Its value for money is significant: there is a lot of bulk here, much of it excellent. But its wider value to gaming, to Takahashi's message and to the series it celebrates, is diminished. Like a balloon deflating, Katamari Forever feels like the series' final exhale, all puff and energy now gone from the idea. Metaphor!

In general, Carcassone is a quicker game to grasp but lacks Catan's depth and tactical nuances with the outcome of a game often feeling more like luck than skill. If you've only got a Silver Live account Carcassonne is a marginally better purchase thanks to its offline multiplayer and its short game length and puzzle-like aspects gives it a strangely addictive quality, yet the honest fact is that despite being a better adaptation, Carcassonne just isn't based on a board game quite as good as the one Catan is.

Game Republic's effort lacks polish and elegance, but, thanks to charm and the in-built strength of its setup, it is an experience worth partnering with.

Veteran trainers, on the other hand, need to ask themselves if they want more of the same… again.

That true panoramic freedom is still missing in action, the campaign's rather undernourished as it rushes you into the final act and the fiction feels increasingly forgettable. There are charms here, though, if you boot up the tactical display and stick to the shadows. There's the silent kill in glorious surroundings; there's the swish of an arrow, the creak of a bow.

In gameplay terms it represents a commendable improvement on an already solid framework and seems to captivate its young players with the same gently challenging grip o' fun as LEGO Star Wars did. It's just a shame that this evolution seems to have come at the expense of many of the peripheral activities that made the previous LEGO games a more robust and varied experience in the long term.

It isn't perfect. It's not the sort of game that future generations will gather to celebrate, linking hands and singing sad songs of fond remembrance. It is, however, clever, boisterous, faintly silly and relatively cheap.

If you can stand a bit of trial-and-error though, and feel like taking your brain on a bracing walk once in a while, echoshift is a very well presented, well thought out and enjoyable piece of mental exercise.

The phrase "one for the fans" has never been applied more honestly than in this case; it may be flawed, but we're happy to recommend Rise of a Ninja to Naruto fans - albeit with a few reservations. Believe it.

Exploring the ruins of ancient civilizations under the watchful eyes of a race of paleo-people isn't just surreal; it's also unnerving to see how little power you really have here. Without air, without any technology to speak of, without your friends or family, you're truly lost.

There are only a very small percentage of gamers that would be interested in this game to begin with but with its varying play styles and loaded cast of great characters, Neowave is actually a great little fighter and a brilliant introduction to the King Of Fighters series for those that have never sampled its delights.

If you've been desperate for an RPG and would willingly drown yourself in a sea of Final Fantasies then it might be a little on the simplistic side.

As it is, Sepp Blatter's EA Sports FIFA Coca-Cola Budweiser World Cup 2014 Brazil is partly a game many of its audience will already own, and partly a very, very well made promotional souvenir - one that will aid your enjoyment of this summer's festivities hugely, but that doesn't quite justify its price tag.

The game's playability really suffers on the smaller screen of the iPhone, with your big fat sausage fingers liable to make it damned near impossible to see where you're laying each component. On the iPad, such niggles don't apply, and fortunately publisher RealNetworks has seen fit to make this a unified binary.

Sometimes, though, familiarity and simplicity are exactly what's called for, and for those of you that just can't get enough of these dumb-arsed shooters, Crisis Zone has a certain cultish appeal that's just on the right side of admirable.

Golf: Tee It Up! may not have a better name than "3D Ultra Minigolf Adventures," but it's a much better game. It plays a good game of golf, for one thing, and does so with the mixture of depth and accessibility that we hope for in all Live Arcade titles.

Perhaps the developers were too focused on not breaking all those wonderful toys, or perhaps they were bound to a tight deadline, but the game feels slightly flat as a result.

If you like slashing and hording within intelligently structured worlds and have no problem sinking into the non-conformity of Japanese manga, then Blood Will Tell may well surprise you.

For some, the game will be a chance to get a bit drunk and mess about singing Gold Digger while pretending to be the wiry-haired teacher off of Glee. And to that end, the game satisfies rather than dazzles.

Betrayer is rougher around the edges than its stylish exterior may suggest, but it's never less than fascinating.

Just as it did with Modern Combat: Domination, Gameloft has provided another high-quality, no-frills alternative that might just surprise you.

For Xbox Live Arcade it's not quite the return to last summer's form, and there are more substantial falling-blocks puzzle games with comparable production values elsewhere on the service (Lumines Live, for instance), but if you can look past its slender framework and online issues then Meteos Wars is a decent death blow to a few otherwise productive evenings, and more proof from Q that there's life in the old blocks yet.

Vanguard's created a decent blaster which offers a couple of moments of genuine bullet-dodging glory: Halo's touch-screen debut is good-looking, colourful, and fun.

Factor in an exceptionally short single-player campaign, an undercooked tactical squad element and a distinct lack of gameplay variety and it's impossible not to see this as a very big missed opportunity.

Cassia and co's deep-seated issues and baggage make them an entertaining bunch and while they won't set your world alight, they eventually prove capable of providing many hours of surprisingly amiable companionship.

There are loads of gameplay modes for your money - including online multiplayer for up to eight players, specific puzzle-style challenges, and a classic survival mode where you have to nosh as many balls (wahey etc) as you can before you gobble your own tail (wahey etc).

The fact is that wandering through the plot of Long Live the Queen, blithely making mistakes on the assumption you'll do better the second or third time, is wonderful. Trying to actually do better is a byzantine process involving either heavy use of a guide or incredible persistence.

It's a shame that SEGA opted for a simple port rather than properly updating the series, but this is still a fine game - if extremely niche in its appeal.

Hellgate: London is filled with gorgeous artwork and dripping with atmosphere; it's got a delicious sense of humour and finely tuned combat systems that will be keeping action RPG nuts happy for a long time. Despite this, we've got vast reservations about key aspects of the game; the randomly generated levels feel increasingly hollow, pointless and gimmicky as you progress, the user interface is clunky in some important areas, and there are clearly some hefty bugs here that need patching.

If nothing else, Age of Empires DS provides a title that will appeal to those Discovery Channel Dads who picked up the stylus for Brain Training, and proves that Nintendo's flip-top toy can supply grown-up depth as well as giddy frivolity.

At 60-80 hours in length, and given the fittingly near-infinite customisability of your fleet, Infinite Space offers a massive chunk of fun for those who can forgive its foibles, but many will find the barriers to real enjoyment too high due to poor usability. A solid game for many rainy afternoons, then, but be prepared to work for your reward.

The studio's happy knack for punting out charming little retro platformers continues with this moving tale about a monster and his desire to digest big-headed baby boys.

Personally, it feels a little unbalanced to me. I like adventure games because of the "adventure" aspect, the blend of a compelling story, immersive dialogue and logical deduction. This game favours the last element at the expense of the first two, and therefore left me somewhat unsatisfied.

Moon Diver is one of those divisive little numbers that you'll either love because of its repetitive, twitchy bombast, or want to drown in its own spittle. It's here. It's queer. Get used to it.

However, MotorStorm: Arctic Edge has inherited a few too many of its predecessor's weaknesses as well: a lumpy single player campaign, some arbitrary physics made more noticeable by the less sophisticated engine, and a tendency for the less inspired tracks to merge into one grimy muddle.

It’s fun while it lasts, but requires relatively little skill – just an iron will and determination to progress through 16 lavish, on rails, scripted levels.

While it never struggles to be entertaining, it never really stands out either, and ultimately proves rather forgettable. Worth a go, then, but you wouldn't write songs about it.

The huge time investment required to make anything that resembles progress means that this is hardly the best place for newcomers to start but by stark contrast, there's no better Yu-Gi-Oh! title on the market in terms of card lists, AI and sheer longevity.

Although there's not a great deal of substance to this downloadable chunk, it's nevertheless a pleasant bonus for those of you who've already shelled out for PlayStation Plus.

The constant changes in scenery and obstacles also help to lift the tedium of endlessly chasing sheep around brighly coloured mazes, and while the game is best handled in small doses it is addictive enough to keep you coming back for more.

The individual stories are crafted with the same level of care as the main series, but divorced from a larger, more personal tale, these scattershot scenes show their hand as unused B-sides. More ambitious, but less focused than Season One, 400 Days feels like its setting: a serviceable pit-stop on the way to a (hopefully) brighter future.

The Sims 4 is both fresh and yet also predictable, pleasant, comfortable and rarely overstimulating. It's wobbly, and you can still see some of its joins, or hear the creaks as new parts settle into place. It's not likely to win over any new players, but it will satisfy a lot of its old ones.

The only things that stop it reaching higher are that the combo system seems to be pitched a little bit above the average gamer's skill level, and could have been more inclusive, and that despite getting the basics very right it doesn't build on that as excitingly or inventively as some of the genre's best.

Perhaps more significant are the advantages of mouse-based control, which offer not only more precision but a far better camera system to boot. But while no one will have any complaints about the quality of the port, charging almost twice as much for the privilege is a little optimistic.

Just as enjoyable as the previous Buzz! titles - or just as tedious, if you're that way inclined. And that's assuming you're not expecting to be seriously tested if you're a real film fan.

It's got charm to spare and - if you don't mind wrestling with controls that occasionally leave you gritting your teeth - this is a groovy little romp.

Aquaria's certainly prone to leaving you disorientated, some of its puzzles are quite oblique and it's in no hurry to tell you what to do, and its mechanics lack the inventiveness of a game like Zelda, but then the fact it's two friends coding together over the Internet shouldn't be overlooked when taking note of the fact that they come surprisingly close.

It's a simple enough formula, but for those of you looking for an uncomplicated reminder of a forgotten era, Captain Sub is a fine waste of time and money.

A game that requires a degree of patience and tolerance before it truly clicks. If you have the required resolve, there's plenty to admire.

In many ways, it's a spiritual sibling to Far Cry 3's Blood Dragon expansion. Both are fuelled by a heady brew of nostalgia and adrenalin, and both have tongue so firmly implanted in cheek that it bursts out the other side. Where Blood Dragon built to a manic crescendo, however, after the first few hours SUDR3ARHEEXPA too easily turns into a fun but flawed grind for all but the most dedicated Capcom aficionado.

It has the de rigueur iOS mission structure - complete x number of objectives to increase your crab rank - and power-ups to spend your in-game coins on, but the joy of Crabitron is in just grabbing a claw or two and making a big old mess.

While this is never amazing, it's a competent, enjoyable third-person cover shooter with a sense of humour.

It took me around ten hours to complete, and while I was never on the edge of my seat, I was charmed for most of that time, sticking with it until I'd picked up the last gamerpoints. If your gaming palate favours such gentle fare, A Kingdom for Keflings is a lovely way to spend the day.

For every moment where the game deviates from predictable platform tropes, there are dozens more when it's really nothing more than a very nicely assembled and presented riff on what other games were pioneering. Banjo-Tooie, then. Not one of the all-time greats, but when you take off the rose-tinted glasses the result is still enough to make it a standout on Live Arcade.

At the very worst, it's an ingenious multimedia toy that'll have you dusting off the untouched corners of your MP3 collection for a few happy evenings. But for those twitching fingers that still enjoy the thrill of the high score, Audiosurf has the potential to become a bite-sized obsession thanks to its quick fix gameplay and infinite musical possibilities.

Basically this is still worth a go if you're obsessed with what happened in F.E.A.R, and must know more, but otherwise you'd be better off buying an FPS you haven't played yet, or renting a few horror films instead.

There's nuance and depth here that goes beyond most people's preconceptions of what motion gaming is about, and yet the game never loses sight of the fact that anybody should be able to get up, have a try and have fun doing so. The sad part is that more studios aren't using the technology to this standard.

A substantial improvement on the original: better-paced, a bit funnier and with the much-needed addition of online multiplayer.

The game's pitch was always to offer accessible, even-more-ridiculous fun that would mix up Legends and Superstars. If that's all you want, it delivers.

If Duæl Invaders is designed as a confidence booster, then Strania is here to remind us that, deep down, we're all pathetic narcissists that need taking down a peg or two.

The Last Guy's another decent example of a simple, slightly risky game perfect for PSN, even if it seldom feels particularly essential.

Sticker Star has two sides. One is a world that's a simple, vibrant joy to be in. The other is a set of systems so pared back that they waver between easy and tedious, matched up to a badly signposted set of puzzles. There's just enough adventure and charm to mitigate the latter, but that's the shame of it; Sticker Star squeaks a pass when it could, and should, be spectacular

There is more charm to inFamous than Cole's face and voice suggest, but basking in the glow of the end credits, there are also a lot of painful memories to recall; of too many missions that funnel you into shooting galleries, of difficulty spikes and enemy-spamming, and of staring at the upgrades page rather glumly, aware that for the most part you're only being invited to make things strike harder or across a broader range.

There's something undeniably pleasing about basketballs - except when they hit you in the nose - and while there isn't much to Hotshot, you'll lose more time to it than you might expect.

It's a fitting end to a game that starts off brightly, wriggling elusively as you try and grasp what's going on, delighting in the mechanics and beautiful visuals, before sinking into a pattern that, while fairly gratifying, never evolves and ultimately becomes a bit boring, and quite amazingly repetitive.

Its immediate charms are tarnished only by some repetitive level design and some minor control frustrations.

Maybe it's the classic, solid city-building gameplay. Maybe it's the unique style and sense of humour. Maybe it's the fact that, despite all the niggles, the game is still so absorbing you can spend hours on it without realising just how much time you've wasted.

A fairly unremarkable Sims expansion pack on the same disc as a new cut of the original game.

Rome is another largely enjoyable offering from Paradox, and the fresh personnel management aspects add an interesting new twist to the series.

It just doesn't seem confident enough to let itself be the thing it is, and this manifests itself in a reward structure that stops short of demanding the most of you, and in lots of tangential fodder that dilutes its purposefulness.

If anything, it's the Move controller rather than that clumsy apprentice or his mysterious cat that emerges as Sorcery's true star. If you're an eight-year-old kid, this short burst of adventure is going to offer you an afternoon or two of vivid fantasy with a wand in your hand and an arsenal of spells in your head, and your only major complaint will be that it doesn't last a few hours longer.

With an attractive PBEM option and game durations that can be measured in hours rather than days, this is definitely the grand-strategy title for those of us lumbered with obligations like jobs and school.

As always with Gameloft's efforts, the mostly solid gameplay is simply undersold by some rough edges that betray the title's Java and/or Flash roots. It's certainly not the best pool game you'll ever play, but for the price it should prove more than enough for most people's needs.

An intense, challenging and well-designed game, simple enough to come off extremely well on the PSP and strategically engaging enough to keep cerebral players involved.

Your long-term attachment to the game will also be determined by how much of an experience grind you're prepared to undertake (combined with your attitude towards impermanent purchases), and whether the hack-and-slash combat against somewhat repetitive character models is a meaty enough adventure to keep you satisfied.

With a few more levels, more varied objectives and less psychic guards it would be indispensable.

While Mirror of Fate might willingly fumble the classic structure somewhat, it's still got a touch of that familiar vampire-hunting charm to it - a charm that comes to the rescue whenever the developer's invention or polish fall short.

Comment on the solid but surprise-free multiplayer mode recognising that most buyers will never touch it.

Panzer General: Allied Assault is not for everyone. It will definitely gain a small subset of rabidly devoted XBLA players and rightly so - it's a great tactical turn-based game. But the average gamer will be a long way outside of their comfort zone.

If you've never owned a Simbin game and you own a decent driving wheel, then Race Injection could do the job, but rest assured that you're buying an old simulation both for graphics and gameplay.

It's not complex, it's not challenging, but it's not trying to be. It's an enjoyable family game which also has appeal for retro gaming fans and drunk people. If that sounds like you, put Off the Rails on your list.

If you've already played Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Blue/Red Rescue Team, the improved Wi-Fi functionality is the sole reason that it might be worth playing Explorers of Time/Darkness.

The single-player campaign is uneven and, at its best, fails to match the zenith of what's gone before - a myth growing weaker with each retelling. But the punchy multiplayer broadens the game's aspirations and its appeal in a welcome way, offering a refined competitive arena.

The gripes are really mainly relating to the individual games, which for anyone remotely experienced will quickly become far too familiar and untaxing to warrant extended interest.

In the initial stages, it's fairly simple stuff, with straightforward circular layouts and a modicum of train-style junction point switching involved. As long as you're diligent enough to switch to the appropriate branch at the right time, it's usually an easy task to qualify for at least two of the available three performance stars.

A little more spit and polish on the mechanics, and the confidence to build a game around original ideas rather than sitting in the shadows of giants, and it could create a classic of its own. For now, this is a fine calling card.

If you approach All-Star Battle as a fighting game first and foremost, you'll discover a satisfyingly complex combat system with a few lacklustre modes. Not a 10, then, but this Jo is far from average.

A promising start, but one that will sink or swim on the quality of its puzzles. If State Of Play can balance things up there, this quiet optimism could break out into something altogether noisier.

Grid Autosport is a fine racing game, though it's never a thoroughbred one. It's the muscle car that was Grid 2 stripped out and retooled for the track, but too often you can see the solder-work at the seams. In 2008, Race Driver: Grid was a partial reinvention of the racing genre, equipped with a handful of fresh ideas. Six years on, Grid Autosport - while a definite return to form for Codemasters - is simply a rediscovery of it.

There is gold in these old genres, and Shovel Knight is a successful dig.

Anyone with a taste for realistic military entertainment will find plenty to enjoy here, but its hard to shake the feeling that Operation Flashpoint hasn't got the brave, superbly equipped sequel it truly deserved.

It feels like an undecided halfway house between two genres - both of which the PC excels at - and it's incapable of deciding which one it wants to be.

Where it counts Sega Presents Touch Darts is a triumph. Whether idly playing through the various mini-games or bucking down to a tricky leg in a long tournament the game is perfectly accessible, easy to pick up but hard to master and, even without wireless multiplayer or an adaptive AI this is still comfortably the best Darts videogame going.

It's still a fun game, and an incredibly slick one at that, but the law of diminishing returns has well and truly kicked in. It's time Insomniac got some rest and put Ratchet and Clank out to pasture - goodness knows they deserve it.

What is really starting to take its toll on The Walking Dead is the way it burns off goodwill with too many false choices - or worse, moments when players are meant to share guilt in situations we had no real say in.

If, however, Konami plans to turn this into an ongoing spin-off with commercial potential then it needs serious work to either shape it into something outlandish that could only be done online with the Metal Gear series, or to better blend the Metal Gear elements into the established tropes of the multiplayer action genre.

As with "Out From Boneville," The Great Cow Race is an entertaining enough diversion, but one that doesn't provide much in the way of lasting thrills.

Despite Capcom's protestations of Chaos Legion being some 'intense gothic opera' fusion of action, RPG and strategy, it's still an essentially simple game at its heart, and might not be as involving as many would like.