If Capcom wants this hard-core beat-’em-up to appeal beyond a niche market changing the control system alone is not enough.

It still has a definite 'one-more-go' appeal and thus the sense of satisfaction when you complete missions is immense. Whilst not quite as accomplished as the Medal Of Honor games, Crashdown is certainly recommended for those looking for a decent FPS treat.

Bigger, more intricate and rather more absorbing that the first half of the story, The Lost Age is not only a great continuation of the Golden Sun saga but also a deeply satisfying game in its own right.

Far from perfect: a few choice annoyances ensure this. But in terms of enjoyment, there is a sizeable chunk of hours to play through, with or without the story sequences.

Even when you take into account some other minor disappointments on top of the AI though (such as the mess of a multiplayer mode and some annoying graphical glitches that occur on occasion), there’s still no denying that Freedom Fighters is a fairly impressive effort and a fun game to boot.

Origins provides you with two mammoth-sized RPGs in the form of Final Fantasy I and II. Both offer fantastic stories, and anyone familiar with the later games in the series will immediately be immersed.

The good thing with Midtown Madness 3 is that it doesn’t take itself at all seriously.

Not the revolution we had expected, perhaps, but it's still got classic Revolution written all over it, and that's just about fine with us.

Short, sweet and tough as a bastard.

There are enough changes and additions to NHL Hitz 20-03 to justify a purchase and if you are a fan of the game you won’t be disappointed.

Despite the password system and the small amount of levels, the target audience will get further play out of the mini-games (the Arkanoid-style game where you get to bounce Salem around is by far the best) and will probably take a bit longer to complete the adventure.

Sure, there are some flaws but you can have some good fun edging your way through the missions and the Co-op mode is a godsend.

We also love the fact that many of the in-world objects can be used as weapons (chairs, ashtrays, spades) and that you can take hostages, releasing them after a incapacitating squeeze to the throat.

In essence (online play) transforms it from being a non-descript hockey title, to the hockey game to own. What more can we say?

What impresses is the structural coherency of the game world: anything you see and think ‘I ought to be able to stick a bike on that’ will indeed be solid and available for tricks duty, from moving cars to power cables, scaffolding and tree branches.

If you thought your Xbox was only good for driving games and first-person shooters think again.

Even with the addition of downloadable content via Live (more than likely roster updates), and some inventive cheat modes that can be acquired such as big heads, big feet and various gameplay enhancing modes, NBA Jam is unlikely to be at the top on anyone's shopping list.

Everything about this game sounds better on paper. The locations, range of vehicles and even the zero gravity final show down all fall short of their billing.

At it's best this is a fiery action adventure, at it's worst it relies too heavily on pootling around a map while the sense of combat is halved the moment you use any weapon that doesn't cause a massive explosion. It's also rather brown.

Where the game stalls is not in what it gives you, but what it doesn’t. Maybe it’s us, but we really enjoyed the mission debriefings that "Ace Combat" offered.

The game represents an interesting twist on the traditional hacking and slashing themes but at the end of the day, it is still just that to anyone who can't be swayed by some RPG-lite elements and a few more enemies on screen.

You can criticise it for not being a perfect reproduction of tennis and sometimes getting a little over-excited with its colours and power moves but you can't hate this game just because it wants you to have fun.

One of the most fantastically rubbish games of the year. It's a game that combines awesome with awful, cool with crap and it could tear the nation in two. Will you love it or hate it? Sorry, we can't help you out with that one because this is a Marmite moment and it's spread very, very thick.

What Sly offers is what it has always offered; quality cartoon stylisation and tight (yet slight) play mechanics. It's a gentle game that leads you through it with welcome arms.

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.

Despite its range of lewd caricatures, Outlaw Golf is actually less outrageous than we'd hoped for, but then again - that's golf.

Every mission gives you a new perspective on the game, causing you to re-evaluate your prior thoughts and strategies, giving priority to different units in different battles.

There is actually much to praise in Rygar – the style, in particular, being wonderful. The seven worlds are packed with imaginative designs that range from the crumbling Coliseum of the game’s opening to islands in the sky.

The difficulty level is very high, even on baby-mode and the AI is no slouch on mixing up the special attacks. Fans will love the new additions and enormity of the game, although some might be put off by the pared down attacks but those new to the series may be put off by the rock hard difficulty level.

It's the sort of title we'd recommend to anyone who fancies something a little different and is prepared to put in several hours hard graft - but it's just too slow and doesn't twist itself far enough into the spooky or surreal.

A decent if flawed game that despite the great licence can’t help but wallow in its own mundane, self-inflicted faults. What we are left with is an altogether average game.

Rainbow Six Lockdown doesn't quite join the ranks of the big guns because it has too many inconsistencies and troublesome flaws to hold up as an endlessly entertaining experience.

It lacks the smooth edges and convincing action sequences of its Star Wars predecessors; KOTOR is still in a different galaxy.

A lot better than anyone dared to imagine (damn that Atari ‘classic!’) – just don't expect the game to be as timeless and breathtaking as the movie and you'll have a good time.

Just as Spider-Man has to struggle with the burden of trying to live a normal life as Peter Parker, Spider-Man 2 struggles to find balance between the open ended gameplay of titles such as GTA it has so obviously been influenced by and platform games of old and their out-moded approach to boss fights.

Porsche 2000's structure, innovation and control deserve a better canvas on which to paint.

Obviously there is a definite audience ready to lap up the action herein and they will enjoy the chance to explore various areas of Sunnydale, all of which have been recreated perfectly.

Demon Stone's epic battles are also its biggest failing. For all its multiple combos, dynamic looking spells and various magical items (which can all be handily purchased at the end of each level) the hack and slash gameplay is still extremely basic.

The wisely balanced sim and arcade elements are combined with fantastic presentation to make for a very slick package that boxing fans will enjoy.

Fans of S-RPGs will adore this game. When you play a game as in-depth as this you aren't paying too much attention to how pretty the graphics are. That said, Intelligent Systems has had experience with the GameCube previously and there's no excuse for the game looking as bland it does. [JPN Import]

This game is a good, solid beat-’em-up, but it’s no Street Fighter or Tekken. Despite the fact that the fighters are in 3D, the game is really a 2D experience.

This is as straight a port as you’re likely to see. Whatever Eidos were doing over the last six to eight months, it certainly wasn’t improving the package.

Although World Driver Championship is technically superb and looks gorgeous, it''s arcadey where it should be realistic and vice versa. The end result is that it's just not thrilling enough.

While certainly nothing for the self proclaimed 'hardcore' to worry about, those looking for some light fun will be more than content with Tak and his shit-eating grin.

Yes, this is the best AC yet, but come on, how about a new approach that includes a sense of scale?

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

This isn't the most gratifying FPS game out there, or is it the deepest but it does have its place. You all know us, you know what we do for a living so you should realise that we really don't like saying that a game would make an ideal rental.

The question on everyone's lips though, is whether all of this is enough to take it up to the heights of Ace Combat? Well sadly no and we get the feeling that this is never going to be lethal enough to take on the Namco shooter.

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.

Even though its flaws are few and petty for the most part, the length of the game accentuates them to a point of some frustration. Thankfully, though, the story and unique elements are enough to ensure extended play.

It may be far from perfect, but there are fleeting moments of exhilaration where FIFA 06 resembles a game of football like no other, and when this is coupled with a 15 year Career mode that now even enables you to choose your team's sponsor, even the most stubborn EA-hater will have to concede that this, for the most part, is a success.

Its mission structure. It is just… so highly structured. You have the freedom of movement that an antigravity board provides and a very strict set of rules to follow – surely we have a paradox here.

These bugs, alongside the simplistic taverns, swordfights, trading arrangements, one-screen locations and Benny Hill-style beach skirmishes, make Pirates! feel like Treasure Island in a Pirates of the Caribbean world.

Merely more of the same, which is good enough as the original kept us enthralled to the end.

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.

Koei certainly knows how to sell an add-on without leaving its consumers feeling cheated - basically, this is how expansion packs for console games should be employed.

A refreshingly original release.

Not as great as real poker, but certainly the next best thing. Now take those socks off, we got three kings.

While we can't see Lock-On bringing the genre back to the masses, the sheer visual appeal, the depth of the missions and ability to customise and make the game your own should see it do a lot better than recent efforts.

The developer has obviously done the best it can with the camera and you will have few problems controlling your men. It can be incredibly annoying that the camera can't pull away from the action just a fraction more.

The battle system is light years ahead of anything else in the RPG world - remarkably, it actually makes dungeon crawling fun - and the sheer amount of options you have with it means that you'll never get bored. [JPN Import]

The level introductions are a bit forced, but the one-liners, comic asides, character interaction and laid back gameplay is the perfect accompaniment for the summer sun.

A blast, and for some simple brainless hack n’ slash action you won’t find a better packed or well-presented disc on the PS2.

Sure, the bizarre and quirky style might not be to everyone's taste, but if it is possible to create a revolution in the pinball genre, then Flipnic is the game to do it and is certainly worthy of your attention.

The bottom line is, Euro 2004 is good, better than anyone expected and an improvement over "FIFA 2004." Things would have been even better with Live support.

Beyond the fine-tuning in visuals and updated line-up there is little in the way of new experiences on offer compared to the previous EA F1 games. Sure you’ve got the new cars and tracks, but is this really going to make the difference over F1 2001?

At the end of the day it's best to simply grit your teeth and fight through the odd annoyance in order to gain a better look at the wider picture on offer. It seems that Blood Will Tell is hardly a classic, but it spins a gripping yarn none the less.

The game is solid. Especially on the multiplayer side of things.

Main problem: you can only fire your Batgrapple at specific points...We wanted the freedom of Tenchu and all we received was a hook through the nose with a finger pulling us the right way.

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!

Quite a challenge to control, with his Sonic-style attacks, and many acrobatic skills.

It’s slow running, sluggish to control and there’s some horrific pop-up.

Despite the obvious simplicity of such basic controls, Mad Maestro manages to play fairly convincingly.

Overall, pleasant is the best word to describe this. Musashi: Samurai Pleasant. Sounds far more apt.

It is a hell of a lot better than the previous incarnation of Silent Hill but if you’re planning on getting the third tale, you’re going to have to be a real survival horror fan.

A pleasant surprise. It's a game that focuses on having fun and the fact that it stretches your grey matter at the same time is an added bonus.

This is aimed at the younger player so don’t expect too much, but it remains a solid introduction to the genre that’s easy to get into and fun to play.

It’s not going to keep you amused for a very long time.

A game that does everything it needs to do with just a touch of garnish here and there.

The trouble is, with the likes of "Project Gotham Racing 3" and "Test Drive Unlimited" looking pretty awesome - that level of expectation is very high - and this latest Need For Speed adventure doesn't quite have the weight to match it.

It really does feel like being there, or at least watching it on the television in the early hours of the morning, without having to stay up late.

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.

While the single-player may be short work for the fans and hard going for the casuals, the multiplayer action is a massive incentive to pick up this excellent bargain buy.

The combat system has a depth that allows you to learn new moves and string together long combos for some slick fighting while the vivid comic book style goes some way to explain the occasionally basic look of some of the sections.

It's more indicative of the current crop of racing games that a 15 year-old concept feels so refreshing.

There's little cohesion between one level and another, which makes the whole experience like fast-forwarding between fight scenes while trying to understand the story.

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.

The fairly simplistic gameplay mechanics may not appeal to rallying purists, but anyone looking for an accessible, if somewhat unorthodox, racing title will find much to enjoy here.

Essentially, what we have here is a lightweight arcade-style driving game that’s great fun to play in the short-term. Sadly, the whole thing comes to an end to rapidly.

The Warriors doesn't do anything particularly wrong - it's a perfectly acceptable game - but at the same time it doesn't do anything spectacular.

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.

Overall there's more to do and experience in Return of the King than in The Two Towers, but consequently this tends to frustrate more than please.

If the action sequences weren't so damn good it would be difficult to overlook this.

Burnout is the worst example to date as you can be in first place yet still run out of time, a facet which is both infuriating, common to several courses and, considering the likelihood of at least a few collisions, utterly predictable.

The worst part of all is the shocking lack of a multiplayer mode, and this is one of the main reasons why it doesn’t get a higher score. Still, jolly good fun… for a while!

Playing as Kong is a joy, (see boxout for details) but it's all too brief a flirtation with primal rage - scooping Ann up in his oversized hand and fending-off a Jurassic Park of tyrannosaurs with wrestling inspired moves, after swinging through a jungle canopy with all the grace of Ico is inspiring, but it feels like little more than a cameo.

For Britney fans the inclusion of exclusive unlockable DVD footage will make this a must-have. As for everyone else there are far better (and cheaper) examples of the genre on the market which we suggest you check out first.

For such a promising, daring game ultimately to play no differently at the end than it did at the beginning only underscores what a tremendous disappointment it is. As a pure cinematic experience it's absolutely unrivalled; as a videogame, it falls tragically short of the mark.