Call it Before They Were RPGs: a trip back to the days when the genre was simple, looked bad, and just wanted to be taken as seriously as the other, cooler genres.

Somewhere amongst all of the clunky design decisions is the charming style that made the LEGO series so popular. The game just oozes charisma, and as long as you're not banging your head against the wall trying to figure out what to do next, it's solid, lightweight fun (especially when played co-operatively).

If you really want to know all about the Nintendo Switch 2 and its various features as a product, there's no better way than playing Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour. But if you're looking for a truly engaging experience, you're in the wrong place.

Microgame madness marred by overcomplications, WarioWare: Get It Together dissolves the fun with frustration.

WWII Aces is a decent title that is meant to be played cooperatively. So long as you have another friend close by, the $40 shouldn't sting your wallet too much.

Stripped down from a car-crime game into a bizarre action-strategy hybrid, The Godfather: Mob Wars actually works pretty well, provided you're not expecting much exploration or any driving. If you've already played through any of the console versions, though, the repeated missions and cutscenes are guaranteed to get tedious.

If you're not too keen on soccer or table tennis, then feel free to knock a few points off this score, since those are the main reasons to play the game.

Avalon Code's story props up the experience even if the game's combat feels punishing, bordering on unfair, and if you're an old school RPG scholar this one deserves some study.

A snappy, fun campaign full of great VO ends too soon, and the game-as-service that comes after is paper thin.

It's just that the intense complexity and cramped screen real-estate kept it from being the accessible, instantly lovable smash-bang, super hero-em-up that the comics themselves are.

The point is, like the rest of this game, the story is okay. But just okay. And it only lasts maybe ten hours, though online-enabled multiplayer matches can extend that a bit. And to be honest, without more innovation (sorry, touch-screen minigames aren’t really new) it really doesn’t deserve to be any longer.

This season, EA has made it easy to skip March Madness. Let's hope it's the end of the era once and for all, lest they continue to heap insults upon hoops fans that deserve something other than microwaved leftovers.

Unfortunately, the repetitive battle tactics and bland storyline get stale after a few rounds, and all but the most dedicated Trekophiles will likely ditch it for more varied (and plentiful) strategic DS fare.

Konductra can be fun, or frustrating. And while it can be fun for the right reasons, it will be frustrating for the wrong reasons. We’re hoping a sequel can really improve on its premise.

Date Everything is a masterclass in character design, full of wonderful faces based on everyday household objects that spring to life who I love getting to meet. Still, juggling 100 characters is an ambitious undertaking, and a lack of nuance means some feel flatter than others, sacrificing some depth. Date Everything is at its best embracing interpersonal dynamics that make the house feel alive. Still, it's well worth working from home for this.

The early hours of CounterSpy's stylish combo of stealth and shooting are worth a playthrough, but after it leaves its sneakiness behind, it's a sub-par cover shooter that's half as fun.

A solid football title that you probably don’t need to play. Make some roster adjustments to 08 (or even 07) or, better yet, make the move to next-gen consoles and start soaking in some big-time NFL atmosphere. Your $40 will thank you.

That’s the real root of the problem with King of Fighters: The Orochi Saga. This series barely evolves at all, so this is a grouping of five versions of essentially the same game.

The combat, for the most part, is satisfying and visceral, and the story, at times, is genuinely compelling. A mostly entertaining experience, it's marred by some terrible flaws and a handful of moments of unadulterated rage; much, we'd expect, like actually selling one's soul.

The original PS2 and Xbox versions of Capcom Classics Collection - which had an undeniably better selection of games - debuted at $19.99, yet this portable version is twice as expensive. We're guessing Sony's PSP publishing rules have more to do with this than Capcom's bank account does, but it sucks either way.

The combat, for the most part, is satisfying and visceral, and the story, at times, is genuinely compelling. A mostly entertaining experience, it's marred by some terrible flaws and a handful of moments of unadulterated rage; much, we'd expect, like actually selling one's soul.

Vets of the franchise will likely be taken aback by how brutal it is to achieve a victory in even the early skirmishes, while newcomers won’t have a clue how to do much of anything. Heck, even the tutorials are rough.

What you're left with is a basic game that follows in the horde of footsteps of the series that has come before it: it's serviceable but uninspired, and won't do much for you unless you're a big fan of either of the source materials. Predictable, right?

A solid platformer with some nice visuals and simple but enjoyable gameplay. It doesn't have any huge, glaring deficiencies to speak of, but at the same time, it's simply not cut from the sort of stock that makes a classic.

Evoking the essence of late-'90s platforming without significantly modernising it, Yooka-Laylee is a game with noble aspirations, grounded by clumsily flawed execution.

NeoGeo Heroes has good things going for it – a great premise, fantastic boss encounters, and a load of extras for a very reasonable price. Frequently dull levels suck out a lot of the charm, however, and the game's biggest selling point – SNK nostalgia – is completely underutilized. In the end, NeoGeo Heroes feels like a fun idea executed merely adequately instead of spectacularly.

An interesting change of pace for a first person shooter that has some nice ideas and mechanics, but can’t quite get everything to sing.

Escape Plan is a fantastic concept, and one that often makes use of the system's greatest features to amazing success, but the final product left a great deal to be desired, and left us more than a little conflicted.