Some of the best map design DICE has ever come out with and a combat experience no other game can match. Useful range of new vehicles and Tank Superiority is great.

With a warm but whacky sense of humour, this is a Tycoon-style game that has you managing a blacksmithing business staffed by spuds. Set them to work forging weapons with stats that appeal to the selection of heroes that inhabit each of the game’s towns; the better the correlation, the more they’ll pay and the better their XP, adding to your shop’s fame and letting you expand your operation. It’s a polished product, even if it does eventually feel a bit repetitive, and the fact that it’s a PC port makes some of the text so tiny that those playing on phones will be reaching for a magnifying glass.

The best Forza Motorsport so far and arguably the best driving simulator on consoles, with stunning visuals and a mountain of highly compelling content.

Donkey Kong Country is still no classic platformer, but this reboot comes surprisingly close to rivaling modern Super Marios.

The best Call Of Duty Treayarch has ever made, with several set pieces that are amongst gaming's very best. The multiplayer is usefully enhanced too.

It often lacks the accessibility and sense of fun of Birthright, but for Fire Emblem and strategy veterans this is still an excellent entry in the series.

One of the best offline multiplayer games for years and yet more proof that the bow and arrow is gaming’s most entertaining weapon of choice.

A charming vindication of the PS Vita, that uses the console’s many abilities to the fullest – even if that does mean you’re left wanting more.

A superb multiplayer game that takes a very simple premise and crafts from it one of the best competitive arcade games in years.

It might be missing the name but this is the best Wonder Boy game ever made, updating and expanding the original concepts into a perfect mix of new and old.

A great sequel that is just as surreal and imaginative as the original and manages to be both a silly comedy platformer and a surprisingly affecting character study of regret and lost love.

A successful blend of Zelda and twin-stick bullet hell shooter, which sounds like a terrible mix but brings some welcome novelty to both styles of play.

Some useful improvements to the already solid current gen versions, although the loss of some game modes means it’s not the ultimate edition it could’ve been.

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.

A relative low point in Zelda history but still a hugely addictive and superbly well designed adventure.

It may have little in common with the earlier McRae games but this is still a varied and exciting racer.

A significant improvement on the reboot and while there are still a few flaws the core combat is some of the best in any first person shooter this generation.

It won’t win over Diablo III haters but this is a competent expansion that will renew the addiction for fans and help to earn new ones.

The consistently surprising offspring of Harvest Moon and Pikmin will make a royalist out of anyone.

Pro Evolution Soccer is finally back to its best, in what is undoubtedly one of the greatest sports games of all-time.

A superbly crafted comeback for one of platform gaming's most overlooked stars, and one of the best-looking 2D games ever made.

It's not a real overhaul for the series, but it is the best version so far - and so by extension one of the best portable video games ever made.

A distinguished iOS release that manages to replicate almost all the features of the home consoles originals, both good and bad.

A thoroughly entertaining mix of Dark Souls and Zelda that has few genuinely new ideas but still manages to enthral with a unique charm of its own.

The Mass Effect trilogy’s classic status is well deserved and while these remasters can’t iron out every problem, this is still a hugely entertaining and forward-thinking trio of action role-players.

Some of the most fearless and idiosyncratic storytelling ever seen in a video game, married to one of the most viciously entertaining shooters of the generation.

A bright and breezy revamp which builds on OlliOlli’s established mechanics with an abundance of personality and reverence for skateboarding culture.

A highly successful remake that fixes the technical and design flaws of the original and turns it into one of the year’s best looking action role-players.