It might not be what Mrs. Hudson wants for him, but Bomberman's still one of the best multiplayer games you can buy, and whether or not you want another version you should at least dig out one of the ones you already own and raise your rollerskates in acknowledgement.

In isolation it's a great racing game, but in the context of the dreaded yearly churn to which Codemasters finds itself committed, the sensational but ultimately restrictive Classics Mode is the only meaningful addition.

This Impossible Mission remake won't set the scene alight as it did during the '80s but it's a solid, faithful rendition of a cherished old classic.

Peggle 2 is still a wonderful game, but to a super-fan there are too many things that feel miscalibrated. In a way, that's more damaging than the suggestion PopCap isn't sure what else to do with Peggle: it suggests PopCap needs to rediscover itself.

Alan Wake is an accessible, undemanding game with a neat combat mechanic and decent visuals. It's just not a very original game, it's certainly not an exceptional one, and it's a shame it wasn't ready a few years ago.

Once again it comes down to this: superb pop songs and amazing choreography, wrapped up in a package which could be more polished and comprehensive but which does the job. Good times.

Once you're in the zone, it starts to feel like a slapstick top-down Burnout. And if you don't feel like paying for that, maybe you should have your eyes popped.

There aren't enough two-player tablet action games knocking around; this one is clever and even-handed and, like its courtly leads, unlikely to outstay its welcome.

But even with the 2600 stuff taken out of the equation, nine quid for the whole lot is reasonable value, and if you're only interested in certain titles, you can buy each one in 59p packs.

The core of Puzzlegeddon remains a fun, engaging take on a classic genre with a clever twist - but played against the soulless bots, with no bragging rights or trust in equanimity, there's a limited appeal which probably won't justify the admittedly low price-tag (GBP 10.95 at Direct2Drive). Find a similarly-minded friend, however, and feel free to adjust the score according to your love of competition.

The Borderlands gameplay is still as strong as ever. This may be more of the same, but when the same is this good, it's hard to feel too aggrieved, even if it never quite feels like the experience is worth another 800 Points (£6.29 on PS3 and PC).

I certainly enjoyed the quest, brief as it is, and for all its flaws I was happy to be lured back into Fable's world after a few months out. But I was still left underwhelmed once I'd sucked all the new content dry though. Worth experiencing for the Fable faithful? I'd say yes. But is it worth 800 Points? Probably not.

With its unwisely generic title, Hamsterball doesn't inspire confidence that it's going to do anything more than roll over old ground, and so it proves.

Where Orcs & Elves leaves me is wanting a decent, full-length dungeon-crawling RPG for the DS. What it gives me is the first five or six hours of one that was already beginning to feel a bit repetitive. Nothing's inherently bad about it (apart from the attempt at touch-screen movement controls), but it's rarely unapparent that this belongs on your portable telephone.

World of Warplanes is not bad, but it's not nearly as exciting as World of Tanks. It's a sometimes enjoyable, occasionally tiresome arcade shooter that's forgiving to fly and a challenge to master. Compared to its smart, successful older brother, it's not nearly as sophisticated and, most importantly, it's not nearly as much fun.

It's like eating a bowl of tasty different flavoured ice creams, but finding a fag-end in every fourth mouthful. Secret Agent Clank is excellent in parts, but it's not consistent enough. And it's got stealth in it.

This is clearly a game designed for light-hearted communal family play, with everyone chipping in with suggestions of what to photograph. And, on those terms, Sea Life Safari is a sweet, amusing and enjoyable little experience.

I lean back in my chair and, in a moment of grim lucidity I realise: all of these games are already in a cardboard box in the shed.

It's a strong package that suffers partly because we were promised so much in the first place, partly because so much of it is available online for free, and partly because the new stuff is exactly the sort of thing Valve would have released for free in times gone past.

Multiplayer doesn't offer much, either.

Played on a big screen with the ability to take a much wider view of the battlefield, it would be much less stifled and tough to grasp, and the individually awkward or squirmy action bits would be more acceptable. But it isn't and they aren't, and getting past the game's flaws is ultimately more trouble than it's worth on a system already packed with action and strategy games that are consistently better than what lies beyond the frustration herein.

Don't expect an RPG of depth – it's heavy on the action, light on customisation, and rewarding loot is rare. It's also in desperate need of more time in the womb, and the results of that are felt all over. But by and large, the sense of location and the constant weft of combat meant that I spent much of the fifteen hours it took to complete in a state of gentle enjoyment – and that definitely counts for something.

In what's turning out to be a regular Kinect refrain, then, try not to think of this as a flawed game so much as one that's been quietly and consistently undermined by its hardware.

Hell is Us is an absorbing, nightmarish meditation on the horror of war, but divisive design choices prove tedious.

Heavy Rain worked because it was a police procedural, a genre that's all about narrow horizons and methodical reassurance. The tight confines of Quantic's style suited it well. The same delivery just can't contain Beyond's epic scope, preposterous premise and high-octane action. You're left feeling detached from it, and its component parts have nothing more than a frail spine of story holding them together.

This is a slight, simple, often delightful game that displays moment-to-moment ingenuity but which now obviously lacks a broader conceit to bring its ideas together.

If you've always hankered after a handheld version of one of the best puzzlers there's ever been, then this is a serviceable port that does the job, but just be aware that you'll probably want to skip over the new modes very quickly.

It's a game best recommended to non-RPG fans, those who want a short, light adventure that eschews grinding (until the final area at least) and detailed stat-management for bright character and brevity. But even on these terms, the recommendation is at best a very gentle one.