Guacamelee is a very good mix of action and platform game in the vein of classical metroidvanias. The Mexican luchador theme is charming, the pacing is great and the combat and puzzles are challenging without being frustrating. An absolute must for fans of the sub-genre.

Being the sequel to the phenomenal Bioshock this title certainly has a lot to live up to, but Bioshock 2 does manage to deliver an engrossing and entertaining experience. There are virtually no innovation when it comes to the core concept and gameplay though and exploring Rapture often feels like a rehash of the first game. Despite the lack of new ideas the game is still very entertaining and the plot maintains the high standard set by the first game.

A rhythmic platformer with great music and visuals. It's easy to pick up and play, but clearing the harder levels is a real challenge. Addictive.

Slaying monsters has seldom been this addictive and rewarding, expecially if you play with friends. But the story is boring, the auction house ruins the balance and the variation within each class is too limited.

This year's edition of FIFA is more about new functions than polish. EA has made the transfer system better, made a smarter Virtual Pro game mode, more unique players and some fixes in the game engine. It's a great game that has become slightly better. That's enough this year.

A real killer app for the Vita, with tons of cozy charm. The campaign is great and the game makes good use of the Vita's touch controls. There is a lot of user created material too, thanks to the great level editor.

This game is like a modern version of the classic NES game Exite Bike. The controls works perfectly, but where are the online modes? Anyway, Joe Danger Special Edition is one of the best downloadable games this year.

This Need For Speed game is excellent. The Burnout developers have done a great job with filling the game with lots of content, and even strategic depth to the racing itself with various weapons. It's good looking during day-time races and it feels slick and easy to play both online and offline.

It is not too shabby to be a major. Animal Crossing New Leaf continues the series tradition of being as charming as it is relaxing. The repetitive nature of the tasks in the game has an allure that somehow never gets old. Fans will of course feel right at home and welcome the occasional tweaks and news the game has to offer. It’s just too bad that New Leaf while being a game with lots of content still offers very few surprises.

Beautiful rpg with a great story and big choices that adds to the replayability. The controls and combat system are a bit clumsy though.

Juan the luchador is back in a bigger and better adventure than ever before. More levels, a new boss and even deeper combat are more than enough new features to make you want to play this game again. The enemies are still too few though and the new elite-skeletons are just annoying to fight.

The best manager game on the market at the moment. With the new focus on being accessible for anyone, they broaden the target group but there is still the depth that the hardcore fans are looking for.

A different experience with a heavy atmosphere, both beautiful and a little scary. Hardly more than an hour long, but still it manages to convey more than most games does in ten hours.

Even if Pokémon X & Y has graphics in 3D and several other gameplay innovations it is still the same core experience as before. Focus is as always on catching them all and it is still an addictive experience. The difficulty bar is lower than before, the online functions more present and the gameplay mechanics better realised.

The gameplay on the field might not be perfect this time around either and still feels a bit sluggish compared to PES, but the shear wealth of content and improvements on the field are still massive. The Be A Pro mode and all the online functionality makes this a huge step up for the series. FIFA 09 is the best edition yet and definitely worth your money.

What visual novel Steins;Gate lacks in gameplay it certainly makes up for with one of the best, most complex and most touching stories I have experienced in video games. It centers around a few youths in Tokyo who accidentally invents a machine that can send messages back in time. The mix of science fiction and drama is further lifted by its memorable characters, in part thanks to good Japanese voice actors. On the negative side, the rare parts of interaction among all text boxes feel a bit illogical at times, some of the characters are less memorable and there is a little bit of unnecessary fan service. These things will hardly be on the mind of anyone getting into the story though.

A somewhat slow start paired with controls that aren't perfect is soon overshadowed by terrific gameplay and a surprisingly good multiplayer mode.

Ikaruga is one of the most challenging, fun and addictive vertical shooters out there, and the latest platform to be graced by this title is Xbox Live. This is definitely a challenging game, and the total of five levels is a bit on the short side, but the lean price tag of 800 Microsoft Points is more than justified for such a great gaming experience.

It's a shame that the controls are somewhat blocking the experience and that the serial killer story sometimes goes over the top, but Heavy Rain has some outstanding scenes, great animations, beautiful design and is one of the most interesting games in the last couple of years.

Very time demanding strategic RPG that is heavy on the menus, but has lots of content, great tactical combat and an involving story.

A lack of statistics and too long loading times are some minuses in a great racing game. Good looking, great feel, fun party game modes and split screen support.

A very good tower defense game with a lot of unlockable weapons and many types of enemies, that is hard but never unfair.

The Swapper is a unique experience that will charm any fan of science fiction as well as fans of games like Braid, Metroid and Castlevania. The game looks and sounds beautiful and the cloning mechanics are both novel, creative and challenging.

Batman: Arkham Knight is the best looking game in the series so far, and includes a lot of cool stuff for fans of Batman. But at the same time it’s starting to feel like Rocksteady is almost too comfortable. It lacks new content, except the pretty bad designed Batmobile parts. If you haven’t played the previous games that much you will probably think that this is one of the best games this year.

A solid racing experience that pleases both car enthusiast and beginners alike. Forza Motorsport 6 adjusts to your prerequisites and needs. The mistakes of it’s predecessor stand corrected, making Forza 6 truly the definitive version of the series.

This is a great game, simple as that. It's filled to the brim with content and charming fun-filled adventures topped with a good gameplay. Not much to complain about really, except for the notoriously imprecise shake controls.

Treyarchs return to the CoD franchise is not likely to disappoint, especially if you're a fan of the well known CoD-multiplayer. It's an excellent online game with lots of customizations. However, the campaign could have been a lot better.

For those who want to play alone Towerfall Ascension is a smart, fun and challenging puzzle game that sadly won’t last too long. On the contrary it becomes a nearly magical experience together with three friends. When it comes to deep party games that are easy to pick up this is one of the best ones.