NBA Live 09 is probably everything you’d expect from EA and the Live series, but it fails to live up to the enormous hype it can generate from year to year.

Mega Man 9 was probably created for retro-freaks like me, however any gamer who loves a challenge will feel right at home with Mega Man 9.

The lack of horror in the game does not technically make it bad; it just makes it not what is typically expected from a game marked with the Survival horror genre tag.

While there were a few graphical issues within the game, World War 2 has never been told with such passion and quality.

At the very least it is worthy of a rental, if only to see how storytelling should be done in a game.

Watching 16 quads fly jump over a massive ramp, with each driver using different tricks, is amazing to watch. It's just a shame that a lot of the online players seem to be a lot better than me. Better keep practicing I guess.

Overall, as with many KOEI games since Dynasty Warriors launch in 2000, you’d have to be an avid fan to fork out £40 each time, but sadly for Warriors Orochi 2 it’s going to take much more than an avid fan to buy this title. Apparently Orochi is reborn, don’t count on it.

Whilst Batman’s conversion to LEGO video-gaming was successful, it doesn’t live up to the standards of LEGO Star Wars and LEGO Indiana Jones. The poor storyline and lack of online co-op play make the game the weakest of the series. Let’s just hope 2009 brings us a more solid LEGO title.

It is great to see the franchise is back on form once again.

The games difficulty curve is fair and while moves are easy to perform it can take a few attempts to win the first match.

Overall, NHL 09 is a worthy purchase for ice hockey fans and an improvement on previous NHL titles. Non-hockey fans may enjoy the game for a short period before switching back to familiar territory – possibly a rental for them.

NHL 2k9 is nothing to be shunned as there is certainly enjoyment to be had, however, EA managed to step their game above the competition this year around with NHL 09.

EA advertised the game as a balanced fighter using a ‘rock, paper, scissors’ format. Unfortunately the game isn’t balanced, it’s not much fun to play for anything more than a few minutes at a time, and the computer AI is evil.

Despite the great looks and fantastic “Create-a-fighter” ability, FaceBreaker is a pretty shallow experience that comes across as more frustrating than fun.

The overall feel of the gameplay is average, bordering on bad.

Personally, I think Generic Japanese Role Playing Game # 23 would be more suitable for it. It's average at best and one that should be avoided. Let's hope some of the future Square Enix produced titles turn out much better.

Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise is – quite embarrassingly – one of the best titles I have played this year.

Really enjoyable to play, especially when playing online with a friend, and should be purchased by any destruction loving fan.

Strong sound effects and some great background music make Castle Crashers a great game to turn up the speakers for, despite no audio within the story mode.

There is nothing quite like Tales of Vesperia on the Xbox 360, and if you like JRPG's you really owe it to yourself to check it out, and if you are new to the genre then this is a really good starting point.

A serious contender for the best golf game of all-time and rightly so.

Overall Tiger Woods 09 is a fantastic update in the franchise and continues to show that EA Games aren’t just about churning out games year after year, but more about improving them to the highest standard possible.

Through the evolution of the series, Nippon Ichi have refined the TRPG mechanics to the levels of Royal Brackla Single Malt Whiskey. Disgaea 3 is a game to be savoured one tantalising taste at a time.

Ferrari Challenge is not a great game, nor is it very good, it’s more of your average racer.

All in all, if you are a fan of the series you will no doubt be impressed with Ratchet and Clank Future: Quest for Booty. And you absolutely know what to expect: gadgets and guns are this franchises staple. If you are new to the series this is not a hard game to pick up on.

Whilst there doesn't appear to be much to Galaga Legions on the surface, there is a level of tactical skill in placing craft in the right place at the right time, as well as a memory game for the swarm patterns. As a twitch shooter, there's a definite addictive quality that is perfect for the arcade high-score chase.

Too Human feels unfinished and broken. After 10 years in development, you'd think that maybe it would have a lot less bugs and problems that it actually does. Unfortunately that's not true.

With a frustrating serve and volley AI and a sluggish player reaction/ movement system I wouldn't be surprised if SCT3 doesn't make its way to your gaming collection.