The best SoulCalibur VI of recent generations, with an accessible but tactically deep combat system. But while the single-player options are much improved they’re still far from perfect.

An ode to pop culture, the joy of toys, and the love of a good mash-up. It’s expensive, and a lot of the gameplay is familiar, but the mix of elements is almost impossible to resist.

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

A fantastically entertaining action game that combines gameplay, visuals, and audio into an irresistible orgy of violence and… improvisational jazz.

The remake is no longer the technical marvel it once was, but Capcom has done their best to reissue it in a way that maintains all the splendour, scares, and laughs of the original.

Only a minor evolution of Rome II, and with many of the same bugbears, but the stunning visuals and deep strategy bring a fascinating period of history fully to life.

Some unfortunate technical problems distract from what is otherwise a very generous compilation, and an entirely legitimate alternative to Destiny.

Beneath its cute exterior beats the heart of a demandingly difficult brainteaser which rewards invention and persistence, but has no time for trivial puzzles – or gamers.

Another indie classic makes the successful leap from PC to console, in this masterful mix of Minecraft and Metroid.

Great value download, with an excellent capture the flag game that it would be positively rude not to try.

Its mixture of inventive, challenging puzzle-solving and pixel perfect platform hopping works fine using touchscreen controls because interactions are generally undertaken with no time pressure. And if you don’t fancy watching an ad every three continues, removing them will cost you £3.99.

Faithful almost to a fault to the classic original, but still a stunning achievement for the DS and a thoroughly engrossing adventure in its own right.

More a remake than a sequel but still a welcome return for one of the most original and distinctive genre mash-ups of recent years.

One of the best Life Is Strange episodes so far, with more earnest and relatable character work and some impressive branching storytelling.

An excellent remake that makes the game vastly more accessible for newcomers, while still providing plenty of new features, and updated visuals, for existing fans.

A surprisingly ambitious cosmic space adventure that excels the more it diverges from the movies, offering robust action, impressive visuals, and unexpectedly sophisticated storytelling.

If not the best tennis sim ever then certainly the most realistic, and with a training tool that should be the envy of any other game.

It's not much of a sequel but this remains a superior mix of role-player, shooter and survival horror.

An adult video game that is neither exploitative nor pretentious, but instead weaves a fun yet incisive tale about all too human characters.

Despite a few rough edges this is easily the best new graphic adventure since the ‘90s, and a game that can stand toe-to-toe with the rest of the LucasArts pantheon. More importantly, it’s a game who’s focus on dialogue and character has an awful lot to teach modern games when it comes to telling a ripping yarn.

A compelling story well told, and although it’s still not very interactive the variety and artfulness of the presentation feels like something only a video game could do.

It’s highly addictive, and even though it only takes a couple of hours to see everything, there’s a more demanding New Game+ that chops each life down to 40 seconds, and your energy bar down to a single heart.

A hugely entertaining 3D platformer that channels the imagination and unpredictability of older games without becoming a prisoner to the past.

The mechanics are the same as always but this makes a genuine effort to address the flaws of the previous titles and make the best use of Kinect so far.

A brilliantly strange, neon-lit survival horror that mixes 90s style visuals and gameplay with a very modern take on love in the 21st century.

An inspired mix of roguelike and platformer that dares to be fair with its rewards and its penalties for death – although not necessary its random medical conditions.

One of the few slices of DLC that can claim to be better than the parent game, as the gameplay of Frontiers Of Pandora is tightened up and the graphics pushed even further.

A clever mix of World Of Goo and Drawn To Life that makes good use of the Wii and your own imagination.