During a game of the underwater sport Blitzball, star player Tidus is violently ripped out of his world by a strange being known as Sin. It's now one thousand years later, and Tidus finds himself in an alien civilisation which lives in constant fear of Sin. He befriends and joins summoner Yuna, a young woman charged with a holy pilgrimage to the other side of the world in the hope of stopping the monster. On the way he discovers Blitzball and a mysterious song, apparently the only connections with the world he used to know.

At its heart, it's very much a Final Fantasy: wandering around the world, talking to NPCs and fighting when necessary. However, this game does away with the concept of levels and introduces the Sphere Grid, a more freeform way of developing your characters. Scripted battles and random encounters use a new "CTB" system, turn-based but taking into account combatants' speeds. You also have the ability to rearrange your party during a fight, allowing you to bring in the characters you need. Other features include a vast array of subgames (such as Blitzball) and greatly improved realism, with voice acting, lip-synching and fully 3D environments.

Two years have passed since the events of Final Fantasy X. Spira is free of Sin, the corrupt church of Yevon has fallen, and the machina are back on the scene. The thrill-seeking populace, driven by a desire to unearth what other secrets Yevon has been hiding over the centuries, have taken up the free-for-all archaeology of Sphere Hunting. But Yuna's peaceful life in Besaid is interrupted by Rikku and the Gullwings, having found a sphere which appears to show Tidus alive.

Thus begins the first genuine sequel to a Final Fantasy, though it is more of a novelty expansion pack than a "proper" FF. You take the reigns of Yuna as she travels the world in search of adventure, treasure, and her missing beau. Appearance-wise, many areas haven't changed one bit since the prequel, but there are a few new areas to explore and new characters to meet. Character development (of only Yuna, Rikku, and Paine) is a return to the fixed level-up style of yore, but the Garment Grid/Dressphere system allows the girls to choose their classes and even change them mid-battle.

As Sir Galaheart, it is your duty to retrieve the Firestone from the clutches of the Evil Queen, thereby removing the curse from the land of Torot. You do this by wandering around a huge maze of side-viewed screens, watching out for the energy-sapping enemies. Items can be bought, traded, or stolen (be careful not to get caught!) from shops, and some will allow Sir Galaheart to throw fireballs at his attackers.

You play Fluff, a ball of fluff with legs, and you must trek across a series of side-scrolling platform levels and find your four children on each. The levels are "console-style," very colourful and cartoony and full of things like springboards and spikes. They are also swarming with nasties which must be avoided, or else Fluff will lose a life.

Sometime in the future, a nuclear disaster has rendered the Earth uninhabitable. As freelance bounty hunter and scavenger, you have returned to the deserted planet to find fortune. You travel through the twisted tunnels of active volcanoes, ancient temples, and abandoned scientific research bases on your high-speed hoverbike. The levels aren't completely empty, however: security defenses are still active and you will occasionally encounter another scavenger on your journey. Your bike is very well armed with an array of energy weapons, missiles, and mines available for use in your defense. If you can get your bearings, that is. The death of the planet has removed all gravity, so the distinction between ceiling and floor is lost, and frantic firefights can destroy your sense of direction.

Computer fruit machine simulators are a weird bunch, in that you can't actually win any money from them. Fruit Machine doesn't have many advanced features or flashy bits; just a bare set of three reels and the occasional nudge or Winner Spinner gamble.

In 2560, the sport of choice is the lethal F-Zero Grand Prix. Held on circuits built hundreds of feet above sprawling cities and barren wastelands alike, and raced in anti-gravity craft with top speeds over 500km/h, few participants are able to survive the course. The track edges are lined with energy-sapping barriers, and speed boosters followed by jump pads threaten to propel craft to a fiery death on the surface below. Surviving isn't the only problem in the five-track GPs, however; Each race consists of five laps, and after each one the trailing drivers are eliminated.

The F-Zero X Grand Prix on the Gamecube, set one year after the sport's revival. The courses are tougher and more complex than ever, packed with the usual inversions and high-speed traps that refuse to agree with Newton's theories on gravity. Only, this time they're much longer, spanning many miles each. New to the series is the F-Zero Shop, in which GP-earned tickets may be exchanged for new components to build and personalise custom machines. As well as the racing, there are also tough "story" missions based around Falcon's encounters with Black Shadow. These missions offer a break from the traditional GPs, featuring destruction derbies and Speed-style runs through cities.

The original F-Zero Grand Prix was brutal from the start, but as the public began to demand more intense races, the number of casualties skyrocketed. The competition was inevitably discontinued. However, the demands of the masses will always be met eventually, and the support of the fans has resulted in a brand new race: F-Zero X. Technological advances have allowed the antigravity craft to hug the road at almost any angle, and the resulting race tracks are twisted nightmares filled with loops, halfpipes, and vertical inclines. New thrusters allow the vehicles to cruise over twice as fast as in the previous GPs, and sacrifice shields during the race for an extra boost of speed. The old system of elimination has been replaced with a more traditional leaderboard, too, to even things up among the 30 playable competitors. In addition to GP and time trials, there are also single-race practices and up to four drivers may compete head-to-head.