Bit.Trip Saga is an engrossing compilation of six inventive games bound together by vibrant visuals and dynamic soundtracks.

I'd still crown Super Meat Boy king of this genre, but thanks to inspired mechanics, variety-packed pacing, and satisfyingly steep challenges, Fenix Rage can proudly stand next to its protein-packed inspiration.

Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu and Let's Go Eevee are delightful reimaginings of the series' origins and a deep RPG in their own right. It makes a lot of smart improvements on the original Red, Blue and Yellow while holding on to what made them so special in the first place. Fans of the series might be let down by the lack of features they've come to expect, but Let's Go Pikachu and Let's Go Eevee take the Pokemon formula in some exciting new directions.

The Eternal Castle is more than a mere nostalgia trip for aging gamers still hanging on to their 5.25-inch floppy drives. In many ways, it's just as modern as it is retro and more than capable of holding its own against its more illustrious contemporary peers. Luckily it's just my memory that isn't as good as it used to be.

It's a seemingly simple and cute journey, but with the underlying potential for strategy in combat, and a massive number of adorable Pokemon to catch, you can't help getting hooked by Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire.

If you've got a PSP and are a fan of strategy RPGs, Disgaea is a worthy addition to your collection.

Much like that final mission enemy, Hard West 2 gets it right where it counts. Despite some thin RPG trappings, it's ultimately a highly-accomplished game of tactical combat with two or three genuinely terrific ideas executed exceptionally well. While it does suffer from a lack of imagination in some of its map design, that doesn't detract too much from how enjoyable it is to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with your posse and find creative ways to put down hordes of Wild West demons.

An exciting and varied experience that should appeal to action junkies and armchair tacticians alike. Although not without its problems, this is a sequel done right: It's just as fun, but it's bigger, broader, and more fully realized.

Despite a few control issues, Mortal Kombat on the Vita is every bit the great and gruesome fighter as its console counterparts, but with even more bloody content to explore.

The difference with Destiny 2 is in the variety and accessibility of what's available, which cuts down on a lot of the frustration associated with grinding. And even after you've leveled up, there's still more you can do, from keeping up with daily and weekly challenges to just hanging out with friends. It's a much stronger foundation than the original had and one that's enough on its own to keep people coming back week after week.

Figuring out how to and how not to teach the game's enemies what to do is a stupendously gratifying process.

It's a seemingly simple and cute journey, but with the underlying potential for strategy in combat, and a massive number of adorable Pokemon to catch, you can't help getting hooked by Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire.

A mix of smart strategy, deep customisation, and engaging story make this a worthy sequel to the PS3 original.

Card games don't get any more addictive than Lost Cities.

A fighting game focused on individuality and expression, with deep systems that reward studious players but also accommodate casuals.

Unsurprisingly, Bugsnax' best qualities are its cleverness and charm. The surprise and delight you feel when you see a Bugsnak wiggling around or watch someone eat one and change their arm into food never goes away. That alone would make Bugsnax worth your time, but creative puzzles and thoughtful story give it the body and depth to make a Snak feel more like a meal.

On console as on PC, Diablo III is a very safe game. It never diverges from the path carved by its predecessors and the numerous loot-driven hack-and-slash dungeon crawlers they inspired. But Diablo III also proves that when done well, the classic formula can still be absorbing.

MLB The Show 20 doesn't make any large strides forward, choosing instead to focus on refining areas that needed improvement from last year. This results in a game that feels more balanced in terms of variety across an assortment of game modes, while the action on the diamond has been tightened up with rewarding consistency and added dynamism that maintains the series' lofty standards. It's the ideal foundation to build upon as the PlayStation 5 looms on the horizon, and with the baseball season suspended for the foreseeable future, MLB 20 goes some way to filling an empty space in our pursuit for escapism.

A great game that fixes a lot of the little problems with the 2002 game and adds a couple of nice features.

The Finals stands out amongst its contemporaries thanks to its thrilling destruction, fast-paced gunplay, and anomalous approach to familiar objectives. There are some balancing issues to iron out, its progression system needs expediting, and there are too few maps, but these flaws are ultimately minor when you're in the thick of the action with explosions and gunfire echoing all around you. The Finals is an absurdly fun shooter with the potential to grow, so here's hoping it's one of the success stories.

1001 Spikes is best for the kind of person who can take punishment and enjoy it. It can be soul crushing for the same reason it's inspiring.

The mechanics underlying Marvel Vs. Capcom: Infinite make it an outstanding fighting game.

These misgivings aside, WWE 2K23 sees the series build on its immediate predecessor and return to form after hitting rock bottom (pun intended) with the infamous 2K20. Almost every mode has been improved--with the exception of Showcase and MyFaction--while the in-ring action is as polished as ever. WarGames is a fun and chaotic new addition, and the likes of Universe, MyGM, and MyRise are endlessly playable to the point where they could keep you busy by the time next year's WrestleMania rolls around.

Big strikeouts and even bigger homers make The BIGS a great arcade baseball game.

The powerful abilities of the diverse character classes are fun to use, the world is varied and enticing, and the constant promise of more riches and better gear makes conquering that next group of foes an alluring prospect indeed.

Though the ending is a little unsatisfying, and the actual adventure is a little short, the game offers plenty of replay value with five appreciably different character classes and a really satisfying cooperative mode.

Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright is an absolute delight to play, from the battlefield to the bedroom. If you loved its predecessor Awakening, you'll enjoy the heightened tension and intimacy imbued in every moment of Birthright.

Web of Shadows is a fast-paced, soaring superhero adventure that delivers just about everything a Spider-Man game should.

This is a beautiful, haunting, and memorable game, a worthy follow-up to Limbo. Its puzzles, although rarely difficult, are engaging complements to the story. The real achievement of this game, though, is the way that it crafts its narrative: detailed environments convey the bizarre world that you travel through; introspective moments are filled with minimalist sound design and just the barest touches of music; and the things you must do to complete your journey force you to confront the realities of humanity, freedom, and existence.

Unspectacular online play, an abundance of shooter cliches, and forced vulgarity keep it from joining the shooter elite. But the creativity of the skillshot system paired with the engrossing nature of moving up the Echoes leaderboards gives Bulletstorm some muscle and will inspire a dedicated following of talented players eager to show off their incredible mastery of its gratifying mechanics.

Absolver has a few problems, then, yet they're not impactful enough to take away from its unique strengths. There's a significant challenge involved in learning Absolver's combat intricacies, but it's the kind of struggle that rarely frustrates. Defeat is part and parcel of the experience, but your demise always teaches you something new that you can take with you into the next battle--and Absolver's deep, nuanced combat always finds ways of enticing you back for one more fight.

Yakuza is an exemplary, if flawed series that does an incredible job of steeping you in contemporary Japanese-style crime drama, and establishing an evocative sense of place. Yakuza Kiwami 2 is an excellent example of the series at its best, coupling its most memorable stories and characters with its most sophisticated mechanics yet.

Whether you play solo or in a group, successfully executing adaptive tactics to win intense, high-stakes firefights makes for an incredibly rewarding experience. Every player has unique stories of their most memorable matches, and even after hundreds of hours, PUBG continues to inspire rousing tales of victory and defeat.

The 10th installment in this long-running franchise proves that some formulas don't need to change.

Outrun 2006 Coast 2 Coast offers a fun, accessible experience to racing fans who just want to jam on the accelerator and go.

Unspectacular online play, an abundance of shooter cliches, and forced vulgarity keep it from joining the shooter elite. But the creativity of the skillshot system paired with the engrossing nature of moving up the Echoes leaderboards gives Bulletstorm some muscle and will inspire a dedicated following of talented players eager to show off their incredible mastery of its gratifying mechanics.

Its parry-based combat is frequently stellar, and Team Ninja has made a number of smart changes to keep Wo Long feeling fresh, even if there's always a tinge of familiarity. It has its issues, but if you're craving a fast-paced action RPG built on satisfying combat, Wo Long ticks most of the right boxes.

Shatter is brick breaking at its best--simple, innovative, and beautiful.

By the end of the campaign, I was ready for the game to be over, but that's okay. RE7 ends just as it starts to outstay its welcome, and after the fact, I felt like I'd survived a truly harrowing journey. The boss fights may be slightly inconsistent and certain sections might drag after a while, but RE7 is still a remarkable success. It has a clear vision and executes it with impressive patience and precision. By returning to horror, Resident Evil has once again become something special.

Unspectacular online play, an abundance of shooter cliches, and forced vulgarity keep it from joining the shooter elite. But the creativity of the skillshot system paired with the engrossing nature of moving up the Echoes leaderboards gives Bulletstorm some muscle and will inspire a dedicated following of talented players eager to show off their incredible mastery of its gratifying mechanics.

Of course, it's fun to see your characters become stronger over the course of the game, but what gives makes Child of Light meaningful is the way that Aurora grows emotionally stronger.

If you've ever enjoyed the zen-like sensation of cleaning grime from skate parks, Mars rovers, and Shrek's swamp, you'll find plenty of satisfaction aboard Ambrosia Sky's agricultural colony. There are some aspects--such as trifling progression and limited use cases--where it feels like it's just getting its feet wet, but you'll still discover that cleaning its fungus-filled hallways is a serene experience, offering fulfillment that's both familiar and unique. Marrying this with human stories that inspire hope within the somber context of death is oddly comforting. I'm eager to see where Dalia's journey takes her from here. It's already a gripping tale, possessing a warmth and relatability that will resonate with most. Hopefully, future acts can build on these solid foundations.

With so many goals to pursue, Dragon's Crown is much larger than most beat-'em-ups, and more action-packed than most role-playing games. It's both beautiful and captivating in its style and execution, and overall, it's a great hybrid of two very different genres.

The tense fights leave you with sweaty palms and an elevated heart rate, keeping you glued to the action as you venture ever deeper below ground.

Players who lost touch with baseball games when they went 3D on the PlayStation may find that Slugfest is exactly what they've been missing.

Harry Potter's latest adventure in colourful block land is a fun and varied way to end the series.

The Lost Lords offers no respite from the anguish of Iron from Ice, and keeps the energy and intrigue up in surprising ways.

Singularity isn't a groundbreaking shooter, but it's an incredibly fun one. This is an example of how fluid pacing and a tongue-in-cheek attitude can make old conventions exciting again.

Unique time-travel mechanics and a creative combat system make this RPG a refreshing change.

There is a nagging question, though, that sticks in the back of my mind: Does this game rise to the heights its inspirers achieved? The conclusion I came to is no, but that it attempts so without falling on its face is remarkable enough. That it manages to be a great game in that pursuit is a true testament to the power of being galvanized by those that came before.

The technical problems from last year's edition are gone, replaced by a game that purrs its way around the track like a well-oiled machine. F1 2016 is a terrific racing game that’s fun to play regardless of whether you enjoy tackling a full career mode or prefer a quick five-lap race around your favorite circuit.

The tense fights leave you with sweaty palms and an elevated heart rate, keeping you glued to the action as you venture ever deeper below ground.

These tens of thousands of encounters plus the appearances by the series’ many other heroes makes for an essential experience for any Dragon Quest fan, even if you haven’t played a hack-and-slasher in ages. These characters are so fully realized that, assuming you’re not a stickler for official canon, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to consider Dragon Quest Heroes as a companion piece alongside the main series.

Episode 3 of Telltale's Batman: The Enemy Within is well thought out and strongly written. Telltale has weaved together a complicated web of relationships that's becoming strained by the people tangled in it. After two relatively straightforward episodes, this is exactly what the series needed to carry it forward and ensure players are compelled to see it through.

By weaving a complex web of relationships and alliances, Zero's story grows ever more fascinating, proving to be equal parts surprising and exciting from beginning to end.

Despite the occasional slipup, the game successfully builds on the original story to offer a simple yet satisfying experience that has depth and replay value. There's enough to engage and have fun with here to appeal to fans of Harry Potter as well as fans of previous Lego games.

That focus on primitive times can become a hindrance at certain points, with limited tools and repetitive combat, but in the end, Far Cry Primal stays true to its callous setting, fleshing out every layer of the captivating world it creates.

Blast Works lets you design the shooter of your dreams. The gameplay may be simple, but the editor more than makes up for it.

Whether exploring the full potential of a single element or throwing things at the wall to see what sticks, I've got the itch to join the creator's club. Mario Maker 2 makes the learning process intuitive and enjoyable. Most importantly, it's enabled designers amateur and professional alike to share their creativity with the world. The community is off to a great start, and thankfully, the fun has only just begun.

It's a shame there is no single-player or online content in Sportsfriends to keep you occupied when home alone, but it's the kind of game that takes full advantage of being exclusively local, and it's worth having friends over for.

Beautiful things are possible in the new world and the new ways to play that Telltale has laid out in Done Running. But something ugly and horrifying is likely to happen first, and it is going to be captivating to watch.

Just picture getting sacked by LSU and then bringing up an underdog school like Kennesaw State to the college playoffs and beating your old school to win the national title. It's this kind of vicarious scenario in EA Sports College Football 25 that can make a lot of the other frustrating aspects worth it. Hopefully, EA can continue to build upon this solid foundation while also fleshing out the aspects of the series to help separate it further from Madden and create a unique experience.

The Taken King is more than just an expansion; it's also a heart transplant. And with its wounds sewn shut, the anesthetic wearing off, and the scalpels put away to dry, Destiny has pulled through the operation with renewed vigor and a much stronger pulse. Now, only a few scars remain.

There's a fine balance between tension and fun that elevates the whole experience.

Twisted Pixel delivers big fun and big laughs in this varied, comic-book-themed side-scrolling shooter.

And so there I was, sitting in front of my TV, watching Gaiden's ending, crying like a damn baby over the hardships of a fictional man again--and I know those who've also been on this ride over the years will feel me on this. Gaiden may be a brief excursion that occasionally leaves the full potential of its supporting cast on the table and often relies on remixing ideas from the series' past, but with enough new features to make combat exciting and a buffet of high-quality side content, it's still some of the most fun I've had with an RGG game. More importantly, I was just happy to be in Kiryu's shoes again for another emotional story and to brace myself for what lies ahead for the beloved series.

Though it's unusual for everything to take place in a single location, there's so much to do and see, and whether you take a stealthy or head-on approach, infiltrating Camp Omega is a thrilling experience that shouldn't be missed.

If you've played Diablo III before and found that it wasn't for you, the changes Reaper of Souls makes to the game won't be far-reaching enough to change your mind. Reaper gives those who already liked Diablo III more of what they already liked about it.

Danganronpa 2 is a simultaneously terrifying, uplifting, painful, thoughtful, funny, and heartbreaking delight. Anyone who cherishes engaging stories, unique gameplay experiences, and great characterization would do well to invest themselves in this series.

Yakuza 5 makes up for its modest shortcomings with enthralling diversions and eye-popping settings that compel one to look at travel deals to Japan.

Its overly plain presentation will probably turn off the casual set, but MVP 06 NCAA Baseball's top-notch gameplay is exactly what baseball purists are looking for.

Many of the improvements are subtle, but the changes and additions to College Hoops 2K8 make it the best game in the series.

The original retro platformer was tough-as-nails at parts, but all the more rewarding for it. Shovel Knight Dig takes everything that was great about that game and pulls it apart, reshaping it into something new that's just as compelling and hard to put down.

After the credits roll on the main mission and a handful of side activities unlock, the best part of Ground Zeroes is just getting started. With a dearth of secrets to find, and new challenges to master, chasing the endgame will keep you entertained for hours on end.

Even people like me, who have long since given up the prospect of learning an instrument or making music as a creative pursuit, can rekindle a little bit of the creative spark they may have had once upon a time. The core mechanics of switching discs in and out, making new composite songs out of the pieces of others, is both compelling and exciting. Even if you play the campaign and find yourself unmotivated to make songs on your own without the score chase, the simple pleasure of having some songs you like come together into your own song is unique in games, and wholly enchanting.

This collection of 13 pinball tables offers more than enough variety to justify the price that you pay for infinite credits.

There's still plenty of room for improvement going forward, with the creation suite in need of an overhaul and far too many animations that have gotten stale after years of use. However, after a lackluster WWE 2K25 and no alternatives on the horizon, WWE 2K26 is the wrestling game we need right now--one where we can trigger fireworks while we walk to the ring, dump our opponent face-first onto a pile of thumbtacks, and then set them on fire in an Inferno match. It's still not a meaningful evolution of the series, but there are enough incremental updates stacked together to make it worthwhile. It works well, has a seemingly unlimited number of gameplay options, and with the various upgrades introduced, this is the most enjoyable a WWE game has been at release in years, even if it still feels largely familiar.

Its diverse roster is packed with a wide range of personalities and fighting styles, bolstered by a raucous attitude that begs to be taken seriously while simultaneously mocking its more peculiar whims in the process. Tekken fans will find their next favorite game--one that's the product of decade's worth of refinement. And while some of this depth will be lost or out of reach for newcomers, there's enough fun to be had outside of hardcore competition to keep players from all walks of gaming thoroughly entertained.

Astro's Playroom, a game that makes no attempt to hide the fact that it is an excuse to show you what a gamepad can do, conjures a world that you will want to see and explore. More than that, its surprisingly delightful celebration of PlayStation and its video games is a great way to kick off a console generation.

It's an engrossing twist on a set of systems that, while familiar, are sharply honed to create an engaging combat system and rewarding puzzles, making Unsighted one of this year's best-kept secrets.

There's no question then that you are getting a vastly superior way to play both of the PlayStation 4's Uncharted entries, afforded by the more powerful hardware of the new generation of consoles. The upgrades are in line with what many other games from other publishers are putting out for free for players, but the upgrade structure here does allow you to grab both games for a small fee even if you only own one. That softens the blow somewhat, but it's a factor to consider if you've already experienced both games, with Uncharted 4 faring worse with its extremely slow opening when played through again. These are still both exceptional games, made better by more powerful hardware, making it an easy recommendation if you've missed them over the years.

This exciting racing game is full of spectacular crashes and addictive time challenges, but it's a little light on content.

While no Call of Duty game has matched the comprehensive excellence of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, the exploits of Reyes and Ethan are at least as memorable and moving as any deeds from “Soap” MacTavish and John Price during from the series' heyday.

GoldenEye 007: Reloaded is mostly unchanged from last year's Wii version, but it's still a fast and exciting shooter that doesn't rely on ancient memories to be great.

Darksiders II comes with a few extra technical foibles on the Wii U, but the fluid action and intriguing exploration are still front and center in this expansive adventure.

A great portable Sonic game, with classic side-scrolling action, nifty new abilities, and a fun Versus mode.

Warzone 2 comes out swinging with the strongest map yet, as Al Mazrah's design is both visually appealing and well-balanced to encourage more moment-to-moment action and player movement. The sequel tosses in enough new features and changes to make gameplay feel fresh and give a dramatic change to the game's pace to set Warzone 2 apart from the original, and these battle royale matches are still a blast, despite the setbacks to classic features. Packaged with DMZ, which feels like a sandbox hit, free-to-play Call of Duty players have so many more ways to jump into the action and level up this year.

RetroRealms' first two "cabinets" arrive in style with excellent platforming gameplay, an authentic '90s vibe, and an interesting first-person 3D wrapper of a hub world that reminds you the game isn't just mechanically tight; it's also horror-obsessed. Boss Team and Wayforward prove to be a compelling tandem with this game, and given the team's intentions to build out its arcade with additional famous (and sometimes masked) faces, I'm hopeful RetroRealms can go the way of the slasher series and get several sequels of its own.

This experimental puzzle-music game is both hypnotic and addictive.

World of Tanks is a great, accessible shooter that you'll probably end up spending some money on even though you don't have to.

GoldenEye 007: Reloaded is mostly unchanged from last year's Wii version, but it's still a fast and exciting shooter that doesn't rely on ancient memories to be great.

Despite a forgettable story and some constricted level design, The First Berserker: Khazan's excellent combat is more than enough to cover for these missteps. It's challenging, engaging, and consistently satisfying, complemented by a cavalcade of dynamic enemies and a versatile progression system that extends beyond the typical XP-based approach. It can feel derivative at times, yet The First Berserker's confluence of ideas and influences makes for a thrilling souls-like that stands out in what has become an increasingly crowded genre.

The PC version of Darius Burst allows you to recreate the arcade experience by stretching the game across two monitors, creating an ultra-wide image. Otherwise, you have to accept the game's letter-boxed format, which squeezes the ultra-wide image to fit your display, leaving black bars on the bottom and top of the screen. The one exception to this rule is Chronicle Saviour mode, which is tailored for a standard 16:9 screen. Though four-player local coop is available, the lack of online multiplayer is a disappointment, especially given that there are some missions that can only be cleared with four players.

Zombies Chronicles takes a good combination of maps and upgrades them with great attention to detail. Newer Zombies features keep the collection modern, but its greatest strength is in the lighting and audio upgrades, which make the Zombies experience that many fans obsessed over before feel creepier, more tense, and more exhilarating than ever.

There's a lot to love about Marvel's Midnight Suns. The combat offers a rewardingly tactical experience, with a deckbuilding card system ensuring that randomness challenges the player, not frustrates them. Plus, the mission variety and cast of diverse playable characters keep combat fresh across dozens of hours. But I most enjoyed the role-playing elements and giving The Hunter a chance to connect with the members of the Midnight Suns and Avengers, forging friendships that resulted in powerful abilities I could take back to the combat side of the game.

RetroRealms' first two "cabinets" arrive in style with excellent platforming gameplay, an authentic '90s vibe, and an interesting first-person 3D wrapper of a hub world that reminds you the game isn't just mechanically tight; it's also horror-obsessed. Boss Team and Wayforward prove to be a compelling tandem with this game, and given the team's intentions to build out its arcade with additional famous (and sometimes masked) faces, I'm hopeful RetroRealms can go the way of the slasher series and get several sequels of its own.

F1 2011 is a great sequel that faithfully represents the thrill and difficulty of driving the world's best racing cars.

PES 12 may lack new modes, but substantial improvements to its AI, speed, and controls make it an exciting football game that's a lot of fun to play.