Whether Nintendo intendeds to reuse it for the inevitable Mario Kart 9 is impossible to say, but perhaps there might be some hint as to their future plans once the Booster Pass finally ends. Knowing Nintendo, they’ll more likely keep their secrets to the last moment but it really doesn’t matter because combined with all this DLC it’s difficult to imagine how anything could better Mario Kart 8.

Sometimes its pixel art graphics and relatively modest frame rate can make it hard to figure out what hit you, but its roguelite cycle of upgrades and unlocks soon exerts a powerful, benign addiction.

It’s got a really nice flow to it that gets more noticeable as you start to know the cards and what they do, which is handy as it also gets quite a bit trickier as you progress.

Conversation is witty and naturalistic, even if Taylor’s habit of sending alerts for every single phrase he utters can rapidly become an irritant rather than a draw.

Unfortunately, unlike Archero, it’s mind-numbingly dull and lacks any sort of compelling reason to continue drowning in its multiple currencies and lacklustre, microscopically incremental upgrade paths. There’s a genuinely free Netflix version that removes all the microtransactions, but it’s equally tedious.

A loving homage to Castlevania and another great slice of DLC for Dead Cells, with the two games working together in perfect harmony.

A disappointing follow-up to Nioh, that has most of its same qualities but, unfortunately, almost exactly the same flaws; with two few new ideas to make up for the lack of advancement.

A fun and accessible introduction to the world of Catan but technical failings and a lack of options mean it’s not quite the adaptation it could’ve been.

It’s unfair to criticise any game for being something it’s not, so instead we’ll say that this is another excellent implementation of VR technology by Hello Games and despite all the years that have passed No Man’s Sky has never been better, resulting in another must-have title for PlayStation VR2.

The real-time battles are better than ever but rather than being a highlight the main story campaign is a peculiarly dull experience, that exposes the lack of genuinely new ideas.

We say the game wasn’t designed with VR in mind but we’re not sure that’s true. Capcom already did an excellent job with the VR mode for Resident Evil 7, so we imagine they had support for Village in mind all along. If they didn’t then the sequence near the start, where you stumble through the snow in the dark, is, entirely by accident, one of the best VR experiences we’ve ever had. [Review in Progress]

A fascinating reimaging of an 80s classic that never quite existed, but as interestingly unique as it is, it lacks the elegant simplicity of its more famous stablemates.

An underserved remaster to an unremarkable 2D platformer, that was the primary reason why the soft reboot of Kirby And The Forgotten was necessary in the first place.

The mix of highbrow story concept and complex first person combat is certainly reminiscent of Bioshock, but this churlish homage has nowhere near the same nuance in terms of either plot or gameplay.

A welcome novelty and throwback for long-time Yakuza fans, that offers everything they love about the series, although it’s held back by a rather underwhelming plot and too much fan service.

Arguably the best Monster Hunter clone ever made and while it’s not quite as good as Capcom’s series it does have some unique and interesting ideas of its own – despite initial impressions to the contrary.

An effective tech demo but it struggles to be anything else, not least because for the majority of the time it’s just a fairly vanilla climbing simulator.

One of the best PlayStation exclusives of recent years is an inspired mix of bullet hell shooter and roguelike dungeon crawler, that somehow still feels like nothing else on console or PC.

An excellent remaster of one of the best games of its generation, that looks and plays so well you could easily mistake it for a modern game.

Despite the change in tone many things remain consistent, from Amanita’s trademark simple but infinitely expressive character design, to trial and error gameplay that has you tugging, pushing, and prodding things to solve puzzles, making this a perfect candidate for the move to mobile. It’s a brief experience, once you’ve figured out what you’re doing in each scene, but also an eerily atmospheric one.

Its physics works beautifully, but lobbing a bunch of ammo at stuff until it collapses and being rewarded with yet another un-earned 3-star victory soon feels a bit dull. Fewer levels, that actually encouraged you to think, would have been infinitely preferable.

An entertaining and well-designed mobile port.

Unfortunately, the lack of chain reactions and the fact that the game automatically selects chains for you gives it a dull, staccato feel. Combined with the stingy number of turns you get before having to wait for a recharge, Tumble Time utterly fails to live up to the joy of its visuals.

A truly wizard RPG, whose historical setting frees it from the limitations of the books and films, with an open world experience that entertains no matter how much you care about the source material.

A poignant, slow-paced but ultimately shallow exploration of memory and legacy in a changing world, that also manages to be the world’s first cycle-based walking simulator.

A very welcome surprise, that is one of the most enjoyably unique games on Xbox and one of the best rhythm action games in a very long time - as well as having arguably the best cel-shaded graphics ever seen.

A litany of missed opportunities results in one of the most aggravating action role-players of recent years, with irritating characters, dull combat, and a frustrating movement system.

An excellent remake of a not-quite-classic survival horror, that nevertheless makes a convincing argument for the continuation of the series.