Full marks for originality, but this unusual mixture of RPG and tycoon simulation doesn't quite have the killer ingredients to make it fly off the menu.

An excellent rhythm game that features responsive controls, plenty of challenge, and a cute storyline. Symphonica doesn't hit a single sour note.

One of the oddest games you'll ever come across, Hamlet replicates the adventure gaming formula of yesteryear with obtuse puzzles that makes for a annoyingly difficult gameplay.

After the first flush of excitement, Haunted Hollow doesn't manage to add anything to keep you interested.

An often-amusing love letter to the Zelda series, Anodyne Mobile offers plenty of 2D fun but is handicapped by the rushed nature of the port, which has resulted in faulty controls.

A bright and breezy reboot that sticks with the same blend of tricky puzzles and charming animation.

The cat selection is disappointingly limited, and it will be very familiar to players of the earlier entries, but this is shinier, more feature packed, and - of course - three-dimensional than any of the previous Nintendogs games.

There's a great game struggling to escape the apparent confines of the 3DS here, but weak visuals and terrible sound make it a purchase only for those that can't play it any other way.

You'll come for Big Sky Infinity's gorgeous visuals, and stay for the addictive masses of content and online leaderboard climbing.

It's not the most realistic sim ever, but with a neat Story mode and solid gameplay, Flick Bowling 2 will fulfill most of your iPhone bowling needs.

Coconut Dodge possesses entertaining gameplay great for filling spare moments, even if it's not wildly original or innovative in terms of mechanics.

With strong visuals and a tight touch, Vampire Rush is a successful marriage of the tower defence and hack and slash genres.

A reasonably inventive take on the one-finger puzzler that's let down by monotonous, uninspired level design.

No online hurts its longevity, and the generic game design fails to set it apart from the crowd, but deep down there's a fun but flawed auto-runner here.

A well put together and entertaining brawler, Echo Prime is a slow burn, but it's worth the effor.

A technically superb port of an excellent fighting game, the absense of modes to practise in and lack of caveats for new players will sadly confine this to a niche audience.

A bright and challenging twitch arcade game with a pair of compromised control systems that damage its long-term appeal.

There are a few niggles here and there, but if you love your board games fantastical and polished, you're going to love Armello.

If you're looking for something to sink hundreds of hours into, something with solid story and sublime strategy then you won't go wrong here. It's almost faultless, and might well lead us into an era of quality strategy RPGs on mobile.

A tough mixture of time management and puzzle, Farm Frenzy 3 HD doesn't push the series significantly forward, but it's still good fun.

Moon isn't revolutionary by any means but the overall quality of the graphics and action means this is a satisfying game that affirms the viability of the shooter genre, even on a portable.

Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier is an action-packed platforming romp that punches above its weight and connects effortlessly. A Christmas must-have for young and old gamers alike.

For more seasoned gamers, Disney Magical World might be a pleasant surprise. For kids, it could feel genuinely magical.

The cat selection is disappointingly limited, and it will be very familiar to players of the earlier entries, but this is shinier, more feature packed, and - of course - three-dimensional than any of the previous Nintendogs games.

A more refined beast than its predecessor, Lego Harry Potter: Years 5-7 is a fitting end to the boy wizard's adventures.

A decent gaming snack, but Kirby Squeak Squad is unlikely to satisfy those hungry for a challenge.

Hybrid 2 is a playable, though clearly outdated action RPG that can't shake the sense that it's not at home on iPhone.

Bookworm is great for killing an hour or two, but only serious wordsmiths will play for longer.

A hard, fraught stomp through some very dark corners. Warhammer Quest 2 is pretty much a must buy.

It's a three lane auto-runner with Lara Croft in it, and that's pretty much all I have to say.

Human Defense would be a pretty bland tower defence game were it not for the addition of deeper strategy elements that make the title much more challenging and fun to play.

It's not exactly the most exciting post-apocalyptic game out there, but if casual is your bag there's a lot to like here.

A great mix of RTS and midcore strategy that's well worth some of your attention.

The single-player game is enjoyable but disappointingly short-lived. Thankfully, the impressive multiplayer options improve things considerably.

Polished in almost every department, this is a well-rounded football sim with surprising depth, given the licence. Obsess!

Pool Panic is beautiful, weird, and clever in equal measure, but it may prove too frustrating for those who don't click with its vibe.

A by-the-numbers physics-puzzler, Cyto is well put-together, but never quite intriguing enough to wholeheartedly recommend.

Best described as The Desert Megan Fox, 2XL TrophyLite Rally looks beautiful, handles well, but lacks variation, challenge and depth.

Stylishly presented and perfectly adapted to the character of the Minis mindset, Cubixx is a pleasingly uncomplicated, effortlessly playable and very solid action puzzle effort.

Shamelessly derivative and lacking likeable characters and an interesting storyline, The Jim & Frank Mysteries: Blood River Files is a well-intended but ultimately disappointing puzzle adventure.

A brilliantly put together puzzler with some intriguing new ideas, Ka-Bloom is a great game that sometimes gets lost underneath its own array of features.

While its single-player campaign leaves a lot to be desired, Mad Cows makes up for it with an excellent multiplayer offering.

There are some neat ideas in Xeodrifter, but they never come together to make a coherent whole.

Call of Duty: Strike Team is one-part clumsy FPS, and one-part satisfying top-down strategy game. Spend most of your time with the latter and you'll be guaranteed a pretty good time.

The cat selection is disappointingly limited, and it will be very familiar to players of the earlier entries, but this is shinier, more feature packed, and - of course - three-dimensional than any of the previous Nintendogs games.

Lost Echo is an adequate point-and-click adventure with a few good puzzles, but it's let down by poor writing, a bland world, and a raft of uninspiring head-scratchers

Controversy aside, Tomodachi Life is a pleasingly directionless life-sim-lite that fans of Animal Crossing should investigate further.

A compelling story and exceptional soundtrack which is held back only by the frequent flaws of the game type and a shortage of innovative in-game mechanics.

A cute cat and disarming presentation can't hide the fact that this is a puzzler with staying power.

An exciting Monster Hunter-shaped loot-fest that the Vita's been sorely missing.

A solidly produced K-RPG that delivers an entertaining, if ultimately over-familiar, action-heavy adventure.

Another endless-runner that does everything perfectly well, Amazing Runner doesn't quite live up to its title, but it's entertaining all the same.

A befuddling game whose creator attempts to mask its incoherent world and sloppy game design with suggestions of intrigue and profundity.

A brilliant dungeon crawler that just makes sense on mobile. Give it a try, give it a try right now.

Quick and loveable, Beyond Gravity keeps the action as simple as its controls and benefits hugely from this deep and rich accessibility. Ultimately forgettable, perhaps, but the kind of quick-hitting thumb cocaine smartphones were made for.

While the presentation is somewhat outdated and the single-player element is weak, Phantasy Star Zero nevertheless manages to distinguish itself with some incredibly entertaining multiplayer action.

The main gameplay can be a little tiring over long periods of play, but Boom! Tanks is otherwise a compulsive game of simple tank combat.

Demolition Dash brings Rampage-like fun to the iPhone, guaranteeing players tons of destructive satisfaction wrapped in a visually engaging art style.

A good idea and attractive visuals, but the lack of pace, action, and some iffy in-app purchases means Seigecraft ends up as slow and drawn-out as the real thing.

It's not without faults but thanks to an excellent multiplayer mode and a vast number of gameplay options, this takes the series to a new high on DS.

This isn't SOCOM Vita. The storytelling is abysmal and the online is underdeveloped, but Unit 13 still manages to be a solid military shooter with an arcade edge.

A polished remake of a retro classic, Pipe Mania's extra features build on the challenging core gameplay while the broad selection of modes provides hours of enjoyable pipe positioning fun.

A great-looking 3D maze game, Aerox is at its best when negotiating its flowing courses at speed - in spite of minor control and menu concerns.

Though it doesn't give you enough room to breathe, BioDefense: Zombie Outbreak borrows enough from the wider action strategy genre to make it an interesting proposition in the crowded tower defence genre.

Sticky movement and a baffling counter-intuitive scoring system make Ring Blade a game not worth shooting for.

MetalStorm: Online boasts tight controls, amazing visuals and robust multiplayer, but the lack of available gameplay modes clips its wings somewhat.

The Incredible Machine won't impress in the same fashion as when it was first released, but it still offers a decent collection of surreal physics puzzles.

Despite Square Enix's slovenly porting skills, none of Chrono Trigger's brilliance has been obscured in this rather lazy iOS port. Hours of riveting RPG entertainment await those of you willing to look past the fuzzy graphics and occasionally awkward controls.

When you're following the narrow path the designers expect you to walk down, Corpse Party is one of the scariest portable games you can buy. Yet, failure to do so demands you re-play massive chunks of content you've already seen, significantly diminishing its appeal.

A well-designed, wonderfully frantic climber that's thoroughly enjoyable despite doing little to set itself apart from its genre bedfellows.

Serialised horror stories and serious fitness come together in a way that few would think possible in this oddball fitness app.

A twee and entertaining sim, Smooth Operators isn't perfect, but it's deep enough to satisfy the call centre-running urges of most.

Super Paper Pool has nothing to do with pool or paper, and it's not super either, but if you're looking for a novel physics-puzzler it's worth a try.

There's a great puzzle game here, but Fright Heights loses itself too often in difficulty spikes and cruelty.

Plunder Pirates is a superbly constructed strategy management game that might well tempt over fans of Clash of Clans, Boom Beach, and their ilk.

The Sexy Brutale is an immensely enjoyable game and it's easy to understand how it's received such high praise on other platforms. Sadly, the Switch port isn't the best. It suffers from mild audio and major performance issues that a person with lesser patience would find it hard to get through, and that's a real shame.

It isn't an ancient Chinese secret how Kung Fu Panda spices up side-scrolling action with great graphics and interesting touch-based combat moves. Controls are frequently cumbersome, but the originality of it all makes it worth the trouble.

Subway Surfers never jumps the tracks, but it never goes off the rails either.

A lazy effort that adds little value in relation to last year's instalment, NBA Elite 11 offers only superficial improvements that fail to move the ball forward in terms of gameplay.

Streets of Rage 2 is a well-crafted iPhone port, capturing the original gameplay well and offering Bluetooth multiplayer to boot.

Madden NFL 12 has plenty of detail, but the rough graphics and slow controls make it fumble.

We've seen games like Dungeon Gems before, but none have been quite as balanced and polished.

You won't want to rock and roll all night with this hand-cramping game that doesn't have the right tunes to back up an inventive slate of multiplayer modes.

While Ghosts 'N Goblins remains a perfectly reasonable platformer, it struggles to bring anything new to the table other than its innate difficulty made harder by awkward controls.

A clever twist on the undead craze, Brainsss focuses on grey matter in more ways than one, and just about manages to pull off its mix of stealth and strategy.

As far as film tie-ins go, Lego Pirates of the Caribbean is easily one of the better ones, but it's doesn't compare so well to the other Lego tie-ins.

An inventive noir brainteaser that's short but dense, filling out the package - not with fluff - but smart puzzles, visual gags, and a bucketful of inky black blood.

Lichtspeer may not have the longest shelf life, but it's as fun and addictive as it is utterly bananas, and feels right at home on the Switch.

A solid and enjoyable game, Feed Me Oil 2 is fun while it lasts, albeit not that tough.

Convincingly crossing dancing with beat-'em-up, Draglade is a fun, frenetic and hugely likeable DS B-movie.

A flat, generic experience, Across Age 2 is reasonably enjoyable, but it doesn't do enough to justify giving it too much attention.

No, it's not XCOM, it's a bit different, and it adds enough that it's worth a shot.

It's the kind of game that's perfectly suited to the unique attributes of the DS, and it'll comprehensively while away a long journey or a lazy holiday much as a good book would.

Stylistic contradictions and clunky mechanics stop this from being an instant classic, but tight pacing, winsome presentation, and the FF pedigree still make it well worth a look.

Clearly inspired by Trials HD, Urban Trial Freestyle doesn't do enough to make it memorable, but the physics-racing is nevertheless fun, while it lasts.

It ain't pretty, but, by gosh, is it clever. Crush 3D's use of perspective is rare and intelligent, providing ages of synapse-teasing, neuron-firing fun.

A quicker, more hectic on-rails shooter than the original, Top Gun 2 just can't shake the annoying boss battles and hard to see enemy fire from its tailpipe.

A poor man's Cut the Rope, Spider Jack's few original features end up hurting the formula, rather than adding to it.