You look rad but familiar

A talking cat in a pink sweater is still just a cat. Yes, it may be the most amazing cat you’ve ever encountered -- but at its core, it’s still a cat. Crackdown for the Xbox 360 is precisely such a beast. The amazing gameplay, upgradeable characters and open-ended missions are so spectacular, you almost forget it’s another Grand Theft Auto clone.

Sure, there are a lot of different wrinkles that spice things up -- like playing as a super cop who’s out to clean up gang-infested streets and uses his super abilities to jump from rooftop to rooftop -- but this is basically GTA on steroids, full of good old ‘roid rage.

The gameplay is achingly familiar: Wander around a vast and varied playground seeking assignments that require a variety of guns, cars and fighting. The visuals are crisp and definitely next-generation, and the control scheme is solid, even if it is differently mapped than the familiar GTA setup.

We’ve played games like this before; they just haven’t been as pretty or as fun. Still, we wonder when we’ll see something new.

Details: Xbox360 platform; $59.99; rated Mature (blood and gore, intense violence, sexual themes, strong language, use of drugs).

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Hear that engine purr

Playing the great racing simulator Formula 1 Championship Edition reminds us just how far we’ve come since the days of Pole Position in the early ‘80s. The graphics look almost photorealistic, and driving in the rain has never been more fun -- a far cry from the eight-color, two-dimensional racers of the past. Good for players of all skill levels, F1 allows for races varying from a total simulation (run the full race with visits to the pits, tire wear and damage, for major wannabe racers) to pickup-and-play arcade-style fun (with steering and breaking assist over only a few laps, perfect for novices).

Details: PlayStation 3 platform; $59.99; rated Everyone (mild lyrics).

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Crank up this one

Not just a PSP version of an existing game, Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters is an all-new adventure with the familiar characters shrunk down to be fully portable. And after you gain comfort with the control system (which takes a while), Size Matters is a great little platformer. Besides the heroic fox-like creature and his little robot pal, this version also includes all the creativity and technological marvel we’ve come to expect from the series. In fact, short load times are disguised with video of the spaceship in flight -- and none exists during the game, an amazing feat.

Details: PlayStation portable platform; $39.99; rated Everyone 10+ (animated blood, fantasy violence).

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Wii Play falls short

Wii Play was supposed to be the one; all the power of the Wii’s amazing control system, with great new applications such as table tennis, billiards and even an update of the classic Duck Hunt. Sadly, however, it fails to live up to expectations. Of the nine games included, table tennis and an updated Pong game are only marginally fun, and balky controls make billiards extremely difficult to play. But gamers will like the nostalgia and challenge of Shooting Range, as well as the Wii remote that’s included here -- perfect for use when playing a buddy in the vastly superior Wii Sports.

Details: Nintendo Wii platform; $49.99; rated Everyone (mild cartoon violence).

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Time for a snooze

Instead of calling it 300: March to Glory and making gamers think it will be as visually exciting as the film, the makers of this lousy tie-in should have slapped it in plain wrap and called it “Generically Boring Action Game.” Besides having a story similar to that of the film (based on the brilliant graphic novel by comic icon Frank Miller), the sword fighting and adventure are just like any other miserable PSP action game. The enemies are generic and attack the same way, and the graphics and game play are frightfully boring.

Details: PlayStation Portable platform; $29.99; rated: Mature (blood and gore, language, suggestive themes, violence.)