A mechanically solid and fun Super Smash Bros. clone which doesn’t have the style, personality or affection for its characters to reach the heights of its inspiration.

One of the best Metroid games ever made and a thrilling restatement of everything that makes the series, and the genre it inspired, great.

Colourful and brutal, funny and horrifying, Far Cry 6 is the distilled essence of its franchise, as well as a richer and more coherent experience than recent outings.

On paper it does everything XCOM does and more, but poor balancing and overcomplicated rules means it’s just not as much fun.

Another sub-par remaster of Super Monkey Ball that ruins the precision and elegance of the originals and replaces it with janky, unpredictable controls and shoddy presentation.

A shameful launch of a barely playable, graphically embarrassing game that shames the memory of PES and may have killed the new franchise before it’s even begun.

Although the quality of the puzzles remains the same this unexpected expansion certainly isn’t just more of the same, with an unexpected new survival horror element.

A charming puzzle platformer which makes great use of its puppet show concept but falls short in longevity.

An unexpected gift for fans of the SNES original and while the remake is seriously flawed in terms of both graphics and gameplay its sheer oddness is still highly compelling.

A very narrow selection of games, from a format that does not work well on modern TVs, but Aria Of Sorrow in particular stands out as one of the best Castlevania games ever made.

It’s hard to believe this is Hideo Kojima’s preferred version of the game, considering it side lines so much of the core gameplay and adds little else of any substance.

An exacting remake of Diablo 2 that will not only please those that played it the first time round on PC but works impressively well on consoles too.

An ambitious release that focuses on new animations and gameplay innovations but the execution needs refining, whilst matches feel too heavily skewed in favour of defence. [Provisional Score = 70]

A bigger, more ambitious stealth sequel which revamps the original’s mechanics and personality but most of the changes are to the game’s detriment.

Highly impressive on a technical level but the throwbacks to PS2 era game design feel less like a homage and more an indication of the developers’ lack of experience and imagination.

A stunning visual style can’t hide the fact that Sable is not only uninterested in guiding its players but it doesn’t really care about entertaining them either.

There’s so much reused content it barely feels like a new game at times but the storytelling in Lost Judgment is some of the best, and most thoughtful, the Yakuza series has ever known.

The 2D visuals are absolutely stunning, but the simplistic action and pretentious storytelling undermine what could have been a true neo-retro classic.

A chirpy spin on the skateboarding sim genre, undermined by poor level design and frustrating gameplay.

The real problem though is that it’s missing career mode, which was central to Rush Rally 3. Despite the excellent interface and handling model it leaves the game feeling a little unfocused.

Online battles provide the odd moment of fun, but matchmaking is regularly unfair, the gameplay little more than a flimsy veil over the upgrade system and in-app purchases, and your character’s stats overwhelmingly the most important factor. It’s dull, over-commercialised drivel that’s not even a shadow of the franchise whose name it sullies.

Metal Slug: Commander is a dystopian masterclass in late stage capitalism. It does look nice though and is thankfully unrelated to the upcoming Metal Slug Tactics.

There’s a solid racing game in here somewhere, but it will need further development to reveal its delights.

A dark and comical action adventure with excellent combat mechanics, sharp writing, and a memorable cast of characters.

Not quite a misfire but while the action is highly entertaining this time-looping adventure squanders much of its premise on disappointingly straightforward objectives and a curiously tame portrayal of unchecked hedonism.

A well designed, turn-based roguelike with a winning art style and a wide variety of options – even if it is a bit too random.

A charming addition to the Life Is Strange franchise that has one of the best branching narratives in any video game and one of the most likeable set of characters.

A successful attempt to modernise and broaden the appeal of the Tales series without completely abandoning its JRPG roots.