Pure fan service in every sense, which ensures an enjoyably nostalgic adventure but also means a number of flaws that wouldn’t be tolerated in other circumstances.

An excellent battle system shackled to a dispiritingly dull and long-winded fantasy adventure, that takes an inordinate amount of time to say nothing of value.

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.

The visuals may make even Knack look like a system seller, but there’s a quiet pleasure to Super Motherload’s simple but addictive gameplay.

One of the scariest video games ever made, or at least it is for the first few hours – before it succumbs to wearying repetition and frustratingly unfair set pieces.

A flawed remake of one of the Sega Saturn’s most recognisable classics, that fumbles the controls and visual upgrade and yet remains a relatively enjoyable homage.

A small improvement on the last game but until the issues with the artificial intelligence and other bugs are fixed Sniper Elite will always be off target.

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

Derivative, shallow and ruthlessly unambitious, but as Diablo clones go this is still one of the best and most addictive on consoles.

A midcarder to the WWE 2K23 main event, AEW Fight Forever lays down some solid foundations and is fun to play, but without much depth it falls short.

Not the full fat sequel that fans will have been waiting for but an enjoyable, if extremely shallow, four-player Diablo clone.

It looks and plays just like the PS3 games, but alas this is just as pedestrian in terms of innovation.

It’s still not a patch on the better Mario Party games but its still one of the few video games where literally everyone can join in and have some sort of fun – from non-gamers to the ultra hardcore.

Series and genre fans are well provided for but it's a shame the technical achievements aren't in service of a more adventurous game.

A welcome revival of a much-loved franchise, although Banana Blitz was never the best entry and Sega has had to accept too many compromises in porting it from the Wii.

A minor entry in the venerable city building series, which has some interesting ideas and visuals but too little in the way of gameplay depth.

A spirited attempt to revive the former glories of gaming’s original survival horror but a lack of scares and sub-par action can’t defeat the ghosts of the past.

Its light challenge and straightforward level design are complemented by minimalist good looks, but there’s just too little going on to maintain interest beyond saving up and collecting a few perfectly drawn miniature vehicles.

What starts as a fine homage to Super Metroid and ‘70s style sci-fi ends as a disappointing waste of both story and gameplay potential.

Yet another entirely unnecessary sequel to a classic game that should never have got any follow-ups at all. But if you want even more of the same old thing there are few small sparks of imagination here and there.

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

The next gen space combat simulator now plays almost as good as it looks, even if there are still many more improvements needed.

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

Considering the one complaint about Titanfall was the lack of content this new DLC makes no effort to fill the gaps in the original package, although at least two of the maps are very good.

One of the very few pre-smartphone games that is still worth playing, even if this new update only does the bare minimum to keep it relevant.

A solid online shooter ruined by thoughtless corporate greed, whose malign practises could damage the whole of gaming if they are not kept in check.

Sony's own take Project Natal proves a convincing proof of concept but even as a virtual pet it's limited.

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