Blackout is as linear as first-person shooters get, and the control method is poor to say the least, but as a casual title it provides surprisingly epic shooting action.

NBA 2K24 is fantastic to play on the court, but Virtual Currency stops your everyday player from seeing any proper progression for hours.

If you're looking for a quick fix of addictive gameplay within a multiplayer environment, you can't go wrong with this.

If you're looking for a game you can pick up and play, as well as make you smile, this is certainly one to consider.

Plants Vs. Zombies: Battle For Neighborville Complete Edition is one of the better shooters on Nintendo Switch, with tons of content and modes to play around in. The framerate isn't great, and the lack of two-player split-screen is a shame, though.

Whilst some of the gun mechanics don't work as well as they should, there's still lots of missions, customisation, and a cracking electronic soundtrack in the vein of Hotline Miami.

The Serious Sam Collection is what it is: loud, stupid, colourful, amicably-offensive and a lot of fun – and for your money you’re getting an absolute wealth of shoot-em-up content.

What Nine Parchments lacks in depth it makes up for in shameless whimsey and colourful charm.

Come for the historical Japanese setting and story, stay for the pleasing, fast-paced combat. Spirit of Sanada puts combat, its best asset, front-and-centre, and it pays off.

The city is the true star of Second Son, and for that alone it is worth playing. However, you need to go in knowing that this is a refinement of the series, and not a revolution in terms of gameplay. The fact that Delsin can absorb other people’s powers means that you’re always getting new toys to play with, and Sucker Punch smartly avoid trying to be ultra serious.

It doesn’t reinvent the wheel and really struggles to get going, but for the most part it’s a nice variation on many mechanics we already know and love.

Combat is the traditional RTS “smash into each other experience” but it works well (despite the questionable unit AI), and building your castle is incredibly pleasing despite the dodgy interaction with terrain. Irritating moments such as the enemy Lord fights and generally high difficulty detract significantly from the game, but it’s still an enjoyable romp for any RTS fan.

Doom & Destiny Worlds is a fun little title that has a charming art style, although grinding can become frustrating the more you play.

Detective Pikachu Returns is a relaxing time in a universe full of characters you know and love, and it’ll make you laugh, but it won't be for everyone.

If you don’t go in expecting something groundbreaking, there’s a lot to like here, the simple elegance of the button-mashy combat and the broad range of skills and weapons offering enough variety to keep things fresh throughout an impressively-sized campaign.

The simplified gameplay mechanics and additional balancing ideas should provide a more level playing field to start off on. Longtime series fans, however, are likely to be left cold by this stripped-down title, which eschews the combo-juggling they are used to.

With all of the positives, then, its just a shame that infuriating checkpoints and shoddy bosses hold back what is otherwise a really enjoyable trip down memory lane. Charlie Murder never breaks new ground in terms of gameplay, but with a couple of fellow safety-pin pariahs by your side, there’s no doubting that this can be a hell of a ride.

With a fantastic story at its centre, it’s such a shame the open world is quiet and unappealing, and the control system struggles in hostile environments.

Futuridium EP Deluxe is a cracking little arcade game, best for playing a set of levels when you have a moment rather than a long gaming session, and while later levels can be a bit frustrating, playing it in small bites makes it much more enjoyable.

Ironcast is a solid strategy game, easy mechanics and a deep level of customisation makes it worth coming back to.

Octodad: Dadliest Catch is a rare beast, then, because it made me laugh out loud the first moment that I ambled down the aisle to meet my doting bride-to-be.

It might not always blow you away with originality, but Solo Leveling: ARISE is still a pretty enjoyable and involving adventure on PC.

The slow-burning start betrays a really engrossing game, let-down only by its rather repetitive firefights and laborious backtracking.

Telling a touching tale of a couple in a long distance relationship, A Fold Apart is a puzzle game with a bit of a difference and a whole lot of heart.

Whether it’s a snooker hall or a place out in the wider world somewhere, Puzzling Places is just… nice. Couple this with the fact they add new puzzles each month and you’ve a nice place to relax whenever you need it. It’s simple, but relaxing, and an easy recommendation.

While I’d recommend picking them up on iOS or something, they serve their purpose well.

After 26 years, Beyond A Steel Sky is a strange yet welcome sequel. Not quite fresh enough to stand alone nor nostalgic enough to stir the memory, it nevertheless manages to thoroughly entertain if not thrill.

A startlingly realistic rendition of Kayaking that matches the reality of being in a small boat out at sea. If you know how to move, it’ll surprise you how well it reacts, and there are even rocks you can physically push off to get moving. With interesting locations, pretty scenery, and weather that can be turned up or down, this is both a good workout if you want it, and a nice serene place to relax.

While I’d recommend picking them up on iOS or something, they serve their purpose well.

Digimon Survive is an incredibly unique visual novel hybrid, that’s ultimately let down by the combat.

Moonscars is an intentionally bleak adventure in an unforgiving world, but players who seek a genuine challenge will certainly find it here.

It remains close to the spirit of the series in many ways – even throwing in a handful of in-jokes and references to characters and locations from Season One – but in other ways it seems to veer away sharply from what we expect.

Where NHL 15 falls down is with its replayability and game modes. Not only are fan favorite modes missing, but the ones we do get are not feature complete. If you can deal with only having a few modes, then NHL 15 is well worth buying, but the lack of variation is sure to become an issue over time.

MXGP 2020 feels like it was made for those who already enjoy the series. Whilst the gameplay is solid enough, it is often unforgiving, and with little in the way of new modes, you'll likely grow tired quickly.

Simulacra is a solid horror game with some good ideas. If you can overlook the voice acting, there's a fun, unnerving experience to be had.

AO Tennis 2 is a good-looking tennis title with plenty of things to tinker and tweak with. However the fiddly controls and limited roster mar the experience.

Whilst Far Cry New Dawn isn't a completely new Experience, it does have a few features that give it new life, and despite the bugs and weak story, it was nice revisiting Hope County.

I particularly enjoyed the nods to What the Golf? Within What the Bat? Which genuinely made me laugh. While you’ll need a bit of room to move in order to fully appreciate this one, it’s worth it for the laughs alone.

Sunday Gold may not be pretty, but it's certainly stylish, and a few fresh ideas help make up for its shortcomings.

If you have the patience then you can't really complain about a game of this quality that you can play for free. Transformers Earth Wars is actually worth a download.

Alwa's Legacy is a pleasant little game that does a lot of things right, but nothing spectacularly. It's fun, if a little forgettable.

Stuffed full of big explosions, frantic combat and wilful bombast, Marlow Briggs and the Mask of Death is a surprisingly enjoyable action-adventure that remains just about competent enough throughout to justify the fun it has at the expense of its own genre.

An inoffensive yet unspectacular game that pleases through being something different and relaxing.

Patapon Remastered is let down by an input lag issue and some low resolution assets ruining an otherwise fantastic game.

Greedfall is held back by performance issues and a tendency to fill its space with tedious padding, but it’s saved by fun combat and an intriguing story.

Kao the Kangaroo is a fun throwback to platformers of the noughties, but it has a few issues that really hold it back.

Tackling a topic like Syria is difficult, but not when it’s created by a refugee of the civil war. Abdullah Karam tells his story with surprising humour, and while that doesn’t always work, it still results in the beginnings of a unique war story.

Defense Grid 2 may not be the most original idea, and lacks any real character in its story and presentation, but it is the unique gameplay ideas that make it a success.

If you don’t like the series this won’t convert you, but if you do, well, you already know what you’re getting.

Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai is a great introduction to the Dragon Quest anime, but will be too story heavy for some.

Ultimately, how much you like Narco Terror will be down to a few key factors: how sophisticated your taste in games really is, what decade you grew up in, and whether you would rather sit down in front of a Dolph Lundgren movie or a highbrow talkie indie movie fresh off the critics’ hot-list at the Sundance Festival.

It is as intense a game as I have played in recent times and I did get close to smashing a few things in frustration – it is as unforgiving as they come. A fast paced, pick-up-and-play, run-and-gun dungeon crawler that may impress the hardcore – if it doesn’t drive them insane.

The Spirit of the Samurai is a gorgeous game to look at, and while it can be enjoyable to play, some of the movement and combat is stiff.

Dark and Deep has some good ideas and some of the environments are well-designed, but movement feels clunky at times.

An entertaining game for kids best enjoyed in short bursts.

Crash Team Rumble is a well-designed title with a surprisingly good gameplay loop, but it feels a little empty at the moment.

Knee Deep has some interesting and fun mechanics and delivers a reasonable mystery. It is just a shame that the quality shown at the beginning doesn’t last until the end.

A decent enough racer slowed down by microtransactions and an awful story.

Overall, the Switch version is an excellent port of the previous remaster with the same additional content available once you have completed the main story. There is very little to distinguish this version from the previously released HD remasters, the only difference being the portability option that the Switch console offers.

Young children are going to find plenty to keep them invested with or without it. It looks lovely and there's lots to do, but it feels a little safe by today's standards.

Broken Age does a fine job of creating an outlandish world populated by interesting characters, but is let-down somewhat by its core gameplay.

The controls are spot on and the levels are short enough for quick bursts of play. I would have liked to see a bit more variety in the levels and some actual challenge, but there’s a foundation here that BeaverTap Games can easily work on for future Mikey games.

Snake Pass is a unique take on the classic puzzle platformer with a genuinely inventive style of movement that reinvents the genre, but a difficult camera and archaic save system takes some of the shine off.

Pick up Tombstar if you’re looking for a time-killer that will challenge you and offer a little catharsis, but don’t go in expecting big things.

Hidden Folks is a little obtuse at times but otherwise it’s delightful and compelling.

If you like to be pushed to the absolute limit, the twitch-heavy gameplay and punishing level design will do just that, crushing your spirit along the way.

The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing takes its influences from the best, and although it can’t match that high quality, this Extended Edition is the best version of NeoCore’s action RPG. Worth playing.

Strider doesn’t do anything exceptionally well, but we get so few good Metroid-Vania style games these days that it’s still definitely worth a play. On higher difficulties it will require skill, but otherwise Strider is a brainless exercise in platforming, exploration, and (button mashing) ninja combat.

Hollowbody is a classic survival horror experience which will delight fans of those PS2-era frights, but some of the dated elements will frustrate.

Capcom Arcade 2nd Stadium is a beautifully presented package which includes a decent strike rate of two thirds bangers to a third of borderline unplayable turds.

Automachef is a well-executed but niche puzzler. If you enjoy logic puzzles, and building and creating things, then there's a lot to like here.

A beautiful mystery, with gorgeous visuals and a sublimely moving soundtrack.

Star Wars Episode I: Jedi Power Battles is a blaster shot from the past, with fun beat-em-up action slightly let down by dodgy platforming.

Spidersaurs is loveable, looks fantastic, and nowhere near as hostile and hardcore as the games that inspired it.

Farmagia has fun and flashy combat, but its lack of depth and threadbare farming ultimately make it hard to recommend.

If you're not looking for anything particularly original, American Fugitive is a decent adventure with enough good ideas and atmosphere to keep you interested.

Whilst Dead in Vinland is a decent survival game, it can be punishing if you're not constantly managing every facet of your party.

The Switch port is great in handheld mode. In fact, that seems to be a trend with many indie releases where they focus on the handheld aspect and the docked output is sub native. Volgarr could look sharper docked but there hasn’t been a patch to address this since launch. On handheld it looks great and plays well. Volgarr in general feels like a recreation of a very old game with some modern mechanics added for a fun experience. It will take you a ton of effort to get the best ending though.

Wolfenstein: Youngblood is a fun if slightly buggy shooter, made more interesting with the addition of a friend to help you punch Nazis to the face.

The campaign itself is quite lengthy with some of the later puzzles taking a little bit more to work out, but the game does such a fantastic job of gradually introducing new ideas that nothing feels insurmountable. It doesn’t feel quite as polished as it did when I played it on Xbox One, however it feels great to sit and muddle my way through the clever puzzles again, especially in handheld mode.

Alice VR doesn’t have the most engaging puzzles, and its slow pace may be off-putting to some, but this VR ‘walking simulator’ through a sci-fi re-imagining of Wonderland is a beautiful, trippy and clever experience.

Her Majesty’s Spiffing has some of the sharpest, funniest writing I’ve seen in a games and it has the rare accolade of being a point-and-click adventure that follows actual real life logic. But it’s all over far too soon and leaves an unsatisfied feeling with plot threads just left hanging.

Operencia: The Stolden Sun is a decent slice of adventuring fun that feels like a bit of a weird fit for the Switch but functions well on Nintendo’s console nevertheless, and often feels unique, though rarely essential.

Beautiful, charming and touching, Song of the Deep provides an enjoyable, worthy adventure despite its issues.

Essentially this is a bare-bones port of a decent hack ‘n’ slash action-RPG.

This is more Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth which is great but also has a lot of reused assets sadly.

Live A Live is a neat little curio that warrants a look, but there's a huge variety in not just story, but the quality of the action as well.

Constantly having to do things keeps you interested, and never did I feel like I was just a passenger. A few more unique ideas such as the ray gun and we could have been looking at a truly revolutionary game, but as it is, Beware Planet Earth! only changes the formula slightly.

As stunt games go, Pumped BMX+ is solid fun if a little light on variety. There's enough challenge here to keep you busy for a while, but it doesn't compare to the likes of Trials or Olli Olli in terms of addictive thrills.

The multiple endings are fairly varied as well although many of them are a bit sad in comparison to the other otome games I’ve played. The lack of voice acting is very disappointing though.

Scott Pilgrim vs the World: The Game - Complete Edition may not be on a par with Streets of Rage 4 and co, but playing with friend makes it a much better experience.

A nice mixture of card RPG and real-time combat, Hand of Fate 2 offers near endless gameplay that’s genuinely fun and atmospheric.

The story is stunning, as we’ve come to expect, but it doesn’t quite scale the heights of the main game’s campaign.

Tokyo 2020 is a decent entry in the Mario & Sonic series, with plenty of content and charm, but control inconsistency and lack of personalisation can mar the multiplayer fun.

Fe is very pretty, and the music is equally stunning. It's a wonderful little game let down by some drawn out puzzles and some tricky climbing mechanics.

The relatively gratifying story and straightforward puzzles aren’t the real reasons to visit Red Creek Valley. The location is a good enough reason itself. More often than not people look to graphics as an indication for this medium’s progression and even though that’s somewhat of a falsehood, it has to be said that this spirit story’s looks are otherworldly.

City of Colors blends the aesthetic stylings of platformers past with design concepts taken from modern classics. While this meeting of the times may not be a constant success, there’s enough gorgeous art and frequent, snapshot ideas here to satisfy any gamer’s dietary requirement of primary colours.

Although not revolutionary, After Dark still brings some great new features to the table.