This is a sequel afraid of what its predecessors stood for and too timid to focus on and perfect their strengths. It’s a real shame that it’s the game’s creators that seem the most scared in Dead Space 3, rather than the players.

The game’s limitless options and boundless enthusiasm have never been so impressive, but it’s further away than ever from fulfilling its potential as an actual video game.

Frustrating and confusing almost by design, Antichamber is nevertheless one of the most intelligent and imaginative puzzle games for years.

You can see the basis of a good game here but Omerta gets almost everything wrong, from the shallow gameplay to the bland, characterless gangster atmosphere.

A superior Mario Kart clone and certainly the best Sega has ever produced, especially in terms of the teary-eyed nostalgia inspired by its endless retro cameos.

Its attempted revolution of turn-based tactics isn't quite as practical as it first seems but this is still an impressively fun, and funny, strategy game.

Even Absolution's harshest critics may be surprised at how badly some of these games have aged, but warts and all this is still a fascinating collection to play through.

There's nothing even slightly revolutionary here, but five decent new maps – including one for Zombies – is perfectly welcome anyway.

Grotesque and disturbing, and that's not just in terms of the tawdry use of Japanese schoolgirls but the result of a flawed but oddly effective horror game.

A clever mix of Pac-Man and Qix, together with retro modern presentation and an addictive high score challenge.

Not necessarily the best version of the game, but it's definitely the cheapest – and a still superb mix of role-playing, puzzle and strategy action.

The Wii U version has slightly less control issues than the original Kinect game, but also less of the novelty – although it's still mindless comic book fun while it lasts.

A beautiful-looking space combat sim with many fine ideas… all of which are almost ruined by horrendous difficultly spikes and the galaxy's stupidest spaceship pilots.

The mechanics could well help to rejuvenate the adventure genre, but the story and puzzles of The Cave are nowhere near as entertaining as they should be.

The Wii U could've enabled a mini-revolution in karaoke games, but that'll never happen with the minimum effort and budget at work here.

A fascinating experiment in alternative storytelling, filled with bold new ideas and some stunning visuals and music.

One of the worst video games of all-time, although to even classify it as interactive entertainment is to flatter this most appalling of Final Fantasy spin-offs.

Whether you know it best as Puzz Loop or Zuma this is an imaginative variation of the puzzle formula, even if it's a self-consciously weird one.

Its B-movie charm is beginning to sag and this revamp of the Xbox 360 hit fails to make the most of its enhancements – or charge an appropriate price for them.

Whether it justifies all 170 million of its downloads is open to question but there's no denying this sequel is prettier and even more addictive than the original.

One of the best Japanese role-players of the generation and a gloriously beautiful game by any standard, both visually and emotionally.

A slight step-down from the previous add-ons but sill leagues above most other DLC, even if the whole great white hunter shtick sometimes seems ill-advised.

There are some great ideas here, with clever use of the dual screens, but the game in which they find themselves is far less entertaining than it should be.

A near perfect segue from console to iPhone, and a game that understands the pros and cons of touchscreen controls a lot better than most.

An almost entirely successful reboot that still offers deep and flexible combat but in a more accessible and approachable form – and really, the new Dante's not that bad.

An inspired reinvention of multiplayer brawling, that carves out a whole new action genre for itself and those brave enough to learn its ins and outs.

One of the most acclaimed games of the '80s gets the modern makeover it deserves, with an experience that still feels as daringly ambitious now as it ever did.

Team Ninja has done everything to please fans short of making a brand new game, but despite its successes this too often feels like an awkward compromise.