Metal Slug Anthology

Platform: PS2, £14.99.
Verdict: Tanks for the memories.
Rating: 4½/ 5
In this age of 3D, bump mapped, shadered and bloomed graphics, it’s always refreshing to settle down with an old-school 2D pixel pushing game. There’s something about the art direction - the fact that the designers have to squeeze so much character out of what basically amounts to a collection of different coloured squares is testament to why the pixel art scene is flourishing. The Metal Slug series is one of the last champions of 2D although even it has recently and unsuccessfully succumbed to the glamour of 3D. Starting out on the legendary NeoGeo it has blazed a trail as an over-the-top, run and gun two player shooter with a distinct cartoon style, wildly imaginative design and of course its trademark humour and the titular Metal Slugs - Super Deformed tanks, gun laden vehicles and armed animals. This anthology brings together all the arcade classics into one home console delight, notably including the reworked Metal Slug X and the previously unreleased Metal Slug 6. It’s not a comprehensive list as versions such as the NeoGeo pocket or Gameboy Advance games are missing but with seven games of raw, explosive fun included it’s an absolute bargain for nostalgia heads and shoot-em-up fans new to the genre. The series could easily be accused of being repetitive, with each iteration recycling old sprites and adding little new to the core gameplay but playing with a friend is an essential and entertaining part of its draw and Metal Slug 6’s score multiplyer system and weapon switching mechanic seeks to rectify the repetition and is enough to justify the purchase alone. Thankfully the PS2 version of this anthology doesn’t suffer the awful loading problems that mired the PSP, which means it’s nigh on perfect for the price, If you like shooting zombies from atop a thawed out wooly mammoth with mounted cannons that is.

Mario Strikers: Charged Football

Platform: Wii
Verdict: Football but not as you know it.
Rating: 3½/5
After years of rescuing Princess Peach from the clutches of Bowser and various other nefarious villains, it feels slightly wrong to start shoulder barging her into electrical fences but in the case of Mario Strikers: Charged Football, attack is definitely the best means of defence (and you're more than likely to be on the receiving end of her studded pink pumps anyway).
Taking football as its starting point and adding a dash of Americanised shoulder pad aggression then chucking most of the rules out of the window, Charged Football is a surreal and explosive take on the (allegedly) beautiful game that plays more like a cute version of the classic Speedball than Beckham's favourite past time.
With an emphasis on aggressive gameplay and oodles of special moves, football as you know it has been transformed into a scrappy but entertaining romp in the Mushroom Kingdom, filled with familiar faces from Mario's history and packed with multiplayer fun.
Alongside the traditional football staples of pass, shoot, tackle etc, Mario Strikers adds new strategic elements such as power-ups and pass charging. Power-ups allow you to drop bananas, become a giant or fire out shells (with obvious benefits) and pass charging makes the ball more accurate and powerful with every successive pass between your players.
If you find yourself on the losing end (or just want to increase your lead) Megastrikes are available which, if the shoot button is held long enough, allow you to fire a volley of successive balls at the opponents goal. Success is determined by a golf style power meter and can land you with five goals at once but for those worried about balance, it is easy enough to prevent but entertaining to do.
As a single player game, Mario Strikers feels slightly lacking but remains fun nonetheless. At its heart it's a multiplayer game and that's where it excels - as the first online game for the Wii it showcases a robust and intuitive service and provides hours of slapstick entertainment between friends round the TV or online.
Now that's what I call beautiful.

Smash Court Tennis 3

Platform: PSP
Verdict: Needs strawberries n' cream.
Rating: 3/5
With the football season over it's soon to be tennis' time to take over the TV screens of those too lethargic to make it out into the summer sun and what perfect timing for Smash Court Tennis 3 to arrive and provide the tennis enthusiast the canny ability to leave the house and still indulge in some racket based entertainment (apart from playing it for real that is).
Snapping at the heels of the PSP's recent re-introduction to Sega's revered Virtua Tennis series, Smash Court has a lot of work cut out for it to be able to justify its existence in delivering its own top spin on the same game.
Where it immediately differs most is how it controls – each face button is relegated to varying return types – slice and spin etc. So far so similar yet the timing of button presses differs from Virtua Tennis' real time reaction - in a similar way to Rockstar's Table Tennis, as soon as the opponent hits the ball you can tap a button and your player will return it when it becomes near enough. Precise timing is no longer required to just return the ball, instead it's used for accuracy and power - with the timing of each button press and release defining decent returns.
While this is an interesting attempt at a different approach, it backfires by making it feel less immediate, tactile and fun.
Elsewhere, Smash Court 3 seeks to out do Virtua Tennis by offering an overwhelming wealth of features. Alongside Arcade and Exhibition modes, Pro Tour allows you to create, customise and build your own player into a tennis super star. With masses of stats, a tour calendar to plan your season, Smash Court offers a comprehensive and polished career mode yet still treads familiar ground.
For those with shorter attention spans there's Ad Hoc multiplayer between PSPs and some quirky mini games such as Pac Man Tennis but they don't make up for the fact that although Smash Court tries really hard to impress, it just lacks that special ingredient where it matters most – on the court.

Full Auto 2: Battle Lines

Platform: PSP
Verdict: Mardy Max.
Rating: 2½/5
Everyone knows that the future is a barren wasteland where oil is more precious than life and catwalks are filled with leather, spikes and loin cloths. Tina Turner may not need another hero but Full Auto 2: Battle Lines demands you to be one, for better or for worse.
As heroic deeds go however it'll certainly take a concerted effort from the Homer as the road to victory is a particularly disheartening odyssey – the ridiculous quest to overthrow a weather computer by driving like a drunk is a painful and glitchy road to hell.
The expensive licensed soundtrack may delight some but unfortunately belies the quality of the game as Battle Lines comes across as an unfinished symphony of destruction that at least heavy metal fans will glean some joy from.
With a variety of play modes to choose from and only ad hoc multiplayer (yet another PSP game to sadly shun WiFi), Full Auto 2 is a generic and predictable package that ticks the usual boxes but adds little new and as the pint sized brother to the PS3 game, it's lacking the one thing that made it interesting – the ability to rewind time and correct your mistakes.
Anyone who's crashed their car for real will know what the benefit of hindsight brings and with the ability to crash, rewind and avoid that nasty collision, Full Auto 2 on the PS3 allowed the player to be courageous and experimental, safe in the knowledge that an unsuccessful manoeuvre could easily be corrected. The explosions looked nice too.
Without the hook of rewinding time, Full Auto 2 is reduced to an average game of driving erratically and shooting wildly. With the PSP's limitations and some sloppy programming, the choppy frame rate and twitchy controls mean it's functional at best and barely a joy to play.
Those with a penchant for road based destruction would be best advised to plump for Burnout because even though Full Auto 2 is packed with weapons and destructible set piece environments, it still can't match the visceral quality of its nitrous peer. There's also the next Wipeout on the way where the future is decidedly cooler.