If you're looking for a classic JRPG experience and many hours of fantasy fun, Tales of Graces f ticks all the boxes.

A solid strategic effort, but no Triumph.

This is a game for anyone looking for some light, easy fun either by themselves or with friends.

This is a game with a number of mediocre elements, being released in a season already crowded with other shooters. However, the main thing it does well – capture the spirit and fun of the Bond movies – is enough to draw in a number of people.

All up Dimensions is a solid remake of an all-time classic, and is much more convenient than plugging in old systems to give the game a blasting. If you like R-Type, or shooters, then this game is a must.

The stunning production values in the cut-scenes are worth the price of admission and it is all wrapped up with a comprehensive multiplayer component too. Just be prepared for some brutally tough single-player gameplay.

In its fully-evolved form, Pokémon Rumble World works much better here than as a freemium game.

Someone needs to make the arcade machine version of this.

While my iPad 1 struggled with some of the more demanding scenarios (more than two players usually crashed me out of the game), the iPad platform, generally speaking, is perfect for this sort of game.

The new story elements, while brief, are still welcome, and features like the new dog types and the Colosseum will keep people coming back.

Everyone should try this game, even if you hate cars or football.

Yakuza 3 has more depth to it than the Titanic and although this strange combination of gameplay elements might deter a lot gamers, you just can't help but admire it at the same time.

It's fun, serious and silly by turns, and, dare I doom it by saying... possibly educational?

The combat itself is fun, with most of the enjoyment on offer during team-based modes when you're working together to assault (or defend) objectives.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 does not struggle. It's a great game with just the one perennial problem. If you bought last year's version, or any from the last three or four years, you don't need this.

F1 2016 is a real upgrade on its predecessors, and hints at a promising future.

Crappy punk music, breweries, tattoos, and exploding heads - can’t get much more party than that.

It's a clever concept, and the game offers surprising depth once you get past the repetitive 'weak enemy' battles of the first half hour.

When the last zombie limbs fall, the additional multiplayer modes are passable in the face of cooperative play in the story mode – dual wielding is great too. The only thing letting this down are the frame rate dips. This is a great single and multiplayer title, worth a rent at the very least.

Perfectly rendered cutscenes play out like extravagant soap operas with more over-the-top personalities than an episode of America’s Next Top Model.

The games are probably a bit too young to be considered retro or nostalgic, (Infinite is only three years old), but they do bring with them a lot of fond memories. If you’ve never played them before, the series feels fresh and new.

Colourful characters, and enough adult humour to keep you wondering how this is a G rated game.

Wii U exclusive controls aside, FIFA 13 is proof that the series can and will work great on the new console - it just needs a bigger community right now.

A daring idea that is pulled off brilliantly and beautifully for hours of prison breaking fun.

We liked this game a lot. It is not going to break any new ground in the genre but it is a very well designed game that is challenging and rewarding to play. Well worth getting from Steam and great value at less than $10.

It has been a fantastic experience to re-appraise one of my all time favorite games and, despite the game looking a bit long in the tooth, it still has the wonderful level of depth and challenge as it did when I first played it way back when.

So if you like boxing games in general and enjoy iPhone games that you can use to kill some time on the bus with, then you really cannot go too wrong with Fight Night Champion.

The control fiddling has worked, so hats off to the new Pikmin team, and I can recommend this one to any Wii owners, of any age.

The real star of the game is the action, which becomes an explosion-filled thrill ride by the end that never gets old – thanks in part, no doubt, to its relatively short running time.

Despite these bugs, I’m still impressed with the quality of Doom on the Switch. The singleplayer campaign – with it’s replay value and multiple difficulties – easily makes it worth the price tag. It is a must play for Switch owners clamouring for some hyperviolence on their train rides.

What also makes Brink interesting is that it provides players different options for approaching the game, with four different roles available: soldier, operative, engineer and medic.

Overall, if you want to get the full experience you will need the season pass. That is your shortcut to unlocking everything, and any future DLC. Commentary is just a bad as ever, Michael Cole doesn’t sound right in NXT. The new additions were ambitious, if poorly executed.

If you're after something short term – maybe a rental – then Pure is great: it's an adrenaline shot administered by a supermodel. But after a few days, you will very likely realise just how vacuous that supermodel is (how little Pure offers in terms of longterm gaming).

My biggest gripe with Tales of Vesperia is cosmetic, so let me say that while it bugs the hell out of me, it doesn't detract from the overall playability of the title. The writing, and the voice acting, is pretty effing terrible.

Could be one of the most under-rated games of the year.

Although not long by Dark Souls’ standards, The Surge’s sci-fi setting is a refreshing change from its contemporaries, and the developers have made their mark on the genre. The combat system is unique, and very rewarding. It might fly below most people's radar due to the slew of quality games in 2017, but don't overlook The Surge. It will surprise a lot of people.

Overall play-time to complete the expansion is around 4-5 hours, which does not sound like a lot; however this needs to be matched against its price of USD 9.99, which we believe is more than fair given its quality.

You don't need to know anything about the characters or the story to enjoy this iteration, and fans of the series will be able to learn a little more about the Professor's past. Those looking for the series to evolve, however, might want to leave this one alone in favour of the upcoming Level 5 / Capcom crossover Professor Layton vs Ace Attorney.

Despite being a few early hiccups and almost being put off by the controls, I pushed through like a good reviewer. And the game did start to charm me.

Add to this one touch dekes, black eyes after losing fights, sticks getting tangled up with arms and skates, a wonderful bogun soundtrack that includes bands like Airbourne and Wolfmother, and you get a deep, great looking, and surprisingly accessible sports game.

The extra content on offer in The Teleporter Chambers is, overall, a fantastic addition to the game.

The AI can be a bit dense in the team games, though, which end up feeling rather shallow and pointless as a result. Again, the hollow disappointment of finding so few random games to play will rear it's ugly head here and this, as a result, is likely to be the point at which you stop playing it.

The first Batman relationship simulator.

Overall, it's a superior game to War for Cybertron - from fixing the ammo situation to having a more variety in gameplay. The fact that you aren't playing through two campaigns which are virtually the same helps. It still offers up more for the aging Transformers fan, than the younger shooter fanatic.

Overall, and like other recent remasters, it would be hard to recommend this to those who have already played God of War 3. But for those who haven’t - this is certainly God of War at its best, and it’s a chance to experience one of the best beat-em up platformers the last generation console had to offer.

The game's many levels and wide variety of zombie-crushing activities represent good value for money. It's simple to play, highly addictive, and entertaining... and best of all, it's portable.

Veterans will jump in, take a ride, blow up the opponents and unlock pretty much everything in a couple of days and spend hours more just being addicted enough to neglect sleep and forget to eat.

And while I found the avatars to be quite hideous looking (I opted for a red-afroed freak in grey boots and a red mini skirt), they have little actual bearing on the rest of the game, which looks and feels excellent.

Masquerada has decent combat, painfully linear level design, and an amazing story with equally amazing characters. Come for the colourful art style, stay for the fantastic world building and plot twists.

If puzzle and sim games spin your wheels, you'll get plenty of mileage out of this one.

It’s a bit of a shame that the Arkham-inspired side of this game doesn’t quite live up to what came before, but the Metroidvania aspect certainly does. And this is something for which a lot of genre fans will be grateful.

What IS different, and what makes the game worth its purchase price, is the addition of the Singstore.

Chains of Satinav isn't the cheapest game on the market, but with a good twelve or so hours of beautiful scenery and some great story and gameplay, I'd still recommend this one to adventure game fans.

The game is addictive and a lot of fun. What the Wii U offers over and above the others is that you can play it both on the TV or solely on the gamepad.

A fantastic contrast to the other slow-paced, open-world launch game you’re playing.

Battlefield Academy is not going to win awards for its graphics (although it has a unique style) and equally, you will not be aghast at its realism. It is very simplistic, but it is also very addictive. It is one of those games that gets the balance or formula just right, and it combines its parts into a whole that is a lot of fun to play. Highly recommended.

Beautifully simple but challenging, addictive, and guaranteed to work those cranial muscles thanks to the logic and scientific themes in every level.

The Evil Within becomes less of a game and more of a haunted house ride, where you just roll with the changes and wait for the scares.

This is a game with a number of mediocre elements, being released in a season already crowded with other shooters. However, the main thing it does well – capture the spirit and fun of the Bond movies – is enough to draw in a number of people.

Episode 4 doesn’t work for any particular goal in of itself - it’s justification is almost entirely self-existent. If anything it’s merely sweeping the paveway for the finale.

f you like, you can also customise your darts; I was pleasantly surprised to be able to add purple skulls to my dart 'feathers'.

And though SOCOM: Special Forces is, at heart, a tactical shooter (and I suppose many will buy this game more for the multiplayer aspect than the campaign itself), I couldn't help thinking that if it had a bit more flexibility in terms of completing missions, there'd be a much greater replayability factor.

You won't find an experience quite like this on the iPad (or anywhere, for that matter), and I for one hope we see more games that offer something just a little bit different.

It’s exactly what I want from a game set within this universe, and it more than scratches my Game of Thrones itch as I wait for the latest season of the TV show.

The involved writing and story design more than make up for any shortcomings in graphical fidelity.

Drawbacks aside, there is still so much here that adds to the base Sims 4 game I have to mark this as a “must have” for Sims 4 players.

Don’t let the convoluted title fool you. It’s worth the play, even if you’re new to the franchise.

There are plenty of similarities between the latest and previous incarnations, but PopCap have achieved their brief of introducing innovative ideas while maintaining the classic Bejeweled gameplay we know and love.

It would have been better if 2 and 3 were just released with the Sonic & Knuckles content instead of charging for a brand new download.

Fun, easy, creepy, scary, bizarre, and oozing with atmosphere, but doesn’t quite stick the landing.

Red Steel 2 has a fantastic control system, finally delivering on the promises made by the original, and the Samurai and cowboy sensibilities make for an interesting mashup and a fun premise.

A throwback to the golden era of music games.

It’s a wonderfully crafted experience that looks and sounds fantastic. There’s been a lot of love given to this “demo” in ensuring it feels right at home next to the others in the franchise.

Carnage aside, Dead Nation also looks fantastic. There's a great amount of variety in the zombies themselves, the lighting and artwork are lovely, and there's a kicking soundtrack to boot (I could have done without so much heavy breathing though).

Regardless of the fact that it’s basically a third version of the same title, Ninja Gaiden Sigma is a well put together game with an interesting storyline and some inspired settings.

Aloy’s quest through the post-post-apocalypse is one of pros and cons. Encounters with robotic wildlife are equal parts tactical and reflexive, but fights against humans are awkward, and the camera is unwieldly. The world is lush and gorgeous, but traversing it can be a chore. Horizon Zero Dawn is a breath of fresh air, and a welcome departure from Guerrilla’s previous offerings – but the journey takes some missteps.

By the end of my time with Disney Fantasia: Music Evolved, my arms were aching, and my shoulders were stiff, but I had had a great time.

Its story unfolds at a good pace and looks great on the Vita. There's only one thing missing: the skies were never burning! Maybe a bit dark in places, but never burning. At some point I could have used a burning sky to lighten up the game.

We can't ignore the fact that the gloss is entirely absent. There's a fun game underneath the garish surface and there's plenty of it, too. Can you handle the fact that the graphics look like they didn't go any further than the Prototype stage? If you can and you like the sound of incredibly high-energy action where you get to chuck cars at helicopters, snap it up.

If you consider Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels to be the pinnacle of platforming and want something with that level of difficulty combined with similarly challenging puzzles to solve, this is the perfect game for you. It looks great and is as hard as hell - that alone should tell you whether or not you should buy it.

Give it 20 minutes and I guarantee you won’t put it down for the next 4 hours.

The characters are quirky yet interesting, and I’m looking forward to returning to their world. If you’re willing to give decent motion controls a shot, and like the idea of a bizarre private eye anime, I would say that D4: Dark Dreams Don’t Die - Season One is well worth the investment.

The tutorial aspects of the game are also a bit thin, with the smallest of introductions to the base concepts, while the more intricate aspects need to be figured out as you play through.

Wii Music is a novel and fun experience that will sweep away the hours while you're jamming with your buddies. Give it a chance and you're in for a good time.

Between the outrageous story and visuals that ooze 8-bit charm, this is a great game to scratch that retro itch - if a little steep price wise. If you like indie pixel-art games, you’ll probably enjoy this.

There is a very appealing quality to this game, that I’m pleased to say far surpasses the DS offering.

Hitman: Absolution falls short of the mark because it's trying too hard to be something it isn't. Hopefully next time IO Interactive lets Agent 47 get back to what he does best. And that's not saving damsels in distress, running from the cops, or fighting "sexy nuns". Instead, it's killing people - cleanly, quietly, and without any unnecessary fuss.

There’s no difficulty curve, there’s no personality to the characters, and it’s all over a little too quickly - but I'm damned if I didn’t enjoy every minute of it nonetheless.

A complex dungeon crawler wrapped in an utterly gorgeous package.

It tells a gripping tale of budding friendship during wartime married perfectly to its fantasy world that had me hooked from the opening moments.

Fans of Stan Lee's genius can expect a wealth of funny and informative one-liners (recorded by the man himself) as he swings and pummels his way through Manhattan.

Disgaea makes it PS4 debut, and it’s brighter than ever.

While the quest to catch the crims sort of takes a back seat to the initial pick-up-and-play aspect of NFS: Undercover, there’s plenty of fun to be had re-doing challenges to try and best your score, and collecting the reputation you deserve, dear gamer.

An improvement in every way on Fight Night Round 4. That said, I wouldn't necessarily run out and buy it straight away, especially if you own a previous game in the franchise.

Provides the thinking gamer with a satisfying adventure experience.

Got a kid who's into Toy Story? There's a lot here for them to sink their teeth into, and thankfully it's not all bad.

Mercenaries 2 has lived up to its expectations to be a fun and crazy game about having a hell of a time in a war zone.

A list of each small nuance would make for a pretty boring review, so as superficial as it is we've given away as little of the story and the temple-to-temple action as possible. Much of the joy is discovering it all for yourself.