With Forza Motorsport 3 Turn 10 have made great strides towards accessibility, but have managed to do so without compromising what remains the most open, detailed and enjoyable racing simulation on the market.

While it contains some excellent ideas, the manager mode needs a lot of work, and it's not clear at this stage whether its list of problems can or will be fixed with a downloadable patch. It's really this that holds the game back from earning a higher score at this stage, and this is a real pity, because there isn't any football title that can compete with FIFA 10's superb core gameplay engine.

Fifa 11's improvements evolve rather than a revolutionise the franchise's already impressive strengths and overall it doesn't feel like a massive step forward for the series. However, with its depth of customisation, superb gameplay, awesome visuals and fantastic online and career modes, Fifa 11 is about the most complete package fan of football video games could want.

To me, it feels more like an existential horror story, a deliberate blurring of the lines between the creator and the consumer, in order to tell a really good story.

An unashamed definition of its host console; simple, colourful, accessible to all, but with a hidden depth for those who wish to explore it. It’s unlikely to convert many that are lost to the Wii cause, but for those who have already embraced it, a trip to Wuhu Island will be some of the most fun you’ll have all year.

Limbo is a game that cheerfully deals in oxymoron, its awful beauty framing macabre humour. But for all its disparate elements, for all the varied puzzles and shifts in tone, there lies a game of a single, unwavering vision.

Both more terrifying and more fun to play than its incredibly impressive predecessor. Dead Space 2 is not – and never could be – a game to suit everyone's taste, but if you're a player willing to risk a few nightmares for the chance to immerse yourself in pure terror, it's one of the best horror games available for this generation of consoles.

An absolute delight.

From the backgrounds to the animations to the bold colours, Cuphead is a love letter both to classic cartoons and platform-shooters, fine tuned and tweaked so it plays like a dream. It also manages to take a certain much-maligned gaming trope and turn it into something wonderful.

But despite God of War III being afraid of flying too close to the sun -lest those carefully crafted wings should melt- the journey is relentlessly exciting; a blistering spectacle told in blood and thunder. Truly epic, then. And I defy anyone to argue with the definition this time around.

People looking for the next Halo will most likely come away disappointed, as will anyone hoping for a solid single-player experience. But those of you who are up for something a little bit different and more thoughtful will find a lot to appreciate in Section 8: Prejudice.

Harmonix remains the master of mapping note charts to the music.

DeathSpank may not be perfect, and it may take many of its gameplay cues from other titles, but it's a fun and entertaining romp which is well worth a look.

It’s Gears at its very best, fierce gunplay mixing with a fabulous ebb and flow across smartly designed maps. It’s nothing revolutionary, rather existing elements melded into a satisfying whole. It’s the kind of thing that makes Judgment a more long-term investment than its campaign demands, but even the single-player’s familiarity and conservatism can’t take away from the base thrill of pulling the trigger or revving that chainsaw.

Last Light is the rare shooter that lingers with you once you’re done with it.

Evolve is exactly as satisfying as the people you're playing with. It serves a concept that is so precise that anything less than perfect unison between participants results in a confused mess. But when it all comes together, when your fellow players are all singing from the same hymn sheet, there’ are few more striking multiplayer experiences to be had.

There’s not much to like about a business model so brazenly designed to divorce kids from their pocket money – and the big swing in favour of untradeable reward cards this year only increases the likelihood of that outcome. That said… it is remarkably addictive, and the overhaul of the chemistry rules that underpin squad building have at least shaken up the shakedown.

Despite these niggles, I was left feeling satisfied after the post-credits scene. I’m already planning on diving back in and fixing the mistakes of my first run. Prey makes you feel clever, excites, intrigues and, at least once, can be absolutely terrifying. But, hey, at least you can turn into a toilet roll now. If you’re looking for one of the most interesting triple-A video games this year, it’s over here disguised as a sci-fi shooter.

Players who simply wish to drink in the dreamy visuals and enjoy the cute characters will find Kirby's Epic Yarn a breezy and attractive way to while away six or so hours of their time.

Returnal is a punishing game which revels in the brutality of its challenge – and given the randomness baked in to the roguelike conceit, it doesn’t always feel like a fair one. Extreme difficulty spikes abound and ultimately twitch-like reflexes will only get you so far; the success or otherwise of any given run can often depend on which weapon types, buff-bestowing artefacts or consumables appear early on. I managed to blitz through one of the game's six biomes, boss-fight and all, at the first attempt thanks to a fortuitous combination of auto-healing augmentations and a launcher blessed with homing ammunition. Conversely, soldiering on with a sub-optimal build can be a dispiriting struggle.

The satisfaction felt at the end of a hard-fought point is all the greater for the knowledge that you’ve guided that perfect shot with a deft flick of your wrist as opposed to a well-timed button press. Though ultimately lacking the precision a truly great tennis game needs, EA should be commended for a superb Wii effort which amply demonstrates the publisher’s commitment to the format.

It's well worth a play for anyone looking for an intelligently told, challenging story, or anyone who's a fan of adventure games which happily bring you back down to earth with a thud.

The offshoot is that there are likely to be one or two sections that might rub players the wrong way. But it is exactly that manic energy that makes the return of Battletoads such a welcome treat.

Ultimately, the majority of Pokémon Let’s Go is unlikely to be the challenge competitive players are looking for, particularly those who are well-versed in Yellow’s familiar rhythm. Though a spectacularly demanding end-game, asking you to train up one of each of the 150 species of Kanto-region Pokémon to battle Master trainers of the same type, will certainly keep the dedicated busy. This could be where the game’s online trading and battling features could come into their own.

While those opening hours can feel like a languid tutorial, Game Freak know that the challenge will need to climb. And if anything there is a sudden spike that might come a little hard for newcomers, given the breeziness of the early game.

This is one of the most compelling, enjoyable episodic games around. It is a shame about the technical problems, but that's not to say it's not pristine in many ways. A clever interface, a vibrant art style and a simple, atmospheric soundtrack compliment what is a wonderful, harrowing, human story.

Luckily [the checkpointing is] never quite that bad, and the compelling narrative, stunning action setpieces and beautifully realised game world more than make up for the few shortcomings.

The odd balancing issue does threaten to undermine Mario’s first foray into co-op multiplayer and there is the nagging feeling that, perhaps, Nintendo were not entirely sure of its own focus. But these are quibbles oft forgotten when in the throes of NSMB Wii’s joyful, beguiling character.