Certainly not the revolution in 2D fighting games that Arc System Works describe it as, or we were hoping for. We won't bore you with any more of the Greek myth or ornithology laboured analogy crap, we're sure you get the picture.

A game which while enjoyable at first, is neither all out brutal or skill–full enough a simulation to make you want to hone either your fighting or football skills for months to come.

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.

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."

This touchy-feely emphasis might not be to everyone's taste but if sheep herding, bowling, stroking a tiger's nether regions and teaching a chicken to breakdance is your idea of fun, then Creature's Isle is the creature feature for you.

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.

The races are slow and one mistake can mean the difference between first and last, but that’s the addiction, and whipping your horse to a slight, nosed victory is a mighty satisfying feeling.

One of the major restrictions in Asheron's Call has always been the relatively limited skill system, and sadly the Dark Majesty expansion does nothing to improve on this.

You know if you like it already, and you probably know if you're going to buy it already. As for us, we like it, just don't expect us to know where to find it in two weeks' time. [Play UK]

The track design however is where Crash 'N' Burn gets let down. Visually it's a hit and miss affair but the actual track layout is about as basic as you can get.

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.

Certainly a decent enough addition to the genre and less demanding race fans should find plenty to smile about.

Though plagued by a number of problems, not least the average nature of the gameplay, Fur Fighters on PS2 does attempt to invest some new life into the game and does better last year''s Dreamcast original. If you want to play last year’s games today, then you can do no better than Fur Fighters.

Basically a game that is split between repetitive combat and annoying pole swinging sections.

The grognards out there will find much of value in Desert Rats, and I recommend it to them. Other gamers may want to think long and hard before investing their cash in a major niche title such as this.

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.

For everything Sonic Heroes gets right there's a massive fault ready and willing to ruin the hard work - a less than stellar framerate, especially in two-player mode, numerous glitchy moments and - dare we say it? - graphics that are actually inferior to the Dreamcast Sonic iterations.

It's a shame some of the effort wasn't pushed in the direction of the second half of the game.

The weird and wonderful world of Jim is well suited to the GBA – fast-paced and addictive, with enough challenge to get the little grey cells working – but this disappointing port hasn’t done its slimy hero many favours, and GBA owners will find much better elsewhere.

It can't quite match the sheer excitement of NHL and the lack of an online mode is unforgivable, but this is still great fun and is well worth checking out.

It can actually be quite a laugh in a very basic sense - but the fact remains that there are better example of both genres, albeit independently.

Whilst Castlevania is by no means a poor game, it's a world away from the franchise it's supposed to be representing and instead will be seen as yet another above average "Devil May Cry" clone. Oh, how the mighty have fallen...

Freakiest of all though, are those sunken-eyed ghoulish geishas that pop up every five minutes - more chilling than any slathering zombie. Brrr.

Sadly, the decreased scare factor makes the game's backtracking much more of a chore, as you endlessly trawl back and forth to find items that open doors to other items.

The unnecessary complications lie in the sheer volume of convoluted commands crammed onto the DualShock for use throughout the game.

The main character is nothing special and a character-based platformer needs to have a very strong lead to even stand a chance. In this day and age it takes a lot more than just being 'a nice game' to get anywhere, and Kya is just that: a nice game.

The lack of endearing characters dosen't help the cause either – there is no empathy on your part as your character comes across as an extremely nasty person...a large slice of fun, but nothing special.

Underneath the gloss and overblown script, behind the limited tactical use of the Legions, Chaos Legion is an old-fashioned hack ‘n’ slash adventure. Just like "Devil May Cry 2," the next-gen visual wizardry and slick character design hide a game that isn’t quite as original as it thinks it is.