Wreckless Xbox

£44.99 Activision ***

Mad Dash Racing

Xbox £44.99 Eidos ***

Racing games are the staple of any console launch and the Xbox is no different. For rally lovers there is RalliSport Challenge, while Project Gotham Racing offers a unique and beautiful take on urban driving. And it doesn't stop there, with both Wreckless and Mad Dash Racing adding variety to the releases. The former lets you career through a Japanese city in one of two oddball vehicles as you hunt down criminals.

The gameplay is basic - follow car, ram it off road - but the heavily populated metropolis leads to some exhilarating moments as you plough through street cafes and markets. Unlike Grand Theft Auto 3, pedestrians can't be harmed and the game has a slightly comic feel to it. The graphics are also impressive but longevity is a serious issue. Even though the missions offer some variety, there is nothing like the freedom of GTA3 and this, coupled with overly light vehicle handling, makes Wreckless a short- term thrill. Dispensing with vehicles entirely, Mad Dash Racing offers a totally different slant on the genre.

This is all about running on foot through a cartoon landscape - think power-ups, speed bursts and high jumps rather than engine tweaks. And, for a while it works, especially in multiplayer mode, with the courses impressively lengthy. But playing on your own soon loses its appeal, despite the inclusion of object-collecting challenges. Disappointing visuals don't help either, with nothing appearing that couldn't be done on the PlayStation 2. Both Mad Dash and Wreckless are competent rather than compelling additions to the Xbox racing list. Best stick to Project Gotham Racing. (GH)

Amped

Xbox £44.99 Microsoft ****

Convincing anyone - let alone gamers - that it is even slightly cool is perhaps the trickiest challenge Microsoft faces with the Xbox. Amped, a snowboarding game developed in-house, is the com pany's first attempt at proving it is not geeky to the core. Amped contains accurately modelled versions of real mountains, rather than imaginary runs. You must attract media attention and work your way through the ranks as a pro boarder.

Thus, heavily flagged photographers are positioned at various points on the slopes. At the end of each run, you get an overall score, and one for points scored under the glare of the media. As you begin to meet your targets, you are awarded skill points (as in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater), your world ranking rises and you get (amusingly lame) media coverage. You must also impress sponsors, each of whom prefers different types of tricks. You have to sustain their enthusiasm until the bottom of the run - so it becomes vital to land every trick you attempt. You are also given Pro Challenges, in which you must perform higher-value tricks than pros at specific points on runs and, later, the chance to compete in proper competitions.

While Amped, structurally, owes a debt to Pro Skater, it has nevertheless managed to create a distinct identity. It is gratifyingly humorous in places, gives plenty of satisfaction when you manage to string a series of tricks together and is blessed with a very impressive physics engine (although the graphics are not hugely impressive). The only drawback is a control system that takes some mastering, as you must set up spins and flips using the right control stick just before launching yourself off jumps. But it is worth the initial frustration, particularly if you are already a keen boarder. (SB)

Ico

PlayStation 2 £39.99 SCEI/Sony ****

Rescuing princesses has been the mission of countless videogames since Shigeru Miyamoto's genre-defining Donkey Kong. But the princess you must rescue in Ico is different. She is a luminous, ghostly figure whose language you don't recognise.

Your character, a small horned boy, must lead her by the hand through an enormous castle, fighting off the mysterious shadow monsters who try to fly away with her, and out into the safety of the world. The castle is the real star of this game, however. Never before has digital architecture had so much physical character.

Dust motes dance in the light that penetrates gloomy towers, Heath Robinson-style mechanical contraptions swing beams and drawbridges to and fro, and distant battlements of this impossibly large prison can be seen in a bluish haze. Down in the castle grounds, sunlight bleaches grass and warms rocky walls. It is as if Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast had come to animated life, with painterly art direction by Edward Hopper.

Ico's rich atmospherics are enhanced by superb ambient sound - drippings, clankings and rustlings. The gameplay proceeds like a less acrobatic version of Tomb Raider, but one in which the puzzles (how do I get there from here?) unfold more organically and logically from the endlessly fascinating structure of the environment.

The one jarring note is the shadow monsters themselves. Combat (simply bash one button repeatedly to swing a stick or sword) can be highly annoying, and too often the enemies' appearance seems cynically prescribed simply to inject some artificial tension. The game could easily have dispensed with them altogether and relied simply on the rich pleasures of leisurely exploration. Even so, Ico is a remarkable experience: right now, it is the most beautiful game in the world. (SP)