A wonderful game that's battered into submission by an overbearing payment scheme, Fightback has the moves, but it uses them all wrongly.

Egglia is a gorgeous if uninspiring JRPG that really doesn't do enough to justify the steep price tag.

Pixel Hell has great retro style and 8-bit sound design but is condemned by its own wrath-rousing bugs and luck-of-the draw mechanics.

Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 tries to seduce you with its quirky 3D visuals, but at its core this is just a bare-bones mini-game collection that can only sustain the briefest of relationships.

A cynical reskin of Kingdoms of Camelot: Battle for the North, The Hobbit: Kingdoms of Middle-earth will be a disappointment to Tolkien fans and experienced freemium city-builders alike.

Plodding pirate play wrapped in an overly familiar gameplay structure that somehow still manages to mess up some of the basics.

A stripped-back and accessible approach to card battling is Rocket Patrol's selling point, but also its weakness as it lacks the depth and variety necessary to hold your attention.

Zombie Slayer Diox digs its own grave, with poor controls and a serious lack of enjoyable content.

Being a castaway is an interesting premise, but too much of Lost in Blue 2 is repetitive, dull and fundamentally frustrating to be fun.

For all of Overkill 2's obsession with weaponry, there isn't enough of an actual game in here to keep you interested.

There are some nice ideas here, but in the end there just isn't enough peril.

Another perfectly adequate arcade hopper with nothing of substance to set it apart from its peers.

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

A tough, slick auto runner, but one that doesn't quite feel responsive enough to drag you through the inevitable frustration barrier.

With misplaced difficulty spikes and limited replay value, an otherwise solid puzzler is outshone by others in its genre.

The classic original shines through in places, but its greatness is mostly clouded by a poor-quality port.

A disappointingly limited lane-defence game that offers little of the strategic depth fans of the source material would be hoping for, and nothing outstandingly fresh for the rest.

A noble effort to bring a PC-style dungeon-crawler to iOS, but Iesabel makes the wrong kind of compromises.

A limp revival of a lost iOS classic, Swords & Poker Adventures offers an interesting mix of RPG, card game, and strategy ingredients, but the preparation has been fumbled.

A well-intentioned attempt to bask in some of Angry Birds's reflected glory, Chicken Raid is a physics-puzzler which is at best mildly distracting and at worst downright broken.

It's relatively entertaining but more as a result of its set-pieces, one-liners and occasional clever detail than its gameplay, which is uninspired.

An interesting concept, but this Tiny Wings clone fails to capture any of the speed, thrills, and excitement that made the flightless bird so entertaining.

While it doesn't commit any serious gaming crimes, Streetbike is half-baked and deeply pedestrian.

Ironworm is a good game at heart, but a poorly balanced freemium model seriously undermines its gameplay.

There are some nice ideas in Perfect Angle, but in the end they don't add up to an interesting enough experience.

EDGEBobby2 possesses some mildly interesting puzzle gameplay, but few will want to soldier through the terrible presentation and awkward controls in order to sample the goods.

Trailblazers is a great idea poorly executed, thanks to wonky controls and no real sense of achievement.

Chibi-Robo returns in his most predictable and forgettable adventure yet: a by-the-books collect-em-up romp.

While it has occasional moments of excitement, SoulCraft is another freemium dungeon-crawler in an increasingly long line that get their balancing all wrong.

A swing and a miss from creator Dong Nguyen. Swing Copters is too demanding for a big audience, and too simple for a niche one.

There are some nice ideas here, but for the most part NBA 2K Mobile Basketball tries to be for everyone and ends up being for no one.

A mostly predictable film licence that has its moments but will inevitably be remembered (or not) for its dreary, repetitive structure, shoddy presentation and palpable lack of ambition.

A bad case of identity crisis, Men in Black 3's lack of focus leads to an underwhelming experience on both the action and simulation fronts.

No Red T-Shirts's repetitive gameplay and overbearing in-app purchases (not to mention its unsettling subject matter) mean this app deserves a hefty fine.

A basic freemium builder with a cartoon skin. A pricey game to get into, SpongeBob Moves In definitely sounds the part, but it doesn't quite look it.

A visually strong and initially engaging cover-based shooter. Give it a few days of play for its payment model to kick in and you'll quickly find yourself looking to delete it from your mobile. Its play isn't that engaging, and there's little else here to keep you coming back. Shame.

A run-of-the-mill endless-runner with a flimsy Avengers skin layered on top, whatever Marvel Run Jump Smash’s super power is, it’s not ambition.

Speed kills - in this instance it's due to a lack of it, combined with rubbish controls, long loads, and grind-heavy gameplay.

By parts jolly, vibrant, and intensely frustrating, Rayman Raving Rabbids GBA lacks attention to detail, thwarting some neat ideas.

Although it's bursting with artistic detail, Mecha Showdown substitutes robot-on-alien combat for a superficial and ultra-basic slot machine simulator.

Super Smash Bros in all but name, this basic fighter just doesn't do enough with its fighting engine or character-rich licence.

Robots Attack! starts with a robot-stomping bang and looks sublime, but soon tails off badly into a repetitive trudge.

TRON: Legacy fails to seize the potential of light cycle racing with bland game design and technical instability.

She's got a cute smile and there are some nice touches, but Izuna: Legend of the Unemployed Ninja doesn't help the inexperienced, and doesn't reward the skilled. Don't hire this dungeon-crawler.

A nicely presented side-scrolling shooter that's undermined by flawed core mechanics and slow-paced, excitement-free action.

Myst is a brilliant adventure game but without the oomph to show off its gorgeous visuals and sound, this DS version is most disappointing.

Enjoyable in short bursts, Ninja Warrior Game struggles to clear the first obstacle and likely won't advance to later rounds.

While the original remains a classic, Samurai Shodown II for iOS is too glitchy and broken to really recommend.

A game that, at first, holds promise, but forever lives in the shadow of genre-stablemates that do it far, far better.

Cool music and authentic retro visuals can't make up for Radiant Flux's ropey controls and often unfair difficulty level.

A flawed but occasionally entertaining mash-up, Puzzle Pirates never quite manages to connect its disparate, uninspired parts.

101 DinoPets 3D is a straightforward but entertaining game for under-10s.

Well presented but massively derivative and riddled with bugs, Zenforms is a commendable accomplishment for just one developer, but suffers from too many issues to be a worthwhile investment

If you're hankering for a new kind-of on rails shooter, then you might get a teensy bit of a kick out of it. But I'd strongly recommend just going back to the original instead.

State of Mind has a certain charm to it, but it's mired in a confusing story, simple puzzles, poor controls, and plenty of other issues.

A frustrating experience with the occasional glimmer of hope, Vengeance: Woz With a Coz isn't worth your time right now.

A dull mash-up of licences that never fires into life, Lego Star Wars: Microfighters just doesn't have enough fight in it.

A frantic and relentless hunt-and-peck game that erratically alternates between delirious brainless fun and IAP clogged drudgery. The more you play, the more overt its negative qualities become.

Well made but ultra-repetitive, PIX3D is clearly the work of a very talented team, but runs out of ideas within five minutes of play.

Admirable in its variety and scope but in terms of presentation and technical execution it's a bad beat.

Cloud Village is My First Freemium World Builder, and if you're totally new to the genre then you may find something here of merit. For everyone else, feel free to skip this cute, but soulless time waster.

A fine take on a classic style of fast-paced gameplay, made slow and dull by a clumsy use of free-to-play.

It's difficult to get enthused about Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures: it's largely competent at what it does, but what it does is slow and regularly tedious.

Poor controls and bland missions render what should have been a surefire hit into a flawed shooter.

A good-looking, well written side-scrolling platform/RPG hybrid failed by its lack of online functionality and one-dimensional gameplay.

Borderlands Legends is a complete waste of a stellar IP, offering clunky action-strategy fare and paying mere lip service to the series's core strengths.

Half-hearted and without any direction to speak of, Gangstar Rio: City of Saints is evidence of little else than Grand Theft Auto's greatness, serving up a forgettable and muddled entry in the sandbox genre.

Rabbids 3D provides bog-standard platforming action that never really gets exciting.

There is nothing much wrong with Blades of Brim, but there's nothing much to grab you and yell "PLAY ME!" either.

Crooked Path is just too difficult for its own good, and that means it won't hang around on your phone for long.

Overtime Rush is a decent tower defence game that relies too much on grinding.

Epic Island can be a reasonably entertaining game at times - for about two minutes. Then you have to wait. And wait. And wait.

A trip back to the bad old days of mediocre film tie-ins, Wreck-it Ralph isn't abysmal, but it's unlikely it'll keep you entertained for very long.

Another flat Threes! clone with a curious and unappealing computer tech theme.

Too simple for its own good, Little Conquest strips away too much of what makes strategy games exciting, and leaves you with a repetitive, dull slog.

Dead End's grindhouse aesthetics are let down by its short lifespan and dead endgame.

A great idea that brings two distinct genres together in a clever fashion. Sadly, though, Crossword Dungeon just doesn't know what to do with them after that.

An unkind jumper with a few too many problems, probably best avoided.

Style over substance, thanks mostly to some ropey freemium nonsense, Monsters Invade: Oz is a lovely world to be a part of, but only if you have the money to spend while you're there.

Despite some interesting ideas, World Siege: Orc Defender falls short of offering the location-based multiplayer epic it promises.

Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two might suit the kids, but it's too dull and fiddly for anyone else to truly enjoy.

The core implementation of placing trampolines to bounce your pangolin up-screen is just a little too unwieldy to heartily recommend. Nevertheless, the art's great and the physics are spot on.

Despite appearing to be a story-driven detective game, Mystery Case Files: MillionHeir is a simple puzzler that isn't interesting enough to hold anyone's attention.

CatchaPrince is decent enough, but marathon sessions of play and repetition conspire to limit its appeal.

A surprisingly entertaining hidden object game spoiled by an over-bearing energy system and some annoying monetisation choices.

Soul Grinder mistakes making a game difficult with making a game fun, much to its detriment.

A tiresome Clash of Clans clone, redeemed from utter oblivion by fun flying and amusing characters.

A messy control system that you're constantly having to fight against means The Other Brothers is a pale imitation of the games it's trying to copy.

An interest concept, Prose With Bros's attempt to serve up smutty sentences is nullified by a lack of structure and a setup that's full of bugs and boobs.

While it has occasional moments of levity, more often than not Commando Jack is an unrewarding slog.

Dropchord's thumping soundtrack hides a rather frustrating and repetitive game that just doesn't feel that satisfying to play.

Vempire is a competent match-four game, but other than being a launch PSP Minis title, there's not much to get excited about.

If you're after a by-the-numbers rhythm-action experience, then HarmoKnight has you covered, but its lack of style and unwillingness to push any of its few ideas forward are a massive letdown.

Like watching fish in a tank, Nemo's Reef can be a relaxing and even pretty experience, but there's so little to do that you'll quickly flush it from your home screen.

Dead Rising Mobile is an outdated action game without proper controls, decent graphics, and gameplay satisfying enough to keep you playing.

The gambling introduces a fresh and very welcome dynamic to the beat-'em-up genre, but such innovation is dealt a low blow by a mediocre fighting engine.

That Dragon Cancer is a game that deserves to be played, but not on mobile right now.

Unoriginal and dull, Game of Thrones: Conquest is a waste of a perfectly good license.