The greatest show on turf gets a bit more personality with Madden NFL 20’s new X-Factor abilities. While this headline addition only applies to the sport’s biggest superstars, it injects new life into the on-field action. The new QB1 campaign may have potential in the future, but in its current guise it’s a step back from the Longshot story explored in previous entries, while the fan-favourite Franchise mode continues to see neglect. Ultimate Team is unquestionably the series’ underlying bread-and-butter, and with tons of new challenges to complete, it’s sure to become your new obsession as American football’s 100th season gets underway – just be wary of investing too much money into the mode.

However, through a fondness for the side-scrolling beat-'em-up genre, Southend Interactive has concocted a fun arcade PSN snack, which is even tastier in local and online three-player co-op.

Adventures of Pip is sure to provide any fans of the genre with a good few hours of fun, and offers up some very interesting gameplay mechanics to boot. Unfortunately, the game is undermined by some niggling issues and poor design choices, but these don't hinder it enough to obscure an otherwise charming and intelligent little outing.

Its lack of depth means that you’re not going to be dedicating months of your life to it, but sometimes you just want something fun, easy to pick up, and bursting with playable content. On that level, this is an absolute bargain.

Need for Speed Heat is the best entry in the franchise for quite some time, but it's still not quite where it needs to be. The day vs. night gameplay is a compelling loop, and it's a big step in the right direction for the series in general. It's a solid effort with fun handling and lots of customisation options. It's a shame the open world lacks personality, and the police are perhaps a little too hardball, but there's still plenty to like. At the tail end of this generation, Need for Speed is back to being good -- let's hope it can be great in future.

With another generous set of remasters, we finally have the complete inaugural generation of a Playstation icon. The ports aren't perfect, but a generous selection of modern options balance out the imperfections of Tomb Raider: Last Revelation and its sequel Chronicles. Having The Angel Of Darkness in a good enough state to revisit might be worth the price alone.

Despite its slow start, Stranger in Sword City matures into a compelling dungeon crawling RPG that's defined by its gritty atmosphere.

Alien: Rogue Incursion is a solid first attempt from Survios to capture the iconic sci-fi franchise. If you’re a fan of the series like we are, then you’ll be giddy as you first get to hold your own pulse rifle; you’ll shiver as your motion tracker’s pulsating tone gets higher; and you’ll revel in the disgusting details of the H.R Giger-inspired Alien nests. It is let down at points with repetitive and lacklustre combat, trivial performance issues, and its hard cliff-hanger ending does leave you with far more questions than answers. But you’ll be hard pressed to find standout VR moments quite like the ones sprinkled throughout this fun campaign.

Like we said in the beginning, Mortal Kombat 1 is the best and most refreshing entry in the series since Mortal Kombat (2011), but it falls directly into the same traps as those prior entries. The core fighting is great thanks to the excellent Kameo Fighter system and increased pace (as well as ditching the styles and gear-specific moves), and the return of PS2-era fighters is fantastic. But sadly, the selection of modes and character-specific training options feel extremely dated – especially compared to Street Fighter 6.

Space Junkies is an incredibly competent multiplayer arena shooter that dodges the VR matchmaking bullet by flexing its cross-play capabilities, but it suffers from inadequate implementation. There’s plenty of bullet-blasting action to keep you engaged, but the limited control options only let you partake in a fraction of the fun when compared to your PC brethren.

Code Vein is a stylish JRPG with an interesting combat system that just falls short in a few areas. Its inspirations are clearly worn on its sleeve, but it brings enough to the table to stand out on its own. This title has promise, and we think the developer could iron it out into a worthy franchise if it’s given the chance to make future instalments.

It would appear the latest retread in the Assassin’s Creed franchise has learned from the underwhelming efforts of Rogue Remastered, which saw a graphical overhaul alongside little else. Assassin's Creed III Remastered brings far more to the table, seeing otherwise frustrating mechanics heavily tweaked and polished to make them less of an annoyance in the shadow cast by the likes of Origins and Odyssey. As much as this remaster can’t address the fundamental creases that the series re-imagining has worked so hard to iron out, it still retains its own sense of charm and is wonderfully reminiscent of the series' roots, paying great homage to the progress it’s made since.

Hand-holding in this game is virtually non-existent. Aside from a few quick tips here and there, it's up to you to figure out how to manage your zoo. It is nice to let the player choose their own playstyle right from the start, essentially making it a sandbox experience. However, at the same time, you are dumped with a plethora of information, which makes the lack of a proper tutorial noticeable. Talking about chaos, the poor UI aggravates this issue. Navigating through the menu and unlocking items for your zoo can be messy, with the latter having no clear categorical relation as you open up new items to decorate your park. Still, with enough humour and its fun game mechanics, Let’s Build A Zoo will have you sinking hours into your park, if you can get past its poor UI and lack of guidance.

Skull and Bones delivers boatloads of explosive tactical action, with players playing the part of pirates in an impressive oceanic world. Its 17th-century naval battles are best-in-class, with developer Ubisoft Singapore building a firm foundation for future voyages. But with no real story to speak of and little in the way of variation, repetition inevitably sets in. While not the spiritual successor to Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag as some might have been hoping for, Skull and Bones is never-the-less an incredibly unique, reactive game well worth checking out.

It's just a shame the genre-defining original is such a frustrating title to play on Vita, the second is so impenetrably hard, and the third a little unfocused.

NBA 2K20’s absurd production values put it alongside MLB The Show 19 as the most convincing sports game on the market, and its under-the-hood gameplay improvements mean it’s the best-playing basketball simulation ever made. With a dizzying array of modes and options, including a reasonably well-written single player campaign featuring a Hollywood cast, this is a bulky package that will keep you on-court for potentially hundreds of hours. The title’s tone-deaf approach to microtransactions is the only real downside, then, and while they have been dialled back a touch, it’s still difficult to ignore their ugly presence in practically every facet of the package.

If you’ve been looking for a more modern take on Touhou, Radiant Silvergun, or any of the many other bullet hell shooters on the market, CYGNI: All Guns Blazing ticks the box. It’s fast, it’s frantic, and it looks frankly unbelievable at times. And considering it’s being flogged at half the price of most other modern PS5 titles, it represents relatively reasonable value for money, too.

Clementine and AJ’s - and by extension, the player's - story comes to a fitting end here, as the creative efforts of Skybound and Telltale bring the story of the beloved series to its satisfying, largely open-ended conclusion. A plethora of emotional punches, varied and surprisingly engaging gameplay - even if the frame rate chugs - accompany wonderful music and impressive cinematography. Despite a couple of narrative hiccups, with one or two scenes that would have benefitted from some retooling, the conclusion to Telltale’s most beloved series is not just good, it’s satisfying.

All in all, Echoes of Fallen feels like little more than another chapter in Final Fantasy 16's story — but it's a good one, especially in terms of action. Oh, and it might just feature the most insane boss encounter in the entire game, if you can believe it.

As well as the main quest of finding each ghost, each location contains numerous mini spirits called Grenkins, which have you moving certain objects into particular positions in order to find them. It's a neat way of adding collectibles that has you using the core mechanic in a different way. There's also Mr. Whitstable's riddles, which add a little challenge to each level. He'll give you a set of clues, and they each pertain to a specific thing in that stage, and could be anywhere. Sometimes the clues are too obtuse, but with thorough exploration and a little lateral thinking, the riddles add some substance to a rather breezy game. Wonderful art and relaxing music make the cherry on top of a unique and heartfelt cake.

It’s without a doubt the best and most complete version of Ronimo Games' excellent eighties homage to date – but it never quite does enough to make it worth a double-dip.

ChromaGun is a title that nails its core concept, but fluffs its lines in a few too many other areas. The colour-based puzzles brought to the table are a joy to solve with the surprising amount of depth mixing things up enough to never make you feel like you’ve seen the same brain-teaser twice. However, the punishment for failing a puzzle feels far too harsh at times and coupled with the constant load times, an air of frustration can set in.

They may not be game-breaking, but the countless visual bugs of Assassin's Creed Valhalla really hold the experience back on PS4. They give the title an inescapable roughness, begging the question of whether it's meant to be played on PS5. That said, if you can look past the broken animations and often absurd glitches, you'll find an amazing Assassin's Creed game — arguably one of the best in the entire series. Its stories and characters are a whole cut above what's come before, while its open world feels refined and incredibly well realised. The condition that Valhalla has launched in is a terrible shame, but it's something that could, and should, be fixed.

The Sims 4 is the latest and best in the long running franchise and there's absolutely nothing else like it on the market for PlayStation 4. It's the most faithful recreation of the drudgery of daily life on the market, but it's also marred by a bewildering array of control quirks, annoying bugs, and overnumerous menus. If you're prepared to persevere with the more clumsily implemented aspects of the game then there's a lot to love - and there's a ridiculous amount of content - but some will likely be put off by its often obtuse nature.

DriveClub’s balanced physics and impressive presentation make for an all-around excellent racer, even if there’s still a lot of room for Evolution Studios to expand and improve upon. However, the overly aggressive AI and archaic progression system may deter non-racing fans, while the ongoing online issues remain infuriating.

TRON RUN/r may not make the best first impression due to its genre, a somewhat hefty price tag, and the inclusion of microtransactions, but don't be too disheartened. When it comes down to it, this may very well be one of the most intense runners ever crafted, and it proves to be a good fit for the property to boot.

If you've been dribbling to play a soccer game on that big, shiny widescreen, you're in luck – but be warned that, though FIFA Football plays well through its flaws, in a matter of months there will almost certainly be an expanded, improved and numbered update that's not been rushed for launch.

FAR: Changing Tides is largely more of the same. With how good the first title is, that’s not a bad thing, but it leaves a little something to be desired. Great sound design and music, as well as incredible environmental art, don’t quite balance out the pacing issues, hard as they try. Your new vessel has more components to juggle than last time, and it’s mechanically satisfying, but you spend too much time doing it. While traveling underwater does add a new gameplay component to account for, the puzzles don’t offer enough of a challenge. All that said, Changing Tides is still worth your time.