The most realistic and engaging instalment of Football Manager yet, even if its improvements are extremely minor in themselves.

The music is beautiful, especially on headphones, it’s polished to a high shine, and as with Alike’s previous games, your only complaint will be that is eventually has to end.

As far as we're concerned this is easily the best Gears Of War game, but it's also one that refines and exhausts every gameplay element to such a degree that it seems like a far more final end to the trilogy than Epic probably intended. If there are more games, and we assume there will be, they're going to have to be significantly different to seem worthwhile.

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

It’s a friendly and beautifully constructed ecosystem, and if you enjoy tinkering with, as well as simply playing, levels this is an endlessly engaging toy.

The Street Fighter of online shooters is an inspired new take on familiar ideas, that proves personality really does go a long way.

One of the best modern Super Mario titles is made that little bit better and accompanied by a brand-new game that bends the formula in new and exciting ways.

A fantastic big budget remake of one of Resident Evil’s most popular entries, that manages to look state-of-the-art but in terms of gameplay finds a perfect balance of old and new.

One of the best portable role-players ever made and a joyful mix of bizarrely inventive gameplay and surprisingly sharp comedy.

It’s a nerdy organisational rabbit hole of depth and intricacy that, for the right personality, will create the sense of benign addiction gamers crave.

It offers little progress from the PC version, but then none is really needed in what is a masterclass in minimalist video game design.

The joy of playing something that isn’t a sequel or licensed tie-in is considerable in its own right but this tightly designed third person actioner is a pleasure from beginning to end.

Indie gaming sires another 2D classic, with a platformer that offers more freedom and intrigue than almost anything else on Xbox Live Arcade - or beyond.

A serious game for serious minds or a fun and surprisingly accessible stealth shooter. Just as it should be, the choice is always yours.

A massive and gloriously complex exploration, resource management, and factory-building extravaganza that takes hundreds of hours to unlock all its layers of possibilities.

The most visually impressive and entertaining game on PlayStation VR, with an incredible sense of scale and boundless imagination.

It’s ruthlessly hard, although you can adapt the difficulty level if it all gets too much, and it suffers from the usual issues with onscreen joystick and buttons, but its beautifully-rendered visuals and refined mechanics make it a joy to play from start to finish.

Interesting plot and story concept, fantastically versatile 2D combat, and some of the best dungeon puzzling outside of a Zelda game. Gorgeous graphics and soundtrack.

Developed by Simogo, whose spine-tingling Year Walk, and expectation subverting Device 6 have rightly become landmarks in mobile gaming, this is another one. It’s a shame it will be denied to Android users, but for Arcade subscribers it’s possibly the first unequivocally essential download.

Chaotic, brightly coloured, and with an immense profusion of power-ups, heroes and abilities, which are gradually unlocked through a series of different levels and one-off events, it’s a long term challenge that’s extremely moreish right from the start. The upgrade path means you’ll slowly start to take on higher difficulties as you gather more monkey towers to your cause, making for a compelling difficulty curve in this near-perfect genre exemplar.

Its demands on players is as great as any FromSoftware game but persevere and Sekiro reveals itself as the most rewarding and nuanced ninja game in decades.

It’s a pleasure to wander around, the input of American artist William Chyr evident in the expansive and mildly trippy building designs that trail off into infinity. And it’s no shrinking violet on the challenge, which rapidly becomes deliciously tricky.

The name and anime aesthetic may seem off-putting, but combined with the original this is some of the most engaging interactive storytelling of the modern era.

The video game equivalent of a concept album, and a hugely successful mix of visual, music, and gameplay influences.

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.

There are minor improvements here but the next gen versions of Lego Marvel still rely on charm and fan service more than technical finesse.

An inspired mix of skateboarding and 2D platforming that manages to combine a surprising level of realism with some enjoyably impossible level design.

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.

Superb mix of role-playing, puzzle and strategy action, with gorgeous new HD graphics and an addictive online mode.

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.

With myriad graphical touches, from the creepy crawlies that infest many levels to your character’s tiny, bloody footprints as she wanders away from the scene of a battle, it’s clearly a labour of love.

An excellent port from the PC, which maintains all of the original's innovative open-endedness and most of its graphical prowess.

Vengeance’s 12 or so hours of entertainment are joyous, and speeding through them with paid upgrades is a fool’s errand. This is still the very pinnacle of the Tower Defense genre and even if you completely ignore its microtransactions, it’s a superb game.

The remake adds improved visuals, new sea creatures, and a few more fishing power-ups at the shop. Plus, there’s the Pro Tour, a sizeable chunk of progression to work on once you’ve fished all the species from the other regions.

The 15 islands you’ll rule in campaign mode take a lot of work to balance, as you try to ensure your populace is well paid, fed, and entertained to offset the less pleasant needs to pay rent and taxes. It’s highly engaging and the iPad port works seamlessly.

An incredible technical achievement but one that is surprisingly short of genuinely new ideas, and often struggles to get the balance right between VR showpiece and satisfying gameplay experience.

An impressively original take on XCOM style turn-based strategy that gains in depth and versatility what it loses in accessibility, with some of the best boss encounters of the year.

An utterly charming and perfectly paced mini-adventure that packs in more character, emotion, and sense of wonder than most 30 hour epics.

After years out of the limelight Pikmin 3 has resprouted, with its mellow take on real-time strategy more enjoyable than ever, especially thanks to the expanded co-op options.

Viewed on its own merits it’s a highly entertaining and feature-packed video game, and that’s all that really matters.

An inspired mix of first person shooter, role-playing game, and survival horror that offers up one of the most compelling, and interactive, open world environments this generation.

The mobile port works beautifully, its timed button presses easy enough to pull off on a touchscreen and its cute, deliberately blocky graphics looking alluringly colourful on a small screen.

EA beats Nintendo at its own game with a keep-fit package that seems substantially more useful than Wii Fit.

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.

It’s unique while it lasts, though, its idle gameplay proving as engaging as ever, and its wilful misunderstanding of Stephen Hawking’s ideas, along with a peculiar obsession with potatoes, making it one to savour.

The main advantage of the Switch 2 version, if you casually ignore anyone who has played on a PC this century, is mouse controls. You can jump between the dual analogue setup and mouse functionality by flipping one Joy-Con on its side, and it transitions seamlessly between them whenever you want. There’s a mouse sensitivity slider which you can attune to your speed and, after some adjustment in nailing down the spell configurations with the buttons twisted sideways, it quickly became our preferred way to play.

It may not have changed very much from last year's entry but what small improvements there are still makes this the best F1 racer of the modern era.

No matter what it says about the potential usage for the Switch’s touchscreen this is a beautifully presented and enjoyably novel rhythm action game.

It can be a little inconsistent in terms of both actions and puzzles but late entry or not this is one of the funniest and best-presented adventures of the year.

A clever spin on the MOBA genre that strips away the complications and nerdy presentation to create a fast-paced but deceptively complex action strategy game.

There are some inherent limitations with playing a four-player fighting game on a 3DS but this overcomes almost all of them, to become one of the portable’s definitive multiplayer games.

The best combat flight sim ever on a console, with a huge range of aircraft and locations - as well as difficultly settings to suit every kind of gamer.

Its challenge and ingenuity never falter in a game that channels the essence of Shovel Knight into a fresh format.

With its splendid mock 16-bit graphics (that come complete with a simulated CRT mode), chiptunes, a save system that lets you continue but resets your score, and an easy difficulty that gives you three layers of recharging shield, it’s tough but fair in the way that modern versions of old school shooters tend to be. This is a quality offering and easily amongst the best available for touchscreen devices.

An engrossing stealth action game, featuring incredible scenery and facial animation that shames many triple-A games, never mind other indie titles.

Like most DLC it doesn’t introduce much in the way of new ideas but if you enjoyed Doom Eternal you’re going to love these new levels and their uncompromising challenge.

A Pokémon fighting game may not seem like the most obvious spin-off idea, but the end result is a surprisingly fun and inventive multiplayer game.

The story campaign can be a little bland, at least when playing on your own, but otherwise this does a fine job of bringing Gears into the current gen.

Punishingly and infuriatingly hard, but also the best retro-inspired platform puzzler for years.

It’s very much its own game however, its Czech roots evident in both its art style and slapstick sense of humour, which features a much rowdier demeanour than past games from the studio. CHUCHEL is an irreverent, surreal rollercoaster ride that never lets ideas or cultural references outstay their welcome.

The best new music title for years and a significant improvement on the first game, with almost every complaint from the original addressed.

The Switch 1 version of Sonic X Shadow Generations is undeniably the worst one, if only for its locked frame rate of 30fps. Fortunately, the Switch 2 version is a solid revision that’s almost on par with the PlayStation 5 version.

Business as usual with a mediocre single-player campaign and one of the best multiplayer experiences in all gaming – and at last one that works just as well on consoles as on PC.

Professor Layton may offer a more cerebral challenge but Rhythm Thief has more than enough charm and imagination to waltz its way into your affections.

A slick sequel with promising, if shallow, career mode improvements. But it’s moving in the right direction and not far off achieving elite status.

Achingly beautiful god sim that struggles at times over structure and difficultly curve, but never in terms of spectacle or vision.

A stunning achievement in open world gameplay but one whose tonal inconsistencies and weak narrative undermines what could have been an all-time classic.

Its goals and improvements may be more modest than the last game but this is still an enjoyable return trip to Italy - especially in the company of friends.

It’s not the plot that’s important in Deltarune but the bizarre range of characters and the surreal situations you find yourself in. Although at the heart of it all is a very pacifist ideology, that celebrates the power of love and the need for empathy without ever seeming mawkish or patronising. And while also paying homage to old school Japanese role-players and having a cracking soundtrack.

The storytelling is lacking but otherwise this is one of the most interesting Japanese role-players of recent years, and one that isn’t afraid to take inspiration from other genres.

One of the best remakes ever, but also a puzzle platformer that defies its age to offer an enjoyable challenge to gamers both young and old.

It's a better shooter, but the overfamiliar plot and setting makes for a less interesting game overall.

One of the best offline co-op games of recent years, with a wonderfully antagonist premise that destroys and rebuilds relationships on an almost minute-to-minute basis.

The best version of Control so far, that makes good use of the PlayStation 5’s features and leaves plenty of hope and anticipation for a future sequel.

The definitive portable version of Minecraft, with almost all the features of the current gen home console editions combined with the convenience of the Nintendo Switch.

As simplistic and shallow as it is, the game is still as much fun as ever, with this version also adding a time attack mode and allowing for rewinds and VRR support.

Not quite a killer app but certainly the best New Super Mario Bros. game so far, and an occasionally inspired 2D platformer in its own right.

A well designed, technical tour de force that lives up to the enticing prospect of an officially licensed Codemasters rally game.

The iPhone's best game emerges from the shadow of LocoRoco as one of the best portable puzzlers ever.

A surreal and unsettling work of interactive fiction, that examines not just the end of Covid lockdown but issues of friendship, passion, and murder.

A shamefully shoddy port of the 360 version, but still a superbly designed action game underneath.

Its eerie ambience and moments of existentialist angst will stay with you long after you’ve finished its five or so hours of lugubrious adventuring, its few buttons and straightforward controls translating neatly to touchscreen.

Arkanoid is finally superseded as the best Breakout clone around in this enjoyable retro update.

An inspired mix of survival horror and battle royale that also manages to blend competitive and co-operative gameplay into a terrifyingly entertaining whole.

It’s stacked full of options, including a story mode, the chance to play both games individually, and the all-important crossover mode. This mixes the rules from both games and since they’re similar enough it works pretty well, as your screen becomes filled with tetriminos and… whatever Puyos are supposed to be.

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

Still one of the best action games ever made, but while this is a competent port/remaster the absurdly high price makes it an expensive novelty.

Life Is Strange’s sequel is off to an impressively daring start, both in terms of the subject matter and creating a brand-new cast of characters.

It’s noticeably harder precision aiming sniper rifles, giving shorter range fully automatic guns an advantage, but its roster of 10 legends unlocks more quickly than it did on PC and console, and matches have the requisite speed and tension. A solid start.

Beautifully presented and ingenious throughout, Supertype is a uniquely oblique take on word play.

A charmingly old-fashioned survival horror that manages to make all the limitations of 90s gaming work in its favour, especially in terms of its enjoyably obscure puzzles.

Arguably the best Monster Hunter clone ever made and while it’s not quite as good as Capcom’s series it does have some unique and interesting ideas of its own – despite initial impressions to the contrary.

Video games rarely get to be autobiographical, but this indie gem is a funny, touching, and endearingly honest portrayal of one person’s difficult student years.

A celebration of misbehaviour, with an avian avatar that instantly takes its place amongst the greatest villains in video games history.

More highly addictive Nazi cranium popping, that improves almost every aspect of the experience – especially in terms of the open world and expanded weapon options.

An excellent remaster that preserves the original’s eccentricities and old school character, while instituting a complete graphical overhaul and adding a suite of modern conveniences.

The pace of innovation is only fractionally slower in the second expansion to Relic's superb action strategy, with plenty to entertain new fans and old.

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.