Crash: Twin Sanity
PS2, Xbox
£39.99, Traveller's Tales/Vivendi Universal
****

Vivendi Universal has returned this franchise to British developer Traveller's Tales and produced a platform game that is almost ground-breaking.

Cannily, one of the writers behind cult cartoon series Ren & Stimpy was drafted in, and the result is one of those rare games that although aimed at youngsters, will also appeal to adults. Crash's basic premise has always been so ridiculous that one felt the games should have been more surreal - and that thought has clearly occurred to Traveller's Tales.

Thus, you start off battling nemesis Neo-Cortex, before teaming up with him, reluctantly at first. The tension breeds amusing gameplay. At one point they scrap, forming a blurry fur-ball which you must manipulate like a giant marble. Crash might have to use Neo-Cortex as a hammer or whirl him around to reel lifts up and down. Such gameplay brings to mind both Tom & Jerry and Nintendo's indestructible Wario.

Eventually they unite against the tribespeople also inhabiting their Pacific island. Sadly, Crash: Twin Sanity lacks any form of multiplay, but its gameplay, which might involve belly-flopping on to giant worms and following them from hole to hole, is varied, amusing and becomes agreeably tricky without ever being fiddly.

Occasionally, the camera (which can be manipulated manually) works against you, but not so much that it spoils your enjoyment.

Colin McRae Rally 2005
Xbox, PS2, PC
£39.99, Codemasters
****

Some sportsmen are more famous in videogames than their original sport, and Colin McRae games are a good example. Although only a year since the last one, CM5 boasts noticeable improvements - a rejuvenated Career mode for one.

Thanks to McRae being sidelined from World Rally events, you can select any of 30 cars and compete in a bewildering array of unofficial championships covering more than 300 stages. There is also a significantly improved damage model and some great gimmicky weather and handling effects. All this makes for stunning action replays.

But 2005 betrays further signs of unnecessary tweaking. Take cutting corners: you can completely cut some without penalty but in other places, steering three feet off the line incurs a time delay that blows your chances of winning a stage. This is reality-sapping stuff and makes you wonder why the go-anywhere-but-incur-damage model from earlier games has been abandoned.

Perhaps, understandably given the cost of celebrity endorsements, Codemasters is trying to wring a few more bucks out of McRae while he still has an association with the sport that made him famous.

Nevertheless, if you don't own a recent rally game, this is clearly the one to go for.

Shark Tale
PS2, Xbox, GameCube
£39.99, Activision
***

Games for kids aren't what they used to be. Today's 20- and 30-somethings had to make do with shoddy platform games and low production values when children. Nowadays, lucky nippers get to play with games that not only look like the film or cartoon they represent, but are also good fun.

Shark Tale, the videogame of the latest DreamWorks movie, is a case in point. This is polished entertainment that will appeal to children and most parents. Oldies who have played any of the games that Shark Tale apes will see the influences.

When controlling cocky fish Oscar, the action involves race, dance and adventure elements as you flee the amphibian Mafioso. And while these sections are straightforward, the well-produced graphics and sound help drive you on to the next section.

The musical parts are well done. Much like the Dance Dance Revolution games, players have to press buttons in time to the tunes. There are also stealth sections, exciting race sequences and the obligatory collectathon. It sounds easy and, for the most part, it is, but there is enough here to challenge the under 10s.

Shark Tale is definitely for the kids, although its imaginative pilfering of established gaming genres means older players will have fun.