I've had more fun playing Mercury than any other PSP game so far. It is my new "Zoo Keeper." That is all.

Me & My Katamari doesn't move the series on at all - in fact, it sort of rolls it backwards a bit, what with the smaller levels, slightly shonky control system and limited multiplayer modes. Not to mention the fact that you're constantly having to play through environments you've already explored, which is just tiresome.

One of those games which stands inches away from greatness.

It's crazy how much effort has gone into the foundations of this tiny piece of Technicolor idiocy.

A powerfully grim, fleet-footed cyberpunk action odyssey that is caught in the spell of its own nihilism.

Choose to ignore these (and other) oversights, persevere with the drudgery of the maintenance aspect (the bit where, in a more conventional RPG/god game, you'd actually get to do stuff, like solve puzzles or kill things), and there's a lengthy itinerary of tasks to discover and perform - something that still appeals to my completist urges.

Call of Duty devotees will certainly get their play value out of this lucky-dip selection, but it's still slightly disappointing that there's not a more consistent vision for Black Ops 2's long-term future on display. Revolution? Not quite.

A stylish but slow-paced mystery anthology that's just a little too sluggish for its own good.

Sniper Elite: Resistance may not innovate much on the series' standard blueprint, but it's still a challenging, rewarding, and deeply satisfying adventure.

A small, perfectly formed adventure. [Eurogamer Recommended]

Night School Studios follows on its excellent work in Oxenfree with this touching look at the absurdity of life and video games. [Eurogamer Recommended]

Ultimately as pointless as it is lovable.

Weather its bugs and lacklustre stealth, and Ghost of a Tale is a quietly ravishing potted epic with a serious subtext. [Recommended]

Sakura Wars: So Long My Love might be one of the most unlikely western releases of recent years, but the very fact that an English language version of such a niche title exists at all is cause for some cheer.

That Quake 4 is merely a glossy, standard, by-the-numbers trudge through past glories is an irresponsible way to treat such a revered franchise; to then cock up the conversion to the 360 subsequently and then charge extra for the privilege is bordering on scandalous.

Given its high price tag and scant innovation Crash Bandicoot 2: N-Tranced is unlikely to win over any new converts by playing it so safe and so young.

Weighing in at a hefty 20-25 hours in length, Dead Head Fred outstays its welcome and never really elevates above being a fun yet ultimately frustrating platform-cum-action adventure game.

You'll love pretty much every minute, and then you'll move on, and the 'downloadable game' suspicion will suddenly make sense: Dirt Showdown's wonderful, but it's probably also a flash in the pan. As long as you know that going in, then you shouldn't be disappointed.

Kung Fu Panda won't be winning any awards, and it won't be gracing any end-of-year lists, but that's not to say it doesn't deserve carefully measured praise.

Slight repetition can't diminish the incredible atmoshpere of Farm 51's post-apocalyptic survival game. [Eurogamer Recommended]

As simple and fun as Fruit Ninja evidently is, it feels like a Wario Ware game isolated for a single release.

We wish it spent a little more time on puzzles, and little less on weak platforming - but we can't help but love it when a plan comes together.

In many respects, then, Thieves in Time is a fitting successor to the PS2 titles: Sly Cooper games were always solid genre pieces first and foremost, where likable characters and decent mechanics masked a journeyman feel to some of the content, and the same is true here. Unfortunately, the rest of the world has moved on considerably in the intervening years, and so what starts off as a welcome regression quickly loses its verve.

A simple videogame built from a slew of diverse but relentlessly derivative building blocks.

A near masterpiece, managing to not only stay utterly faithful to the subject matter, but in many respects creating a benchmark mech shoot 'em up that practically bends the PS2 out of shape for technical merit.

It's turned my head, even if it's not quite the 'trip' that it might have been.

For those who persist with The Dishwasher, however, there's a deep and interesting set of mechanics here, which ought to appeal to fans of Viewtiful Joe, God Hand and perhaps even those a little disappointed by MadWorld.

It might be cheap, and it might have more content than Liberty City Stories, and it has gaming audio to die for, but, on balance, Rockstar has milked the flaccid teat of its cash cow to the limit.