An inspired adaptation of the old Fighting Fantasy gamebooks, that’s also one of the most unique and fun roguelikes of recent years.

The most realistic and versatile soldier sim ever, but also the most bug-ridden and inscrutable.

Etrian Odyssey probably didn’t need a second remake, especially with story and characters this unengaging, but the game underneath is still a superior dungeon crawler.

It’s a pity the pricing isn’t as accessible as the action, but this is a fun and unusual online shooter that suits PlayStation VR surprisingly well.

Its limited budget is obvious but as an unofficial reboot for the Burnout series this is one of the best arcade racers for a long time.

A highly enjoyable GTA clone but one that doesn’t quite have the panache of Rockstar’s best or the inspiration to make the most of its otherwise enjoyable gameplay concepts.

A highly enjoyable introduction to the PlayStation 5 but also a charming celebration of the entire history of PlayStation, even if it’s something you’ll only ever play once.

Not the high-end remake that some fans would have been hoping for but even as a, at times, too faithful remaster this is a fascinating second look at one of gaming’s great unsung heroes.

Don't let the charity aspect fool you - this is an excellent, if shallow, puzzle game in its own right.

Its enemies might be mindless but while it’s very one note the gameplay in Zombie Army 4 offers some surprisingly engrossing co-operative action.

Frustratingly shallow and hamstrung by underdeveloped gameplay mechanics, and yet somehow the fact that that an open world pirate game exists at all is enough to provide a certain amount of fun.

The Rabbids' first proper game is a huge improvement on the earlier mini-game collections.

You'll either love or loathe the rote learning and rock hard difficultly in this next gen Kikstart.

This does fix many of the flaws of the last game, but there are so few real advances that this is one yearly update you'll find easy to skip.

A traditional turn-based role-player which utilises its tabletop disguise with charm and polish, but isn’t long enough to fully capitalise on its ideas.

A brightly coloured, cel-shaded zombie shooting gallery, that feels a more solid package than the Oculus Quest original and successfully channels the simplistic fun of 90s lightgun games.

Not the deepest wilderness survival game in terms of gameplay, but certainly one of the most atmospheric and thought-provoking.

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.

Cute and silly but also impressively insightful when it comes to ordinary people’s wants and desires – even if those ordinary people are portrayed as talking sushi rolls.

It’s hard to tell how games with such a complex economy and shifting balance will evolve, and while this doesn’t land with the same wow factor as Marvel Snap, it’s a promising start, albeit one that comes with a lot of grind. For a game with Warcraft in its name that’s most certainly in line with expectations.

One of the best uses of the Wii U GamePad so far and one of the most atmospheric games of the year, even if it does run out of new tricks before the end.

A management game where you have to handle people as well as just spreadsheets, but while its sci-fi elements add intrigue the survival gameplay isn’t all it could be.

One of the oddest sequels of all time, which removes one of the series’ most interesting features and adds almost nothing in return.

An atmospheric and evocative action role-player whose rough edges and lacklustre combat are balanced by compelling world-building, beautiful environments, and a far reaching sense of consequence.

It’s no Sonic Mania, but this is still one of the better attempts to create a modern day 2D Sonic The Hedgehog, with impressive visuals but boring boss battles.

Astonishingly, you can play up to four-player co-op if you have enough controllers, which adds an entirely new dimension, but even solo its glorious art style, chiptunes, and well-balanced battles help make up for the usual roguelike bugbear: a whole heap of repetition.

A surprisingly iterative sequel that’s nonetheless superior to its predecessor and despite some dull moment, and an incoherent narrative, this is still the best Metal Gear game in a decade.

A highly competent but disappointingly unambitious real-time strategy that fails to move either the genre or the Age Of Empires franchise forward.

It hasn’t aged particularly well, and there are serious technical issues with the remaster, but the sequel to Chrono Trigger is still one of the original PlayStation’s best Japanese role-players.

It may not be a simulation but this is still an in-depth and hugely enjoyable racing game.

At first a HD remake of Wii Sports seems a faintly ludicrous idea but the game is still a great introduction to gaming, and to the potential of motion controls.

Not the most polished of officially licensed golf games, but its passion for the sport and wide variety of options make it a very playable and fun experience.

A tense and dramatic interactive movie with superbly realised characters, a breathless plot, and a still-frame animation style that’s likely to prove extremely divisive.

It may not offer any surprises, but with a mountain of modes, options and unlockables this amiable golf sim is another excellent showcase for the PS Vita.

A highly competent 2D platformer, but one so utterly devoid of any new ideas it’s really only for the nostalgic and those desperate to play something new(-ish) on the Switch.

A deceivingly original multiplayer shooter with plenty of unusual ideas for the committed player.

A perfectly solid rhythm action experience that manages to cater to casual and experienced players alike, although it lacks ambition.

A clever mix of Pac-Man and Qix, together with retro modern presentation and an addictive high score challenge.

Some of the most difficult decision-making in gaming, both tactically and morally, but occasional rough edges betray the game’s small budget and short development time.

Not much more than an HD update of the last gen version, but still one of the best arcade shooters around and a loving homage to the original Asteroids.

A thought provoking yet funny retro style adventure, that offers one of the most complex and versatile branching narratives in gaming.

Still one of the series' most influential and enduring entries, but this latest repackaging offers very little that is new to celebrate it.

The turn-based battles don’t fully convince but the new protagonist and bizarre mini-games still feel distinctively and entertainingly Yakuza.

Yet another current gen disappointment that can't hold a candle to the ever improving FIFA series.

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.

The central 2D shooter is not very good, but creating your own game to replace it is much more rewarding.

There’s not much to it, and it’s infested with ads until you cough up 99p to get rid of them, but its absurdity and charm carry what is at heart a very simple game.

Purposefully old-fashioned and frequently frustrating, but despite being a 15-year-old retro themed Wii game this remaster still holds up surprisingly well.

It's preaching only to the converted but if you can stomach both the story and learning curve this remains a rewarding and innovative fighter.

Amanita’s distinctive art style and wonderfully expressive characters, whose movements and expressions convey chapters’ worth of emotion, are as effective as ever, even if the ladder mazes and robot baiting eventually get to feel a bit samey.

A great version of an okay fighting game might not seem the best of recommendations, but this a surprisingly worthwhile alternative to Street Fighter.

It may lack the scares of its big brother, but this proves an impressively progressive lightgun game.

Mountains of game modes and content but only a molehill amount of personality, this does nothing for either Tetris or the 3DS's back catalogue.

An astoundingly beautiful puzzle platformer, that’s a little too frustrating in practice but far from the twee family game some may mistake it for.

Microtransactions rear their ugly head once again, but they’re not enough to take the shine off one of the best portable Ridge Racers so far.

The best Mana game in a long while but how it managed to leave out the one feature that should have come as standard is a complete mystery.

A flawed but brilliant mountaineering game that splices survival gameplay and a fascinating four-limb climbing system with exploration, risk-taking, and the emotional fallout from a climber’s loved ones.

Different but certainly not better, despite the amazing next gen visuals FIFA has never seemed so indecisive and lacking in direction.

A decent sequel, with some fun new features, and proof once again that motion controls are the great leveller in terms of truly inclusive interactive entertainment.

Beautifully bizarre retro graphics can't hide the rough edges on this real-time action strategy.

Some of the most difficult decision-making in gaming, both tactically and morally, but occasional rough edges betray the game’s small budget and short development time.

The source material already had its problems, but this disappointing remake manages to make Resident Evil 3 seem even less inspired than it did originally.

If you’ve never liked Assassin’s Creed this won’t win you over but Shadows is a well-made and exciting iteration that’s impressively well-polished, even if it lacks any significant new ideas.

Katamari’s gameplay hasn’t really changed since its 2004 PlayStation 2 inception, and apart from the faux influencer window dressing and slightly wonky touch controls, for better or worse this is essentially the same game it always has been.

Perhaps the most convincing virtual reality space so far, with a compelling mix of story, puzzles, and VR novelty. [HTC Vive tested]

Another highly competent map pack, with no stinkers and a few potential classics - particularly the new Zombies level.

A disappointing follow-up to Nioh, that has most of its same qualities but, unfortunately, almost exactly the same flaws; with two few new ideas to make up for the lack of advancement.

The least brown shooter ever made, with the colourful graphics and accessible controls supported by an imaginative and surprisingly well-crafted online experience.

An excellent Yakuza game with some Switch 2 benefits, but the bonuses fail to justify the high price tag.

Part tactical role-player, part bullet hell shooter - this is hard to get into but worth it if you do.

A highly original indie action puzzler, with some wonderfully minimal visuals and a uniquely beguiling atmosphere.

Arguably the best Gran Turismo ever in terms of the driving, and definitely in terms of the graphics, but a lack of content keeps it from getting up to top speed.

Spring cleaning has never been so entertaining in this well presented and cunningly addictive physics-based platformer.

The destructible scenery and different map sizes keep you on your toes, even if gameplay can lack depth, with matches heavily dependent on the quality of teammates and enemies.

The attempts to innovate in terms of storytelling and structure feel superficial and ineffective, leaving Gears 5 to survive purely on its increasingly overfamiliar action.

The new developer perfectly recreates the art direction and atmosphere of the originals, but there’s a lack of innovation and variety in this otherwise enjoyable quasi-horror sequel.

Technically it's nowhere near as good as Dance Central, but for most people this is going to be a lot more fun - despite the fact that it still barely works properly.

Cleverly progressive one moment and tediously predictable the next, next gen Killzone has all the same strengths and flaws as the older games – just now with even better graphics.

A largely successful attempt to create a more cerebral style of horror game, even if it frequently comes across as just Alien Isolation with ghosts.

More of the same is perfectly acceptable when it’s as good as Peggle, but there’s a disappointing lack of both content and ambition here.

Not a game that particularly needed a remaster but that in itself speaks to the quality of the original and the potential of the new sequel.

The most powerful game creation tool ever released for a console, but it’s less accessible than it could be and the endless microtransactions leave a predictably sour taste.

Easily the best downloadable extra so far and the only one to realise that Mass Effect 2's true strength is in character and melodrama, not action.

Tropical Freeze is a good game, and aficionados of the genre will love it, but it does absolutely nothing to move forward either the Donkey franchise, 2D platformers in general, or the case for buying a Wii U.

Bungie plays it safe with a side story that seems designed to expand little but Microsoft's wallet.

The underlying technology and use of Kinect is impressive, it's just that the package as a whole seems a little undercooked.

The perfect jumping on point for both new players and those wanting to fill in the gaps in Fire Emblem lore, although the game lacks the depth of more modern entries.

The PlayStation 4 may never get a real Monster Hunter game but this portable remaster is the next best thing, and a useful improvement on the PS Vita original.

Not a good standalone game but a fine ending to the trilogy, that manages to make three games feel like one.

An enjoyably old school arcade adventure that also manages to feel thoroughly modern, with a great mix of action, puzzle-solving, and almost survival horror style exploration.

A welcome reminder of an unfairly forgotten franchise, but while Battle Network is an ingenious and fun action role-player it is possible to have too much of a good thing.

A daring, and largely successful, attempt to show the civilian side of war, that succeeds as an interactive drama even when it occasionally fails as a game.

A much smaller Like A Dragon game, that offers everything fans love about the series, but one that doesn’t quite justify its own existence.

A refined but unadventurous restart for the Battlefield series, which returns to the thrilling spectacle of the classic entries, even if it doesn’t do very much that is new.

Its attempted revolution of turn-based tactics isn’t quite as practical as it first seems but this is still an impressively fun, and funny, strategy game.

A brief but entertaining prologue that is marred by the question of value for money and an empty story that has no resolution unless you buy the next game.

Macabrely original murder ‘em-up that defies categorisation, and its numerous rough edges, to make being evil more fun than in almost any other game.

A ruthlessly hard parkour shooter, with impressive visuals, frantic firefights, and a truly punishing difficultly level.