POP IDOL. Publisher: Codemasters. Platform: PS2. Price: £39.99.: IF video games exist to help us play out our fantasies, then I guess there's no harm in something like Pop Idol.

Experienced gamers will, no doubt, pour scorn on an electronic version of the popular talent show that helped make Darlington singer Zoe Birkett moderately famous for a time. After all, an electronic variety show cum karaoke hardly pushes the boundaries of even modest hardware like the PS2.

But wait, aren't music-based action/rhythm games supposed to be fun, especially when played in a party atmosphere? Set aside your prejudices and you'll find there are plenty of laughs to be had from Pop Idol.

Just like the game show upon which it is based, your aim is achieving pop stardom. To do that, you must create, style and train a pop protg then battle through the auditions, the heats and, if you are good enough, the final.

You sing and dance with your hands (eh?), using your fingers to press button combinations displayed on screen. If you are particularly dextrous then your contestant sings like a lark; if you have fingers like sausages they sound like hell. The judges and sometimes even the audience soon grow tired.

There's plenty of variety. Codemasters has licensed 40 massive top ten hits ranging from those by the ubiquitous Britney to classics such as Evergreen.

And yes, the awful Simon Cowell is on hand to offer his irritating opinion on your abilities.

Fans of the show will lap this up. No wonder it's the bookies favourite to reach the games chart number one this Christmas.

BIONICLE: THE GAME. Publisher: EA. Format: PS2 (versions also available for the PC, Xbox and Cube) Price: varies.

SHAPE changing robots have been popular with little boys of all ages ever since Marvel Comics started the genre with the Micronauts nearly 30 years ago.

Since then, successive generations have enjoyed the Transformers ("Robots in disguise!"), Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (Were they robots? I could never work it out) and now Bionicle.

This Lego license is massively popular with the under tens at the moment so a video game was pretty much inevitable.

Players enter the world of Mata Nui, a paradise island where a shadow has been cast and six heroes - the shape-shifting robots - have been chosen for the greatest challenge of all.

You pick one of these guys (the Toa) and take the challenge. Unfortunately, this seems to consist of irritatingly precise jumps over lava lakes or onto sinking platforms.

Considering the audience Bionicle is aiming for, it demands some pretty accomplished button pushing. Thomas, my seven-year-old nephew is Bionicle mad and he couldn't wait to get stuck in but, even with my help, soon struck trouble.

At least the game doesn't insist on dumping you back at the first level every time you die. If it did, the lifespan of Bionicle would be measured in years not hours.

If you want to help your Toa evolve into the super Toa, known as "Toa Nuva", and thus defeat the shadow of darkness created by bad guy Makuta, you'll have to be very, very patient indeed. And patience isn't something little boys are renowned for.

As it is, I fear Bionicle could be the present that ends up lying unwanted beneath the Christmas tree on Boxing Day.

MERCEDES BENZ: WORLD RACING. Format: PC CD. Publisher: TDK Interactive. Price: varies.

TDK certainly knows how to milk a good license. This is the second Mercedes World Racing title in the last three months.

In truth, this is really just a tweaked version of a console title that's moved across to the PC.

The game features an impressive 3D landscape generation engine that helps make the racing both challenging and interesting. No two-minute lap times in this title - races can stretch for miles. Players can select their favourite model from the Mercedes-Benz range past and present.

With training missions, race and championship modes, plus mission-based play, this could be every armchair Coulthard's cup of Castrol.

VIEWTIFUL JOE. Publisher: Capcom. Format: Gamecube. Price: £39.99.

OK, so it may have the daftest name for a game character in a long time but this charming platform adventure is one of those rare gems - an undiscovered classic that appeals to gamers of all ages.

The token plot device sees you sucked into an old movie and thus changed into the titular character, a crazy superhero with impressive special powers.

It's a side-scrolling adventure created using the highly stylised cel-shaded graphic technique that lends a wonderful comic book atmosphere to proceedings.

Capcom really do have Cel Shading down to a fine art now. Only Nintendo, with the latest Zelda adventure, can boast eye candy to match Viewtiful Joe's colourful world.

The unique selling point isn't really unique at all. It's a variation on the "bullet time" maguffin used so successful in The Matrix. Here, the player can speed up or slow down time whenever they want. The system works beautifully and allows for the kind of balletic, slow-motion fighting you normally associate with a Hollywood blockbuster.

If there's one criticism of Viewtiful Joe, it has to be the difficulty level. If you thought Bionicle was hard, this is rock. All but the very best gamers will have to start on the "kids" difficulty level and even then I guarantee you'll struggle.

But I urge you to persevere because this is one of the video game releases of the year and a gem of an adventure awaits.

Published: 21/11/2003