A strange set of priorities and a peculiarly high price make Nintendo’s big DLC experiment a hard sell for all but the most committed platform fans.

A disappointing sequel in many ways but as a refinement of one of the best real-time strategies of all-time this is still an enjoyably cinematic experience.

An excellent portable version of one of the best strategy games of all-time, and one that could have a profound effect on mobile gaming.

A streamlined port with intelligent controls, this massively multipleyer online strategy overcomes visual disability and tutorial woes to offer horizons of exciting possibility.

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 stunning achievement in both storytelling and third person adventure, with unforgettable characters and tense, brilliantly paced action.

It still feels more like a remix than a wholly new game, but New Leaf combines stress free entertainment and inescapable addiction in a more beguiling way than ever.

Plenty of smart ideas and some very attractive presentation, but none of the core gameplay elements work as well as they should and the game ends up sadly forgettable.

An inexplicably bland shooter from the usually reliable Insomniac that has no personality and no sense of purpose beyond a few hours of empty co-op action.

A great mix of action, strategy, and endearing silliness – and also a great reminder that there are some games only download services like Xbox Live Arcade can provide.

A very poor first person shooter buoyed up by the promise of things to come, and an impressively ambitious attempt at a cross-format connected universe.

A slightly disappointing sequel, that sacrifices too much in pursuit of the almighty dollar, but this is still a great all-round racer with something to please almost every kind of petrolhead.

Cynically awful movie tie-in that is not just a terrible racing game but squanders the potential of it source material in almost criminal fashion.

The Wii version is superior, but Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D has both the simple charms of a gimmick-free 2D platformer and a strong grip on nostalgic heartstrings.

A very worthwhile upgrade of the portable original, that stands up well in terms of visuals and easily exceeds Resident Evil 6 in terms of atmosphere and intrigue.

It would have been a great unlockable extra, but as downloadable content the price of being a robot dog for an hour just doesn’t add up.

A truly great portable strategy game that’s original, accessible, and addictive. And for once the microtransactions benefit the player as well as the publisher.

The action and storytelling fails to satisfy, but the dense atmosphere and uncompromisingly bleak setting almost makes up for the gameplay failings.

The real mystery here is why Nintendo continues to allow such a minimum effort cash grab to dilute the Pokémon name, in yet another bland and repetitive dungeon crawler.

A welcome change of style for the puzzle series, and although its influences are obvious this offers impressive value and variety for an eShop download.

A more immediately enjoyable game than Strike Suit Zero, but although most of the original faults have been addressed they’re still far from eradicated.

It’s not perfect but The Walking Dead is one of the most important advances in interactive fiction for a generation, with some of the most memorable characters of any video game.

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

An interesting stew of ideas and great presentation can’t make up for a game that goes out of its way to frustrate and discourage its players.

It may have been cutting edge in 1997 but the Shin Megami Tensei series, and Japanese role-players in general, have moved on a lot since then and this entry is really only for completists.

It’s great value for money, as a sort of mini-Far Cry 3, but those that have played the original are likely to find it a rather weak sauce substitute and those that haven’t may just wonder what all the fuss was about.

There are some important flaws but this is still one of the most ambitious and enjoyable games on the PS Vita, even if it still doesn’t feel like a killer app.

One of the best ever multiplayer stealth games and one of the most successful attempts yet at the perfect heist game.

Beneath the saccharine sweet exterior beats the heart of a monster, one that wants to devour your every waking moment with its wonderfully addictive platform action.

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.

No matter what you think of the new movies no franchise deserves a tie-in as timidly generic as this, with painfully bland action and low-tech, not sci-fi, presentation.

The Wii U game was just a few flaws short of a minor classic, but this joyless companion piece is only a couple more problems shy of a complete disaster.

A frustrating ending to what has become an increasingly disappointing download series, even though the premise remains one of the most imaginative for years.

A great value bundle that includes the original game, the new expansion, and some of the best action role-playing since Dark Souls.

It may add up to less than the sum of its parts but in terms of storytelling and presentation this indie favourite has much to teach mega budget retail games.

It’s clearly been made in a hurry and with no more care than the deeply flawed original, which means only the truly zombie-obsessed should apply.

There are too few surprises when it comes to the story and Daud is a disappointingly blunt instrument, but a return to Dunwall is welcome no matter who’s conducting the tour.

The usual mix of the mundane, the inspired, and the not quite fully-formed, but at least two of the five maps are minor classics.

A perfect fighting game for beginners and one of the best uses of the DC universe so far in games, even if it still only feels like the tip of the iceberg in terms of unrealised potential.

A disappointingly trivial expansion in terms of gameplay, story, and new features; although more Metal Gear Rising and Jetstream Sam was never going to be an entirely bad thing.

The interactive equivalent of irritable bowel syndrome and one of the most bizarrely awful video games ever made.

A mix of low budget, (relatively) high ambition, and mediocre execution, Defiance is a hard game to hate but an easy one to lose interest in.

An impressively ambitious attempt to open up game modding to everyone, although at the moment the action is curiously backwards.

Metroid and Castelvania face a new challenger, as the bizarre world of Mexican wrestling inspires one of the most entertaining action adventures of recent years.

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.

Another indie classic makes the successful leap from PC to console, in this masterful mix of Minecraft and Metroid.

Team Ninja has done everything to please fans short of making a brand new game, but despite its successes this too often feels like an awkward compromise.

Beneath its cute exterior beats the heart of a demandingly difficult brainteaser which rewards invention and persistence, but has no time for trivial puzzles – or gamers.

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

The Behemoth’s best game yet and a hilarious mix of co-op platforming and absurdly entertaining multiplayer madness.

An instantly accessible control system opens the floodgates to satisfying gameplay, hilarious upgrades and highly replayable levels. Ridiculous Fishing rarely makes a misstep.

A hugely disappointing side venture from the creators of Pokémon, which barely seems to understand the rhythm action genre let alone try and evolve it.

The best multiformat Wii U game so far, even if the improvements are mostly minor and the underlying game still lacks personality.

A masterpiece of mediocrity and a crowning achievement in unambitiousness. The Devil’s Cartel has sold its soul, not to Beelzebub but to boardroom suits and focus groups.

A classic example that sometimes less is more, as a deadweight of mini-games and side characters dilutes an otherwise fun, if unambitious, platformer.

A TV tie-in of such depressingly low quality you’d think it was the ‘90s once again, especially when you see the terrible graphics and artificial intelligence.

Daringly ambitious in terms of both subject matter and structure, BioShock Infinite is the most successful mix of storytelling and action this generation of gaming has ever seen.

Cheap, obvious, and unambitious but the zombie theme does at least help to circumvent the technical problems of the original, and offer up some novel co-op options.

Utterly charming and subversively clever in that classic Nintendo way, this is one of the best games on the 3DS and one of the mostly perfectly polished titles on any system this year.

They may not be directly related but Mario’s would-be siblings have some interesting ideas of their own, although they lack refinement to make the most of them.

A stodgy middle episode for what is still a promisingly unique slice of downloadable content, but its true worth won’t be clear until the final episode.

A sequel that seems to have learned almost nothing from the deeply flawed original, and which still only hints at the wider potential for a proper sniper sim.

Judgment doesn’t reinvent the wheel when it comes to either Gears or third person shooters in general, but with just a small change in perspective it does help to reframe it as something identifiably different. It is still the same game underneath, and we probably didn’t need four of them in six years, but arguably Judgment does more to justify itself than either of the two direct sequels.

It’s not much more than an HD update, but if you and your friends have the perseverance this is one of gaming’s most uniquely challenging co-op experiences.

There’s little attempt at innovation in Starcraft II’s first expansion, but enough refinement and fine-tuning to please fans both new and old.

It’s a not a very good advert for the Wii U but this is still a hugely entertaining open world game, with one of the funniest video game scripts ever.

Possibly the worst value for money expansion of the modern era, with little more than an hour of generic action, bad storytelling, and zero scares.

A welcome return for a significant but sadly overlooked part of Capcom’s fighting game heritage, and one of the best HD updates of a 2D game ever seen.

It’s a genuinely revolting vision of the future, of a games industry that treats its players as enemies to be bullied and manipulated – not customers to be entertained and attended to. If SimCity really was a city we’d realise we weren’t welcome and move out immediately.

A satisfying end to an impressively varied series of downloads, with a strong restatement of everything that makes Battlefield so unique.

An extremely poor port of what had been the highlight of the franchise up till now, with nothing added but plenty taken away.

For once Sonic gets a spin-off that’s well suited to his talents, but this is an uninspired homage to his glory days – with little new to offer him or endless runners.

Kratos may not be gaming’s most charismatic protagonist but it turns out he has a surprising knack for multiplayer as well as single-player action, in one of the best-looking games on the PlayStation 3.

BioWare really has saved the best till last with a downloadable expansion that not only justifies the expense but your faith in the Mass Effect franchise.

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.

Star Wars and pinball fans are equally well served here, with what are arguably better tables than the actual real machines.

The best Bit.Trip game so far and one of the best ever blends of retro and modern aesthetics, in terms of both presentation and gameplay.

It may be a good quality racer but this is also one of the most offensively cynical video games we’ve ever played, and despite being ‘free’ also one of the most expensive.

One of the best iOS games for several months is a wonderfully disturbing horror story that innovates in terms of everything from visuals and interface to its macabre narrative.

A great cinematic action adventure, with one of gaming’s great lead performances, although its Tomb Raider DNA seems fragmented and even degenerative in parts.

The excellent multiplayer deserves to be the focus here, rather than the repetitive, humourless, and largely artless first person shooting of the single-player campaign.

An admirably imaginative approach to downloadable content that has a better story than the main game, but not quite enough variety in action and missions.

Exactly as entertaining as you’d expect from a collaboration between two of Japan’s most talented developers, and one of the best action games of the generation.

There’s probably no way to make After Burner interesting again without turning it into a completely different game, but there was no need for Sega to prove that fact yet again.

Koei’s scraping of the Dynasty Warriors barrel breaks through the bottom and into the floor below, with a cheap, lazy sequel to an already sub-par game.

The whole idea was probably doomed from the start but this is a disappointingly slipshod effort, with a story campaign that somehow feels more old-fashioned than the decades-old movie it’s based on.

Not so much a poor man’s Gears Of War as a tramp’s, which is perhaps why one of the few distinguishing features is playing it with a loyal canine by your side.

A worthy successor to the Descent legacy, but lacking the depth of gameplay that would’ve made it a classic of equal standing.

A superbly judged revamp of Fire Emblem that final elevates the series to classic status and in the process creates one of the most engrossing and accessible strategy games ever.

Bad movie tie-ins are hardly a new phenomenon but never before has so much potential been wasted on so uninteresting a video game.

This is a sequel afraid of what its predecessors stood for and too timid to focus on and perfect their strengths. It’s a real shame that it’s the game’s creators that seem the most scared in Dead Space 3, rather than the players.

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.

Frustrating and confusing almost by design, Antichamber is nevertheless one of the most intelligent and imaginative puzzle games for years.

You can see the basis of a good game here but Omerta gets almost everything wrong, from the shallow gameplay to the bland, characterless gangster atmosphere.

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.

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.

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.

There's nothing even slightly revolutionary here, but five decent new maps – including one for Zombies – is perfectly welcome anyway.