King of the consoles

THIS year has seen the Sony PlayStation rise above its' challengers in the battle to be king of the consoles

THIS year has seen the Sony PlayStation rise above its' challengers in the battle to be king of the consoles. Right now its only real competitor is Sega's Saturn.

Anybody who took the plunge, and bought one this year can have, few regrets - except perhaps those who bought it for £299 earlier in the year, before it was reduced to £199.

Things are going to get tough for the PlayStation, though, with Mario looming. March will see the release in Ireland of the N64 from Nintendo and if the reaction to it is similar to that in the United States - where demand far outstrips supply - then it's going to have its hands full.

However, the PlayStation is a superb console to own and there has been a plethora of excellent games to play on it. The following selection of games is in my opinion the cream of the crop.

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Perhaps the most nerve-wrenching game of all time is Resident Evil You choose the role of either Chris Redfield or Jill Valentine to check out some strange events in a weird mansion. Turns out somebody's been fooling around with genetics and as a result. The place is teeming with zombies and what not and of course you are left on your own to fight them. For sheer atmosphere and tension-building, Resident Evil is masterclass. It's like Alone In The Dark meets Return Of The Living Dead. The puzzle element is also well up to scratch.

While similar in some respects, Tomb Raider won't have you leaving the light on at bed time. In Tomb Raider you play adventurer Lara Croft who has been hired to recover the pieces of an ancient artefact known as the Scion. It's like, Indiana Jones interactive. You can make the acrobatic heroine run, jump, swim, climb, and shoot herb way through extraordinary 3D worlds in a game which combines puzzle, platform and exploration.

Beat-'em-ups are always popular games on consoles and this is certainly true on the PlayStation. Although Streetflghter Alpha 2 and the Mortal Kombat trilogy are good buys there is only one real winner - Tekken 2, probably the best beat-'em-up on any console ever. With tons of characters, moves and fighting techniques to master a whole host of options like Time Attack, Team Battle, Practice and Survival it will take a blot of beating.

Although Formula 1 is not as realistic as F1GP2 on the PC, it's the only simulation type racer currently available on the PlayStation. And after all the pre-launch hype, it lived up to expectations and delivered the goods. For a more arcade type experience, try Ridge Racer Revolution. But if your idea of fun in motor racing games is seeing how much damage and mayhem you can cause, then look nob further than Destruction Derby 2.

For a more futuristic approach to racing, Wipeout 2097 is the ultimate game. As opposed to cars your race spaceships around tracks that twist and turn up and down as well as left and right. It is a major improvement on its predecessor with better handling of the craft and a more generous learning curve. Crash Bandicoot could never bed accused of being innovative but it successfully manages to use some of the better techniques found in other platformers and although not perfect is certainly worthy.

For a real bargain though, the Die Hard Trilogy is exceptional. Instead of releasing each game individually - which wouldn't have been unreasonable - the makers bundled the three distinct games, that are individually excellent into one package. Die Hard sees you controlling New York cop, Detective John Mclane, in third person perspective through 24 levels, shooting baddies and rescuing hostages. The third and possibly best of the trilogy is With A Vengeance, which sees you take control of various vehicles and driving them at breakneck speeds through traffic