This review has been quite negative but that’s unavoidable when you’re discussing a good game that follows on from an incredible one.

This is a game you have to own because it presents its brutal killing, incessant swearing and bleak world with such humour and such style. It’s tongue-in-cheek the whole way, and at times quite hilarious. Great fun, too.

If you devoured it back then, be forewarned that there’s no extra meat on the bone – no extras, no real refinements beyond the Wii control scheme. If you never got into it, though, don’t let the cut-price Wii version slip through your fingers this time.

There's a real sense of cohesive design and polish at play here, something that we feel is missing from ports of PC titles. This is truly a console RTS, rather than a rethink on an existing title and that shines through in the intelligent interface, the interesting campaign and the multiplayer and co-op friendly gameplay.

Outstanding. It is consistent in every respect and is testament to the talents of the developer as well as the power of the PS3 in the hands of a team that knows how to use the hardware - and who have the full support of Sony behind them. In the same stroke, it is not the be all and end all of console shooters, or even shooters on the PS3.

This is great mindless fun, with a huge head-nodding Fiddy soundtrack, highly competent visuals and a high score aesthetic that clicks enough to keep you playing.

This is great mindless fun, with a huge head-nodding Fiddy soundtrack, highly competent visuals and a high score aesthetic that clicks enough to keep you playing.

Like Heroes of Mana before it, Blue Dragon Plus is mostly a solid affair, with great production values but a few significant flaws. It's surprising that the pathing and AI is still so poor this long after Brownie Brown's last game – but if it didn't bother you before, you can make the concession in this one.

Perhaps the best way to view Street Fighter IV is as the perfect complement to Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike. This is classic Streeties – good pace, nice and accessible and yet with a truckload of depth. SFIII: 3rd Strike is always there if you want to delve into an intensely technical 2D fighter – and remains one of the greatest fighting games of all time, but SFIV is going to be the game that reinvigorates the series in the eyes of lapsed fans and newcomers alike.

It's a brilliant game and – despite not offering the weightiest selection of modes, and failing to incorporate replay functionality for launch – deserves huge success.

We just wish Monolith had produced a slightly more progressive or challenging backdrop for the horror that is this game's mojo. It's absolutely worth playing, but that's the difference between a game that scores 9+ and a game that scores 8.6.

We just wish Monolith had produced a slightly more progressive or challenging backdrop for the horror that is this game's mojo. It's absolutely worth playing, but that's the difference between a game that scores 9+ and a game that scores 8.6.

LocoRoco 2 may not stray too far from the original, but it’s a fantastic and utterly charming piece of game design nonetheless.

Afro Samurai isn't awful. It's just awfully average.

It's sad – there is still a lot of potential here, so hopefully someone can nab the rights and do this series justice down the line.

Skate 2 is great because the core mechanics have been expanded thoughtfully and we've been given a (mostly) whole new playground to master them in. It's not great because of Mongocorp security, it's not great because you have buddies you can call on, it's not great because there are are mountain trails now, it's not great because you can judo kick while bailing, and it's not great because the challenges are compelling.

Skate 2 is great because the core mechanics have been expanded thoughtfully and we’ve been given a (mostly) whole new playground to master them in. It’s not great because of Mongocorp security, it’s not great because you have buddies you can call on, it’s not great because there’s are mountain trails now, it’s not great because you can judo kick while bailing, and it’s not great because the challenges are compelling.

On the surface, Saints Row is an easy game to hate. Actually, I have a feeling that a lot of players and reviewers will write this game off for the sheer stupidity at play at all times. But to do so would be a big disservice to a game that tries hard to do a lot of things and show you a good time. Did we have a good time? Definitely.

Even with no expectations going in, we can't imagine many in our ADHD generation holding patience enough to wade through 20-to-30 minute intervals of repetitive room clearing again and again just to find enough Sun tokens to unlock the next decent racing portion. It just isn't enough fun to warrant the effort.

As much as we enjoyed our time as Prince and even gave into the somewhat forced love story, we came away wishing for a little more to do. Still it's by far better to do a few things really well than to try your hand at everything and succeed at nothing. Prince of Persia is arguably the best classic adventure game of 2008 – with a little room to improve.

As much as we enjoyed our time as Prince and even gave into the somewhat forced love story, we came away wishing for a little more to do. Still it's by far better to do a few things really well than to try your hand at everything and succeed at nothing. Prince of Persia is arguably the best classic adventure game of 2008 – with a little room to improve.

Chrono Trigger DS is a faithful port of the wonderful original, with subtle improvements to the script and a little extra gameplay. If the very, very minor sound issues, or the moderately-retro graphics don't bother you, then is a must-own, especially if you've never played it before.

Sonic Unleashed is kind of a video game equation of sorts. If half the game is solid but far from perfect, and the other half is pitifully bland and repetitive, then the result equals an experience that ends up disappointing almost as much as impressing and entertaining.

This should be a much slicker product. Still, it’s good fun for the most part, and at the end of the day that’s why we play, right?

This should be a much slicker product. Still, it’s good fun for the most part, and at the end of the day that’s why we play, right?

The real story of Storm of Zehir is the tall tales you’ll be telling in the tavern afterwards.

An incredible package. It’s claustrophobic and sinister, yet utterly action packed and arcadey at the same time. It’s completely gorgeous, yet the visuals serve the gameplay at all times, whether that’s through subtle changes to the presentation to alter the mood, or the fact that you’re playing so much of the game at the end of a flashlight.

The cities are bland and generally uninteresting, but the cars look good and they handle well. That's normally half the battle. If you haven't played a NFS title in the past four years or so, Undercover might be a good place to get back on board.