Amazingly, for a series we thought could only go downhill after a lackluster debut, the second Family Game Night is a little better than the first. Yes, that’s right – ‘better’. But also only ‘a little’.

The games selected for the Wii treatment this time are far more suited to console jiggery-pokery. ...

Last year, SimAnimals gave us a cartoon ecosystem where everything lived in harmony until you turned your back, at which point hungry foxes would move in and eat all the rabbits. Harsh but fair. Educational, certainly. But it wasn’t all that much fun, and the effort EA put into underpinning the game with a proper simulation was lost on an audience that just wanted to hand-feed a bunch of cute animals. ...

Being mean to F1 2009 is a bit like chastising the puppy from the litter with the crossed eyes and gammy leg. It means well and it will still hump your leg with all the enthusiasm of its siblings, but you can’t help wishing you’d bought a pedigree. But you can’t blame Codemasters getting its foot in the door. As we write, Jenson Button has just taken the 2009 championship and F1 fever is riding high. ...

Let’s get this out of the way up-front: Band Hero essentially IS Guitar Hero 5, but for tweens. There are really no substantive changes made in terms of the core gameplay, features, and extras found between the two. As a result, it’s still very much an expertly-crafted game – it’s just that it’s an expertly-crafted game with a set list designed for pre-pubescent players. ...

At this point, Wii owners should be entering the stage called “acceptance.” Your games will only ever "look great for a Wii game," and you'll never get a game of comparable graphical quality to Resident Evil 5, so let’s just move on and understand that what you do get are different, but not necessarily worse, games. ...

Band rivalry is the bedrock of, well, rock. Beatles vs Stones. Blur vs Oasis. Jedward vs Anyone cursed with the capacity to hear. Rock Band and Guitar Hero’s rift is the worst of the lot. Releasing practically the same products on practically the same Friday, this is a playground war of attrition, like two child enemies holding their parties on the same day to see who has more friends. ...

Just bought Wii Fit Plus? Already tired of swapping your daily Crunch bars for stomach crunches? Then what you need is something that still makes good use of your fun new peripheral but will keep the wolf from the disc drive, so to speak. What you need is Shaun White Snowboarding: World Stage. Well, maybe. ...

Naruto. Its fans overrate it, and its haters underrate it. It’s an unfortunate situation, because by name alone many people will shun Naruto Shippuden: Clash of Ninja Revolution 3 as just another licensed title for Wii. Ignore your gut reaction - Tomy Corporation has developed a deep, enjoyable fighting game here. ...

Although it’s relatively low key on Wii, Need for Speed: Nitro smacks of something born in focus groups and marketing meetings. This year you’re going to be into ‘taking ownership’ of ‘your media’ so here’s a racing game that’s all about you. ...

The golden rule of LEGO: the more bits there are, the better the model will inevitably be. Bits mean more work. More fun. We love bits. Traveller’s Tales love bits too: LEGO Indiana Jones 2 has thousands of the blighters. Let’s look at the numbers: six hubs, each with five story missions, five puzzle scenarios and five level creator levels. ...