Echo Prime has a nice idea at its core, but it is let down almost every step of the way by run-of-the-mill, uninspired execution.

The real Paradox, then, is what exactly this game wants to be: visual novel or hardcore dungeon crawler. What’s here is entertaining enough, no need to worry about that, but you’ll enjoy it more once you accept that you’ve got a slightly sleazy schizophrenic on your hands.

It’s yet another example of what the 360 and PS3 are capable of – a genuinely stunning creation that packs 40 to 50 hours of content into a beautiful, compelling world that begs to be explored.

WWE 2K14 lacks the kind of measured, patient gameplay that made classic wrestling games so great to play, and sticks to its arcade guns and goes for fun, rather than simulation.

For those that are completists, who want to eke every drop out of their Layton, there is a staggering amount of depth here, not just from the multiple puzzles,but from the way all of the mini-games are directly tied into the main adventure, and the Treasure Hunt mode can actually provide a beneficial reason to keep your idling 3DS in your pocket, lest you have a cheeky StreetPass encounter that will unlock a juicy reward.

A top game and the best of its kind. It suits all comers, and is the most complete management sim yet.

Mega Dead Pixel fails to bring any great ideas to the table, and is not particularly fun to play.

Forced is an enjoyable experience, more or less. The combat is fluid but feels a little too loose and unsatisfying, as though you’re not quite connecting that large axe with that demon’s face. The mark system is a brave attempt but kind of unnecessary at times, while Balfus is useful in single-player but potentially all over the place in co-op mode.

On the 360 the uses of Smartglass are minimal, but pretty cool nonetheless, allowing you to use your phone or tablet to perform the Hacking minigame or manage your skills and inventory. It’s very cool, and certainly feels very “digital age”, but it’s not much quicker or easier than using the controller.

More of the Ace Attorney you know and love. With five full cases (plus an extra DLC case to purchase and download), each lasting tons of hours, there’s a full game here for a relatively cheap price.

How to Survive is more fun than it has a right to be. Schlocky voice-acting and ropey, ugly aesthetics can’t get in the way of what is a very addictive little Action-RPG with elements of Dead Island’s crafting system and State of Decay’s resource management.

Unfortunately the core game underneath the gloss and stacks of features is no better than the first Wii Party – and in many ways is actually worse. 80 minigames had better have a good strike-rate or they become a procession of annoying interludes; there are only so many ways you can throw a dice and move around a track.

Whether you’re looking to learn guitar, brush up on your existing skills or looking for something to practising your current skills with, Rocksmith 2014 scratches all of the guitar-based itches you could possibly hope for.

Pocket Titans really grows on you, and will keep you coming back to the battlefield for one last quest.

Give in to that inner-child and enjoy what is a terrific, entertaining game that absolutely anyone will love, because this is easily the best Skylanders game to date.

The gaming equivalent of a knock-off Rolex, Girl Fight takes all the concepts and themes of Dead or Alive, imitates its combat’s mechanics with no idea how to make them enjoyable, plays up its more repulsive features, and pretends to be the real deal when it’s nothing more than a cheap, tacky, disposable imitation.

There are faults, however, such as a few terrible design decisions that can make things incredibly frustrating on occasion. However, if you can get past those issues, you’ll see a game that picks some of the best elements of modern and classic Sonic games and combines them with new elements to make the Blue Blur feel fresh again.

Even though the hedgehog’s deceleration is a resounding success, that precision in gameplay is hindered by a temperamental homing attack and subsequent cheap deaths. That aside, though, Sonic Lost World is unquestionably a return to form and a reason to care again – thankfully without the rose-tinted specs.

Sure, the new game mode is a little disappointing, and existing modes could have done with at least a small update, but these are minor complaints in what is easily the finest basketball gameplay seen to date – and arguably one of the greatest sporting simulations of all time.

If you’re in need of a distraction then Ricochet does enough to amuse, but anyone with sights for something even slightly robust should investigate other avenues.

With a compelling story that keeps you guessing, and a pin-point utilisation of the platform, Device 6 is an accomplishment in games design, mobile or otherwise.

If you can handle the grind, there is a lot of RPG content here; at the very least, it certainly feels like this mobile version would be a nice accompaniment to the browser version.

Unquestionably the finest Pokémon game for years, Y offers a huge challenge in many other ways than just the battles – and there is so much to enjoy.

Crucially, it also offers great value, with a ton to see and do and some well-worked cross platform opportunities.

Unique and emotional in so many ways, while tackling issues rarely before seen in videogames, it can be safely said without any hyperbole that this is one of the most important artistic creations ever to come out of Ireland.

Managing to create a prequel story for a universe that had already existed for over ten years, that has spanned different art styles and spun many stories, is no mean feat, but on the basis of this first episode, it looks as though The Wolf Among Us is a worthy addition to the world of Fables.

With the benefit of some great training tutorials, before long anyone can be carrying out line changes, deking with the best of them and carrying out a brilliant selection of slapshots, pivots and, of course, brutal punches to the face.

Ellen Page has given the performance of her life and David Cage has penned the best script of his. When AAA releases are serving up so much similarity, Quantic Dream buck the trend and offer something different. Don’t put your PlayStation 3 back in its box just yet, or you’ll miss the studio’s biggest triumph to date.

The beginning of a really good crafting game is right here. It’s unpolished in places, and it could really do with some sort of social interaction/sharing, but its simplicity makes for a good introduction to the genre. It’s rewarding, if a little grindy in its initial few hours, but crafting fanatics will lap this up.

Dragon’s Crown is big and brash and silly, and owes as much to the fantasy RPGs of the world as it does to the side-scrolling brawlers.

Shadow Warrior is a wild ride; crazy, hilarious and fun. It’s an old-school wolf in modern clothing that plays and feels just like the classic 90’s shooters we all fondly remember. Though it tries a bit too hard in some areas, it can’t be faulted for at least trying to elevate itself above other shooters.

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.

Overall, the Raven is greater than the sum of its parts, with the strong start overshadowing the shortcomings of the 2nd and 3rd chapters. KING Art could be accused of putting more effort into the opening charge and failing to keep up the momentum with the subsequent releases but, as a whole, The Raven is still a very worthy adversary for adventure-loving opponents.

The game really demands that you invest a lot of time in it before you see your labour bear significant fruit. Of course, seasoned players coming from previous iterations will be able to pick things up more easily, and this is perhaps who the title is aimed at. Those fans will find much to appreciate, as what F1 2013 does, it does with a great level of detail and precision.

A competent, though uncomplicated, puzzle effort, with a decidedly average storytelling style. The invisibility mechanic is also a wonderful idea, yet flawed in execution. Rain has moments of greatness, particularly in the way it is framed, but overall, it drizzles to a close.

Clunky UI, appalling gameplay, broken and buggy mechanics mean Takedown: Red Sabre should be avoided at all cost.

The production values are top-notch, especially for a game that comes with such a low price tag. However, while I’m not normally one to criticise lifespan, especially in a low-priced game, something about Last Knight just didn’t keep my interest long enough to make it a truly great recommendation.

Disgaea D2 is a silly game, but it’s a surprisingly smart one, too. A little grind-y it may be, but it’s still impossible to deny that it remains entertaining in its story scenes and engaging in its combat.

Challenging, fast and exciting, AiRace Speed is as fun as it is fast. It’s got that “one more go” factor, and provides a couple of hours of twitch gameplay for less than a fiver.

Simple controls and amazing areas to explore make the game a pleasure to play, I just wish there was more of it to enjoy.

What Dodge This! does, it does fairly well (slow-down aside), but there is little here that will make it stand out against the swathes of competition.

Eventually, you’ll have access to a ton of content and many hours of gameplay. A New Beginning is a good entry point for those new to the series, and certainly worth a look for fans – just be aware that the typically slow pace of the franchise is even slower here.

Curve Studios have helped adapt Jasper Byrne’s effort perfectly for both PS3 and Vita, giving console gamers a chance to witness one of the creepier and more unsettling examples of the genre in quite some time.

Fans of the previous games or the anime will not be disappointed, whereas newcomers to the series may find the game a little confusing and slow-paced for the first few hours. However, persevere, and the pace quickly picks up and becomes much more enjoyable.

Alien Rage feels like a love letter to first person shooters from the very first moment you’re dumped onto a giant rock hurtling through space. It pokes fun at the genre in all the right places but, when it needs to get down to business and actually feel like a decent shooter, it does that well too.

Thanks to the gameplay changes alone, FIFA 14 is an essential purchase for any football gaming fan. It feels so different that it may even gain back long-term fans lost along the way, though there’s also a risk that EA Sports might lose a few for the same reasons.

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers is a long, convoluted name for a confounding, deceptive, mischievous, compelling game.

It deserves a wider audience, with Konami clearly having a corking engine on their hands in the Fox. Still, minor issues aside, this is a great way for the series to bow out on the current hardware.

It is undoubtedly an excellent effort, which breathes new life into a decade-old title, and is a bright and arresting way for Link to debut in HD. What Nintendo need to do now is set about crafting something more than just a do-over, and move the wonderful old series forward on their richly promising hardware.

If you’re looking for a more cerebral approach to horror, you’re going to be disappointed with Outlast. There isn’t much depth – or replayability, for that matter -in this short, nightmarish rollercoaster, but it will make you jump more than once.

Visual shortcomings and questionable first impressions aside, Foul Play is a cheery, bright-eyed, delightful roaming beat-em-up that, through superior, fluid and engrossing combat mechanics, has arguably swiped the crown of Beat-’em-up King right off of Castle Crashers' head.

Make no mistake: this game is beyond heavyweight. In many ways, Grand Theft Auto V is a culmination of the current generation; it’s a summation of everything we’ve seen in the last eight years, a love letter, if you like, to the 360 and the PS3.

Challenging yet rewarding, this is a game that is at its best when the player is experimental with their strategies.

Elminage is not a bad game, but it feels woefully out of place in today’s market. That said, it does have a very specific target audience, and those particular gamers will lap it up. Slow-paced, dated, and under-explained in every department, the less-than-stellar localisation only compounds all of Elminage Original’s issues and ensures that only die-hard genre fans will truly enjoy it.

This anthology is worth picking up for Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix alone – the other items herein are delicious cherries on top of a massive sundae of RPG goodness, sprinkled with Disney magic.

The problems that plagued the original 2010 launch have been all but completely eradicated, and A Realm Reborn has the potential to be a truly stunning MMORPG. While the early quests are too simple, too undemanding and too familiar for RPG veterans, they do serve as a fine entry point to help acclimatise you to the world.

It isn’t a perfect encapsulation of the sport, but it is the best one to have appeared on any handheld in recent memory, and one which makes fine use of the Unreal Engine to generate some high-fidelity looks on the Vita’s OLED screen.

The idea of playing a game from the perspective of both thief and investigator is a fascinating one – especially when the two points of view overlap and interact – but Ancestry of Lies doesn’t manage to pull off this idea with the polish or precision required.

As addictive and accessible as ever, Diablo 3 on consoles is a fit more comfortable than anyone predicted, and proves that Blizzard not only listen to their fans, but are willing to walk the extra mile even for a port. Especially in this day and age, that’s an impressive ethic.

A Machine for Pigs achieves exactly what it sets out to do, and weaves an interesting and engaging narrative around a core of pure terror. It has some shortcomings, and fans of the original may be slightly disappointed with the removal of certain features, but the game is still terrifying, immersive and well crafted.

Castle of Illusion does a commendable job of feeling both modern and old-fashioned at the same time.

There is no denying that the physics and physicality are seriously impressive – if the Infinity 2 engine is able to deliver so impressively, then we are eager to see how the Ignite Engine will make a difference when sports games start to arrive on the next generation of consoles.

The juxtaposition of cartoonish humour with incredibly dark and macabre imagery and story direction means that even after playing for several hours you’ll still find things to surprise and shock you.

Legends is still a wonderful game, and the tight controls work incredibly well on the Vita – I am particularly fond of the sticks. With the challenge mode present and a good amount of content to get through (including the Back to Origins levels), this is still an excellent game, if ever so slightly inferior to the versions that have come before it.

Incredible to look at, to listen to, but most importantly to play, Sony should be pushing this one to the moon as a prime reason to own their excellent handheld.

Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate is the ultimate version of Dead or Alive 5 (to date), but its additions serve more to please existing Team Ninja fanatics than to make the game more appealing to a general audience.

Inexcusable glitches, unresponsive controls, broken combat, bizarre gameplay design (hacking games, really?), unfair enemies and completely unnecessary loading times make for a monumental disappointment.

There is no question: this is the version of Spelunky that you should purchase. Even though the game was released on Xbox 360 over a year ago, the cross save and cross buy interaction between PS3 and Vita – along with the Vita’s ability to deliver instantaneous spelunking – make this the ultimate port of a superb game.

It’s by no means easy, and takes a hefty investment of time to fully appreciate. Even after the tutorial prologue, you’ll have a lot to learn, but it’s a testament to the developers that they were able to create an engrossing game that draws you in even with such a steep learning curve.

Splatter: Just Harder Times is an ill-conceived, poorly made game that has almost no redeeming qualities. Everything about the game screams mediocrity, and it’s hard to recommend it to even fans of the genre.

It’s an old-school, extremely lengthy, extremely difficult affair which harkens back to a time when a game could and would kick your ass and send you crying to your mummy.

Next time I see that Omega Force logo I might just get excited instead of nauseous.

A blissful, almost trance-like state can be achieved when playing Race the Sun, and despite being a game that slowly reveals itself to you, rewarding you for getting better, this is worth shouting about.

Taking cues from its contemporaries, particularly Metal Gear Rising Revengeance, Grasshopper’s hack and slash tale of moon power and misogyny is an entertaining diversion, particularly narratively and artistically, but its gameplay unfortunately lacks the inventiveness or ingenuity to see it mature into a truly timeless action game.

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

It’s not perfect, no, but it brings such joy to the player that it’s impossible not to fall utterly, head-over-heels in love with it. Aside from online multiplayer, it’s tricky to know just what else Ubisoft Montpellier could have brought to the table here, as there really is such a high level of detail, care and love for their product.

Dropchord plays much better on the smaller screens of the iPhone/iPod Touch as opposed to the iPad, due to the two thumb control method.

The story could have done with a little bit more fine-tuning and the actor playing Conrad would have done a bit better if he hadn’t been channelling every single cheesy 80′s movie star simultaneously, but the gameplay, the bit that’s most important when it comes to an actual game, is enjoyable from beginning to end.

Sure, Open Me! isn’t thrilling in terms of graphics, but the puzzles here aren’t child’s play and other than a few hiccups that the tech can’t escape, it’s a responsive effort.

When it works, Plants Vs. Zombies 2 is a delight, and the in-app purchases nearly work, and are at least an interesting attempt at trying to do them in a slightly different way. Unfortunately, through a combination of grinding and an obvious clawing for your money, the wonderful character and soul from the previous game has been tarnished ever so slightly.

It looks gorgeous, controls like a dream, and when it’s putting its ideas to the fore in a sensible manner then it has some genuinely delightful ideas, but when you really start to analyse things and think about it with a harsh critical light, it effectively turns out to be all bust and no brains.

Divekick is brilliant, you’ve just got to play it. You might not understand the humour, but nestled under that layer of in-jokes is an exquisite competitive game, and you might just understand fighting games a little bit more for playing it.

The Bureau: XCOM Declassified is a good shooter occasionally elevated beyond that by its subject matter. Unfortunately, every time it has a really good idea, someone else has already done it.

Pokémon Rumble U is a very simplistic game, but a very fun one.

The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition showed us that you can completely re-tread an old classic, provided that you update it with some real care and affection. Unfortunately Leisure Suit Larry: Reloaded just doesn’t feel like it has had this same care applied to it.

It’s not always user-friendly, but it is incredibly unique and often very funny, which makes its difficulty all the more incongruous. The biggest problem is that it just doesn’t feel tight enough, and the input system is far too haphazard for precision. And yet, it’s hugely likeable and playable throughout.

It’s certainly a game you’ll get more enjoyment from with the maximum number of allowed players, and if you and your friends are extroverted and feel incredibly comfortable around each other (or have a stash of strong alcohol nearby), then for the price of entry (£5.99) this is an absolutely great party game that gives a shining glimpse of what can be done with the Wii U if a bit of thought is put into it.

The Brigmore Witches is a mostly satisfactory end to one of 2012′s best-loved games, but it could have and should have concluded with more pizazz.

Worms: Clan Wars is a fine game and, aside from the odd physics bugs here and there, it puts the series back on track after some unfortunate deviations. But it’s essentially the same game from circa 1999, with a moderate graphical overall and a few new weapons.

Bringing back classic Spies Vs. Mercs is a smart move that will please many, whereas offering a decent length single player adventure that is open enough for all play-styles and all-comers, whilst offering an optional challenge for the veterans, pays off. Blacklist really is a game all about options, and as such, is one not to miss.

It’s fast, fun and engaging and what it lacks in length it makes up for in playability. The puzzles are well thought-out, the core mechanics are honed and the difficulty curve is very even over the course of the game.

Saints Row IV is one of the most enjoyable games you’ll likely ever play, and while the story makes little to no sense, it’s not really supposed to. You’re playing games to have fun, and Saints Row IV does everything it can to make you remember that.

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.

A hugely enjoyable game, and it’s obvious that the developers have thought long and hard about every single aspect of the gameplay, keeping everything that worked from the previous game and doing away with, or improving, all of the other aspects.

The controls are great and the setting, graphics and sound are unique, but this is also an example of what’s wrong with the IAP model: developers need to ensure that the player feels like their time investment is worthwhile. Only then will that player feel like they want to spend a little of their real money on in-app purchases.

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.

Issues with game length and difficulty aside, this is a brilliant and respectful update of one of the best platformers ever made, and one that gamers of all ages will enjoy, whether you’ve played the original or not.

Games like Pivvot make absolute fools of people who think iOS isn’t a legitimate gaming platform. It’s hugely addictive, and brings out the competitive side in everyone but, best of all, it gets people talking, which is worth celebrating.