They say that you never really miss what you had until it's gone. Whether that applies to the ESPN series of sporting games remains to be seen, as the licence is moving house to EA for the next fifteen years, seemingly removing the last high profile competitor to the EA Sports empire. Here's hoping not.

And not just because it's best if EA don't have things all their own way. More importantly, the ESPN games - in spite of their American sporting focus - are strong titles in their own right. And we've been checking out the Playstation 2 versions right here.

Starting with ESPN NHL 2K5, an ice hockey game that easily eclipses EA's NHL 2005. The AI is excellent for starters, and it's positively bursting at the seams with numerous game modes for you to tackle. But it's when you take to the ice it really strikes gold, thanks to the intuitive controls, the number of gameplay tricks waiting to be learnt and the sheer fluidity of it all.

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It's a nice hybrid too - it's not too arcade-like to put off the dedicated fan, nor is it too serious to discourage the novice. Clearly it's an approach that won't please all, but with the quality of the gameplay on offer here, it'd be churlish to be overly troubled.

Of similar quality is American Football title ESPN NFL 2K5. If anything, this plays better than its ice hockey counterpart, and it doesn't hurt that the quality of the graphics is outstanding too. Again, it's the depth where this one scores. There's not only a hefty list of modes to get your teeth into, but the gameplay is strong, rewarding extra efforts that are put into learning the game.

And the VIP mode is great, allowing you to play a full season with your friends. And if they're not there, the game picks up their tricks and allows you to practice against them anyway. Genius.

The weakest of the three is ESPN NBA 2K5, which switches the action to the basketball court. It's still good stuff, mind, with a long-lasting franchise mode, easy-to-learn gameplay and the usual hefty selection of options. Yet the AI is weaker, and it's a little more stilted than its two stablemates. Quite possibly this is down to the differences in the sports themselves, but nonetheless it makes the game a little less enjoyable to play.

The presentation across all the games is excellent, although the fact that they are dedicated to primarily American sports is bound to discourage some. But that's compensated for by the outstandingly generous retail prices. All three games retail at under twenty quid each, and some savvy shopping can knock a bit more off too.

Each title is easily worth that kind of money, and thus it doesn't matter whether you're passionate about basketball, ice hockey or American Football. It's simply a case of whether you like high quality sporting games. Here's hoping the respective franchises survive the loss of their ESPN licence.

This is a trio of strong sporting titles. NFL 2K5 and NHL 2K5 are the better of the three, but any one of these represents excellent value for money.