It was with great excitement that I read the invite to Nintendo's Post E3 Games Tour, which dropped quietly into my inbox. It offered the opportunity to "play all the great games you've heard about from LA in an informal, relaxed environment." Which, as it turned out, perfectly summed up this excellent two-day event. A quick train journey to London later and I was riding the underground, hopping off at Piccadilly Circus and making my way through the streets of Soho to the venue. Resisting the lure of the risqué lingerie stores and sex shops on either side, I straightened my blinkers and arrived at the event without so much as a pack of adult playing cards.

Greeted by friendly staff, I headed down the stairs and into the bar that had been transformed into a games hall. Over a dozen Gamecube stands housed some of the hottest upcoming titles, several of them still almost six months away from release, while the DS section stretched around the rest of the bar, showcasing over twenty new DS titles. The usual mixture of journalists from all manner of games publications and websites mingled happily around, checking out the new titles with relish, while a number of gorgeous ladies walked around with trays of delicious food to be sampled. Indeed, it was tough to decide what to lay my fingers on first…

Actually, it wasn't that hard to decide, as for me at least the undoubted star of the show was The Legend Of Zelda: The Twilight Princess, with several full levels up and running in all their glory. I'm a massive fan of the franchise, having completed The Ocarina of Time and Mask of Majora on Nintendo 64 and the simply incredible Wind Waker on Gamecube. Diving straight into the Forest Temple, I was astonished at what I saw. To begin with, the graphics have been completely reinvented, replacing the sublime cartoon style of The Wind Waker with a look very similar to the N64 titles, yet completely new, as with the power of the Gamecube clearly being used to the full, everything looks stunning.

Attacked straight away by a couple of highly detailed and beautifully animated lizard men, I quickly got my bearings and was fighting them off in no time; the locking on, dodging, strafing and attacking mechanisms largely remaining the same as before. I despatched the first lizard man and was delighted to discover a quite brutal finishing move that I used on the second, where Link leaps upon his fallen opponent and thrusts his sword straight through it. With the enemies vanquished, I was able to take a moment to check out the gorgeous surroundings; rocky walls, amazingly detailed trees, fully animated grass (complete with rupees hidden inside when you cut it away) and fluffy seeds floating gently through the air. A plant attacked me and after chopping its neck off, I was able to pick up the big seed it left behind and throw it at the pesky spider blocking the vines that I clearly needed to climb. Once up, I heaved open a circular rock door and was into the temple.

As I played through this spectacular level, the true beauty and subtlety of the new graphics engine became apparent; fluid and ultra-realistic animation in every respect for Link and the various enemies he faces, highly detailed textures, amazing splash and ripple effects when you fall into the water and start swimming, superb lantern light effects in dark caves, the list goes on. After defeating a big spider and being treated to the classic chest opening animation (now looking better than ever and still accompanied by the familiar theme we all know and love) I found my trusty boomerang, now with added wind. This can be used as a weapon against bad guys, to spin wind-activated switches and to uncover loose floor coverings to find the secrets beneath your feet. There were also a number of friendly monkeys to rescue in the Forest Temple, very amusing little guys who follow you around and hang from ropes to swing you across gaps too wide to jump yourself! Zelda never fails to find new ways to innovate and add extra depth to the already fantastic gameplay and Twilight Princess is no exception.

I could go further in my exploration of the Forest Temple but I don't want to give too much away, so I'll leave it there and move onto the next level I took a quick look at, set at the start of Link's journey in his home village. We begin with a bit of goat herding on horseback (Epona returns, fans of the series will be delighted to hear!) and then head into the village where Link can chat to the various inhabitants and explore a bit before his big adventure begins. I'm not going to give much away, but what I will say is that the village is beautifully crafted, with more loving attention to detail than in any previous Zelda game.

The final level I played through was all on horseback, with Link pitted against a whole horde of mounted baddies with swords, lances, clubs and bows. Charging around the plains has never been so much fun and the controls for locking onto enemies and bashing them off their horses, even at this early stage, are very natural and intuitive. I was treated to wonderful changing weather effects during this battle too, watching as the sky darkened and gradually clouded over, only for it to pour down with a lovely rain effect for a few minutes before the rain thinned out and stopped, then the sun came out once more. It all looks spectacular and captures that feeling of excitement and adventure perfectly, as you fight off the minions while pursuing the boar-mounted boss who is tricky to catch up to and takes a number of hits to remove all his armour before you can make the final strike that sees him fleeing through a gate. Quickly pursuing, you end up in a face off situation on a narrow stone bridge with no walls - tense stuff. You both charge head on at each other and you must dodge away from the boar at the last moment and strike the boss as you speed past - let him hit you head on and you're knocked to your doom in the chasm below.

Suffice to say that this taster of things to come with the new Zelda game has got me incredibly excited; and knowing that there will be many temples to battle and puzzle through, plains to ride across and villages to explore, along with all manner of objects to find and use in a variety of clever ways, racks that excitement up to fever pitch. I can barely wait until November - I hate to wish away the summer (with the vague prospect of a bit of sunny weather) but this is one hell of an incentive to bring on the winter!

And speaking of incentives to bring on the winter, another big Gamecube title that's shaping up very nicely indeed is the stunning Geist. Looking as good as Metroid Prime, it combines a diversity of gameplay elements to come across as a fresh and unique gaming experience, something that Nintendo is great at doing, yet doesn't do that often with adult themed games. Indeed, it has all the flair and style of Eternal Darkness but with much faster-paced and more accessible gameplay, playing similarly in some respects to the sublime Metroid Prime. The opening level is spectacular to say the least, beginning with a routine operation as part of an elite forces squad. You infiltrate a secret military installation to get information on some sort of virus discovered by an undercover operative. Getting the info is easy enough but then the alarms are set off and you and your squad are forced to fight your way back out. The controls and handling for the shooting are really fluid and easy to get used to, with intelligent and accurate enemies forcing you to take cover to avoid being shot to pieces. As you fight through the complex your men are killed one by one and there are only three of you left when things start to get freaky - a massive monster, all teeth and tentacles, comes down from above and rips one of the survivors to pieces! After despatching this thing, you head on out of the base, only to be captured before you can make your final escape. A brilliant cut scene with a sinister plot and some very distinctive characters follows, hinting at a really gripping plot.

The next thing you know, you're inside some kind of giant machine and your soul is literally ripped away from your body in a graphically spectacular sequence. Everything does white and then a calming voice tells you that you've ascended to a higher plane of existence. Fading into a vividly colourful, idyllic environment, the voice tells you how to drain plants to keep your energy up and how to possess things, in this case a little bunny rabbit. You run around as a bunny for a bit and then everything goes a little weird as you break free from this fake virtual reality to find yourself back in the complex, needing to escape. This is when the game really takes off and shows itself to be far more than just your average shooter - indeed, a unique mix of gameplay elements combine to make Geist feel truly fresh and different, a first person adventure game like no other. As a ghost, you float around the levels, draining plants to keep your energy up and passing through glowing cracks in the wall to reach different areas. The ghost of a little girl teaches you the basics of possession - you can possess all manner of objects, everything from paint tins and telephones to explosive barrels and levers.

You might wonder why you'd want to possess a paint tin and the answer is ingenious - to be able to possess living hosts you first have to scare them, lowering their defences to your invasion of their mind and body. So you can make paint cans explode and trash bins fire their litter into the air, or ring phones and then speak ghostly voices through them when answered by unsuspecting victims! Scaring people and watching them freak out is terrific fun! When they're ready for possession the yellow aura around them changes to red and you can hop inside, accompanied by a lovely animation. Once into the body of a host, you're back in the physical world and can interact with doors, switches, computers and other things you can't touch as a ghost. Each host has a special ability, be it a civilian that can run around at high speed or a guard whose weapon you can use to kill enemies.

The first couple of levels that I played through in the demo are huge, with a number of puzzles to complete that involve both possessing and manipulating objects as a ghost and using hosts to interact with doors and switches. The approach you can take is wide open too - possess a host and sneak your way past the unsuspecting guards, or shoot them all as you go; it's entirely up to you. If your host dies, you simply become a spirit again, unless the host was needed to complete the section, in which case it's back to the last checkpoint. I was gutted when the playable levels finished and can honestly say that I haven't been this excited about a game in a long time (other than Zelda, of course!)

As if the single player wasn't enough, there are deathmatch modes to play too, each with a twist on the standard game. In Possession Deathmatch you possess human hosts with which to kill other players, while in Capture the Host your goal is to possess a host, kill another player, then get to the base alive to dispossess the host. Best of all is Hunt mode, where one team's aim is to kill the host they are in possession of, while the other team's goal is to eject the possessing ghosts and kill them! With the combination of an innovative and engaging single player adventure and the unusual twist on deathmatch multiplayer, I have no doubt that Geist will have the same impact and success on Gamecube as Metroid Prime; it's shaping up to be a truly brilliant must have title.

While Zelda and Geist were the two biggest games of the show for me, that's not to say that there weren't plenty of other great Gamecube games on display as well, both from Nintendo and a range of third party publishers.

Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness is looking very nice, using the classic Final Fantasy formula of exploration, puzzles and of course many duals with multiple Pokémon. Graphically it's very colourful, using a full 3D graphics engine rather than cell shading but still capturing the feel of the cartoon very well; everything looks lovely and the Pokémon are nicely detailed. The control system is simple to get the hang of for kids but has enough of a range of battle options and moves to give it the depth to satisfy adults. I have no doubt that fans of the show will love Gale of Darkness - this could well be the best Pokémon game yet. Despite being something of a Pokémon novice, I was pleased to win my first dual against some beefy thug who thought I'd be a pushover (I sure showed him!) using four distinctive Pokémon to beat him into submission. The graphics effects of the moves aren't as spectacular as Final Fantasy but they capture the feel of the show perfectly and don't take half as long to watch either. I also get the feeling I only saw the more basic attacks too, as levelling up your Pokémon seems to be a big part of the gameplay, as does rescuing shadow Pokémon from their abusive owners! This is definitely going to be another huge Nintendo release in November - all you Cube owners need to start saving your pennies now!

A rather strange title I had a look at was Odama, a unique twist on pinball games. Instead of pinball tables, there are landscapes populated with tiny armies and you fire a massive steel ball, called the Odama, around the landscape to crush the enemy and destroy their battlements, while using a microphone to command your troops to use different tactics, such as charging forward or fortifying their position. The graphics are distinctly Japanese and really well done - the way the tiny men get crushed and rolled around by the Odama is really great and the landscapes feature loads of detail, almost like looking at a Bonsai garden. Certainly it's a novel idea, although the ball control was pretty hard to judge and I ended up flattening most of my men as I tried to break down the gate for them to get through it! There were three very different levels to try out and while I didn't quite get the hang of the game in the short time I played it, this could end up being a cult hit.

Rounding off the Nintendo titles I had time to look at was Battalion Wars, the hotly anticipated Cube conversion of the acclaimed GBA series Advance Wars and from what I've seen, this one is set to blow Gamecube owners away! Although I only played through the training level, it's looking very nice indeed. The chunky, colourful, pseudo-cartoon style of the graphics is gorgeous to behold and makes a very refreshing change; it's fair to say there's really nothing else quite like it on Gamecube, or indeed on any other console. Strategy games is something that consoles are severely lacking, somehow never managing to make the transition from PC successfully and as someone who's never owned a handheld, this is a mouth-watering prospect for me. The controls are intuitive and simple, with a handy radar and easy to follow objective markers. The training level took me through the basics of movement and shooting before I had to chase a spy across the terrain, destroying the equipment he'd left behind, getting a squad of men to command in the chase and concluding with driving a vehicle to catch up to the elusive spy and despatch him once and for all. Having watched the rolling demo of the game, the scale of the battles once you get into the many campaign missions is going to be huge and, being an action strategy, you're right in the middle of everything, commanding your forces as well as directly taking the fight to the enemy. I regret that I didn't get time to play the first couple of levels of this great looking title, but I was seduced by Zelda and Geist and ended up spending a little too long on each!

This is also the reason (or at least my excuse) why I didn't have chance to look at the other three big Nintendo titles I really wanted to see. The first of those is Mario Baseball,, which I saw played a lot but didn't have a go on myself. With all the style and flair of the other Mario sports games, this one has all the characters, tunes and trademark fun we've come to expect from the series. Mario Super Strikers is shaping up very nicely too, attached to a big screen TV by the bar, it was very rarely not in use and attracted big crowds to come and watch the entertaining matches. Lastly is the long-awaited Gamecube version of Fire Emblem - being something of an involved game, had there been a spare couple of hours I'd have been in my element, but sadly time ran short.

Moving onto the third party titles and Capcom, renowned for their gameplay innovation as well as creating some of the weirdest games ever, have truly surpassed themselves with Killer 7, as weird a title as ever there was! Taking an unusual comic book style for the visuals, you play a schizophrenic with multiple personalities, switching between your different personas at will. The levels are 3D but the movement is on rails, so you simply press the A button to walk forward and B to turn around and walk back. It's an unusual system but works very well. As to the enemies, well, they're invisible! When you hear a laugh it's time to go into first person mode and scan the area, making the bizarre shambling zombie things visible. A few shots take most of them down, or you can go for the glowing weak spot for a one shot kill (trickier than it sounds). The fallen enemies split into tiny pieces, their blood seeping into your on-screen display, which can be used to heal yourself or create upgrades to increase your stats and skills. I explored the first level, wandering around various rooms, coming across some very warped characters and finding the start of some unusual puzzles. This combination of game elements had me hooked and I'd very much like to continue my adventures in the surreal world of Killer 7.

Next up was Sega's Shadow the Hedgehog, something I was a little sceptical about at first, as I'm a huge Sonic fan and giving a bad guy his own game seemed an unusual direction. However, the action is as frantic and fast-paced as any Sonic game, yet as I sped through a couple of levels, the camera was behaving itself better than ever, a pleasant surprise. In the city level Shadow blitzed his way through as bombs rain down from above and all manner of enemies gathered around to shoot him. Each level features multiple objectives (reach the ring at the end, find certain objects, wipe out all of a certain kind of enemy and so on) that really add to the replay value, as does your choice of companion to give you a hand in the level! Shadow's ability to pick up any fallen enemy's weapon and use it for himself is a great new feature; the gunplay is intuitive with automatic locking (essential in a game this fast) and the range of pistols, laser guns, massive rocket launchers and huge energy swords, amongst many others, is impressive. Another lovely little touch is that Shadow doesn't lose all his rings when hit, only some of them. There are big mounted cannons to use to take out massive battleships overhead and sections of the level where you mount a flying creature and steer it through the sky - the stormy section I flew around above a giant floating Aztec style temple was most impressive. You can also make simple decisions to do good or bad things, filling up an energy meter that unleashes a massive special attack when at maximum power. The only downside to all these new elements is that the on-screen action is more hectic and overwhelming than ever - I think Shadow will take a little getting used to and be quite exhausting to play in long bursts. Still, it's looking better than I thought it would and could just be a return to form for Sonic after the enjoyable but not classic Sonic Heroes.

Finally I looked at Spartan: Total Warrior, a title I've been keeping a close eye on and was very pleased to get the chance to play. Created by the developers of the Total War series on PC, this puts you more into the heart of the action. Graphically it is spectacular, with fantastically rendered cities and detailed backdrops that stretch out for miles. Even more impressive is the crazy number of warriors you have on screen, each nicely animated and bursting with ornate detail. When a full-scale battle happens you simply won't believe your eyes and as bodies don't just flicker and vanish, looking at the carnage when there's only a few of your troops left standing is great. Although the combat is largely basic button bashing, I assume as you progress new combos and moves will become available and despite the simplicity it was still very addictive and compelling. There are also various objectives to meet as you progress through each mission, in this case defending a city. First I had to kill some Centurion leaders, then escort bombers to blow up siege towers, then kill every enemy troop in a courtyard, before moving on to protect the king and a city gate at the same time, something that I failed to manage first time around. The game is very much like Dynasty Warriors but with far better graphics and a Gladiator style setting; if more combat moves are available to give the combat depth, I have the feeling that this could be something very special.

Well, that's the end of my Gamecube coverage and believe me, I've had a blast! I'll now hand over to Dave Wynn, who'd like to make some observations on a couple of Cube titles as well.

Thanks, Geoff! I'll leave the others to describe their favourite Gamecube titles, as I spent most of my time looking through the fantastic DS games due out in the second half of 2005. There was also a device that turned up that was a very pleasant complete surprise and the highlight of the show for me. However, I would just like to mention Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix and the new Zelda, both of which made an impression on me.

As soon as I spotted the dance mat I was straight in there! I can't claim to be any kind of Disco Diva or Dance Commander but I do have a dance mat for my Xbox, which I've been known to use when I feel I'm not burning enough calories in day-to-day life. As such, I was keen to see what kind of spin Nintendo would put on the whole affair. My immediate impressions were that, while designed for children, I could see many adults getting a great deal of enjoyment out of it too. All the Mario favourites are there, all prepared to dance along with you to beats most Nintendo fans will find very familiar indeed. The object is pretty much the same as dance mat games everywhere; tap your feet on the corresponding arrows on the mat as they float up the screen on your TV.

However, Nintendo have added things that give the game a greater challenge, as once you've found the beat on these kinds of game, you can quickly tap away and get a good score. This time round things are included to throw you off the beat and also end the game prematurely if you don't stop them. One example is a demolition round where hammers come up the screen over the arrows. You have to tap your foot quickly on a particular panel to destroy the hammer before it gets to the top to demolish the landscape, then you have to return quickly to your dance beat for fear of missing the arrows floating up. Keeping both things in mind was do-able when set on the normal level and is enough to challenge children. However, set on hard level it becomes pretty tricky. I looked like I was dancing on a hot tin plate when I tried it and my usual rhythmic prowess was lost in a bid to stop the flying hammers end the game early! With a variety of tracks and even greater scope for innovative gameplay, I can see the Nintendo spin on such a tried and tested concept is going to be a real winner when it comes out later this year.

As far as The Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess is concerned, I let Geoff do all the playing, as I was happy just to sit and bathe in its graphical glory! I could see the old favourites were there, the sword, the boomerang and the cute green cap, but I was impressed with the way Nintendo steered away from the safe option of just tuning up the graphical style of The Wind Waker and instead went back to the Nintendo 64 for the visual inspiration. Giving it a more realistic style, with attention to detail and a grittier look really worked well. The grain of the tree trunks looked very nice, the sheen of light from the carapace of the horrible spiders was very menacing and the comedic antics of the big red-bottomed monkeys were made funnier by the superb animation. One monkey waved his big behind in your face to insult you, while another demonstrated how to run into a totem pole to make it wobble and a third offered his acrobatic ability to help you cross a giant leap to the next doorway through the dungeon. Despite adventures that involve too many puzzles and lateral thought not really being my cup of tea (just give me a big gun and some nice explosions and I'm happy), this demonstration version of Zelda was more than enough to whet my appetite for the release of the final product. Over to you Dex for the last word!

Thanks Dave! Despite time being at a premium, I grabbed the chance to sit down and watched Geoff demonstrate the new Zelda [I'm not a Zelda hog, honest! Ed] I was worried that Twilight Princess would have a hard act to follow after the beautiful, elegant and classy Wind Waker. I personally loved the cel-shading in that game and I was a little upset when they revealed that this instalment would go back to the N64 days. But that worry went right out the window when I saw what this beauty looked like. Everything looked so real, even though the game is based smack in the middle of fantasy-land, where nothing like this would ever happen. I said to Geoff, while he was sucked into a dungeon puzzle (and there are plenty of those too) that it had a Metriod feel to it; realistic, yet fantastical. While Geoff was solving this puzzle with his boomerang of wind, I glanced around at the very attractive lady offering us drinks, before turning back to feast my eyes once more on Zelda. It's not every day that I'm spoilt for choice where eye candy is concerned!

I had a fantastic time at Nintendo's Post E3 Games Tour. Every waitress was very friendly, offering us free drinks and delicious food at every opportunity. The Nintendo staff themselves were fantastic too, very relaxed and calm, all with a sense of humour and I felt as if I'd known them for ages, even though I'd only spoken to them for a few minutes. I guess that's what Nintendo is all about though; you feel right at home when you see that Nintendo sign, be it on a game, or on a friendly representative's t-shirt. And while the gaming side of Nintendo has changed over the years, offering many different ways of play with the DS, many means of attraction with the SP and Micro and many customs of innovation with the Gamecube and the upcoming Revolution, I hope that Nintendo themselves never change; I want their friendly, feel good vibe to shine on for decades to come.

Written by Geoff Holland, Dave Wynn and Dexter Pearson for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved)

Edited by Geoff Holland.

Artwork and photo arrangements by Christopher Martin.

Thanks to all at Nintendo who made this feature possible!