It sounds like a stroke of genius: take the basic ape-rolling premise of the original Super Monkey Ball, which saw you guide a cute monkey in a transparent “monkey ball” across a series of short 3-D levels, and turn it into a more sophisticated child-friendly platform game. Here you must unite five feuding monkey kingdoms by solving puzzles and performing a series of imaginative and superbly varied tasks. One minute you are posing for photographs by a pretentious primate photographer, the next saving apes trapped on a rollercoaster or playing the glamorous assistant in a monkey magic show.

However, the game is hampered by a series of frustrations. Why does it take so long to open a simple gate? Why surround so many tricky runs with sudden-death drops? Why does dropping from them mean you have to restart the current task from scratch? The monkey ball’s handling may be suited to quick arcade levels, but is not so effective on a more complex platformer — which results in a high difficulty level, forgivable in a game aimed at hard-core gamers, but less so in a children’s title.

Yet this doesn’t mean the game lacks merit. The bright cartoon graphics and vivid settings, such as amusement parks and an industrial metropolis, are beautifully designed and packed with fun features, even if they have been genre staples since Sonic the Hedgehog first appeared, many years ago.

Indeed, the four-player, monkey-oriented party games almost save the day; but not quite. No matter how enthralling all this monkey mayhem looks, it’s so hard to master, even for this adult, that there may well be tears before bedtime. Three stars Stuart Andrews

New Super Mario Bros
Nintendo DS, £29.99; ages 3+

The return of the superstar plumber brothers is a real treat, with plenty of stomping, jumping and precision required. This game shouldn’t be as splendid as it is: after all, it’s merely a 2-D platformer, and they’re passé, surely? Not when they have such joyous familiarity and imagination. Take your transformation into MegaMario, for instance. When you eat a special mushroom, you fill the DS screen and storm across the landscape, destroying everything in the way. Top fun. A beautifully judged learning curve allows you to master trickier tasks, such as bouncing off walls or defeating a huge fish before it swallows you whole. And, though there’s not much plot or sheer innovation, it all hurries along nicely, with enemies old and new, clever power-ups and hidden coins that open extra worlds. There’s also a two-player game, for which two DS consoles link wirelessly. All in, New Super Mario Brothers is bright, cute and a delight to play. Four stars David Phelan

Red Orchestra: Ostfront 41-45
PC £24.99; ages 16+

This addictive second world war title is an online-only first-person shooter (FPS) that is as frantic as it is visually stunning. As you might expect, it is set on the eastern front. You choose a side (German Wehrmacht or Soviet Red Army), and a class of soldier (rifleman, tank driver and so on) to play as, before being thrust into the thick of the action. Unless you’re a grizzled FPS veteran, it’s best to try the practice mode first. The calibre of online opponents is high, and novices will soon be picked off. However, find your feet and you’ll realise this game is superb. Once you’ve cleared out your first enemy stronghold in Stalingrad, you’ll be furiously fragging 24/7. Despite long load times, this orchestra is tuned to perfection. Five stars Daniel Emery