It's not subtle or clever, but this unashamedly uncomplicated shooter is one of the best of the year.

Time Crisis with Transformers, but not any sense of pace, excitement or fun.

A clever and quietly innovative puzzlers, whose only flaw is too much of a good thing.

Yet another inessential and senseless expansion that ignores all the best elements of the original.

A great tie-in and, much more importantly, a great game. Generous in terms of content and childish fun.

As shameless a clone of Geometry Wars as you could ever hope to see. But fairly good fun all the same.

A near perfect update to what remains a game with far more style than substance, nice new graphics or not.

Only the limiting nature of the PSP holds back the most ambitious and fully-featured Metal Gear ever.

Fans may feel a little short-changed but this still features some of Rock Band's most effective moments.

A cheerier, more versatile alternative to Trials HD, that manages to make trial-and-error fun.

The best new feature has to wait till September but this is still a useful improvement on last year.

Compare The Pikmins.com will be overloaded once people tire of this well-meaning but dull wildlife sim.

It's not going to change the world but this is a simple, accessible pseudo flight sim that's plenty of fun.

A brave mix of RPG, action game and spy thriller, brought down by too many design and technical faults.

The new professions are a fun idea but there aren't enough of them to justify the high asking price.

FIFA Street meets Mario Strikers, but even as an arcade game this falls well short of world class.

It may look like any other tower defence game but this has just enough wrinkles to keep your interest.

One of the DS's best first person shooters, whether you remember Star Fox and Starglider (and X) or not.

The mismatched marriage of Mario Kart and PGR results in a racer that's less than the sum of its parts.

The improvements are incremental at best but this still seems like a near perfect MMA game.

Sony's Mario Kart clone has some impressive customisation tools but as a racer it lacks any real drive.

The king of puzzlers has rarely had more options but the lacklustre presentation and whiff of exploitation leaves a slightly sour taste.

An innovative and cleverly nuanced mix of race game and puzzler - albeit a rather pretentious one.

Nintendo beat their previous best yet again with a masterclass in imagination, game design and sheer fun.

No insult to the series' legacy, but a workmanlike sequel that didn't need to be made (or ported).

For a game five years in the making this is a disappointingly trivial and repetitive actioner.

Possibly the best Grand Theft Auto game never made and one of the most atmospheric video games ever.

The best arcade racer for years and a magnificent spectacle that makes racing exciting again.

Backwards-looking and unnecessary tie-in/remake which leaves the Prince needing yet another reboot.

A surprisingly decent movie tie-in with a fun four-player mode that will amuse players of any age.

An inoffensive 2D platformer with some novel ideas - but fairly vapid and overly expensive.

The perfect Sam & Max episode is still yet to be made, but in terms of puzzles this one is hard to beat.

Mercilessly difficult, and unusually complicated, but the best looking and most varied BIT. TRIP yet.

A clever use of head tracking tech is sabotaged by a game that seems specifically designed to subvert it.

It can never have the impact of the first game but this is still a worthy, incremental improvement.

One of the best looking games ever, but its awe for retro Zelda ruins hopes for similarly inspired gameplay.

It looks amazing but baffling design decisions suck every ounce of fun out of this disappointing sequel.

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

Putting looks before substance doesn't seem so bad in this superbly surreal first person fighter.

Only the smallest of improvements on the original game and still a shameful waste of the license.

Picross makes the jump to 3D better than many games, although it's still not quite the perfect puzzler.

A fun and imaginative homage to Dungeon Keeper that's gone from impossibly to merely incredibly hard.

The only asses that need kicking in this game are those of the developer responsible for such rubbish.

Possibly the world's least anticipated sequel, but a surprisingly enjoyable brain dead romp all the same.

A bizarre mix of influences and a great script still can't save this inventive but flawed role-player.

The best fighter ever gets even better with a huge roster of some of gaming's most iconic characters.

Something close to a minimal effort, but with FIFA 10 powering the action it's still hard to resist.

Frustratingly beautiful graphic adventure that's sadly ruined by poor voiceovers and fuzzy logic.

There are flashes of brilliance, but this graphic adventure lacks some very elementary features.

The landmark script and puzzles override the bland artwork as the classic graphic adventure returns.

The graphics may have improved but this is still the same old After Burner - for better and worse.

The latest and ugliest Puzzle Quest spin-off is still addictive, but its gimmicks are getting very old.

More accessible and finally sporting an online mode, but the clumsy combat still limits the hunt's appeal.

A perfect recreation of an arcade classic (plus Magic Sword) and the new gold standard for retro gaming.

A solid if predictable start to the new season, but still one of Telltale's better graphic adventures.

A necessary reboot that fights accusations of dumbing down with an artful mix of stealth and violence.

A great value aerial Mario Kart that flies rings round many other racers that cost ten times the price.

Another largely pointless download that fails to capitalise on any of Mass Effect 2's achievements.

It has its flaws but this is still one of the most interesting and original multiplayer games of the year.

You'll pray for an early release from this cheap and nasty, and strangely belated, TV tie-in.

Dating sims and giant robots really do mix in this compelling cocktail of Japanese obsessions.

A tired and outdated fighter and another failed attempt by SNK to update one of its classic franchises.

A virtual peep show that's tragically short on titillation, let alone gameplay or entertainment.

A hugely ambitious and imaginative, but still very roughly hewn, simulation of medieval combat.

There's plenty of novelty value in seeing your games on TV, but it's one that wears off very quickly.

Extremely easy to use interface and excellent tutorials. Download service sounds promising.

An improvement on the first game but despite the joyful carnage this is still a pretty shallow sandbox.

A vast improvement on the first game, but still only a partial vindication for motion controls.

A typically assured mix of standard Japanese role-playing and MegaTen's more provocative ideas.

It may not be a simulation but this is still an in-depth and hugely enjoyable racing game.

Bizarre sliding block puzzler that despite numerous issues is oddly more tolerable than it should be.

The Settlers goes back to basics, putting a friendly face on complex resource management.

A vast improvement on the previous console port and a sequel that seems less disappointing on the 360.

Only nostalgiaists will want to play it at length but this shames modern shooters with its ambition.

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

An unexpectedly daring attempt to reinvent the series but one mired in technical and design flaws.

Despite many rough edges and a fumbled narrative few shooters feel as tense and unpredictable as this.

The end result is certainly the best of the series, with the sense of scale and superb presentation overcoming most concerns over repetition and depth.

One of the Wii's best-looking games, but this role-playing hybrid is all atmosphere and no substance.

A competent but relatively unambitious expansion that adds plenty of new content but no new ideas.

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

A failed attempt to expand the coin-op, with a fog of unnecessary extras keeping you from the good stuff.

It might not escape from the shadow of Punch-Out!! but this WiiWare download still puts up a good fight.

Pokemon needs evolution not remakes, but it's still hard to resist the most feature rich version yet.

More than just a standalone expansion, this is another genre-blurring tour de force by Relic.

Despite a few interesting ideas this never manages to relive the glory days of top-down racing.

Baby and bathwater are thrown screaming from the tub as Square Enix strip Final Fantasy down to the marrow.

As rough and ready as the previous games but a fascinating tour of Japan's seedy criminal underbelly.

The real survival horror here is enduring the repetitive scares and gameplay all the way to the end.

A clever mix of World Of Goo and Drawn To Life that makes good use of the Wii and your own imagination.

World War I has never been so much fun in this successful mix of Tower Defence and shoot 'em-up action.

It's one step forward and two back in a sequel that seems almost ashamed of its own unique features.

An infinitely better game than you'd expect, but one that falls just short of true greatness.

Simpler, shallower but more accessible, this will divide fans but should engage the less committed.

If you're tired of music games this peculiar platformer is no reason to keep your plastic axe either.

An improvement on the earlier echochrome and another abstract but engaging puzzler for the PSP.

An interactive movie where the gameplay is as basic and two-dimensional as the story and acting.

Being Boney represents a more linear, but more accessible, experience for would-be European dictators.