New Play Control! Donkey Kong Jungle Beat

Linking together bottom-bounces, wall-springs and trampoline jumps with these air-grabs is a spot-on risk/reward scenario, because taking a hit before landing loses all the bananas you've collected in that sequence. This works superbly in tandem with some truly excellent level design, with flowing acrobatic manoeuvres resulting in satisfyingly huge banana totals, and the occasional frustration at having over-reached yourself never approaching terminal proportions. It's also here where the easy-to-pick-up-and-hard-to-master controls are at their best.

Once each world's two platforming stages are complete, players move on to face the realm's king in a one-on-one battle, with the bananas collected up to that point acting as health. These boss battles vary from straight-up punch-outs with the ape kings to more involved platform mini-stages for the others. Usually it's a matter of breaching the bosses' defences somehow before latching on and delivering a sound thrashing by 'drumming' the Wiimote and nunchuk rapidly. On the whole the bosses are satisfying, if a little easy, but it would have been nice to see a little more variety in the enemies rather than a slightly upgraded repetition.

Meanwhile, taking damage from bosses means lost bananas. Losing bananas means a lower world-total when they're totted up post-boss, and as-per-usual, points mean prizes. Getting 200, 500 and 1000 banana totals respectively will earn players a crest, the collection of which unlocks hidden levels, bringing it to a total of about 50 including boss fights.

Whilst nearly all of the game's levels are relatively easy if you're approaching them in straightforward manner, maxing out banana counts is a tricky business, and topping a thousand for each stage will challenge both skill and even physical endurance, judging by my fine sheen of sweat - although fitter readers will no doubt fare better.

One thing that will hit everyone though is how good the game looks. Even though it's four years old, it's one of the Wii's prettiest titles, with lush environments (admittedly in slightly hackneyed fire/ice veins), excellent shading, lighting and smooth animation combining with a solid frame-rate to put most Wii developers to shame. Even blown up on the office's monstrous 50-inch plasma TV it looked crisp and vibrant, with an attention to detail that adds a great deal to the experience.

The main concern with Jungle Beat is that it's undeniably short. Ploughing through the initial worlds with no real regard for banana count should take experienced gamers no more than four hours, although the task of capturing all the crests and mastering the hidden zones will extend that lifespan considerably. But while the replay value of exploring old levels for tucked-away fruit will only appeal to the mildly anal, this certainly won't be a one-shot experience for most. Obviously, this is not a game for out-and-out haters of platform titles, but even some of them might be won over by the clever touches.