To conclude, were there even the slightest concessions to moderation in Skullgirls' aesthetics, and a few small but fundamental UI changes, it would be a superb entry-level fighting game which allows a player new to the genre to leap in and through practice become a master. But as it stands, the relentless sexuality on display is ineffective as parody and serves only to reinforce the belief that games are designed for young men who read FHM.

Regardless, if you like exploration, stress, permadeath, free-roaming games and don’t care about how the arm hair on your man looks, then this is definitely a game for you.

Niggles aside, Sonic Colours is a step in the right direction, albeit a well overdue one and is for the most part an entertaining ride. It's just a shame that the domineering conclusion from the final product is promise, still leaving us waiting for the definitive 3D Sonic title.

Tied in with the absorbing and unique practice of continually upgrading your ship by collecting enhancements (after all, there can’t be many Breakout-clones which afford the paddle their own inventory screen?!) and AlphaBounce is an excellent advertisment for what can be done with ancient concepts given a fresh aesthetic (or: how creating a surface impression of depth can hide innate repetition).

Whilst it wears its influences on its sleeve and won’t supersede Mario Kart DS as the handheld racer of choice, All-Stars Racing ensures a thrilling duel to the finish line.

You’ll march through a campaign with an imagination as wide as its corridors, but be enthralled by a lavish if largely familiar multiplayer suite.

Its stripped-down approach recants the necessity of plastic contraptions to enjoy the series' extensive and vast soundtrack; and assuming your catalogue is butch enough, Blitz has more than enough staying power to maintain a headline slot.

It looks great, has a suitably OTT plot, plenty of explosions, a solid online experience and has enough depth to reward committed pilots – all of this adds up to make it a very tempting alternative for anyone who fancies kicking off the bloody, muddy boots of the foot soldier to instead soar high into azure blue skies.

Through its boldly chosen subject matter, ravishing good looks and slick mechanics El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron is without question a title that deserves to be played – the big question mark that hangs over it is whether you'll engage with it enough to care or to want to come back for second helpings.

In this instance however, developer Etranges Libellules have crafted a game of rare quality, movie spin-off or not.

Cynics will point out the shortcomings of the single-player campaign and lament the fickle nature of the online experience, but both criticisms struggle to stand up to closer inspection; the former fulfils its role well enough and the latter is (sadly) a given with any game of this type. Through Starhawk's dynamic arenas of combat and broad, deep and well-implemented toolset, LightBox Interactive has delivered a call to arms that deserves to be heeded.

Many will be put off by Yakuza 2's lengthy cutscenes, or bored by the lack of variety in the gameplay; but for those for which the game clicks, it is a title that will be hard to forget. The boldness of its narrative and the confidence of its mechanics make Yakuza 2 a slice of Japanese gaming that is well worth experiencing.

Faster, flashier and every bit as accessible as before, Soul Calibur V is the sequel the series needed. Some design choices might leave you scratching your head and the lack of a few favourites will irk returning fans, particularly Talim and Zasalamel players where no similar alternatives exist. The AI can irritate at times and the unlockable characters may disappoint, but those into character creation will find themselves losing many hours in their pursuit of the ultimate, and personalised, fighting roster.

For underneath the rage of Mother Nature at the heart of Apocalypse lies a racing game whose visceral impact is almost unlike anything in the modern genre, an anarchic experience built on both arcade simplicity and technical complexity.

Playing Thomas Was Alone brought to mind a lyric from the song 'Darky' by Californian Nu-metallers (hed)PE; in which singer Jared Gomes growls 'One foot on the moon, one foot in the cave' – a sentiment that perfectly encapsulated the duality of the experience on show here; Thomas Was Alone embraces the new while keeping one foot firmly rooted in the past.

Although Kirby's Adventure Wii lacks the dazzling visual inventiveness of Epic Yarn, its chunky, vibrant look is never less than charming, and is complimented by a style of play that eschews challenge for a subtly enveloping comfort blanket of Nintendo delight.

Just as it was with Super Stardust HD, with Dead Nation Housemarque has again proven that even the stalest of genres can be revitalised with the right execution…and the execution here is nothing short of deadly.

Played in the right spirit Doom II is still a cracking action game. This XBLA re-release, at 800 points, represents good value for money.

When put up against the competition PES feels outdated and crude, crumbling under the weight of expectation that each annual iteration brings. The additional modes may make it the best PES on the current crop of consoles, but the rigid animations, pathetic commentary system and shoddy online component all add up to a game that just hasn’t progressed since the PS2-era as much as it deserved to.

Frustrating, taxing – Metro 2033 is also a curiously compelling refuge from the mundane.

Elsewhere, the full offering of Guitar Hero 5's multiplayer and party play modes return, as do the addictive mini-challenges for each track (there's even a challenge which uses the Quest powers).

It actually pains us to be so negative about De Blob 2, as there is plenty here to love or even adore. The visuals are sumptuous; the characterisation of Blob, his friends and the gloriously dastardly Inkies is nothing short of sublime. It is also consistently diverting, the problem being that it only rarely feels essential.

As a package, Transformers: Fall of Cybertron's lack of ambition is countered by an obvious fondness for the Transformers themselves and the amount of polish that has been lavished on its presentation and mechanics. Gamers looking for something new will find little here to draw them in, but as a celebration of Hasbro's iconic cast of characters there is much here to be recommended, and plenty for High Moon Studios to build on should it get another chance to work with the robots in disguise.

Should you find yourself with an abundance of MS points this summer and not much to play, you could still do worse than give this a whirl.

Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising is a challenge. It will challenge your perceptions of today’s shooters, challenge your ingrained behaviour but also challenge your patience.

Soul Calibur II HD Online illustrates this perfectly: with the core game given nothing but a face lift, it remains a great fun experience, even if it’s the exact same experience that it provided ten years ago. The new features add very little, but then there’s very little that needed to be added even ten years ago, and therefore it remains to be seen whether similar tales of swords and souls will continue to be eternally retold.

Multiwinia has a ton of longevity to offer. The game will surprise you constantly, while the formidable AI and exciting variety of match types means there’s plenty of manic multiplayer fun to be had.

There's no denying the core concept remains fun, frantic and often enjoyable, but it feels slight and the game's long ingrained mean streak and occasionally sneering tone only serves to highlight how far the industry has come in the last decade. Peek closely enough under that shiny new coat of paint and you'll soon find evidence of rust.