Basically more of the same, albeit with a little more freedom to roam.

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.

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.

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.

The fact that the storyline really fails to draw you in at all will doubtless be the main barrier that falls across the path of the casual player.

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.

An average game that looks like the characters were developed first, with the gameplay being filled in as the coders went along.

It does fail in attempting to create an identity of it’s own. Instead, choosing to plagiarise bits and pieces from successful titles within the genre that have come before it.

For general fans of racing, there are many, many titles available that will satiate your need for speed better than this effort. Not a tragic attempt, but at the same time, IndyCar Series 2005 is as close to average as they come.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 game fails simply due to a lack of polish and attention. You can play 9-ball and 8-ball in "World Championship Snooker 2004," so I would recommend picking that one up instead to satiate your need for cuestick action.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The ability to lock and unlock the camera to the main enemy is a bonus in boss battles and works well, but since this idea doesn't filter through to the rest of the game, there is much to be frustrated with.

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.

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

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.

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.

I really wanted it to work, and continued in the vain and unfounded hope that it'd all come good at some point. It doesn't.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Nothing terrible, nothing amazing.

Savage karnivores may still enjoy this bloody-rare slab of fighting beef, but genre gourmets should look elsewhere.

The presentation is nothing short of stunning in places, but is nothing above terrible in others. It hooks you at the beginning with a promising storyline and the popular setting, but just seems to not care if it keeps you on the line or not, sinking into mediocrity way too often to ever draw you all the way in.

The main aim of the game is to create smooth combinations and do it with enough rhythm to win more medals" than your opponent - but that isn’t particularly difficult, even later on in the game.

The touch screen – in short – just does not work for Touch & Roll.

We didn't expect that once we had been given our orders by the Sergeant, we would find so many bugs, glitches and plain annoyances to hinder our progress through the seedy underbelly of old London Town.

In front, it is one of the most beautiful, well presented and solidly put together sports games that you’re likely to see. Then, you get onto the pitch and the game engine lets everything down horribly.

So limited in multiplayer, fairly pointless in single player and far from anything that could be termed as “technically excellent”, Onimusha: Blade Warriors is a missed opportunity. What could have been a fantastic multiplayer game has ended up as a bit of a lame duck.

FIFA 06 set me up good. During the first half of the first match, I was all set to be completely amazed. Then I went four goals up before the thirtieth minute and things went downhill from there.

A nice looking, functional 3rd person action shooter. But the similarities with existing and even classic titles, plus a lack of any real innovation at all hardly makes Total Overdose stand out a mile for the more experienced gamer.

An average package by anyone’s standards, especially given that most people’s mobile phones can play a mean version of most of the games on the cartridge for a similar cost per title.

Super Princess Peach is as average as they come.

Tourist Trophy represents something of a watershed for me. This is the first time I’ve looked at a PS2 title and seen that the system just can’t keep up with the current generation.

You’re impressed by the graphics, and then the sound comes along and kicks you in the head with some of the most appalling suicide-inducing midi tunes that have ever been part of a finished game.

This game could have been so much better than it is, but I didn't think it would ever turn out as distinctly average as it has.

The fact that early on, a tutorial message appears to announce that "Rahma may go out of view occasionally, but don't worry" pretty much sums it up for me. I don't want my main character to go out of view and the camera system should stop it from happening, but rather than fix the problem, we've got a nice smoke and mirrors message to excuse it. I don't want excuses.

Magna Carta has the look of a deep, impressive, addictive RPG. This is all unravelled by some ridiculously (even for an RPG) slowly-paced gameplay, some bad camera work, and some innovations that simply do not work.

The fact of the matter is that for the majority of Vietcong: Purple Haze, I was just plain bored. "Shellshock" at least provided a hint of tension and atmosphere during the first few missions to make you want to play on. Purple Haze doesn't. Enough said.

The point of the fact is that this game is identical to all the other instalments of the series. So, if you already have an older version, keep it, or if you do not have any version and were looking to buy one, forget this latest one, buy an older version and save your pennies.

The customary mix of strategy and swordplay leaves both elements under-developed and a game so unremittingly dull it will, while failing to even poke about somewhere near the limits of the Xbox 360, quickly stretch your patience to breaking point.

With a powerful brand behind it, it could sell a truckload of copies. If the game mechanic was worked on a little bit more, then it could have sold several truckloads.

I desperately wanted to like this game. Really. But the terrible gameplay, boring mission structure and pathetic mini-games just make me pity it.

The frontend system looks like it has been pulled from a PSone title and the loading times are about as quick, whilst in the octagon, the fighters seem to have lost a little definition and gained a few of the dreaded “jaggies”.

Strangely addicting and fun for the first thirty minutes, that feeling soon wears off as the flaws in the gameplay slowly reveal themselves until you’re so frustrated that you will probably not be in the best frame of mind to complete game or play it for any length of time again.

The repetition of the combat means that sore thumbs – and an underused brain – are the main enemy of Dead Man’s Chest.

The AI is so basic that it is possible to rush through many areas without fear of getting hurt or even getting noticed. Even if you do decide you’re going to take it slow, it is a lottery as to whether some enemies will detect you or not.

Beat Down fails to inspire, excite and-most importantly of all - it fails to entertain.

I don't think I've ever been more bored when playing a game. Punch, kick, throw into wall, throw into wall, punch, throw into wall, “Godzilla 2000 wins!”, next round...ad infinitum.

Should never have been released in Europe. By removing the co-operative aspect of the game, they've infected the game with a particularly virulent strain of the T-Virus. It shambles purposelessly for your attention, mindless of its origins. Totally dead on arrival.

What they've actually done is take that terrible idea, and throw it into a game engine that just isn't capable of performing the task that they've asked it to. The result? Jaws Unleashed is – in a word - appalling.

Petrolheads and tuning fans will probably get a kick out of it for a short while, but the lack of any sense of speed, the monotony of doing the same thing time after time from the beginning of the game to the end and the fact that the development team have forgotten to add the slightest bit of personality means that you probably shouldn’t bother.

If I was to offer you a game that freezes up, crashes, clips graphics all day long, slows down to sub-10fps frequently, can corrupt your save game file and wipe out hours of play at random, and then ask you for £40 for the pleasure – you’d either laugh at me or hit me. I don’t particularly see the difference in what’s happening here.

I expected Torino 2006 to use its licence to present a confident and solid portrayal of the Olympic experience. It does neither – to be quite frank – and feels like an incredibly rushed affair.

Armored Core: Nine Breaker was destined to be a poor game from the moment the developer said "I know, let’s take the story mode out!"

If ever there was a game that needed to sort the wheat from the chaff, and then add a mammoth box of wheat to the resulting tiny pile, Fuzion Frenzy 2 was it.

Despite the slight visual upgrades, the engine is essentially the same as it was five or six years ago, as is the gameplay, as is the general plot, as is the method of reaching your goal. The tactical advancements are welcome and really do add to the game, but when the game is so bland, that isn’t saying much.

The game has been released many years too late and ultimately feels like a severely out-of-date RPG than one that’s just come off the shelves.

To me, I wouldn’t even leave this game in the basement, as you never know who may find it.

A rushed mess of a game that doesn't follow up on its promises.

If you're looking for multiplayer action of a party-type nature, Nintendo's own Mario Party series surpasses Wario Ware, Inc.: Mega Party Game$ in almost every way.

Graphically stunning and sonically amazing, the gameplay lets it down for me. In multiplayer, there is fun to be had, but the single player challenge is a long, hard slog that is pitted with dodgy AI and too many anomalies.

Rating this game has never been easier. Stay the hell away from Gothic III. The amount of glitches in this game instantly ruins whatever experience it aimed to achieve. There are not enough patches in PC gaming history to sort this one out.

Final Fight veterans hoping for a class act, steer clear of this title completely. In fact if you like any type of game, steer so clear that your car comes off the road if need be. It’s that bad.