It might not honour the series’ creator, but Metal Gear itself is paid due homage, in one of the best, and most complete, retro compilations there’s ever been.

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.

If you’ve played it before, it’s a relatively brief experience that most certainly bears repeating. For those who haven’t, the first time is a joy we’d recommend to just about anyone.

Gaming's politest protagonist returns with another generously stocked portable puzzle compendium.

It works perfectly on a touchscreen, the experience of gently manoeuvring light through each level proving engaging and oddly relaxing.

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

Bullet hell at its finest, with some genuine innovation for a 2D shooter and some great visuals.

Arc System Works aren’t exactly pushing themselves out of their comfort zone, but this is another polished and highly enjoyable 2D fighter that is not nearly as insular as you’d think.

A welcome return for a significant but sadly overlooked part of Capcom’s fighting game heritage, and one of the best HD updates of a 2D game ever seen.

It’s brilliant while it lasts, but feels like approximately 70% of an excellent game, and one that seems to run out of steam before reaching its full potential.

If you’re not too bothered about seeking constant action, but prefer your games to possess a discernible intelligence, overlying a message which is delivered in a subtle yet insistent manner, then you’ll love Road 96. The illusion of generating your own road movie works perfectly, and whether you view it as simple escapism or something deeper it manages to entertain either way.

An imaginative spin on retro 2D shooters, whose unconventional gameplay and visuals are a prime example of what makes indie gaming so exciting – despite some notable rough edges.

With no in-app purchases, what might have been a gacha system is replaced with crafting, letting you use resources to build new beasts, that unleash damage on your behalf. It’s just as polished as you’d expect from such a venerable franchise, and stripped of its monetisation is at least as compelling.

As bizarre a mix of genres, art style, and subject matter as you could ever hope to see. But it all works together surprisingly well and this remaster is well deserved.

A series of darkly comic spy-themed VR escape rooms that revel in their ability to kill you in inventive and unexpected ways.

Not quite as good as the previous two maps, with the more serious atmosphere lessening the fun, but still a more than welcome addition to the episodic series.

Ultimately this is a very different game to the offline versions but on its own terms almost as entertaining.

A wonderfully strange and imaginative indie adventure that delights in terms of its visuals, storytelling, and enjoyably unpredictable gameplay.

A charming, polished, and warmly humorous detective game whose cute 3D dioramas and delightful graphical touches are a pleasure to interact with.

It works really well on a touchscreen, letting you dip in for a bit of mayoral action wherever you happen to be. It may only take a few days to occupy most of the available space in your starter city, but the map itself is vast, letting you experiment with different conurbations across its varied terrain.

Beautifully drawn and with a haunting soundtrack, the cyclical nature of the game and its oblique plot exposition make this a playful and constantly delightful experience.

Royale’s latest update has now had a month to bed-in, and it’s a welcome change. The two-tier battle pass has been slimmed down to one – the free version now considerably more generous – and the shards needed to buy evolutions are easier to come by. A fix for the game’s creaking clan wars system is presumably in the works, but this already feels like a big step in the right direction.

Business as usual with a mediocre single-player campaign and one of the best multiplayer experiences in all gaming – especially on the inarguably superior PC version.

A welcome change of style for the puzzle series, and although its influences are obvious this offers impressive value and variety for an eShop download.

It’s unexpectedly great, with a warm sense of humour, elegantly designed mini-challenges, and new photographic equipment to unlock. Its engaging, time pressure free interactions work brilliantly on a touchscreen.

It’s fascinatingly complex, and even though its music is a bit hectic and its interface a little unrefined, it’s a dream for enthusiasts of cautious trial and error, which can deliver staggering and unexpected breakthroughs.

As you might imagine, we’re still quite some way away from completing The Longing, but the experience so far has been deeply unusual, and sublime in every way. It’s a game experience unlike any other – although one that certainly won’t appeal to everyone – and the mobile version is every bit as unexpected and occasionally joyous as the PC-based original.

The best Japanese role-player of the generation and arguably the best open world environment of the year, despite a disappointing story and some arcane systems.