A bullet hell shooter that's just sane enough for anyone to enjoy. The action is nonstop but manageable, and the bosses are freakish and challenging enough to warrant a few repeat plays just to figure out how to totally destroy them the next time around.

Though they don't reinvent the core concept of the franchise, they do a fantastic job of cleaning up the aging mechanics and creating a Pokémon world you'd be crazy not to explore.

Two distinct gameplay styles see EA instil genuine change. Manager mode is great, and many areas of Ultimate Team are improved too, with attacking gamers rewarded in particular. EA Sports FC 26 serves up all the teams, all the kits, all the players – and all the goals, all the time.

If you skipped Sun and Moon last year, Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon are must-buys. Sci-fi storytelling, plenty of new content and adorable critters all included, but feels too soon a release to make the most of the innovation.

If anything, it feels as though the vast environments and detailed Pokémon are simply too much for the handheld. There are occasional framerate drops, and much of the game disables the 3D slider, which is a shame considering how many areas look as though they were designed specifically to take advantage of the added depth stereoscopic 3D delivers.

Blue Prince feels truly unique in how it takes a simple premise and fills it with multiple threads of mystery to pull at. This exploration roguelike is like nothing else I've played, and became a puzzle obsession I just couldn't shake across multiple runs where I always felt like I was discovering something new. Even after credits, the mysteries of Mt. Holly continue to surprise me.

A great game, and a fantastic addition to your collection that nicely compliments the more cartoony, fantasy world of Advance Wars.

Catherine is a breath of fresh air, an experience that is silly, fun, and serious all at once. Whether you're looking for a one-night stand or a long-term commitment, we highly recommend giving it a shot.

If any one aspect deserves a special shout-out, it's TTT2's music, which is primarily phenomenal. You know that awesome African safari stage from Super Street Fighter IV, with the amazingly catchy melody? Imagine if every other stage had such a mesmeric, enthralling score, and you've got TTT2's soundtrack in a nutshell.

If you skipped Sun and Moon last year, Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon are must-buys. Sci-fi storytelling, plenty of new content and adorable critters all included, but feels too soon a release to make the most of the innovation.

With the best Call of Duty campaign in years, and a tweaked movement system that comes to life in multiplayer, Black Ops 6 is both a return to form and a great entry point for new or lapsed players. Just don't expect it to do anything interesting with the Gulf War setting.

Beautiful, creative and filled with knitted joy, LittleBigPlanet 3 does however disappoint in its Adventure mode’s comparatively sparse content. Nonetheless, it hands over an impressive array of exceptional design tools for budding creators.

The game features a nice array of fun and challenging mental exercises that will push your working memory to its limits, and its improved presentation makes the whole experience much more personal.

Deadly Creatures isn’t quite spectacular, but it is a solid experience that never runs out of ideas and will keep throwing in surprises, satisfying combat, and a decent challenge.

SteamWorld Build is proof that the SteamWorld formula can be applied to almost any genre with its mix of city building and dungeon mining combining for quite the treat.

Spot-on Wolfenstein atmosphere combines with gleefully vicious weaponry to serve up a tasty smoothie of good old-fashioned Nazi-frying. It lacks in the new idea department, but it has fun aplenty.

As long as you're not expecting a profoundly original artistic vision, Bastion delivers on its gameplay. Bastion's main strengths are twofold – the combat is satisfying and varied, and the customization options are robust.

Catherine is a breath of fresh air, an experience that is silly, fun, and serious all at once. Whether you're looking for a one-night stand or a long-term commitment, we highly recommend giving it a shot.

Lumines Arise is just as effective as Tetris Effect, block matching to a beat becomes a transcendent experience with a radically different ruleset. This is an excellent evolution of the PSP original that uses a wide game board and a musical wipe to create a constant sense of teetering on the edge, daring you to build big combos even when they take you close to wiping out. Lumines Arise's brilliant visuals and synesthetic grooves wonderfully fit this already musically minded puzzle ruleset.

Price concerns aside, though, Warhawk packs a lot of depth into its rapid-fire multiplayer matches, and its sheer variety, rapid pace and endless fun make it a must-play for PS3 owners.

Flight Simulator X looks to have touched down six-to-twelve months too early for much of its target audience but, as its score reflects, it's an extraordinarily well-crafted piece of software and one of the most significant releases in flight simming history.

Funny, instantly accessible, tightly programmed, and undeniably enjoyable, Guitar Hero earns several encores. Grab your lighter and get ready to rock.

Admittedly, aspects of the story caught me off guard, with some instances of cartoonish violence (that aren't overly graphic) and Maevora serving as quite an unsettling antagonist in an otherwise charming backdrop. But there's a welcome helping of humor and touching moments in the mix that kept me invested. The standout moments of Tchia are always centered around the different people and communities you meet along the way, who each come together and share in a musical moment you can take part in with a rhythm mini game, or sit back and enjoy. Overall, Awaceb delivers a delightful, inventive adventure that I was happy to get lost in. Tchia really is wonderful in many respects.

Overall the frustration factor feels very low for a competitive shooter, yet at the same time it's very hardcore skill-based, so it can appeal to all skill levels. Even when we lost matches or got crappy kill/death ratios, we were still having fun, which can't be said for a lot of shooters out there.

Many Nights a Whisper is a narrative-focused experience where great writing is just the launching pad for you to bring the rest of the story – reflecting on how you feel about the upcoming ritual as you balance granting wishes and archery training. With one chance to land a single, perfect shot – few games have this tension and impact, really making me sit with how I felt about everything.

Another fast, fun, and technical Capcom fighting experience. The online code seems problematic, but that's hardly enough to sink what's otherwise another top-tier Capcom fighter. It's actually kind of amazing to see a fighter where literally half the cast is basically new.

A kaleidoscope of trippy, tracer-leaving characters parade across the screen, dazzling you into that state of catatonic play where concerns outside the game itself become completely irrelevant.

Executing killer spins, tricky drop shots and monster rallies makes Table Tennis a cult-worthy game that breeds unhealthy competition.