PAC-MAN WORLD 3. Publisher: Namco, Format: PS2. Price: £29.99. Family friendly? Yes: IT'S a quarter of a century since the gaming world was hooked by a little yellow blob being chased around a 2-D maze by a bunch of ghosts.

And Pac-Man World 3 is always ready to remind you of it.

The little yellow fella may have come a long way since those innocent arcade origins but gamers with a yen for nostalgia can still play the original on this shiny new PS2 platter.

There's also a Pac-Man chronology, interviews with the guy who created him and the very first Pac-Man lovingly recreated by the PS2. Actually, the PS2 may be getting on a bit but I reckon the sound chip would be up to the task of "recreating" the original Pac-Man without so much as breaking a sweat.

For gamers who didn't waste their childhood pestering their parents for an Atari 2600, there's also a new adventure for Pac and his pals.

The game starts with Pac about to celebrate his birthday. But before he can tuck into his cake, he finds himself teleported away to try and save the world once again.

Bad guy Erwin is trying to destroy everything by using raw energy from the spectral realm (where the ghosts live) to power evil robots back in Pac-land.

Pac-Man World 3 is a charming platform adventure where new meets old. Pac has undergone a full three-dimensional make-over. Despite having a face (and even a nose), arms and legs, he still looks familiar thanks to the chunky and deliberately simplistic graphics.

The soundtrack also harks back 25 years, eschewing background music completely for retro bleeps and beeps. The track is still pretty sophisticated (there are lots of incidental effects that would have been impossible to achieve in a game a quarter of a century ago) and, overall, the lack of a score just lends a neat retro feel to the proceedings.

Generally, the translation to 3-D has been well accomplished but there is one big downside that is illustrated by playing the original.

For all its childish gameplay, Pac-Man always had an element of strategy. Players looked down on the whole maze and could see where the next threat was coming from and react accordingly.

This just isn't possible when your character is dashing through a 3-D maze, even with a camera that can be remotely controlled.

The maze dashing sections are very much a nod to nostalgia, though. Most of the game involves jumping, running and solving simple puzzles. At key moments Pac gets to interact with his friends Clyde and Pinky, two ghosts who have different abilities. Pinky can help cross platforms and Clyde can take on a ghost without the need for a power pellet.

Pac has various offensive moves at his disposal. He can punch, crunch an enemy using what's known as a "butt bounce" (I'll leave you to work it out) and do a reverse roll.

Perhaps I'm sad, but, despite all the gloss, I still preferred the original. After a while I found myself going back to the retro sections of the game more often than not.

Younger gamers will enjoy Pac-Man World 3 as a good solid platforming romp. When they come across the original they will no doubt wonder what all the fuss was about.

For all that, I doubt we'll be celebrating the 25th anniversary of Pac Man World in 2031.

FIFA World Cup. Publisher: Electronic Arts, Platforms: PS2, Xbox, GameCube, Ninteno DS, PSP, Price: £39.99. Family friendly? 12+

WAYNE Rooney may be injured, leaving a nation in mourning, but at least the magic of video games lets us live the fantasy.

Fifa World Cup features 12 official stadiums, all the teams and all the players from the world's biggest footballing tournament, due to be held in Germany this summer.

Gamers can play as their favourite team from qualification right through to the World Cup finals.

Don't worry if you're Scottish or Welsh. There are some 127 national teams available for selection.

There's also a "global challenge" mini game that recreates some of the greatest moments in World Cup history. By completing these 40 different scenarios, you get to unlock classic teams and kits.

You can also opt to manage the team if the prospect of playing on the pitch is just too much.

Gamers also get the chance to challenge each other on-line in every version except the GameCube incarnation.

The Xbox and PS2 also allow for the creation of quick tournaments if you just want a five-minute match up with a real human being.

But the main event is World Cup mode and here you have two choices: jump straight into the finals by controlling one of the 32 teams that made it or chose a regional qualifying tournament and choose an under-dog to try and qualify for the World Cup.

EA has honed the experience over the years and now World Cup '06 is about so much more than just the matches. Go through the whole qualification process and you'll be invited to friendlies, get to scout out key opposition and read all about your success or otherwise in a virtual magazine.

The match engine itself isn't massively different to the last FIFA game.

I liked the new 'keeper controls during penalty shoot-outs.

As in real life, he moves along the line and even jumps up and down to try and psyche an opponent out. When your defending the goal it really adds a new dimension to the tension of a penalty decider.

The presentation is solid and the commentary spot-on. Even if England do fail to make the final next month with this game and a bit of match practice you can re-write history. Worth a shot.

Published: 09/05/2006