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Back story Not only has Disney’s favourite duck been starring in cartoons for 60 years, since the early Eighties, Donald has appeared In games on the Master System, MegaDrive, Game Gear, SNES, and Game Boy. If this had been classified as a ‘retro gaming experience’, perhaps things would have turned out differently. Perhaps the content of this review would have been more lenient, but as it stands, Quack Attack deserves to be covered in plum sauce and strung up in a Chinese restaurant window. This offensive piece of gaming is nothing more than a platformer in the most primary sense. You run, you jump, you collect stuff - and that’s it It’s coated with lush visuals, cool animation and a DVD-streamed intro, but Quack Attack's gameplay has been dredged up from a decade ago. Charged with rescuing girlfriend Daisy Duck from the clutches of evil magician Merlock, our meteorological mallard must recover weather vanes from each tedium-filled level in his valiant rescue attempt How this is supposed to actually aid Daisy remains a mystery. Aesthetically, it doesn’t just borrow from Crash Bandicoot as much as shamelessly rip it off. Donald and his surroundings are rendered in 3D, but he’s always stuck on a single path, unable to explore beyond the boundaries of the screen. These limitations may have been acceptable on the old 32 bit PSone five years ago, when the hardware was still finding its feet, but not in these Emotion Engine-powered times; even screenshots of the next gen Crash show everyone’s favourite bandicoot has progressed beyond such linear trappings. Sure, there is a measure of variety. But not much. After running ‘into’ the screen for one level, Donald then lethargically shifts his feathery butt to a different perspective, running from (wait for it) left to right. Donald, arguably the House of Mouse’s most likeable critter, has just two moves at his disposal: jump and kick. Strangely, for his species, he can't even duck. Oh, and swim too - he doesn’t seem to be too good at that either. DUCK DOWN Each of the four worlds follows this same, tedious pattern - the fact that programmers still insist on resorting to basic designs when there is scope for so much more is annoying The game falls into the category of being too tricky for the bairns, yet too basic for the more seasoned gamer. Whether you’re in the city of Duckburg with its pneumatic drill-wielding workmen or a creepy castle filled with sonic-spitting bats, the gameplay's exactly the same: either dodge or attack the onslaught until the end of the level painfully creeps towards you. No reward. No fun. It's doubtful that you'll want to visit Duckburg ever again To be fair, Quack Attack is obviously aimed at the very young PS2 audience, but how many PS2 owners are lusting after such schmaltz, when the likes of Tekken and TimeSplitters are on offer? If Quack Attack does find its intended audience, and a tot does pick it up, they'll soon be putting Donald down to play Pokemon instead, when they come up against the Everest-like learning curve that kicks in way too early for comfort. With no option to look around his environments. Donald just has to jump and hope for the best - and hope is a dangerous thing More often than not he invariably becomes an ex-duck’ In an attempt to liven up the leaden proceedings, Donald’s trio of nephews, Huey, Duey and Louie, offer special moves for collecting tokens throughout the levels, in a PoRoppo-like sequence of rapid button bashing Despite each series of button combinations triggering a different animation (Donald pole-vaulting, ring-swinging, kicking a football and so on) the result is always temporary invincibility, which seems a somewhat pointless prize. Quack Attacks one redeeming feature is the inventive boss battles. At the end of world one, Donald must avoid eggs farted at him by an overweight, irate bird. Another level sees the plucky hero dodging a wrecking ball thrown by his dogged assailants. While these attacks are creative, the action is over far too quickly. A patient gamer will have all 24 levels licked in an afternoon, mainly due to an abundance of extra lives - no doubt thrown in to alleviate the frustrating difficulty. The only longevity comes from replaying the levels to collect any items you missed, or fulfiling a challenge to complete as many special moves as possible in a set time. But after getting to the end by sheer blind luck the first time, it’s doubtful that you’ll want to visit Duckburg ever again. Quack Attack is a wasted opportunity. Where are the power-ups? Why cant we play as other characters, like Huey, Duey and Louie? Why are the special moves so useless? And who ever heard of a duck drowning? PlayStation 2 may be in its infancy, but its games dont have to be infantile. Quack Attack? Excuse the pun but it’s more like Cack Attack.

Release Date: December 10, 1998 Jeremy Clarkson would call it “A throbbing Apollo rocket or a game harnessed to the chassis of a shopping trolley". We prefer to call it, Max Power Racing... There's something about driving family saloons and hatchbacks stupidly fast around precipitous clifftops that beats caning it down a test track in a Ferrari any day of the week. Well, very nearly. It's that feeling of almost reality — that it could really happen - and of genuine danger what with your Renault Clio or Peugeot 206 having no super carbon brakes, twin-turbo acceleration or roll-cage to look after you. Max Power Racing manages to tap into this vein of gung-ho boy racery as effectively as its fore-runner Total Drivin’ but not without racking up some severe cosmetic damage along the way. MAX POWER RACING MANAGES TO TAP INTO THIS VEIN OF GUNG-HO BOY RACERY AS EFFECTIVELY AS ITS FORE-RUNNER TOTAL OEM". Featuring 25 cars, 20 tuning options, 30 tracks and a split-screen mode, no one can accuse Max Power of lacking ambition. It’s obvious that a lot of time has been spent on the tracks as, apart from the usual fast straights and slidy corners, they also boast Eutechnyx's trademark lethal gorges and water hazards. Tumble from a mountain road or stray from the safety of a ford in later sections and your car will sink faster than James Cameron’s street cred and your race will Be over. This air of realism is carried through to the damage you sustain from prangs and disagreements with roadside obstacles (many of which are destructible) as back windows shatter and body panels buckle. Although a lot of tracks have enjoyable sections to them none stand out as works of genius like Colin McRae Rallys Greece Stage 2 or Ridge Racer Revolutions Intermediate Course. 25 CARS, 20 TUNING OPTIONS, 30 TRACKS AND A SPLIT-SCREEN MODE, NO ONE CAN ACCUSE MAX POWER OF LACKING AMBITION. It's as if the good corners, fun hazards and impressive backdrops have been eeked out across 30 okay circuits instead of being concentrated into five or ten tracks to die for. If the courses are mediocre the cars are a real letdown. Many appear unfinished, blocky and badly drawn, even failing to excite with all the flash camera angles of the replay to make them look good. While expecting Gran Turismo build quality is, perhaps, unrealistic sexy driving machines are essential to draw in unsuspecting novices for an automotive thrashing but Max's cars are far too dowdy. If you can bring yourself to pick the pink Max Powermobile or Clio Williams you'll find they're lively and handle well, sliding nicely through chicanes and sailing sideways through the toughest corners. Better still, the grip and performance of each car can be adjusted - letting you fine-tune your motor to the local conditions using the Test Track option. Yet even here Max Power Racing manages to fluff the change of pace as, despite handling well at high speed, at low velocity the cars steer like shopping trolleys. Hit the wall of a bridge end-on and, frustrating you can't just nudge your car back on track with accelerate. Thirty seconds of careful reversing and applying full lock will only end one way: you rolling into oblivion and bouncing the joypad off the TV in disgust. Crash-wise too it seems like little has been learned from the automotive gymnastics of V-Rally get an unlucky collision and you tumble all over the shop, often sliding on two wheels with no chance to get decent traction and re-join the circuit, and of course then, when you really need it, the Car Replace option isn't available. IF THE COURSES ARE MEDIOCRE THE CARS ARE A REAL LET-DOWN. MANY APPEARING UNFINISHED, BLOCKY AND BADLY DRAWN. Max Power Racing gets so many important things right that you want it to work. That it doesn't is down to a mountain of small but significant flaws (the lack of a best lap and split times in Time Trial is one ofanumber of amazing oversights) that wouldn't matter by themselves but that, combined, cripple an otherwise competent speed merchant.

Release Year: 1998 Developer: Traveller's Tales Publisher: Disney Interactive / Sony Computer Entertainment Genre: 3D platformer Players: 1 player Release Year: 2000 (EU) / 2001 (NA) Developer: Argonaut Games Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment / Disney Interactive Genre: 3D platformer Players: 1 player Release Year: 2001 Developer: Eurocom Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment Genre: Action-adventure / platformer Release Year: 2001 Developer: Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo Publisher: Konami Genre: Rhythm / Music / Dance Players: 1–2 players Release Year: 2000 Developer: Sandbox Studios Publisher: Ubisoft / Disney Interactive Genre: Action-adventure / puzzle-platformer Players: 1 player Release Year: 1997 Developer: Eurocom Entertainment Software Publisher: Virgin Interactive, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Genre: Platformer / action game Players: 1 player Release Year: 1999 Developer: Eurocom Entertainment Software Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment / Disney Interactive Genre: 2.5D platformer Players: 1 player Release Year: 1999 Developer: Traveller’s Tales Publisher: Activision / Disney Interactive Genre: 3D platformer / action-adventure Players: 1 player Release Year: 2001 Developer: Traveller’s Tales Publisher: Activision / Disney Interactive Genre: Kart racing / party racer Players: 1–2 player (split-screen multiplayer) Release Year: 2000 Developer: Traveller’s Tales Publisher: Activision / Disney Interactive Genre: 3D platform shooter Players: 1 player Release Year: 2000 Developer: Ubisoft Shanghai Publisher: Ubisoft / Disney Interactive Genre: 3D platformer (Crash Bandicoot-style) Players: 1 player Release Year: 1996 Developer: Traveller’s Tales Publisher: Disney Interactive / Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Genre: 2D platformer Players: 1 player Release Year: 2000 Developer: Crystal Dynamics Publisher: Eidos Interactive / Disney Interactive Genre: 3D platformer Players: 1 player Release Year: 2000 Developer: Argonaut Games Publisher: Eidos Interactive / Disney Interactive Genre: 3D platformer Players: 1 player Release Year: 2000 Developer: Paradox Development Publisher: Activision / Disney Interactive Genre: 3D platformer (with 2D-style pacing) Players: 1 player Release Year: 2001 Developer: Artificial Mind and Movement Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment / Disney Interactive Genre: 3D action-platformer Players: 1 player Release Year: 2002 Developer: Doki Denki Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment / Disney Interactive Genre: Action-adventure / platformer Players: 1 player Release Year: 2002 Developer: Bizarre Creations (console versions vary by platform) Publisher: Disney Interactive Genre: Action-adventure / platformer (with space travel elements) Players: 1 player Release Year: 2002 Developer: Blitz Games Publisher: Eidos Interactive / Disney Interactive Genre: 3D platformer Players: 1 player Release Year: 2003 Developer: Digital Eclipse Publisher: Eidos Interactive / Disney Interactive Genre: 3D platformer / adventure Players: 1 player Release Year: 2000 Developer: Crystal Dynamics Publisher: Eidos Interactive (varies by region) Genre: Kart racing Players: 1–2 (split-screen multiplayer) Release Year: 1999 Developer: Capcom Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Genre: Puzzle (competitive Tetris-style) Players: 1–2 player Release Year: 2000 Developer: Ubisoft Montréal / Ubisoft Shanghai Publisher: Ubisoft / Disney Interactive (regional publishing varied) Genre: Rhythm game (Dance Dance Revolution-style) Players: 1–2 player Release Year: 2000 Developer: Doki Denki Studio Publisher: Disney Interactive (varies by region) Genre: 2.5D platformer Players: 1 player Release Year: 2001 Developer: Doki Denki Studio Publisher: Disney Interactive / Eidos Interactive Genre: Party game / mini-game collection Players: 1–4 players Release Year: 2002 Developer: Disney Interactive / BAM! Entertainment Genre: Educational / edutainment Players: 1 player Release Year: 2002 Developer: Disney Interactive / BAM! Entertainment Genre: Educational / point-and-click edutainment Players: 1 player Release Year: 2002 Developer: Disney Interactive Publisher: Disney Interactive / BAM! Entertainment / Atlus Genre: Edutainment / life simulation Players: 1 player Release Year: 2002 Developer: Disney Interactive Publisher: Disney Interactive / regional partners (varied by country) Genre: Edutainment / educational software Players: 1 player Release Year: 2001 Developer: The Code Monkeys Publisher: NewKidCo / Disney Interactive (region-dependent) Genre: Action-adventure / exploration platformer (light puzzle elements) Players: 1 player Release Year: 1999 Developer: Disney Interactive Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment / Disney Interactive Genre: 2D platformer / action-adventure Players: 1 player Release Year: 2000 Developer: H2O Entertainment Publisher: Disney Interactive / Sony Computer Entertainment Genre: 2D/2.5D side-scrolling platformer Players: 1 player

Release Date: November 6, 1997 Crash is back! put is this a genuine attempt to further the character’s career, or just a cash-in quick exercise before has-been-dom beckons for the bandicoot? The PlayStation would appear to be in the middle of a severe bout of sequelitis, = = with a host of updates, revisions and follow-ups to the format'’s most popular titles. And in the midst of all this name-dropping and cashing-in its no surprise to see that peculiar marsupial, Crash Bandicoot, back in platform-pouncing action. The excuse — ef, scenario, rather ~ this time is that Crash’s Nemesis, the twisted a Dr Neo Cortex, has deceived Crash into @ collecting crystals which are needed to protect the earth from impending doom though Cortex will actually use them to power a special master crystal capable of destroying the earth blah blah blah... whatever. The simple fact is that Crash has to make his way through 25 levels (not counting the various bosses and secret bits), picking up the pointy purple gems in each level CBZ has one major enhancement over the original game, in that - as you probably know ~ Crash Bandicoot had the most perverse and frustrating save game system. You had to collect three tokens to be able to enter a bonus round, and only after this were you allowed to save your position. Which means that if, in the heat of the action, you missed a token, you could die and have to replay that level. But not just that one, oh no, You might also be sent back to the start of the level before that. And considering the “treacherous going in some of the later stages, this needlessly complex system » made Crash Bandicoot just ever-soslightly bloody annoying. Not so the sequel: Developer Naughty Dog has kept things nice and simple by allowing Crash to enter any one of five stages from a central warp room; after each stage you can save the game (memory card only), and you can play those five levels in any order until they'vé all been successfully de gemmed. Ahh... thank you, Naughty Dog. Instead of the incessantly jungley theme of the first game, CB2 takes place across five themed areas: Jungle (well they had to, really); Glacial (slippy-slidey ice levels); Sewer (dimly-lit tunnels with murky water); Cave (lots of hanging around from the ceiling); and Space (robots, Jetpacks and stuff). However, there is a sixth warp room which can be accessed from five secret points which are secreted (naturally) about the game. Once inside this new warp room, three of the doors lead back to secret sections of previous levels, while the final two doors lead to totally new levels ~ which we're contractually obliged not to tell you about because they're just too secret. When you've callected all the purple crystals from your five stages, Dr Cortex’s hologram appears to offer his congratulations; you then climb on to the central dais which revolves up and out of the screen, transporting Crash to an in-between boss section. Here we meet some of the mad adversaries from his first adventures - such as the mad Incendiary marsupial, Ripper Roo - plus one or two brand new heavies (ahem), culminating in a one-on: one with the dreaded Dr. Cortex himself. During the course of each level there are also bonus sections which are a direct descendant of those seen in the original. Again, the idea is to collect the goodies (bonus apples, protective witch doctor masks, extra bandicoot lives) and make it to the end intact. These are slightly more puzzley than before and rapidly become tough to complete. Thank heavens they're a bit easier to find this time round (they're usually clearly marked in the centre of a clearing - you can't miss 'em), Another new(ish) addition is the secret crystals of differing colours which provide a secondary challenge for the seasoned platformer. Or anyone wanting to eke out those last, vital drops of gameplay before flogging it second-hand. Only by completing hidden areas can Crash collect’ the coloured crystals, which then serve to fill in the transparent platforms, allowing him access to other crystals, and so on. It's a welcome addition but a little derivative of another well-known 3D platform game you might have heard of... Indeed, after an auspicious start — Crash is transported to the first warp room, whereupon a Doctor Cortex hologram foretells of the perils ahead — you very quickly realise that by Crash Bandicoot 2 what they really mean is Crash Bandicoot: More Of The Same. Admittedly there's a lot of variety in the game styles, but they're all pretty much the same as in the first title. You have your running into the screen, jumping across platforms and over the water. There's the running towards the screen being chased by a very large thing (including giant boulders and an enormous polar bear). Then there's a repeat performance from the classic sideways scrolling levels. And finally we pay homage to the hilarious ‘Crash on hog-back racing into the distance levels — only this time it’s a polar bear cub and we're jumping over ice flows and avoiding killer whales. It's all terribly well done and, we think, incredibly good looking; but there's almost nothing new here. The game styles we've seen before, and almost all of the new features — monkey-swinging from wire-mesh walkways, platforms which appear when you've collected gems, slippyslidey ice levels, and so on — are either staple platform fare or rather poorly ripped off from Super Mario 64. So we're in something of a dilemma: CB2 is obviously an improvement of CB — the gameplay is just as engaging, and probably even more handsome. The annoying flaws have been ironed out, and the learning curve is maybe just a tad gentler. But most of the newness of Crash Bandicoot 2 lies in the tweaked structure and the graphics: the mechanics, the game styles, the situations, the general feel of the game are all a bit too familiar. So: if you played the original game and loved it to bits, here you are ~ another 27 levels. If you played the original and found it mildly annoying, try this new and improved version. And if you've never played Crash Bandicoot at all, this is the one to go for (even if you have seen the original game second-hand for £15 less). Oh, and if you hate platformers, why the hell have you just spent the last 10 minutes reading this review? Duh.

Release Date: October 1, 2009 GRAN TURISMO The Ultimate Racing Game? Heavens to Betsy. You should see the replay mode on SCE Japan’s latest racer. Squint your eyes just a little bit and you'd swear it was video footage of real cars. Eschewing their usual cartoony style, the Japanese are working on what could be the PlayStation’s most visually spectacular title... Describe the game in 100 words Gran Turismo is a realistic car racing sim, There, said it. The game includes some 87 licensed cars from 10 of the world’s leading manufacturers, including Mitsubishi, Chrysler, TVR, Subaru, Aston Martin and Mazda. The development team has used detailed performance stats to ensure that each car behaves as much like the real thing as possible. You start with a bit of cash and you have to buy yourself a motor — win races and you earn more cash, allowing you to buy more cars. Add a slew of circuits and a split-screen option and we could be looking at the PlayStation’s finest racer to date. Is there anything in this game that we haven't seen in all the other racers available? Certainly, there has never been a racing game with so many ‘real’ cars ~ pretty much all the major manufacturers are represented with a selection of their most popular models. But what really makes Gran Turismo stand out from the crowd is the attention to detail shown in every aspect of the game, particularly in the look and handling of the cars themselves. True, V-Rally’s cars looked realistic, but this takes the PlayStation a step further. What other games have influenced Gran Turismo? Formula One is an obvious point of reference, Also the team has spent a lot of time playing World Rally Championship and Le Mans 24 Hours. Doubtless, they'll have tucked into V-Rally and before the game is finished, they'll have played the excellent TOCA Touring Cars from Codemasters. Any specific technical innovations to speak of? Hurrumph, Technical innovations? This is the most photo-realistic game we've ever seen. It's just amazing, The programmers created the visuals using detailed scans of the real cars, a superb rendering routine and real-time lighting effects. They've also developed a new ‘Environment Mapping system and utilised their unique ‘Automobile Physics Simulation Model’ which was originally created for Motor Toon. What's the pedigree of the team? The leader of the gang, Kazunori Yamauchi, has been fiddling with the concept of Gran Turismo for some five years, now. He worked on the original Motor Toon Grand Prix, but his aim with this project has been to produce the ultimate racing game. Why should anyone care about the game? Because SCE in Japan is pushing the PlayStation envelope. Gran Turismo is, at least in visual terms, a step forward, Once other developers start to catch on we'll be seeing the PlayStation doing things we didn't think possible, And how many other programing teams have hired out loads of cars to see how the real things actually performed?

Release Date: October 16, 1999 Back Story Tecmo, the company best known for bringing us Monster Rancher, first assaulted our senses with Dead Or Alive on the PSone and proved the game was more than a stopgap until the arrival of Tekken 3 with its phenomenal speed. This was then followed up on Dreamcast where it was received just as well. Then the PS2 got in on the act and what you see before you is the review of a enhanced conversion of the NTCS version (Dead Or Alive 2 Hardcore). Choice. Everyday we're spoiled with so much choice, and indeed the resulting decision-making process that comes after it. Willingly or otherwise we're constantly flipping the coin of life, trying to determine which course our fates should meander down but we occasionally get decisions wrong Jamie Oliver and television anybody? That’s why, instead of charging down to the shops, a fist full of scrunched up sweat-soaked tenners feverishly spilling onto the counter for a copy of Tekken Tag, we can sit back for a minute and take stock. There may just be an alternative. Dead Or Alive 2: It’s big, top-heavy and in your face. Hang on a minute... Dead Or Alive 2 was first seen flaunting its stuff on the Dreamcast. This was long before the beloved black box was revealed and PSone owners were worrying whether Sony's next gen console could live up to this. The game was dazzling, a real treat for the senses and owners of said hedgehoginfested console gloated. A choice was made though, and the decision to bring DOA2 to the glory of the PS2 was far more than a cunning ploy to fill purses with pennies. It was a statement. It was a sign of confidence. Yes, Tekken rules supreme but surely, by DOA2’s very existence it has to be something of a contender. The first, most obvious and least worthy point to make about Dead Or Alive 2 is the mammary factor. Breasts are enlarged to stupid proportions, bounce with ludicrous frequency and there's even a gallery of scintillating snaps to ogle over. Once you look beyond these dubious ‘assets’ to the game you see that boobs aren't actually needed as a selling point of quality that lays beneath. Dead Or Alive 2 is a pantomime, no question, but it’s a quality pantomime. Whereas Tekken prides itself on realism (Ogres, Devils and Dinosaurs excluded} DOA2 relishes being flamboyant. Fighting styles are the strangest you're likely to encounter. There are no specific disciplines at work here, just a collection of elasticated bodies thrashing around under the pretence of being affiliated to a certain school of martial art. Legs are contorted a hundred ways around necks, fists crash like steam trains into people’s snouts and then the fighters stick two fingers up to the principles of gravity and ‘Peter Pan’ themselves across the screen. At best it's poetic, at worst they look like drunken marionettes. But it’s the speed at which such leg bending tomfoolery takes places that is both DOA2’s main attraction and, oddly, its Achilles’ heel. Fighters are considerably faster than their Tekken counterparts and make the King Of The Iron Fist Tournament look slovenly in comparison. You can string a plethora of combos together creating a blistering array of attacks, hurl opponents from rooftops, crash them through scenery, back-flip, scissor kick, corkscrew, eye gouge, nipple twist, Chinese burn... you name it. But all this grandiose scrapping is easily obtainable no matter what your competence. Whereas Tekken relies on hours of combo mastering, DOA2 has the following: punch button, one of; kick button, one of: throw button, one of and block button. one of. Without skill or raining you can win and that isn’t good. Reportedly there are close to 100 moves per character and we did manage to unearth many of the acrobatic assaults. However, achieving this was a seriously challenging feat as you'll find out a little later on. HIT BACK Despite the dumbed-down feel from DOA2’s control system, it does have a unique feather in its cap. It places heavy emphasis on counter moves. If you're skilled enough for manage to hit the block button in time as is often the situation] you can counter a potentially nasty face pummelling and turn the fight on its head. This makes the art of combat a more balanced affair than is usually the case with beat-’em-ups. You're always remembering to be defensive, to be on the look out for those crafty uppercuts and high kicks that your rival would so willingly inflict on you. But, and this is where irony has never been so apparent, the very thing that pushes it past Tekken, the speed, is the one thing that prevents you enjoying this refreshing angle on fighting to its full potential. Aspects such as countering and skilled combat {not just frantic button bashing] are forfeited in order just to stay alive. Rivals come at you with such frenzied barrages of boots and wallops that DOA2 becomes a button-bashing test of stamina rather than the test of skill it usually is. It’s often the first person to strike a blow that ends up victorious too; the poor sod on the receiving end will be gargling in a pool of blood and wondering how it is that their feet now fit in their ears. Be the eternal optimist though and you can say that it certainly adds a longevity to proceedings. You'll want to chip away at your enemy's defences, to learn their moves and eventually know exactly when you need to act in order to break their serve and send them reeling. It will take considerable time and the reflexes of a snake before you are confidently turning attacks back on the aggressor though and whether you have the patience to endure endless thrashings is purely down to personal willpower and patience. But believe us, you're going to have to rank alongside the Pope for placidity if you want to get the most from DOA2. But what of these deadly combatants? Are they just faster than the familiar faces of Tekken or do they have merits of their own? Well, what they lack in numbers (a measly dozen or so even after they've all been unlocked) they make up for in game options and... er, costumes. Each of our merry band of miscreants has at least three outfit changes to work through and range from a slinky rubber catsuit to a worrying silver Teletubby costume complete with phallic bit dangling from the hood. It hardly acts as an incentive, watching people effectively trying on clothes for the camera, but if you're a dedicated follower of fashion then knock yourself out - there are 80 plus costumes for your delectation. The combat of DOA2 will quite literally lift you off your feet The end of game bad guy Bankotsubo - whose catchphrase is the oh-so punchy 'Everything is My Delusion' - is a collection of disjointed limbs. Hardly as intimidating as Tekken Tag's sublime Unknown, this obese mass of man is still frightening in his own right. Besides looking like Oliver Reed on the biggest bender of his booze-sloshed life he possesses a pair of fairy wings, dances in stilts and curtsies at you whilst peering coyly from behind his fan. He also has the ability to manipulate reality - hence that wonky catchphrase. Depending on the severity of the beating he bestows upon your squishy mortal frame, the world around you will begin to blur. The more he attacks, the greater the blurring until eventually you are fighting blind. It's a tremendously effective tool and turns an absurdly comic nemesis into something far more grave. You have to use all those wily combative skills you've acquired just to return your field of vision to something other than smudgy beer goggles. Or just pound like hell on the attack buttons and hope for the best instead. LOLLIPOPS, LIPSTICKS AND MELONS If you tire of fighting your way through round upon round to go head-to-head with the big fella himself then take solace. There's an absolute wealth of gameplay modes available, some of which even bring you new characters to molest. You have the bog standard Story mode to chew down on but time attacks are available for those with lightning reflexes and a touch of psychoses in their personality. The standard two-player mode is of course available as is Survival mode – though DOA2 offers an odd twist on the theme. You take on one contender at a time then feed them your fists as per usual but with every win you make you are awarded an item from the vanquished. Lollipops, lipsticks and melons as well as an assortment of household items are spilled across the floor and you are awarded an insane number of points if you pick them up. Then you delve into options such as Sparring mode where you can beat seven shades out of a rival without repercussion. Then we cross to the heavily pervy CG Gallery and Watch modes where you can sit back and 'enjoy' the lady fighters grapple one another. But perhaps the most welcome mode of the whole game is the now familiar Tag option. Choose your team (extra fighters are available for this particular mode including Oliver Reed Bloke and Bayman – a Russian assassin) and enter into a rip-roaring, slamming tag match that wees mightily on Tekken from the greatest height imaginable. This really masterful feature combines two stupendously fast characters, bodies zinging about and jaws being crunched quicker than you can blink. And if you aren’t flexing those fingers with dazzling dexterity, you may just as well start digging now to save your soon-to-be-employed undertaker the bother. It's a sprint fight, a brawl perfectly formed for venting aggression; a respectable inclusion to any fighting game. Yes, even with all that breakneck speed ruining the skill needed to perform satisfying, calculated attacks you can still garner a hell of a lot of pleasure from the experience. Just let yourself go and you'll have a blast. It's a shame such a majority of DOA2 has gone into hyper drive with the speed because it leaves little time to appreciate the subtler aspects of the game that need pointing out. Particles, especially snow and sand are excellent, better than TTT even. When the wind billows and screams across the screen it clings to clothes, whipping them up along with hair, ribbons and other loose items of clothing. Most of the time when clothes are billowed into a frenzy by the elements it reveals an occasional glimpse of female flesh. Typical. Oh, and they haven't even been anti-aliased either. //Dead Or Alive 2 is a pantomime, no question, but it’s a quality pantomime// ENVIRONMENTAL PERFECTION Rather than the ghastly parallax scrolling that blighted TIT, in DOA2 the environments are sturdy, substantial and concrete. Well... most of the time. Some of your precious tussling time will undoubtedly involve attempting to thrust your enemy through stained-glass windows, shoving them into frozen crevasses or roundhouse kicking them straight into live circuitry. Many arenas are on several levels and it is a credit to the developers that they should spend such considerable time perfecting purely incidental aspects of the game. Have no doubt, Dead or Alive 2 is a game born of devotion. Everything attempted has been done with the best intentions in mind and more often than not the effort succeeds. The vast array of modes, the quality of fighters (after all, it matters far more than quantity) the choreographed beauty of the combat styles and the ingenious relation of the characters to their environments are all credits to the game. Even the ‘slightly over enthusiastic’ frame rate which will so hamper the struggles of the novice player should be seen as a bonus to the game once it is mastered. It isn’t very often that a game can encroach on Tekken’s territory with such bravado and come away unscathed but Dead Or Alive 2 is one such game. If only it took itself a little more seriously, introduced new characters and cut down on the speed then we'd be looking at a stand off of two beat-'em-up giants. As it is though, DOA2 is the best second choice of game anyone could hope for and should still be capable of shining through Tekken's gargantuan shadow. GET TO KNOW YOUR FOE

James Bond may still triumph at the flicks, but he clearly needs to improve his game on PS2. Will this be the game to do it or will he die another day? Read on... Release Date: February 11, 2004 There are few more recognisable characters in the world than James Bond. Which makes tucking him away behind the camera seem rather a strange decision - EA’s two previous PlayStation2 efforts, James Bond 007 in... Agent Under Fire and Nightfire, both trod the first-person shooter path. As a result we got to play as cinema’s most famous cufflink in two mostly entertaining but rather shallow adventures that never quite got to the heart of it. Like 95 per cent of James himself, the most iconic Bond elements just weren’t there. But that’s changed. Electronic Arts has, in true global domination style, reached out from its futuristic glass headquarters to snatch the rights to just about everything. The company is now free to rake the past 20 Bond films for any elements it cares to resurrect, and also own the rights to anything 007 produces until - slow-burning evil cackle - 2010. It’s not an opportunity the company's planning to waste, and Everything Or Nothing lEON from now on, if you don't mind) is stacked to the rafters with villains, gadgets and situations to please even the corest of the hardcore Jamie fans. //IT’S AN INTERESTING MIDDLE GROUND BETWEEN CUNNING STEALTH AND FULL-ON FIGHTING ACTION// The first thing of note is the switch to a third-person view. This does more than just give EA’s Lead Tuxedo Programmer a reason to sit up and switch the lights back on. Being able to see your character affords you many more opportunities for interacting with your environment, because Bond can use stealth tactics in a far more entertaining way than before. After all, if you try lurking round a corner or ducking behind cover in the first person view, all you get is a close up of something flat Realistic, perhaps, but not very gripping. A more distant camera allows you to see both Bond in all his stealthy glory and the dangers that surround him. Of course, we want to see ourselves being Bond, too. So naturally, this time you've got a lot more moves, including the ability to send guards off in the wrong direction with distractions. It's an interesting middle ground between cunning stealth and full-on fighting, as your noises will obviously tip them off to your presence, creating potentially hazardous situations. Timing will be everything (or nothing...) Bond’s ability to be creative is not just limited to tossing the odd ashtray at the opposite wall, either - we all know spies are far more cunning than that You might, for instance, be able to get yourself captured deliberately at certain points, before viciously taking down your escorts in the privacy of, say, a lift. It's a typical Bond ruse to penetrate those gosh darned secret facilities, and just the kind of thing we want to do in a game. EA wants you to do it too, rather than just ploughing through the middle with the trigger on the US G.l setting, so the game rewards Bond-like activities. How? Extra helpings of Q’s exotic gadgets, a substantial reward for a bit of brainery when confronted by too many bad guys. And yes, written LARGE between these lines is this point - you have the choice of how to fight and choice is officially A Good Thing. If you want to just wade in with guns blazing like the sunrise then you can, but there are better ways - ways more in-keeping with the subject You can also fight unarmed, another element that works best with the third-person view - even the otherwise superb Time Splitters 2 - perhaps the most fluid and well-balanced first-person game out there looks ridiculous once the fists start prodding out from beneath the camera. Creep up behind an unwary guard and Bond will even tap him on the shoulder before clattering him as he turns around... most amusing. It’s also possible to snatch up something that’s lying around - a plank of wood perhaps, bottles, chairs or even power tools - and use it to bring about an embarrassing DIY death that’s just begging for a pun-tastic quip. Naturally, even a few sharp slaps with a rake makes a lot less noise than several hundred rounds of heavyweight munitions thudding into the scenery, so it's the best way to kill if you really want to stay undetected - especially as you can frequently steal identities from fallen foes and bluff your way through ensuing sections in disguise. Well, you are a spy. You’re clearly the world’s best spy, too, seeing as no-one seems to be able to kill James Bond, even though they know who he is, where he lives and what he drinks. The developer has struggled with how to represent this infallibility, as Bond, it feels, simply thinks more quickly than most people. How do you give the player time to react in a pleasingly suave way? The designers toyed with a rather sorrowful version of The Matrix's bullet time called, somewhat pathetically, the Bond Zone - everybody just get over it before wisely dropping the idea. Spinning in slo-mo fashion even looks old in The Matrix Reloaded and it has NEVER looked good in games. EA has finally settled on something less redundant Played Max Payne? You didn't actually need those treacly dives, did you... Originally, cunning play In EON filled a bar that allowed the unleashing of some unspectacular slow-down when you saw fit Such treatment is now reserved for certain set pieces. For instance, you may be quietly riding along on your motorcycle, minding your own business as you head for the French Quarter of New Orleans. Well, speeding along, weaving in and out of traffic, minding your own business as you head for the French Quarter of New Orleans. Well, weaving in and out of traffic firing the rockets, machine guns and flamethrowers attached to your bike at a phalanx of bad guys in cars as you head for the French Quarter. Well, all right, bad guys in massive juggernauts. Eventually your shooting causes a petrol tanker to jack knife across the road, blocking it Hit the correct button (it'll appear on screen) in time and Bond throws the bike on its side and slides underneath, swerving upright afterwards instead of crashing, just as everyone has since it first happened that way in Mission: Impossible 2. React quickly enough to another button instruction and he'll fire his flamethrower, triggering another slomo drama as the tanker evaporates in a ball of rising flame. And if your reactions aren't up to super-spy standard? You’ll just have to ride around it, and miss out on the cinematic carnage Bond so often causes. Which, of course, would be an act of folly. Vehicle-based shenanigans account for around 40 per cent of the game, and when we say ‘vehicles’ we’re not just stretching for another way of saying ‘cars’. In proper Bond style, you commandeer all manner of things without needing a single lesson, including a helicopter, the aforementioned bike and a Porsche. There’s little time for amiable sightseeing, either - Egypt’s Valley Of The Kings may well be something of a tourist attraction, but at the height you must pilot this chopper you’re a bit too close to creating your own, slightly more mangled pyramid headstone to pay much attention. Similarly, the exact number of cup-holders the Porsche holds may escape your notice as you boost its rocket-firing ass after an armoured train... Actually, if we’ve a bone to pick with EON it's in the choice of car. Yes, it’s a Porsche, but it’s a Cayenne - a new model and their first ever people carrier, but a people carrier all the same. It's almost as bad as Bond’s shocking choice of the barge-like BMW 750iL in Tomorrow Never Dies, a car driven by unexceptional career business-bores with suspiciously wide arses. It smacks of product placement and consequently has about as much romance as a microwave meal. Okay, the Cayenne is a 165mph, £69,000 turbo, but it's still a car millionaires' wives are going to buy for the school run. Its a sexed up Ford Galaxy for the price of a house. Shame on you James. And you, EA. On the other hand, it does fire missiles. And no matter how sensible the real thing, piloting the game version is going to be fun. The latest much-improved version of the Need For Speed engine (soon to appear powering NFS Underground] has been specially modified for Bond’s very specific demands. Cue much high-speed camera shake and some particularly saucy motion blur... it's just the kind of visceral approach Bond's driving sections need. At times you’ll even be able to choose between, say, a car or a bike, and the choice you make influences the route you take and things you see through the next level. That's going to give you a significant reason to come back and play it again, something Electronic Arts’ previous Bond games have been notably lacking. But as we said earlier, they were also conspicuously lacking the man himself, Mr James Bond. Thankfully, that's all changed.

Release Date: November 10, 1999 "Ducking round corners in the sewers triggers eerie tunes, anticipating the Nazi guards..." The delights of the one-shot kill. Line up a tin-pot helmet in the cross hairs, gently squeeze the trigger and another Nazi’s no more. Set at the tail end of World War II, Medal Of Honour takes you on a jaunt round Europe as a field agent for the Office Of Strategic Services. Standard first-person shooting stuff, you might think, but this title goes way deeper than that. Tracking across seven missions, each one related to the war effort in Germany, Medal Of Honour gives a fascinating insight into what might have been expected from a special agent. Sabotaging German bomb plants, blowing up chemical warfare sites and infiltrating technology labs were all in the line of duty As was the probability of death round every corner. One mission in particular, gives you the task of scuttling a massive U-Boat the Germans are developing in a secret dock. Blow the fin controls, send it into a dive, then escape the doomed sub. Great. In a lesser game that would constitute a mission on its own. But what makes Medal Of Honour vastly superior to any other game of its type is this - the mission actually begins with you stowed away on a merchant ship bound for the secret U-boat dock. By disguising yourself as different members of the crew you wander around causing maximum damage to the boat before making your way to the dockside. Leap across the warehouse rooftops, walk tightrope across ducting pipes, blow up trucks so the seamen can’t escape and locate the entrance to the production facility. Battle through the submarine building bays, pick up blueprints for the ship, delivery orders and technical specs, destroy the bay doors and get access to the super sub. Only then does the latter part of the mission kick in. If that isn’t totally immersive then what is? There’s a huge arsenal of weapons for you to collect. Polish your skills with the lowliest Colt 45, then move to a prototype bazooka, via sniper rifles and hand grenades. Use a Dual Shock Controller and the thing rattles away as if it were actually a recoiling Thompson machine gun. While the shots don’t demand pinpoint accuracy to begin with, you’ll soon find the Al of the enemy in the later levels demands some super¬ sharp shooting. The Nazis gradually get much quicker in their movements, speeding up their reflexes to the point when they can actually pick up one of your lobbed grenades and toss it back in your face. Graphically, Medal Of Honours almost flawless, no tearing, occasional hot spots and minor glitching, but nothing to detract from the way you play the game. It also succeeds in creating a palpable sense of suspense and tension through evocative use of music. Perhaps not genuine World War II music, but suitably filmic nevertheless. Ducking round corners in the sewers triggers eerie tunes, anticipating the Nazi guards you might meet on the next. Scenes in which you’re swamped with soldiers bearing down on you from every passageway are scored with a gung-ho Dirty Dozen-esque track that actually has you imagining you’re chomping down on a stogie. Eastwood at your side. Still want more? There’s a Multiplayer Mode too, offering you the chance to chase your mate through half-a-dozen levels based on places you’ve visited in the game. Tool up, don your uniform and charge round lobbing grenades into the darkness. Superb. The single criticism that can be levelled at the game is that it’s a little short, probably the same size as Metal Gear Solid without the nuances that make Kojima’s classic so exceptional. However, for the time you play, it never fails to be a nerve-jangling experience and perfectly generates that holy grail of gaming, “Just one more damn go...” The longest day, indeed.

Release Date: November 30, 1999 "It’s not really a sequel. It’s something completely different..." Hawk Mason, one of the original Fighting Force, is apparently no longer content with spending his weekends beating people up with baseball bats and iron bars. He’s now a government agent, which basically means he can spend his time beating people up with guns and gadgets instead. Starting the game with only a few knives and grenades, you have to rely on hand-to-hand combat to deal with the first few bad guys. The controls are easy to pick up, but you’ll instantly realise that the combat system is deeply flawed. When you’re outnumbered, which given that you’re on your own is most of the time, it’s incredibly difficult to turn from one enemy to another without taking a beating. There’s a 180° turn button which helps, but smaller rotations seem to take an age. There’s also the matter of not being able to kick opponents while they’re down. Punches, kicks and even bullets will not connect with enemies unless they’re standing upright. The result is that having beaten an enemy to the ground you have to stand around waiting for them to get back on their feet before you can finish them off. Why? More tedious still is having to beat up boxes, cupboards, photocopiers and other bits of scenery in order to find weapons or keys. Points are also accumulated by causing damage, effectively making what was a nice incidental feature of the first game a very dull and necessary element of the sequel. However, there’s an excellent selection of weapons on offer, all capable of taking out even the most ferocious of photocopiers, and Hawk is only able to carry a realistic amount of gear. The inventory for selecting weapons ! is a little clumsy, though, and does not pause the game at all. All too often you I find yourself getting beaten up as you ' attempt a change of weapon. With practice you’ll learn to overcome FF2’s ' flaws, but they are flaws nonetheless and will still frustrate you from time to time. The exclusion of a Two-Player Mode is presumably the result of some of the weapons. The sniper rifle, for example, ' has a First-Person Targeting Mode - not a ; multiplayer friendly feature. This is unfortunate because the best thing about the original was definitely the two-player game. Fighting Force 2 isn’t really a sequel, it’s an attempt at something completely different. With a better control system ; and a few less boxes to beat up it could have been a contender - but it isn’t.

Release Date: November 2, 1999 "It’s great eye candy without any semblance of content" Should parents need a good reason to get their offspring out for a bit of fresh air, all they need do is cram Toonenstein into the house PlayStation. While Terra Glyph’s game can be forgiven some of its limitations - after all, it’s targeted at the youngest gamers - it can’t be forgiven for insulting the intelligence of four to five-year-olds with virtually non-existent gameplay. Based on the Tiny Toons cartoon series in which young relatives of Bugs Bunny and co get into ‘hilarious’ scrapes. Toonenstein follows Hampton The Pig and Plucky Duck as they enter a foreboding castle in search of riches. Needless to say, the evil Baroness Toonenstein has evil intentions regarding the pair, and an exit plan forms the bulk of what action there is. Bizarrely. though. Toonenstein then throws in an additional character - Furball. the Baroness’ cat - who assumes the starring role and reduces the pig and duck to bit-part actors who trot about on screen, occasionally treating us to tedious comedic outbursts. To facilitate his own escape and that of the hapless duo. Furball must find electrical generators within the games 36-screen setting, using them to power a lift to the exit. To this end. a series of icons appear at the bottom of the screen, presenting you with movement options or indicating that something will happen if the © button is pressed. And that’s it. You wander around then sit back to watch the animations you’ve uncovered. It’s far from involving and never satisfying. Granted, the graphics are excellent, while the animation and voice-overs are indistinguishable from the Warner Bros cartoon. But if the price for this is stuff-all gameplay, then its too high. Things are spiced up when Furball is attacked by flying bombs and the game switches all-too briefly to a first-person shooter. But these are brief hopeful asides compared to the tedious main task, and little compensation for the lengthy loading time you have to endure. As games based on cartoons go. Toonenstein is very close to its subject matter - but only in the sense that its great eye candy without any semblance of content. The lack of any real gameplay is unforgivable, as is the fact that the mission can be solved in less than an hour simply by visiting every room and pressing every button. Should only be used as punishment.

Release Date: September 9, 1998 "It feels different to earlier incarnations, with four co-stars to control and a hefty bucket of mini-games" Get your hankies ready because Spyro Year Of The Dragon is the little lizards PlayStation swansong. It’s only three years since Spyro first unfurled his wings and gave all those wannabe 3D platformers a royal roasting, but it seems like a lifetime ago. These days, 3D comes as standard and his work here is done... Well, almost. Don't blub yet because Spyro 3 is not just the best Spyro game; its the best platformer on PlayStation. Brave words, perhaps, but we challenge anyone to suggest a leap 'em up that can better it. With near¬ perfect 3D environments, finely tuned flying and hopping, beautifully animated characters and spot-on voice acting, nothing else comes close. You might be saying to yourself, it’s just Spyro 2 again, isn't it? Well, while there’s obviously a lot that'll seem familiar - what with the return of Sparx, Hunter and Moneybags - Insomniac has ensured Spyro 3 looks and feels different to earlier incarnations, with four co-stars to control and a hefty bucket of mini-games. Barely have you got started before Hunter gives you the chance to go skateboarding around a converted gladiatorial arena, flaming and butting troublesome reptiles. Later on you'll command a speedboat, clamber in a tank and go skating and swimming (the little fella’s jump-and-dive move looks especially cool). And this is only the stuff Spyro does; A the other characters 9 have their own adventures too. Sheila the kangaroo stomps a fort into the ground, and Sgt Byrd flaps about transporting heavy weights on to pressure switches while unleashing a barrage of rockets, characters could have been nothing more than Spyro in drag, but brilliant characterisation and unique abilities (Sheilas super-leap. Byrd’s powered flight) makes taking on their guises a refreshing change. Something that stands out by not standing out at all is the way the main levels and all the various mini-games and sub-missions fit together. The intro sequence is short, and every so often a cut-scene will introduce some new story element, but the action is never suspended for long. Instead friendly faces pop up in-game to tell you what’s happening and what extra labours you may want to undertake. Success is measured in dragon eggs won back and having enough gems to pay for doors to be opened and helpers freed. It also helps that you can travel about with just brief loading sequences between the huge levels (during which your progress is saved), making the game feel like one continuous adventure. Despite being much harder than the original, Spyro 2 was rightly criticised in some quarters for being too easy, and while the first few worlds of Spyro 3 aren't that tough to unlock, some of the stages are trickiness itself to complete. Tearing about in a powerboat while shelling a shark submarine isn't easy, and catching an egg thief accelerating along a super-charged track will take plenty of practice. Just when you think you've seen all a world has to offer, you’ll find an aerial speedway section or discover another sub-boss who must be defeated. While many other series - X-Men and Toshinden come to mind - go stale over time. Spyro just gets better. Insomniac has never compromised in its quest to create games that appeal to kids without patronising them, while reminding oldsters why they first picked up a joypad. back when they were knee-high to a giant mutant grasshopper. PlayStationVerdict ■GRAPHICS: Cartoony 3D that deserves to be on a gallery wall. ■ GAMEPLAY: Leaping, flying, racing, shooting, puzzling, bombing. ■ LIFESPAN: Finished all the speedways and all the battles? Didn't think so. ■ OVERALL: A fitting final bow for one of PlayStations star performers. Charming, intelligent and funny, Spyro is also a beautifully constructed title with a build quality superior to your average BMW Faultless.

Release Date: November 1, 2000 "More dance fun to offer than Britney Spears in school uniform" Regular visitors to the arcades 4 will be familiar with the I practice of using feet, rather than fingers, to play games. Although this might sound bizarre, it's actually very easy to do. All the symbols you’d normally find on your joypad are displayed on a specially designed mat. You stand in the middle and step forward for up, back for down, left for left and, yes, you guessed it, right for right. Jungle Book Groove Party has been specifically designed for the mat, and is the first of its kind to be sold in the UK. If you haven’t had the pleasure of using a dance mat before, there’s a whole heap of fun waiting for you. The on-screen action is similar to PaRappa The Rappa and Beatmania : symbols scroll down the screen until they reach a circular target at which point you’re required to stand on the corresponding symbol. This is made easier by the fact that all the button presses are in time to the music, which means that if you’re using the mat, and moving your feet in time to the music.. you’re dancing. Things start off relatively easily - it’s just a step to the left, then a jump to the right, put your hands on your hips (oops, wrong musical, but the idea is the same, just without the cross-dressing). As you progress through the game, both the plot (basically the same as the classic Disney film) and the dance moves become ever more complicated, until it reaches a point where you’re left feeling like a reject from Fame and suffering from a bad case of jungle fever. Of course, this mini-disco display is hilarious for anybody watching, and Jungle Book is perfect for multiplayer action at parties. Whether it’s jelly and ice cream for a group of toddlers, or vodka jellies and whipped cream for a more adult get together. the games hysterical, and the only arguments you’re likely to get are over whose go it is next. For an instant party, all you need are two mats and the Versus Mode. While this is on the pricey side to set up (the game costs £49.99 with the mat, about £24.99 without and the mat can be bought separately for £29.99), you’ll certainly get your money’s worth. With more dance fun to offer than Britney Spears in school uniform. Jungle Book Groove Party has to be a hit. The only reservation we might have is that, as with any novelty game, its initial sparkle could soon wear off. PlayStationVerdict Graphics: Bright colourful and typically Disney Gameplay: Funnier than the day Dan said he was “a bit of lady’s man Lifespan: It’s a novelty, it wears off, but the mat works with other games Overall: The first of its kind to make it to the UK, Groove Party is lots of fun and a good example of what’s to come. Classic tracks like Bare Necessities make it perfect for monkeying around