Ghost Rider

PS2 (also PSP, GBA); £29.99; 2K Games; www.2kgames.com

By George Wright

THIS latest slice of Marvel comic book action hits the shops just as the movie of the same name heads for a cinema near you.

The Sony Pictures film stars Nicolas Cage in the lead role, but you can make the part your own and show him how it’s done by bagging a copy of the game in our competition (see left) then embarking on a trip to hell and back.

To save his father’s life, motorbike stuntman Johnny Blaze sold his soul to devilish Mephisto and found himself conned into hunting down evildoers as the flaming-skulled Ghost Rider and punishing them for their crimes.

Now, in order to save his girlfriend’s life, he once again finds himself at the demon’s beck and call.

The game’s plot sees our chain-wielding hero go head-to-head with Mephisto’s rogue offspring Blackheart, who, along with his huddle of henchmen, is driving his dad up the wall.

Pops isn’t happy and soon has Johnny jousting with Giant Super Villains in boss battles that test your scrapping skills to the limit.

Fast-paced action and combo-based combat follows thick and fast with upgrades up for grabs to boost Johnny’s Hell Cycle and Hellfire Chain’s powers.

Screech into action and burn some rubber on a bike that delivers the ability to ride on water, take on impossible jumps and duck and drive your way through the dangers thrown into your path.

The graphics are standard fare and, although a bit dull and murky in places, they do the job as you weave your way through the third-person adventure, which fades a tad after a promising start.

Baddie-bashing in a world oozing with horrible hit men and creepy creatures is fun, but a lack of variety leads to repetitiveness and a dip in the thrill stakes.

The hell-blazing takes place both on foot and motorbike in locations from the movie that include a carnival and graveyard. Getting behind the Hell Cycle’s handlebars adds to the game’s appeal, but the controls could have been more polished and Johnny’s set of hot wheels handles more like a fire engine.

That said, however, there’s still enough to keep Marvel fans amused, especially with treats, cheats, movies and comic artwork to be unlocked along the way.

VERDICT: One for fans to Marvel at.

Wii, £34.99, Nintendo, www.nintendo.co.uk

By Richard Bell

THE first racing title to grace the Wii, Excite Truck is quite a ride.

Whizzing along faster than a buttered cheetah, pulling off death-defying jumps and knocking out crazy stunts is what it’s all about.

A decidedly arcadey experience, the game provides proof, if any were needed, that the console’s unique control system is able to accurately convey fine motor control.

Whereas traditional driving games have players pressing buttons or pushing joysticks to go left and right, the Wii Remote asks that you simply tilt it.

Button pressing is kept to a minimum. There’s one button to accelerate (you keep this one pressed in), one to brake (not needed) and the D-pad summons the turbo.

The way they combine means that chucking your truck around a bend is a breeze, as is pulling out a monster power drift.

But the Remote does more. Get some air from a hilltop and rolling it backwards gives you more airtime, while rolling it forwards cuts your flight and helps set up a landing — a perfect one earning you an instant speed boost.

At the beginning of the game you have access to only a handful of vehicles. As points are earned for completing races, additional trucks and buggies become available. There are also numerous tracks to unlock, from snowy mountains to sandy beaches and plush jungles.

In Race Mode, finishing first is not the only way to progress. Clearing one stage unlocks the next, but as well as scoring points to finish a level by finishing first, players can top up scores with points for drifting, jumping and off-roading through trees.

Becoming a true master will take some effort though, as no two races are exactly the same. While racing, certain pick-ups change the course in real time, causing mountains to grow and land to fall-away into the sea.

Challenge Mode is the ideal place to hone your skills, where jumping through a sequence of rings, slaloming through gates and even crashing into other trucks helps get you up to speed.

There’s also a multiplayer Versus mode where two players can challenge each other in a one-on-one race around any of the unlocked tracks, using vehicles earned during the single-player game.

The title’s only detractor is the in-game music, which is awful. But fret not, as the game is the first Wii title to make use of the console’s SD card slot, allowing players to customise the soundtrack with their own MP3s.

VERDICT: Furiously fast, fun and absolutely addictive.

O2, From free (with contract), www.02.co.uk

By Derek Uchman

We love O2’s Xda range. OK, so they’re not always the most compact of mobiles, but when it comes to features, they’re hard to beat.

The Orbit seems to combine the best of both worlds. It easily snuggles into the palm, but, best of all, has satellite navigation built-in. O2 reckon it signals “the end of the road” for dedicated units — and they may be right, although we did find a couple of minor teething troubles (more of them later).

There are, of course, other phones with sat nav built in, but many require separate aerials and Bluetooth connections. Not the Orbit. Flip it over, and you’ll see a raised area which contains the GPS connection. It’s all in one unit, and is small enough to use on-foot as well as in the car.

CoPilot Live navigation software is supplied on a micro SD, which, annoyingly, has to be inserted underneath the SIM card, but once it’s in, it’s in, and you can forget about it. Complete maps of UK and Ireland are preloaded, accurate down to a house number or seven-digit postcode.

And although it’s very quick to pick up a satellite signal, the CoPilot software itself can be very slow to launch. In fact, it hung on us more than once, and required a time-consuming reboot.

Good job then that the Orbit is jam-packed with other mobile goodies as compensation. You name it, and it’s probably here — Pocket PC operating software, GPRS, WiFi, Bluetooth, quad-band, a 2.0 mega pixel camera, and even FM radio. It’s got the lot.

It even supports Microsoft’s Direct Push email, so you can pick up all your messages on the go.

VERDICT: Packing more features than a cubist portrait, the Xda Orbit is a mini marvel.

n Out tomorrow: Crackdown (Xbox 360, Microsoft), Final Fantasy XII (PS2, Square Enix), Ghost Rider (GBA, PS2 and PSP, 2K Games), Infernal (PC, Playlogic), Kororinpa (Wii, Hudson), Rainbow Islands Evolution (PSP, Rising Star), Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas (PSP, Ubisoft).