The bikes handle brilliantly, with a real sense of momentum and a transfer of weight to the front and rear wheels under acceleration and braking.

The next time a game developer gets a wacky idea, and an original game design, they should concentrate on offering a full adventure, rather than knocking off a few levels and making it depressingly hard to get through.

You have to endure some horrendously annoying and monotonous commentary and cue-ball control is patchy at best. Nevertheless, you do get plenty of game styles (including snooker) and a trick shot mode, to keep things fresh - for a while.

An enjoyable, fun-filled game which should keep you puzzling for a long time to come.

We'd recommend getting the GBA version instead.

By all means once it appears in bargain bins (and believe us, that'll be sooner rather than later) Galleon needs to be purchased, if only so you can see how such a potential epic has strayed so far off course. Tragic, simply tragic. [XBM]

Despite the lack of smashes, it’s sill a fun game to play thanks to the undemanding and bouncy handling of the R/C cars.

Disregard this misalignment though, and you’re left with an enjoyable aural romp which, whilst slight and, on occasions, extremely forgiving, makes up for most of its shortcomings by hitting you with damn funky music.

This is a shame as the idea behind the Masters Series mode offers great depths, it’s just a shame the core gameplay is found wanting.

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

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.

Playing Worms Forts is not entirely unlike finding that you have just been poured the worm out of the bottom of a tequila bottle. You're not entirely sure about whether it's a good thing or not; but swig back this odd looking creature and an hour later good times follow.

But the points at which Haunting Ground really begins to open up and offer something you can't get from other horror titles are the moments when you get to use Hewie to help you.

As always, there are plenty of cards, beans and secrets to find if you've got a craving for that 100 per cent completion feeling, but if not, the credits will be rolling long before the proverbial cows make it home.

It’s a challenging game, but if you like your games to tax that sponge between your ears and have enough dedication to put in the effort required to get the most out of it – this will give you weeks of entertainment.

Although this hackneyed plot does have its high points, the game unfolds at a treacherously slow pace.

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.

As long as you don't want to be blown away with an audio-visual feast adventure fans will really enjoy it.

Yes folks, Cel Damage stinks – and what's worse it's not one, but a whole shopping list of things that makes it difficult to play with wanting to run away and never play a game ever again.

With exceptional action, puzzles and scripting as well as good graphics and minimal loading times Extermination is a great and imaginative new addition to the horror/survival genre that will teach even Resident Evil a few tricks and ranks as Sony’s best PS2 game to date.

Every member of the CUBE team was looking forward to this, and they all left the first session grumbling words like 'disaster,' 'bollocks' ad 'don't give up the day job Namco'. It's slow, dull and tedious. Don't get too depressed though, because there is a light at the end of this tunnel.

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 reasonably slick framerate is compromised somewhat in the slightly lacklustre two-player sections. Ultimately, Dark Summit takes a fairly tired genre and breathes some new life into it.

With the bonus of a simple-yet-effective track editor, your ‘stunted’ growth is only limited by your imagination and patience, making this a game that will appeal to those inclined towards all things extreme.

Race Drivin' was one of the earliest 'real' driving simulators but doesn't remotely stand the test of time. It's deadly slow and bereft of any excitement whatsoever. Unfortunately this describes most of the games on this disc.

A decent action RPG that manages to be as good as Baldur's Gate, though not better than it, and so falls short of really offering anything new.

Don't allow that dying glint in your eye be revived by the £20 price tag either - it's there simply as admittance that something hideous lurks inside the case.

Crisis Zone is the proverbial over-egged pudding. The addition of a bulletproof riot shield for ducking purposes is welcome, as is the way you can blast the enemy as the game pulls you on the invisible rails that separate scenes. Unfortunately the excitement in killing is all but neutered.