Tarzan, Sony PlayStation, £34.99
In the 87 years since Edgar Rice Burrough invented Tarzan, the Lord of the Jungle has appeared in magazines, comics, 26 novels, radio and TV programmes, and over 40 films. The only surprising thing is that Tarzan the videogame took so long, appearing now to tie in with the opening of Disney's new Tarzan film. This 2D platformer follows the plot of the movie almost exactly. The player is Tarzan (from childhood through to adult) but does also get to play as Jane. Disney's games are more formulaic than its movies and this one is no different. For every 100 tokens you get an extra life, by collecting the letters T, A, R, Z, A, N you can open movies in the movie viewer. Tarzan has unlimited fruit to throw at enemies and the fruit is later "upgraded". He can also collect a knife and a spear.
There are 16 levels of swinging, running, swimming and stampeding jungle action and it all looks and sounds almost as good as the film. Young gamesters will have a scream.
GTA2, Sony PlayStation, £34.99
When it first hit the streets GTA (Grand Theft Auto) caused quite a stir because it encourages the player to steal cars, commit crimes and be anti-social. GTA2 is very similar, with a top-down view of the city. The player answers public phones and gets directions for the next hit.
Any vehicle - taxi, fire engine, ambulance, bus or ordinary car - can be stolen. Each type performs differently, and if they aren't damaged too much by your antics they can be sold on. Most often, however, you will screech across the city paying no attention to the rules of the road, or of the pavement. The more crimes you commit the harder the police chase you. They are almost impossible to avoid when they get really serious.
GTA2 introduces the concept of gangs and respect. Your "respectometer" shows how much respect you have earned. You can opt to do jobs for just one gang, or to play several off one another. Either way, you have to watch your back at all times.
There are some niggling problems. The ludicrous choice of colour for the text that that explains mission makes it a strain to read. You can park your car too close to a building and then find that you cannot get out (a bit too realistic). Controlling the character when on foot takes a lot of getting used too. This is good, if not clean, fun (ELSPA rated over-18), but not enough of an improvement on the original.
Formula One '99, Sony PlayStation, £34.99
Eddie Irvine may have missed the chance to be Formula 1 world champion, but his fans can try to rectify matters in this game from Psygnosis. Formula One '98 was a bit of a disappointment and its predecessor Formula One '97 is regarded as the better of the two. Formula One '99 reverses the trend, though.
Tracks look much better and the graphics in general have been revamped. Murray Walker again provides the commentary, although it's not totally realistic as he never seems to make any mistakes. One nice touch is weather forecasts for the race weekend, allowing players to judge car set-up and tyre compound accordingly.
This is a good game and fans of the sport will enjoy it. Releasing annual versions of games every year just because it is a new year means there's not a lot of real innovation.
Space Invaders, Sony PlayStation, £24.99
Way back when Space Invaders was one of the "killer apps" for the Atari 2600, helping to sell the console by the truckload. The arcade version had been swallowing gameplayers' lunch money and bus fare for some time before Atari made an almost perfect conversion available at home.
The Atari cartridge had 114 versions of the game - most of them ridiculous variations like invisible invaders, or invisible until you shoot one - but the original was in there and it was far and away the best. Space Invaders was one of the first games to achieve global success and is undoubtedly a classic.
This modernised version has much improved graphics. It also has power-ups, bosses, hidden areas and even a replica of the old game hidden in one of the 100 or so levels. Despite all this Space Invaders should have been left to stand on its achievements. It's still a great game, but who wants to fit an air-bag, power steering and a drinks holder in a classic car?