Mario vs Donkey Kong is a charming puzzler that’s great in short bursts, but the repetitive formula, short length, and occasionally frustrating controls leave it paling in comparison to other top-tier Mario outings on Switch.

More casual players of the series who just want to experience the racing on offer will find much less to write home about in F1 24. To an unseasoned eye, the experience here is largely similar to last year’s offering, with one track fewer and sans the continuation of Braking Point, which is a bi-annual affair. As such, F1 24 is a mis-season refresh, and a much harder sell than usual with this yearly release.

The sweet heart of Toriyama beats here, but it alone can’t help to make Sand Land compelling for most.

Ultimately, The Sims 4 Horse Ranch feels more like a Game Pack than an Expansion. If you're mad about horses, then you'll get immeasurable joy from the DLC, and it will be well worth your time just to see your foals take their first steps on your ranch. However, if you're expecting a full-fledged Expansion with everything that comes with that, full neighbourhoods, activities, storylines and more, you may feel disappointed.

With a poor story mode offering, wildly expensive microtransactions, and visibility issues that really hamper gameplay, I can't see Foamstars making waves in the sea of multiplayer shooters that already exists.

Mundfish bit off more than it could chew, leading to a lot of half-baked ideas that should have been scrapped and reigned in. It makes the game's greatest moments ultimately bittersweet, as deep down there is potential for something excellent.

The game certainly gets better as time goes on, and the story is well-told enough that it's worth experiencing for survival horror fans. However, it comes with the caveats that the overall gameplay leaves a lot to be desired, and its survival horror contemporaries just do a better job on nearly every front.

Sonic Superstars ultimately gets bogged down in how it regularly sidetracks the player, tripping them up at almost every conceivable opportunity. There are glimmers of brilliance that occasionally shine through, but the overall experience was a tiresome one to play through.

There are things to love here, and there is visible potential within reach. A lot of the major problems with this game could be fixed. That said, with combat as poor and as prevalent as this, Stray Blade is very difficult to recommend to anyone.

Madden NFL 24 feels like it needs a team talk that'll ruffle some feathers, but without it, the franchise feels like it'll be doomed to repeat the same season again, and again. It's time for EA to break the cycle, but if history is anything to go by, we could be approaching a redemption story.

Dead Island 2 could have been the Return of the Living Dead of zombie video games, making for an irreverent, B-movie romp through an undead-filled LA, but it just ends up marginally better than the original game without ever approaching its full potential. The improved combat is the game's main saving grace, but it isn't enough to redeem the shallow progression mechanics, inconsistent tone, and unfocused story.

While its choice-based gameplay is starting to feel meaningful, it's all dragged down by a narrative hook that's already been presented arguably better in the show and dull gameplay. Sadly, my confidence in the direction of the series is not going in a positive direction anymore - and most of my thoughts are looking back on what could have been, rather than ahead on what could happen next.

Wo Long is a hair's breadth from cohesiveness, but much like the game's antagonists, it slips through your fingers just when you think you've got it. Come on, Team Ninja. You've almost got it.

Overall, there are better games that achieve the same and more. Deceit 2 is worth picking up perhaps, once there have been some balancing adjustments and once more maps, Terror mutations, roles and skins get introduced.

With repetitive puzzles and monotonous battles against the same eight enemy types over and over again, Funko Fusion is a prime example of how raw nostalgia can only carry a game so far. While there are plenty of characters to play as, and the art style is inoffensive, Funko Fusion is ultimately an experience that's best avoided unless you're a diehard fan of Universal properties.

Crime Boss Rockay City is a cautionary tale for how to effectively budget a video game, and a prime example of how games need to feel and play well first and foremost. There are good ideas buried deep within this game, and the roguelike/Payday combination is a genuinely novel concept I'd love to see explored in a project with more focus. However, using a voice cast of Hollywood talent past their prime is a choice that doesn't add anything to the game, and it's not enough to distract me from the shallow gameplay that was already done much better ten years ago.

The Expanse: A Telltale Series Episode 4 is largely forgettable, following the same blueprint of the previous episode: a slog of dull gameplay that occupies most of the runtime before a brief end finally picks up enough momentum to jolt you awake for the credits. However, this time you aren't even presented with a single meaningful choice set piece to ground the events in your own interpretation of the character, displaying such a stark lack of player agency that it doesn't even feel much like a Telltale game.

Despite enjoying some aspects though, Forspoken was unfortunately overall an incredibly disappointing experience. I can absolutely see it working for those who just want an open world with things to tick off, but any form of substance beyond busy work is severely lacking within the world of Athia. It was rather unsurprising to see the game label its side quests as 'detours' - momentary distractions from the driving path. But you quickly figure out once you rejoin the main road that it is, unfortunately, leading to very little.

What’s unforgivable is that, at its core, South Park: Snow Day! isn’t remotely fun to play. Its combat and progression systems aren’t engaging, and only the most hardcore of South Park fans will find a glimmer of hope in the bulletproof humour that’s borrowed from the cartoon.

There are brief windows within Skull and Bones where I can see some remnants of passion. Everything else is a chore. A predictable one, considering the game’s delays and development issues, but a disappointment all the same.

It was always going to be tough to pull off a Gollum game, but there’s simply nothing precious about this amateur stealth adventure. A general lack of refinement lurks in every shadowy corner of LotR: Gollum, a game disappointingly barren of interesting ideas or substantial gameplay. Even the most loyal Lord of the Rings fans will struggle through it. If you value your time, do yourself a favour and avoid it like the Eye of Sauron.

Though there are flashes of fun in Tin Hearts, it ultimately fails to follow through on its promises to supply intriguing puzzles at the same time as telling an intimate story. Of course, there is still the VR version of the game to come, and while there will presumably be some positive changes, especially when it comes to camera angles and the slowness of movement, it's also hard to expect that Tin Hearts may become the next VR must-play.

Redfall tries to bite far more than it can chew and delivers a package with a middling presentation, a lack of interesting mechanics, and some pretty woeful performance. Despite its issues, and perhaps like its cultists, I want to love it - it just won't love me back.