A fairly straightforward arcade conversion, but still a unique mix between fighter and shoot 'em-up.

A cheap-looking and unambitious remake of a generic Pokémon entry that seemed bereft of new ideas in 2006, let alone now.

Another classy retro conversion but Rare's platforming sequel feels older than it looks.

The best original Kinect game this year, and if it wasn't for the vagaries of the controller itself one of the best video games around for the very young.

Relatively generous in size and scope, but being Second Son in miniature only helps to highlight what a hollow spectacle the game is.

Possibly the most impressive use of 3D amongst all the launch games, and despite some obvious gripes a good solid football sim to boot.

Better than My Life As A King but the bad guys still aren't having that much fun with their tower defence.

Temtem still isn’t finished, which is why there’s no score here, but Crema are making good on their promise of constant improvements and additions; so when it does come out of early access next year The Pokémon Company is going to have their most serious rival for a very long time. [Early Access Review]

The works of both Dante Alighieri and David Jaffe are defiled in this shallow and puerile actioner.

The best and most balanced Mario Strikers title yet, undercut by limited modes and a lacklustre sense of progression.

Just as shallow and unoriginal as you'd expect, and with some fairly obvious technical issues. But it still offers hope for the future of Kinect.

Despite the remasters changing nothing, and being based on the inferior versions of the original games, the innate quality of Ninja Gaiden 1 and 2 shines through in this surprisingly enjoyable compilation.

The most cinematic entry in the series so far but no matter how good the visuals or acting are, the story is clichéd and predictable, and the gameplay feels like barely an afterthought.

One of the better puzzle downloads on DSi, but still unlikely to hold your interest beyond a few hours.

The game’s limitless options and boundless enthusiasm have never been so impressive, but it’s further away than ever from fulfilling its potential as an actual video game.

When you factor in the £25 price tag, Big Brain Academy: Brain Vs. Brain could be considered a no-brainer, if you’re after a decent party game that’s suitable for everyone. However, the lack of new mini-games and disappointing online features does make this franchise comeback feel more cynical and lazy than it should.

Certainly not the worst HD collection so far but considering only one of the games was ever any good it's unlikely to be enough to garner many new fans.

One of the best attempts at an interactive anime ever, although the nonsensical story, weak combat, and dubious portrayal of female characters will ensure it a limited audience in the West.

An enjoyable combat system is left to flounder in an otherwise unambitious ode to Xbox 360 era shooters, that quickly gets too repetitive to enjoy.

One of the best multiplayer experiences of the year, but the cost of entry and the lack of content make it a harder sell then it should be.

It’s a short game, but its beautiful hand drawn art style is a source of constant delight, as are the interactions in this work of startling originality from the makers of Samorost and Machinarium.

Gentle and never particularly taxing, the game’s straightforward puzzles complement its charming art style and quietly melancholic story, in this unusual and attractively drawn game.

A flight simulation so shallow you barely need to hold the joypad to become a top gun.

Derivative, shallow and ruthlessly unambitious, but as Diablo clones go this is still one of the best and most addictive on consoles.

An impenetrable start for non-fans, but there’s enough potential here to hope that subsequent episodes make this a dream everyone can share in.

There’s not a lot that the Wii U can really do to improve the Wii Fit experience but this is still a useful entry point for the exercise averse.

A fantasy real-time strategy that ignores conventions as readily as its heroes ignore your commands.

More up close and personal zombie slaying in post-apocalyptic New Orleans, retaining the original’s focus on exploration and crafting, and its relentlessly uninspiring combat.

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 loving homage to the Evil Dead franchise, but it’s a series that doesn’t particularly suit the 4 vs. 1 concept, with shallow combat and too little variety.

Highbrow parody or the best lightsabre game never made? Suda51's deconstructionist classic manages to be both.

Charming and relaxing is not how you’d describe the average action role-player but this wholesome Dragon Quest spin-off is an enjoyably undemanding, family friendly adventure.

The best portable Castlevania for years and a more than equal follow-up to Lords Of Shadow – not to mention one of the best-looking games so far on the 3DS.

At times it feels like a reanimated corpse itself, but as mindless and predictable as it may be Dead Rising 4 is as much fun as the series has ever been.

The visuals still impress, but for a game obsessed with storytelling at all costs the dopey plot and underwritten characters in no way make up for the lack of gameplay.

Pure fan service in every sense, which ensures an enjoyably nostalgic adventure but also means a number of flaws that wouldn’t be tolerated in other circumstances.

It offers no surprises or innovation, least of all in the new Exo Zombies mode, but most of the new maps are great and this first download is surprisingly good value.

Behind the bizarre concept is one of the best scripts of the year, and a game that subverts your expectations with effortless regularity.

A charming, cartoonish action role-player that’s probably not going to make Sand Land the next Dragon Ball but is a fun and unusual adventure in its own right.

A loving homage to old school shooters but one that refuses to take the steps necessary to become its own game, even with the excellent new co-op modes.

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.

A very clever spin-off that subverts your expectations about Tactics games by replicating the gameplay and visuals of Metal Slug through the medium of a fast-paced and surprisingly innovative strategy game.

The combat has it’s moments but it has very little to do with Final Fantasy, although the awful storytelling is all too familiar from the rest of the Final Fantasy XIII series.

A cheekily entertaining download that turns an extremely simple idea into a disarmingly nuanced, and effortlessly charming, multiplayer battler.

Still one of PlatinumGames’ most imaginative and exuberant action games but the refusal to improve the controls or accessibility doom the remaster to further obscurity.

It may beat Gran Turismo for realism but the real trick here is making driving a Koenigsegg seem dull.

A minor entry in the venerable city building series, which has some interesting ideas and visuals but too little in the way of gameplay depth.

A fascinating look at the early days of one of the most consistently interesting Japanese role-playing franchises, although for many it will be just a little too old school.

Packed with jokes and DC fan service but the Lego formula is long overdue a complete revamp, because it’s starting to ruin concepts like this that are otherwise ripe with potential.

The Tales franchise still feels like a great combat system in need of a much better game, especially given the banal script and dungeon design that mars this latest entry.

Another great movie tie-in from the creators of Toy Story 3 and one of the best Mario Kart clones for years.

A surprisingly competent attempt at making a lost sequel to the movies, with some excellent action and ambitious but flawed storytelling.

A spirited attempt at innovation and some competent driving mechanics are not enough to escape the shadow of either Mario Kart or the previous Sonic & Sega racers.

Not as compelling as its predecessor, but as a four-player alternative to the Lego games this an enjoyable enough attempt at a Tomb Raider lite.

An enjoyable, likeable mash-up of dungeon crawler and dating sim undercut by simplistic combat and a short running time.

Pac-Man Vs. is a genuine classic that deserves a bigger audience, but the high price and limited selection of other games makes this an expensive retro indulgence.

The makers of Until Dawn unleash a new interactive sci-fi horror, whose polish and narrative twists are undermined by under-informed choices and an awful lot of walking about in dimly lit corridors.

The best Need For Speed in several years, which may sound like mild praise but despite a lack of variety this is a fun arcade racer hybrid that respects its roots.

Nowhere close to the arcade perfection of Resogun or Nex Machina, this undercooked action platformer lacks the precise controls and instant appeal of its stablemates.

Even a high-quality remaster such as this can’t hide the fact that Assassin’s Creed III is too much a product of its time and has little to offer modern gaming.

One of the most interesting video game settings of the year and while the game has numerous issues the strong combat and inventive quest design make it well worth persevering with.

The best portable Silent Hill game never made with great first person combat and impressive presentation.

An almost heroic debut for the explosive penguins, spoilt only by a foolishly inflexible control system.

Many will argue as to whether it’s a ‘real’ game or not, but Proteus’ ability to stimulate your imagination and your senses makes it a more satisfyingly interactive experience than many.

A poor swansong for Pandemic, with a few novel ideas spoilt by a host of badly copied gameplay mechanics.

A strategy role-player that is filled with clever ideas and inspires great empathy with your characters, even if the battle system is a few steps behind XCOM.

The graphics may have improved but this is still the same old After Burner - for better and worse.

Another impressive attempt at a 2D Soulsborne but a less entertaining game than Salt And Sanctuary, with some frustrating combat that doesn’t always feel entirely fair.

A muddled reimagining of the groundbreaking Wii Sports, with an unwarranted focus on online play and new game additions that are never as much fun as the originals.

Charmingly old-school puzzle-solving with some interesting gimmicks and cute characters/corporate mascots.

The combat is excellent but everything else disappoints in this overblown and unlikeable role-player.

It may be Far Cry by any other name but if you’re an Avatar fan, that’s always dreamed of exploring Pandora for yourself, this hits all of the right notes.

A fun mix of Dark Souls and roguelike, and although the microtransactions create their own problems it does mean everyone can now experience a Suda51 game for free.

On paper it sounds like the ultimate zombie game, but a year later and the technical issues are still as decayed and broken as the undead enemies.

Not a great trio of remasters (although also far from the worst) but Assassin’s Creed II’s best qualities still make it one of the highlights of the franchise.

On paper it does everything XCOM does and more, but poor balancing and overcomplicated rules means it’s just not as much fun.

Impressively unique in terms of both visuals and gameplay but all the most interesting ideas seem to wash away disappointingly quickly.

A solid idea but the implementation, especially on a standard controller, doesn’t really work – leaving with you increasingly little incentive to save Max or his brother.

Probably the most innovative FIFA in years, that leaves the door open for further improvement in the next gen – even if the grim shadow of Ultimate Team is never likely to leave.

A fun and energetic fighting game that does its best to cater for both casual fans and fighting game veterans, although its roster has some strange priorities and the single-player content is very limited.

One of the weakest Lego games of recent times, and not just because the formula is getting old but because The Hobbit isn’t a particularly good fit for it.

The Wolfenstein series has never felt older than in this unambitious and workmanlike sequel.

Enjoyable Souls-lite combat can’t make up for the tedious loot system and laughably bad storytelling, in this misconceived Final Fantasy spin-off.

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 visually interesting video games of the year but also a survival horror that’s not quite scary enough to reach its full potential.

Atmospheric storytelling of the highest order, but the game itself is often a chore to play and abandons too much of what made the original so successful.

Getting killed because of unwieldy controls is nobody’s idea of a good time, and Apex Construct rubs salt into those wounds by removing un-banked experience points every time you die. Although not all bad, its sense of adventure and investigation is marred by eternally clumsy motion and combat.

Not the bold new reinvention that Assassin’s Creed needed but instead a rushed, patently unfinished mess whose improvements are minor and failings more obvious than ever.

Still a loving remake of the influential strategy role-player, but not quite as good as the PSP version and actually slightly more expensive.

There's barely a single idea here that hasn't been borrowed from elsewhere, and usually done better - but as a compendium of other people's puzzles it still has its charm.

An ambitious slice of interactive fiction but not really a very good video game, with unsatisfying and often perfunctory puzzles.

The gentle sound effects and nicely judged art style create an unusual atmosphere and one that encourages quiet exploration. It’s a singular but short-lived experience, and unfortunately one that doesn’t afford much replayability. It’s also riddled with bugs that regularly force you to replay entire sections.

The mix of rhythm action and strategy gameplay is still as inspired as ever, with visuals that polish up impressively well on the PlayStation 4.

The king of puzzlers has rarely had more options but the lacklustre presentation and whiff of exploitation leaves a slightly sour taste.

What should be the most epic crossover of all time is reduced to Daley Thompson's Decathlon in the snow.

A pulsing, neon-infused techno-trip of a game that combines Fruit Ninja style slashing with the sparkly visuals of Tetris Effect, but whose unsatisfyingly variable difficulty suggests it may have needed more time in development.

The stuff that is genuinely new is very good, but there’s so little of it that the sense of déjà vu, in a game that is already so repetitious, becomes overwhelming.

As much strategy game as it is sports sim, this enjoyably bizarre mix of influences and genres has much to offer the more patient gamer.