Nasty visuals, odd camera work, silly levels - Shadow suffers from all the problems for which people have criticised every other 3D Sonic game only, for the most part, to a greater degree. Deserves to get lost among the Christmas rush and never found or spoken of again.

Without Warning fails miserably at whatever it set out to achieve. A lousy camera and ropey AI take a lot away from the cinematic style, and the sheer weight of repetition involved in the missions does little to expand on an idea that could have become a great title.

The biggest indictment against From Russia With Love, however, is that it makes the whole experience of being Bond seem about as much fun as an afternoon spent at a stamp-collecting convention, which is something 007 should never stand accused of. It's dull, banal, boring and any other adjectives that can be used to describe a game unworthy of your attention.

Even the hippity-hop music is utterly lacklustre, and somehow it feels out of place in a G-Ridin' gangsta game. How is this? Avoid this unless you bought "FIFA Street," in which case you're beyond our help.

Whereas the races are as pedestrian as they come - immediately putting the kibosh on any plans you may have had to enjoy the online or co-op modes - the presentation that surrounds the gameplay is one of the worst attempts to sell a shoddy product to 'gangster' worshiping kids we've ever witnessed.

The only redeeming factor to Beat Down is almost everything is underlined with extra options such as negotiating, robbing, recruiting and so on. Normally, this flexibility would be welcomed but in Beat Down's case, having these extra options is akin to a Steven Seagal DVD being packaged with two discs of extras. Who cares?

One particular puzzle is solved by gathering Oompa Loompas and setting them to tasks while Charlie does the more physical work such as throwing vine balls into pipes. It's as pointless a task as Sisyphus' punishment in Hades, and you have to do it five times. In a row.

Step aside, gaming connoisseurs and parents, because it's most definitely a kids' game.

Admittedly, it has a streak of good humour running through it and a few unlockable two-player mini-games, but they're unlikely to encourage completion.

Aside from the fact that the concept isn't nearly as enjoyable as it sounds, the poor collision detection and generally cheap feel ensures that any potential excitement that could come from the game drains away after a few minutes like motor oil from a battered engine.

If you're a huge Dreamcast or Sega fan then the online side of Battle Street may warrant a rent. But, for the other 99.9% of Xbox gamers, we'd say leave the past in the past.

No sense of competitive racing, no sense of control and an almost total lack of emotional connection between you, the car and the road.

When a modern day Xbox game can't humble a 17 year-old arcade game, you know something has gone horribly wrong.

The digital equivalent of a Steven Seagal movie or a Yorkie bar - a man's videogame if ever we saw one. Unfortunately, it's also a game to make grown men weep bitter tears of frustration.

The meat of the game is, for lack of a better term, utter garbage.

Rugby 2005 still sucks. Why? Well, how about the dumbest AI we've witnessed in a sports game since, well, since "FIFA Street."

In its haste to take football back to the streets, EA forgot to make pit-stops at gameplay and fun. When MC Harvey is the best thing you can point to in a videogame, you know something has gone drastically wrong.

Still, at least you get to get out and enjoy easily the worst thirst-person controls devised.

This must rank as one of the blandest-looking shooters on the Xbox - after all, we have been treated to Mercenaries and Microsoft's own MechAssault 2, so there really is no excuse for the low-res, blandly textured environments found here, made all the worse by the disgracefully close draw distances.

Gameplay progresses at a frustratingly slow pace, and it seems the most rudimentary powers of deduction have been substituted for the need to find a small piece of evidence hidden away in the least likely place.

A very dull experience. You can't help but feel this might have actually been all right as a light gun game.

Another glitchy/stupid thing is the CPU AI. On occasions when surrounded and unable to attack the CPU character was literally just standing there, not helping.

The camera angles are poor to the extent that Demon Stone plays almost like a side-scrolling game, progressing slowly and mundanely from one cluster of enemies to the next.

Fight Club is to fighting games what Tyler Durden's posturing is to Bruce Lee - a piss-poor impression.

The game's balance is all wrong. The controls are overly simplistic and you seem to take more damage from the little helicopters that flit around than you do the other monsters.

The controls are pretty lousy, characters will often merge with each other and scenery, and moves feel limited; plus, why can't we grapple an opponent when they're stunned?...Avoid this rubbish at all costs.

For anyone who likes their games to be more than a desperately frustrating chore we recommend steering clear of this one like the Black Death.

Ninety-five per cent of these games are rubbish, but you just can't help a quick trip down memory lane.

It's not horrific in a way that will leave stains on your fingers, but standing alongside "Dead Or Alive: Ultimate" and "Mortal Kombat: Deception," Fight Club is like putting a teddy bear into a lions den.

No, what really annoys is the fact that the developer feels it doesn't need to make an effort because it's a game for kids.

The chances of this game appealing to anyone other than hardcore TRON watchers or the odd PC geek who happens to think that Windows XP is the best game on home computer, are slim to say the least. Look elsewhere for your first-person thrills.

The animation should be motion-captured goodness in order to show the bloke-in-suit feel of the Toho flicks. It could be quite amusing. It's not amusing. It's tragic.

Just don't come running back to us if little Johnny decides he hates you and moves out aged six when he finds this under his Christmas tree.

The only people we can imagine buying this are confused parents who do not understand the world of the mystical home entertainment that is the videogame.

If you like creaky retro revivals, bad Korean animation and ways to sell toys to children then, you guessed it, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 is the game for you. Let's see them quote that one on the box.

Outside of a tolerable multiplayer, there's nothing to redeem this. Battle Nexus had potential and it will stir the interest of old and new Turtles fans but sadly, it satisfies neither the misplaced nostalgia nor the itch for a cel-shaded violence.

Risqué set-piece conversations spice up the monotony as things progress, but essentially life in the flat is a painfully hollow experience to which the eventual moment of intimacy becomes an inevitable anti-climax.

This game rocks the party like it's 1996 for all the wrong reasons. It's a PSone game with sharper graphics.

To make matters worse if this had been released back in the day when linear gameplay and generic platform problems were acceptable Twinsanity would've still been average. Today there is nothing redeeming.

Don't get us wrong, we love jumping cars and smashing through barn doors, but the game is desperately in need of something else. A little thing called gameplay.

If the development team was trying to emulate the film it has succeeded, this is utter crap.

Don't allow that dying glint in your eye be revived by the £20 price tag either - it's there simply as admittance that something hideous lurks inside the case.

Sadly, there's just not enough action to get you hooked.

The controls are all over the place, the collision detection is laughable, the missions are dull and it is the biggest waste of time and money since that thing KLF did ages ago. By no means be fooled into buying this, nah, you won't be, no-one is that stupid.

If you want a shallow, no fun, sexist, rip-off of "Prince Of Persia," taken from a terrible idea for a film, then why the hell are you reading this magazine?

Catwoman, is quite simply, complete tripe...It's superficial. Everything about this game is based around how it looks rather than how it plays.

This is an average platformer. Everything from the double jump and the by-the-book boss fights to the pickups and the 'special moves' feel...well...overused.

First off it's a 3D platformer but with less jumping about than you might be used to, which is actually a blessing because it is the worst double jump ever witnessed. It doesn't cover much distance or height and it's very, very slow. Pointless.

Development time for this title has clearly been organized as follows: 10% on gameplay, 10% on graphics and sounds, 40% on Sydney's arse and another 40% on her breasts - 0% on enemy AI.

If you want the tricks buy Tony Hawk's and if you want to play something that has a semblance of recognisable football skill you'd be well advised to leave this game on the bench.

It is one of the most superficial Playstation2 titles we've seen in ages.

It's just that every worthwhile aspect of the game is drowning in a mire of stilted gameplay and unfortunate language shortcomings.

It's a great shame, but playing Carve is like playing Paint Dry Simulator on Xbox... all the wall textures are there, the gloss of the emulsion - you can even see the brush strokes in the drying paint - it just doesn't add up to a hell of a lot of fun.

Colours throughout are horrifically gaudy and are totally at odds with the sombre nature of the game. Overall, there's little to commend about this insipid and limp title.

It's as if Overworks were so proud of their bland, boxy environments that they thought the camera would be put to much better use tracking the grey blocks that constitute 'the world' than actually following the gameplay. If you can actually call it that.

Take a bowl of Capcom's Dreamcast title "Powerstone," add a pinch of Sonic then empty half of the mixture into the sink, and you have Sonic Battle.

One of the worst games we've ever played. Its badly designed, poorly implemented and an insult to Medabot fans. Our suggestion? Save yourself some money and stick to watching the cartoons.

This isn't just a disappointing sequel; it's a terrible game that should have never made it off the drawing board, mainly because someone should have spotted how bad it was going to be. Never mind killing off a classic license, this is more like a ritual execution.

A very strong contender for the most disappointing title of 2004.

This really is the most onerous, excruciating thumb-mind-and-soul-numbing experience we've had the sorrowful displeasure of witnessing. To play it is as concerning as listening to a long, drawn out joke that you have to pay attention to follow, only to realise the that the punchline is embarrassingly racist. The devil would cry. This is embarrassing.

Manhunt is boring. Cash's standard walking pace is painfully slow, press R1 and his running speed is ridiculously fast. Navigating the game is therefore less than pleasurable and, should you not have anyone to dice up, a tedious experience.

In fact, every element of Robin Hood: Defender of the Crown kinda loses its comedy sheen over time, inviting the doubts to creep in and fester in your mind: Could it be that Capcom aren't actually having a laugh? Are they serious about this game?

It's just plain bad. What's worse is that either the developer or the publisher is fully aware of how atrocious Rise Of The Machines is. This is of course complete speculation but...

A tediously simple game, utilising all of two buttons and an analogue stick to do just about everything - which isn't much. This minimal depth repels any desire to want to return to this game ever again.

The name is the game's only standout feature, and that's all the summing up you need.

Rogue Ops doesn't ever better what we already have, so why should you spend forty quid on it? Well the answer is you shouldn't. This is one stealth game that is largely unnecessary, unless you can't use your thumbs.

TMNT certainly looks good but the simplistic gameplay of TMNT will leave any mildly serious gamer with a few hours of fun at their fingertips but possibly no more than that.

And yes you did read that right, there are just six measly levels. Which disappointingly explains the reason that tasks (or rather chores) such as mini- bosses and end of level fights can be extremely tiresome and the wrong side of difficult.

There's no skill involved at all as it's more a test of thumb durability than cagey fighting tactics.

Limited, repetitive and tediously gratuitous.

The linearity of both the mission schedule and chase routes gives the feeling you’re just been led by the hand through a series of essentially lame set-pieces.

Who would want to admit to buying this? We’d certainly be too embarressed to show this to any of our friends, enemies, neighbours, random strangers off the street, pet cat...

To say that Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure has the worst soundtrack of any game EVER, is an understatement.

With no training mode demonstrating how to best persuade a piscine creature into your boat, this game presents a painfully dull exercise in frustration.

Movement is achieved by moving using a massively cut down version of Dance Dance Revolution (press buttons on cue) that if done correctly results in a Manga-esque cut scene of destruction. Effectively then, Time Dilation is an elaborate smart bomb. Like its name implies this game is merely a varied echo of what once was original.

Of course, if you put them in a dreary real-time strategy with wide-open environments that drains away all the tension and replace any hostile encounters between the species with tedious combat, then perhaps the game would fall short. But no developers would be daft enough to do that right? Right? Oh dear.

If you can forgive the fact that this isn’t a first-person shooter, the premise is good enough, but the execution tastes like xenomorphic acid on the tongue.

A sham, and doesn't stand fit to carry the logo of such a stunning film. Once past the multiple loading screens required to start the game, the real waiting begins, as the low-octane action jerks more than a shoe fetishist in Clarks, even in one-on-one combat.

It's a Japanese RPG in the truest sense and conforms to all the clichs of the genre. It has its misfits, its central (male) character with a mysterious past (and a strange birthmark on his shoulder) and a turn-based battle system with magic and hit points. It has its world map.

Aside from [the stunt mode], there is absolutely nothing else that could make this game interesting. To anyone.

To choose, of all games, one so heavily geared towards style, presentation and music for a GBA conversion does tread that famous fine line between stupid and clever and, rather frustratingly, falls mostly on the former.

The implementation of ideas fell to the lowest common denominator, and the end game is a shallow and childish experience.

A well-presented, bland, unforgiving and ultimately undesirable game that’s best avoided amongst an infinity of better racers on the market.

Less of the ‘groundbreaking title’ Infogrames claimed it would be and more… well, crap. We’d suggest renting it at best – and that’s only if you’re absolutely desperate to see what you’re not missing.

It's not very complex or original, with little to the action beyond simple objective completion and ABC linearity, while more mature players may gag at the cutesiness of it all.

Akin to a dirty secret, such as catching your best mate's mother in bed with the dog, Stake is a something that is best forgotten for fear of some sort of mental trauma a few years down the line.

This game just isn’t finished. The frame-rate drops at the smallest suggestion, the mainstay combat is as orchestrated as band practise for the stillborn. Quite honestly this is a shambles of a magnitude that astonishes.

The general feel of the game is a very slow and clunky fighter – a feature that ironically does suit the whole Godzilla setting quite well, but sadly does not work for the beat-'em-up genre. Perhaps the two were never meant to meet.

Some shoddy game design and AI, proves Wolverine’s Revenge to be more Thomson and Co than Marvel; that interactive comic just isn’t interactive enough.

We don't like to say this about an X-Men game, but Wolverine's Revenge is an unplayable beast of a game.

The game features some of the most abysmal combat we’ve seen in an FPS for some time, with baffling inconsistencies to the damage your shots inflict and some laughably flawed AI.

Frankly games like this give the industry a bad name, because every kid suckered into buying this tosh is consequently decreasing the chance of them buying a game ever again.

All the stealth elements of this game fail completely due to the restrictive camera. Kemco describes the game as ‘Action Adventure’, (which puts us in mind of Buffy) but there is little of either to be had here.

If you really, really want a diving game, this is as good as it’s likely to get. You shameless little weirdo.

This thing either found us in an incredibly bad mood (unlikely) or it’s one of the most insulting games we have ever had the displeasure to play (yes). Just don’t buy it.

All the young pretender could do was look prettier, and show off his facial damage. No contest. He got a damn good beasting that day, and every day there after.

The game simply cannot hold up in today's market and sadly its too frustrating even for Dirk the Daring's fans to stick with it for any time.

Simply put this is the worst game we’ve seen on the Xbox. Before you even touch the controller you have to endure the pathetic excuse for graphics. The textures are about as bland as you can get, the visual effects are comparative to the Game Boy Advance and the vehicle models do anything but inspire.