What Car? Christmas gift guide - Electronic games

Test Drive Unlimited
Play it on... PC, PS2, PS3, PSP, Xbox 360
From www.asda-entertainment.co.uk
Price from £15.93
Not quite as run-of-the-mill as it sounds, Test Drive Unlimited is a street-racing game based on a Hawaiian island. You can also hook-up to the internet and battle it out with cars driven by other gamers.

Need for Speed Carbon/Pro Street
Play it on... DS, PC, PS3, PS2, PSP, Wii, Xbox, Xbox 360
From www.game.co.uk
Price from £9.99
Another street-racing game, but you also spend a lot of time and money 'modding' your ride with decals, tints, nitrous oxide, underbody neon lighting and so on. Need for Speed Pro Street is a new instalment due out in late November.

Project Gotham Racing 4 Play it on... Xbox 360 From www.amazon.co.uk Price £37.98 For most, this is the quintessential Xbox racing game - the aim is not just to go fast, but also to rack up valuable kudos points by driving with style and panache. There are online modes, too, and all of the tracks, based on cities from around the world, are richly detailed.

Gran Turismo 5 Prologue
Play it on... PS3
From www.choicesuk.com
Price £29.99
Oops, Sony is missing the Christmas boat with the latest instalment of the Playstation's Gran Turismo series. Order now through a vendor such as Amazon, and you'll be among the first to get one next spring. In the meantime, Gran Turismo 4 continues to be profoundly impressive and is also available for the PS2

Colin McCrae DiRT Play it on... PC, PS3, Xbox 360 From www.amazon.co.uk Price from £22.48 Fronted by the late rally great, this rally game offers superb levels of detail. There's some highly challenging gameplay, but also more accessible styles of play that don't that make things easier to allow you to have fun with the kids.

Cars
Play it on... DS, PC, PS2, PSP, Xbox, Xbox 360, Wii
From www.game.co.uk
Price £9.99
For the younger virtual driver, Cars is a fun game based around the animated film of the same name. It's not the latest release, but kids love the tie-in.

Mario-Kart Play it on... DS From www.blahdvd.com Price £24.95 There's no Mario-Kart game for the Wii just yet, but this version on the handheld Nintendo is superb. What the game lacks in graphics, it more than makes up for with fun.

RACE 07, The WTCC Game
Play it on... PC
From www.amazon.co.uk
Price £17.98
There's a wide range of tracks and cars to choose from, and you can take on other players in online modes. Race everything from Minis to World Touring Cars or Formula 3000 single-seaters.

Forza Motorsport 2 Play it on... Xbox 360 From www.amazon.co.uk Price £29.98 Ultra-realistic tracks, cars and crash damage, Forza Motorsport also gives you the chance to get your hands covered in virtual grease tweaking your car for optimum performance. The first Forza Motorsport is still a great game if you've only got the first Xbox.

Formula One Championship Edition
Play it on... PS3
From www.game.co.uk, www.amazon.co.uk
Price £29.99
You won't find Lewis Hamilton in this game, but it's still packed with tonnes of detail and the ability to play online. Formula One 2006 is also available for the PS2 and handheld PSP.