Designed for three-year-olds to any age upwards, the 2007 crop of year-end video-games ranges from eye-training to belching bunnies and heavy gore.
- Rayman Raving Rabbids 2: The crazy rabbids are back, stealing the spotlight from Rayman.
Where the first edition offered something of a story designed for a single player, with access to hilarious mini-games, the new edition is clearly aimed at multi-users.
This time the bunnies invade earth in flying yellow submarines and Rayman and his friends and family must defend the planet.
Besides additions such as a belch competition to destroy Paris, or an American football game, the musical games are still there, but the shooting games have lost some fluidity and ease in handling.
From three years up. Developer and editor: Ubisoft. Released November in Europe and the US.
- Mass Effect: A hybrid action and role-play game and the big end-year launch for Xbox 360. Mass Effect is set in the 22nd century and offers players the role of elite human soldier Commander Shepard.
Shepard, an avatar custom-built by the player, must become the first human to join Spectre - an elite combat team composed of different alien races - and locate a traitor within the ranks. Unsurprisingly, Shepard finds himself on a quest to save the universe.
Stocked with impressive visual effects and characters, plus a great soundtrack and good dialogue, the game offers 20-hour playing time for the principal quest (and 30 to 35 hours for those who try to play the game to its maximum potential, says Microsoft).
From 18 years up. Developer: Bioware. Editor: Microsoft. Released November in Europe and the US.
- Sight Training: A Nintendo product for exercising and relaxing eyes that continues the Brain Age self-improvement theme.
Meant to be used daily for short periods, the game was developed with Dr Hisao Ishigaki, described by Nintendo as a sight training expert.
It offers an Eye Age check and a series of sight exercises, such as Box Track for example, where the player has to find a circle hidden under three boxes - an electronic version of the old "pea under cup" game.
There are also sports-type exercises using ping pong, boxing and volleyball that are meant to improve five aspects of vision, including hand eye co-ordination and peripheral vision. Following each training session, players take an eye relaxation session, and results are recorded, allowing users to track their progress.
From three years. Developer and editor: Nintendo. Released November in Europe and the United States, last May in Japan.
- Mario and Sonic at the Olympics: Who could have imagined the former standard-bearer of the defunct Sega consoles, Sonic the blue hedgehog, getting to compete in the Olympic Games with old rival Mario, Nintendo's red-hatted plumber/racing car driver?
It is the first time the two digital stars have appeared together. They take part in events including athletics, fencing, table tennis and trampoline.
Up to four people can play using the nunchuk and the Wiimote - the Wii console controls are well used by the game, although sometimes can be a bit repetitive. Drawbacks are the dull and irritating commentaries and mismatch between games oriented towards younger players and more challenging ones they will have difficulty understanding.
From three years. Developer: Sega. Editor: Nintendo. Released November in Europe, US and Japan.
- Unreal Tournament 3 (UT3): Latest in the violent first person shooter (FPS) range of games, UT3 sprayed blood on to PCs on release in November and will be doing the same on home game consoles on release in the course of 2008.
New features include a hoverboard, a sort of floating skateboard that Back to the Future fans will recall, and the reintroduction of the much beloved - by online game reviewers - single player mode.
Other old school elements include weapons such as the impact hammer. The game, however, is primarily an online, multiplayer offering with the aim of playing as many adversaries as possible.
The new game engine, Unreal Engine 3, works well even given the fact that the press launch presentation was on a super-powerful machine, using two of the latest graphic cards (Nvidia was involved).
Players in the intelligently built environments have their exploits matched to sarcastic commentary.
Online opinion is generally positive, with one reviewer describing it as delivering "insane, ultra violent combat, gorgeous graphics and the most nerve-searing, vein-throttling action around".
For 18 and over. Developer: Epic Games. Editor: Midway. Released November in Europe, US.
- Ratchet and Clank Future - Tools of destruction: The latest interpretation of the adventures of Ratchet, a sort of space fox, and his malicious robot pal Clank.
Operation Destruction is one of the biggest end of year PlayStation3 game launches and as usual Insomniac Games has delivered top quality in visual and sound terms.
As to the new adventures, the two heroes must save the galaxy from the clutches of the rotten emperor, Tachyon, using an astonishing choice of weaponry.
The game is easy to manipulate, making it a pleasure to explore the array of available planets, plus giving players the impression of being in a vast gaming area.
The major drawback is the low level of difficulty, which spoils its potential.
From 7 years. Developer: Insomniac Games. Editor: Sony. Released November in Europe, October in the US and Japan. - Nicolas Gubert, Sapa-AFP