We just find this new instalment (if not version) of the same game (oh-so) slightly better for reasons we can’t truly explain. It just is. Slightly.

Get past the visuals, the levers, the stupid bloody water sections and you’ve got a game that doesn’t get anywhere near the high potential of the worlds greatest action hero, but still manages to provide some guilty pleasures.

Once you understand the animals the levels become small puzzles rather than living environments. You don't see a bear, but rather you see a trampoline that has to be moved.

A title that's finally worthy of the licence it's based on and in the world of videogames, that's a very rare occurrence.

Add to this some slightly suspect enemy AI and a series of horribly misguided cut-scenes (these attempt to ape the dark humour of Robocop and fail) and you’ve got a fairly mediocre release.

Whilst we're still deeply enthused by Sonic Team's opus, all of this means that to enjoy this game costs an awful lot of money. Perhaps too much money.

A great arcade game that doesn''t quite hit the target.

The ease of moves and the accessibility of the characters makes Guilty Gear X the complete opposite of titles like King of Fighters : Neoblood. If you are no fan of pedantic games, but enjoy a good scrap then this game is definitely for you.

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.

Aside from the occasional piece of ropey responsiveness from the game engine, Jak and Daxter's moves are among the slickest on any console.

It's always sad to see a good game be slowly dragged down by visuals and sound. This could have been great but a collection of small faults makes this yet another fairly average title.

The lack of combos is a real problem, making it tough to string together decent attack patterns and this is a real boo-boo for a beat ''em-up. Shame really, because if more effort had gone into polishing up the gameplay by simply making sure there was more to it, Battle Arena Toshinden would have been a blinding piece of software.

The game looks better than ever, with more colours making it a real visual treat, and the additional buttons allow for plenty of new tricks.

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.

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.

A decent game then, but one let down by a lack of direction in a crowded genre.

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.

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.

While this is infinitely superior to "Robotech: Battlecry," it's lacks the subtle mix of arcade with strategy that made "Gungriffon Blaze" such excellent yet shabbier bargain basket bargain.

There's plenty of puzzling-out what to do next but it's never too basic or too complex. You get a good sense of achievement out of completing chapters and get to regularly unlock new moves for your efforts.

Don't expect the in-depth tour de force of other MMORPGs out there, but rather a relaxed experience which is good, wholesome fun that won't see you lose weeks of your life in the process of play.

In many ways OutRun 2 is undone on Xbox Live by the mere fact that the core gameplay wasn't designed for competitive racing.

Time consuming and considering the lack of alternatives, quite good at what it does. But it fails to seamlessly merge the combat and trading that Elite did so well and is, to put it bluntly, a bit on the dull side.

Lewd, loud and incredibly funny, Magna Cum Laude is a game that works far better than it should. This is partly because there's very little 'game' there to speak of.

Despite the fantastic Monster Editing mode and all the game's charm, it's not the exactly the height of originality and can be completed way too easily. Still, whilst the game may not be amazing, it's pretty darn good.

What the original was intended to be - but it's still no "Alpha Centauri." [Feb 2001, p.78]

Playing against another person is far more satisfying as the level of error and ingenuity creeps into the game.

Sacred definitely gets better the more you play it, the monsters keep getting bigger until they almost fill the screen, the weapons and skills go from a half-hearted stab to a whirling dervish of metal and magic and the lands of Ancaria roll before you begging to be explored.