Disney Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion dripped with potential upon announcement, but the final result is a more smudged affair. A fun, if basic, platformer lies at its heart, yet it's coated with unbalanced difficulty and drawing mechanics that interrupt its flow regularly, while the number of worlds is very disheartening. Disney fans will get a kick out of seeing which characters turn up, but if you're expecting another Castle of Illusion, you're going to be disappointed.

It doesn't mean much due to it having no competition the past couple of years but NBA 2K13 continues the series' dominance in the basketball sim genre.

As an RPG that digs into the table-top history of the genre, Crimson Shroud is both a great deal of fun and an artistic triumph.

It's difficult to call Batman: Arkham City: Armored Edition the definitive version of the game, but it does well to stand on its own merits. Frame rate issues aside, the incorporation of GamePad controls makes this feel like a natural experience, almost as though the game was originally made with Wii U in mind.

Assassin's Creed III pushes the foundations of the series forward in many new directions, and while a degree of these go sideways the title still manages to pull off one of the most impressive and immersive game worlds we've seen in some time.

Darksiders II is very, very good. In paying homage to the Zelda series - while adding its own unique flavour - the team at Vigil has crafted a game that will appeal to those looking for a grittier take on the action-RPG dungeon crawler, while helping Nintendo fans scratch that Hyrulian itch for the time being.

For players that want to add some exercise to their gaming routine, or Wii Fit junkies looking for a next generation fitness fix, Your Shape Fitness is an excellent choice. It takes a different approach from Nintendo's efforts, focusing on a huge variety of traditional exercises rather than mini-games, and does what it sets out to do very well.

Don't let the incessant trolling of its Miiverse community delude you, as Funky Barn is not an entirely bad game. It's far from pretty, but its simple gameplay is quite addictive while it lasts and it controls well.

This is the version of Crystal Adventure that should have been distributed to beta testers, not to actual customers. Leave this one in the dungeon.

Christmas Wonderland 2 is awful. It's dull, poorly designed, unresponsive, and criminally overpriced. There's nothing here that you couldn't find in the first game, and that was a disappointing enough release as it was. Don't bother unwrapping this one... just take it right to the dump.

The result is a game which is far more focused and entertaining than the original Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing.

Puddle is another strong contender for your digital money in the beginning days of Wii U's eShop. It falters when it comes to explaining all of its elements, occasionally stumbles with difficulty spikes and its motion control scheme is best left ignored, but look past these flaws and you'll find a creative, smart puzzler that flows pretty well while offering a fair amount of variety and replay value.

In spite of its many faults, Wipeout 3 succeeds in something many licensed games fail spectacularly at: being a decent game that fans of the series will enjoy.

Transformers Prime feels most at home on Wii U: increased visual fidelity makes it more striking and true to the cartoon than the cruder Wii and 3DS editions, and predictable yet appreciated flexibility offered by the GamePad brings a bundle of convenience. Just as on other platforms, though, the game is aimed squarely at the younger/casual Transformers crowd.

Warriors Orochi 3 Hyper is an uninspired port of an excellent game. There are missed opportunities regarding the Wii U's unique features and the slow down, frame rate and draw distance issues make this version the least appealing on the market. It never breaks the experience completely though, and its bonkers narrative and absorbing hack 'n' slash action is so engaging that's it's easier than you might think to look past the limitations and enjoy the oodles of content.

Tank! Tank! Tank! does a few things pretty well, but a torturously mind-numbing solo campaign and a high price tag keep it from being a hit. The younger crowd will definitely enjoy the photo-taking aspect and simple multiplayer, but other than that it's pretty barren. If Namco Bandai had lopped off the limp campaign mode and released the game as a multiplayer offering on the Wii U eShop for $15 then it would be easier to recommend, but as it stands now, Tank! Tank! Tank! is better described as Lame! Lame! Lame!

Invasion of the Alien Blobs! isn't a bad game, but it's pretty much the textbook example of a limited gaming experience. If tapping coloured circles is enough for you - as there's really nothing else here - then it may be a fun time-waster. But if you're looking for anything more than that - including the basic ability to resume your game where you left off - you're headed for disappointment.

FIFA 13 for Wii U is a fine simulation of the world's favourite sport. In footballing circles, the only game that beats it is its own sequel, which is already out for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and also happens to be called FIFA 13. The chances are that if you're really into football games, you've been playing FIFA on one of the other home formats for a while and will have played this edition of the game to death already. If you aren't, then you'll have no interest in FIFA 13 anyway. That makes us wonder exactly who EA was targeting when it drew up the plans for this one.

Game Party Champions is – to put it nicely – a bad game. We're not even venturing into "so bad that it's good" territory, either. We're way past that. On the shelves on Wii U launch day, you could pick up any other title for just a few pounds more than the asking price of this. Alternatively, you could have not bothered buying any games, and still had more fun than if you'd walked out of the store with Game Party Champions. This is so bad that your great-great-grandchildren will want to change their surname when they find out that you once played it. Avoid.

There's no polite way to put it: Bloons TD 4 is genuinely unplayable. It's a simplistic tower defense game that doesn't really bring anything new to the table in the first place, but that's not the problem. The problem is that the game regularly overloads itself to the point that it no longer accepts input, a truly game-breaking issue that really should have been addressed in beta testing. A colourful presentation, fun music and unlockable levels and upgrades fail to salvage a game that simply doesn't work in the first place. This is one balloon that's never getting off the ground.

We Sing 80s is a decent continuation of the series, and is likely to cause nostalgia overload for gamers of a certain age. Its biggest strengths are multiplayer fun and an excellent tracklist that covers some of the most memorable songs of the period. It's weakest played solo, where it's really just a karaoke machine that's supported by a rather unsupportive Lessons mode, while the video and sound quality is rather typical of a Wii singing game - passable but unimpressive. Nordic Games is a veteran of the genre, however, and has brought its solid experience to this title; as party season approaches, this could be a fun option.

Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge plays great, with fast, fluid combat that's gruesome and satisfying. Still, you'll often wish there was a little more to it than just fighting waves of enemies in predetermined spots, and even with the campaign a little over five hours long (excluding cutscenes) it starts to feel a bit tired towards the end. That certainly shouldn't put you off it, though, as the game is still a worthwhile purchase and a great example of Nintendo's willingness to shirk their "kiddy" perception.

Nintendo Land is both a wonderful celebration of Nintendo's past and an exciting glimpse into its future, but more importantly it is incredibly, riotously fun. It's one of the best local multiplayer experiences ever crafted, and playing with friends is a guaranteed great time. There's also a surprising amount of depth to the single-player offerings, and Miiverse integration means you're never really on your own. It definitely taps into the nostalgia vein - and this is fan service par excellence - but it's also just pure entertainment.

New Super Mario Bros. U may not offer the cataclysmic genre shift that many badly crave, but it's the gem of the Wii U launch lineup and a must-have purchase.

If you're a fan of previous entries in the Scribblenauts series, then you're going to love Scribblenauts Unlimited. If you've never played one before, then now is absolutely the time to start. The campaign could be considered to be on the short side, and the multiplayer gameplay leaves much to be desired, but, as always, Scribblenauts is about the pure joy of extending your imagination. This is the kind of game that looks great, controls well, and provides a whole heck of a lot of family-friendly fun.

ESPN Sports Connection's biggest problem is that it feels like it was slapped together in a manner of months, with seemingly little interest to exist beyond merely existing - someone had to make motion-controlled tennis, right? Noble perhaps to take one for the team like that, but families looking to replicate that Wii Sports magic this hardware launch are better off with a ticket to Nintendo Land.

SiNG Party feels like it was designed for commercials: It's flashy and light, heavy on that kind of wholesome party fun that impossibly well-groomed human-like people seem to have all the time but of which the grubby masses never finds itself a part. By trying to please everyone at the same time, though, the game sacrifices a lot of identity and ends up with modes that are either just plain adequate or downright puzzling. With the right group of like-minded people you could find yourself having a great time with SiNG Party, but then again you can achieve the same effect cranking up the radio and belting along at the top of your lungs.

Aesthetically speaking, Trine 2: Director's Cut borders on perfection and deserves nothing less than to be framed and mounted, but the unfortunate news is that this quality does not permeate the game as a whole. Uncomfortable controls and puzzles that don't actually adhere to sensible solutions, but instead allow you to force your own answer on them, mar the experience and slow the game down in a significant way. It's not likely that this release will win new fans to the genre, but anyone who already enjoys physics-based puzzle platformers will definitely want to check this one out. Or maybe everyone should just buy this game simply to look at the environments. Have we mentioned how good it all looks?