Instant gratification combined with those stellar mechanics mean you’ve got a hardcore platformer with the hooks to keep you coming back for more.

Retrobooster is a very difficult game, but is still highly enjoyable. Once you master the controls the game becomes a lot easier and a lot more enjoyable. The levels are intelligently designed and the variety makes each one feel like a totally new experience. The art, soundtrack and story may not be the best, but the gameplay and incredibly fun multiplayer make up for it.

Senran Kagura Burst is silly. Its presentation is silly, its combat is silly, and its whole reason for being is silly. Yet somehow, it’s compelling. Alongside the gratuitous boob and panty shots there’s a nice pair of intertwining stories here with amicably fleshed-out characters.

Play it in short bursts, however, and you could find yourself spending many an intriguing hour in Blackguard’s universe.

As with any good Zombie film, in Chaos Rising it is the other survivors you should fear more than the undead themselves. But Chaos Rising does seem to relegate the Zombies almost entirely to the backdrop. This content could have almost been in any game, and doesn’t fit the Dead Rising world all that well.

A strange beast. It gives us the narrative conclusion we wanted, but in a sequel we arguably didn’t need. It’s fun enough, but never feels essential, and the fact that it’s let down by its combat – which plays such a huge and vital role – means you may reach the final stretch with little emotional investment to spare.

Against all odds, somehow the team at PopCap have managed to craft a fun shooter that remains true to the series. More commendably, they’ve created a shooter that takes you by surprise and makes you laugh.

With sharper AI and more considered NPC behaviour, Thief could have been a masterpiece. There are true flashes of brilliance, and they’re not rare, but they’re almost always offset by something that breaks the immersion or otherwise shakes the foundations of the game world.

Fans of the genre are better off downloading the (admittedly) pricier iOS ports of Cave’s excellent shooters like DeathSmiles and DoDonPachi Resurrection, or Dotemu’s R-Type ports, for a look at how this type of game should be done.

99 Levels to Hell is a fine, if slightly trashy Spelunky-alike. If Spelunky is Indiana Jones, then 99 Levels to Hell is its Grindhouse equivalent, focusing more on fast, expendable entertainment than its more thoughtful cousin.

The most pressing issue is the lack of community, with most servers empty at the time of this review. But if the dev can keep the content coming and work out the kinks, this game could really take-off.

When taking in the world around you, NaissanceE is a thing of beauty. The scenery is so bare bones that it walks a fine line between being soothing and unnerving in one fell swoop. It starts with such a care and precision, but quickly becomes less memorable once you are asked to be more precise in your own movements.

There’s no getting around the fact that on-rails shooters just feel restrictive, and Rambo is a score-attack game that’s gotten a bit lost in time.

It isn’t hugely original and certainly doesn’t push the envelope in terms of aesthetics or gameplay, but somehow all the small elements come together and simply click.

Whereas Broken Eagle at least changed the way you play the game, Fallen Angel makes no real attempts to differentiate play style at all. Angel is a one-dimensional protagonist and is unlikely to resonate with players greatly, and the DLC is again woefully short and lacking in content to justify its existence.

Things such as the long load times between the rather small sections of the map, and the clunky animations and difficult aiming system detract from the many refinements that have been added.

Sandlot have crafted another ludicrously entertaining, utterly bonkers sci-fi romp. There are more enemies, more guns, more nutty speech, and more missions. It does have limitations. It isn’t going to trouble the best that your PS3 has got to offer in the aesthetic stakes, but I dare anyone – even the most staunch graphics-fan or gaming snob – not to get a kick out of EDF.

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.

Put simply, it’s old school platforming done right, a wonderful alternative to Mario that is definitely worth adding to any Wii U owners’ collection.

Around every corner, there’s a crab that’s fluent in Spanish, or a Pizza Box that laughs at you maniacally. Sure, there are a few duds and it doesn’t always hit the mark, but developer Necrophone Games bang out the gags at a rate befitting of a Python.

Truly wonderful sections of youthful exuberance give way to bleak moments of horror and desperation. Two hours may not seem all that long, but the impact Left Behind has will be with you for hours afterwards.

The story may be a bit too much, and the gameplay beats can be a touch clumsy to begin with, but Inazuma Eleven 3: Team Ogre Attacks is a mighty entertaining sports RPG that – just like its lead Mark Evans – has a big heart, and an infectious enthusiasm for what it is.

Tree Wars is a great looking strategy game with enough depth to keep you playing for hours. While the difficulty does rise considerably, it never feels unfair and actually gives a cause for replayability. If you’re a strategy fan and want a fix on the move, you can’t do much better.

The great level design, accompanied by charming 8-bit style artwork, an incredible soundtrack and the fact that you need to be very quick-thinking and account for every centimetre of space, really make this a special game in its genre.

The entire package is put together with humour, warmth and class – it straddles the geeky retro chic that is so popular with indies right now, but also manages to drag an elderly game firmly into the present day with trophies, leaderboards, and intuitive choice of hardware. Immediately you know you are playing a Llamasoft title.

Rekoil is a banal title with poorly implemented features, confusing UI and ugly aesthetics. I can appreciate what Plastic Piranha tried to do, but sadly they have failed to deliver on promises of balanced, competitive gameplay – and even on some of the basic core mechanics of a competent FPS.

The pricepoint may not be as generous as the iOS and Android original, yet Gunslugs still feels like a generous package.

On the one hand it’s very well-made and it shows: the visuals are great and the familiar hallmarks are all present and correct. But on the other hand, there’s something undeniably missing from the formula, an element of fun that remains absent despite the unique battle system and the returning cast.