A significant improvement on the last game in terms of mechanics, but still a 2D beat 'em-up that frustrates as much as it entertains.

The game is steady like Tim Henman but lacks the imagination and true greatness of Roger Federer.

It might be allergic to innovation but there's no denying the enthusiasm and attention to detail that's been lavished on this defiantly traditionalist role-player.

The Darkness II is a good game, but whether you consider it a good sequel will depend entirely on what you liked best about the original. If it was the storytelling and exploration then you may find this disappointing, if it was the OTT violence and bizarre Darkness powers then this is still a hell of a lot of fun.

Indefensibly shallow and repetitive, but still great fun for Simpsons fans and nostalgic arcade goers in general.

Still the same innovative-but-flawed puzzler as on the DS, but now far cheaper and with even more attractive visuals.

A typically awful boxed set for such an influential series, but the games themselves work well in HD and this is still a useful primer for the series.

Prettier, more accessible, and more varied than ever. This is one of the best new 3D fighters of recent years, even with a horribly disappointing story mode.

An unusually innovative combat system that, although lacking the game structure to properly exploit it, still offers some enjoyably bizarre entertainment.

One of the best smartphone games of last year gets the multiplayer mode it's always needed, in this superb mix of Risk and Scrabble.

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

The best Resident Evil since number 4 and that's despite a number of compromises in the story mode, but very much helped by the superb graphics and online mode.

Jeff Minter returns with one of his most surreal retro tributes so far, but if you can keep your sanity it's also one of his best.

Family friendly survival horror with a quietly ambitious, and largely successful, attempt to get the most out of Kinect.

Ludicrously expensive given both the format and the age of the game, but a loving adaptation of one of the best ever 2D shooters.

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

A technically sound conversion of the old Dreamcast fighter, but two of its most important features are absent - leaving little more than an empty shell.

A fun, attractive 2D platformer of the sort that can nowadays only exist on services like Xbox Live Arcade. Although it's not quite as distinctive as the art style suggests.

The original PC version is still justifiably popular but touchscreen controls only turn a difficult game into an unreasonably frustrating one.

The same beautiful, laidback 2D adventure as it's always been, but now almost ruined by fiddly and unresponsive touch controls.

The gaming equivalent of a Reliant Robin, except with none of the character or entertainment value - just a grand tour of everything you could possibly get wrong in a driving game.

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

Even being paid to play it we felt we were being ripped off...Awful in almost every possible aspect, this hugely disappointing download is not just a failure as a survival horror but as a video game.

Impressively original, if still fairly abstruse, platform puzzler that challenges you to think as differently as it does.

It might look like Portal but it certainly doesn't play like it, which is a good thing in terms of the puzzles but not the dour presentation and story.

Almost unplayable shooter elements, with particularly poor movement and melee controls. Non-existent artificial intelligence, endless loading, frequent crashes, repetitive missions, and a general air of obnoxious self-satisfaction.

Punishingly hard for no good reason, turning what could have been a fun reaction-based platform game into a painful memory test.

Despite a few interesting innovations it's not only the enemies that are passed their sell by date in this bland downloadable shooter.

Mario turns property tycoon in a relatively successful alternative to Monopoly, but a very disappointing crossover.

Excellent platform/shooter hybrid, whose engrossing narrative and well-realised game world deserves to be appreciated by a much wider audience.

Almost the perfect portable download, with a great gimmick exploited with skilful level design and gorgeous visuals and 3D effects.

One of the best story-based games of 2011 and proof that big budgets and famous voiceovers are no match for clever design and a good script.

A perfect example of the sort of game only the PSP can provide and a surprisingly progressive Japanese role-player to boot.

Thank goodness Rayman is back because his would-be usurpers have never seemed more inanely un-entertaining than in this vapid mini-game collection.

One of the worst Pokémon spin-offs ever, as well as one of the most unwarranted sequels. Simplistic, boring and terrible value for money.

A cheerier, more versatile alternative to Trials HD, whose Special Edition manages to make trial-and-error and constant repetition even more fun.

An inspired and genuinely original puzzle game that offers plenty of value for money and one of the best reason so far to get your 3DS online.

The same great Lost Vikings-inspired action platforming as the first game, but now with some of the most amazing 2D graphics ever seen.

Inessential but entertaining prequel campaign that offers a medley of enemies, weapons and set pieces from throughout the trilogy.

An odd mixture of the classic and the inessential, but there's no arguing over the quality of at least three of the maps in this relatively content rich download.

A loving update of what is still a genuinely fun and innovative genre mash-up, as well as a fascinating glimpse at the glory days of British gaming.

A good script and fun characters can't save an otherwise workmanlike Japanese role-player, in this unconvincing 3D remake.

It may look like Zombies but it certainly doesn't play like it, in a portable conversion that copies all the features but delivers none of the fun.

An excellent portable flight sim that will please both series fans and newcomers - until they realise how short and underdeveloped it is.

An interesting attempt at a Professor Layton clone, but one that has neither the charm nor the variety of its more scholarly inspiration.

Going green has never been so entertaining, with the only game this Christmas where brain not brawn will save the world.

Considerably more depth and variety than the original, and with even more stunning visuals - this is as good as smartphone and tablet gaming gets.

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 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.

Probably the best Mario Kart ever seen, with a careful balance of the new and familiar and the most complete online service ever from Nintendo.

Still a minor royal in the fighting game pantheon, but a hardworking one that beats Marvel Vs. Capcom in terms of depth - if not accessibility and brand recognition.

The Lord Of The Rings is yet again denied a decent tie-in, with this desperately uninteresting and half broken action role-player.

The cinematic approach makes sense on paper but it means Telltale Games aren't able to play to their strengths and the end result seems doomed to extinction.

A peculiar multimedia bundle that features a near worthless HD update, a paid-for demo and a terrible CGI movie. Fighting game fans can do a lot better.

Inspired at times but also badly inconsistent, this is certainly the best Shinobi game since the Mega Drive era but still not really it's own game.

The loss of London Life leaves a nasty taste in the mouth, but its absence doesn't affect the main game which is probably the best of the series so far.

The aging formula may be getting by purely on charm at this point, but this is still the best Harry Potter game ever made - Lego or not.

Still the least interesting inter-company crossover ever conceived and still just an outdated and unambitious mini-game compendium.

A superbly crafted comeback for one of platform gaming's most overlooked stars, and one of the best-looking 2D games ever made.

The motion controls work well enough but this is an unambitious and needlessly simplistic on-the-rails adventure that does nothing to help Move's cause.

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.

Need For Speed is back to being a bland, middle-of-the-road racer - one so uninteresting it's hard to get too upset at th e shamefully short running time.

Gloriously insane and surprisingly good value, it doesn't pretend to be the deepest fighter around but in the short term at least this is one of the most entertaining.

Not even half as crazy and daring as it likes to think, but instead a dispiritingly conservative collection of bland third person action and missed opportunities.

Halo's 10th anniversary certainly deserves celebrating but a HD remake only serves to underline how little the series has moved forward over the years.

There's still plenty of the old Assassin's Creed magic in parts, but this proves an unnecessary sequel and one with few genuinely welcome new ideas.

Giving a purposefully retro 2D platformer a 3D makeover sounds like the worst idea ever, but the end result only reconfirms Cave Story as a modern classic.

Revolutionary on at least two counts, with the best motion controls ever seen in a video game and an inspired reinvention and improvement of the Zelda formula.

Easily Bethesda's best game yet, with an impossibly detailed and beautiful game world and a new gold standard for Western style role-playing.

Exactly what the 3DS needed to reenergise its fortunes and restate its purpose, and even if it's not as good as Galaxy it's still the best portable Mario since the Game Boy.

Not only one of Cave's best 2D shooters but one of the definitive entries in the whole genre, with a deep weapons system and dazzling pyrotechnics.

As substantial as they are the changes won't silence committed critics, but for accessible, content-rich action this is still the best first person shooter of the year.

A good idea only moderately well implemented, with the novelty of playing cops and robbers lasting only a relatively short time.

The funniest and best-looking entry in the series so far, but also the least innovative and accessible in terms of gameplay.

A no-brainer for fans of the series, but although superior to its predecessor this is still too repetitive and shallow to convince newcomers.

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.

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.

A surprisingly fitting end to Nintendo's legacy on the DS, with one of the best ever uses of the touchscreen and the best Kirby game since Epic Yarn.

A great 20th anniversary gift for Sonic fans and although it can never make up for all the series' low points it at least helps draw a line under them.

A fun riff on the Lego formula, and although it doesn't add anything other than an extra two players it's a fun diversion for Disney fans.

Still one of the best lightgun games never to see the inside of an arcade, but it's still no classic and the new additions are of questionable worth.

An excellent multiplayer and the best version of Battlefield ever on a console, but a lesser game than on the PC and with a very poor single-player mode.

Some of the best multiplayer action ever seen on the PC, although not without its issues - as well as a deeply disappointing single-player campaign.

Still the best party game on Kinect but the new sports are a mixed bag and the motion controls remain as inconsistent as always.

A surprisingly clever use of the licence, that maintains the charming whimsy of the books and marries it to one of the best 2D platformers of the year.

No longer just an imitation of cinematic blockbusters but an interactive roller-coaster of outstanding ambition, technical ability, and genuine heart.

Superb mix of Tower Defense and action role-player that is one of the year's best and most addictive co-operative games.

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.

Still easily the best sports management game around, and although most of this year's changes are fairly trivial they're all extremely welcome.

An inoffensive way to waste a few hours with friends or family, particularly younger ones, but a waste of both Insomniac and Ratchet & Clank's talents.

A genuinely entertaining and imaginative child-friendly dungeon crawler, that's at least as good as the recent Lego games and not nearly as cynical as you might think.

Most British gamers will find it unbearably obtuse and slow-winded but there's a depth of content and gameplay here that will still find its fans.

Far more interested in fixing the flaws of the original than most sequels, this is probably the best, or at least most accurate, use of Kinect so far.

The official World Rally Championship game is looking tired on just its second outing, with very few improvements to the first game and far too many flaws.

Disappointing follow-up to the already lightweight Shattered Dimensions, which seems to go out of its way to waste all the potential of the character(s).

Not just the best superhero game, but one of the greatest action adventures ever made - set in an expansive and engrossing virtual world unlike any other.

Embarrassingly poor medieval brawler that seems completely oblivious to its own absurdity and incompetence.

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.