Sega Rally

Platform: Xbox 360, also PS3 and PC.
Verdict: Pure, filthy racing.
Rating: 4/5
As iconic to some as Sonic the Hedgehog, Sega Rally has always been regarded as one of Sega’s sweet spots - the hardware was cutting edge, the gameplay was sublime and the arcades still had some life left in them. Cut to today - the arcade is left for dead, Sega self imploded in the console race and the synonymous Sonic has fallen from gaming grace.
Thankfully, the latest Sega Rally is a shining beacon to past glories on current hardware. Like the Outrun remake of recent years, it shows that despite the arcade’s demise, Sega still know how to make pure arcade games that pack plenty of no-frills punch.
Stripped of the usual feature rich make-up of modern racers, Sega Rally is racing at it’s purist - pick a tournament, pick a car and off you go. Shaved of the weight deemed essential these days it’s a refreshing experience, further enhanced through its gameplay.
Initially, handling can feel exaggerated and twitchy, especially when coming straight from a session on the tighter PGR4. Once it clicks though you’ll be powerdrifting through troughs of mud at impossible angles and preposterous speeds with wide grinned glee. Online multiplayer proves a hilarious abuse of physics and gloriously rendered mud.
Travelling a variety of beautiful landscapes (safari, alpine, jungle etc), each adds its own particular nuance to driving as the differing terrains react uniquely under the wheels of the car. With deformable tracks where each wheel cuts grooves into the mud, each lap plays out differently while mud sticks to the car adding weight, removed all too briefly by pools of water before the next muddy bend.
It’s this added depth to the experience that sets Sega Rally apart from other racers. With a recent glut of exceptional racers like PGR4 and Colin McRae: DiRT, it finds it’s voice through this feature and its accessible arcade simplicity. That said, it’s this brevity of features and distinctly old school approach that could turn some against it.
Now all I need is to install it in an arcade cabinet and the cycle is complete.

Sonic Rush Adventure

For Nintendo DS
Super Sonic.
It's been sad to see Sonic's demise over the years after such a bright start - ever since going 3D he's never been the same but thankfully the limitations of handheld gaming have kept his 2D spirit alive and Sonic Rush Adventure is one such game.
Using the DS' dual screens, Sega have upped the experience by creating huge levels that sprawl over both of them. With expanded screen space, Sonic hurtles through corkscrews, plunges into the sea and flies over the heads of enemies at the blink of an eye.
The adventure tag in the title refers to the over arching story of Sonic and Tails crash landing on a small island. Working with the plucky animals that live there, they must investigate other islands, find raw materials for ship building and create successively bigger craft to eventually return home.
Moving between islands depends on your ship of choice and each has its own unique mini game – be it the speed run of the jet bike or the cannon firing fun of the sail boat.
There is a mildly frustrating requirement to retread levels for more supplies and the cut scenes are cringe worthy but the huge fast paced levels feature multiple paths for repeat runs and thankfully don't fall into the old elemental clichés of many a platformer. Welcome back Sonic.
8/10

Jam Sessions

Platform: Nintendo DS
Verdict: Stylus rock.
Rating: 3½/5
As one of those people that always meant to take up the guitar but never quite got round to it, gaming's handy ability to simplify musicianship and make it fun without the frustration of learning has always eased the self-disappointment. While titles like Samba de Amigo, Donkey Konga and Guitar Hero helped me recreate the joys of performing with far less skill, Jam Sessions is in an even nicher niche of gaming as it swings back away from being a game, pitched as a virtual instrument for the travelling guitarist and aspiring musician in all of us.
Using the touch screen to strum, your stylus works as a plectrum, playing chords on the virtual guitar by holding the d-pad in a particular direction. With a chord mapped to each direction and a press of the left shoulder button to superimpose a new chord 'palette', you have 16 editable chords to play. Allowing you to record your riffs, the microphone can also be enabled for some added warbling - the only downside being the inability to multi-track (and become subject to tuneless singing).
Sound quality is surprisingly decent although best advised through some headphones or an amp that goes up to 11 (obviously), the touch screen allows for some fairly subtle and expressive twangs of the 'string' and it comes with some comprehensive effects and fine-tuning options.
There are also songs to play along to if you're looking for something more akin to a game but without a reward system or scoring to chart your progress, it's a relatively muted affair, aimed more at homing your skills and teaching new styles.
The twitchy diagonals on the DS Lite's d-pad can make for some frustrating moments but overall it's a fairly satisfying experience which despite being a fairly bare bones package, serves its purpose as an audio sketch-book for musicians admirably and as a musical toy for those seeking something unique and fun to add to their collection. Rock on.

Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix

Platform: Xbox 360. 800 MS points.
Verdict: Fight with your brain, not your fists.
Rating: 4½/5
Capcom have really outdone themselves this time – obviously pitching to get into the Guiness book of records for silliest video game title, this latest Puzzle Fighter iteration takes things to the extreme. Thankfully it’s a tongue in cheek, self-mocking nod to the 90’s and the million versions spawned of Street Fighter II.
While not strictly a new game, SPFIITHDR (to abbreviate) is a greatest hits, combining the latest arcade version with the last Dreamcast release, tarting it up with crisp HD visuals, redrawn character animations (by Udon Comics) and online play. Gameplay remains the same as it always has with varying modes offering different twists on the core mechanics.
For those not familiar with the addictive puzzler, on surface it’s an unlikely coupling of Columns and Street Fighter II but delve a little deeper and you’ll find a perfect mix of puzzling and competitive action. Based around the traditional concept of matching colours, randomly generated gems fall from the top of the screen allowing you to rotate them and decide where they land. Matching groups of colours together shatters them, preventing your screen from filling up towards crystal death.
Designed as a 2 player game (either against AI or a human opponent), Puzzle Fighter’s emphasis on competitive gameplay creates new twists on the genre. Shattering groups of gems sends Counter gems onto the opponents screen and the larger the group, the more gems get sent (complemented by animated attacks from your character). Counter gems don’t become smashable for five turns so they cause a whole lot of grief to whoever is on the receiving end of them.
Obviously building large groups of gems can be risky as they fill your screen, so perfect timing, quick thinking and a daredevil nature is essential to reap the rewards of the satisfying risk/reward gameplay and submit your opponent to another Shinkuu Hadouken laced defeat.
For the princely sum of £6.80 you can’t go wrong, unless you prefer games with punchier titles of course.

Halo 3

Platform: Xbox 360.
Verdict: 3 is the magic number.
Rating: 5/5
When Bungie first came up with the idea for an Apple Mac based Sci-fi strategy game they could never have predicted it would become a media phenomenon, a record breaker and a console FPS. Years down the line, after the original Halo defined console FPS' and Halo 2 defined online console gaming, Halo 3 has arrived to define the 360's future and tie up the story of intergalactic warfare, alien religion and one green suited man's legendary heroics.
After the abrupt and unsatisfying cliff-hanger of Halo 2, the sequel picks up almost immediately. Master Chief has returned to find Earth over run by the Covenant (alien races united under religion) who are unearthing the Ark, an ancient alien installation in the middle of the African desert. The Elites have disbanded from the misguided Covenant and sided with humanity to stop the activation of the Halo rings which will wipe out all life in the universe. With Cortana the AI missing and the threat of the Flood (a deadly parasitic species) the odds aren't looking good.
Taking its cue from criticisms of Halo 2's Campaign, Bungie have tried to recreate the feeling of their original classic – huge open battlefields, a single character narrative (no more playing as the Arbiter) and a more satisfying and coherent story thankfully address them with great success.
With cutting edge HDR lighting, physics reactive water, improved AI, an emphasis on the Brute's pack mentality and some incredible sound design the most immediate enhancements, the controller layout has also changed to assign the X button to new 'Equipment' items.
Equipment are rare items scattered across the maps and add new depth and strategy to the combat. The Bubble Shield, Power Drain, Trip Mine and Grav Lift all seek to encourage even more improvisational gameplay without disrupting the careful balancing of Halo's fine tuned weapon sets.
As well as Equipment, new weapons and vehicles have been added - Spike Grenades are strategical genius, the Brute Choppers are brutal, the Spartan Laser is devastating and the welcome return of the Assault Rifle as a start weapon sees Halo 2's emphasis on dual wielding thankfully reduced. The final inclusion of a flame-thrower and the ability to rip turrets out of their fittings and carry them from the hip like Arnie in Terminator 2 are also more than welcome as is the comical Gravity Hammer.
While all these additions and enhancements are welcome in the campaign, their true test of worth is discovered in the peerless multiplayer. Halo 2 set the standard, Halo 3 picks up the baton running. After the successful Beta and the data mining that was undertaken, Bungie have delivered another rock solid matchmaking system full of superb multi level maps, inventive game types and teenage smack talk - thankfully it's now easier to mute those poor losers.
As well as the Campaign (which allows for 4 player co-op play online and competitive scoring) and traditional multiplayer, there are two new modes to Halo – Forge and Theatre.
Forge is a unique variant of custom games that allows anyone to edit a multiplayer map mid game, in real time and create new game variants for sharing. With Halo 3's already massive community in it's infancy, it'll soon blossom into a hub of creativity where new game types can be uploaded to Bungie.net, downloaded by others, tweaked and evolved into perfection.
Theatre mode allows you to watch previous sessions, changing camera angles, slowing time, recording clips (to send to friends) and saving screenshots. Beyond that, controls are fairly limited it's but still an excellent feature to showboat your skills, create machinima and find out how exactly those players got the drop on you.
While gameplay may not be as revolutionary as hype implied (and as a 3rd iteration in a series, such a divergence wouldn't be welcome), it's such a finely tuned, polished and perfected experience with a raft of unique and excellent features, that it's an FPS at the top of it's game and will still be played in years to come. Legendary indeed.