Shrek flexes his muscles

THE loveable ogre with a foul temper and a big-mouthed donkey for a best friend returns to the consoles once more.

Shrek transcends normal boundaries. Kids can't get enough of the cartoon antics and adults can have a good laugh at the numerous in-jokes (particularly if they are film buffs). A Shrek game is entertainment the whole family can enjoy.

Shrek Super Slam represents a new direction. After some fairly routine platforming adventures, this title owes more to fighting games like PowerStone.

You can play as Shrek, Fiona, Donkey, and Puss-in-Boots or some of the minor movie characters like the Gingerbread Man plus a selection of new figures created especially for this game.

Each character shares a basic selection of common offensive moves, as well as several specific attacks that can be strung together into devastating combinations. The roster of attacks is fairly extensive and takes some learning. True fans will have to buy the Prima Game Guide book that accompanies this title if they are to discover everything their favourite character has to offer.

The key to winning is building up your character's "slamergy" by continually performing combos on an opponent. Aside from the offensive moves, the game includes a number of power-ups and weapons for the astute super slammer to look out for. These can make your character invisible or increase his speed. Weapons to keep an eye out for include beehives and hammers.

Sadly there's no on-line link up but you can have up to four mates round to play at the same time. There's nothing quite like bashing the living daylights out of your best pal - or granny!

The graphics are suitably cartoon-like and the characters all move smoothly, essential for a fighting game where jerky animation can make all the difference between winning or losing.

Just like the PowerStone series, all the environments are fully destructible so you can have fun smashing things up as well as your opponents.

The sound effects are fine but it is disappointing to find that all the voices have been done by sound-a-likes. Why not just spool some of the best lines from the two movies?

Overall, though, this is a successful transition for the Shrek series from straightforward platforming to action/fighting. Fans will need no recommendation to buy this title but I'd urge adult gamers who didn't enjoy the movies to set their prejudices aside and give this a try. It's one of the most entertaining beat 'em ups in a long time.

LMA MANAGER 2006, Publisher: Codemasters, Format: PS2, X Box, Price: £34.99: Family friendly? Yes.

LAST Sunday I spent the day indoors suffering the effects of a lingering head cold. I fortified myself with repeat doses of live FA cup football on the BBC.

After watching first Middlesbrough, then Fulham and finally Manchester United fail to overcome lower league opposition, I stomped off to dig out my PS2. Digging out a copy of LMA Manager 2006, I set about trying to improve on the fairly pitiful football I'd been watching.

LMA has become the de facto management sim of choice for console owners. The PS2 has never had a Champ Manager and, although it is available for the Xbox, it just doesn't feel right played on a console anyway. LMA - with its finely balanced gameplay - is the way to go.

New for this year is a more powerful game engine and an even bigger player database boasting more teams and leagues than ever.

Codemasters has also tweaked the transfer system so the personality of a player (and a manager) can influence the outcome of delicate negotiations. This makes landing the best players a time consuming affair. Can you land that big name signing? Often the result goes down to the wire.

Contracts have to be drawn up with the correct salary scale and incentives if the big names are to play in your team. It's no good paying £20m for a star name then expecting him to turn out twice a week for a hundred quid in wages. He'll tell you where to go.

The in-game match engine is more robust than ever. You can watch your team play in real time with the option to tinker with formations or make substitutions, etc, if things start to go wrong.

The difference between LMA and lesser managerial simulations is the feeling you get that when you make changes they actually have a bearing on the eventual outcome of the game. Compared to, say, the token managerial mode in FIFA 06, this game is a class above.

Critics of these games say they are nothing more than glorified spreadsheets but that is doing them a serious injustice. Good football management sims like LMA become all-consuming. You find yourself thinking about formations on the commute to work, musing about new signings during your lunch hour and counting the minutes until you can get home for tonight's match. Unlike so many of today's whizz-bang but ultimately shallow games, a management sim appeals to your head just as much as your heart.

And did I do any better than McLaren and Fergie? Let's just say it's easier to be an armchair critic than it is to climb into the dugout yourself.

Published: 17/01/2006