By no means the best the genre has to offer any more.

It's a shame Octodad leans so heavily on traditional gameplay tropes like boss fights and stealth sections in its second half, especially when the opening sections suggest something quirkier and more inventive - but taken as a whole, it's still a minor triumph.

While the narrow theme inevitably limits replayability, longevity, and appeal, I've found the challenge of pulling off a peace deal at the toughest difficulty level keeps drawing me back for an hour or two's play every so often. Call me soft, but I want to taste those hopeful tears again.

Thanks to the game's stubborn loyalty to stop-and-shoot, the result is distinctive, but with suspect partner AI to contend with, this is a game that only truly comes into its own with a friend who's up for a challenge.

A puzzler that's subtly rather than brashly innovative, and which has a wicked-looking chicken on the front.

During hectic moments, the friction of the screen tends to work against you, while the tilt controls are simply too sensitive to be usable.

A flawed game, then - but one that Enzo would, perhaps, have approved of.

If the mechanics were applied to stronger level design, then it would plant its flag firmly in 80 territory. As it is, it remains well worth playing, but not a necessity for any DS shelf.

Metro: Last Light is not a bad game, but nor is it a good one in quite the same sense as its predecessor. Metro 2033 was flawed but trying to do its own thing. If anything, Last Light feels like a regression. Similarities abound, but this is a more conservative FPS, one looking at the competition rather than itself, and one with some terrible missteps. So go in with low expectations, and you might be pleasantly surprised.

In many ways, Resident Evil Zero provides a timely reminder of the things we miss about old style survival-horror. The heavy emphasis on puzzles, slower pace and the harrowing boss encounters make it feel more like a true horror adventure, and once you get to grips with its foibles it becomes strangely satisfying and rewarding.

It's a game that doesn't have the luxury of distracting you with clever mechanics and satisfying challenges to excuse its lack of narrative. It's just you and the story and how exactly you digest it. If you're interested in dystopian sci-fi and intriguing mysteries and like getting angry about patriarchal misogyny, then it's certainly something you could enjoy.

Much like the conceptually similar Gin Rummy, the presentation is scrappy, the options minimal and the overall impression is of a game that will satisfy the demands of dedicated Shogi players but has little to offer anyone else.

Daylight has neither the creeping sense of psychological dread of Fatal Frame nor the poster man antagonist of Slender, and its reliance on cliché lacks distinction. But if the game's straightforward purpose was simply to panic and upset its player then it is an indisputable success, no matter how cheap the tricks employed.

The two multiplayer modes - a straight race between eight players online, and Rubber Ducky, in which two teams try to nose their rubber duck past a threshold before their opponents - provide a good balance of competition and playfulness.

The Mercenaries gets off to a promising start, and in the short term it can be a thrilling blast, but by refusing to augment or develop the core idea from its mini-game roots, Capcom has doomed it to second tier status.

Flight simulations are notoriously difficult to get right and Battle of Britain is a valiant effort: experienced pilots looking for a challenge or a history lesson should consider this game - beginners might be better off elsewhere.

Never bad, often good, but only occasionally great. Its frustrations are fleeting but with core gameplay that struggles to be as clever and witty as the script, it never quite manages to bring together its best features in a truly satisfying way. Plunge into The Cave and you'll definitely have fun finding your way out. It's just a shame it doesn't go deeper.

As a multiplayer game though, Beach Spikers is exceptional – up there with "Virtua Tennis," "Soccer Slam" and "NBA 2K3" in Sega’s hall of fame.

An enjoyable, workable clone then - and a surprisingly un-cynical one - but lacking the raw ingredients to truly replicate Nintendo's success in this niche.

While most will be more interested to see where EA LA takes the ideas they've played with here next, there's much more for a C&C fan to get excited about than imagining Natasha Henstridge is talking to them. Although that is pretty exciting.

With a convincing story and some innovation in the fight system FFTA2 could have been so much more, but it still stands as the best example of the genre currently available for the handheld.

A hugely addictive addition to the Live Arcade scene, but very much a completist's game for the lone puzzler.

Experiments feels more like a straightforward level pack than a bona-fide sequel - and one that most players will blitz through in no time.

It's certainly decent enough, but it's not good enough to unseat Virtua Tennis from its position as the best game of tennis on the PSP.

Legends has features coming out of its ears - in keeping with the general mutant theme - but you'll need to be a RPG/mutant/comic fan to truly care. That's no bad thing, but this is pretty niche, if sometimes highly enjoyable and surprisingly complex stuff, with some niggling glitches.

The cheapness of the visuals and lack of convincing delivery from the voice actors ultimately knocks off a few marks, but on the whole it's a decent package that true aficionados of the genre will welcome as an interesting departure. ["Obscure"]

The Maw is the sort of game you'll play for an afternoon, giggling like a fool the whole time. There's not much more to it beyond that brief but satisfying flurry of amusement, unless you want to go back into each level to harvest all the Achievements, but not every game needs endless replay value. The Maw is charming, cheap and memorable enough that its short lifespan shouldn't put you off.

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