DJ Hero

Most console formats; £100. Age 12+
This game is Guitar Hero for the clubbing crowd, with knobs on. Instead of prodding four coloured keys on an instrument-shaped prop in time with onscreen prompts, you have the tools of a DJ’s trade to play with. The price includes a sturdy deck controller that replicates how a DJ handles turntables and a mixer. The action still revolves around hitting coloured keys in time with a scrolling display, but there are new tricks to learn. You must scratch — by moving the platter back and forth — and cross-fade, where you slip between two tunes. You can also throw in samples of other songs or twiddle a button for fancy sound effects to get the crowd going. More than 100 tracks are included, by acts ranging from Daft Punk to NERD, and DJ Hero cleverly avoids getting bogged down in the subgenres of dance music by asking you to mash up, say, Marvin Gaye with Gorillaz — all to great effect. The gameplay is addictive, and the stylish visuals exude effortless cool. You will, however, soon work up a sweat keeping all the elements in sync. The price is exorbitant and the career mode is fluffy, but DJ Hero’s needle is firmly in the groove. Stuart Andrews

Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time

PS3; £50. Age 7+
Brace yourself for another hilarious interplanetary adventure with Ratchet, a cat-like creature with long floppy ears, and his tiny robot chum, Clank. You play as each character alternately and must jump around a variety of alien landscapes collecting items, solving puzzles and defeating enemies. This is the concluding episode of a three-part Ratchet and Clank story, but newcomers will swiftly pick up the plot. As the game opens, Clank is trying to escape the clutches of Dr Nefarious, the duo’s archenemy, while Ratchet scours the galaxy in a spaceship, desperately trying to find him. The trademark Ratchet & Clank combination of relentless action, dry wit and glorious cartoon graphics remains in full effect. The controls are finely tuned and the difficulty level is well judged. Whether you’re immersed in a comedy space dogfight or running up a wall wearing anti-gravity boots, you’ll grin from start to finish. David Phelan

Tekken 6

Xbox 360, PS3; £50. Age 16+
For gamers of a certain generation, Tekken will always be the ultimate hand-to-hand fighting game and as much a part of 1990s youth culture as Trainspotting. This sixth instalment is the first proper new release since 2005. It features a huge cast of characters and a correspondingly byzantine storyline. The good news is that the gameplay remains magnificent. The one-on-one bouts focus on you landing simple, brutal blows and hard-hitting chains of attacks, rather than the prissy technicalities of rival titles. Otherwise, though, Tekken 6 falls short. The fighters lack convincing detail, and the eagerly awaited single-player “adventure” mode is a big disappointment. Played mano a mano, Tekken 6 is still a blast. Even so, it is neither as spectacular as SoulCalibur IV nor as impressive a reinvention of a classic as Street Fighter IV. That’s the knockout blow. Stuart Andrews