Virtua Fighter 5

Platform: Xbox 360, also PS3.
Verdict: The king of fighters.
Rating: 4½/5
As the very first 3D beat-em-up, the original Virtua Fighter was a blocky mesh of simple polygons that held gamers entranced with it’s primary colours, innovative gameplay and promises of what the future held. Fast forward almost 15 years and the latest iteration of this refined and polished series arrives, surpassing 93’s teenage visions, promising unparalleled gameplay and future arthritis.
Originally released on the PS3 a year ago, the 360 version has been a long time coming but the wait has been well worth it - based on the Version C arcade revision, it surpasses the PS3’s version with important gameplay tweaks, improved graphics and the killer addition of online play.
Regarded by many as the best 3D fighter, Virtua Fighter’s combat system is held highly and with good reason.
From simple button mashing to ‘sit down with a manual and revise em’ combos, VF5 allows beginners an easy entry into its hardcore fold, while the experts dip their resin covered virtual fists into the broken glass of high level play and showboat their skills online.
Those unfortunate souls without Xbox Live (hurry up Paul) or friends can take solace in the play modes on offer - alongside the traditional Arcade mode lies the addictive and balanced Quest mode where you tour virtual arcades, enter tournaments and unlock clothing and items for your fighter as you rank up the leaderboards.
Different arcades represent differing levels of difficulty and unlike the Arcade mode’s steadying increase in difficulty (to rock hard) it’s easy for the beginner (or expert) to settle into a Quest mode arcade and fight a continual queue of like-skilled opponents.
Online play may be the jewel in the 360’s crown but it’s also where the game is weakest - restricting you to single matches against strangers with the inability to switch characters when playing with friends, VF5’s offering is frugal at best but thankfully lag free.
Alongside the deep and satisfying gameplay, gorgeous graphics and wide variety of martial artists and moves, any gripes quickly fade away in a flurry of fists.
I’m 3rd Dan, come fight me.

Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron

Platform: PSP
Verdict: Too big for it's portable boots.
Rating: 3/5
Since the dawning of George Lucas' empire in '77 there have been over 40 videogames with the iconic logo emblazoned on their box art. Mostly they've been rubbish, apart from the odd diamond like The Knights of the Old Republic. After seeing how popular a home made Star Wars mod of Battlefield 1942 had become, Lucas Arts created the Battlefront series. The mixture of epic multiplayer gameplay, vehicular combat and the Star Wars license was a no brainer which saw it become one of the most successful Star Wars games made.
Renegade Squadron sees the traditional template of base capturing and Storm Trooper blasting married with online multiplayer (a first for the series on the PSP) and a new narrative to carry its single player.
Based around the secret group of galactic misfits organised by Han Solo to use guerilla tactics against the Empire, Renegade Squadron weaves its tale around the films with animated illustrations, filling in the gaps between episodes and creating behind-the-scenes tales.
Gameplay remains the same as ever with no dramatic changes other than removing soldier classes in favour of user customisation. Essentially allowing you to pick and choose your weapon sets, Renegade Squadron allows players to create their own style of soldier, restricted only by a credit system that prevents you from becoming a walking armoury.
As well as the rote base capturing, missions are spiced up with varying tasks like destroying generators or protecting friendly characters but they all essentially boil down to the same thing while space combat missions are a twitchy disappointment.
The eternal curse of the PSP's single stick layout detracts from the game immensely, providing an auto lock-on substitute to a second stick. It's an unsatisfying solution that removes most of the skill from the shooter template and makes multiplayer a tedious game of circling opponents while waiting to see who dies first.
To its credit though, production levels are high, customisation options varied and the all too rare inclusion of 16 player online multiplayer is the jewel in its crown - but then that was the whole point of Battlefront in the first place.

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.

Bioshock

Platform: Xbox 360, also PC.
Verdict: Art Deco horror.
Rating: 4½/5
Every once in a while a game will come along and take your breath away – be it the enchanting Ico with its minimalist design or the brutal Gears of War with its destroyed beauty. Both games excel beyond mere aesthetics but they’re always the first thing you notice about a game. Bioshock is one of the most stunning games yet and thankfully its qualities also extend far beyond eye candy.
Set in the underwater city of Rapture, a 1930’s vision of utopia, Bioshock tells the tale of a lone survivor of a plane crash seeking refuge amidst a city gone to ruin. Guided over short wave radio through the sumptuous Art Deco nightmare by the uncannily persuasive Atlas, you’re a fish out of water in a world gone insane. Signs of a civil uprising are apparent and the hedonism that fuelled the city has spiralled out of control as its inhabitants found themselves hooked on genetic upgrades that lead to madness.
Playing much like the unsurpassed Deus Ex, Bioshock is an FPS with an RPG edge. Mixing 30’s aesthetics with sci-fi technology and genetic modification, it gives you plenty of tools to fight with. Your eventual arsenal of modified guns is backed up by Plasmids, the DNA scramblers that re-programme your genetic structure and grant you abilities like telekinesis and lightning attacks - but will they send you mad?
The inhabitants of Rapture are a dangerous bunch but none more so than the lumbering Big Daddies that moan like blue whales as they escort the Little Sisters – GM girls sent out into the city to harvest corpses for rare genetic material. This unlikely pair are central to Rapture and its story and provide the game’s moral crux and subsequent ramifications – to harvest or rescue the sub-human sisters.
With shades of Metropolis, 1984 and Atlas Shrugged, Bioshock is a horrific dystopian vision with one of gaming’s most triumphant narratives (and twists), buoyed by stunning Art Deco aesthetics, fantastic voice acting and carried by solid and occasionally innovative gameplay.
Now would you kindly play this game…

Alien Syndrome

Platform: Wii, also PSP.
Verdict: Warrior needs food.
Rating: 2½/5
While building a new life in a new city, there’s nothing like playing a 4-player game on your own to make you miss old friends. Thankfully the 360’s online services help bridge that gap - as the makers of the rather imminent Halo 3 are well aware of, playing a game with friends is almost always better than on your own. Alien Syndrome may not have the online components of this year’s pre-destined hit but it does at least have 4-player co-op too. Beyond that though, it’s bragging rights rapidly diminish.
Remaking their popular 1987 shooter, Sega have attempted to update its simple old school formula by increasing the amount of players that commit alien genocide and by adding stat crunching RPG style elements. Playing more like a dungeon crawler than a frenetic shooter, Alien Syndrome has you blasting your way through an alien filled space ship of repetitious design while upgrading your abilities as you progress.
Updating the twee graphics of yester-year to a 3D vision of the generically gritty industrial future, Alien Syndrome is an ugly, dated looking game that suffers from being a port of a PSP title and is disappointing considering the Wii’s more than capable abilities.
Elsewhere, Sega have tried to justify it’s presence on the Wii by introducing motion controls for melee combat and special moves. While not unwieldy, button presses would more than suffice, making the controls feel unnecessary. What does work well however are the twin stick style controls – using the left stick to move and the Wiimote to point and aim is an intuitive setup and in the right game (like Geometry Wars: Galaxies) could work wonders.
After reading this my friends will probably be thankful we live miles apart because although some fun can be gleaned from this uninspired shooter it’s time that’ll be better spent playing online Gauntlet through rose-tinted spectacles, or Halo 3.

Space Giraffe

Platform: Xbox 360. 400 MS points.
Verdict: Psychedelic Marmite.
Rating: 4/5
Few games rarely generate such divisive opinions yet Jeff Minter’s latest animal inspired opus has exploded the gaming community alight with vitriol and praise in almost equal measures. With its distinctive visual style, sense of humour and dance music, Space giraffe has much to please or offend the gamer.
Taking the classic Tempest 2K (Minter’s popular remake) as its starting point, Space Giraffe is a psychedelic shooter concerned more with synchronised audio/visuals and complex gameplay strategies than actually shooting.
Placing you in control of the titular Space Giraffe, an auto-firing abstracted shape that can move left and right along a floating neon web, you have to destroy enemies floating up towards you. Shooting them is the obvious solution, yet use of the Power Zone, Jump Pods and Bulling technique will net you a far greater score and that’s what dangles in front of Space Giraffe like a virtual carrot made of psychedelic gold.
Points may not mean prizes but they certainly go a long way in giving you an incentive and you can even attempt to topple Minter’s own high score off the leader board. To do so, certain techniques (that notably stray from the Tempest formula) are necessary - charging up the Power Zone allows you to ram enemies off the web when they reach the top. Shooting enemies or using Jump Pods charges the Power Zone so a careful risk/reward balance has to be struck in order to reap the benefits of point heavy Bulling.
Online leader boards, a constant (and in my case damning) assessment of your progress by the game and the continual hypnotic mix of pulsating visuals and synchronised music (including your own custom soundtracks) all serve to egg you on to that next multiplier bonus and brain melting moment of gaming zen as you enter the zone.
Such glory comes at a price though as Space Giraffe is no simple shooter to pick up and play. The tutorial could be more clear cut in its instructions and the ‘trippy’ visuals can get in the way of gameplay but despite its niche shooter status and love it or hate it stylisation, its budget price and sheer exuberance means it should at least be given a chance to puke its addled charms out of your TV.