An imaginative spin on retro 2D shooters, whose unconventional gameplay and visuals are a prime example of what makes indie gaming so exciting – despite some notable rough edges.

The best Mario Kart has ever been, with a near perfect blend of features and frequently astonishing visuals – despite some unnecessary repetition in track settings.

A so-so episode, which relies too much on cliché and Clementine’s increasingly rapid transformation into a child superhero. But there’s still some effective drama despite it all.

It looks like Metal Slug but it certainly doesn’t play like it, which would be fine if only the strategy gameplay had any real depth – or the microtransactions were less obnoxious.

A very British sense of humour and a compelling mix of Metal Gear and DayZ, but the randomised maps and dispiriting endgame does it no favours.

A Frankenstein’s monster of other people’s ideas, that if not for the sleazy script would be laughable in its desperation to include every fantasy cliché imaginable.

A superb mini-game compilation that’s as addictive and raucously entertaining as it is ugly, with Johann Sebastian Joust blurring the lines between video and parlour game.

It can be a little inconsistent in terms of both actions and puzzles but late entry or not this is one of the funniest and best-presented adventures of the year.

An unlikely mix of the bland, the predictable, and the surprisingly excellent – which only makes the mediocre end result all the more frustrating.

A carefully considered sequel that avoids upsetting existing fans and offers an olive branch to newcomers – but although the PC version is the best it’s by a slimmer margin than many would’ve hoped.

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.

Perhaps the closest there’ll ever be to a portable version of Dark Souls, but the unreliable controls make the punishing difficulty harder to bare.

The least hand-crafted horror game ever, whose legion of design missteps and tepid scares make the worst of an already clichéd set-up.

Suitably outrageous and undeniably fun, but even fans of the source material will be disappointed at a fighting game that values spectacle over substance.

A mostly successful experiment at turning one of the world’s biggest studios into an indie developer, with the end result being a charming love letter to the best of Japanese role-playing.

One of the best Kirby games so far, although it still suffers from all the series’ usual faults – including the nagging concern that the whole concept could be so much more.

A well-crafted and occasionally imaginative dungeon crawler that is let down only by its questionable presentation and sky high difficulty.

The best Nintendo sports title for several years and although it offers little in terms of innovation it’s certainly not short of content or addictive fun.

The anime films may be critically acclaimed but their video game counterpart is nowhere near as interesting – although there is a couple of hours of mindless fun to be had.

A surprisingly worthwhile slice of downloadable content, that is better paced and has a more interesting storyline than the main game.

The component games are better than the first time round but less well suited to the mini-game format, resulting in two unsatisfying halves of what could have been the perfect retro compilation.

A surprisingly successful mobile spin-off that uses the key elements of Hitman to good effect but remains perfectly playable to those new to the franchise.

Not an evolution like the last game, and certainly not a revolution – there’s a great deal of fun still to be had in Trials Fusion but unfortunately not much in the way of new ideas.

Business as usual with a mediocre single-player campaign and one of the best multiplayer experiences in all gaming – and at last one that works just as well on consoles as on PC.

Compromise should not have been a dirty word given the interface and control issues that seriously spoil what could have been a perfect portable Football Manager.

Less than the sum of its many and varied parts, Mercenary Kings never gets the mix of modern and retro influences right – apart from with the amazing visuals.

A promotional tie-in more than a fully-featured video game, but as long as you know what you’re getting into this at least conjurers an enjoyably colourful footballing atmosphere.

Not quite premiere league but Nintendo’s unexpected foray into football management dares to do things differently, and in some cases better, than its rivals.