea and turn it into a hollow and somewhat tedious experience.

Do you feel like hacking the living hell out of a thousand-plus enemy factions that you can easily defeat? Do you want to just repeatedly press the square button until you grow a blister? If so, then Devil Kings will be superb for you. If not, then you’re likely to be somewhat bored.

The occasionally dodgy AI, the god-awful music and the camera grumbles make Blitzkrieg 2 feel a little rough around the edges, and when you’re competing against strategy games like THQ’s seminal "Dawn of War," you can’t afford that.

A bit of a mixed bag. Astounding presentation, some very clever innovations (such as "Warp Speed" as standard on a 1940's aeroplane) and some very slick flight action is broken up by slowdown and a feeling that you've seen it all before.

If you can get past the delinquent, fiddly menus, then you can play a pretty decent third person stealth ‘em up, which has some ingenious little gimmicks and a decent storyline.

You can’t help but feel that this is the type of game perfectly suited to the DS; inventive, addictive and something quite refreshing – a genre injected with a new lease of life on a new platform. It won’t take you long to complete Another Code, but the nature of the game mechanic will ensure you will enjoy doing so.

There’s no one title that makes the package an absolute must, but if you want an arcade-perfect (and multiplayer) Street Fighter II: Champion Edition, you’ve come to the right place.

In some cases, I'd have preferred to see the home console versions being ported over. Off Road Thunder for example, was a much better game on the Dreamcast than it was in the arcade.

Any action/adventure fan is looking at a fairly solid proposition here, but don't be surprised if the beauty of the game isn't enough to push those feelings of deja vu and boredom to the back of your mind.

Whatever the future may hold though, Fahrenheit is itself a compelling, truly adult adventure of rare literary and filmic qualities, and that’s more than enough to satisfy for now.

Good, but ultimately a shallow experience.

I couldn't get past the bad spelling, lack of save ability and the general frustration. For some reason Kingdom Under Fire: Heroes just gave me very negative feelings.

Graphical improvements are minor, the gameplay enhancements are built to match and the AI is still as awful as it ever was.

A fair game that tries to do a little too much. The puzzle, platform and racing genres are all represented as advertised, but none of them are pulled off well enough to provide a particularly engaging experience.

If you like ice hockey, then NHL 2k6 delivers the goods – and how. The franchise mode will suck you in for the long haul, and the party games are easy enough to pick up for some multiplayer action.

Shoots for the stars but barely breaks orbit.

Technically a poor game, but this is one time when the overall value is greater than the sum of the parts – just.

The single player experience is good enough to practice on before you go into battle with your friends, but the battle itself is where the action is at.

What can't be overlooked though, is the fact that the game started out as a technical demo to show off what the DS can do. Since then, little has been done to turn it into a fully fledged game.

Indeed, Polarium isn’t so much about your stylus skills, rather your ability to create continuous paths on the screen to change as many blocks to the correct colour in one move as possible.

On the one hand, Spy vs. Spy is a fun, engaging, throwaway platform game that comes in at the right price. The addition of the multiplayer modes and classic game are just a bonus. On the other hand, you've got a fairly buggy and technically inferior platform game that contains just enough inventiveness to get by.

Despite the intervention of the US Marines, there are some glaring flaws, which have somehow been overlooked.

The soft-focus haze of the original has inevitably suffered due the PS2’s lack of hardware anti-aliasing and indeed, the watery recreation here simply makes the low-res textures and dull palette look muddy and indistinct.

If you’re a die-hard Rayman fan (they exist, believe me), then even you will probably be a little disappointed with Rayman DS. The game as a whole doesn’t even come close to the high points of the series.

If you're after a genuinely funny game that features a massive challenge, then if you can overlook its obvious faults, Worms Forts: Under Siege will serve you well. The exploding refrigerators are just a bonus.

If asked to sum it up in one word, Pokémon Dash would be termed as “interesting”, rather than “essential”.

The level design is regrettably less inspired. Many stages are disappointingly contrived to funnel the player into acting out a fixed, linear solution, precluding creative tactics and diminishing the realism created so well by the visuals.

If you've played and enjoyed other fighting games on the Xbox or any other platform for that matter, but you've never played "Third Strike" then this is well worth a try. The fact that you also get "Hyper Street Fighter II: The Anniversary Edition" and the Street Fighter II animated movie thrown in as part of the deal is purely a bonus.

To call this game pointless would be trite, but it’s unrelentingly shallow and really nothing more than mental chewing gum. Nothing else tastes quite like it, though, and if you have any sense of fun about you, you’re bound to enjoy the goods.

The combat system is as well done as anyone could ask for and is enough to make you play again and again. Unfortunately, the sections involving Octavianus’ are only punctuated with such pleasures, generally coming across as uninspired and fairly clumsy.

Graphical flair is measurable in bucket loads, and the longevity of the title is not in question since multiplayer and Xbox Live modes are included (with both working well). What confuses me is how I can play the game for half an hour, and then be so bored with it that I'm desperate for the match to end, so I can save my progress and do something else.

This game probably won’t win any awards for originality. But even as it is, comic fans will be especially pleased, and it’s more than capable of providing the desired bang you’d expect for your buck.

As a Suikoden game, its lacking something - that sparkle, which could be found in the first two in the series. Suikoden IV may not be quite the Suikoden game we were hoping for, but a decent role-playing adventure none-the-less.

The single player experience is good enough to practice on before you go into battle with your friends, but the battle itself is where the action is at.

Despite some putting issues that can be worked around and the fact that the “spin” system just doesn’t seem to work 90% of the time, the game holds up well and provides an involving experience that suits the system down to the ground.

A tiny map exists in the top right hand corner, but in a full race, it only indicates your position – which renders it useless when you need to know how far in front the leader is.

To be brutally honest, the flaws in the putting system kill the game almost completely dead.

An undeniable classic tainted by an awful control mechanism that still doesn’t feel natural after some ten hours’ play, with a few fun extras more suited to the input method.

Bringing your very own creation up from nothing and turning them into a successful member of the gaming society can prove to be curiously addictive.

There is improvement to be had here, and given that the jungle drums are sending a message that Madden 2006 is on the way to the DS, we’re hoping that the developers can see where they’ve faltered and that they get a chance to try again.

Any sort of challenge or replayability would have turned Asphalt Urban GT into an absolute godsend for Nintendo and their new console. As it stands, the gameplay is hollow and lifeless, and bears little resemblance to an essential title.

Nothing terrible, nothing amazing.