Return to Castle Wolfenstein
PC £34.99 id/Activision ****
You cannot beat a trip down memory lane, especially when it involves blasting Nazis and exploring gloomy crypts. Castle Wolfenstein is back, nine years after the original caused a revolution in gaming. As the first proper 3D title, Wolfenstein transported gamers into a blocky, yet believable adventure. It was the granddaddy of Doom, Quake and the whole first person shooter (FPS) genre. While this version lacks the original's impact, Return to Castle Wolfenstein is a state-of-the-art FPS and a polished return to past glory.

As an imprisoned Allied spy, your aim is to break out and thwart the Nazis' plan to harness deadly supernatural powers. B-movie tosh, but RTCW makes it work. This is partly down to the compelling atmosphere. The graphics are impressive, depicting realistic gothic architecture adorned with Nazi paraphernalia. But most impressive is the sound. Whether it is the German guards moaning about the weather while drunkenly slurring in the bar, or the 40s music, the audio sets the scene perfectly.

RTCW comes with a strong multiplayer element, complete with D-Day-style beach landings. But the gripping single-player mode will take up most of your time. The AI works well, with Nazi guards doing their best to trap you: macabre twists later on see the undead joining the fight.

With an atmosphere and challenge better than any FPS this year, RTCW is a worthy remake. (GH)

Sea Monkeys

PC £24.99 Creature Labs/ Just Play ***
This has to be one of the weirdest licences of the year. Based on a 40-year-old example of misrepresentative advertising, Sea Monkeys makes perfect sense for Creature Labs, who have made more out of less for the best part of a decade now.

The original Sea Monkeys were 49-cent packets of shrimps that hatched in water when they reached your door via the mail. That is not how the cartoon adverts depicted them: instead we had Disney- esque kingdoms, populated with large families of laughing nymphs, advertised in American comics and unavailable to poor Brits. In virtual form, however, the concept works better than you might think.

True to the myth, you hatch your monkeys into a giant virtual aquarium, acquiring points through natural events (static oysters that occasion ally produce a pearl) or later through the activities of your monkeys. You can spend points on a variety of underwater flora, fish and various devices to help your monkeys grow. As a cyberpet (especially for the young) this is hugely entertaining, typified by bright colours and bulbous animations and an improve ment over the developer's previous efforts (the long running Creatures series).

Be warned, however: this is no Black and White. Your Monkeys never do that much, and their AI is limited to occasional gurgles when you stroke them. There is also no time-shrinking function, meaning little happens for the best part of an hour, as they slowly grow.

However, Sea Monkeys is that rarest of CD Roms, considerably more enjoyable than the real thing. The real monkeys could arrive dead in the box (especially if ordering from the UK) or spend up to two years doing so little it was hard to tell the difference when they did die. This, at least, is good, clean, colourful fun - if you don't get out much and don't own any real videogames. (MA)

Evil Twin
PC £24.99 In Utero/Ubi Soft **
"Aarrghh!" "Drat!" These are likely to be among the milder exclamations from anyone playing Evil Twin, a frustrating 3D platform game.

There is nothing wrong with the set-up. As Cyprien, a tweenaged orphan, you are plunged into the realm of Undabed, where you must rescue four pals, your teddy and defeat the dreaded Master. This entails the usual activities: baddie-bashing, puzzle-solving and pixel-finding.

You are also able to transform into Supercyp, your heroic alter ego, who can fly limited distances and pack a rather bigger punch.

But the execution lets Evil Twin down. Top is the combination of objective viewpoint with semi-autonomous camera: if you press right, Cyprien moves right relative to you. If the camera moves in the meantime, the direction he moves in will come as a complete surprise. Not what you need when one false step lands you in boiling lava.

Then there are the aesthetic considerations. Much work went into the design: the textures are detailed, the characters intricate, and the backgrounds never repetitive. But it is ugly. The zones are relentlessly grim, and the baddies aren't so much frightening as off-putting. Some of the "problems" are a matter of taste. But the lack of mouse control, the inability to skip story sequences, and the unnatural dialogue are boo-boos in anyone's book. (AB)