A surprisingly conservative follow-up to Returnal but the transcendent third person action is so well orchestrated that qualms about the storytelling and lack of innovation seem like only minor concerns in comparison.

An impressively successful follow-up to Vampire Survivors, that features entirely different gameplay but a similarly deceptive sense of depth and nuance to its charmingly low-tech action.

The joy of playing something that isn’t a sequel or licensed tie-in is considerable in its own right but this tightly designed third person actioner is a pleasure from beginning to end.

A loving homage to the original X-COM, that’s far more interested in turning up the difficulty than coming up with any new ideas.

An impressive, near-essential expansion for Borderlands 4, with an excellent new vault hunter and some of the best level and mission design in the franchise.

Although the game moves fast, you don’t have to, gradually moving your avatar and adjusting their angle of fire as you smash your way through its stages. It lends itself well to mobile conversion and remains just as addictive as it was on PC and console.

A tough, flashy, and surprisingly versatile extraction shooter which houses a magnetic loop of death and loot beneath its occasionally obtuse idiosyncrasies.

An inessential but enjoyable expansion for the best 2D Mario game of the modern era, with some fun multiplayer distractions and a soupçon of new single-player content.

An anime-infused arcade racer with a full-blown story, cracking multiplayer, and an OTT driving model that gamifies every part of its tricky, knife edge races.

One of the best puzzle games of recent years is also one of the most empowering and cleverly designed, as its stretches seemingly simple mechanics to impressive lengths.

This release includes all seven DLC packs, comprising challenge tombs, new weapons, and outfits, making it a real value for money proposition. It’s great rediscovering Lara’s swift journey from ingénue to casual mass murderer, via a whole lot of looted historical relics.

Following up last year’s well-received game is an unenviable task, but WWE 2K26 manages to build on what’s come before with some game-changing mechanics and welcome refinements.

A welcome reminder of the origins of Pokémon and while the game’s age is obvious in more than just its graphics the unbounded sense of exploration and experimentation remains as compelling as always.

A welcome reminder of the origins of Pokémon and while the game’s age is obvious in more than just its graphics the unbounded sense of exploration and experimentation remains as compelling as always.

A wonderfully engrossing cosy game that combines the best of Minecraft and Fallout 4 to create a Pokémon spin-off that, for the first time in a long while, is constantly surprising you with its ambition and variety.

An excellent 3D platformer that rather than just trying to copy Nintendo has plenty of ideas of its own, with some thrilling freeform action.

The most entertaining new Resident Evil game in over two decades, with fantastic combat, amazing graphics, effective scares, and the most enjoyably bad one-liners in the business.

It’s spooky rather than scary but with a great script and characters, and some smart puzzles, this is a must-play for anyone who enjoys the kind of stories only video games can tell.

A deep, demanding turn-based strategy game-cum-deck builder whose Soulslike sensibilities leave you to uncover the complexities of its combat, story, and world on your own.

An excellent compilation of seven games from the heyday of Bomberman, but it’s a shame it doesn’t have more online options, to make joining in the multiplayer fun easier.

Suda51’s punk attitude results in another uniquely bizarre third person action game, but this one has more life and originality to it than most of his other more recent titles.

One of the most complex and rewarding strategy games of recent years, hidden behind a mask of weird humour, ugly visuals, and a lot of random number generation.

The best Mario Tennis game since the N64 era and a hugely enjoyable multiplayer game with a ton of single-player content, although there’ll still be too many gimmicks for some people.

The best Soulslike not made by FromSoftware, which expands and improves on the series’ exceptional combat with two separate play styles and a fantastically wide range of enemies and locations.

A fabulously imaginative and unique take on the budding detective genre, that mixes clever investigation work with an unpredictable but gripping story.

A welcome but very minor improvement for the best Animal Crossing game and while the free Update 3.0 adds plenty of new features the time seems ripe for a full-blown sequel.

A quietly powerful, deceptively smart narrative adventure about childhood and football which succeeds as a thoughtful reflection of not only a moment in time but memory itself.

A relaxing and nuanced survival city builder, that has plenty of depth and variety but also an unusually laidback and optimistic tone.

An energetic, platforming brawler with a mischievous glint in its eye, featuring a unique blend of feral cyberpunk and old school arcade action.

One of the few slices of DLC that can claim to be better than the parent game, as the gameplay of Frontiers Of Pandora is tightened up and the graphics pushed even further.

A fantastic detective adventure, that stands with the very best examples in gaming, thanks to a complex and intriguing mystery filled with interesting characters and puzzles.

One of the best survival horror games of the year and an impressively disturbing mix of EarthBound and The Thing, that also happens to be one of the best bargains of 2025.

Video games rarely get to be autobiographical, but this indie gem is a funny, touching, and endearingly honest portrayal of one person’s difficult student years.

A compact and polished VR puzzle game with a sturdy, tactile feel and wonderfully evocative characters and environments.

Taking the dwarves and mining from deep rock galactic, and the auto-aim swarm control of Vampire Survivors, this is a glorious mobile mash-up that proves at least as addictive as its twin inspirations.

Another Microsoft exclusive arrives on PlayStation 5 and this one is marginally superior to the Xbox version, with excellent DualSense support and ironed out performance.

A skateboarding sim which transcends the genre through its dazzling psychedelic presentation, smart design, and comedic lightness of touch.

A scary, atmospheric, and cleverly designed survival horror, whose photorealistic visuals and superb sound design help overcome some occasional frustrations.

One of the best scrolling beat ‘em-ups ever made, with fantastic retro graphics, four-player co-op, and as much variety and combat depth as the genre will allow.

It may not have started off life as a VR game but this roguelite first person shooter works perfectly as one, with excellent enemy variety and a mountain of zany weaponry.

One of the greatest twin-stick shooters ever made, with some clever and original ideas married to a thumping soundtrack and appropriately minimalist visuals.

The spirit of Telltale Games lives on, in this interactive superhero animation, with cynical humour, excellent voice acting, and decisions that give at least the illusion of consequence.

A dazzling new future racer that manages to outdo WipEout in terms of handling and graphics, while taking full advantage of VR’s potential.

A revamp of Lumines which, in the spirit of Tetris Effect, amplifies its puzzling core with slick visuals, fun new mechanics, and one of the best soundtracks of the year.

It’s unexpectedly great, with a warm sense of humour, elegantly designed mini-challenges, and new photographic equipment to unlock. Its engaging, time pressure free interactions work brilliantly on a touchscreen.

Its eerie ambience and moments of existentialist angst will stay with you long after you’ve finished its five or so hours of lugubrious adventuring, its few buttons and straightforward controls translating neatly to touchscreen.

A massive and gloriously complex exploration, resource management, and factory-building extravaganza that takes hundreds of hours to unlock all its layers of possibilities.

It’s the very opposite of pick up and play but the level of detail and complexity in Europa Universalis 5 is truly staggering and matched only by the difficultly of learning how to play it.

Originally released on PC and consoles, its geometric world and point ‘n’ click interactions are right at home on a touchscreen, making this a wonderful way to introduce yourself to its estimable charms.

Another top notch interactive documentary from Digital Eclipse, which explores the early days of Mortal Kombat in enjoyably forensic detail.

A useful upgrade to previous iterations of Virtua Fighter 5 and while it still exhibits the same old flaws, it ably demonstrates why this is still one of the most revered fighting game series in history.

A beautifully crafted survival horror game that knowingly harkens back to the original Resident Evil, while adding in some sympathetically designed modern touches.

A deep, funny, and systemically complex role-playing game, built around wry satire and a far-reaching sense of consequence, where conversation is at least as important as combat.

The best and most versatile Jurassic World Evolution title yet, even if it’s only a compsognathus sized step up from its predecessor, rather than a brachiosaurus length stride.

Not only a return to form for Ninja Gaiden but for PlatinumGames as well, in a game that may lack in innovation, but makes up for it in mechanical complexity.

In gameplay terms it has little to do with the original Bloodlines, and it’s not really a role-playing game either, but this is an enjoyable and atmospheric action adventure that stands on its merits.

A thoroughly 21st century take on Breakout that may just be a classic in the making, mixing 70s style bat and ball mechanics with a succession of insane power-ups and a deeply interlinked resource generation minigame.

A fun roguelike beat ’em-up that manages to expand the genre beyond its arcade roots, with relatively deep combat, excellent animation, and four very different playable characters.

The quintessential tactical role-playing game is revived for a new generation and while it still has its flaws, the bedrock of both the gameplay and the narrative remain as solid as ever.

Both games are not only Nintendo at their peak (as good as Odyssey is, we consider both Galaxy games to be superior) but the whole art of video games. The creativity, the craft, and the bond between your simple control inputs and the magic happening on-screen has never been bettered. A decade and a half ago, Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2 stood as two of the best video games ever made and that is absolutely still the case now.

A solid roguelike with a fun and well-balanced challenge, but it does little to move the formula forward and in certain respects is actually inferior to its predecessor.

An excellent extension to an already large and polished game, with welcome new gameplay additions and a whole new island to explore.

Disturbing yet thought-provoking survival horror sequel, that stumbles slightly in terms of the repetitive combat but is easily the best new entry in the series since the PS2 era.

It’s not quite the same calibre as Mario Kart World, but those disappointed by Nintendo’s racer will find Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds an ideal alternative, thanks to its heart-pumping action and unique ideas that make it more than just a carbon copy.

Gearbox’s venerable looter shooter has finally developed a modicum of maturity, with improved gunplay, a proper open world, and some half-decent storytelling.

A beautifully executed and immaculately polished continuation of Hollow Knight’s Metroidvania artistry, with a similarly lugubrious art style and occasionally rage-inducing difficulty.

Released in 2019, Wargroove is what can politely be called a homage, and less politely a blatant copy, of Advance Wars. It borrows its cartoon styling, turn-based tactical gameplay, and at least some of its sense of balance between units. Just swapping a semi-real world setting for a Tolkien-esque fantasy world. Its sequel doesn’t for one moment try and reinvent the wheel, instead providing a massive additional dose of the same thing. This time its campaign is split into three sizeable parts, each of which focuses on a different faction, with its own units and variations in terrain. As if that wasn’t enough, there’s the roguelike Conquest Mode, and a souped-up map creator. It’s a huge game, and just as polished and entertaining as its predecessor.

Fortunately, it’s great fun anyway and avoids some of the frankly exhausting grind of Destiny 2. It’s constantly tempting to drop real cash, but even without giving in to that, there’s lots to explore and do, and a hefty chunk of plot to get your teeth into.

A successful relaunch of the Shinobi franchise that doesn’t attempt to do anything startlingly new but instead makes do with being a very well-constructed action adventure.

A glorious, symphonic, jet-powered hover sword exploration of desert landscapes, filled with secrets and infused with riotously colourful sea life and Tony Hawk style tricks.

A loving tribute to Gradius and its spin-off series, with some of M2’s best archaeological work and an excellent retro sequel in Salamander 3.

A fun restatement of the Ninja Gaiden 2D formula, that is just complex enough to engage both new and old fans, while being surprisingly accessible in terms of its difficulty level.

The original game remains the best entry in the series but Jamboree TV on its own adds little of value and isn’t worth the upgrade.

An engrossing stealth action game, featuring incredible scenery and facial animation that shames many triple-A games, never mind other indie titles.

A triumphant return to centre court for Donkey Kong, with the best destruction effects in gaming and mountains of bizarre and wonderful ideas - and a surprising amount of jank when it comes to the camera.

A relaxing, minimalist and deceptively complex puzzle-style city builder, with surprisingly challenging gameplay if you decide to test yourself against its global leaderboards.

Another excellent remake, in the vein of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2, this retains the glorious character of the original games, while adding a coat of modern polish and a smattering of new content.

There’s such a huge range of combinations of brawlers, perks, attacks, status effects, and buffs that you’ll keep discovering new approaches to even after many hours of play. A genuinely deep and complex mobile strategy game, with pleasing handcrafted visuals.

A meticulous and polished remaster of the classic sci-fi survival horror, which retains the original’s atmosphere and complexity while adding new mod cons, most of which enhance the experience.

To a casual observer it looks almost identical to the PlayStation 5 version and while careful comparison shows it has less effects and the resolution is clearly being upscaled, the important thing is that multiplayer matches are all 60fps. That’s a big achievement for a launch game, especially as it supports rollback netcode and cross-play. The latter is vitally important in terms of ensuring a steady supply of opponents and while Nintendo’s online infrastructure won’t be put to the test until there are more Switch 2 owners in the world, it seems to work fine right now.

It’s stacked full of options, including a story mode, the chance to play both games individually, and the all-important crossover mode. This mixes the rules from both games and since they’re similar enough it works pretty well, as your screen becomes filled with tetriminos and… whatever Puyos are supposed to be.

As simplistic and shallow as it is, the game is still as much fun as ever, with this version also adding a time attack mode and allowing for rewinds and VRR support.

It’s not the plot that’s important in Deltarune but the bizarre range of characters and the surreal situations you find yourself in. Although at the heart of it all is a very pacifist ideology, that celebrates the power of love and the need for empathy without ever seeming mawkish or patronising. And while also paying homage to old school Japanese role-players and having a cracking soundtrack.

The Switch 1 version of Sonic X Shadow Generations is undeniably the worst one, if only for its locked frame rate of 30fps. Fortunately, the Switch 2 version is a solid revision that’s almost on par with the PlayStation 5 version.

The main advantage of the Switch 2 version, if you casually ignore anyone who has played on a PC this century, is mouse controls. You can jump between the dual analogue setup and mouse functionality by flipping one Joy-Con on its side, and it transitions seamlessly between them whenever you want. There’s a mouse sensitivity slider which you can attune to your speed and, after some adjustment in nailing down the spell configurations with the buttons twisted sideways, it quickly became our preferred way to play.

For a start, it’s the only current gen-only game available at launch. And while that’s not a particularly good indication of the Switch 2’s power, given that Split Fiction isn’t a very graphically demanding game, it’s still impressive that it works as well as it does. It’s capped at 30fps when docked but it looks almost indistinguishable from the PlayStation 5 version.

The definitive version of one of Nintendo’s most astounding technical and design achievements, that expands and refines the world of Breath Of The Wild in new and unexpected ways.

One of the best video games ever made gets a substantial performance boost on the Switch 2 and provides the perfect opportunity for new players to jump in or for veterans to hoover up every last Korok.

An excellent follow-up to Mario Kart 8 that takes the series into exciting new directions, although the open world element is surprisingly undercooked and almost irrelevant.

Startling realism mixed with clever fantasy elements create one of the most compelling motorsport games of the current gen.

An effective expansion of the original’s deck-building roguelite structure, that adds lots of enjoyable new features and becomes one of the few games to rival Slay The Spire.

Another excellent compilation of forgotten Capcom fighters, with the revival of Power Stone and Capcom Vs. SNK being especially welcome – even if it’s a shame these aren’t the Dreamcast versions.

It’s been enhanced on practically every level from the original, and while its text-only conversations tend to go on a bit tool long, and the jaunty tune it plays when you die quickly becomes mildly enraging, it’s a compelling game whose crafting recipes and research build into a significant array of construction options. You’ll also upgrade your spacesuit, making you faster, stronger and harder to kill; its role-playing elements prove as addictive as ever and it features cross-platform saves for those who also own it on Steam.

One of the best 3D Metroidvanias ever made, with the same endearing sense of humour as the original but several welcome improvements and a more substantial adventure.

Thrilling open world driving peppered with a massive variety of challenges, events, racing styles and carefully orchestrated, motoring mayhem, as one Xbox’s tentpole exclusives arrives on PlayStation 5.

An excellent remaster that preserves the original’s eccentricities and old school character, while instituting a complete graphical overhaul and adding a suite of modern conveniences.

An extraordinary debut release from a French indie studio that has managed to make the best JRPG of recent years, with some of the best combat the genre has ever seen.

An excellent return to form for one of the most respected 2D fighters in the business, that makes a solid impact despite some gimmicky guest characters.