Burtons Bytes: A monster bash at pocket money prices

THE PlayStation may be in its dotage now but, remarkably, it remains as popular as ever. Recent price cuts have made it the perfect starter system for younger gamers, which rather explains the recent slew of titles aimed at children.

Light and Shadow Productions have introduced a new range of games at pocket money prices.

The Ultimate Invasion is a spin-off from the Ultimate Ghostbusters cartoon. Players have to uncover a paranormal threat by selecting one of the game's four major characters. Boys, in particular, will revel in the action as the Ghostbusters use their proton packs to overcome a variety of (none too threatening) malevolent spirits.

Baby Felix Tennis is another cartoon licence (Felix The Cat) grafted on to a fairly basic sports game. It's fun in a strange way but gamers won't be giving up a Tiger Woods title for this.

Dinomaster Party should be a real smash with the under-fives because it allows young ones to live out their prehistoric fantasies by taking on the role of a dinosaur. Select your thunder lizard and try to cross four hostile worlds - a jungle, a mountain range, into a volcano and through the centre of the earth.

The gameplay may have been dumbed down for a younger audience but, for less than £10, all three titles represent good value for money.

TOCA RACE DRIVER; Publisher: Codemasters, Formats: Xbox and PC

PS2 owners have been able to enjoy this game for some time now. With second hand copies already available, why should anybody bother with the Xbox or PC version?

Because this is a Codemasters' game and the idea of doing a quick 'n dirty port of an existing game is an anathema to them.

These are both brand new editions of Toca Race Driver (Toca 1.5 if you will) that boast extra cars, tweaked gameplay and polished up graphics.

Each race features up to 20 cars (six more than the PS2 was able to provide) jostling for track position and a brand new progressive physics engine built from scratch. These game tweaks have created a more realistic handling model - the cars no longer seem as if they are floating above the track - with some spectacular collision damage potential. The recommended PC requirements are pretty frightening (you'll need a 2 Ghz system, a whopping 512MB of RAM, GeForce 3 and a Soundblaster Audigy card for the full effect) but the graphical eye-candy is truly retina-burning.

PC owners can also enjoy online and network play - something which is sadly missing from the Xbox iteration.

Both these platforms haven't been over-run with drivings sims as with the PS2, a fact that marks out Toca Race Driver as something special for both systems.

CT Special Forces; Published: Light and Shadow Productions, Platform: PlayStation, Price: £9.99

WITH the Sega Saturn it was Panzer Dragoon Saga, on the N64 it was Majora's Mask - games that deserved more success but faded into obscurity because they arrived too late.

Now we have CT Special Forces on the PlayStation, another undiscovered gem that could find itself cruelly overlooked in the dash to embrace the PS2.

A side-scrolling shooter, CT (Counter Terrorism) Special Forces is a throwback to earlier days and games like Metal Slug.

Players control three different characters, each with a special skill ideally suited to the mission ahead. Urban Intervention specialist, Infiltration expert and Helicopter pilot are the guys on your side and their powerful arsenal includes sniper rifles and semi-automatics through to laser-guided rockets and even a flame-thrower.

In common with its famous forebear, the gameplay is intense as wave after wave of bad guys throw themselves at you. To progress you must first survive.

Conscious of the fact that simple side scrollers are old hat in these fully three dimensional times, CT Special Forces offers up several secondary missions just to vary the gameplay a bit.

It's a bargain priced bit of fun that's perfect for some post-pub shoot 'em up action.

Virus Watch:

CodeRed.F, a variant of the CodeRed worm which spread faster than any other worm virus before it in 2001, is a nasty little pest to have on your hard drive, though it is not expected to be as prevalent as the original worm.

The original CodeRed worm first appeared in July 2001, spreading worldwide, infecting vulnerable websites, at an alarming rate. The number of infected servers reportedly doubled every hour.

The CodeRed worm looks for holes in Microsoft Internet Information Servers (IIS) in order to spread. Once it infects a server, it begins to scan for other vulnerable servers to spread to. Once a set period of time is up, CodeRed initiates a Denial-of-Service (DoS) attack againstwww1.whitehouse.gov and finally suspends all activity.

The new variant, CodeRed.F, is a rewritten version of the original worm. Just like CodeRed, this new worm looks for an IIS hole to gain access to the web server, then continues to find new vulnerable systems to spread to.

However, the new variant also installs a backdoor to the servers it infects, which enables any attacker to execute demands on the remote system easily.

For more information, updates and downloads, visit www.f-secure.com.