Since Sega's ill-fated Dreamcast was the console equivalent of the boy who always got picked last for football, the chances are you never played Phantasy Star Online. If that's the case, then allow us to fill you in on what you missed.

The game's plot revolves around mankind's search for a new home planet - having made a bit of a mess of Earth, we need a new place. Planet Ragol sounds a likely bet, but the first ship to settle there loses contact with Earth.

Cue investigation. What's going on with Ragol? What happened to the ship? It's up to you, and thousands of online players, to find out. You meet up on a ship above the planet's surface, mill about chatting to lots of other players, and form groups of up to four to go down to the planet's surface and fight monsters.

So, Phantasy Star Online's all about kicking monster ass - although not all the monsters have an ass. But there's more to it than that. As your character defeats enemies, he/she gains experience points, which gradually raises their level. The higher your character's level, the more damage they can do, the better the weapons and items they can use, and they can penetrate ever further into the more dangerous parts of Ragol.

There's one other thing you need to know about Phantasy Star Online. More than any other game we've played, it's all about the community, man - and not just because of all the chatting that goes on. The whole game is set up to foster the kind of cuddly family warmth you normally only find in an Andrex advert... but without all the smell, or puppies. If you die in battle, you rely on your team-mates to revive you with the appropriate item - they save you and you save them. Plus, you can trade items with each other: you may have a certain item you can't use but a friend can, and so on.

Basically, Phantasy Star Online is designed to maximise the feeling of participating in a game world with other real, breathing players, and that hasn't changed with this Xbox version.

If anything, it be even more apparent now, since you might well hear them breathing this time around, thanks to the speech functions afforded by Xbox Live. And you won't need to fiddle with a keyboard while you're fighting away.

The Xbox version also benefits from heaps of new stuff, crammed onto the DVD by those determined Sonic Team fellas. You get both the Dreamcast versions, plus an entirely new adventure to play through, and tons of new character types, weapons, items and scenery, enemies... a proper shedload of things, basically. If you're new to the game, then rest assured: all this could keep you going for months on end.

One thing that hasn't changed much (well, at all) in the transition to Xbox is the way the game actually plays. The combat has a curiously stilted air that feels like proper action gameplay dressed in an almost turn-based, traditional RPG jacket. When you hit an enemy with an attack, a number appears indicating the hit points that attack achieved. As your character levels up, these hit points get bigger, emphasising the sense that you're developing in the world.

The combat may lack the slick arcade feel you might suspect is there from the screenshots, but it's only an issue with prolonged play of the offline game, when it feels rather repetitive.

Play it online, though (and with the always-on nature of broadband, there's no excuse not to), and suddenly it will all click into place. The camaraderie suits the action perfectly, and the RPG dynamic makes a lot of sense when there's four of you trying to kill enemies, heal each other and use items in a chaotic battlefield. With a few like-minded souls, it's an incredibly fun, satisfying experience, and building a character up with an ever more impressive range of attacks and spells is a unique, bewitching experience. There's nothing else like it on Xbox, and if you've got Xbox Live you'd be mad not to give it a try.

However, you'll notice that we haven't given it a score just yet - and that's because we haven't had the chance to properly get into the game on Xbox Live. As veterans of the Dreamcast original though, we're 99.9 per cent sure that this is going to be brilliant, nine out of ten stuff. Playing offline multiplayer confirms that the great dynamic is in place - trading items and slaying monsters is fun even with a split screen. But the real magic of Phantasy Star Online only clicks into place when you take it online and sample the community. That's when building your character becomes more addictive than cigarettes on toast.

We'll be featuring more of Phantasy Star Online in our Play Live section as the game comes into its own online. So get down to Ragol, get chatting and trading, and see how this online RPG promises a whole @ new world of gaming.

Power
It's nice to look at, and there are some great effects to say wow to. But this isn't really about graphics.

Style
This is one of those rare games where the whole feel of the world and characters is just perfect.

Immersion
Online play should make this just about the most addictive game available to man.

Lifespan
At least two months of hyper-addictive interaction, and more if you go for the Hunter's Licence.

Summary
A magical game that should bring a unique, addictive community to Xbox Live. Will rock if enough people join!

1. New content
2. Addictive character progression
3. Encourages a friendly community
4. First chance to use voice in Phantasy Star Online

1. Have to pay extra after two months!