Ten to Look for in 2006

Ready your wallets - the rest of the year is going to bleed you dry.

Summer may be in full force but gamers and game makers are already hungrily eyeing the tail end of the year, when the biggest titles are released. Things are even more interesting this year because we'll be welcoming two new systems before Christmas - Sony's PlayStation 3 and the Wii from Nintendo. To give you an idea of what you should be looking out for, Kikizo has put together a list of the 10 best games coming still this year.

And don't forget, there's still hardware to buy

All these games are slated for release before the fat man comes, but publishers can and do shift things around at will, so there's no guarantee that all of them will be out by Christmas.

Wii Sports (Wii)
If there's a game that will instantly communicate the ideas behind the Wii to anyone bothering to listen, this is it. You use the Wii remote as a tennis racquet and play against up to three other players. The mind boggles at the thought of the many ways you can have fun with this on Christmas morning.

Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops (PSP)
Forget about those card games - this is the Metal Gear game fans of the series have been salivating for since the PSP was announced. The game, which director Hideo Kojima says is part of the official series timeline, picks up events a few years after Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. Expect lots of neck snapping and slinking in the dark.

Super Paper Mario

Super Paper Mario (GameCube)
Nintendo snuck this one in earlier in the year and hardly anyone noticed. It's a 2D adventure starring paper-thin characters that smooshes together the traditional platforming Mario gameplay with RPG bits from his later games. Oh, and it's amazing to behold.

Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (DS)
Unlike Mario's first DS game, which largely shuns the lower screen, Link's first adventure on the handheld is all about the touch-screen. Combine the new control scheme with a return to the cartoon-like graphics last seen in Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker and you've got a game that Nintendo fans simply cannot wait to play.

Crysis (PC)
Every time a new console comes out, PC game makers are sent scurrying to create the new big thing on their platform of choice. Crysis, by the makers of Far Cry, is the big equaliser, bringing previously unimaginable graphics to the first-person shooter genre. Like other games on this list, aliens play a big role here. Those guys really get around.

Crysis

Half-Life 2: Episode Two (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
Gordon Freeman's latest episode is jumping onto the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360, and it's bringing a few friends along. Console owners who pick up the latest episode get all the previous Half-Life 2 stuff and also Team Fortress 2 and mind-bender Portals.

Dead Rising (Xbox 360)
Capcom takes killing zombies to the next level in this homage to George Romero's undead flicks. Despite the violence, the game has a comical feel thanks to your being able to use anything and everything to bring a grizzly end to the surging zombie masses.

Heavenly Sword (PlayStation 3)
The raven-headed beauty at the centre of this new slash-'em-up may be what grabs most people's attention at first, but it's the furious fighting that will keep them flocking to this early contender for the best PlayStation 3 game of the year. Sony has shown little of the game so far, but what it has shown looks fantastic.

Gears of War

Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii/GameCube)
Zelda fans have been kept waiting for this one for years, but at least it's now coming to both the Wii and the GameCube. The Wii version of Link's more mature adventure includes support for the Wii remote, letting you tug at bowstrings and slash enemies to your heart's content.

Gears of War (Xbox 360)
There's no Halo 3 this year, but Epic's third-person shooter could just be the next best thing. You command angry space marines in a battle against invading alien forces. But what you're really doing is shooting lots and lots - and lots more too.

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo Games