GameBoy titles keep thumbs busy

Some of the best gaming fun is still to be had on the small screen. The BBC's Neil McGreevey squints at some of the latest offerings on GameBoy Advance

Mario Golf: Advance Tour

The golf game is better than recent GameCube version

Nintendo's Game Boy has gone through a few cosmetic and technological changes over the last decade, but no-one would argue the best titles for gaming on the go are simple time-wasters.

Nintendo's latest, Mario Golf, allows you to hit the links and sink a few on the virtual fairway, clawing up the ranks to face off against the obese plumber himself.

Mario Golf offers the kind of quick-fix gaming the Game Boy was invented for making those long train journeys fly by.

The game plays an even better game of golf than the recent GameCube version, while colourful, manga-esque graphics and a bouncing soundtrack make this easy on the eyes and ears.

An extensive training mode gets players used to driving, putting, chipping, and the intricacies of this, admittedly rather easy, game.

RPG-lite is the best way to describe the single player adventure as you take your no-hoper through the ranks, accepting challenges along the way, or simply dive into a quick round with a bug-eyed challenger.

For all its bells and whistles, though, matches are won and lost by squinting at a tiny shot meter. But with five courses and a host of mini-games, there is enough here to keep your thumbs blissed for months.

Score: 8/10

Dragonball Z: Supersonic Warriors

Supersonic Warriors features heroes and villains from the series

Fans of epilepsy-inducing Japanese cartoons are in for a treat as Dragonball Z and Digimon put up their dukes on GameBoy Advance.

In Japan, the Dragonball series spells big bucks, having shifted over 15 million videos.

Supersonic Warriors features the most skilled heroes and villains from the series, including Goku, Vegeta, Cell, Friez and Buu.

All are your typical manga designs, wide eyes and hair that no earthly wax could spike.

Battles take place on the ground and mid-air like Crouching Tiger with added fireballs and lasers.

The one-on-one gameplay should be familiar to anyone who has ever cradled a joystick as you kick seven shades out of one another over three-bout matches, while button-mashing special moves pump your thumb blisters with fresh pus.

Add a link-up mode for multiplayer laughs and controls as smooth as a velvet child and you have an old-skool fighter that works surprisingly well on the small screen.

Score: 7/10

Digimon Battle Spirit 2

Battle Spirit 2 looks like a five-year-old game

As a port of an old Wonderswan (Bandai's failed Japanese handheld) game, this looks like a relic of the 8bit days, with chunky graphics and bleeping audio.

Nevertheless, if you are male and have not hit puberty yet, this is just what the doctor ordered as older gamers may well end up reaching for their brain medicine to figure out what the hell is going on.

Battles involve the Pokemon knock-offs battling over massive platform-strewn levels, jumping from ledge to ledge as they pummel each other with special attacks.

The usual smattering of options is available, including multiplayer and an unlockable shooting game. The whole affair is admittedly rather fun, with clever designs and spot-on controls.

Score: 5/10