A mess of a game in all senses of the term. Its gameplay is at least one generation behind the competition, its presentation is like a collection of every graphical effect thrown into a mixing pot and poured onto the screen and the online implementation leaves a lot to be desired.

Splinter Cell Essentials is an example of a game that simply isn't suited to the control limitations of the PSP. If you can get past the camera issues (which is a big ask), you're still going to have a less than brilliant experience due to the dumb AI.

If you stick to multiplayer Maelstrom has a lot to offer but an abundance of basic flaws mean it's no challenge for the big boys of the genre.

There are the origins of a fast, exciting new combat system buried underneath all the mess, and the gorgeous animations and zippy takedowns provide an immediate buzz. Yet its problems vastly outweigh its positives, and it's hard to come away feeling anything other than disappointed. This was supposed to be a bold new beginning for the series, but ultimately Ninja Gaiden 3 feels like a false start.

Bladestorm does provide and incredibly well structured action-strategy game, and it juggles depth and accessibility with panache.

Rocky Balboa offers PSP owners a solid boxing experience, but without a career mode to work through it doesn't quite feel like a complete game.

By ordinary standards there's simply nothing here - bar Billiards - that offers anything worthy of more than a few minutes play. As an introduction to the Wii and its unique control scheme it just about works, but beyond that there's very little here to get excited about.

So far, ELEX is an extremely mixed bag, both in the sense of its content and its quality.

On a mobile phone platform like the iPhone, Hero of Sparta stands out as something quite impressive, but simply porting a game like this to the PSP as a Mini isn't good enough.

KOFXII's biggest problem is that the fighting game bar has been raised considerably in the last 12 months, with the release of Street Fighter IV in particular showing how reboots should be done.

If you enjoy all the exploration and stats building that the series is known for, then trust me, you're not going to find what you're after here. Similarly, if you're NOT a fan of the Final Fantasy series, then you don't want to touch this one either, not unless your idea of great gameplay is random button hammering broken up by really badly-acted cut-scenes.

The First Descendant is a bland dish presented on exquisite plating, whose stunning boss fights and interwoven upgrade systems are overpowered by shallow missions and grim monetisation. Nexon doesn’t invite you to a power fantasy, it sells you one by letting you pay to skip tiresome progression mechanics.

A fairly deep fighting experience that may not be as accessible or immediate as some of the competition, but is rewarding enough for those who are willing to put in the time.

It's an interesting game rather than a truly good one, but if you want something a little bit different it definitely delivers on that front.

Compared to GTA, Driver 76 is something that seems a little shallow and ordinary, but judging it as a game in its own right, and only drawing parallels with the best of the Driver series, it is a fairly decent chunk of big-screen cool, crow-barred nicely into the sleek internal organs of the PSP.

Ultimately there's not a whole lot to it, but if you can ignore the odd Kinect upset there's a competent brain training experience for those willing to embrace it.

As a harmless game for kids to play together, Micro Machines V4 serves its purpose, but a bit of flair and a larger scope could have made it the ultimate party racing game.

And once the brutally short campaign is over, Dark Void is over.

Unless you fall in love with the deathmatch modes, the main draw here is the two campaigns - and most gamers will be able to cut their way through both in under five hours. Even if you're a massive fan of the series, we'd advise you to approach this game with caution.

The near crippling PSP only feature: an abundance of loading. Players of The Sims 2 Pets on the PSP will have to suffer 3-4 seconds of loading almost every time they open a menu or attempt to interact with something in the game.

All you really need to know about Bomberman Land on the Wii is that it's great fun in multiplayer and not worth playing alone.

A thoroughly enjoyable game with a deliciously retro feel, despite the somewhat improved (but still lack lustre) graphics and the adorably camp accents.

Spider-man: Friend or Foe is another title that clearly isn't made for experienced gamers, and certainly won't please anyone aged in their teens or older.

The troubled launch and the shoddy state of the last-gen versions will hurt nobody more intensely than the artists and developers, who may well have come to resemble the characters of their own creation—frazzled, fused to their computers, and wired into the limbo of non-stop work.

At £19.99 Little Deviants might seem like a bargain, but on a platform that promises to deliver proper console gaming experiences (and does so decently at launch with a number of other titles), it feels like nothing more than a series of hit and miss tech demos.

It's a shame that Transformers: Dark of the Moon exhibits so many fundamental flaws in its design, as from time to time you get a fleeting vision of what High Moon Studios is trying to create.

Submerged feels like a concept rather than a complete game. What's here is so slight, the story so flimsy, that it left almost no impression on me. I didn't enjoy it, but neither did I hate it.

Shrek the Third's main problem is its complete lack of spark.