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.