As in, five glorious minutes to finish it

Those considering dipping their toes into the pure gaming waters of Metal Slug might want to do so now. With PS3 and God knows what on the horizon, there's surely only so long such a rudimentary series can continue to survive, and to miss out would be a shame.

The maniacal, side-scrolling shooting and driving across simplistically sumptuous, lunatic levels has been seen and done before, yet it's still ace. Full of silly characters, daft vehicles, huge weapons and enormous screen-filling bosses, it fires frenetic action and frenzied sound at you throughout. It's also a cinch to complete, not because it's easy but because of its hard-to-resist unlimited continues. So dip your toe, but maybe do it at your rental outlet rather than in a shop.

Not big, but quite clever - this is 'classic' gaming at its best, but tarnished slightly by the decision to help us all complete it so quickly.