For a character torn between good and evil, Heaven and Hell, Spawn can be a pretty dull guy and so very, very average.

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

Bass Strike’s main ailment seems to be its rather delicate control system...Sensitive? It’s like a freshly exposed groin wound; you move too quickly and the fish is off, you wind in too slowly and the – fish – is – off.

In "Wipeout," when a missile is homing in on you, you are filled with a sense of dread and impending doom. In Drome Racers you just can’t help thinking “oh well, never mind”, which sums it up nicely.

Now it's here and we can't help to say with steadfast assuredness that it's not worth your effort.

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.

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'.

If you're after a decent platform adventure game for a gamer between the ages of three and nine, Carmen is perfect. Straightforward gameplay, varied graphics, a memorable villain and a slice of science will satisfy anyone in that age group.

Suitably colourful environments, arcade gameplay and a respectable targeting system are but three reasons to get this honestly-priced shooter that blends the thrill of first-person shooting against a slightly irksome joy of riding a bike.

A nice-looking and solid dungeon crawl that offers a viable alternative to the excellent range of PC RPGs out there.

A game of two vastly differing stories. One tells of the awesome technology and design work that has gone into constructing the game world. The other is about a failure to utilise that game world into making a cohesive, fun and rewarding videogame experience. Driv3r is glitchy, unfinished and, as we've already stated, fundamentally flawed.

The real problem is - aside from the lack of speed - the awful handling and controls. It doesn’t feel like a motorbike and actually controls like a normal player character, in that you accelerate by pushing forwards with the left stick, and control direction with the right.

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

A pretty plain, non-radical slice of action that can’t even get close to other Extreme Sports games.

We found that the need to hammer the A, B, L and R buttons repeatedly did get quite painful after a while. Doubtless fans of the Ready 2 Rumble series will love it though.

Jam just feels remarkably like the quickly cobbled together game it so obviously is, leaving it in the awkward position of being less balanced than "Alpha 2" or "Street Fighter III," less joyful than "Marvel Vs Capcom 2" and far uglier than "Guilty Gear."

Vietcong is perfect proof that all the authenticity in the world doesn't necessarily make a great game.

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

A total disappointment. It certainly has all the bells and whistles that you'd expect, so we have to commend SEGA for that; however, with the quality of the main game being lower that we've come to expect from Sonic's homestead, it's just not enough to justify the asking price.

This is without a doubt a really fun little game.

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.

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.

Invisible walls, unintuitive controls, an overgenerous landing ability and an overall sensation of direness that’ll make anyone who’s familiar with extreme sports games, find playing this one just dull.

The levels are well designed with bright, colourful graphics throughout, making the game seem almost like the film, and with so many personalities to talk to there's never a dull moment.

Aside from the somewhat devastating problems with the camera, Combat Elite is a nifty little number that has all the addictiveness, interaction, and 'pick up and play' of many retro titles that people still cherish today.

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.

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.

The Dark Judges do not conjure up the fear they bring to the comic and are too easily defeated, but still, it's Dredd done by Dredd people for the Dredd public, who will love it.

And if they've seen the film - all the better, though you should really read them the books and put on funny voices. They'll appreciate that more.

It is very enjoyable to play through and does feature moments of brilliance. However, we think a lot of you will be disappointed by what it has to offer.

Yes, Colosseum is a lot like Shadow Of Rome but with number juggling and a total lack of slightly incongruous stealth sections.

While there are a few tweaks, this is essentially the same game as the previous three.

The characters themselves seem to fight more like they have nagging arthritis rather than immeasurable mutant powers. And the FMV sequences would insult even PS2 owners.

A competent fighter that has potential but just misses the mark.

While some levels are a little staid, others, the Vegas-themed level and Racoon City in particular, are riotous, with the latter requiring you to steel a rampant Nemesis' coin stash. Charming as Cosmi's grin.

All in all, it may only be one for the fanatics but there is a lot of fun to be had with Channel. Some of the better parts had us in stitches and while the game itself may be fairly linear and restricted, it makes up for it in terms of sheer amusement. [JPN Import]

One giant leap for GBA visual design, hardly a tip-toe for platforming gameplay.

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.

While this certainly isn't for everyone, it is a good game that will bring you hours of entertainment if you're prepared to put the work in.

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.

The Gulf War, and modern warfare, is a tough topic to tackle and sadly this game just doesn’t go far enough to explore the war or the opportunities of a unique team system. A missed opportunity.

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.

When it comes down to it all, the game plays true to the film. Boring, clichéd, sometimes grimace inducing and deeply, deeply average.

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 only way someone would see like this is if they hung around with Timothy Leary a bit too often in the Sixties, or fought exclusively in Agent Orange blackspots during the Vietnam war. From beginning to end, a bad idea.

Although some of the later missions are very hard, it has a well-pitched difficulty curve, where most missions will require a few goes to crack and will require you to learn the road layout, which you’ll quite happily do.

A decidedly average game.

There's the excellent AI, providing plenty of intense situations wherein you must outwit your enemies. The intelligence of the game’s often tricky challenges make their completion all the more rewarding.

If you’re a fan of the movies, don’t own Evil Dead 2 on DVD, and you’re not expecting too much from this amusing but shallow game, then shop smart, shop S-mart. Groovy.

Visually, the game disappoints by looking less like Kornikova and more like Navaratilova...You should forget this game ever came out...wait for the arrival of Mario Tennis instead.

So where are the virtua fighters in Virtua Fighter Cyber Generation? They are in there, it's just they're well hidden and take some time to find. Maybe they're too embarrassed to be associated with Sei's mess of a game or maybe they got lost on their way to "Virtua Fighter 5."

Unfortunately this battle system doesn''t help the fact that Orphen has average written all over it.

Frantic and enjoyable.

It very quickly becomes tedious. Only look into this if you are a hardened puzzle fan.

There are virtually no sound effects or voice samples included at all, leaving the dire music to keep your ears entertained. Add weak animation and bland graphics to these other failings and you have a title almost totally lacking in charm and appeal.

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.

It doesn’t take long to work out that they’ve basically reduced an intelligent thriller into a brainless beat-’em-up. Be warned!

One problem with this game is the targeting system. The auto aim is far too generous, thus removing any kind of skill factor. You can switch it off but then it becomes absolutely impossible to hit anything.

Reign Of Fire looks impressive, creating a suitably post-apocalyptic world, but everything is so brown that the visuals become rather samey very quickly.

Dead To Rights II is confused. It's an action title where you spend the majority of your time waiting. It's a videogame where you'll out-swear the gritty characters onscreen. It's a sequel that's not as good as its predecessor.

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.

It’s a shame, because the first game had some really innovative ideas and it would have been nice to have seen a few of them here!

The graphics are still rough as a badger's arse, the AI remains as remedial as ever and the slimmed down strategic side effectively eliminates the only reason there was to play it in the first place.

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.

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

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

There simply isn't enough in terms of innovation, subtlety or charm in this game for it to be considered worthy of spending £40 on.

Sadly, this promising variety of stealth, third-person shooter and vehicle-based gameplay rather predictably sees each element being delivered half-baked. A distinct vein of average runs throughout proceedings – from the lacklustre visuals to each mission’s overly linear string of objectives.

In short, there are no clear delineations in skill level. Whilst this is one way of making Virtual On more inclusive, it also removes much of the game’s innate charm. To make matters more complicated, Marz lacks a TwinStick peripheral.

This is strictly for the hardest of the die-hard RPG fans, those with the grubbiest vests and wittiest one-liners, everyone else steer well clear.

A good fun game for a while, but the short story mode lets it down a little bit.

A great game, created with style and care, that will be a crucial part of any Britney collection.

By Great Odin’s teeth, this is an average game of the most average order. Dull alsö.

It isn’t going to win any prizes in any departments – that’s one thing that can be sure. However, there’s a certain amount of fun to be had with this in a no-brainer hack and slash-type way.

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

Harvester really does combine slick packaging, with true depth of gameplay and innovation. For those with a liking for the strange, unusual and downright revolting, or just a taste for great adventure games, I can''t hesitate to recommend it.

Essentially a straightforward and linear trawl around vaguely familiar scenarios from the film, requiring little thought other than bashing at the buttons to attack, or flipping switches to progress.

3DO, you cannot trick us, this is ANOTHER Army Men game, now vying for the Lara vote with a feisty new heroine.

Final gripe of the day is that you can come first or second in a race by simply holding down accelerate and bouncing off the walls. Need we say more about the skill level involved? No, didn’t think so.

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

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.

Cutting edge software this is not, and when you consider that it’s a port of existing PS2 and GameCube games, you realise that this is a simple cash-in.

On the GameCube though, without adding any more to the game such as an extra character or stage, this seems a pretty pointless release of an average game.

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.

More than any other game around, Dredd vs Death is destined to be a real fan favourite. Sure, we love the Lawgiver, in places the visual style works well, but generally this is a run-of-the-mill FPS dogged by an adherence to the laws of Dredd’s world. This is little more than a dependable shooter.

It’s also a shame that the game descends into almost laughable cliché somewhere in the middle section of Peter’s adventure, with tiresome key searching and predictable enemies.

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.'

Too bad the sugar in this car's tank comes in the form of handling that is as unresponsive as heavily handling can be. Driving like the Good Ol' Boys is often a matter of luck, while that holler button does get annoying after a few hours.

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.

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.

The game appears to be a little confused as to what it is. Action, adventure, stealth and puzzles all play an equal part in The Angel Of Darkness. Core seems to getting unsure what to do with the franchise, either that or the developer is simply trying too hard.

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.

Indeed, it's the guards that ruin it for everyone, by being remorselessly crap at their jobs, losing you when you run round two corners, shooting erratically and - worst of all - not recognising the significance of a vent shaft as something that "leads somewhere", and allowing you to escape every time you enter one.

Boundless disappointment is perhaps the best way to describe the gut feeling Dino Crisis 3 elicits in the player. Vast empty spaces on the ship manage to create a real sense of isolation, but at the same time, the game's emphasis on backtracking turns any feeling of exigency into tedium. [Japan Import]

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.

Graphics and sound are impressive enough, but we have come to expect more than that from top new releases, and when the poor AI is factored in, Breed looks less and less appealing. Get your FPS fix elsewhere!

And as all this PS2 majesty seeps in through your senses you’ll find your hand reaching to the back of the PS2 as your body makes an involuntary movement toward self-preservation. Click!

Namco's game seems content to be mediocre, and for a game that carries the Tekken legacy on its shoulders (and will probably sell a huge number of units as a result) that's just too disappointing to forgive.