Squids merges the Angry Birds firing mechanism with top-down billiards-like physics, then welds the result to a cute, if short, role-playing adventure.

It might look a bit casual, but be warned: it doesn't take long to become very tricky indeed, which at least results in some top operatic comedy.

It's messy but when it works – that is, when you're comfy with the controls, laying waste to a horde of Mexican gangsters and not being bothered by the nonsensical plot – it works rather well, and to sweeten the deal there's a full dose of multiplayer, in which we spent a lot of time getting one-shot killed by people with much better weapons.

The real joy here is the fluid gameplay. Play is controlled simply with an analogue stick for movement and three buttons for attacking and defensive activities. You can also double tap the right side of the screen to pull off some context-sensitive special moves.

If you didn't like the original, this won't convert you – and we hope Chair doesn't soon roll out the next in an infinite number of Infinity Blade games merely with new Titans and metal hats. But if you enjoyed battling the God King, Infinity Blade II's a no-brainer purchase.

Really, the game only catches on fire under scrutiny's magnifying glass when it comes to patrol path deletion, which occasionally lacks responsiveness. It's frustrating, but hardly a deal-breaker in an otherwise great game.

It is, however, a joy to look at and – in spite of its lows – highly replayable. Like guns, robots, and hiding behind walls? Then EPOCH.'s a no-brainer.

The obvious touchstone here is Angry Birds, but there's a neat element of strategy to each level that keeps everything from descending into a mere shoot-and-hope affair.

Where Skateboard was great, Snowboard is better. The graphics are sharper, the controls are tighter and the levels are more interesting, with more varied hazards. We initially had a snowy sense of déjà vu, but it disappeared, along with most of a day, as we strove to beat our high scores. Still, here's hoping Ratty's next outing is a little more innovative.

Super Crossfire eases you in gently - perhaps too gently, because most of the first 'chapter' of waves is a dull walkover. But subsequent chapters are more demanding, requiring quick thinking and rapid strategic adjustments. Additionally, the ferocious Dark mode and one of the finest power-up mechanisms we've seen ensures this game is one of the very best retro-oriented shoot 'em ups on the system.

Konami has done its best to make this an authentic footy experience, and certainly in terms of graphics and gameplay it does a decent job. But the relative scarcity of licensed players and teams, and the presence of outdated strips, dilutes the overall experience.

It's a pleasing game of cat and mouse, but despite some extra web-slicing tools, does feel a bit one-note. It's damn tricky, too – an early wrong move will leave you scuppered in a checkmate scenario. We told you they were evil.

Sure, it's yet another tower defence game, but a surprisingly fresh and delightful one.

The Sims Medieval is far less open-ended than its predecessor.

It's a pity developer Halfbrick was hypnotised by DreamWorks's cash, because a deeper Desperado could have been a fantastic Fruit Ninja sequel.

A game that's at odds with itself. If it had given either of its major components the attention they deserved, we'd be recommending the game without hesitation. But with both sides of it half-baked, it fails to excel.

The problem is that escaping death is eventually impossible. From a fun, challenging beginning, having you gleefully wrestle a bike to the end of madcap courses, Bike Baron descends into a gruelling, joyless battle of wills: you against a sadistic games designer who favours obscene precision over all else, and doesn't provide the tools (an on-screen speedo, say) that would enable you to succeed.

Be mindful, though, that beyond the visuals, the game offers little new, so don't expect to still be playing it in a year's time.

The game works best when it's at its most absurd, and you can squeeze extra joy from some levels by being nutty. Sure, you could give someone a haircut using scissors, but a chainsaw is much more fun!

Often in gaming, details matter, and it's here Running Sheep falls short. The controls aren't tight enough, and too many levels hide floor tiles behind pillars. Worse, you're chucked right in, with no chance to plan.

SplitAppleWe never want to meet this game's star. He's bonkers. It's one thing to be a fan of archery and set up a target. It's another to fashion a madcap contraption that wheels a target along a washing line, or to pepper a grassy plot with pop-up targets.

So if you finished the likes of League of Evil and Mos Speedrun (see Tap! four and five, respectively) at your first attempt, this is tougher, but platform-game weeds need not apply. (Sob.)

True to the original, puzzle-solving and survival rely on brutal hair's-breadth accuracy and timing, enjoyment of which hangs on your nostalgia quotient. Vintage gamers will lap up the cryptic cut scenes and tricky puzzles, but newcomers… consider yourself warned.

Of course, the game's stark simplicity means it lacks depth and perhaps longevity, but we reckon it'll always be fun for a quick blast.

But tilt to move and directional fire (that demands you hit multiple targets with single shots to survive) and tap to jump too often feels like juggling while already juggling. This drags the game down from a must-have to a guarded recommendation.

Full marks on a level are achieved by hitting two targets: number of taps and speed. These goals can be met during separate attempts (thankfully, given that the game seems to expect you to solve a puzzle within a second of seeing it), but repeating levels just to get our speed scores up did get a bit dull.

You can play Shadowgun on your iPhone as well as your iPad, and it doesn't fare too badly here either because it uses the whole left and right sides of the screen to control running and aiming, unlike N.O.V.A. with its tiny joystick.

Clearly, Mr Papi needs to lay off the meat.