It’s no doubt the most authentic. The biggest problem is how inaccessible it is. As a Brit who understands how the sport works, and who played Madden back in 2000, the game can still be a mind-bending, frustrating exercise in trial and error.

It’s no doubt the most authentic. The biggest problem is how inaccessible it is. As a Brit who understands how the sport works, and who played Madden back in 2000, the game can still be a mind-bending, frustrating exercise in trial and error.

Capcom’s called it “the best fighting game net code ever created for consoles”. We’re inclined to agree. When all is said and done, if you’re a fighting game fan MvC2 is an essential purchase.

This is a game that can be played alone against the leaderboard and friend high scores, or in large groups, with everyone shouting and hollering at every comedic mishap. It's a game that seems tailor made for Xbox LIVE Arcade and we can't recommend it highly enough.

With only the core game mode and two mild variations based on the same levels there's just not enough game here to warrant a purchase.

It’s messy, it’s stale, and traces of it will linger with you for days. And the worst part of it all? You paid for this garbage.

It’s messy, it’s stale, and traces of it will linger with you for days. And the worst part of it all? You paid for this garbage.

If you spend your hard-earned cash on this, you really only have yourself to blame. God may forgive you, but I won't.

Mothership Zeta is a let down. It's nowhere near as good as Point Lookout or The Pitt. It's slightly better than Operation Anchorage, but only slightly. It's a linear, repetitive slog through an alien space ship and nothing else. Is it a fitting finale? No. Is it worth 800MS Points? Just. If only for the Samurai Armour. Sniff.

Mothership Zeta is a let down. It's nowhere near as good as Point Lookout or The Pitt. It's slightly better than Operation Anchorage, but only slightly. It's a linear, repetitive slog through an alien space ship and nothing else. Is it a fitting finale? No. Is it worth 800MS Points? Just. If only for the Samurai Armour. Sniff.

There's only so much the cute presentation can gloss over, meaning some serious changes will need to be made if the game is going to have any real legs.

Capcom’s called it “the best fighting game net code ever created for consoles”. We’re inclined to agree. When all is said and done, if you’re a fighting game fan MvC2 is an essential purchase.

Bionic Commando will frustrate many gamers, but get past the initial swinging learning curve and you'll find a highly entertaining action game that tries to do something a bit different.

There's plenty here to do alone, but as with the original Wii Sports, Resort is far better when played with a friend.

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.

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.

The new tracks are excellent, but it's the game modes that offer the real value for money here - they're so good it's no surprise Sony Liverpool was keen to get them into gamers' hands in an expansion rather than having to wait until the release of a completely new game.

'Splosion Man has come out of nowhere, with little to no hype surrounding its release, but it easily ranks as one of the best XBLA games we've played. It's a remarkably simple idea that's been turned into a truly devilish platform puzzler, and it's full of charm and humour without coming across as cheesy.

Badman isn't bad, it's just unnecessarily difficult, too complex and seemingly has a mind of its own.

Despite the lack of game modes and a bare bones class system, Battlefield 1943 differs enough from the competition to make it a worthwhile alternative to the likes of CoD, Halo, Gears of War, Killzone 2, Resistance and the rest.

Despite the lack of game modes and a bare bones class system, Battlefield 1943 differs enough from the competition to make it a worthwhile alternative to the likes of CoD, Halo, Gears of War, Killzone 2, Resistance and the rest.

In an age where most developers are reaching out to embrace casual gamers, ArmA II is something of a refreshing exception. It is unashamedly ambitious in its design and execution, embracing rich complexity at the expense of accessibility.

It's not as engaging or memorable as we remember the originals to be, and the puzzles won't blow anyone away, but it's still hugely exciting to play a brand new Monkey Island game, such is the enduring popularity of the early 90s classics.

Trine isn't as new and exciting as current 2D platforming king Braid was on its release, but its combination of tight controls, exiting action and physics-based puzzles makes it easy to recommend to platforming fans. It's a shame the multiplayer isn't more interesting, but when played alone it shouldn't be hard to get many hours of fun out of Frozenbyte's impressive looking title.

It's instantly familiar but with enough innovation to interest fighting game fanatics willing to dig a little deeper. It would be a stretch to say the PC version is the definitive version – yes the graphics can be better, but not significantly so.

There's little to no challenge present throughout the entire game, the story only makes sense if you already know the plot and there's a lack of things to do outside of the three main gameplay mechanics. Buy if you're a mega fan, but avoid if you like your games with even a tiny amount of depth.

There's little to no challenge present throughout the entire game, the story only makes sense if you already know the plot and there's a lack of things to do outside of the three main gameplay mechanics. Buy if you're a mega fan, but avoid if you like your games with even a tiny amount of depth.

There's little to no challenge present throughout the entire game, the story only makes sense if you already know the plot and there's a lack of things to do outside of the three main gameplay mechanics. Buy if you're a mega fan, but avoid if you like your games with even a tiny amount of depth.