Still easily the best sports management game around, and although most of this year's changes are fairly trivial they're all extremely welcome.

One of the best 2D shooters of the modern era is also one of the most visually distinctive games of the whole generation, and a stunning work of imagination on every level.

Gearbox’s venerable looter shooter has finally developed a modicum of maturity, with improved gunplay, a proper open world, and some half-decent storytelling.

Only the limiting nature of the PSP holds back the most ambitious and fully-featured Metal Gear ever.

One of the best Call Of Duty games in years, with one of the greatest campaigns in the franchise’s history, along with solid, if somewhat less ambitious, multiplayer and co-op modes.

A hardcore roguelike that has none of the niceties of most modern equivalents and yet its old school charm and small innovations make it enjoyable despite itself.

The price is no doubt Atari’s doing but it makes recommending the game a lot harder than it used to be. And yet when the bad guys are falling like skittles, as you skid past one and quickly jump back to explode him and his cohorts, any qualifications about the game being too retro, too familiar, or too expensive fall away. But it is frustrating that the game’s most important talking point has become how much it costs and not how it plays.

A massive and complex fantasy themed 4X strategy game, made appealingly straightforward thanks to its cleverly refined interface.

Probably the closest you'll ever get to another Project Gotham Racing, with a fantastic-looking open world filled with top class racing opportunities.

Superb mix of Tower Defense and action role-player that is one of the year's best and most addictive co-operative games.

More accessible and better value than the PC original, and with the same beautiful 2D visuals – Trine 2 sets the Wii U's eShop off to an excellent start.

A highly polished remaster of the almost-classic action role-player, that is still stuck with some of the original flaws but allows the thoughtful, and very humorous, script to shine.

There’s still a lot of room for improvement but this is easily the best Pokémon game for several years and a positive new direction that the mainline games would be wise to follow.

The modern and 8-bit worlds collide again as old school arcade gameplay is given a new twist.

Not the best version of Mass Effect 3, but also not the worst – indeed it's only the lack of the other games and their DLC that makes this difficult to recommend.

The slickest, smoothest and most technologically advanced not-FIFA game ever made, that makes an encouragingly positive start to a new era of football video games.

The best Mario Golf game since the N64 original and while it does have some odd ideas they’re almost all optional, resulting in an impressively comprehensive sporting experience.

A polished and highly competent roguelike deck builder with some neat twists, that can sometimes feel a touch too random for its own good.

The First Word War setting feels a little less daring than you might’ve hoped, but as a complete first person shooter package this is one of the best of the generation so far.

An impressive port of the PS3 original that improves some elements, even if it leaves out multiplayer.

The old style Tomb Raider is never coming back, but this is a more satisfying compromise than the reboot and an impressive technical feat.

Another inspired attempt to modernise old school Japanese role-players, while retaining all the charm and depth of early era Final Fantasies.

There’s little attempt at innovation in Starcraft II’s first expansion, but enough refinement and fine-tuning to please fans both new and old.

Minimalist gaming at its finest, with graphics and presentation out of the Stone Age but evocative sci-fi action that’s tense, tactical and instantly addictive.

There are a few niggling technical issues but this still easily laps any other serious racing game on the iPhone - or any other portable format.

Even without any new content the portability is enough of a draw to enthral veteran players all over again, while anyone new to the series will wonder how they ever did without it.

The sort of expertly orchestrated action you’d expect from a team-up between Nintendo and Platinum, but the lack of innovation is a little disappointing.

Gaming’s ultimate eSport gets a well-considered makeover by the masters at Valve, although new ideas, and fixes for old problems, are currently thin on the ground.