Kao the Kangaroo makes his big return in 2022, but the game feels like it's leapt straight out of PS2's back catalogue. Despite many rough edges and old-fashioned design principles, it ultimately succeeds in delivering a fun, breezy 3D platformer for fans of the series. It manages to evoke feelings of nostalgia despite being a brand new title with its simple gameplay and colourful worlds. It does fall apart under modern scrutiny, but it just about gets away with it, thanks to its harmlessly old-school approach.

It's not especially fun, but at least it's not utterly broken like last year's attempt. Those tempted should buy in the knowledge that you'll get exactly what you expect, and no reality-busting glitches or road-praising crowds.

It's another expensive piece of DLC that doesn't quite justify its price tag unless you're a feverish fan of BioWare's latest.

Beholder: Complete Edition is a fun strategy game. Its gorgeous yet subtle dystopian aesthetic illustrates a totalitarian world on the brink of revolution, with an interesting set of characters and soundtrack to boot. But while it’s geared towards player agency, it can feel like you're under the thumb of the state more often than not, and that means you may feel forced to walk a path you didn't necessarily choose.

This latest edition’s clumsy controls will obstruct your enjoyment at times, and while the top-notch puzzles and vibrant visuals will certainly tunnel through some of these issues, the input problems will still chip away at your patience like a pickaxe as you progress.

Our biggest criticism is that Sloane’s movement can be glacial, even when she breaks into a sprint, and that makes the constant backtracking a bit of a chore. You do unlock fast travel points and shortcuts, but you’ll feel like you’re going through the motions at times as you amble your way around the same streets and locations.

WRC 3: FIA World Rally Championship has more than enough content to keep you busy with its 83 tracks, 50 drivers, and 37 cars. But, despite being the official game of the World Rally Championship, it has many issues that strip away its authenticity – the most problematic of which being poor track feedback. The title's more than competent as a casual off-road racer, but unfortunately for developer Milestone, Codemasters already has that genre locked up with its exceptional DiRT series.

There’s some fun to be had here, spread across dozens of different events, and some vibrant environments. However, this isn’t an especially ambitious outing, so don’t expect it to drive away with your heart like the classics that it’s so clearly inspired by.

There are certainly enjoyable moments to be found in Zombie Tycoon 2: Brainhov’s Revenge, but they’re buried beneath repetitive gameplay and unnecessarily frustrating mechanics. The multiplayer chaos is just enough to keep you coming back, but things are never quite as well crafted as the charming art direction would lead you to believe.

#killallzombies feels like an unfinished product, and it’s a shame because there’s an enjoyable and moreish foundation to be found here.

As fun as often as it is frustrating, Poncho is a hard game to recommend, even to 16-bit platformer super fans. You may be able to get some enjoyment out of it, and it certainly has an oddball charm, but ultimately, it fails to impress where it counts.

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.

A nice nostalgia trip, but not an essential purchase. Though all of the games bar Haunted Castle are good fun, none but the Gradius games and Thunder Cross truly stand the test of time. Considering the arcade games missing here, it’s hard to accept this as a ‘classics’ collection, but for what you’re given, you could certainly do worse.

Nun Attack is a brilliant example of an accessible portable title, perfectly suited for quick stints of gameplay whenever you have the time. Although the excessive emphasis on grinding detracts from some of the fun, the game offers a deceptive amount of content for such a low asking price, with multiple RPG elements adding a welcome layer of depth.

Pure Chess's basic game and artificial intelligence are appropriate for beginners and experts alike, with many tutorials and challenges to keep single players busy. However, the lack of multiplayer outside of the crawling message play hurts a game that is, by its very nature, a two player game, and it isn't aided by flow-breaking input problems.

What continues to be a source of frustration though is the camera, particularly during boss battles. It tries to take a page out of Crash Bandicoot's book by having Skully run at the camera, except it gets in the way more often than not. And that's all there really is to the game. The younger generation is sure to extract some enjoyment out of Skully, but it proves all too basic for those getting on in their years.

Fat Princess Adventures won't be winning any awards for originality, but as a casual co-op game to play over the holiday, it's a solid choice.

It's certainly worth a look if you have an old-school itch that needs scratching, and fans of the original game will be pleased with just how faithful Pastagames has been to that decades-old formula.

This Secret of Mana remake feels like a missed opportunity. It could have been a chance to tweak a few systems, strip away any outdated elements, and add in a few basic improvements. Overall the game is good but only because the original Secret of Mana was good; this remaster doesn’t add as much as it could and, if anything, removes some of the magic of the original.

Moon Hunters is certainly an ambitious idea from Kitfox Games, and for the most part it hits the right notes.

The RPG elements mean you'll nearly always be making some forward momentum. Finding treasure, sinking ships, and completing missions rewards you with XP, and you can upgrade and customise various parts of your boat to ensure your vessel is ship-shape. What's more, each town has its own side missions to tackle, and a market where you can trade goods in a shifting economy. These parts of the game are its strengths, but working through somewhat confusing menus and engaging in predictable battles take the wind out of its sails.

Lords of Shadow 2 falls short of the high bar set by its predecessor, with niggly control issues, a somewhat empty open world, and frustrating stealth sections sucking a bit of life out of the experience. Fortunately, fans of the original release will undoubtedly enjoy the exciting combat and stellar graphical design on offer here.

Salary Man Escape is a competent puzzler that has a decent amount of fun to offer when things are going your way, but when that enjoyment partly relies on physics outside of your control, it’s easy for frustration to creep in when the going gets tough. Add that to the fact that the game lacks a definitive control method thanks to flaws in both motion and the traditional controller, and you can’t be blamed for looking for an alternative experience.

An antique that's aged ungracefully. The presentation is sublime from the release's rousing start right the way through to its anticlimactic finish, but several shoddy design decisions detract from its otherwise exemplary gloss.

To its credit, there’s so much off-the-wall content here that you’ll be willing to push through its drier segments just to see what oddity the developer has in store next. Whether it’s reviewing ramen recipes or watching on dumbfounded as the title tosses out a completely unconnected FMV sequence, this is a real rollercoaster of ridiculousness that needs to be seen to be believed. But it’s a three or four hour experience which lasts more than double that, and no amount of Boneface designed bossfights are going to prevent you from getting bored at points.

There are too many flaws at the heart of Pieces Interactive's Alone in the Dark reboot for a blanket recommendation, but anyone with a love for classic survival horror gameplay should — after a few post-launch patches at least — find a relatively worthwhile experience. The combat sections are awful and there's very little to actually spook you, but the puzzle-solving gameplay at the game's core shines. For that alone, it'll find just enough of an audience ready and willing to love it.

Dynasty Warriors 7: Empires is close to being the perfect mix of role playing and hack and slash gameplay. Despite some recurring flaws, the newest entry in the series proves to be one of the most endearing and complete Warriors titles to date. Fans shouldn’t think twice about picking this up, and newcomers might just discover a series that’s been overlooked for far too long.

It’s not hard to see why Arizona Sunshine comes so highly acclaimed: its undead slaughtering story mode is undoubtedly dated, but the novelty of virtual reality keeps it alive. Unfortunately, this PlayStation VR version toys with Sony’s full roster of input options, and never really settles upon one that feels right. It’s a shame because there is a lot to like here, from the vibrant visuals to the generous helping of solo and multiplayer content – but without a comfortable means of controlling any of it, your enthusiasm will very quickly cool.