It’s unfair to criticise any game for being something it’s not, so instead we’ll say that this is another excellent implementation of VR technology by Hello Games and despite all the years that have passed No Man’s Sky has never been better, resulting in another must-have title for PlayStation VR2.

A charmingly old-fashioned survival horror that manages to make all the limitations of 90s gaming work in its favour, especially in terms of its enjoyably obscure puzzles.

A work of unbridled ambition and imagination but also a pretentious, contrived, and frequently quite dull gameplay experience - Death Stranding is peak Hideo Kojima.

Faithful almost to a fault to the classic original, but still a stunning achievement for the DS and a thoroughly engrossing adventure in its own right.

The granddaddy of all shoot 'em-ups returns in one of the most accomplished retro updates ever seen.

If you want a 2D Dark Souls it’s hard to imagine FromSoftware doing much better than this, even if it has too few original ideas of its own.

It may not be a great game but even card-carrying metal haters will get drawn into this gutsy homage.

There are some welcome advances here over Fallout 3 but they risk being drowned out by the cripplingly poor technology that still powers the game.

The best turn-based tactics game since XCOM 2 and a fantastic spy adventure that has an appeal that goes well beyond just strategy fans.

An audio-only RPG adventure which feels like a new benchmark for the genre, through challenging combat and excellent sound design.

Butcher Bay is still one of the best movie tie-ins ever, even if the new Assault On Dark Athena is not.

One of the best action games ever made and although this is a competent port it’s still not the definitive remaster fans will have wished for.

Mortal Kombat continues to excel in areas that other fighting games ignore, with a new sequel that impresses in terms of both visuals and gameplay.

Not the most obvious portable game to bring to the PlayStation Network but it makes good use of Move and the gameplay remains as mesmerising as always.

One of the best strategy games of all-time is now one of the best bargains on the PS Vita, with this mostly excellent, and extremely unexpected, port.

Remakes so good they flatter the original games, but whether or not they deserve this level of star treatment the end result is three enjoyable and accessible 3D platformers for all ages.

A labour of love that pays brilliantly inventive tribute to the platform genre and the 8 and 16-bit eras in general.

Dungeon Master is finally reborn, as a role-playing game that mixes the best conventions of old and new in a refreshingly different kind of first person adventure.

An unexpectedly enhanced version of one of the best action games of the PS2 era, which even now offers better and deeper combat than most modern rivals.

A great Switch port that packs in an incredible amount of content and comes with relatively few technical issues.

The flawed storytelling squanders its full potential but even with a few missteps this is still one of the most enjoyable action games of the year.

A thoroughly entertaining work of video game art that improves mechanically on the original and proves thought-provoking in terms of more than just the puzzle-solving.

As a prime slice of pure gaming cheese we only hope a new sequel is imminent.

As in its PC and console-based big brother, you’ll be attempting to kill 99 other hopefuls on an island with an ever-shrinking play area. And, like Fortnite, the most surprising thing about PUBG’s trip to the small screen is that it works so well, with the controls and environment holding together magnificently even on older phones. There’s been a little bit of server instability in its opening few days, but given how solid the rest of the experience is that’s likely to be nixed in short order, making this pretty much the best month ever for battle royale fans.

Probably the best Mario Party so far, with an impressive amount of content and gameplay that remains fun and accessible for absolutely everybody.

Better looking than many a retail game and with only a little more variety it could've been a 2D classic.

Yet another triumph on the pitch but the lack of attention to new features within myClub means it feels a bit repetitive.

The Dishonored saga comes to an elegant, if not entirely satisfying, end with a spin-off adventure that is almost as good as its full price predecessor.

An excellent return to form for gaming’s favourite beat ‘em-up franchise and while it doesn’t represent much evolution from the original games it’s still just as much fun as ever.

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.

Despite its many and obvious influences this is an impressively unique vision that offers excellent value for money and one of the best surprises on the 3DS’s eShop.

One of the best offline co-op games of recent years, with a wonderfully antagonistic premise, that destroys and rebuilds relationships on an almost minute-to-minute basis.

One of the best-looking games of the generation and an indie adventure with a serious but subtle message to tell… it’s just a shame it’s still not that much fun to play.

A clever mix of well-worn genres, that knows exactly what to take from each in order to create its own entertainingly unique experience.

A Heavy Metal comic strip come to life, this is a worthy successor to Golden Axe and a great co-op game – but it stops short of fully revitalising the genre.

Excellent platform/shooter hybrid, whose engrossing narrative and well-realised game world deserves to be appreciated by a much wider audience.

Halo's 10th anniversary certainly deserves celebrating but a HD remake only serves to underline how little the series has moved forward over the years.

A mostly successful experiment at turning one of the world’s biggest studios into an indie developer, with the end result being a charming love letter to the best of Japanese role-playing.

The potential for a great game is here, but the repetitive questing, arcane plotting and thoughtless battles means its never properly roused into action.

Not quite up to the same standards of its predecessors, but this is still an emotionally draining and beautifully realised story of friendship against the odds.

We do sometimes, even if it is briefly, get the feeling we're playing a classic PES game from the series. Still rough around the edges though.

A milestone in fast action VR games, which solves most of the problems with motion sickness while also being an excellent first person racer.

A superior Mario Kart clone and certainly the best Sega has ever produced, especially in terms of the teary-eyed nostalgia inspired by its endless retro cameos.

A single-player expansion for Splatoon 2 may not seem a particularly appealing idea but this inspired slice of DLC expands the whole franchise in a number of surprising ways.

One of Steam's best kept secrets and a cracking indie title that both pokes fun at and celebrates the charming absurdity of role-playing games.

A well executed VR port of Hitman World of Assassination, that brings motion control and higher resolution visuals to Agent 47’s lightly comedic sandbox of global contract killing.

One of the best story driven games of the year, and one of the prettiest, although you do sometimes wonder if it’s focusing on the most interesting aspect of its plot.

The storytelling is lacking but otherwise this is one of the most interesting Japanese role-players of recent years, and one that isn’t afraid to take inspiration from other genres.

A bizarre mix of weighty subject matter and cartoon presentation that somehow works perfectly in portraying a morally complex world and its characters.

A few unfortunate backsteps make the first native PlayStation 4 entry something of a disappointment, but Trails Of Cold Steel is still one of the best old school JRPGs around.

It's a lot more wordy than you might expect from a survival horror, and there's fewer puzzles than a true graphic adventure, but this is the best zombie game for years.

It’s a harder sell than The Walking Dead but this first episode is a promising start, that avoids fretting over details and instead creating characters you will genuinely care about.

Sony's Mario Kart clone has some impressive customisation tools but as a racer it lacks any real drive.

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.

An inspired homage to old school Ninja Gaiden games, with a clever blending of genres and near perfect retro graphics and music.

A surprisingly good port of a purposefully old school computer role-player, that proves even the most PC of games can work on consoles.

An excellent twin-stick shooter that borrows liberally from the likes of Doom and Devil May Cry, to create a punishingly difficult but extremely rewarding arcade game.

Another immaculately researched and presented interactive museum by Digital Eclipse, but one that is missing too many important versions of the game to function in quite the way it’s intended.

It's the gameplay which is slave to the visuals and storytelling here, in this intriguing but shallow post-apocalyptic fable.

It’s certainly a better alternative to the mobile game that inspired it, but what few new ideas Octopath Traveler 0 has do little to give it its own identity and paint a worrying picture for the series’ future.

Even without microtransactions, loot boxes manage to spoil another potentially classic game, although the core combat and co-op atmosphere still shine through.

An engrossing look at pre-digital gaming entertainment that offers an attractive way to play familiar classics and introduce yourself to new ones.

Halo's attempt to re-imagine real-time strategy for consoles is simplistic and surprisingly drab.

A competent but unsurprising slice of downloadable content that features a solid challenge and plenty of content, but too little in the way of new ideas.

2K had little choice but to listen to its community following the damage done last year but they’ve rebounded with possibly their best-ever title.

Still the funniest and best-looking entry in the series, even if it’s the least innovative. And despite a few graphical flaws the PS Version is the definitive edition.

A triumphant return for BioWare, with a massive, action-intensive fantasy role-player, that combines a complex and intuitive fighting system with a great script and a glorious looking world to explore.

An excellent conversion of the original iOS hit, and a wonderfully disturbing horror story that innovates in terms of everything from visuals and interface to its macabre narrative.

Viewed on its own merits it’s a highly entertaining and feature-packed video game, and that’s all that really matters.

An absorbing mix of tabletop inspirations and sci-fi storytelling, that makes for one of the most unique and well-written games of the year.

Despite its many and obvious influences this is an impressively unique vision that offers excellent value for money and one of the best surprises on the 3DS’s eShop.

Tekken with better graphics is not exactly a new pitch for the series, but there’s no denying the gameplay and characters are still a huge amount of fun.

Utterly charming on (literally) every level, it may not offer much in terms of fast action but this is just as imaginative and engrossing as any Super Mario game.

Charming, clever and attractive; Botanicula is the perfect antidote to angst-ridden gaming and a fine graphic adventure in its own right.

It might be a pain to get hold of but this engrossing visual novel has more mystery and tension in its simple text screens than a hundred CGI cut scenes.

A highly imaginative puzzle game whose clever concepts are frequently used in the least appealing way possible – although they’re imaginative enough that the game remains engaging despite itself.

We say the game wasn’t designed with VR in mind but we’re not sure that’s true. Capcom already did an excellent job with the VR mode for Resident Evil 7, so we imagine they had support for Village in mind all along. If they didn’t then the sequence near the start, where you stumble through the snow in the dark, is, entirely by accident, one of the best VR experiences we’ve ever had. [Review in Progress]

A relatively engaging finale but one that suffers from all the problems of the series as a whole, with too little interactivity and a lethargic plot that struggles to get into gear.

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.

A largely unnecessary sequel to what is still the best beat 'em-up on the DS – or indeed any portable.

A classic arcade racer that was always ahead of its time and seems both refreshing, and thoroughly modern, even now.

A wonderfully enthusiastic love letter to Lego, Star Wars, and video games in general, that goes above and beyond the call of duty in terms of the scale of the adventure, the attention to detail, and the sheer volume of content.

A fantastically strange and unique first person adventure that manages to make touchscreen controls seem fresh and interesting again.

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

One of the best Tower Defence games of the year, with fast-paced action and deep, addictive strategy.

Clever, funny, and thought-provoking, but even without the weight of expectations this is a surprisingly insubstantial and ephemeral experience.

With its splendid mock 16-bit graphics (that come complete with a simulated CRT mode), chiptunes, a save system that lets you continue but resets your score, and an easy difficulty that gives you three layers of recharging shield, it’s tough but fair in the way that modern versions of old school shooters tend to be. This is a quality offering and easily amongst the best available for touchscreen devices.

An impressively unique stealth adventure which mixes a gothic horror atmosphere with a touching tale of two siblings surviving against the odds.

An exceptionally pretty slice of DLC that does nothing to address the faults of the main game but does manage to emphasise its many successes, especially the graphics.

Not a bad attempt at bringing Resistance to the PSP, but the end result feels shallow and repetitive.

A surprisingly successful mash-up between two completely different franchises, whose quiet charms offer a welcome alternative to incessant action and overbearing storytelling.

Still a little unpolished in places, but with its huge variety of locations and gameplay elements this already stands toe-to-toe with both Terraria and Minecraft.

Unsophisticated and sloppily made but there’s a heart of gold beneath the game’s erratic exterior, as it successfully skewers some of gaming’s more pompous franchises.

A superb multiplayer game with some of the best virtual sword-fighting ever seen, giving you the best reason to crowd round a PC since a kitten did something cute on YouTube.

Business as usual with a mediocre single-player campaign and one of the best multiplayer experiences in all gaming – especially on the inarguably superior PC version.

One of the best Western style role-players ever made works better than it ever has before on consoles, but there’s only so much a new coat of paint can do to hide its age.

That Torment: Tides Of Numenera is still a thoroughly engrossing experience despite its issues speaks volumes, and we’ve no hesitation in describing it as a worthy sequel to the original. But even so, this does not seem the best vehicle for its story or gameplay ideas. And it’s ironic that a game set so far in the future is relying on technology and concepts that are clearly decades out of date.

One of the best story-based games of 2011 and proof that big budgets and famous voiceovers are no match for clever design and a good script.