Tomb Raider IV-VI just feels like a collection of relics from an era when we didn’t know any better. And honestly? Some relics are better off staying buried.

Not Tonight 2 takes the pain and misery of a post-Brexit world into an America on its knees. It’s bolder than its original and provides terrific alternate ways to enjoy its fairly generic core mechanic, but it’s nowhere near as ‘political’ as it thinks it is. Turning America into Arkham City isn’t satire, and fans of the original may feel a little disappointed it doesn’t hit as hard as it promised it would.

As resurrections of near-20-year-old franchises go, Aquanox Deep Descent is a very solid effort that, with a few tweaks and a bit more polish, could potentially be special. Here’s hoping that THQ Nordic gives Digital Arrow the opportunity to make another one.

A decent enough romp, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is let down by a few technical issues and some extremely dated graphics. Switch Lite users won’t get the full experience, but still enough to go on. Console limitations aside, it is fun to hoof Rebels about and use them like levitating pin cushions from time to time.

What starts off a fun runner, Aerial_Knight’s Never Yield quickly devolves into a bland and repetitive experience. Whilst the colours are bright and the music loud, the lack of replayability or extra modes doesn’t leave it a leg to stand on.

In reality, Crymachina is a far cry from what it could have been. An overly constrained mission structure of bland corridors, flashy combat that never reaches above button smashing, and a nauseating cliché story that rarely does more than constant exposition, hold back this action RPG from any kind of recommendation.

A competent, accessible, family friendly yet unusually dry quiz game, Papa’s Quiz offers up a few hours of party fun before the whole thing becomes stale. It won’t be challenging Jackbox for the party game crown but would fit right into a playlist of party games with friends and relatives.

It won’t be winning any Game of the Year awards but Chasing Static is a compact narrative thriller worth an evening of your time. Its story isn’t as engrossing as those of its peers and it can be a touch confusing at times, but a mix of crunchy, nostalgia fuelled visuals, high quality audio and a great script make for an interesting combination.

Positively drowning the player in guilt-ridden moral choices and gameplay-orientated dilemmas, War Hospital is an immersive and intense management title. Its limbs are battered and bruised, owing to significant technical issues and more minor glitches, making it more unstable than the soldiers you desperately try to save. War is hell, and you’ll be lamenting both your choices when losing each soldier and your mind when you lose hours of your time.

While not bound for the embrace of death owing to its unique party system and visual flair, Deathbound struggles to stave off the reaper’s scythe thanks to technical issues, poorly told stories and unbalanced though otherwise competent gameplay. It may scratch the Soulslike itch for some, but whether you’d reanimate the souls of the damned for a longer crusade, only the Lady of Death knows.

Hypercharge finally arrives on PlayStation, fully formed and ready to be added to your multiplayer lexicon. The PvE is smooth as silk and the grin you'll have on your face throughout is testament to how enjoyable the game is with friends. An indie gem.

Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl doesn’t bring anything new to the table, instead offering a certainly competent if not hugely exciting brawler with a confusing roster of characters cynically chopped up seemingly for future monetisation and very little to actually fight for in terms of unlockables for the fans. The fundamentals are here, and the Sports modes are terrific fun, but there isn’t much else to get too excited about when the content included is this lacking.

The game adaptation of Orwell’s Animal Farm tells a disjointed story, without the kind of buildup and nuance that makes it a classic novel. As a game, it lacks the kind of options and menus necessary to make you feel like you’re ever in control of your farm.

While it started as a solid ARPG, Trinity Trigger quickly began to disappoint. Its charming world didn’t matter because I didn’t care about anyone in it. Its combat had a solid base but a lack of variety in its encounters made it bland. Worst of all, Trinity Trigger’s final third rushes towards an ending that felt unearned, with an awful final boss that highlights how poor the party AI is.

A vast improvement over the original, Daymare: 2994 Sandcastle still doesn’t reach those lofty, highly recommended titles. That being said, if you’re looking for some B movie cheese in an over-the-shoulder shooter, this should tide you over.

Daemon X Machina Titanic Scion suffers from too many systems and not enough depth. Sure, there’s a lot to do and a lot of mech customisation, but it’s all set in an underwhelming and cliched story and a barren open world devoid of compelling content.

White Shadows is a dark and oppressive experience, but don’t write it off. It’s reminiscent of Limbo and the like, but homages can be a good thing at times. It is criminally short, however, and would have really benefited from a bit more challenge and/or length in its puzzles. If you enjoy your misery in small bursts, this will be for you.

After Us is an atmospheric platforming adventure that leaves you thinking about the beauty in extinction rather than the horrors. With slick controls, appealing environments to explore and a tranquil nonintrusive soundtrack, fans of titles like Journey will likely enjoy the exploration of a surreal and desolate world of post-human life.

I’d still love to know what conversations took place that led to “hey, we should remaster Zool”, but Zool Redimensioned does a pretty decent job of applying a fresh coat of paint, but in a way that remains very reverent to the source material. An excellent achievement from a group that only started programming 12 months ago. Unfortunately, the source material itself is the ultimate problem here – Zool was an average game back in 1992 and it’s little more than average here in 2021. A pleasant nostalgia trip, yes, but sadly it’s offers nothing to compete with the best modern platformers.

TRON: Catalyst presents a myriad of ideas within its gameplay, but never utilises each facet astoundingly, leaving the game to feel lacking. Whilst nothing is bad about Catalyst, there isn't a moment that felt inspired and exceeded the bar of quality I set myself after the opening hours. If you're a Tron fan or new to the genres Catalyst apes, there maybe something for you here, but the code runs thin on this one.

Ten games for £35 can’t be sniffed at, especially during times of budgetary constraints, but Neo Geo Pocket Color Selection Vol. 2 represents a disappointing step down from the first volume. A series of curiosities, average ports and games where the language barrier is an unfortunate turn-off make for a collection that will likely hold appeal for fans of the platform, but which I can’t heartily recommend to the masses.

Pursuing shock value is always a gamble and The Kindeman Remedy sadly throws all of its livers into this one basket unsuccessfully. While the management systems can infrequently be enjoyable, it’s as hollow an experience as the mutilated corpses you’re experimenting on. There’s some wicked value in its bleak atmosphere, but it’s a blunted instrument of primal carnage, failing to incite even the most barbarous of hearts.

Lunar Lander Beyond attempts something of a reboot of the Atari classic with a modern wrapper. But underneath the shiny hood, the gameplay is virtually unchanged, difficult, and dull, and the extras have done nothing to implement a reward system that might keep newcomers trying to develop the skills needed to enjoy it.

The console versions of Cloudpunk then are, at the time of writing, buggy and a little broken in places they shouldn’t be, but if you’re lucky enough to power through without any major issues, you’ll lose hours to the fantastic narrative, terrific central character performances and gorgeous neon-soaked visuals.

Alfred Hitchcock Veritgo takes some steps to tell a mature story that has an incredible mystery behind it. Certain parts are difficult to play through due to the subject matter, but if you’re after a narrative adventure that shares thematic depth of cinema, then you’re in for a treat. The gameplay doesn’t compliment the story telling too often and a few performance issues hold it back. However, if you can look past those flaws there’s a unique story to unravel.

Atlas Fallen is at its best when you’re kicking seven shades out of enormous crabs and snakes, and unfortunately has little else that lives up to these moments. Whilst the traversal is solid, going back and forth through a treacherously dull wasteland doesn’t particularly inspire replayability, and when you’ve done it thirty times, you don’t want to do it again. Rent for the combat, then return it and there’s a chance you’ll probably never think about it again.

If you’re an old codger like me with fond memories of old 8-bit computer games, picking up a title that evokes those memories so well is a no-brainer. If, as is more likely, you’re a young whippersnapper (I hate you), I still thoroughly recommend Kinetic Edge. It’s a terrific mix of genres that’s great in single player and even better in multiplayer. Get on it.

With its anime-trope-filled story, and starkly unbalanced combat and upgrades, Metal Unit is a passable roguelite in a genre where there are far better options.