Unsurprisingly, the core gameplay and the option to play locally with friends are what hold strong, perhaps indicating that no matter what technological advances come our way, the tried-and-tested strategic Risk experience will always be relevant.

Nothing about Namco Bandai’s, A.W.: Phoenix Festa is particularly bad, but then again, nothing about it is especially great either.

Back In 1995 is a very strange game and tough to recommend, mainly because I was left wondering if I actually enjoyed my time with the game. Its exploration is limited, its combat slow and repetitive, but its story, although not entirely interesting, somehow holds your attention long enough to keep driving you forward. For that reason, it’s worth giving it a shot, but probably only if you’re over 30.

The lack of a multiplayer element is quite shocking, hopefully there will be an update that adds it. The slick presentation helps Battle Worlds: Kronos come across as an approachable game but once you’re in you’ll be there for a very long time.

Battle Trivia Knockout works well as a simple quiz game, it’s a shame there are not more modes on offer or no online play, both features would have increased the longevity no end. It’s also disappointing to find it’s only playable for 1 – 4 players.

I’m not going to say it’s a bad game. I can definitely see glimmers of an awesome game here and there, and can totally understand why so many people consider it a masterpiece. But, it just wasn’t for me.

Full Mojo Rampage may put some players off if they don’t enjoy rogue-like games or twin-stick shooters but this manages to feel addictive and worth the challenge.

Unfortunately, the some of what made plagued 3D platformers in the 90s is still around in the form of clunky controls and a badly positioned camera. If you want a game that takes you back to the hay day of the 3D platformer, then I would suggest giving this game a chance.

It's worth playing if you like games like Fez and want something that you can play in short bursts or longer play sessions.

Unfortunately, there’s nothing really on offer here to make it stand out, but it’s a deftly made adventure nonetheless with sound mechanics that can’t be faulted on any fundamental level. Point-and-click junkies might love it, but newcomers should be commended if they manage to trudge their way through the woefully slow introduction to find a solid adventure on the other side.

HTR+ Slot Car Simulation is fun, easy to look at and features moderate depth. There are multiple modes to choose from and allows you to create even more content with the track editor. It will take you some time to unlock all the vehicles and parts for customisation but if you can deal with the repetitive soundtrack and grinding the same courses your all set.

The real reason to play Sadame is for the combat. That juicy, explosive combat. Don’t bother picking up this game unless you just want to hit some folk for a few hours because long before the end of the game’s weak plot you will have grown bored of slogging through demons. And if you’re after other things, then there are certainly better games.

A short game that’s reasonably fun to play and doesn’t take itself too seriously.

Not the best title you’ll ever play, but certainly a long way from being the worst, and at £3.99 it is definitely worth testing your logic for a price that won’t seriously dent your wallet, or purse, in the interest of equality, of course.

Not a stinker, and worth a look at the very least, just don’t expect to be blown away.

As a short, exploratory (and possibly experimental) experience, Star Sky works well. Its £3.60 price point on the WiiU eShop makes it an enticing purchase and for anyone wanting to relax for an hour, it’s a decent choice. Just an ultimately forgettable one.

A little bit too unforgiving as far as ranking since you have to achieve a certain rank to unlock the final level, but ultimately not a terrible game.

Gameplay, while fun in short bursts, gives way thanks to its own lack of walls into a side-bet over who killed the most helpless NPCs.

The atmosphere is built beautifully created and the story is interesting, despite being somewhat predictable, as well as being deep if you choose to find the notes. The aesthetics are faultless and the shortage of cheap jump scares is good to see. However, I’m only going to give The Park a [60] due to its pricing and predictable plot.

Even with a fast forward button games of Grand Ages: Medieval will take a large chunk of time, furthermore the game forces you to take part in heavy trade to be able to keep your money out of negative and if you decide to go towards a more militaristic route then you will need to be able to fund your army.

My main problem is the frame rate drops in crucial moments, as in a fighting game this can be the difference between winning and losing.

This latest game has some good ideas and I do love a good twin-stick shooter but unfortunately this game falls short and the gameplay becomes stake very quickly. The game looks great and runs well but doesn’t manage to capture the essence of what make the franchise so enjoyable. If the game had more depth, deeper story and meaningful gameplay it could have been so much better.

A fairly fun game that’s loads more fun with friends. It’s nothing really ground breaking though.

I don’t think there is any other way to say it, Nightmares from the Deep 2: The Siren’s Call is just as good as most of games from the same vein.

A Land Fit For Heroes isn’t a particularly rewarding game, nor is it even a game in the traditional sense, but it is quite a unique experience nonetheless. With an engaging and well-written story (minus a few typos here and there, but have you ever read a book without at least one or two of those?) combined with a simple and inoffensive combat minigame, it will offer something that the more old-fashioned gamer can appreciate.

A valiant effort for a small indie company. Despite the simple gameplay, the novel graphic styles and various homages to classic games were enough to keep me interested until the end.

It might not be as disturbing or interactive as I expected, but Kholat really does deliver something special in terms of visual and sound design. Despite it’s imperfections it definitely deserves credit and I really did enjoy my experience with this title.

Asemblance is a special experience. It has the serious overtones of something dramatic but plays like something simple. It’s thought provoking but not a huge commitment.

The hint system makes the game ridiculously easy and I would only recommend using it if you get stuck completely or don’t have much patience with puzzle solving. If you like puzzle games, visual novels or even some of the Telltale games I would suggest checking this out, but there are plenty of other games out there that do similar things and offer better experiences.

It was an interesting experience to draw with my 3DS compared to using a real life pencil and paper which was great fun. So if you’re a budding artist or interested in creating your very own manga then Comic Workshop 2 is always open for you.

Stranger of Sword City does especially well with its monster design, all of which are excellent.

It will attract the retro veterans, with a void they need to fill for shoot them ups, but to the general gamer, do not bother with this game while it is full price.

The inescapable grinding and lengthy visual novel sections were a mediocre downside. The unnecessary bathtub and massage mini games were lost on me, but I can see how other audiences would enjoy it.

The merging of tower defense and shooter games is poorly implemented.

If hack and slashes are your thing, then go for it. But for those on the fence, I’d say purchase the latest Devil May Cry game and go wild.

Skyling: Garden Defense is a cute, fun, and occasionally frustrating game. It definitely has its moments but it seems to fail nearly as much as it succeeds. Not too shabby for a 5$ game.

Don’t expect heavy action or fast paced gameplay, but if you want to improve your timing and typing skills then this might be for you.

The game can get incredibly challenging, but that only makes the experience even more rewarding. The game has a unique art style, that works really well. I would certainly recommend this game if you want something you can play for long sessions, or short bursts, and offers a challenge.

Nebulous is not a bad game. In fact it’s pretty decent when compared to other games in the genre. But it’s not so amazing as to warrant the $15 price tag and compared to many other games in the genre, it’s rather short. And let’s not forget that the gameplay is a bit boring because of the stop and go style.

ReCore is an incredibly promising title. Its characters are rich and entertaining, and its combat plays very well for the most part. But, even after an eventual patch to fix the load times on the Xbox One, it will still be half a good game and half an incredibly boring grind.

Whilst the game has its flaws, and you will find more of them as you go through, but it was a fun experience over all. It is more appropriate for children, and they will probably get bored of it after a while, as children are as indecisive as they come. But it is a good educational game, one that can engage people and bring them together, so I would say if you care looking for a game like this, it is a good one to have.

No one ever joined my public game and I never found anyone’s to join. Not the games fault in a way, just means not many people are playing it online. There is nothing about the game that is bad, it’s just a little above alright. Lacking in features and simple, it’s a fine game to play. That’s it. Just fine.

The game is made for multiplayer as single player won’t even keep you occupied for an afternoon, and there are no bots in versus mode to make up for the lack of other players if your friends aren’t around.

It’s a fun game to pick up and have a quick blast with, and even more fun if you have a friend to tag along with you. Having said that, I think this could be the basis of a much better game if the developers take this engine and build some more variety into it.

When you battle a boss, frantically whittle its health down to zero, with your party’s health hanging by a thread, it’s hard not to punch the air with delight — it’s just a shame that the rest of the design philosophies within the game weren’t a little more robust, and not solely designed to simply pander and attempt so hard to titillate.

If you’re the kind of gamer who likes to shout and swear at the screen, whilst bashing out obscene messages to your foes, this one probably won’t push your buttons. If you like to chill out and play a few free-flowing puzzles without feeling the pressure however, give Metrico+ a go.

Like its predecessor, Crazy Climber 2 is likely to prove oddly addictive for those able to overcome the initially awkward control scheme and get past those inevitable moments of hair pulling frustration.

Episode one of Blues and Bullets is a short, whistle-stop tour. Does it have me interested enough to go and buy the next episode? Perhaps. Although not as instantly gripping as The Walking Dead or Life is Strange, it does do something different.

The game falls short in a number of areas that makes it unapproachable, especially in 2016. No character differentiation, the lack of arenas, the frustrating gameplay, inconsistency of AI and the unheard of lack of online for a car game makes this game feel incomplete. After about three hours you may never pick this game up again, unless you have a game night with friends.

So.. Is the game a massive flop?….No. It just needs tweaking slightly in the right areas and given a patch or two to unlock it’s true potential.

It’s a fun alternative to the po-faced AAA football games, but never comes close to the quality and sometimes humorous approach of its inspiration, Sensible World of Soccer. However, until the Xbox 360 Arcade version of SWOS is available on Xbox One via backwards compatibility, Active Soccer 2 DX provides a surprisingly fun, if buggy, footballing distraction.

With more intelligent and varied AI, and a combat system that didn’t effectively screw over anyone wanting something just a little more accessible (sadly a trait shared with many games attempting to be ‘hardcore’, especially the retro-styled ones), this could have been a genuine classic instead of a missed opportunity.

Brunswick Pro Bowling is hard to judge. In a lot of ways it reminds me of real bowling. It’s good, but not great. You will have fun but it does get old.

It does an admirable job of replicating the board game it’s based on and presents it well with the entertaining story mode and voice acting. However beyond the campaign there is very little longevity which is a big issue, but it’s the lack of online multiplayer that’s the major problem.

Last Horizon is a game that provides pleasing visualization, nice variation of planets and allowing the levels to immerse the players. The ambient soundtrack gives both a relaxing and navigational feeling to the game, however, the game severely lacks options, levels and gameplay in comparison to previous Pixeljam games.

Master Spy has no unique ideas here, and they’re not even executed to the reflective sheen that would’ve made it enjoyable. It’s serviceable, perfunctory. And in a market awash with ‘Nintendo hard’ platformers, that’s not good enough.

A fairly standard strategy title which for me lacks a little bit of magic.

Soul Axiom is an atmospheric experience that looks and sounds great. It’s a shame that the puzzles feel unoriginal and the world can feel a little sparse at times.

If any game was crying out for a boss battle, it’s this one. There is simply no reason to spend more than a few hours on this title at most. Yet, what’s there is really challenging and addictive.

Overall EXZEAL is a challenging space shooter that has responsive controls, is fun to play and has local co-op multiplayer. The game looks dated and may not pack the punch of modern shooters but its still very enjoyable.

The game incorporates many different mechanics and styles which in itself is impressive, but doesn’t really excel in any of them. It’s a ‘jack of all trades, master of none’ sort of a game.

Airscape: The Fall of Gravity is a fun platformer that is great to play when you have spare time. If you are looking for something that is more challenging then I suggest you keep looking. At the end of the day, the game left me feeling kinda empty. There just wasn’t enough of a challenge or a big enough goal to keep me playing.

Life in Bunker is far from perfect. It has some flaws, although in fairness works better than I had expected. The graphics are cool and interesting, although it’s hardly the prettiest game you’ll see. There are some really interesting ideas and bits and pieces that make this game just different enough from other similar games.

Shmups Skill Test is admittedly low on content, and is better described as an application to quantify your thumb-skills rather than a fully fledged shooting game.

A soft pass. It’s good at face value but has a lot of design issues that can and should really be patched. For £12.99 I say no way, but for £5 I’d probably say give it a whirl. It’s definitely a fun experience for the first hour, but eventually it devolves into an ever sinking pit of despair.

Overall Hunter’s Legacy is not a bad game, it’s just not great. It does have some very interesting Metroidvania elements and I enjoyed the sense of progression when eventually finding the correct path I was supposed to be taking. I was disappointed with the lackluster combat, which ultimately hindered my overall enjoyment.

It’s not like anything in the game is inheritently broken or not functioning as intended, Oceanhorn simply wasn’t fun to me. Plainly put, Oceanhorn is Wind Waker without any of the things that made Wind Waker a great game. Oceanhorn is an average adventure game without much going for it to create its own identity.

Ultimately it fails upon execution when it comes to keeping game consistency by not sticking to it’s own rules. To quote an old adage, when it’s good, it’s very good but when it’s bad, it’s horrid.

You’ll be intrigued, then frustrated, then addicted, and then eventually glad it’s over.

Laserlife attempts to rejuvenate the rhythm-style game genre by introducing new gameplay mechanics and an interesting plot to go with it. Unfortunately, while Laserlife delivers with gameplay and atmosphere, it’s a fairly short game and the story ends up being a little underwhelming.

Sparkle 2 is not a game that is going to keep you entertained forever, but as a stand alone puzzle game it’s a great time filler amongst the other titles that you may be wanting to play.

While Ninja Battle Heroes plays better than it sounds, it’s still not as well rounded as other titles of this genre. It’s cheap, deeper than you’d expect and offers lots of replay value.

The game is a fun and entertaining dedication to the history of Pinball, I particularly enjoyed the game modes, the power-ups and the mini-boss modes.

A remake for the post-millenium, no attention span, instant gratification generation. The story and charm are still there, and the gameplay is still reasonable. But, as is usually the case, the alterations to bring the remake up to date result in an inferior product to the one released almost twenty years ago.

There is fun to be had here, but honestly, you have to be willing to overlook some pretty major issues to get the best from this charming but undeniably mediocre RPG.

If you’re at all a fan of Tower Defense games, pick it up. It’s a fun time and offers a neat twist in its gameplay that only makes it all the more endearing.

Valhalla Hills is well designed and quite charming. If you are into strategy and building type games you will get addicted to Valhalla Hills easily.

A fun game with a limited solo campaign. If you can get a few friends round or find them online then there is a lot of entertainment to be had but its let down by a lack of tracks in terms of number and length.

My only complaint about the game is that it limits you to six colors, but that’s still five more than the board game. It is perfect in what it attempts to be and really that’s the only thing that matters in this particular case.

Air Brawl was promising for a while, but has sadly hit turbulence too early on.

They are only eight people so I have to give them some slack, but I can’t deny that I did get bored toward the end of the game.

Lovely Weather We’re Having completely succeeds in capturing it’s desired tone, but that’s not enough to make a recommendation.

There is plenty to admire about Guncraft as it does a number of things well without ever being outstanding at anything.

The game reminds me of the games I played when I was in primary school. The few games that made it through harsh parental control and my parents – this was my perception at this time – had a real problem with fun. As soon as a game looked fun, I wasn’t allowed to play it. I would have been allowed to play this game. Definitely.

Overall Dead Island Retro Revenge is an awesome addition to the franchise and I enjoyed spending some time playing through the challenging stages. Its certainly not as deep and diverse as the main games but it offers a something a bit different.

The comedy is spot-on with some very funny moments of dialogue and I especially enjoyed the narrators input. The combat is ok but I would have liked it to have felt a bit tighter and more responsive.

It is a decent wee title for a budget release, but I cannot recommend this to any type of real gamer, it’s good for what it is, just not for someone wanting a varied challenge.

It won’t keep you entertained for all that long, but while it lasts, this class-based online shooter delivers an oddly entertainingly, if undeniably average experience.

I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked the game considering I don’t really play mobile games or touch screen heavy games.

Despite all the impressive features with regards to customization, it isn’t well applied to the combat; and the combat is what makes the whole game! Playing with friends can be entertaining as you can enjoy the struggle together, but going solo will just become tedious. You’ll need to put a lot of time if you want to actually get good instead of just getting lucky.

Nostalgic Software’s latest game may just seem like another endless runner and that’s because at its heart it is. It offers no revolutionary concepts in terms of music and gameplay, yet the familiar concepts that are on offer are honed in on well. With some cracking humour to be had along the way, Kung Fu Fight! is very much like a strong kick to the head. You’ll notice it at first, but ultimately it’s not memorable.

If you’re looking for a game that’s easy to jump into, plenty of stages and a wide variety of objects to destroy in slow motion then you may enjoy giving this a go, just don’t expect a game with much depth.

The game definitely lives up to it’s namesake, in that this is a game that is truly your own.

This is a fun story driven RPG that shows classic elements from older turn-based and free roaming games of the sort alike to some of the original Final Fantasy games. Although if you are not interested in the story or the characters then it may seem a little slow.

Parascientific Escape Cruise in the Distant Seas has pretty good graphics and a good story. I liked the hidden object and mystery part of the game but after awhile it got old and annoying. Overall its a decent game that is worth checking out.

The game has decent gameplay and few funny lines from a few characters while there are just as many feel good moments. I wish I could say that the gameplay more than makes up for these moments, but really the gameplay is mediocre and fairly forgettable.

Little King’s Story is a solid game, but a dodgey port.

Bob Was Hungry was a horrible experience but I cannot call it a horrible game. It doesn’t really bring anything unique to the platformer genre with basic controls and basic threats but the developers do a lot with very little. They created levels that are easy to understand but provide immense challenge and without getting too stale. Bob Was Hungry is an alright platformer that I hate with a passion.