To say that Madden 2004 is challenging would be a massive understatement. It has an uncanny ability to leave you shouting at the screen when your opponents seemingly know what you are going to do even before you do it.

A nippy, futuristic, weapon-toting racer which epitomises competence without ever once daring to startle with ingenuity.

Ultimately, as a game Gauntlet: Dark Legacy misses the point somewhat and will disappoint both fans of the original and newcomers alike. Consequently this is best left avoided by all but the least demanding of gamers.

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.

Now we're finally over our initial shock, it turns out that Gladius is everything we expected, an interesting title that unfortunately misses its target more times than it hits...

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

The pairing of two characters works very well, with certain levels requiring you to position one before switching to the other in order to hit switches and open doors - yeah, we've seen this all before but it is rare for a licensed product to bother with such game mechanics.

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

Though the feeling is epic and the ideas are there, the pace and quality is lacking.

Like the billions of other platformers fighting for shelf space, it's just kind of... there. The lack of frustration means it's good for kids but for everyone else, why settle for Kimberly when you can have Cheryl?

An example to developers the world over that just because there is gratuitous violence, the game is not necessarily a winner. A great PC title can still flop on the Xbox, even with the addition of Live gameplay.

Bass Strike’s main ailment seems to be its rather delicate control system...Sensitive? It’s like a freshly exposed groin wound; you move too quickly and the fish is off, you wind in too slowly and the – fish – is – off.

Although it may be his trademark, the emphasis on speed in Sonic Heroes is exaggerated to the point of annoyance and you just need to push up to tear through sections of some levels, leaving collecting rings is more to do with luck than judgement and it's hard to feel totally in control, but there are plenty of puzzles en route that do take a little more thought.

The characters themselves seem to fight more like they have nagging arthritis rather than immeasurable mutant powers. And the FMV sequences would insult even PS2 owners.

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.

From a pure enjoyment standpoint, Jedi Starfighter is incredibly sterile and lacking any of the feeling and fantasy that the Star Wars series offers – plus it’s virtually a carbon copy of the last one.

Blame the short development time. Blame laziness. Blame the film licence curse. Blame whatever you want but the end result is The Incredibles is rental-only, as you'll see everything the game has to offer by the time you hand it back to the monkey behind the Blockbusters till.

As a game for adults who have little interest in Harry's mythology and hype, The Chamber of Secret is a nice looking game which is too linear and far too easy to follow to offer any real challenge.

Assuming you have friends then you're in for an average time too. Are these levels atmospheric or just murky? Murky.

It’s a shame that the game comes to an end so soon. There are five levels in total and while each consists of various stages, they’re fairly short, meaning it isn’t long before the final boss falls and the credits are rolling.

The rather twitchy controls don’t help matters either, forcing you to persevere through, rather than enjoy, the game.

There’s a clever smattering of Challenge modes, various original and well-handled Stunts for you to master and enough tracks and vehicles to give the game decent longevity.

Aside from some dodgy camera work (as always) this is a simple and at times fun game, which will be enjoyed by very young players. But there are plenty of better games like this out there.

Real life heroes they may be, but trudging round extinguishing virtual flames soon becomes a fairly tiresome effort and you'll find yourself hankering for something a little more action-packed.

The trouble is (and we can’t really expect anything different) that it doesn’t do anything above and beyond the call of duty.

A rare victory for the kid's game genre and shining example of how these games should be done.

The levels are well designed with bright, colourful graphics throughout, making the game seem almost like the film, and with so many personalities to talk to there's never a dull moment.

Eternal Ring is a decent idea executed with some style. Alas, after a while, the novelty wears off and you don’t care enough about the tale to see it through to the end.