Whilst the team-play system is superbly implemented and the animations have been greatly improved, the game still lacks in originality and any real challenge.

A quirky curiosity, not always enjoyable to play and not always fair, either. It'll appeal to small minority - if you like the way that the game looks, then you'll get something out of it, if you don't, then you should avoid Killer7 at all costs... It's just not much fun to play.

You'll find yourself sailing aimlessly for hours - the watery setting of Suikoden IV is ridiculously vast and barren and to make matters more exasperating, your boat's top speed and handling would embarrass most tugs.

It's still decent shoot-'em-up entertainment, and adding snipers, airstrikes, and mortar attacks to your armoury is a nice touch, but perhaps too much time was spent talking tactics rather than delivering an original game that has true hands-on appeal.

GC's controls have been optimised for the Xbox's pad and as you are never more than a button press away, you always feel in control unlike some early conversions of the Command & Conquer series, which all results in a fun accessible RTS.

Shallow, repetitious and overly simplistic.

We happily sat and wiled away the best part of a day with this. No complaints. The reason? Because Futurama is funny. No matter how average, generic or banal the gameplay gets, it’s still Futurama, and it’s still funny.

So Lunar Silver Star Story may possess all the weakness of most Japanese RPGs - sub-standard graphics, linearity and a sickening level of morality, but the younger generation will love the friendly interface and unfolding story.

Lead characters aside, another element that makes Whiplash so amusing is Genron itself. Although animal testing is hardly a subject to be laughed at, the game gets away with making fun of it because it's the humans themselves that are portrayed as being dumb animals.

What truly rains on the game's parade, however, is the constant button bashing through the one too many levels, which after a while, simply numb the brain.

The multiplayer is okay, with nine additional maps, but it's otherwise a fairly short adventure without much variety and, annoying as it is, you won't return too often.

Sometimes it’s the meandering framerate or lacklustre AI while at other times the relentless familiarity of it all will leave you indifferent to the ballistic assaults and on–screen fireworks.

Our only problem with The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction is that, after a while, the brainless stomping does become a little one dimensional, but then again that is the nature of the comic book licence and this is certainly a step above recent titles such as "The Fantastic Four" and "Batman Begins."

Feels like a rushed and unpolished version of a game that, while good, will never be able to hold a torch to the original N64 games.

It's simple, it's short, but it's still great fun.

It's certainly one for the kids, but those with fond memories of Scooby Doo will also get a kick in the happy sack from it. Nice one Shaggy.

If you fancy the idea of stealth games but have never quite got your head around the whole 'no running in and blowing heads off' ethos, then this would be a good starting point.

The main problem with Bounty Hunter is that it won’t be long before you’ve seen everything the game has to offer and it’s not the sort of adventure that you’re likely to want to play through more than once.

This is what ultimately lets this game down – the boring simple things just take a little too long to do. Your villagers do not recreate on their own – you have to tell them practically everything in order for things to happen.

It's simplicity personified, and it will never be the classic that the original was, but Spy vs Spy still has that mischievous spirit to bring a childish smile to everyone's face.

LA Rush is the grubby Downtown district of LA to "Burnout's" Hollywood, if you will - the two games aren't exactly that similar but with so many better options out there, Midway's offering will be lucky not to simply be left on the shelves alongside a few rotting copies of "Turok Evolution."

MTX:Mototrax is everything you have come to expect from a motocross game, but not that much more. Play is fun and fast but does not deserve winning honors.

The main problem with Patrician 2, however, is the lack of delegation.

A cheap and cheerful outing that'll please kids but it's doubtful anyone over Nickelodeon age will have the motivation to see it through to the conclusion.

The combat, the Karting sections and general exploration is slick making it one of the least frustrating kids games around.

Shows a total lack of innovation and desire to improve the gaming experience, but it does have cute animals in it. If you can accept the fact that you are here to manage tigers rather than whatever the focus is in any other management game then you can have a lot of fun.

With such a terrible basic challenge, you’d have to be a dangerous Robotech fanatic to get any joy out of playing.

Don’t get us wrong we don’t hate Legends Of Wrestling 2. As a wrestling game it’s original and fun in places, it’s just not essential. One for wrestling’s die-hard veterans.

Although it makes some effort to disguise the fact that it's just a textured mesh over which you constantly travel from A to B for no good reason, the game never truly manages to convince.

MechWarrior afficionados only.

A dumbed down first-person shooter designed specifically for the PS2, which isn't equipped to run the more exciting elements of the Deus Ex universe. The result is a bland shooting experience that may as well run under the title of 'Generic Game With Fancy Guns' - a real shame when the potential to create something truly different was handed to the developer on a plate by Eidos.

The grand, over-the-top nature means when Call Of Duty does go right, little can match it. Sadly, these moments don't happen often enough to sustain any enjoyment and being funnelled through the same linear missions over and over again is like watching the same chapter of a "Saving Private Ryan" DVD on repeat.

For the most part though there is a clunky feel to the game. Animation is often awkward and fails to convey the vulgar flamboyance the Eighties wrestling became renowned for and sadly for the most part this is a title devoid of excesses.

The biggest problem we have with this game is the sad fact that a few of the games seem to suffer from occasional slowdown.

Despite there being a massive selection of attacks at your disposal, you won't use them, and after battling through your seventeenth batch of Oni bastards, you'll soon settle for the simplest and most effective means of disposal and trade any style for progress.

If you’re looking for something to remind you why you spent £300 on a brand-new console, stay away.

It's no complete loss, for sure, and is likely to moderately satisfy the Resident Evil die-hards waiting for the next instalment. However, it's no classic despite some lovely physics due to some weak gameplay elements and its slightly simple linearity.

Mystery Mayhem is filled with such touches that you can't help but smile at, at least for a little while until you realise that behind the pretty visuals, charming animation and spot-on spot effects lies something too innocent and simplistic to be of interest to anyone other than the very young or woefully misguided.

The majority of the mini-games are terrific fun, but it does mean that playing this game solo isn’t nearly as enjoyable as playing it with friends.

As an FPS it can't manage to come close to the likes of "Halo," "Castle Wolfenstein" or "Rainbow Six 3." But as a playful twist on the genre that tries to offer a bare arcade experience, and allows us to feel like Clint supping whisky at the OK Coral, it's pretty good fun.

The repetition and the lack of variety, of entering one room that is simply is a replica of the last, may well get the better of you. The name isn't indicative of the game, but for excitement and real horror The Suffering just lacks that killer touch. [XBM]

What upset us most is that as a novel idea that shows an occasional flash of genius, you genuinely want to love Future Tactics. Unfortunately, the sad truth is you can't love this game because deep down, you know it will never love you back.

To speak plainly the action is DULL with a pace which only ever reaches the giddy heights of ''sedate'' ensuring that you'll soon share your character''s apparent lethargy - hardly befitting of the game''s extreme-sport pretensions.

They’ve simplified the game enormously and as a result it suffers.

The previous games in the series have all been relatively successful, and Defiance looked set to continue that tradition, until the poor camera angles and misjudged over-emphasis on combat scuppered things somewhat. As it stands, this is very much a game for fans of the series only.

Admittedly, it’s fairly simplistic, but there is something satisfying about the whole thing.

Is it possible to love a game for a singular sound effect? We certainly hope so.

It does what it needs do, delivers a few new (though flawed) ideas and has the best control system of any game like it.

It's always edge-of-the-seat stuff and is guaranteed to put anyone off becoming a real ATC operator.

The battles soon result in simplistic tat-for-tat assaults using the boosted special attacks whilst the tactical differences between various sections is questionable.

Unfortunately, the slightly awkward camera angles can make it tricky to see where enemy shots are coming from, which is very frustrating in the heat of combat.

Barely a very, very average racing game. There are no notable qualities about the game to justify any sort of high score and the visuals are poor, but it still offers several short bursts of entertainment and at £20 you can't expect much more than that.

The career mode really doesn't make up for this cookie cutter title, and compared to Weapons Master mode of SC 2 it just cant compare.

The real weakness of NFL Street, however, is the same criticism levelled at Madden just a few months ago - that completing a pass or finding a run through the defence is too arbitrary to judge.

Obscure is well worth playing all the way through, and if you can stomach the characters and their irritating forced American idiosyncrasies then this title could well be one of the best £20 price-tag games out there.

Whilst this obviously improves upon the original, it hardly provides value in the long-term with limited appeal for lone players.

Vattic's tale is a compelling emotional journey, and his psychic powers can really clock up a decent amount of player satisfaction. In spite of this, Second Sight is flawed, but perhaps more importantly, it's nothing special.

If you can ignore the many obvious flaws in the graphics and presentation there is, believe it or not, an addictive game to be had, but the numerous obvious technical problems prevent a higher score.

Style is nothing without substance.

Crisis Zone is the proverbial over-egged pudding. The addition of a bulletproof riot shield for ducking purposes is welcome, as is the way you can blast the enemy as the game pulls you on the invisible rails that separate scenes. Unfortunately the excitement in killing is all but neutered.

A PlayStation2 game that seems to have taken the whole Pixar production ethic to one side and then beaten it to a pulp, gagged it with electrical tape and left it crying in a corner with a sign hanging round its neck that says 'Spit on me.'

Enemy AI is minimal, weapon effects lack impact and, best of all, once you're in a fire fight all the beauty of the slickness drops to just enough to make aiming more annoying than fun and that can't be good.

The camera is fine, the control system good and (like the film it follows) at no point does it patronise the audience. In other words there are no coins to collect here.

The jerky framerate in particular is unforgivable and not tweaking the game engine to account for the extra grunt behind the GameCube is something that Midway should acknowledge as a huge mistake.

Simply put, if you own "EO" there is no reason to get this. With "EO" you get a smoother game, the awesome Groove selection, Ratio matches and a larger selection of characters. If we were to use one word to describe Capcom Vs SNK: SVC Chaos it would be 'disappointment'.

It’s overly confusing without even rewarding the diligent player with a satisfying payoff. There is no, and we mean NO, sense of satisfaction in victory.

What we're left with is a game with a cool concept and a real sense of atmosphere that is drowned out by disappointment and frustration. Cold Fear could have been so much better had it built on the positives with a safe, more accessible control system and a few more hours on the design table.

This is the very definition of a linear game. Ok, we can accept that. But if the game is going to be so particular, it would be helpful if it wasn't so restrictive and occasionally clumsy.

To play Operation Surma is to walk a tightrope between excited gaming tension and an overwhelming urge for self-mutilation.

It looks the part and it has al the right elements. It's just cumbersome and rarely rewarding to play. So close to being amazing, yet so obviously not. Shame.

At a tenner this would have been okay, but for a penny under £20 this just can’t be recommended.

It does improve the longer you play it and there's something enticing about blagging the next new piece of kit to slap on your car. Unfortunately the racing itself simply isn't fun enough.

”Ooh, are we having fun yet?” When Blade mutters these words as you run though the thousandth dim-witted vampire it can be hard not to see the irony – even the game is getting tired.

A lazy PS2 port. Make no mistake this is a perfectly decent piece of software, but when you handed over your cash for the Xbox you probably weren’t expecting to be playing hand-me-downs from a machine significantly less powerful.

Despite the lack of smashes, it’s sill a fun game to play thanks to the undemanding and bouncy handling of the R/C cars.

It just feels like no effort has been made to make this a killer game – this is the type of game that might do well in the arcades but not at home. There isn’t even a two-player mode in the game to add any form of variety – a criminal act for scrolling shooters.

The fact that there is nothing to separate this from earlier versions doesn’t help its cause either and, as such, it will keep you entertained for only a little while before boredom sets in.

It's all a bit like typing while wearing oven mitts.

There is nothing overly wrong with All-Star Baseball 2004, it’s an improvement on last year’s addition; an ‘easy’ batting system means you will soon be smacking balls into the boundaries (do they call them that?).

Unfortunately Rogue Agent has turned out a bit flat. All of the ingredients should have delivered a novel twist on the Bond universe, but rather than being a villainous spectacle, it's merely a competent shooter that lacks any genuine thrills.

It's rare for a game of this type to actually be more than a mad single-button-mashing romp that creates more blisters than excitement; it's just unfortunate that the whole game wasn't as polished.

This could have been Activision's finest hour, but it looks likely to be nothing more than an agonising five minutes of fame.

Given the subject matter we can’t knock the developer for this but the relative limitations set by the cast of characters makes this the perfect microcosm for The Hulk: bludgeoning, loud, unthinking and very occasionally, as soft as muck.

Combat Elite makes an ideal rental title, three days being a good length of time to gauge whether you can tolerate quite so many invisible walls and German soldiers shooting you from nowhere.

So, it’s a mixed bag then – some great shooting and driving levels marred by the lacklustre fps sections.

The sea battles are great, but they do take quite a bit of time, and it is a shame that the rest of the game does not live up to the high standards they set.

Using Vattic's psychic abilities can be immensely enjoyable, especially when he learns to pick up people and smash them through windows. However, when the novelty of the psychic powers wears off, the game seems like an average third-person adventure with drab environments and awkward controls.

It's a weighty quest alright, but much of its size is artificial, being time spent wondering (a) where you’re supposed to go next and (b) how to get there.

Most shocking of all Eve Of Extinction doesn’t even offer a multiplayer mode. This is practically a crime in this kind of game.

It’s fast and quite good fun for the first few levels, but a complete lack of variety causes you to repeat the same thing over and over again, just with tighter time limits in place. Boredom sets in quickly.

The other side to the game is its humour and visual appeal. Sure, this is a 2D game, but it's also packed with smart touches of animation and grand set-piece battles to liven any rainy Sunday for five minutes.

Sadly, it would appear that most of Midway's classic titles have already been used in the first compilation and apart from a small selection; a lot of the games on offer are space filers and nothing more.

Fundamentally it’s the same game as "Tony Hawk’s 2," only it chugs along like a broken steam train! It stutters, splutters and jerks around like a breakdancer with broken legs and it feels like the batteries are running low on your PlayStation.

It seems foolish to be content with an average racer like this.

Had the develop[ers] only thought about what it was doing a little bit more it could have made an astonishingly good game using the source material provided.

Simply an average game that happens to have a Star Wars license, and that's not enough to make it worth a purchase. Its worst problem is that it can be repetitive and boring.

It’s really, REALLY boring.

Caught in an awkward middle ground where it's not as accessible as "Street Fighter Anniversary Collection," not as deep as "Capcom VS SNK 2: EO" and not as buoyant as "King Of Fighters 2002."