It may not have the production values of Final Fantasy III, but Magical Starsign combines a superb and intriguing battle system with a genuinely fresh look at how to control this kind of game on the DS.

The award for best/only recent IndyCar sim that manages to be strangely absorbing while faithfully reproducing the sport, albeit in an aesthetically displeasing way, goes to... IndyCar Series!

Excruciating brevity is Neighbours From Hell's most hideous drawback, and we can't imagine you sat there a week from purchase playing the same levels over and over. There's a disturbing lack of variety as well.

As generic as a platformer can be. It's a game in the tradition of the original "Jak & Daxter," but comparing the two is like holding a light to the abyss.

On the face of it, Alien Breed Evolution offers everything that fans of the 16-bit incarnations could wish for, with strong production values and focused design contributing to a sympathetic update that stays true to the source material. But sadly, a flawed approach to co-op play and an inherent lack of variety ultimately count against it.

Going hardcore again feels like a narrow interpretation of what made this part of the game good.

Sega seems to find it hard enough to make a decent Sonic game these days, and then it goes and publishes something like Sonic Dash - which with a little more polish could be great, but is instead rushed and spoiled by greed.

Enjoyably traditional, if a little tatty in places, this is a shooting game that still stands apart from all others.

After playing the three levels of this, all the beans in Tesco wouldn't make me play it again. There's not room in this sandbox for two. Or one for that matter. Goodbye gods, hello atheism.

Had Starfire focussed on just a couple of elements rather than trying to be all things to all players, had it made the quests more varied, the progression more enticing, this could have been the start of something really special. As it stands, it's the epitome of a game trying to be a jack-of-all-trades, sadly mastering little.

While it's obvious that, in theory, SimCity can be done on the DS, in practice it could have been done a lot better with a lot less wackiness and a little more depth.

If you're a huge fan of the mobile game, by all means pay the extra, but everyone else should be mindful of the competition before slapping their money down.

Above all, Murasaki Baby encourages experimentation and in doing so manages to recall some of the daunting wonder of early childhood. However, unlike those hazy childhood years, it remains fixed in your mind long after it's done.

Enchanted Folk is to Animal Crossing what the first Saints Row was to GTA; it's a competent, entertaining knock-off, but it's still a knock-off.

Fans of Japanese RPGs should bear in mind that behind the problems lies an extremely competent, if not terribly imaginative, RPG which will certainly fill a couple of dozen hours of your time in an entertaining and involving manner.

Pokémon's first ever expansion offers sunny vibes and another, more open world, but is still lacking the substance to do much with it.

One for 80's obsessives (you know who you are...) and die-hard GH fanatics only.

Its willfully old-school design and clunky combat belong in a bygone era, and for the optimistic price-tag Konami has slapped on the game we've every right to expect more. Only the most hardcore of fans will have time for this; the rest of us should wait for Homecoming.

It gives you well over a hundred weapons to try out, masses of difficulty levels, and explosions so big that you'll worry they may crack the front of your television. Earth Defence Force 2017 isn't a complex cocktail. It's a Molotov cocktail.

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.

Amidst the unremitting chaos, there's something fractured to admire in Trouble Witches Neo, especially if you can drag a friend into some co-operative mayhem. At least download the trial, but maybe get into the spirit first by putting on some Elton John shades, wearing a pink wig and wolfing down a big bag of Haribo.

A gentle and unusual building game that's memorable but missing some purpose.

Arcane busywork leaves little room for genuine pleasure in this fascinating and frustrating genre oddity.

It's shamelessly derivative, gloriously over-the-top and it doesn't take itself too seriously. Most of all, it's brilliant fun.

Even after two years, this is still my favourite Harvest Moon game in the whole world ever. Whether you're a fan or a newcomer, Magical Melody is captivating, mixing the best aspects of every game that came before to create the biggest, most involving, most addictive and most challenging entry in this loveliest and most unique of series.

Dead Space comparisons are impossible to avoid - but while The Callisto Protocol's missing some of the depth and tension, it makes up for it with production value and bloody-minded fun. [Eurogamer Recommended]

The paid, offline version of Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp is a lot more chill, but the legacy of its freemium systems still requires a little navigation.

High Voltage deserves credit for its technology, for its commitment to multiplayer, and for tuning a perfect set of FPS controls on a console that was begging for them. Its efforts shame everyone but Metroid developer Retro who's gone before, and certainly do prove that you can do a great FPS on the Wii. It's just that The Conduit - slender, derivative, mechanical and uninspired - isn't it.