A wonderfully cheerful rhythm action game that channels the best of Jet Set Radio and Parappa the Rapper but still maintains its own distinctive style.

More content than usual for a Call Of Duty map pack and the new Face Off mode is a neat variation on the usual team-based action.

An odd, but admirably experimental AAA game, which offers plenty of epic scale action at launch but whose true worth will probably only be revealed in the months to come.

A surprisingly strong effort at turning around the disappointment of last year’s game, with the best Star Wars action this side of Battlefront.

Beautiful presentation and an intriguing open world environment, but the misjudged difficultly level is just too punishing.

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.

A loving, and genuinely funny, homage to old school role-players and the people that play them.

A stunning work of imagination, with a collection of high quality boss battles to rival any other in gaming – and a difficultly level that’s equally hard to beat.

As bizarre a mix of genres, art style, and subject matter as you could ever hope to see, especially on the PC. But it all works and absolutely deserves this second shake of the die.

A clever mix of Team Fortress 2 and Tower Defence that is a lot more nuanced and inventive than it appears.

A host of small improvements helps this action strategy hybrid edge ever closer to classic status.

The best Formula 1 racer by default, although beyond the new retro additions very little has changed in this year’s game.

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.

A fantastic crossover that despite a few necessary simplifications manages to do some things better than either of its parent games, especially in terms of accessibility.

It won’t win over Diablo III haters but this is a competent expansion that will renew the addiction for fans and help to earn new ones.

An impressively ambitious expansion that greatly improves on some of the original’s failings, offering new ways to play while still remaining accessible and fun.

The best Transformers game so far but, more importantly, a hugely entertaining and original action game that is one of the most uniquely entertaining releases of the year.

It feels a lot like the second half of the same season, rather than a true sequel, but Hitman 2 is still a beautifully crafted stealth game that’s full of character.

An elegant blend of 2D action and cyberpunk storytelling, that manages to make a very distinctive experience out of some very familiar indie tropes.

Helicopter sims may be a niche interest but after IL-2 Sturmovik this is the best flight simulation available on current consoles.

As unique a vision as video gaming has ever seen and one able to use its many incompetencies – including the new ones – to entertain and surprise.

At last a Fallout download that's genuinely worth the bandwidth, with a sparkling script that's better than either of the main games.

EA hasn’t reinvented the wheel but they’ve reimagined what a fun football sim can be, with innovative game modes and gameplay tweaks that will make even seasoned FIFA vets rethink their approach.

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.

A real Super Mario game on smartphone might have seemed impossible at one time, but this has all the polish and charm you’d expect of a top flight Nintendo game.

The definitive version of one of the most enduring indie games of the last decade, with great offline multiplayer and a near infinite array of levels.

The plot may have gone off the deep end but thankfully the puzzles remain perfectly logical in what is Layton's biggest and arguably best adventure yet.

A joyous, challenging and chaotic first person sandbox of destruction, that also requires tactical thought and planning, with a huge amount of extra content and fan-made add-ons.

Destiny 2 is redeemed at last, with a weighty expansion that brings back the best elements of the past and adds some welcome new ideas to the franchise.

The best Pro Evo has been all generation and, for players looking for a more in-depth and grounded game of football, a genuine alternative to FIFA.

A hell of a good roguelike, supported by a surprisingly strong narrative that provides just as much motivation to persevere as the excellent combat system.

A gripping mix of survival horror and existential science fiction storytelling, which is notably improved by an optional new safe mode.

Transplanting its action from the snow of Alto’s Adventure to a desert makes less difference than you might imagine to this beautiful-looking, almost meditative sandboarding game. Sharing a great deal with the first outing, you’ll once again be sliding down undulating, procedurally-generated terrain, popping tricks, hopping over rocks, chasms and bonfires and occasionally racing stray lemurs. Its perpetual magic hour lighting and immaculately drawn visuals complement the serene action, in which you can now wall-ride to extend your chain of tricks, even if players of the original may feel they’ve seen much of this before.

The best Joe Danger yet, with some fun new gimmick and some of the best touchscreen controls ever seen in an action game.

A visual novel set in the world of Roadwarden that offers some degree of choice, but whose real charm comes from its straightforward prose and troubled, authentic-seeming characters.

It’s fun, and its script wonderfully acerbic.

The most entertaining Yakuza game so far and a fine debut on PC, with a game that’s part gangster epic and part surreal Japanese nightlife simulator.

At last, the realistic, Aim-controlled multiplayer military sim PlayStation VR owners have been dreaming of.

Great value co-op-orientated dual stick shooter that revels in its shallowness and makes a virtue of its one note, but superbly tuned, gameplay.

Brilliantly replicates the thrill of driving this year’s F1 cars and even the cynical F1 Life, and it’s awful microtransactions, can’t spoil the excitement.

More a reissue than an actual remaster, but the game itself is still as wonderfully unique and entertaining as ever – with some of the most memorable characters in all gaming.

The refurbished virtual doll house doesn't look that new, but its voyeuristic charm is greatly increased.

Two of the best remasters ever made, as after years of neglect the Command & Conquer franchise finally gets the tender loving care it deserves.

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.

A more traditional Fire Emblem experience than Three Houses, but one that’s filled with fun new features and emphasises deep and varied gameplay over dating mini-games.

Naturally, it still suffers the same flaws in terms of storytelling and pacing as the console originals, but with all three pieces of DLC included the exceptional value for money makes it hard to resist.

The best farming sim ever finds its ideal home on the Switch, with gameplay and hardware that complement each other perfectly.

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

A viable alternative to the old guard of driving simulators, that values freedom of choice and gritty realism over needless feature creep.

Funny, clever, and extremely complex mix of management simulator and survival game that manages to make abject failure almost as entertaining as success.

Another excellent expansion for the indie classic, and arguably the equal of the original in terms of retro thrills and 8-bit mentality.

Its main character is an embarrassment to gaming but if you can ignore that this is a very competent action game, that borrows wisely from both Bayonetta and Dark Souls.

Beautiful presentation and an intriguing open world environment, but the misjudged difficultly level is just too punishing – even with co-op.

A fantastically polished Metroidvania, with some of the best 16-bit style graphics ever seen and impressively deep combat and role-playing elements.

Multiplayer is still about who has the better car, limiting its playability, but the single-player mode is excellent.

Minit offers a wonderfully minimalist adventure with not an inch of bloat. Instead, it’s a game where it seems like every tiny detail has been handcrafted and placed in the world only after careful thought from the creators. So while the lifespan of your hero, and the retro visuals, may seem very limiting they help to enable one of the most inventive and imaginative indie games of the year.

The best horror game of this generation and one of the few courageous enough to try new ideas and make the player a victim, not a saviour.

PopCap Games' best yet and the best ever Tower Defence - whether you think that's faint praise or not.

A hugely entertaining 3D platformer that channels the imagination and unpredictability of older games without becoming a prisoner to the past.

In many ways the best game on the Wii U so far, at least in terms of using the GamePad for something other consoles would find very hard to replicate.

A brave game indeed as it attempts to marry the best of old school Japanese role-players with new and modern ideas… and generally succeeds.

The most uneven of the 3D Zeldas but its highs soar well above its immediate contemporaries and while the motion controls are still hit or miss at least there’s now an alternative.

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

We’re glad this is an Oculus Quest launch title because we never had the chance to review it when it first came out on PC and PlayStation 4, but it’s easily the most entertaining VR multiplayer game – multiplayer in the sense that you get to play it with other people not wearing a headset.

The best Kinect-only game ever, and if nothing else that proves that an inspired developer can make a great game with even the most unpromising of hardware.

One of the best hacking-themed video games ever, and a clever puzzler with some surprisingly successful storytelling elements.

As satisfying an ending as Dark Souls was ever going to get, with some shocking story revelations and memorable boss battles.

A Japanese role-player that everyone can enjoy, and which mixes old school influences and some interesting innovations to charming effect.

The action may not be up to quite the same standards as the writing, but the bizarre world of the Underzee is more interesting to explore than almost any other recent game world.

The name and the screenshots have probably put most people off already but this is a classic example of Cave's mastery of the 2D shooter.

The best Paper Mario game since The Thousand-Year Door, but also a charming adventure in its own right, with some surprisingly good storytelling and fun combat.

It’s an utterly charming experience whose only fault is that you’re always left wanting more.

Starting with a path a few squares long, clearing waves of mobs earns gold to buy fresh pieces of track and new turrets that are randomly selected from a gradually expanding range. Many turrets come with a conjoined grid square of water, which makes placing them on the game’s minimal islands an additional challenge. Soon more paths appear on neighbouring islands, forcing you to split your resources to defend them all simultaneously, in this sophisticated and engaging take on a well-established genre.

A truly wizard RPG, whose historical setting frees it from the limitations of the books and films, with an open world experience that entertains no matter how much you care about the source material.

A charming vindication of the PS Vita, that uses the console’s many abilities to the fullest – even if that does mean you’re left wanting more.

Another of Quest’s most important launch titles, this has long been championed as one of the best first person shooters for VR headsets. At heart it’s a fairly simple wave-based shooter, in some ways a modern day interpretation of dual-stick shooters such as Robotron: 2084 and Smash T.V. You’ve got two pistols and a heavy weapon and have to mow down hordes of malfunctioning robots, but somehow it’s a lot stranger than you’d imagine.

The touchscreen interface works well, even if a controller still trumps it, and for persistent players there are hundreds of hours of entertainment in this delightful and unassuming package. An inspiring addition to the Apple Arcade line-up.

A welcome return for multiplayer music games, even if there’s relatively little new to add to the experience – and a few things that have been taken out.

Unlock skills, nurture your commanders and do your very best to stay alive in this fascinatingly tricky game of tactics that if anything works even better on a touchscreen than it did on PC and consoles.

An odd couple crossover that is not only a loving homage to Star Wars but, more importantly, the best Angry Birds game so far.

One of the best remasters ever made, that actively improves the original game, in terms of graphics, AI, and the enormous volume of content.

As a junior UFO recently arrived on Earth, you need to find a job helping people using your giant mechanical claw. So begins this charming grabbing and balancing game, with graphics and soundtrack that will take you straight back to the best of the SNES. Mechanically perfect, but also fastidious in its attention to detail, each level’s three medals, awarded for completing specific details within each puzzle, elevate it to an entirely new plane, forcing you to think and practise enough to get everything right in a game with surprising and joyous hidden depths. The game is also notable for being the work of Kirby and Super Smash Bros. creators HAL Laboratory, who many assume are owned by Nintendo but are in fact an independent company.

Puzzle game meets narrative adventure in this funny, beautifully written, indie game whose unusual grid-sliding mechanic is elevated by its characters and story.

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.

An excellent turn-based strategy that mixes tense battlefield tactics with an engrossing meta game of money-grabbing mercs and expensive-to-maintain mechs.

A work of devilish cleverness that’s both a mockery and celebration of collectible cards games and an increasingly disturbing horror story about the cost of victory.

One of the best new fighting games of the last several years, and all the more exciting because of its originality and accessibility.

A highly original puzzle game that turns the act of telling a story into an entertainingly convoluted process of logical deduction and amusing plot development.

It often lacks the accessibility and sense of fun of Birthright, but for Fire Emblem and strategy veterans this is still an excellent entry in the series.

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

It does suffer the odd bug and seems a little battery hungry, given its lack of action, but the allure of Advance Wars’ immaculately honed turn based combat remains untouchable. It’s the perfect mobile catnip for strategy fans – or at least if you haven’t played the original.

One of the more ambitious and imaginative roguelikes of the last few years, that mixes the best of FTL, Tower Defense, and XCOM.

The Japanese role-playing game stripped back to its bare essentials and yet rather than an exercise in nostalgic pandering this is one of the most compelling and sharply designed dungeon crawlers of recent years.

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.

Splendid recreation of basketball with game-changing, innovative evolution cards – but it can’t escape the bad taste the microtransactions leave.

The best Pokémon clone by a significant margin and arguably a more enjoyable experience than the more recent 3D games, with some clever new ideas and fantastic visuals.

The best Amnesia game since The Dark Descent and a welcome spiritual successor to Alien Isolation, that makes darkness more terrifying than any video game before it.

The most innovative real-time strategy for years, even if the story mode isn't as good as multiplayer.