Mafia: Definitive Edition is a stunning remake that improves upon so much while staying true to its original vision. As you'd expect, this balance between new ideas and old concepts has its advantages – and its drawbacks. But it remains an exciting experience with a nostalgic warmth that'll keep you coming back to explore its expansive yet conservative map, free from the bloat that similar games in this genre have been subject to for far too long now.

It's not as technical as Street Fighter, not as chaotic as Smash Bros and not as fluid as Tekken, but if it just offered a bit more of a challenge and some more depth, it would be right up there with the best of them.

Ookibloks will disarm you with its adorable visuals, but its devious difficulty makes it a puzzle game that is equal parts satisfying and frustrating.

Combat and exploration is still enormously satisfying, and the narrative is powerful, but without enough fresh ideas that it can call its own, 'Freedom Cry' feels like too much, too soon.

Assassin's Creed Syndicate is an acrobatic lunge in the right direction for the series. It's a more stable offering than Unity ever was with engaging protagonists, a monster of a city to get lost in, and some shrewd tweaks to the time-tested formula.

It builds and evolves to eventually become an RPG that stands firmly on its own, borrowing from its peers but making sure it's also totally unique. We haven't been able to put it down, and we've not said that about a 3DS game for a while.

A game that captures all of the high points of the long-running series, and only one or two of the lows.

UFC 2 is the best attempt to date at turning the sport into a game, and seasoned fans will no doubt be able to overlook its shortcomings and enjoy it for what it is - a gorgeous-looking but ultimately flawed fighter.

The game does what the series has excelled at since day one, provide an accessible golfing experience that anyone can enjoy. Unlike some of the other titles in the Sony platform's library, this one doesn't rely on gimmicks. Its focus is solid gameplay, depth and charm, and it has these things down to a tee.

Even without the downloadable level packs, HueBrix brings a fresh face to mobile puzzle games for a head-scratching good time.

While the Ridge Racer series has been rather hit and miss in its last few iterations, Ridge Racer Slipstream feels like a return to form for fans of Namco's careening cars.

Rhythm Thief & The Emperor's Treasure features some excellent rhythm action gameplay, a well-executed narrative and an interesting array of colourful characters. While there are some pacing issues, particularly during exploration, and the odd mini-game that isn't quite up to scratch, this is largely a very successful marriage of music and adventure. If they ever made Professor Layton: The Musical, Rhythm Thief & The Emperor's Treasure is what you'd be left with, a charming game perfectly suited to the portable.

​Far Cry Primal ​is the most convincing entry yet, and we can't get enough of having our very own bear.

Feels like a deconstruction of the first game. The atmospheric plot and tense action segments have each been given their own separate treatments through the story and arcade modes. When at their best, both modes surpass the original in their respective areas, but as a whole their separation doesn't work in American Nightmare's favor.

We had our eyebrow ready to raise at how the D-pad-focused plumber would translate to smartphone taps, but we needn't have – this oozes that classic Nintendo charm, the soundtrack is familiarly strong and the visuals are slick with tonnes of variety.

Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare is not an exceptional shooter by any means – and in the case of its progression, can be quite frustrating – but seeing its classes brought to life in a shooter so effectively, with its trademark humor intact, will win you over for at least a short while.

WarioWare makes a welcome return, providing the familiar fast-paced microgames action that fans will be accustomed to. Filled with quirky charm, this Switch entry doesn't disappoint. The new character gimmick, however, does get in the way slightly despite adding a neat twist to some of the microgames.

While FIFA Street doesn't have the depth of its annually-updated bigger brother, the latest release is a much more rounded product than past iterations. For the most part, the developers have succeeded in combining the sparkle of street football with the fundamentals that make the beautiful game so appealing.

In many ways, it feels like the Aliens game we should have been given back in the 16-bit era when the movie series was still relatively new. Whether it has been worth the wait is debatable, but this is certainly a worthy addition to the DS library.

As it stands, it's a game that could really benefit from some additional content if it's to evolve into the next must-have multiplayer shooter.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War's campaign is tight, slick, and lots of fun, it almost avoids getting totally bogged down with militaristic mumbo jumbo, thanks to a barmy plot, and fun, albeit cliched characters, and most importantly, genuinely creative and impressive gameplay mechanics, that don't involve shooting. Sure it's as short as ever, but given it's one part of the package that includes zombies and multiplayer, it's easily the best Call of Duty story for many years, and perhaps one of the best shoot-em-up campaigns, too.

Visiting familiar Zelda locations and wiping out hundreds of enemies offers brief but satisfying bursts of mindless enjoyment, just don't expect to be engaged in the same way as a full series release.

It's too early to say whether ShootMania's custom maps will boost its staying power, but we're not sure if an inspired community can draw us back into the FPS.

Legion doesn’t quite reach the lofty heights of its San Francisco predecessor. Your team isn’t as endearing, the missions aren’t as fun and the story is just not quite as engaging. Though, if you take the time to explore the streets of London, and make it your playground, there is still lots to like. The gameplay loop is addictive once you get into it and if you can look past the bugs and pantomime voices, you’ll be happy you digitally toured one of the worlds greatest cities, albeit a bleak one.

Paper Mario Colour Splash might not be the Paper Mario game everyone wanted, but it's a game that oozes polish and manages to sit somewhere in a niche between RPG and adventure game...It's a memorable journey full of charm, craft, chuckles and a whole lot of paint.

Immortals of Aveum is the perfect example of a mid-tier experience. There’s some good ideas in there – and some things are executed well – but with so many others not feeling quite right, enjoyment will really vary person to person. We hope Ascendant Studios gets the chance to have a second shot at casting a spell on the genre. If given the space to jettison some tropes and really focus on their concept, there could be something really special here.

Dungelot 2 polished and expanded the original's accessible charm to make a dungeon crawler that is both more approachable and far deeper than ever before.

What at first appears to just be a simple score attack game of frantic tapping evolves with you the more you play it, making for an experience that could very well be prohibitively difficult to many players but rewards those who put in the time for their effort.