With repetitive, largely uninspired corridor combat, and boring, linear and samey mission design, the least you'd hope is that there would be some supplementary side quests to extend the lifespan - but not so.

Much like the cakes that the princesses so greedily scoff down, the game is delicious at first, an overwhelming confection of bright colours and varied flavours, but the sugar rush wears off much too quickly, leaving you bloated and exhausted.

Adorable, not only for kids as the presentation may immediately suggest, and very silly, it's another big success for PopCap. If only it would get properly challenging it would be a giant classic. As it is, it's a thing of loveliness you should buy this instant.

This really is the fighting game evolved to the level of artform, and while mastery can be a long, tough slog, it's also its own reward. There are few fighting games better.

With two or more players, the sequel is, once again, a compulsive riot. Played alone, however, some of its pieces seem sweet, but a little empty.

The biggest problem with The King of Fighters XII is that it feels unfinished. The combat is fun and robust but not particularly innovative.

Shatter is an engrossing, smart, beautifully conceived and executed arcade game, but it doesn't quite have the score-racking purity of purpose that makes a Geometry Wars, Pac-Man CE or Out Run Online Arcade so endlessly compelling. Once you've beaten it, which won't take long, you'll move on - but it's a blissful spell while it lasts, an absolute steal at £4.79.

With a whole new 80-event campaign designed to showcase these new modes, along with a smattering of traditional races and fastest-lap challenges, Fury almost doubles the size of an already generous game and therefore thoroughly warrants its asking price. One of the best downloadable games available now has one of the best expansion packs.

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

Little King's Story is not the best game you'll ever play. It's repetitive, it's lacking in depth and it can feel slow and frustrating at times. Plus it's got some dodgy politics and a rubbish save system. But it's the best game I've played all year, and that includes Onechanbara: Bikini Samurai Squad. It's charming, engrossing and just plain fun.

There is depth here, especially for patient or committed fans, but the mercenary way that the game dangles this potentially richer gameplay as bait for overpriced DLC purchases sticks in the throat.

The game's peppered through with the sort of idiosyncratic humour that marks so many of Nippon Ichi's games, but here the jokes often come at the expense of clarity, with Badman more eager to poke fun at some crusty JRPG convention than to properly explain his game's own subversions.

Few games can stand the test of time with such confidence, and whether your interest stems from its genre-defining significance or its reputation as an unforgettable game, you won't be disappointed by time spent on Monkey Island. Anyone who disagrees probably fights like a cow.

There's just not enough depth and nuance here to sustain prolonged play.

Its skill system is like a twisted version of EVE Online's, without the intricacy or CCP's talent. Its mise-en-scène is somewhere between the grittiness of Conan and WAR's orcs and humans. Underneath the lack of originality, there's a hole where the game should be: a loose, incongruous mess of bad controls, horrible user interface, and broken combat system.

In the first flushes of infatuation it's an easy game to love, and one that will easily provide hours of ferocious enjoyment. In a few months' time the spell may well have worn off, but for this price that's really not something to worry about right now.

There's a thousand more things I could say to justify my hearty recommendation of this incomparably rich war sim.

Despite a rather forgettable supporting cast, Telltale makes up for it with consistently excellent puzzle design, and occasional flourishes of comedy genius.

The game is beautifully minimal and has the kind of difficulty curve that makes the best of such games so compelling.

Trine is simply an unpretentious and effortlessly lovely adventure, if never quite special enough to nudge into the echelons of 9/10 and above. Immediately likeable, hugely enjoyable and brimming with charming detail every step of the way, your enjoyment may depend on how many friends you can share the journey with, but few would regret time spent in the company of this trio.

Past the wordy stuff, the way the game is presented is second to none - there's a mix of animation and drawing styles in the cut-scenes and credits that evokes old-school LucasArts, and the in-game animation/design is kooky and amusing but rarely disturbing.

Above all, it's a proper western, set in a tangibly real Wild West, with proper, honest-to-goodness cowboys, Indians and bandits in it. Experience tells us that's harder to pull off in videogames than you might think, and it counts for a lot, no matter where it comes from.

I can think of only a few instances where a new fighting game has broken onto the genre as such a strong contender, but with the Drive system in place BlazBlue is a genuine challenger for any fight fan's time.

Treasure World has a nice idea at its core and is fun as far as it goes, but it doesn't go far enough.

What Blood Bowl offers is a way for enthusiasts to enjoy their chosen tabletop sport without much of the hassle, remotely and conveniently - and for those with friends who'll also indulge, it's probably a no-brainer purchase.

Someone somewhere is punching the air and whooping at their enjoyment of machine-gunning pseudo-Nazis while dressed like Elton John, but me, well, I'm hoping I'll soon move on to other, rather more evolved experiences.

An intense, heart-rattling experience that gets more rewarding the more time you invest in learning the nuances. With incredible attention to detail, technical achievements are more than mere eye candy and a deeper, more rewarding fighting system than ever before, it's an essential purchase for boxing fans and fighting game aficionados.

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.