Game Reviews

Fur Fighters Dreamcast **** It's difficult to pigeon-hole this latest piece of weird jollity from Acclaim, although to take a wild guess, I reckon it's a parody of the save-the-world genre. You take the parts, in turn, of six heavily-armed animals whose babies have been stolen by an evil cat. General Viggo, the evil cat in question, kidnapped the babies in an attempt to dissuade the furry heavies from stopping Viggo in his efforts to conquer the world.

Fur Fighters Dreamcast **** It's difficult to pigeon-hole this latest piece of weird jollity from Acclaim, although to take a wild guess, I reckon it's a parody of the save-the-world genre. You take the parts, in turn, of six heavily-armed animals whose babies have been stolen by an evil cat. General Viggo, the evil cat in question, kidnapped the babies in an attempt to dissuade the furry heavies from stopping Viggo in his efforts to conquer the world.

In shoot-'em-up style, the furry fighters must lay waste to Viggo's boys while also solving adventure-style puzzles which will lead them from the Quackenheim museum in New Quack City to the Jungle of Despair in Antat Tatatanat. In a faintly disturbing departure from the usual kid's games ritual of collecting coins and power-ups, this time you collect abducted babies.

The game takes inspiration from Wonderbra ads, other games, James Bond and even the art world. It's a strange mish-mash of genres and influences which isn't unpleasant and the graphics are nicely idiosyncratic. If you can bear the fiddly nature of some of the puzzles and delight in sophisticated puns, this should prove to be a diverting, if long-winded romp. (Acclaim, £39.99)

Championship Snooker PlayStation * If you're stuck out in the middle of nowhere without a snooker table, club or cue in sight during a rare period when there is not a patch of green baize in evidence on the box, I envy you. If, however, you're a snooker fan, then this game was probably developed with you in mind. Although playing World Championship Snooker is slightly less boring than reading a book of snooker theory written by Steve Davies, there's not really much in it.

Start with the masterclasses - which actually sent me to sleep. Reams of text explain line-up technique, safety and spin (useful for Mr Blair, perhaps). Then perfect the shots yourself. Once you've mastered those trick shots "with which to impress your friends" it's time to play the masters at their own game.

Pick an outfit and cue and battle with snooker celebs like Stephen Hendry, Ronnie O'Sullivan and Ken Docherty. Gameplay and controls are straightforward but the graphics are embarrassingly poor. If you have to buy something like this, go for Jimmy White's far superior Cueballs: 2. But it does escape me why anyone would want to pass on a lively frame or two down the pub in favour of a video game. It must be for people without real balls. (Codemasters, £29.99)

The Devil Inside PC *** No escaping the zombies, though, not even for a week. And this week they come courtesy of Cryo Interactive. Its new game is something of a departure from the Resident Evil style of dead-but-not-dead baddies shuffling around deserted streets to block your way.

In a neat satirisation of the increasingly voyeuristic nature of television, you take the part of Dave, cop turned TV journalist who is investigating a number of grisly murders committed by some evil resurrected serial killer. Your progress is broadcast live to a TV gameshow and ratings soar or plummet depending on your undead head count. In ever-improbable twists, Dave has a secret: he is also Deva, a devil woman in latex who hastens the evil souls back from whence they came.

The controls are fiddly and much like Resident Evil, there is the inane puzzle solving, lever pulling, key finding and endless zombie battering. But with such a novel concept and a huge and well-realised world, it would be unfair to call this average.

(Cryo Interactive, £39.99)

Walt Disney World Quest Magical Racing Tour PlayStation *** Yet another racing game for the PlayStation. This one's reason to be different is its Disney branding; so, one for the easily amused rather than those hardened boy-racers who like their cars to look like cars. But let's not be too harsh, for this game patently owes a lot to the seminal racer-with-a-twist, MarioKart.

Disney is selling something of a cheap-fake here: no sign of big stars Mickey, Minnie or Goofy, the best they can run to in this game are Chip and Dale. As for Tiara Damage and Bruno Briggs - who the hell are they? But Walt Disney characters that time forgot aside, the game doesn't merely have branding, it also has narrative: steel yourself for a Disney theme park where the magic firework machine has exploded. It's up to your character to gather up the machine's constituent parts ready for the evening's firework display.

The courses hold no surprises, nor are they that exciting. They are speedy, though, and it is frustratingly difficult to achieve the requisite first place. Annoyingly, too, the race tracks are replete with bits and bobs to collect - presumably in an attempt to camouflage its otherwise spooky similarity to MarioKart.

It's another game, I fear, reliant on a big brand to sell itself. That's not to say, though, that it won't appeal to the little darlings on a long and rainy summer holiday. (Eidos, £29.99)

s.chatterton@independent.co.uk