A ridiculous learning curve hides a fun RTS.

The story is key here, and it’s hard not to smile every single time there’s an interaction between Miis. Nintendo’s charm is all over Miitopia. The music is goofy, and the title screen with the singing is simply fantastic. The presentation and the ability to utilise any Mii imaginable is downright genius. I’m not sure if this is the perfect RPG for a very young gamer, or if it was designed for the gamers who enjoyed quirky, passive titles like Animal Crossing or Tomodachi Life. Whoever it was made for, it wasn’t made for those looking for a hardcore RPG.

The music was too cutesy and grating for my liking (a complaint I have with many Nintendo sports games), and I would have liked the option to be able to turn it off, but keep the sound effects of the match. Still, I would rate it as a good go-to game to pick up for short periods, like the bus ride to work. Just make sure your headphones are firmly plugged in first.

Yes, it looks wonderful and, yes, it sounds pretty good too. But that’s about as far as the praise can be stretched.

Even breaking virtual World and Olympic records and having them displayed online for eternal glory is possible. But for others wanting a fun arcade-like game, Beijing 2008 is likely to just end up being too much work.

Fans of Call of Duty games will probably be shocked by the level of realism thrown into Dragon Rising. At times this level of detail can be overwhelming. It is gritty, painful, depressing and raw. Just how war should be. But at the same time, the game can offer an enjoyable experience to the more serious gamer.

Massively enjoyable and massively frustrating.

It would be an understatement to describe the free-to-play MMORPG market as saturated right now, but Cryptic have tried to boldly move in and change the game, designing Neverwinter with the free model in mind from the outset.

Solid core systems, but poor presentation and technical issues hold it back.

Love Tales, hate Tales, or just don’t care - Zestiria will give you exactly what you expect.

If you can overcome the technical shortcomings, impenetrable plot, and the game overstaying its welcome (the last couple of hours drag on), you’ll find a well-crafted game.

There's a decent game here overall. It isn't particularly difficult, and experienced gamers will be able to blow through it in a day or two, I imagine. But it looks cool, and it harks back to a simpler time, when 2D platformers ruled the roost.

Empires is only a minor advancement in the franchise, but a must-buy for any series fan.

In the end, Leliana's Song is too short and adds nothing in terms of gameplay. If you want more gameplay, more spells and raised caps then there are other expansions, modules and campaigns out there at a higher price. However, I did enjoy Leliana's Song.

Aside from difficulty finding a quick match, and the fact that it’s a year old game that looks a lot older as it’s being sold at full price, Don Bradman Cricket offers plenty for those that don’t have the 2014 version.

As far as the Nintendo Wii goes, this game does a very admirable job. It possibly doesn’t beat the likes of Metroid Prime – but it does set itself up for a sequel that could potentially push the bars a lot higher.

While it is good to have another RPG on the PSP, its controls and other poor design features wrench you away from the experience, and don’t really allow you to enjoy the game like you should be able to with any title.

If you haven't played the first Lego Indy, this may still be a worthwhile purchase, but even then it's hard to recommend when you can't simply play through all of the original film's levels. Give this one a rent and see how you like it.

The very bread and butter of this game, its revolving concept, can be as frustrating as it is interesting. Creating something original does not provide free-parking on Metacritic Station, even if it is bread flying across a room.

A weekend's worth of entertainment for just under US$10, or a week's worth of casual gaming. If puzzles are your thing, it's worth a look.

The game is plenty big enough to satisfy even very demanding gamers, but I would be concerned about those controls. Not everyone wants to spend too long getting to know a difficult control system, these days. Often, immediacy is key and this is a step away from plug and play.

While the graphics are certainly less polished than what you’d find in the PSP version, they still retain the typical Worms feel.

Overall, SingStar Vol.2 is a step in the right direction, if only because it’s slightly better than your average sequel on the PS2.

Fans of the series may want to pick this up to get another taste of what used to be an amazing franchise, but be forewarned that it's not what you're hoping it to be and that you should probably steer clear.

The presentation of Leedmees is clear and crisp, but won't blow you away. You can get through the single player levels in about three hours, although naturally it'll take longer if you want to get good rankings. The multiplayer suite of levels also helps to eke out the longevity.

Designed for younger children but still a really well made game.

Although it's odd that they put more work into the enemy ships than the players’, this minimalist approach to the graphics suits the gameplay style by keeping the action smooth, the download small and audio and gameplay as the dominated features.

Like candy, but filled with annoying gameplay choices.

A pretty solid product, but it would have made a better impression had it been a little less punishing.

Michael Jackson The Experience won't make a real dancer out of you, but as a party game it sure is fun… and no, I still haven't learned how to moonwalk.

A competent game, but more of an entertaining distraction than something you will invest much time into.

Unresponsive and unintuitive controls hold back what is otherwise an excellent, atmospheric platformer.

While Zone of the Enders sometimes feels like a retro grind, The 2nd Runner is stylish and engrossing.

If you're a multiplayer fiend and like the thought of mowing down zombies with chainguns, this is definitely worth checking out. The thrill of obliterating hordes of screaming bad guys that just want to gobble up your brains really is quite unique and fun. Just don't expect to be getting very good value for money because there's really not very much inside the box.

It doesn’t offer anything new to gamers but maintains the genius story-telling that made the show so successful.

For $18.95 [NZ], it’s a decent purchase for hardcore fans of platform puzzlers. But the fairly short lived gameplay and ruthless difficulty curve might deter anyone else. Despite being called a puzzle game - Stealth, Inc relies more on quick reflexes and thumb agility, than problem solving and mental dexterity.

If you're at all interested in playing a strategy game on a console, there's not many better options - that realtime guff belongs on the PC, turn-based works so much better on a 360 controller.

For those who persevere and manage to find themselves one with the controls – those that embody the life of a snake – you’ll likely look back on this as a hidden gem that was glossed over by far too many. Personally it’s a game that I enjoy; one that I want to finish but never will. The pain of dropping to my death and losing minutes of progress for the eighth time, because my fingers just couldn’t keep up, outweighs the immense joy I got from succeeding on the ninth attempt.

A good, solid game. Looks good, plays good, is good. But, if you've bought any racing game in the last few years, any game at all, Mad Riders probably doesn't offer anything you haven't got already.

If you can get past the way the characters move and look, and you buy into the slow and thoughtful pace, The Testament of Sherlock Holmes is an enjoyable yarn. If you have the attention span to sit through cut scenes that contain important information. If you enjoy poking around in the contents of a dead man's stomach. If you like opium dens, dirt encrusted cockney urchins, and murderous conspiracies that lead you to hell and back.

I can see kids having a real blast with this game, so if you’re looking for something simple, innocent and lip-smackingly sweet for a younger friend, get a hold of it over other the other movie franchise-driven muck out there.

The voice commentating is some of the best yet and when mixed with the highly detailed player models and animations, the game looks and feels like the real thing on your TV. Shame it just doesn’t quite hit the mark with the playability.

Symphony is a good game, however the longevity of the title will really come down to the depth of your playlist.

It might not be worth playing if you have a console copy of BUZZ! in your home, but for long road trips or prolonged ventures outside the house, it’s definitely worth looking into.

If you like yakking about the finer points of the game and the legends of yesterday, get into it.

If you're looking for updated gameplay, you'll find nothing here to satisfy you. It's still very hard (the modus operandi of arcade games in the 80s) and little gameplay niggles (like the oddly backwards-feeling button layout or enemies getting trapped places you can't get at) keep twitching at you as you play.

It's not the most amazing thing ever by any stretch of the imagination but if you like the idea of a suped-up Snake, with a bunch of modes, and don't want to lower yourself to lugging a dated mobile phone around with you, it's hard to beat.

It’s size and scope elicits feelings of wonder and irrelevance in equal measure, creating metaphors from calculus and code. Those feelings are savagely curtailed by oppressive systems that transform it into something smaller: a videogame.

Overall this is a simple title that anyone can pick up and play. The multiplayer modes make it good for keeping the younger gamers occupied so they don’t get into the booze, or a drunken night on the couch, while the single player will last a while and is fairly addictive.

There is an innocence to it all that is hard to describe, as if the game comes from a time more pure and simple.

Golf: Tee It Up! is an XBLA worth getting your hands on, and at 800 MS points, will provide a reasonable bang for your buck.

A disappointment. It wants to build a complex and emotional story, and mix it with a cinematic shooter. Unfortunately, the story takes too long to get going, and the action is uninspired and generic.

Like Wii Sports, you will soon tire of the activities on display. It'll remain a fun option to bust out at parties or when you have kids over, but it's not a deep experience - at least, not for those who don't want to leap around like crazy for hours and hours on end.

Overall it is hard to recommend for Smackdown! Vs. Raw fans under the age of 27; short of The Rock, HHH, Shaun Michaels, Stone Cold, and Hulk Hogan, most of these wrestlers have been dead or out of the spotlight for years. For anyone with a taste for some classic WWF you can't get any better than this – game wise, anyway.

Stunning art and music design, but shallow when it comes to depth of meaning and gameplay.

Ultra Street Fighter, while good, doesn’t quite live up to that Ultra name. The new mechanics and balance changes will keep the game fresh for months to come, but the new characters - which are largely the reason this is a paid update and not a patch - bring next to nothing to the game.

If you're a fan of the original, snap it up but otherwise consider what else you might buy with your $15 before you decide on this.

A perfectly good movie tie-in game. It has familiar, but well executed gameplay with the occasional road-runner or bat-riding diversion. This, together with good graphics and sound, makes for a tidy enough game for fans of the film. While there have been movie games to hate, this isn't one of them.

In NBA 08, on the PS2, the controller response sometimes feels a bit unresponsive and the animation gets a bit jumpy, especially when switching from ball carrying to dunking.

If you ever wished to play this classic game or would like to immerse yourself in a solid RPG and can handle a very simple graphical style, there's no reason not to grab this. It might be a little clunky compared to modern examples of the genre (and we're not talking just about the graphics here) but it's actually aged rather well.

It takes the theme park building and injects it with mini-games that enable a more hands on approach to building and maintaining your park, rather than just moving the mouse and clicking a bit of dirt.

Slightly watered down version from PC, but still a good game to enjoy both with friends or alone.

Did it engross me? Yes it did. Did it frustrate me? Yes, it did that too. Did I want to keep playing? Of course, but only because I wanted to see what happened next, not because I wanted to keep playing. Unfortunately, even for a console title that's as over-the-top as Asura's Wrath, that's an inescapable flaw.

It feels a lot like a 99c iPhone game from a year ago (you'd expect more variety from a 99c iPhone game today), making it disappointingly low value at PSN prices. It does what it does well enough, but it's super niche and probably of interest to relatively few.

If you are only flying solo or plan on running with strangers online, it is simply not as a good a game when played this way. So like my mother always said, stay close to your friends and be wary of strangers.

Rime is for those who appreciate Team Ico, That Game Company, Abzu, Never Alone, or any peaceful-minded game where emotion plays centre stage. Granted, it doesn’t have the same finesse, as the mechanics have little to do with anything else. The developers clearly had a story on their hearts, but didn’t sync it to the rest of the game. Subsequently the gameplay often feels like a reluctant participant to a particularly touching tale.

Glitchy, but still maintains the playable charm we have come to expect from LEGO games.

The game is also limited by what is missing. There is no Wimbledon, no Williams sisters and no Ana Ivanovic, and although Roddick and Murray might draw some interest from the US and UK, they don’t have the same effect at this end of the world. And there is also the fact that it’s a sport sim.

Goat Simulator may be raw, unpolished and one-dimensional at the moment - and this may be enough for many people - but I can’t help but wonder “is this only the beginning for the little goat that could?”.

When the limbs stop flying and the dust settles, Naruto: Ninja Destiny is as close to what fans want in a Naruto fighter as they will get on the Nintendo DS: fast-paced fighting with a dash of touch screen support for item usage.

A combination of an average shooter (that won’t appeal to shooter fans) and a (tension and atmosphere barren) survival horror game.

Maybe the most enjoyable typing game ever, but it’s clichéd story elements hold it back.

Elefunk is a nice, addictive puzzle title with enough levels to make it worth the initial download.

It's a surprisingly competent package.

A perverse dichotomy; RUSE either goes too far, or not far enough.

Overall it is hard to recommend for Smackdown! Vs. Raw fans under the age of 27; short of The Rock, HHH, Shaun Michaels, Stone Cold, and Hulk Hogan, most of these wrestlers have been dead or out of the spotlight for years. For anyone with a taste for some classic WWF you can't get any better than this – game wise, anyway.

I feel bad for Kaos Studios because I think the outcome of Homefront was influenced by possible combination of either a lack of time, budget or talent.

It's good in the sense that it takes a specific aspect of multiplayer from cover-based shooters and does it better than most. However, said aspect won't appeal to everyone. Moreover, Hybrid is a hard sell at 1200 Microsoft points - in addition to the micro-transactions you will need to unlock every weapon.

Xenoverse 2 is best for those who missed the first game, as they are far, far, far too similar. Many of the maps are recycled, and really so is the combat. But your abstinence as a Dragon Ball fan (and aren’t we all) will be dearly compensated with an expanded version. Neither its story nor treadmill-fighting are likely to get you zealing for a year’s training at 500-times Earth’s gravity, but you’ll be up to your Dragon Balls in creative things to do, with an excitable use of the lore. The Xenoverse series may only exist to piggyback the monetary success of western game design, though whether sincere or not, that’s actually the best part of this translation. Like all of these games with steep stories, the depth of your enjoyment will likely depend on the depth of your fandom.

All up, while Tetris itself isn't new by any stretch of the imagination, there are enough other new gameplay variations, as well as multiplayer modes, to make this a solid addition to any gamer's collection – and a must-have for puzzle fans.

You know it's not a masterpiece, but you're after a bit of escapist fun - nothing less, but nothing more.

A solid expansion of the space stage. You won’t find a deep adventure game here, just a lot of small quests and a solid level editor to add to the strange mix of genres that is Spore.

Overall WWE '12 is a solid game, but far from perfect with a dozen graphical glitches and camera issues holding it back.

Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 may not be that unique, or that good, but it certainly takes a familiar theme and then moves off at strange angles, pushing ideas far more then you might initially expect, taking something familiar and, for good or bad, making it true to its own rules.

But, dying is one of the essential parts of old school gaming. Just like jumping, shooting, breaking boxes, electronic beats, and bosses. And, if that's the kind of platform game you want, that's the kind of platform game Zack Zero is.

A lacklustre ending and unremarkable adventure game mechanics may hold Perils of Man from reaching its full potential, but this is still a game worth checking out for anyone who likes a good time travel story with a compelling lead.

In the end the single player, while enjoyable, will get repetitive and the online community is almost non-existent at this time.

As I say, for its target market, PKMT could be a really good thing, provided parents use it and, more than that, make sure their kids use it.

Still, the game is kind of brilliant. More importantly, and I can't emphasize this enough, when you first play it, or see someone you know play it, it is the funniest thing you will see in your life.

Buttery smooth and arresting visuals, but light on substance.

But is it worth paying full price for? Not in my books – give this one a rent instead.

While this is not an exciting or dramatic title, it is squarely aimed at a specific audience, and fits the brief well. Whilst it will definitely not appeal to anyone who enjoys action in their games, this will definitely have its fans somewhere out there, in our wide community.

In the end the game gives you a dirty sense of satisfaction and some cheap thrills.

The iPad has the sweetest graphics with a massive screen.

As a movie franchised game, it is better than most but the lack of variety and often difficult controls stop it from being a classic game.

Marvel Super Hero Squad: The Infinity Gauntlet is pretty short and very easy, and like any game aimed at the younger market you go in reluctant to pay full price and still come out the other side feeling a bit ripped-off.

Whether you consider Quantum Break a game with episodes, or a mini-series with interactive segments ultimately doesn’t matter - it’s an experience. It may use an unproven formula, but that blueprint is also the main attraction that piques one’s curiosity, even if my own started to waiver amidst a story too interested in its own keywords to talk about anything more depth-inducing. With a dire need to be amongst the blockbusters, it’s an inoffensive, non-threatening tale with big-name actors who try so seriously to make it otherwise. And while not an one interesting story in itself, Quantum Break has an interesting way of being told.

It's not a terrible game, but it's agonisingly close to being SO much more.