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.

Just a little underdeveloped. A little more freedom of play and movement would have done justice to the original ideas, then the hype would have been justified.

It’s a good looking game – without being stunning – it handles well and offers a refreshing alternative to the usual racing fare. Some of the races do get frustrating, but on the whole, Midnight Club II is an enjoyable experience – particularly in multiplayer mode.

Full of options and it plays like a dream, but even if you're not playing you'll be impressed.

Half the fun came from picking out each light in an area before flipping on the night vision and having some fun with any gullible goons.

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.

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.

The artificial feel of the game hampers its campaign to become one of the best shooters of its kind, and (as we’ve seen time and time again) the main gimmick has sold the rest of the experience short.

It’s a fast and furious blast that should appeal to all grapple fans. Now how’s about giving us 80’s Metal Vendetta next, EA?

The actual game isn’t special enough to warrant more than the usual amount of puzzle fan attention.

Pretty much everything you could ever want from a rally game is in there, with the exception of a two-player co-operative event. Now that really would put the icing on the cake.

Perhaps most notable is the undeniable beauty of the surroundings in which all of this takes place.

One interesting touch is the apologise button. You can wave to a rival racer in the hope that they'll forget the pummelling theyíve just received.

There's plenty to discover and see, but because it's almost just as easy to button bash as it is to perform the moves properly: the longevity is seriously affected.

Thanks to the half-decent camera you can also get right down into the action to appreciate the slaughter even more. It’s worth getting Operation Genesis for this opportunity alone.

We’d recommend Primal to those of you who like games to act as a dictator rather than an instigator. And those who find fetching cups off coffee comparable to the heroic tasks undertaken by the heroes of Greek mythology.

Graphically, DW4 is a giant leap ahead of the past Dynasty Warriors games. The animation is now smoother and more imaginative, the effects wild and dazzling, and slowdown is thankfully rare.

If this genre really is what you’re into, you’re going to enjoy this game. As always, there’s absolutely loads to do and think about.

Though the Chaos mode great fun, there really isn't much to enjoy beyond this. The wealth of game modes, secrets and graphical wizardry we saw in "Kung-fu Chaos" is simply lacking in State of Emergency.

Aside from being a hell of a lot easier than "Colin" to get to grips with, the overall experience is not as engaging as Codemasters’ title.

This is a very deep simulation and it’s this kind of detail that makes it so addictive, showing up other wannabes like "Jurassic Park: Project Genesis."

Everything about The Sims just reeks of quality and charm; from the way that every Sim action is beautifully animated to the way they talk to each other, and you, in voices that you can almost make out. But can’t.

If you’ve got a PC lying around then you’re better off with the PC version, but The Sims on GameCube is still a mind-blisteringly good game if judged on its own merits.

It might take some getting into and it’ll all but certainly fry your brain after extended play but trust us… Amplitude is well worth the mental and physical torment and you won’t play a better music game this year.

One of the most well oiled pieces of software to be released, ever. This can stand proud next to the likes of "A Link To The Past" and "Ocarina Of Time." You'll be coming back to it again and again for many years to come.

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

These games are massive, easily rivalling any recent console release in terms of size, scale and re-playability.

Yes there is some fun to be had but you’ll get bored long before you unlock all the characters or see the final 26th level.

Colourful, cute and unoriginal then, just like Rayman has always been.

But the puzzles are rarely that puzzling, the enemies aren’t frightening in either their appearance or their behaviour and only the game’s novel use of the ancient lock/key conundrum makes it stand out.

It’s been carefully crafted to provide superb gameplay, and especially great graphics, despite the fact that games of this nature can only ever really be used for boredom-busting.

It doesn’t aim to break the mould or do anything particularly innovative, but instead relies on proven ingredients and a good line in humour to keep things ticking.

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.

A fine looking title which falls down by being massively frustrating, Tao Feng can consider itself a wasted opportunity to combine the better elements from the Mortal Kombat and Dead or Alive series.

Sadly, your competitors behave like drones, slaves to the racing line. When a rider glances over at you, your presence has not really been registered.

Aside from a few new gameplay aspects, this is "Rayman 2" all over again.

The sheer scale of the game is breathtaking, and there is an undeniable feeling of freedom in roaming the stars at your pleasure between missions.

The one thing that really stands out about Grand Prix Challenge though is the quality of the graphics and the amazing frame-rate that makes every course look sublime.

The perfect example of how to update a classic game without losing the spark of sheer enjoyment that made it great in the first place. This is the first must-buy game of 2003.

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?).

The critics will be keen to slam these scenes as a crucial flaw but while we’d agree that they are possibly the most annoying factor, they do an excellent job of pushing the story forward and after the first few hours, the balance becomes much more acceptable.

If you are a rally fan then the addictive gameplay coupled with the sight of the perfectly recreated cars racing around official tracks should be enough to overlook any rough edges.

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

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

This combination of adherence to the Lucas/Spielberg rules and innovative game design not only makes this a convincing depiction of an icon, but also makes for a satisfying and rewarding play.

Short, sweet and tough as a bastard.

If you’re even remotely interested in RPGs, you have to bury yourself in this – it takes a bit of time to grow on you, but once Dark Cloud 2 has you, it won’t let go for a very long time.

Manages to offer you completely believable and very original environments that don’t just go for all the usual stereotypes.

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.

The no-holds barred combat fails to provide the variety you’d want and the gore of the real event isn’t in evidence.

Does little to break the classic platform mould but those of you who enjoy these types of games should find enough in it to provide some enjoyment.

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

In such a saturated genre perfection is necessary but Vexx only comes off as average.

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.

Think of it as PSO I+II… though not as good and minus the online features. Make of that what you will.

It’s certainly different, is very unsettling and, if you’re into Manga-esque narratives, then you’ll love it.

It’s all very “out-there”. It’s all very stylish. And apart from the addition of some new and fairly self-explanatory mode updates and some stylishly presented menus this is really what makes Guilty Gear X2 stand out from the crowd.

This pack gives a great new lease to a game that has far from run out of steam.

For all of its failings though, Skies Of Arcadia Legends is a worthy game. The atmosphere draws you in completely, and the wonderful characters make your journey through this massive game a total joy.

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.

On one hand the characters and art endear you towards it, but when it comes down to it, the fighting is just too shallow to recommend this over any other boxing game out there.

A few flashy new moves hardly compensate for the lack of subtlety and polish that was so evident in the original title.

An above average volleyball game to go along with an equally average relationship simulator and a digital version of a sticker book collection system. Think with your brain and avoid this.

An enjoyable yet unoriginal game.

Like "SSX Tricky," ATV2 relies on tight playability to keep your mind off the averageness of the visuals. The only real moan is that crashes lack any sort of bone-jarring impact.

The game’s full of such annoyances, but it manages to (almost) balance up its frustrating nature with the weight of its truly black heart, good looks and the questionable joy of emptying out a Soho ponce bar to the sound of an AK-47.

It is hectic fun that's packed with (largely mindless) violence... It soon gets repetitive though with most missions involving similar enemies and following a similar structure. It is a good blast however.

The single most impressive thing about this game is the visuals. It ‘s quite remarkable to behold. Not in a “isn’t that pretty as an oil painting” kind of way, but in the sheer grand scale of it.

Great news if you've never played the games before and have large pockets, but for those who hoped to revisit the entire series in the same fashion as they did the original, this is nothing short of a major disappointment.

The graphics have been polished up significantly from the original, but it still looks very ropey alongside Remake and Zero.

This game is brilliant, but it scares us.

It’s not going to rock your world, but it looks good, sounds good, plays great and is sure to put a big old smile on your face.

Any country that regularly throws machine-recovered meat down their throats while sucking on a drink that tastes like it should be pumped down the gullets of burns victims can’t have their tastes taken too seriously.

Minutes turn to hours turn to days of play but all of a sudden, a revelation hits you. ‘What am I doing?’, ‘What’s the point in this?’ – you start to question why you’re putting so much time into a practically endless game.

Rather than confusing the player with endless pages of stats or making the controls overly complicated (something Smilebit did with "GunValkyrie"), the company has achieved just the right balance of gameplay, visuals, atmosphere and story line.

This is really just an upgrade to DW3, so if you’ve got that, you’re probably better off waiting for DW4, but then it does open up new features in DW3 and has an extra hard difficulty level, so if you’re a DW nut... But if you fancy taking your first foray into the series, this is definitely the best one so far.

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.

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

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.

Not only is it ugly, it’s just plain emotionless. You move around the lakes (which should look gorgeous) with all the connection of a robot.

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!

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.

The problem is that you have no control over where the camera is pointing so 50 percent of the time you'll be aiming at something off the screen.

Most unforgiveable of all though, is the abysmally bad combat. Once your army is built, there is really nothing for the player to do other than point them at the enemy and hope to be last man standing.

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

The game works, but suffers from a few flaws: The table is a little too short to enable you to build up tension over long periods of time and the two player lets it down.

A major problem (though one that is sadly unavoidable) is the way in which activities can’t be fast-forwarded... The result is that a great deal of time is spent watching a Sim doing something utterly trivial and dull.

From a stationary position there’s always a very slight pause after you move the stick before he responds, and when he is actually moving there’s a slight level of inertia so you never feel you have full precision of control.

The problems are not just with the dullness of the game, the scrappy presentation or the lack of focus, but the controls are a bit shoddy too.

It’s just too short: the game takes around ten hours to complete.

As it is only the most hardened fan would find any enjoyment here and we can only recommend that the door be locked and the key thrown away to this particular dungeon.

The control system is still good but the rest of the game is still shockingly weak.

As you can probably tell, the main problem with this game is that it’s scrappy and disjointed. The areas that show flair and imagination are cut short by generic and shockingly unoriginal elements that make you cringe and turn away in embarrassment.

Acceptable, occasionally technically impressive but, on the whole, either at or below the par set by other driving games. This one is still recommended, but just veers a few degrees below the target that we like to call essential.

Graphically, it certainly won't win any awards but the surroundings are suitably gothic and provide a convincing setting for the bloodthirsty business at hand.

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.

The graphics and sound certainly don't do the Xbox justice, the moves are intermittently awkward and unresponsive and youíd have to question the longevity of the game despite the somewhat original Career mode.

If you can get past the pastel coloured craziness of it all, then Dragon Ball Z: Budokai provides a decent enough challenge – just don’t be expecting another Tekken 4 and this should find favour.