To compare "Earth 2160" directly with past greats like "Command & Conquer" and "Total Annihilation" is to miss the point. No, it’s not as inspired or as absorbing or as fun as those earlier games. But to find a fresh game which dares to take the baton from those titles and carry it forward another hundred yards is a real pleasure.

Fast, fluid and thoroughly absorbing, Virtua Tennis World Tour is not only as essential a purchase as "Lumines," "WipEout," "Ridge Racers" and Co., it’s a reason to buy the PSP itself.

Great for a quick game on the bus, perfect for those extended sessions on the train, Burnout Legends is right up there with Lumines and Virtua Tennis on our PSP must-have list. Truly brilliant.

Offering the proverbial something for everyone, Not only does it give Cube owners (and PS2 owners, if you get the PS2 version) the chance to get to grips with some of the lesser known, but ultimately brilliant Sonic games of yesteryear (which are still great now), but also give the long suffering Sega masses the chance to finally play Sonic the Fighters on a home console.

It’s a wonderful game with a clichéd, though entertaining plot and some hefty system requirements. If you can meet the latter and don’t give a damn about the former then you will find plenty here to enjoy. Especially the tanks.

The enemy's endless determination to take you out (the A.I's strong point) balanced with the direct and simple nature of play results in a polished and genuinely enthralling experience. Always at the heart of the game is a determination to be fun.

Looks gorgeous and its gameplay is intense and ambitious. There are just enough new features to justify its massive hype, giving fans of the series many reasons to be excited. But it is not yet the finished article.

Online, Sunrise is beyond fault. There are plenty of games to join (albeit most of which requiring a minimum of GCSE French) while if playing on your lonesome happens to be your thing, plenty of tracks are available for download, with your creations - if any good - are guaranteed an eager reception.

At times, it's almost as if the game outdoes itself. Storm a room with a gaggle of enemy soldiers dug in, awaiting your arrival with full is pretty exhilarating stuff, but this soon gives way to frustration when you find you've had an enemy sneak up behind you and nailed you enough times to kill you before it even registers.

Unfortunately, when the game is outclassed by its rivals, it feels rather bland. The career mode may rival that of Gran Turismo 4 in the anal depths it descends to, but seems to lack the love and attention (for instance, the wrong cars competing in the wrong championships) of the Polyphony Digital classic.

Cossacks II is a very enjoyable game, yet very frustrating and overly reliant on reloads and retries as you try and perfect the exact battle tactics needed for your current mission.

The melee mechanic works well for its first outing, and with a little tweaking it could really come into its own on the next generation. Bored of Halo? Get Unreal Championship 2.

With a subtle, yet engrossing mix of comedy, intrigue, conspiracy, betrayal, mythology, magic, sadness, rage, joy and excitement wrapped up in a wonderfully charming oriental package, there are considerably worse ways of investing the 20-25 hours it'll take you to play through first time around.

With a solid graphics engine and some decent audio effects to boot, there’s no doubting that Archer Maclean’s Mercury offers an engrossing, absorbing PSP gaming experience that offers the sort of longevity most titles can only dream of – even if you do run the risk of losing handfuls of hair each time you play it.

SWAT 4 is no "System Shock 2" – it’s not going to break any boundaries. However, in a world where professional finish and attention to detail is increasingly rare, its focus on filling a job role rather than filling terrorists with holes is refreshing and admirable, and is definitely worthy of investigation from anyone capable of exercising the restraint required to fully appreciate what this game is about.

So on a positive note, if you didn't have a graphics card with enough oomph to play Doom 3 the first time around on PC, this is a suitable and acceptable way to finally scare the bejesus out of yourself.

Simply astounding. Combining all the best things about Action/Adventure games and mastering everything it attempts, Sony’s Santa Monica studio have crafted a true work of genius.

Offering silky smooth visuals with some of the most frantic gameplay we’ve seen to date on the diminutive, yet highly capable, machine.

Basic yet brilliant, it’s been ages since we were this obsessed with a game.

If you have gleaned even the slightest bit of enjoyment from the series down the years, youâ??ll never look back. Another awesome PSP game.

It's Freedom Force, basically, but with a bit of spit and polish. It wouldn't be unfair to say this could've retailed as an expansion pack, except for the fact virtually no-one bought the first game.

The play is original and refreshing in comparison to other generic sports titles, the controls are well designed and easy to use. The play style works in this RTS format: however, timed moves are provided for those more frantic times of play.

With the changes made to the gameplay, there’s no doubting Namco has turned the series around to deliver one of the strongest beat 'em up performances we’ve seen since "Dead or Alive Ultimate."

The ever-changing gameplay really keeps you riveted.

The best MMORPG on the market, of that there is no argument. By taking the choicest cuts from previous titles in this genre, Blizzard has constructed a fairly unoriginal but nevertheless brilliantly assembled game world.

Continued innovation combined with respect for the series’ heritage means Solid Snake fans have yet more hours to wile away in Kojima’s land of deception and false-truths, but many are likely to be left scratching their heads at an even more frequent rate than at the release of Sons of Liberty four years ago.

Its stylish looks, its innovative control and demented sense of humour make for a game that’s not only a complete joy to play, but also the first title for Nintendo’s newest console to actually use the touch-screen the way it was intended.

It’s uncomplicated, enjoyable and unashamedly action-packed: this is for gamers who don’t know exactly what they want. If they want meat, they’ll have chicken; if they want a drink, they’ll have lager; if they want a strategy game, they’ll have something good looking, easy to get into and more fun than a drunken weekend with Kiera Knightley.