Boasting brightly coloured buttons and luminous domes, the Buzz! buzzers were always bound to end up in the hands (and, in a worst case scenario, mouths) of younger children. After all, in their brave attempt to end the awkward silences of Christmas afternoons, the Buzz! team indisputably created one of the most innovative and accessible ways of playing the PlayStation 2. If children could get to grips with the controls, then why not give them a game they could understand too? And one that didn't depend on a Key Stage 3 reading ability and a basic knowledge of at least two decades' worth of music.

Unwilling to let such an opportunity pass them by, the Buzz! team released Buzz! Junior: Jungle Party, a game aimed at the younger ones, where the four buzzers are used to guide flamboyant simians through frenzied mini-games. Smooth, amusing and very playable, the game soon took off. Now, a year later, Buzz! Junior: Robo Jam has appeared, its cover alive with four fluorescent robots. Indeed, squint your eyes slightly and this could easily be the Jungle Party cover. So the question looms large: is there really room for another Buzz! Junior title? Is this an improvement or a cash-in? In short, what can robots do that monkeys can't?

Forgive my cynical tone! I should make it clear straight away: this is not a bad game. It's addictive and hilarious - and it's enough to banish the scowl of even the most cynical gamer. What's more, it's easy to pick up and play, yet never verges on becoming dull. It's the sort of game that's so much fun that you feel like a sour killjoy for picking holes in it. And that's exactly how I feel at the moment - but, alas, it's unavoidable.

In what's quickly becoming the pattern with Sony's Fire It Up games (think Singstar and its terminal lack of new features), this is essentially a repackaged Jungle Party - and if you own Jungle Party then this is very little to get excited about. Indeed, the lack of change almost shameless; the few changes that have been made (a different voiceover and a few more mini-games) are so scarce that it's laughable to think that anyone would fall for them. When it comes to disguises, Robo Jam wears the thinnest of veils.

But, given my earlier praise for Jungle Party, you might be thinking that shouldn't be a problem - after all, why fix what isn't broken? If Jungle Party was so much fun, then Robo Jam will be too. Well, it isn't quite that simple. What about the little problems that blighted Jungle Party? For example, the overly complicated procedure to make a custom game and the fact that if you accidentally miss the instructions at the beginning of a mini-game then, well, it's tough luck? Yep, you guessed it - they're still there. While the first time around they may have been forgivable (I was certainly able to overlook them), the second time around it just seems like laziness on the part of the Buzz! team. Yes, Jungle Party was good, but there were a few glitches and gripes - so why are they still there?

Not only have the developers failed to refine the Jungle Party set up, but they also insult us with an unforgivable lack of new features; indeed, you can count the number of new mini-games on one hand. While some of the new games might be absolutely fantastic (the space goalkeeping game is particularly engaging, as is the space invaders-style asteroid chasing game) you still have to dig to find them among the tried and tested. Jungle Party is often compared to Mario Party, and it deserves to be, because it really is that enjoyable. But can you honestly imagine Mario Party throwing out the same tired mini-game collections time after time? If Mario Party has managed eight outings (and counting) then surely we can expect Buzz! Junior to come up with more than two games without resorting to shameless recycling.

So, which games are onboard? Great first impressions are made by games like Bug Blast (like Whack A Squirrel) and Octo Beat (like Monkey Bongo), both of which are quick fire games that test your reflexes. In Octo Beat, each robot is suspended on the tentacles of a space octopus and you are challenged to buzz along to the rhythms he sings. Each time you get it correct he lifts you up, but get it wrong too many times and you plummet into the water - it's simple but effective. Then there's the fantastic Nitro Racing, where each of the robots have to race to the finish line carrying radioactive waste. You buzz to speed ahead, but run too fast and the volatile waste might explode. It's fast-buzzing, risk-tasking fun. Indeed, most of the games are a lot of fun, but some are a bit repetitive - I counted three or four that centre solely around pressing the corresponding colour to an event on screen.

There is, however, one fantastic new addition, albeit one that should really have been included in Jungle Party. Robo Jam introduces computer controlled bot characters - so there will be no more desperate phone calls trying to find a fourth player to join you. There are three difficulty levels too, so non-experienced players can learn the ropes gradually before throwing caution to the wind in a multiplayer fun fest.

Whether you should buy Buzz! Junior: Robo Jam largely depends on whether or not you already own Jungle Party - basically, if you own Jungle Party then you shouldn't buy Robo Jam, but if you don't then you should. Robo Jam is one of the most amusing and pleasant games on the PlayStation 2, and its reams of mini-games ensure that the fun is delivered by the bucketload. It's absolutely fantastic! Less fun, however, will be loading this game up only to find that almost every mini-game is borrowed from Jungle Party (but craftily renamed) and the general set up is identical. You have been warned.

Reviewed by Robert Jackman for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).