Indie gaming at its retro-loving best, with some of the most cunningly-designed and purposefully infuriating 2D gameplay of the year.

It needed a lot more fine tuning to work properly on the Wii, but almost by default this still becomes one of the best racers on Nintendo's home console.

Some minor improvements to the formula, but the dull combat remains an unresolved problem in this lighting fast sequel.

Game starved rally fans will welcome it all the same but this low tech racing sim has a bit too much room for improvement.

Not only the worst PlayStation Move game but probably the worst motion-controlled title ever. Riding through traffic on a real chair would be more entertaining.

There are a few points of interest here but the greatest accomplishment of this lacklustre role-player is making Dragon Quest IX seem even better by comparison.

An unremarkable and derivative first person shooter that uses the cover of controversy to hide a game severely lacking in courage and ambition.

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.

As a game it still clearly doesn't work in anything like the way it's supposed to, but as a party game novelty it currently has few equals.

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

It may stimulate nostalgia glands just as intended but this is the best modern day Sonic game by only a surprisingly small margin.

A great start to a promising new sports series. It does feel a little lightweight in some of the options but the central combat is handled very well.

Dumbing down Mario Party sounds impossible, but this strips out every ounce of fun or thought from the concept to create the most vapid Nintendo game ever.

There are some welcome advances here over Fallout 3 but they risk being drowned out by the cripplingly poor technology that still powers the game.

Even though it's let down by longevity and a lack of ancillary options this still plays like a classic and is one of the best new shooters of its generation.

Unquestionably the best Dynasty Warriors style game so far, but at its core it's still just as shallow and repetitive as any of Koei's games.

It's inconsistent and never quite fulfils its potential but this is far more inspired than it first appears and one of the best Wii games of the year.

Pikachu has probably had more exciting adventures visiting the men's room, than in this boring spin-off.

It might not be a game, but this is as entertaining a slice of edutainment as you'll ever find. Even if it's not quite the bargain it first appears.

A mostly successful reboot of the series in terms of pure gameplay, except now it seems even more like a minor variation of the still superior FIFA.

The camera technology can't keep up with the game's ambition, but at least this Pokemon clone has some.

The comedy is an acquired taste but the presentation is an unqualified success. However, it's the gameplay that's the real problem in this tedious 2D actioner.

It's rare to criticise a game for being too long, but some judicious editing could have turned this long-needed reboot into a real God Of War beater.

An unappealing mix of role-playing clichés and purposefully limited gameplay options that has little to do with Final Fantasy, past or future.

There are some interesting ideas and visual effects at play here, but they're not nearly strong enough to support such a monotonous adventure.

The move to the Wii hasn't brought with it any significant changes, just more wasted potential.

A genuine improvement on the first game, although not without some obvious flaws - and the growing sensation that it's all shlock and no substance.

The old Guitar Hero magic is still there but the almost complete lack of new ideas isn't going to do anything to halt the decline in music game sales.

Pity for poor Tecmo is probably the main reason why Epic Games won't be suing over this embarrassingly inept clone of Gears Of War.

More realistic than ever, but not necessarily a better game as a result of it - especially as the frontline features and options have seen little change.

You don't need to be a Front Mission fan to get upset about the wasted potential in this lifeless, one-dimensional shooter.

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

A great start to Codemasters' Formula 1 career, with astonishing visuals, great attention to detail and superb handling.

The most significant sequel in Civilization history maintains all of the series' most intriguing features while greatly improving the accessibility and combat.

Hardcore dungeon crawling that somehow manages to make repetitive combat and scrawling on virtual graph paper addictive and satisfying.

Its claim to being combat-evolved grows ever more tenuous, but Bungie's last Halo is still the most fully featured first person shooter ever.

It shuns the more raucous fun of Boom Blox, but this is still one of the better Move games so far and a good tech demo.

Probably the best Space Invaders update yet, with a dazzling mix of new and old gameplay, graphics and sound.

The fundamentals haven't changed from the Dreamcast days but the new online mode and other refinements make this the best Phantasy Star for some time.

PopCap Games' best game and probably the best ever Tower Defence – and it works just as well as you'd hope on the Xbox 360.

An improvement on the first game, but this still lacks the variety and thrills to be considered a true top gun.

The new gold standard in console real-time strategies, and one that isn't afraid to invent new ideas as well as reinterpret old ones.

Mindlessly enjoyable in its way, but also hugely repetitive and despite four versions of the character it never seems to make the most of any one of them.

Easily the best downloadable extra so far and the only one to realise that Mass Effect 2's true strength is in character and melodrama, not action.

The potential for a great game is here, but the repetitive questing, arcane plotting and thoughtless battles means its never properly roused into action.

Unoriginal and blandly presented, but an effective vindication of Move - with at least half of the games being the best ever adaptations of their sports.

By no means the worst mini-game collection there's ever been but in terms of genuine party entertainment it's only a few steps above the Tory Conference.

It's a gift for fans of the show, but in terms of repetition and combat this is just a little too similar to the 16-bit games it seeks to pay homage to.

Ham-fisted controls and storytelling turn Samus into a clumsy blabbermouth, with a game that squanders all the series' best tricks and adds none of its own.

An interesting halfway house between demo and full game, whose brevity may even save it from some of the criticisms of the main release.

Geographically speaking this is set in the real world but apart from the co-op options this still suffers the same delusions and deficiencies of previous Ace Combats.

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

Still one of the best and most original tactical action games around, although the compromises outweigh the small number of improvements on the PSP.

Another big budget game more obsessed with impersonating its favourite films than creating any genuinely new script or gameplay ideas.

Proof that WiiWare can be a genuinely interesting and innovative service, with the best version yet of this imaginative and innovative indie platformer.

The best non-Tomb Raider game ever, as well as being one of the best value Xbox Live Arcade games of the year and a superbly designed co-op game.

This doesn't fix the flaws of the original it simply finds more to keep them company, in a game that's as banal and repetitive as its protagonists' vocabulary.

There have been worst movie tie-ins, but this fails to channel either the spirit of the film or the excitement of a real combat flight simulator.

As impossibly complex as it is deep, but running your own empire proves to be hugely engrossing for those that put in the man hours.

A clever mix of Team Fortress 2 and Tower Defence that is a lot more nuanced and inventive than it appears.

A magnificent tribute to retro graphics and music, but the game underneath remains a hollow tie-in.

A class BioWare download: short, pointless and missing everything that made the original interesting.

This does fix many of the flaws of the last game, but there are so few real advances that this is one yearly update you'll find easy to skip.

Red Dead Redemption is a great single player game, but this only emphasises the mediocre multiplayer.

The corpse of Symphony Of The Night proves far too putrefied to work as a co-operative platformer.

BioShock needs a new setting, storyline and gameplay. Instead it gets a story-less set of challenge rooms.

The Age of Discovery has enough excitement and intrigue to fill a hundred video games, just not this timid and repetitive strategy game.

Big dumb fun doesn't have to be quiet this witless, but this is still a fairly competent arcade update.

Namco Bandai unleash the God Of Bore, with gameplay and graphics that definitely belong in another age.

The lack of innovation is a shame, but the attention to detail and superb multiplayer is beyond criticism.

This doesn't solve any of the original's problems with storytelling and variety, it just makes them worse.

Technically a MMO racer, but also a clumsy rehash of some of the series' least interesting sequels.

It's not really a sequel but this is certainly a superior version of what is already the best new fighting game franchise of the current generation.

As much mood piece as video game, but the mix of stark atmosphere and clever puzzles is hard to resist.

Not a very interesting 2D shooter, but fans are likely to create something far more exciting from it.

If this half broken, frustrating platformer counts as one of WiiWare's biggest releases then the service is in an even worse state than we feared.

Not as daring as you'd hope in terms of gameplay or humour, but this Diablo parody has its moments.

It might not be the Elite sequel of your dreams but this space trader is in a field of its own on 360.

Maybe Russian games are meant as punishment not entertainment. This limp strategy RPG is surely the former.

Great value download, with an excellent capture the flag game that it would be positively rude not to try.

Not nearly as uninspiring or derivative as it first appears, but instead one of the most engrossing and thoughtful puzzlers of the year.

Masterful shake-up of not just Dragon Quest but the whole of the Japanese role-playing genre.

Cheap, but not cheerful, first person shooter, with nothing new to offer the genre but change from £20.

Rushed, repetitive and a huge waste of potential. More expansion pack than sequel - and not even a good one.

Incompetent, outdated and hopelessly misconceived - but other than that a great fighter for the Wii.

The third time is still lucky for the best version yet of one the greatest ever Japanese role-players.

The original RPG puzzler still has its issues, but this remains a worryingly addictive timewaster.

Still an object lesson in how to make a kids' game, even with added complexity and some confusing puzzles.

Part massively multiplayer online game. Part Grand Theft Auto clone. All failure.

A little undercooked, but this is still an enjoyable attempt to create a more cerebral shooter.

It doesn't address any of the series' shortcomings but this is still the most versatile solider sim around.

Its sights are set on being a brave new kind of shooter, but this misses every target but its own feet.

A dungeon-crawling mix of Disgaea and Atelier proves just as impenetrable and cliquey as it sounds.

Bullet hell at its finest, with some genuine innovation for a 2D shooter and some great visuals.

Impossibly tedious Dynasty Warriors clone that offers up not one ounce of entertainment for enduring its soul-shatteringly dull world and combat.

Probably the best portable tennis game ever, with an impressive range of options and deep gameplay.

Probably the best-looking WiiWare game ever, but still a mediocre platforming experience overall.

Treasure are at the top of their game in this endlessly inventive master class in on-the-rails shooting.