Crash Team Racing (PSX)

Hands up who remembers Mario Kart? This 16-bit classic game involved racing your little kart around tracks, grabbing weapon pick-ups, and either out-driving or out-shooting your opponents. Crucially, it had a two-player split-screen mode that allowed your mates to participate - and a battle mode that entirely dispensed with the racing. This game, it has widely been observed, was dangerously addictive.

Wind on a few years, and we come to Crash Team Racing, another kart racing game. Fortunately for us, the developers at Naughty Dog know that if it ain't broke, you don't fix is and so most of CTR is unashamedly based on Mario Kart. This is a Very Good Thing - it drips gameplay like post-pub kebabs drip grease.

So, some numbers: 22 tracks, 8 characters, 4 hidden tracks, 7 hidden characters, 5 game modes (including 4-player race and battle modes), lots and lots of secrets... There is a hell of a lot of playability here. If you have a multitap (easily available) and three friends (not so easy), the battle mode alone is worth the price of entry. If you're Johnny No Mates, the single-play modes have plenty to keep you interested.

The graphics are some of the best to ever grace the ageing Playstation, proving there's life in the old dog yet. The gameplay is fast and smooth and never misses a beat, even in four-player mode; cartoony effects give the game style, and the music adds to the effect.

Although the later reaches of the game become almost incredibly hard, the game is simply so likeable that you can't stay mad at it for long. And that, ultimately, is the highest praise I can give it. Highly recommended.