The best Need For Speed in a decade – but that says far more about the moribund state of the franchise than it does this workmanlike new entry.

Too expensive to win the graphic adventure new fans but old ones will still enjoy this genre highlight.

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

An inferior experience to PC and Oculus, not in terms of graphics but the frustrating PlayStation Move controllers that make wielding a lightsaber more a pain than a pleasure.

A disappointing attempt to ape the magic of Inside and Limbo, which despite some of the best visuals of the year suffers from unimaginative puzzle design and storytelling.

There are flashes of brilliance, especially when it comes to the flying, but confused storytelling, boring loot, and unsatisfying missions don’t justify the game’s massive time investment.

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

Another charmingly scripted adventure with bright cheery graphics, a loveable cast and… tedious combat and frustrating exploration.

Portraying existential quandaries as gameplay puzzles is a daring idea, but ultimately this is a more enjoyable game to watch and listen to than it is to play.

Possibly the scariest 12-rated game ever made, although the attractive visuals are better designed than the poorly balanced difficulty.

For once Sonic gets a spin-off that’s well suited to his talents, but this is an uninspired homage to his glory days – with little new to offer him or endless runners.

There are boosters you can use to blast away multiple blocks at a time, and hundreds upon hundreds of levels, but no real sense of evolution as you progress. It’s as if it were intended to be a free to play game that was unexpectedly re-purposed, leaving visible traces of its original mechanics without any real point to them.

Somebody must still love Spy Vs Spy given the amount of effort that's been put into this remake, but the retro charm wears off extremely quickly.

The storytelling is as well up to Telltale’s usual standards, but waiting three months for such a short and relatively uneventful episode is unavoidably anticlimactic.

A hugely original and beautifully presented shooter sadly in search of proper difficulty curve.

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.

They may not be directly related but Mario’s would-be siblings have some interesting ideas of their own, although they lack refinement to make the most of them.

While point ‘n’ click adventures experienced their apogee in the 1990s, it’s still a genre that manages to generate new outings. Mystery Of Silence is one, telling the story of a journalist investigating a mysterious island monastery.

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

Hugely disappointing portable debut that replicates the basic look of Gran Tursimo but rips out its heart.

Dazzlingly gorgeous 2D graphics cannot hide Vanillaware's merely competent beat 'em-up gameplay.

One of the most influential rhythm action games ever made, but the graphics and gameplay definitely show their age – remaster or not.

It’s a well-made game, but lacking in magic. The anodyne character design, lacklustre script, and battles that have challenge but little excitement, conspire to make it feel oddly pedestrian. Still, if you’re craving a decent sized role-player on your phone this certainly manages to tick all the right boxes, even if that’s all it does.

Gorgeous 2D art still can't forgive the needless repetition, but while the novelty lasts this is a great little brain dead brawler.

A successful restatement of everything that was great about the early Suikoden games but many of its old school affectations will only be excused by existing fans.

A modestly ambitious action role-player, that’s very good at making you feel you have an impact on the world, but it’s let down by endless reams of mundane dialogue and predictable mechanics.

The least accomplished of the recent spate of Wonder Boy games but it still retains a certain charm and offers plenty of reasons for the franchise to continue.

When one of the main new features of a game is its ability to play itself, it’s a hint that a franchise is beginning to run out of steam – especially given Disgaea 6’s limp script and 3D graphics.