It's a fine survival horror game that's starting to show its age. The Xbox really needs an original horror outing all of its own.

Disregard this misalignment though, and you’re left with an enjoyable aural romp which, whilst slight and, on occasions, extremely forgiving, makes up for most of its shortcomings by hitting you with damn funky music.

We had hoped that Namco was going to take this chance to fix the many obvious problems with the game – sadly no, they’ve just churned out a virtually identically sequel, warts ’n’ all. Avoid!

This touchy-feely emphasis might not be to everyone's taste but if sheep herding, bowling, stroking a tiger's nether regions and teaching a chicken to breakdance is your idea of fun, then Creature's Isle is the creature feature for you.

A confused and chaotic game. On top of this are some of the most basic graphics yet seen on the Xbox.

Just about manages to deliver the goods. If you’re after a solid simulation of the sport of basketball then you could do a great deal worse than this.

We can't help but feel that videogames should be exciting and exhilarating to play rather than have the slightly plodding pace that this game offers.

In wishing to both typify and exaggerate the visual style of a bygone age, Rez ultimately commits the cardinal sin of placing graphics before gameplay – a facet attributable to SEGA's desire for the title to be seen as art.

Yes folks, Cel Damage stinks – and what's worse it's not one, but a whole shopping list of things that makes it difficult to play with wanting to run away and never play a game ever again.

"Mad air, mad attitude, mad trix" is what 3DO say. "Mad to part with forty notes" is what we riposte.

Greater variety in terms of gameplay, the freedom to configure boats with weapons of your choice, deformable terrain and an improved damage system would have seen this as one of the top games on the Xbox, but as it is, it remains one of the also-rans.

A masterpiece of suspense and of claustrophobic videogame terror. And we like being scared.

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

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

To think this dire piece of programming is worth 40p, let along £40 is an insult to everything we believe in as dedicated gamers. Buy it...go on, we dare you. You’ll be the only fool that does...

Despite our disdain of the very concept of this game we did find it fairly engrossing.

An epic story, accompanied by fantastic visual effects, a comprehensible battle system, and a glorious soundtrack. All in all, probably the first truly emotionally-moving experience ever to grace a console. A grand achievement.

We know that The Simpsons Road Rage is neither original nor groundbreaking but it is enormous fun and that's what important, isn't it.

This is definitely one to stop the E.T. obsessed kids screaming, but no game for a grown up.

This game doesn't only look great it also sounds amazing. The meaty gunfire and explosions will shake the very skin from your bones.

Shadow Hearts has some intriguing elements, but disappoints with its battle dynamics and some terrible scripts.

Driven really takes a step forward in playability by actually injecting intelligence, plot and emotion into the traditionally faceless racing genre.

A slapdash port of a PlayStation 2 game ported across simply to cash in on a total cow of a licence.

Technically, everything about this game is average. The graphics are passable, the sound and speech are good (but hardly mind-blowing) and the gameplay is familiar.

While it’s tricky to recommend a game that doesn’t run too well on a piece of hardware with static tech-specs, the fact remains that, gawd bless ’im, old Max had us entirely enthralled until the end of his adventure.

An enjoyable remix of all the best that platform adventures have to offer and, ultimately, it can only be your loss if you do decide to pass on it.

The plot is in badly translated Japanese and makes little sense, but still the game is curiously 'unputdownable'.

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.

Frustrating as it can be, every fight is a spectacle of chaotic gameplay that will have you absorbed.

And there's Dark Alliance's core problem in a nutshell – it plonks you in one of the most painstakingly created gaming universes to ever emerge, and yet you're more than happy to be kept within this episode's central, linear plot-path.

Despite the fact that the gameplay is quite deep and requires a fair amount of thought to do well at, the actual game itself is incredibly easy to pick up.

Put simply, this is certainly worth giving a go if you’re looking for some high-speed thrills, death-defying leaps and gorgeous eye candy.

A must for Simpsons fans, and is fun in short bursts, but this kind of game is better suited to the instant gameplay environment of the arcade. You might be miffed when you've seen all there is after a few hours of play.

A decidedly average game.

Visually the game is now crisp like snow as far as the eye can see.

The game is fast and smooth, with colourful graphics and easy to control characters. The action is non-stop and there are loads of missions, requiring your expert skills.

With varied enemies, inventive weapon pick-ups, attach enhancements, four-player link-up, secret areas and, of course, three of the coolest crime-fighters around to play as, fans of The Powerpuff Girls – and anyone looking for a quick fix of button-bashing – will find plenty to enjoy here!

The GameCube version of XG3 is, to be frank, bloody marvellous.

This will sink without trace and rightly so.

The end result is, like the best blockbuster movies, a flawed but enjoyable waste of time.

The reasonably slick framerate is compromised somewhat in the slightly lacklustre two-player sections. Ultimately, Dark Summit takes a fairly tired genre and breathes some new life into it.

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.

There is nothing in this game which stands out to make it playable; not in the story, nor the gameplay, nor the graphics, and the vast majority of it is poorly thought out, second hand, uninteresting and redundant drivel.

You have the instant playability of the Dreamcast classic ["Crazy Taxi"], but with television's favourite family stuck onto it. How can it go wrong?

While it does last (and there is plenty of replay value), it will provide most gamers with an experience even more enjoyable than kicking back and smoking a pound of grade A swampweed.

From the title screen to the sound effects, everything here is right. You can even see the outside decals of the machine around the screen as if you have just popped down to the arcade!

It’ll certainly keep you busy, until the next FIFA game comes out (in a few months), just don’t expect to be too excited by it.

It may be a cliché, but you will soon involuntarily be nodding your head in time with the breaks, whether they be rawk guitars or looped vocals.

This steep learning curve will put off some people but if you stick with it there is a sublime game to be discovered.

As well as upgrading the visuals and modes though, the controls have also been tweaked; while the original game was considered a bit too fast to play properly, Smackdown: JBI has been slowed down ever so slightly to allow for more strategic and authentic action… which is always a good thing.

Unfortunately, the camera grates throughout proceedings and you often find yourself either stuck behind scenery or with Frogger running directly toward you and thus not being able to see where you are going.

Whilst THQ’s game lacks the technical depth of "Fire Pro Wrestling," it makes up for this with five different game modes including Exhibition, King of the Ring and as the game’s title suggests Wrestlemania.

There's a lot in Warioland to wow you but, at the end of the day, it's just a GBC adventure with nice graphics. Which is REAL daylight robbery.

Jaw-droppingly gorgeous.

Don't worry about what it isn't, just enjoy it for what it is – one of the few playable and, yep, fairly enjoyable superhero games out there.

If you're one of the lucky ones who haven't had the pleasure then please, go out and buy it; you'll find it an absolute joy. Unfortunately, it's a joy most of us have already experienced and moved on from.

Not only is it the most beautiful racing game we’ve seen since SEGA’s "Ferrari F355 Challenge," but it’s also more playable—amazingly—than "WaveRace 64."

Even for a baseball game it's boring.

The fact that NHL Hitz is so easy to pick up and then so playable once you're hooked is the thing that makes the game a total success in our book – there are so few sports games around these days that manage to do the job so well.

It is in essence, a very generic experience, which is shallow and unrewarding.

It’s not perfect, but Harry Potter is a sterling, fun play wrapped up in the magic of Hogwarts and it’s enchantments, making it a must have for muggles and wizarding folk alike!

This game is quite good. It’s quite addictive, and takes more than an hour to complete, really marking it off from previous efforts.

If you liked the previous games you’re going to love Munch’s Oddysee – it’s as simple as that!

To have a game this amazingly good on day one brings tears of joy to our eyes. Everything in Halo is going to make you praise the day you were born.

Despite looking long and hard, we can’t seem to find any actual game in here?

Some quiet and mildly distracting gaming, but also instils the feeling that you’d rather ditch your ride in favour of something sexier like, dare we say it, a skateboard.

Ultimately, Vampire Night lacks the sparkle that the best examples of this genre display. It looks good, sounds okay (apart from some cheesy voice-acting) and whilst it lasts (not very long as it happens) it is quite entertaining.

Well, we need a licence for sure...and how about some cool bands for the soundtrack?...Well, I can’t think what else I would have written.Urm… I think we’re done.

A quite shallow, but still rather fun game of combat that can be quick to play and is enjoyable for a short period of time but just lacks the depth that most commanders of armies would like to see.

Falls closer to mediocrity than it does greatness. The basic gameplay is sound enough -– the screen scrolls very quickly and the controls are responsive, but after a few plays you'll notice that the cars all follow the same pattern and this is one of many flaws in the overall AI.

The textures in this game may not look quite as nice as the Bungie first-person shooter, but it does make up for it with a lovely blur effect giving you a real sensation of speed and some fairly attractive lighting and shadowing.

The excitement is just too short-lived and even the biggest fans of the movie are more than likely to be disappointed.

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.

The finished result is a game that rewrites the book on realism in videogames. The length they have gone to to recreate the experience of driving the world's best cars around the world's most exciting cities will astound you.

A generic air combat flight experience with Dreamcast-quality graphics and a couple of new effects.

A finely honed beat-'em-up that reveals an exceptional amount of depth after prolonged play. Sadly, however, even the most ardent Xbox fans in the office struggled to argue that this is anything more than "DOA2" with big brass knobs on.

There is just too much to think about whilst racing around the levels. Virtually every single part of the pad is used and some of the buttons are used twice! Add to this the multitude of power-ups and there’s just too much to handle.

Admittedly, this game is designed to be played in multiplayer and when done so is quite fun. For about ten minutes.

The reduced teams make this game not only easier to follow but also a lot more fun to play than the EA hockey game.

A fast and fun arcade racer.

Considering the remarkably silly subject matter, Palmer’s does an excellent job of providing some seriously enjoyable gaming.

In many areas Ghost Recon has the balance between shooting and thinking just about spot-on.

EA has turned in a shockingly playable Bond game that looks as good as it plays – and that is damn fine.

So many games nowadays fall short when it comes to life span, but Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 is the very definition of value for money.

Indeed, it seems as though very little thought has been put into the single player campaign full stop...What's worse is the fact that the computer cheats like fury in the single-player campaigns.

One of the best and most addictive sim-games available at present, and this expansion pack is definitely better value for your simoleans than any of the other add-ons have been.

An enjoyable RTS game in the Age of Empire mold that will last even the most experienced of gamers quite some time with the various gameplay and map-making options available within it.

SOL's storyline (and this is being generous) is woefully inept, consisting of such high-calibre nonsense that there's absolutely no point following it.

The characters and story seem horribly last generation with a complete lack of artistic design and sophistication.

I enjoyed playing this game more than I thought I would do - the Age of Kings fan in me made sure of that - but it must be sad that SW:GB looks remarkably dated given the current state of the RTS market.

The missions are playable, but nothing to write home about and in fact if it wasn’t for the gore there would really be nothing to recommend this at all. Oh, and it takes bloody ages to load.

Exceptionally well designed, plays on a greater scale and requires more thought than Volition’s pretty baby ["Red Faction"] and so comes highly recommended.

'brilliant', 'fantastic' and 'a breathtaking work of genius.'

Whilst the game certainly contains plenty of exciting and innovative touches (such as stamina, hero units and the points scoring system to improve units) these are all somewhat nullified by the utterly chaotic nature of combat, and the fact that the single player campaign always pits you against impossible odds that make the game much harder - not because the computer is clever, just because it has bigger and better units.

THIS IS THE BEST ADVENTURE ON THE GAME BOY ADVANCE!

The most beautifully balanced, well-crafted 2D beat-‘em-up to grace God’s fair Earth.

The competing cars really don't have a clue that you exist, happily veering into your vehicle should it happen to occupy a piece of track that they fancy for themselves.

The story is as good as ever and backed by some of the best sound of any PSone game and a smattering of smooth FMV scenes the atmosphere is bang up there with the best.