A textbook Gameloft release, with an impressive facsimile of Counter-Strike et al. at a fraction of the price - and with a fraction of the inspiration.

As mindlessly entertaining as any lightgun game, and with lots of zombie-themed nostalgia - but none of the pacing or showmanship of the best of the genre.

Bafflingly inaccessible Japanese role-player that still remains strangely engrossing despite itself.

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

A tangle of technical and gameplay issues often obscure it, but there’s some impressive storytelling to be had in this ambitious techno-thriller.

Once the novelty has worn off - which will only take a couple of goes with lesser games like 20,000 Leaks - you'll never want to play any of them again.

Metallica fans will be happy enough, but everyone else will lament the lack of evolution and poor value.

Another obnoxious sequel that seems to have forgotten that the whole point of the game was its originality.

Despite some interesting visuals and world-building BioWare just can't escape from the shadow of Mass Effect 3's ending, or the now overfamiliar action.

The forward momentum from last year’s improvements already seems to be faltering, as the weight of bugs and glitches ruin many of the new features.

It’s hard to believe this is Hideo Kojima’s preferred version of the game, considering it side lines so much of the core gameplay and adds little else of any substance.

A largely successful experiment in limiting the amount of onscreen help given for exploration and navigation, but the game it’s tied to is far less interesting and wastes some interesting story elements.

It's no classic, but this is still better value, and in some cases better quality, than shop-bought games.

The granddaddy of point 'n' clicker Zack & Wiki makes a surprising and largely successful return.

Getting such an odd idea to work is worth praise alone, but Hybrid feels more like a hypothetical experiment than a genuinely useful innovation.

Nintendo continues to paint over some of the best features of previous Paper Mario games, but the great script just about saves the dull combat.

An odd couple crossover that is not only a loving homage to Star Wars but the best Angry Birds game so far – well, except for the sequel that this monstrously expensive port fails to include.

It’s gently whimsical and considerably less mechanically complex than either Pokémon Go or Wizards Unite and while it does offer some encouragement to go out and get some fresh air, it’s almost more pedometer than game, and is all but pointless on a tablet.

The sequel to Puzzle Quest is cheap and far from cheerful, but it's still a mostly effective mix of genres.

An interesting historical curio that has its charms, and some surprisingly good storytelling, but the old school gameplay and very modern pricing are not a good combination.

Shallow, stupid, and very repetitive but as long as you play with friends there’s a goofy charm to what is, for better or worse, the best Marvel team-up game in a long while.

The Beast still feels like an extended piece of DLC, which while entertaining in itself lacks any new innovations and has an unwelcome clutch of bugs.

This punch-pulling retro update is charming and beautiful but doesn’t quite have the mind to match.

First-person shooter meets survival horror, but the primary psychic phenomenon here is deja vu.

An interesting historical curio that has its charms, and some surprisingly good storytelling, but the old school gameplay and very modern pricing are not a good combination.

One of the most original survival horrors of modern times, held back by a leaden pace and controls.

For a downloadable game with barely a single new idea of its own this is still an entertaining, if rather uneven, platform puzzler.

A beautiful looking 2D side-scrolling puzzle game whose lack of challenge and regularly recycled mechanics prove disappointingly bland, with no significant improvements over the original.

One of the most original sports games ever made but with so many flaws and limitations it makes you wish you could skip ahead several sequels and play that version instead.

In theory this is one of the best zombie games ever made, but in practise it’s riddled with technical flaws that fail to put the necessary meat on its undead skeleton.

A disappointment given the quality of the first volume, and although the new Mercenaries-eque mode is fun the two story missions are not.

Grotesque and disturbing, and that's not just in terms of the tawdry use of Japanese schoolgirls but the result of a flawed but oddly effective horror game.

The script might be highly distasteful but the rest of the game is a surprisingly enjoyable variant on the Harvest Moon workaholic simulator.

Despite some notable missteps, this peculiar mix of macabre storytelling and 2D puzzle-solving still has an interesting story to tell.

It’s intensely satisfying when you get it right, with strings of good decisions leading to lengthy but increasingly precarious survival. Unfortunately, its slow drip feed of rewards means it takes too long to unlock new cars and especially tracks, making it a protracted grind even if the gameplay itself remains compelling.

If you want to waste a minute or two, wasting hundreds of zombies, then this is one download that will do exactly what it says on the tin.

Definitely one of the lesser Lego titles, and yet still a fun co-op game with plenty of charm – and more new ideas than many of is stablemates.

A literal dream come true for fans and while most others will struggle to understand the appeal it’s impossible not to admire Yu Suzuki’s vision and tenacity in not only making the game but making it his way.

One of the best Ace Attorney games still looks awful on the Wii, in another lazy and irreverent port.

God Of War fans are well served, but these are neither the best entries in the series nor the best example of a Classics HD collection.

Very poor value if you already own last year's version, but even if you don't the console version is still badly compromised compared to the PC.

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.

Grand Theft Auto and a touchscreen device continues to be the worst team-up since Cannon and Ball, but if you've only come for the nostalgia some of the magic is still there.

Battlefield 3 does a good impression of Call Of Duty, but this isn't an expansion that plays to the series' strengths or offers much value for money.

A Western style Final Fantasy Tactics with tons of content but lacking in polish and accessibility.

The DS's second serving of Bust-A-Move has little new to offer but the same old coloured bubble matching.

The first post-season pass DLC is a substantial slab of new plot, gear, and abilities but never anything more than that. If you loved the base game, this is a lot more of exactly the same.

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

A disappointingly tame vision of a near future dystopia, that represents a perfectly competent use of the Ubisoft formula but falters in its attempts to add anything new to it.

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.

The Walking Dead finishes much as it began, with believable characters making heartbreaking choices, interspersed with flounderingly inept, QTE-laden attempts at action.

The scares are still there but in gameplay terms the experience is far too… slender to justify the repetition and frustration of this sequel.

You don't have to be a child to enjoy this new game from the makers of Hitman - just very undemanding.

A muddled mess of good intentions and corporate greed that ruins a promising space adventure with needless repetition and horribly expensive toys to life gimmicks.

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.

A great idea in theory, but in practise the novelty wears out extremely quickly, with a serious lack of variety in game modes, maps, and tactics.

A co-op version of XCOM in the Shadowrun universe sounds a great idea, but this lacks the depth to make the best of the concept.

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.

An excellent battle system shackled to a dispiritingly dull and long-winded fantasy adventure, that takes an inordinate amount of time to say nothing of value.

A good quality port that maintains almost all the original features, and even adds a few of its own, but the game itself is still a disappointing and unadventurous sequel.

The visuals may make even Knack look like a system seller, but there’s a quiet pleasure to Super Motherload’s simple but addictive gameplay.

One of the scariest video games ever made, or at least it is for the first few hours – before it succumbs to wearying repetition and frustratingly unfair set pieces.

A flawed remake of one of the Sega Saturn’s most recognisable classics, that fumbles the controls and visual upgrade and yet remains a relatively enjoyable homage.

A small improvement on the last game but until the issues with the artificial intelligence and other bugs are fixed Sniper Elite will always be off target.

A very good update of the venerable arcade game and only a few niggles away from being a great game in its own right.

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

A midcarder to the WWE 2K23 main event, AEW Fight Forever lays down some solid foundations and is fun to play, but without much depth it falls short.

Not the full fat sequel that fans will have been waiting for but an enjoyable, if extremely shallow, four-player Diablo clone.

It looks and plays just like the PS3 games, but alas this is just as pedestrian in terms of innovation.

It’s still not a patch on the better Mario Party games but its still one of the few video games where literally everyone can join in and have some sort of fun – from non-gamers to the ultra hardcore.

Series and genre fans are well provided for but it's a shame the technical achievements aren't in service of a more adventurous game.

A welcome revival of a much-loved franchise, although Banana Blitz was never the best entry and Sega has had to accept too many compromises in porting it from the Wii.

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 spirited attempt to revive the former glories of gaming’s original survival horror but a lack of scares and sub-par action can’t defeat the ghosts of the past.

Its light challenge and straightforward level design are complemented by minimalist good looks, but there’s just too little going on to maintain interest beyond saving up and collecting a few perfectly drawn miniature vehicles.

What starts as a fine homage to Super Metroid and ‘70s style sci-fi ends as a disappointing waste of both story and gameplay potential.

Yet another entirely unnecessary sequel to a classic game that should never have got any follow-ups at all. But if you want even more of the same old thing there are few small sparks of imagination here and there.

An improved sequel on paper only, with an overall experience that is still ruined by incoherent storytelling and unsympathetic characters.

The next gen space combat simulator now plays almost as good as it looks, even if there are still many more improvements needed.

This starship sim never reaches escape velocity from the cloying traditions of Japanese RPGs.

Considering the one complaint about Titanfall was the lack of content this new DLC makes no effort to fill the gaps in the original package, although at least two of the maps are very good.

One of the very few pre-smartphone games that is still worth playing, even if this new update only does the bare minimum to keep it relevant.

A solid online shooter ruined by thoughtless corporate greed, whose malign practises could damage the whole of gaming if they are not kept in check.

Sony's own take Project Natal proves a convincing proof of concept but even as a virtual pet it's limited.

Sega dredges its archives for two of its more obscure lightgun games. Both work well enough, but your Wii remote still deserves better.

Although graphically pretty, the controls are often slow to react to your input and swiping to swap out redundant power-ups is horribly temperamental, undermining a great deal of the potential fun.

What could have been an all-time classic action role-player is let down by a surprisingly poor script and unengaging characters.

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

Its non-rotate-able isometric world makes it tricky to see around furniture and walls, and the absence of an undo button makes that problem worse, a single misplaced tap enough to end an otherwise perfect raid, which encourages continual shameful save scumming.

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

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

A colourful and good-humoured 3D retread of 1990s point ‘n’ click adventures that despite the odd innovation suffers from the same frustrations and limitations as its ancient forebears.

Another disappointing chapter in the increasingly uneven adventures of gaming's mightiest pirate.

Nothing about Quantum Break is bad, but it’s a crude mix of very basic and largely incompatible ingredients. Far from being a disaster it just feels undercooked. Not enough to give you salmonella, but certainly enough to make you wish for something more substantial to get your teeth into.

A thoughtful exploration of the monsters people can unwittingly become, although it often struggles to offer a compelling gameplay experience.

A disappointingly direct copy of Journey that offers an incredible audio and visual treat, but lacks the deeper meaning of the original.

As an open world co-op shooter there’s a lot to enjoy here, at least until you realise how shallow and repetitive the underlying action is.

A cosy 2D Metroidvania featuring witches and cookery, that looks delightful but suffers from numerous irritations in its interface and level design.