It's a major shame that the game was allowed to come out in this state because it's doing the original title a considerable disservice.

There are some lovely aspects to the game, that have been developed from the earlier experiences that so many people knew and loved. There’s a great soundtrack, and the game has a polished look about it that makes you want to love it. But underneath, there is so much that’s broken, that I currently wouldn’t recommend the game - as I experienced it - to anyone not willing to go through the pain for a glimpse of the game they once loved.

Unfortunately, while on paper it might have sounded like a Fast and Furious calibre idea, in reality Wheelman is barely a Pacifier.

This game feels like a shadow of its predecessors and is only saved by the phenomenal impetus this series already has.

If you ever wished to play this classic game or would like to immerse yourself in a solid RPG and can handle a very simple graphical style, there's no reason not to grab this. It might be a little clunky compared to modern examples of the genre (and we're not talking just about the graphics here) but it's actually aged rather well.

If you want more DeathSpank, or if you haven't tried him before, then The Baconing is old fashioned gaming with a comedic twist. But, if you've played the other games, don't expect too much different.

Although Yakuza: Dead Souls gives a negative first impression with chunky controls and lack of an English dub, as you progress you adapt your play style compensate for the awkward controls. In addition, there's a lot to do in Kamurocho - in and outside of the quarantine zone - if you've got the time for it.

But ultimately The Force Unleashed II is let down most by the short campaign mode which most people will be able to plough through in around 5 hours with time added for a couple of unlockable Challenges thrown in.

NBA 08 ultimately is too hit and miss to warrant becoming anything greater than an average basketball title.

Unfortunately, despite being fun, there's just not much to it. It's a quarter of a story and just one online mode. And while the whole tower defense thing works, and the game looks, sounds, and plays perfectly well, you can't shake the feeling that you've seen it all before.

In the end, The Godfather II has the recipe for an excellent game filled with action, mindless violence, great characters and strategic thought. But you just can’t help but shake the feeling that it doesn’t quite feel 100% finished.

With its bold artistic direction and its fun, refined gameplay, FIFA Street 3 is a winner for casual fans of the sport. Those looking for an in-depth simulation should look elsewhere, but if you want a fun virtual kick-around with mates, you need look no further.

There was a lot of wasted potential here. To its credit though, Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion looks fantastic.

In the end, Triggerheart fell down as a game that didn’t grip me or leave me with the desire to appreciate more fully, so there was very little personal enjoyment.

As I say, for its target market, PKMT could be a really good thing, provided parents use it and, more than that, make sure their kids use it.

Hardcore fans will appreciate the lineup. There were one or two tracks I missed, and a number more that I didn't know at all, but largely it's a decent greatest hits-type collection.

Wii Music is a novel and fun experience that will sweep away the hours while you're jamming with your buddies. Give it a chance and you're in for a good time.

Because you don't control the pace of the game or have control of the pieces the game chooses for you, I found Lucidity quite unsatisfying, a bit hands off, if you will.

The learning curve ain't too steep for your average punter, but the overall difficulty is. The many, many deaths of Kurt can be demoralising and extremely frustrating; however despite this it does grow on you after a while - especially with another player to share the experience.

Whether the uDraw (and Instant Artist) becomes a necessary peripheral, spawns new art talent, or just winds up in the technology drawer with your pre-Bluetooth headphones, still remains to be seen. But in the meantime, it's yet another fascinating look into the development of the integration between life and technology, and pretty fun to boot.

With Socom: Confrontation that ‘nice job’ is as rewarding as ever, and considering all the obstacles you have to overcome to get it, it feels all the better.

In Jericho there was the potential for an atmospheric game packed with terror, wonder and invention. Unfortunately, all we get is a very standard shooter with a number of annoying failings, sitting atop an undoubtedly original premise.

There's a decent game here overall. It isn't particularly difficult, and experienced gamers will be able to blow through it in a day or two, I imagine. But it looks cool, and it harks back to a simpler time, when 2D platformers ruled the roost.

What it’s done is added a real human element to the SimCity genre. Where before people were really just another resource to control, they now bring some personality to the places they inhabit. This makes for a much more unpredictable and interesting game, in my opinion.

A weekend's worth of entertainment for just under US$10, or a week's worth of casual gaming. If puzzles are your thing, it's worth a look.

It's a decent adaptation of a fun card game, and at 400 Microsoft Points it's priced just right. If a few things were tidied up this would be one of the elite card genre titles, but it still holds its own against the competition.

Granted, there is plenty of action, a LOT of shooting things and a stylish flair to the presentation of the game. But with the dodgy controls and often distracting visuals most people would be happy with a rental over a weekend for this one.

Unfortunately the gameplay feels equally uninspired.

It shows so much promise, and you'll love your first couple of hours, but it will become stale well before it should.

Dance Evolution is not a bad game, but if you only want a single dancing Kinect title, forget this one immediately and buy Dance Central.

What we all deserve is a solid, faithful, and fun Sonic the Hedgehog game. While Episode 2 is closer to this than Episode 1, there is still a way to go. Let's just hope that the Hedgehog still has the legs.

Should you buy it? Almost certainly not. It's dull and has been done a thousand times before - and most of those attempts are superior.

It’s a must for GP fans, and recommended for racing enthusiasts.

Not something we can recommend - to anyone. Obviously built on a too-small budget or by a B-team, it's slow and unrewarding to play. The graphics are ugly and nothing from the puzzling itself through to the meta RPG or even the narrative have anything significantly valuable enough to suggest tolerating any other part of it to experience.

Casual gamers: if you're looking for something a little different - with bags of character, that will challenge your wits and reflexes (and test your patience!), then this is well worth a look-see.

There isn't a huge amount to keep you coming back, so this game is going to be most popular among kids who go straight for the box, collectors who have to have everything with Pikachu's face on it, and video game journalists who give it 5.8 out of 10 and almost feel bad about it.

The PS2's graphics are looking dated – but that's not really much of a surprise. Complaining that the PS2 looks blocky is like complaining that dial-up is slow. It is what it is.

The game as a whole is a charming package suitable for all ages. With its user friendly interface, addictive gameplay, generous number of levels and multiple modes, Crazy Machines Elements is worth the download.

If you're an avid collector of zombie games, and you had the best time of your life playing Dead Island, you are probably going to want to give Riptide a decent playthrough. If you enjoyed it before, odds are you will enjoy it the second time, too. But if, like me, you found the first title lacked soul, Dead Island 2.0 is not the Lazarus you are looking for.

Yes, it's pretty rough around the edges and yes, it can be frustrating to interface with. What it is, however, is a very good story with an engaging combat engine, lots of content and a good bias towards action.

The new story elements, while brief, are still welcome, and features like the new dog types and the Colosseum will keep people coming back.

Really, there's not much here, and for 500 points I can think of plenty of better examples.

The majority of gamers looking for a satisfying third person action title would be best to look elsewhere.

Overall Fracture takes parts of Xbox 360’s Halo 3 and Gears of War, PlayStation 3’s Resistance: Fall of Man, GameCube’s Metroid Prime and several other recent sci-fi shooters. Unfortunately, once you’re over the novelty of ground manipulation, it’s not nearly as fun as any of the above.

Overall this is a simple title that anyone can pick up and play. The multiplayer modes make it good for keeping the younger gamers occupied so they don’t get into the booze, or a drunken night on the couch, while the single player will last a while and is fairly addictive.

It's a genuinely good game with a lot to offer both Lord of the Rings and action-RPG fans, and it definitely has that "Snowblind" (Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance) feel to it. As long as you go into it expecting a diamond in the rough, that's exactly what you'll find.

Judged purely on its racing, MX vs. ATV: Alive is a good game. But that's not what most people will judge it on.

Given it completely fails to use any of the 3DS functionality in any meaningful way, chances are good you'd get a better experience with a DS game, too.

It's hard to recommend a game like Ecolibrium to anyone but the most bored.

The ideas seem interesting enough, but in the end it looks, plays, and feels like a game from the mid 90’s; and not one of the the good ones.

It's the only recent player in the genre and, while not bringing any monumental innovation to the genre, its high definition graphics certainly give it a bunch of new clothes.

Unfortunately, Shaun White Skateboarding doesn't really pull off all of its goals, but it's still a fascinating lateral shift for the genre.

However Sengoku Basara still feels like a blast from the past.

Should have been a great game. It has all the necessary components and the innovation to make it so, but all of the great thinking and ideas were spoilt when the coders and graphic designers got hold of it.

While the game never comes close to the level of daring and invention within that work, the good news is that it is at least on par with the film, and probably better. In the world of comic/movie tie-ins, that in itself is as unlikely as breaking the laws of physics.

If you like yakking about the finer points of the game and the legends of yesterday, get into it.

But it can be safely said that the bare bones are here, and Bright Light Studios have provided you with all the necessary tools to get you going. Ultimately the value of this title is up to you and what you do with it.

If you enjoy your old-school 2D action games played with a friend or two, Moon Diver could certainly scratch that itch. On the other hand, it doesn't really do anything all that special and if you aren't used to the punishing nature (read: difficulty!) of these games, then it might be best to avoid this one.

Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen shows promise early on, and the controls are near perfect - other than the transformation quirk, of course. It’s the first Transformers title to feature a multiplayer mode – and pulled it off well. Unfortunately, the single player falls flat with repetitive combat. Check this out for the online play.

If you've been hanging out for some wholesome fun, F1 Race Stars has got it - in bucket loads. Now all we need are some more tracks!

Like Wii Sports, you will soon tire of the activities on display. It'll remain a fun option to bust out at parties or when you have kids over, but it's not a deep experience - at least, not for those who don't want to leap around like crazy for hours and hours on end.

Despite the messy execution, there are moments of true beauty hidden inside Evoland (unlocking HD pre-rendered backgrounds being one) and there will be moments when you’re legitimately impressed with the next evolution, but there’s nothing in this game that makes it worth the $US10 asking price.

If you like puzzlers and fancy playing them on your 360, this is a pretty decent and unique experience.

Overall, for Fable fans, the story alone is worth the purchase, and Fable: The Journey is easily the most extensive Kinect title to date. But it is a very different experience to the usual RPG, and while the Kinect does a good job, it's not spectacular, and you may have to be prepared to fiddle around with your living room setup and lighting to get the best out of it.

When the limbs stop flying and the dust settles, Naruto: Ninja Destiny is as close to what fans want in a Naruto fighter as they will get on the Nintendo DS: fast-paced fighting with a dash of touch screen support for item usage.

The annoying thing about Mars: WL is that Spiders have tried to do everything at once instead of delivering a smaller, more polished game. Everything feels half done.

The third-person madness was a nice change from the typical FPS experience but many seasoned gamers will probably find the simplified gameplay mechanics a bit too tame for their liking.

Hardcore fans will appreciate the lineup. There were one or two tracks I missed, and a number more that I didn't know at all, but largely it's a decent greatest hits-type collection.

Buku Sudoku isn’t bad; it’s just that the Xbox 360 doesn’t really seem the platform for such an experience.

James Noir's Convoluted Title 3D makes for a largely disappointing experience. If you're a hardened puzzle nut and want to progress through a game by way of your intellectual capacity alone, it's not a total waste of your time. But if you've been thinking about dipping your toes into narrative-driven puzzle gaming and are wondering if this is the title to try, it's not.

This is better than Sonic’s last main game. But that doesn’t make it good. I’d like to think Sega is on the right track, and that the next game might cut out a lot of the padding and focus on speed.

It promised a lot, however the more we played it the more disappointed we became.

At its core, All Zombies Must Die is a solid shooter with RPG elements and a decent level of character upgrading. Unfortunately, it's let down a little by the monotonous missions of 'kill that' or 'collect this'. Rachel isn't a particularly likable either - of course, you don't have to use her at all!

But, dying is one of the essential parts of old school gaming. Just like jumping, shooting, breaking boxes, electronic beats, and bosses. And, if that's the kind of platform game you want, that's the kind of platform game Zack Zero is.

The presentation of Leedmees is clear and crisp, but won't blow you away. You can get through the single player levels in about three hours, although naturally it'll take longer if you want to get good rankings. The multiplayer suite of levels also helps to eke out the longevity.

Maybe I am missing the point slightly, and this is purely edutainment for the little ones to expand their mind? Even then you would be better off with a DS and Brain Training.

Overall it seems that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time Re-shelled has made the best of a game that hasn't aged well. Check this out only if you're desperate for some multiplayer gameplay.

The main problem is that Dynasty Warriors 6 is stuck in the past. It goes far beyond such archaic features as a save system that limits the number of times you can save: Dynasty Warriors 6 is offering what was essentially a PlayStation 2 launch title with very few of the things gamers now demand from this generation of video games.

SiNG Party is fairly inoffensive (except for the Bieber demon) but also pretty uninspiring too.

Its story unfolds at a good pace and looks great on the Vita. There's only one thing missing: the skies were never burning! Maybe a bit dark in places, but never burning. At some point I could have used a burning sky to lighten up the game.

Unfortunately, the lack of multiplayer really lets the title down in overall value, but the campaign is enjoyable (bar some rough voice acting and gameplay quirks), and will take you a good 20-30 hours to complete.

This game will be a great rental title to experience a light-gun game on the PS3 and for true hardcore Time Crisis fans who will probably enjoy the challenge.

Dragonball Raging Blast 2 packs the characters, environments and plenty of extras making it a good for fan service. Unfortunately, that's all it's good for; it seems the developer, Spike, forgot about creating a solid fighting title.

While the quest to catch the crims sort of takes a back seat to the initial pick-up-and-play aspect of NFS: Undercover, there’s plenty of fun to be had re-doing challenges to try and best your score, and collecting the reputation you deserve, dear gamer.

In Epic Mickey 2, when you finally figure out what it was you were supposed to be doing, you just want to slap your forehead, because it just feels like another pointless hurdle.

Older fans like me can enjoy the nostalgia factor, but then there's not the level of depth to gameplay I now tend to enjoy.

Pretty sick stuff. But apart from teaching children to become sadistic pet torturing horrors, Squeeballs is a good time waster and young male players will most likely enjoy getting through the main bulk of the 150+ mini-games on offer over a rainy afternoon.

While it's not the graphically violent, frantic, and desperate game that recent shooters have become, Killzone feels almost relaxing with its deliberate pace and disconnect from reality.

Fun to be had, but ultimately disappointing.

In NBA 08, on the PS2, the controller response sometimes feels a bit unresponsive and the animation gets a bit jumpy, especially when switching from ball carrying to dunking.

The real kicker to this title, however, is its cliffhanger ending (after all, this is only Episode 1 of what I presume will be at least a three- or four-part series) which is more frustrating than tantalising.

Those with an unhealthy fetish for that sexy minx Black Cat (myself included) might want to grab this game too - even if she does look like a twelve-year-old girl with white-hair in this version.

Dance Paradise is guaranteed to get a party started if you have Kinect and the floor space at the ready.

While (in my opinion) the single player game is pretty weak, with its short running time, linear gameplay and predictable structure (fight off wave after wave of enemy, until you reach the end of the level and fight the boss), DotM's competitive multiplayer may prove to be its saving grace.

While Time Crisis 4 and Deadstorm Pirates are old rail shooters that deliver enough fun to bring back all those old good light gun memories. It all just needs to stay on the rails.

It's a unique experience, even if it doesn't last long (a few hours, tops), and it does develop some challenge - especially when you start competing on times and try to fill in your decal collection.

Even breaking virtual World and Olympic records and having them displayed online for eternal glory is possible. But for others wanting a fun arcade-like game, Beijing 2008 is likely to just end up being too much work.

While Spider-Man: Edge of Time is disappointing, ultimately, the main problem is that thanks to Batman the bar for superhero games has been raised. So unless Spider-Man can send a Terminator back through time to kill the makers of the Arkham games before they ruin it for all the other superhero game developers, then I'm afraid, despite all the web-slinging and wise-cracking, most, including Spider-Man, will fall to Gotham's Dark Knight.

It's only the poor provision for mech-fans in recent years that hold this game's score up to a respectable level so if you don't count yourself in their number, you're probably best advised to avoid this one.

As a movie franchised game, it is better than most but the lack of variety and often difficult controls stop it from being a classic game.

Unfortunately, while on paper it might have sounded like a Fast and Furious calibre idea, in reality Wheelman is barely a Pacifier.

A solid tower wars title with little competition in the genre at the moment. Unfortunately, it's let down by a large difficulty jump and, although it's a visually pleasing title, the grid displaying locations isn't on by default - a strange omission for any tower defence title.

Hardcore Bleach fans and those looking for another fighting game for their Wii might want to pick this one up, but for everyone else there is better elsewhere.

Not a bad game. It's a game for fans that's both short on story and fairly limited in scope. What there is, is okay, although it gets repetitive fairly quickly.

While I like my shooters, and I enjoyed playing The Devil’s Cartel for what it was, there is nothing there to set it apart from all the others on the market. It’s violent, fast paced, looks fine, and plays okay. But you can’t hi-five in the game anymore. Maybe that’s because when they finished making it EA decided there wasn’t any reason for a hi-five.

You know it's not a masterpiece, but you're after a bit of escapist fun - nothing less, but nothing more.

The problem is that once you move past the initial learning curve, the strategy basically consists of planting plants, waggling around and keeping your animals happy. Ultimately, while collecting new animals is definitely appealing, and the baby animals are particularly cute, the game was too limited for it to be one that I’ll add to my collection and continue to play.

A sloppy piece of work that doesn't do justice to the series or to its fans. I'm not even sure fans of the series will enjoy this one. I certainly didn't.

As with the previous titles, Ninja Gaiden 3's battles are fast-paced and boss fights are as epic as ever. Streamlining the gameplay, however, removed a lot of the depth that came with collecting dozens of melee and ranged weapons, and upgrading them at the Muramasa store. In the end, Ninja Gaiden 3 is a step back from its predecessors.

Hundred Years’ War is an appropriate subtitle as after a few hours of fighting, you feel like you’ve been playing for a hundred years.

Lumines and Tetris may have paved the way with their falling block puzzles, but TiQal holds its own with a combination of gorgeous presentation, humorous writing and a simple yet entertaining puzzle structure. TiQal is worth your time, money and praise.

The ability to jump into the game without much introduction though is certainly appealing.

Ultimately, Datura comes across as more of a fragmented, artsy homage to Sony's magic wand, rather than a genuine source of entertainment... and for most gamers, entertainment is boss.

Dragonball Raging Blast 2 packs the characters, environments and plenty of extras making it a good for fan service. Unfortunately, that's all it's good for; it seems the developer, Spike, forgot about creating a solid fighting title.

Just don't expect to be anything other than underwhelmed. It's far from terrible but it's far further from excellent, if that makes any sense.

The concept seems to get lost in the transition to the big-screen living room television.

Overall play-time to complete the expansion is around 4-5 hours, which does not sound like a lot; however this needs to be matched against its price of USD 9.99, which we believe is more than fair given its quality.

Army Corps of Hell feels more like a low-key Mini title; certainly not a full retail game being sold in stores for close to $90! The highlight of the game is probably the thrash hardcore metal soundtrack and even this won't appeal to everyone. Best to avoid this hellish title, at least at full price.

I can't help but feel that perhaps this game should have been left as downloadable track packs for Van Halen fans and not a full-fledged release with a high price-tag.

While a couple of the games are downright boring, and a few frustratingly difficult, most do definitely have an interesting X-factor about them; even if they're ultimately hamstrung by a lack of polish.

This is a mindless game really. Catching virtual fish, trying to beat a game clock, and working out the right lure to fool the fickle fish. But - and this is a qualified but - it is still strangely entertaining.

Twin stick shooters are normally awesome - this one isn't. Avoid it unless you like extremely hard games or pretending things are good to just to annoy people.

This is a bare-bones platform fighting game and will probably only appeal to Naruto fans.

Another casual, family-friendly mini-game collection. If you're looking for a single such title to pop in your Xbox 360, I'd still recommend sticking with Microsoft's efforts: Kinect Sports and Kinect Adventures.

Questionable gameplay decisions, quirky AI, and lacklustre online play really dog NASCAR 08 from being up there with the premier racing titles on the 360, but with some improvement - like some of EA’s other franchises have had since starting next-gen - then it too might find itself one day in the winner’s circle on pit-lane.

Michael Jackson The Experience won't make a real dancer out of you, but as a party game it sure is fun… and no, I still haven't learned how to moonwalk.

It's filled with fun!

A solid interactive companion to the television show and will please fans in the right age group, even if it's just for a weekend.

In the end, if you're looking for a cheap augmented reality shooter you can rope your friends into playing at least once, instead of Magic The Gathering, this isn't too bad for the incredibly low price. Just be prepared to hunt for good locations to play it in. If nothing else, this is nice cheap distraction between Resistance Burning Skies and the next big FPS.

There's enough blasphemy here to put you off the franchise for life. But there is some good news for Star Wars fans at least... It comes in the form of Microsoft's superb limited edition, pimped-out Xbox 360 Kinect Star Wars console.

At around $60, Start the Party is more of a game to show off what your new camera and motion controller can do to easily astounded guests. It could be good to rent, but to buy? Maybe when it hits the bargain bins.

Perfect if you're looking for some disengaged-brain carnage. The characters look great, have some interesting moves, and you might even learn something while you play. As long as you don't approach the game expecting a real strategic challenge, with complex fight combinations, there's no reason not to check this one out.

The game as a whole is a charming package suitable for all ages. With its user friendly interface, addictive gameplay, generous number of levels and multiple modes, Crazy Machines Elements is worth the download.

Despite the delays on the release date, it still feels rushed and slapped together at the last minute despite some promising planning and concept designs (I still want to buy a life-size Mantel solider suit).

Feels like a PS2 game. It lacks that level of polish that the Vita deserves and the game blatantly recycles the same character models and maps over and over.

Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings is all the more frustrating because there are tiny, oh-so-brief sprinklings of entertainment to be had - they're just padded wall to wall with frustrating gameplay and below average presentation.

A strange mash up of party game and action RPG title that doesn't do either well. However, thanks to it simply being a Lionhead title, it will be useful to Fable: The Journey owners due to its compatibility with that title. Unfortunately, on its own, Fable Heroes fails to provide a solid singleplayer or multiplayer title.

A formulaic experience that feels rushed, ill-thought out and hollow. Its gameplay is rote and its mechanic is derivative. To be frank, I'm tired of this. Shooter fans are not simply teenage consumers of asinine adventure. We deserve better.

Quite a fun game, though it is a Japanese RPG so expect seemingly endless screens of dialogue that can (thankfully) be skipped through if you don't mind missing a few jokes. There is also a lot of explaining about exactly what all of the mechanics do from the Explanatory Shampuru.

It’s a mediocre Action/RPG hack n’ slash that looks nice on the surface but doesn’t stand up to too much scrutiny.

So it's frustratingly difficult, then - frustrating not just because it makes it hard to progress, but because it makes it hard to love; an emotion that the game otherwise does fairly well to engender. The presentation - aside from the narrative, which is horrible - is charming, poppy, and fun. You want it to be good, and it mostly is - if you can handle the annoyance factor.

The single worst feature of Fury has to be its utter unforgiving nature when it comes to creating your character.

Marvel Super Hero Squad: The Infinity Gauntlet is pretty short and very easy, and like any game aimed at the younger market you go in reluctant to pay full price and still come out the other side feeling a bit ripped-off.

While being the first brain training title for the 360, it does little to enhance the genre, or make itself stand out from the portable brain training crowd. However, it does provide a solid test of your mettle, and for the paltry price you could do much, much worse.

At the very beginning of the game the United States President tells Duke Nukem he is a relic from the past. As sad as it seems, perhaps he was right.

Harry Potter for Kinect really failed to pull me into the Harry Potter world.

A mixed bag.

The music and dialogue is standard fantasy epic fare, although delivered flawlessly. The locations and graphics are adequate, without being spectacular, and the character models are smooth and serviceable, perhaps a consequence of the game’s online focus.

Minesweeper Flags is a great ‘pick up and play’ live arcade game. The extra mode, content, multiplayer are a welcome addition to the series. Best of all you know what to expect: hours of addictive gameplay and it’s only 400 points.

It doesn’t offer anything new to gamers but maintains the genius story-telling that made the show so successful.

Explorers of Sky is a bizarre mix of child-like presentation with hardcore gameplay mechanics which have long since been abandoned by most other hardcore games. It's simultaneously simple and obtuse, easy and challenging.

Like candy, but filled with annoying gameplay choices.

It's repetitive and full of admirable yet ultimately failed experiments, and there are many better titles worthy of your attention.

The sheer volume of content is really good, and the "entry level" program was well pitched for me at my beginner level.

While a few annoying quirks threaten to get in the way, overall this is definitely more of the same.

All in all, a very average sort of an action-adventure game.

But if I got this for Christmas, I’d be writing Santa a somewhat angry letter, and asking where in the hell my puppy was.

All in all we've got a pretty simple game with very little content and no single player of any substance whatsoever. It's fun enough but it feels pretty expensive at 800 points.

Inversion is at its best when played cooperatively, and the gravity mechanics are built around that fact.

PlayStation Move Heroes has attempted to combine certain aspects of the platform, shooter and party game genres without being pigeonholed into any one of them. While the overall effect is a little disjointed, it will still hold plenty of short term appeal for younger gamers, being better looking and more sophisticated than the Buzz Junior-type games they are used to.

Normally we recommend this level of product only to the serious fans of the series but frankly we cannot even bring ourselves to do this. Avoid it.

Frustratingly, there is a perfectly good game lost in there somewhere. It should be a polished, sleek and enjoyable ride. But, the whole things plays like such a rusty old clunker that if you found it on the side of the road, wouldn't even be worth breaking up and selling for spare parts.

Your thumbs will ache in the morning and you may need to fork out a hundred dollars on a new controller but sometimes we all need a bit of cartoonish mayhem in our lives.

The result is a game that unfortunately showcases why controllers exist in the first place. If you've got a brand new Kinect, stick to the dance and fitness games and avoid this one.

I have had to concede it a good score in terms of value. Although it has much of the polish of a $100+ title, Xotic can be yours for only 800 Microsoft Points. I'm genuinely impressed by the production values for a game in this league. I just don't want to play it again.

The grenades take an age to equip and throw. Considering that chucking a grenade the moment before I die has been the only thing to get me close to a positive kill / death ratio through the years, this is a major concern.

Naruto: Uzumaki Chronicles 2 simply repeats a lot of the mistakes of its predecessor and proves that it wasn’t just the escort missions holding Uzumaki Chronicles back: it was an overall flawed design.

Ghost Warrior 2 falls into the trap of trying to be accessible to a wide audience - however the end result is casual and veteran gamers will feel ultimately let down by a complete lack of freedom and unoriginal gameplay.

Mixed bag: On one hand, the vehicular combat is solid. On the other, it's let down by poor mechanics and a slew of unwelcome gameplay additions.

Once you've had your fun with a few nifty control mechanisms, various weapons and other pieces of movieland technology, and seen enough explosions, I'm gonna hazard a guess at you looking around for something else to play.

Uninspiring, unpolished, and unnecessary.

While the action is fun, there is no way to avoid feeling it's stuck in the past.

The only thing you will find confrontational will be the game itself.

Disappointing. But, I know a twelve-year-old fan of the series who absolutely loved it - for a couple of hours, at least, until they hit a big difficulty spike and went back to watching Naruto and Deltora Quest on the Cartoon Network. And that's probably how it will end for all of us.

While the cut scenes look good, and Megadeth really gets the adrenaline pumping, the gameplay is too repetitive and buggy.

Unfortunately it's unlikely to garner much of a following, both because the singleplayer experience is so bland and the level designs are repetitive - in fact, almost every element is lackluster. A shame, and a game that's hard to recommend.

Still, the game is kind of brilliant. More importantly, and I can't emphasize this enough, when you first play it, or see someone you know play it, it is the funniest thing you will see in your life.

Something that will be eagerly demanded by the children of your household, only for that eagerness to be replaced by boredom and irritation.

The raw ingredients for a fun, fast-paced, high-adrenaline racer that the Kinect sorely needs are all in place. But sadly CrossBoard 7 is ultimately let down by a lack of fine-tuning in the motion-control and gameplay department.

If you're a fan of the series and want a game that delivers, go watch the show while you wait for a different Voltron game - one where you have more control over the super robot than simply pushing buttons on cue.

Naruto Shippuden 3D: The New Era feels like an original DS game with texture filtering, poorly executed 3D, and game breaking motion sensor controls tacked on.

Everything about this game screams "minimal effort".

It is woefully inferior in every important way to almost every MMO ever released - let alone recently.

Disappointing. The sound and graphics seem to be an afterthought. The characters are generic - fantasy characters 101 - all with very basic fight animations. Even the strange little dances they do, when they make it to the other side of the board, hold little interest. There are eight of them, and once you've seen them, that's it.

Dragon Ball Z for Kinect proved to be surprisingly impressive. Graphically it really pulls off the anime to video game jump, and the gameplay matches well by allowing you to play through the original storyline.

Everything they've thrown in says "look what we can do" - and that' a sentiment New Zealanders can probably appreciate more than most.

As a package NFL Tour doesn’t quite cut the mustard. The tour mode is all well and good but there just isn’t enough content behind that to support a game, despite its cheaper retail price, and its enjoyable gameplay.

If you're looking for a decent multi-purpose joystick, buying one with this game isn't an entirely bad idea. The game's not as good as, well, any other flight sim on the platform, but it does have its own charm.

If shooting your balls into the mouths of clowns is your thing then go for it. Otherwise you'd be better off waiting until it's half price, if only to play the addictive Frog Leap.

Visually Terminator: Salvation matches the gameplay and is an equally dull affair.

It’s a shame that a title seven years in the making could result in something so lackluster. Aliens: Colonial Marines had the foundations of a solid game, involving writers (David Weddle and Bradley Thompson from Battlestar Galactica fame) and a talented artist (Syd Mead from Blade Runner, Aliens and Tron). It even had the right voice talent bringing back Lance Henriksen as a Bishop-model clone...But it appears that the elongated, ‘stop-start’ development ultimately resulted in an inconsistent and disappointing final result.

Fans of the films will like the quotes and the general "Jigsaw-ness" of the aural experience but it's so perfunctory even they will have a tough time getting too excited about it.

Sonic Free Riders might look like just another board racing Kinect game, but it's a league above others like CrossBoard 7 in terms of depth and replayability.

As the plodding narrative progresses, these repetitive fighting and stealth tasks grow quickly tedious.

The worst thing about X-Men: Destiny however is the complete lack of any multiplayer whatsoever. A game like this screams for at least 2 player co-op, along the lines of far superior games like X-Men Legends. Even if it's just so you can share your pain with someone else.

Overall Shadow Assault: Tenchu feels as though the developers just wanted to put out an Xbox Live Arcade title for a quick buck, so they threw something together and slapped the Tenchu license on it.

Graphically the game would have been very impressive, if it was a launch game for the GameCube.

With workable controls, this could have been a half-decent, low-priced download game. As it stands, however, it's one of the worst games on the platform and one of the worst launch games on any system, ever. Avoid.

Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted is definitely more engaging as a team effort, and we're not ashamed to admit that a couple of the mini games had us giggling with childish glee.

An average game that doesn't live up to the brilliance of the cartoon.

This sort of gameplay, while not being too terrible with a controller, is still much more suited to a DS stylus or a mouse. When you throw in a lot of repetition amongst objects and a general lack of varied gameplay, Interpol is hardly a game I’d recommend.

Red Bull X-Fighters just doesn't measure up and is therefore destined to disappear without a trace amongst a wealth of other titles.

But if anything is going to distract you from the mangling of classic Bond movies it will be the awful gameplay.

A rental at best, but better we just sweep The Cartel under a sombrero and forget about it.

What it comes down to of course is do you like Mahjong? Are you interested in learning it? And would you like to play it online? If you answer yes to these then yes, Funtown Mahjong is well worth a download.

If it was released for free, as a platform to hook people on paid-for DLC, Ridge Racer would be pretty cool. As it stands, at full retail price, it's one of the most preposterously ridiculous and - frankly - offensive attempts at separating a gamer from their money that we've ever seen.

The visuals are decent in Battleship, albeit extremely monotonous, and the controls are solid - but there are just too many negatives in the game to ever appreciate them.

One can only hope that Tony Hawk: Ride marks the end of these pointless bits of plastic, and not the end of the series itself, which surely calls for a more sophisticated makeover.