Impressively original, and wonderfully grotesque, arachnid sim that's just a little short on gameplay.

An accurate adaptation of the table-top classic, but it fumbles the ball when trying to expand its appeal.

An excellent update of the classic old beat 'em-up that maintains the iconic two-player mode and adds some welcome new enhancements.

What once was a dumb-but-fun alternative to GTA is reduced to a broken technical mess on the PC.

The Animal Crossing formula is pared down almost to the point of inanity on smartphones, as the cynically-contrived microtransactions leave a bitter taste.

The exceptionally witty writing that regularly knocks on the fourth wall is a bonus that’s somehow brought to life by feeling as though you’re actually there on Pandora with its cast of mock-savage weirdos. If you’re a PlayStation VR owner and enjoy first person shooters you may be seeing less of your family than planned this Christmas.

A bizarre mix of Yakuza and hyper violent 80s anime that never really makes much sense but still offers some enjoyable surprises.

A competent Soulslike lifted by its alternate history premise and Parisian setting, but it’s not quite enough to compete with its obvious inspirations.

Enjoyably surreal graphic adventure that is still fun despite no real challenge or lastability.

A simple, economical throwback to the golden age of stealth games, with fun presentation but a notable lack of depth and variety.

A rather staid lightgun game, with unexciting action and a lack of genuine horror. But the tech works well and the future potential is obvious.

It's spot the difference time again, with another sequel that fails to offer any real improvements.

At last the Earth Defense Force series gets a sequel worthy of its early promise, even if there are still a few unwanted bugs left.

One of the oldest games to be revamped for the PS Vita's launch, but still an impressive, if frustratingly difficult, third person actioner.

There are only a few minor improvements over the Wii version, but this is still a classy remake with some of the best split screen action on consoles.

A disappointing spin-off from the excellent mainline games, and although the script is as sharp as ever the move into action game territory just does not work.

A sequel that seems somewhat embarrassed of the series’ sexist past and shallow combat but fails to do anything meaningful about either.

Whether you classify it as a game or not there's some very clever technology at work here, but it's hampered by boring mini-games and a meandering story.

B-movie by name and B-movie by nature, but there’s still enjoyment to be had with the endearingly rubbish enemies and fun but vapid combat.

It’s not original, and it’s often unfocused, but Darksiders II remains one of the better Zelda clones – even if this slipshod remaster does it few favours.

The old war vet is clearly past its best, but there's still much for younger conscripts to learn here.

Another loving homage to the glory of RoboCop and despite only being a standalone expansion this features quite a few new ideas, as well as some hugely satisfying combat.

A no-thrills PlayStation 4 port that has most of what you’d want from PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds but in a much uglier, watered down package.

It plays as well as the series ever has, and is far more accessible than previous entries, but there’s infinite room for improvement in terms of the roster and presentation.

Free-to-player Fire Emblem is pretty much exactly what you’d expect, but it’s an entertaining introduction to the real thing.

At times it feels like a reanimated corpse itself, but as mindless and predictable as it may be Dead Rising 4 can still offer hours of inoffensively dumb entertainment.

A significant advancement on Pokémon Sword and Shield and while it’s not hard to see how it could be improved further this is the most ambitious and entertaining Pokémon has been in a long while.

As charmingly idiosyncratic as you’d expect from the creator of Katamari Damacy, but although the harmonious message is clear the game itself is a frustrating chore.

More of the same has rarely been so welcome, with this unusually elaborate, if still obviously reheated, download.

In the end we’ve come to believe that maybe the trolling theory is accurate and that this is all one big joke carried out by Microsoft, Rare, and Dlala Studios. Either way, we spent the entire time being frustrated, bewildered, and only very occasionally entertained. We don’t think our experience would’ve been improved if we did happen to be big Battletoads groupies though, as this doesn’t seem like something fans, or indeed anyone else, would enjoy.

A slight step-down from the previous add-ons but sill leagues above most other DLC, even if the whole great white hunter shtick sometimes seems ill-advised.

A few flaws short of a modern platforming classic, but although Tembo isn’t perfect he is exactly as badass as promised.

It certainly won't be troubling Angry Birds in terms of the number of downloads but this is an amiable, if derivative and repetitive, action puzzler all the same.

Almost as conflicted as Hamlet himself, this is both an amusingly whimsical graphic adventure and a frustrating, needlessly obscure chore.

An uninspiring beginning to Clementine’s final story but there’s enough potential in the plot, and the more cinematic visuals, to leave hope that it’ll end better than it started.

A cleverly original strategy game that won’t be challenging the genre’s greats but does offer fun multiplayer at a reasonable price.

There's certainly plenty of rock but this climbing sim doesn't prove quite as exciting as it sounds.

One of the best console real-time strategies in a smaller, easily digested (or at least afforded) form.

A relatively competent rehash of Black Flag, but with a lack of new ideas and a considerably less exciting setting it’s one that struggles to justify its existence.

The Layton legacy continues with an endearing new lead and lots of new puzzles, but relatively few new ideas.

It’s highly polished, but somehow lacks the heady compulsion that typified the early days of Clash Royale or Boom Beach, with rounds feeling less fun and exciting than the colourful cartoon characters that participate in them.

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

The world's most realistic puppy and kitten owning simulator – with all that implies for potential owners.

An interesting attempt at a director's cut, but if anything the passage of time and remaining niggles make the overall experience less entertaining.

One step forward in terms of story and two back when it comes to gameplay, Black Flag’s first story expansion has its heart in the right place but that’s about all.

uDraw Studio comes off second best, not so much because it has less options but because, unlike Art Academy, it doesn't make as much of an effort to explain either itself or any of the art techniques that might be useful.

An excellent port of the Xbox game but the original is now so old it’s becoming difficult to enjoy even for veteran fans.

It may lack some of its inspiration’s subtlety and finesse but it looks fantastic, plays a reasonably balanced game, and has certainly got scope for further refinement as it settles in.

Given its cute good looks it’s surprisingly tough, with fights easily able to blindside you when spell-casting enemy Wielders are involved. If you don’t mind a few retries, and make sure you scour the countryside for power-ups, this will keep you busy for weeks.

One of the best looking DS games ever made, but the gameplay just dosen't live up to the visuals.

A not very dynamic comeback for Sony's other platforming duo in this repetitive and flawed adventure.

A failed attempt to turn Minecraft into a real-time strategy game, that goes out of its way to be as shallow as possible and is made worse by fiddly controls and terrible AI.

It would probably make a better movie than a game, but there’s still a unique charm about Harold Halibut and his slow-paced journey to discover his place in life.

Nothing like the game implied by the trailer and an only occasionally interesting, and obviously low budget, attempt to marry Dead Rising with Fallout.

The world's most realistic puppy and kitten owning simulator – with all that implies for potential owners.

An inspired reinvention of multiplayer brawling, that carves out a whole new action genre for itself and those brave enough to learn its ins and outs.

Super Meat Boy in 3D seems to be an inherently flawed concept and while this does its best to make navigating the third dimension feasible, the end result feels frustratingly imprecise.

The best snowboarding game for a long time, with an excellent open world environment… and some very odd, and unnecessary, flaws.

A less than impressive remaster, that still isn’t up to par with the PC version, but there’s a lot of content here and the bank-robbing co-op remains a fun novelty.

The least interesting use of the Until Dawn formula so far, with a tedious tale of 17th century witchcraft that fails to either scare or entertain.

The core action is explosively silly in all the best ways, but the controls, missions, and story structure are all disappointingly underdeveloped.

While it packs in more content than its predecessors, RIDE 3 feels soulless and nonessential if you already own last year’s instalment.

A great idea that fails to capitalise on the full extent of Nintendo’s 8-bit legacy, although whether that’s through greed or foolishness isn’t yet clear.

It looks the part, but this 18-rated Final Fight suffers from a repellent script and the usual descent into monotonous, skill-less button-bashing.

Mr Driller is a great game, but this is not a great Mr Driller game - merely an expensive introduction.

A disappointing and unnecessary sequel that squanders the potential of its story and is saved only by the series’ customarily excellent combat.

A shark RPG sounds like an unlikely idea for a video game and unfortunately the end result is even less entertaining, and far more repetitive, than you might imagine.

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

There's change at last for the WWE games but relatively little of it is for the better, in a game that is frustrating in terms of both action and wasted potential.

A game of two halves: the new Marvel adventure is awful but the improved Toy Box is good enough to inspire kids to make something much better themselves.

Classic co-op party-gaming fare that’s unpretentious and very quick to pick up. It may be just a little too similar to Overcooked. but given how rare local co-op games are this is a welcome riff on a familiar theme.

An inspired effort to try and make Doom work in VR, but the limited control options on PlayStation VR leave the action feeling clumsy and frustrating.

A significant advancement on Pokémon Sword and Shield and while it’s not hard to see how it could be improved further this is the most ambitious and entertaining Pokémon has been in a long while.

There’s effort and ambition here but nothing can overcome the limitations of a touchscreen or the doomed efforts to replicate the first person console experience.

The world's most realistic puppy and kitten owning simulator – with all that implies for potential owners.

A charming and emotionally honest interactive story, despite distracting flaws in terms of both the script and presentation.

An amusing novelty on a good day but a tedious non-game for the rest of the week, Nintendo’s life simulator proves voyeurism is not all it’s cracked up to be.

Even Absolution's harshest critics may be surprised at how badly some of these games have aged, but warts and all this is still a fascinating collection to play through.

A direct-to-video style sequel to Far Cry 5 that’s still perfectly playable but fails to make use of its own premise in any interesting way.

A peculiarly constructed open world zombie game that sidelines its most unique features in favour of generic action and unengaging storytelling.

The glory days of '80s/'90s wrestling is an appropriately arcade style affair and all the better for it.

Backwards sequel that sabotages or removes all the best features from the last game and wastes one of the best arsenals in gaming.

It's rare to see any new ideas in a 2D shooter, let alone as many as this game boasts, but they're all suffocated by some hopelessly dull presentation.

Not an especially good game but as an interactive compendium of pop culture references it's impossible not to be impressed.

A wonderfully imaginative and beautifully presented interactive anime, but one that cannot maintain a regular enough supply of surprises to justify even its short running time.

A good collection of new maps, including one of the best remakes in the series. Exo Zombies still seems very derivative, but the co-op action remains solid throughout.

There’s no attempt at pretence: this is a Monster Hunter clone through and through, but such a good one it actually does some things better than its inspiration.

A wonderful throwback to ’80s style British gaming, that has much to teach modern titles in terms of player freedom and open world design.

Yes, you can still be brutalised by higher level players, but most matches don’t feel that way, and real-time strategy fans aren’t exactly spoiled for choice on mobile, making Rivals well worth trying out.

Focusing on the movies rather than the comics has seen Marvel go from inspiring the best Lego game to one of the worst.

The oldest online role-player on the block is definitely showing its age, particularly on the DS.

Authentically retro but then many games are these days and Legacy’s dungeon-crawling action is not nearly as entertaining as the best of its rivals.

An expansion pack in full price clothing, offering only new versions of admittedly classic songs.

Competent but personality-free third person shooter that's another good demonstration of the Vita's ability, but an instantly forgettable playing experience.

Whilst ultimately an underdeveloped entry, it does make for a loving send off for Max Caulfield. Unfortunately, being another weak entry, it may also play that role for the franchise itself.

Sony’s big budget VR game has a lot of novelty value but only manages to combine the worst elements of first person shooters and lightgun games.

It takes just under three hours to get through and we have to say we thoroughly enjoyed it, even if it does come across as slightly inconsequential.

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.