Ninja Turtles, Power Rangers, Furbies... they were hot and then, very quickly, they were not. Bizarrely, the Butt-Ugly Martians - a franchise based on the side-splitting premise of, yes, unattractive aliens - is currently at the hot stage. What better time, then, to start rolling out the console tie-ins?

Zoom Or Doom is a bog-standard future racer that's got ambitions to be a cut-price WipEout. Sadly, it isn't even a cut-price Super Bombad Racing. There's the usual range of racing modes: Practice, Time Attack, Speed Challenge and a couple of split-screen Multiplayer modes, plus the Conqueror's Cup tournament. Racing, meanwhile, is a case of accelerating and power-sliding around a bunch of futuristic tracks (lava, snow, canyon - you can practically hear the developers ticking their check boxes) with the obligatory pick-up weapons. Oh, and you can taunt your rivals, too - hardly an innovation.

Although the graphics are bold and colourful, Zoom Or Doom feels sluggish compared to the blistering speed of its rivals - it doesn't have the pure stomach-church factor that you expect from this genre. There's none of the hair-trigger control seen in WipEout Fusion either.

The characters are unengaging, and the comedy cut-scenes will barely raise a snort. Admittedly, some kids out there will lap all this up, making it the perfect Christmas gift if you've got a snotty little brother. Ultimately though, there are plenty of games doing this future racing schtick far better to make this worth your money. Zoom Or Doom? Take a guess...

We're, er, a big Butt-Ugly Martians fan

Because we can afford a proper jet and laser racer