With terrible violence and stunningly realised characters, The Last of Us Part II is a singular game that blends cutting edge technology and silky big-budget design with stellar cinematic and literary storytelling, with breathtaking results.

The most captivating first-person role-playing game yet. This is essential gaming.

Every lap is terrifying...Polished to perfection, Burnout 3 is faster and more thrilling than any previous racer.

Visually spectacular and hugely rewarding.

Beautiful, involving, impeccably designed and outstanding value, this is a grand game that is difficult to fault. It will captivate even those who have been immune to Final Fantasy's spell.

Many clever obstacles, opponents and switches demand co-ordinated effort.

A wonderful game that rewards experimentation and co-operation.

Incredibly thoughtful and mechanically near-perfect, Celeste marries impeccable game design with a touching and relatable story in a way I've never experienced before. It's simultaneously an excellent platformer and an engaging meditation on the perils and methods of tackling depression and anxiety, and the fact that those two aspects are so naturally integrated is amazing.

Three Houses is a masterpiece of a strategy game and a brilliant relationship sim, which feels like the pinnacle of the love/tactics hybrid innovated by 2012's Awakening. With a twisting and turning main narrative and a refined but fairer battle system that retains all its tactical depths, the game's two halves combine to create a hugely customisable strategy experience with high and personal stakes.

This is a game that will thrill long-time fans and introduce brand new ones to what Sonic is like at its very best. Far from the tone-deaf reinventions and cynical cash-ins of Sonic at its worst, this is a love-filled celebration that also proves there is life in the 25-year-old original concept yet.

Episode One could be criticised for lacking new weapons and environments, yet few games are more polished or entertaining.

The focus on opponent "takedowns" was a smart, natural evolution for the series. The gorgeous environments and detailed cars whiz past at amazing velocity, and the fender-bending carnage is spectacular.

The game is epic in scale and length, but its fascinating plot, characters and dialogue (impeccably translated from Japanese) ensures players will devour every second.

Depending on what you want to do second-to-second, DK's latest outing can be a hugely impressive do-what-you-want sandbox, a comforting collectathon platformer, a series of lightly puzzling challenges, or a goofy Nintendo world to explore and be surprised by. But taken together, it's a masterpiece that's sure to absorb newcomers and series veterans alike. The destructible terrain is a literally ground-breaking innovation that makes each player's game unique, while the story and characters reposition DK's world in a way that's endearing and exciting, but still respects his past forty years of history.

As long as you're not too distracted by the superb graphics, you will discover that Gears of War is a classy, imaginative shooter with plenty of gritty action.

One of the best strategy games yet: intense, atmospheric and tactically deep.

Many games have presented a "go anywhere, do anything" structure, but few have been filled with places, challenges and mysteries as intriguing and charming as Breath of the Wild. The massive land of Hyrule, from beautiful grassy plains and craggy mountains to marshy swamps and long-forgotten ruins, is rife with wildlife, monsters, villages and all manner of suspicious landmarks that tug constantly at your curiosity, and demand to be investigated.

Every couple of years a game is released that is so well crafted, so perfectly made, that it sets a benchmark for gaming quality. Rome: Total War is one of those games. We couldn't find a fault.

A two-player mode is included, and few games are more fun with a crowd. It's pricey, but a euphoric experience.

Few games are as successful as God of War II in making a player feel like an invincible warrior. This is an absolutely thrilling adventure and a clash of the titans you are unlikely to forget soon.

The game's stunning locations include a war-torn Athens, a storm-swept desert and a temple chained to the back of an awe-inspiring titan. The approachable controls allow players to instantly feel thunderously powerful, performing dazzling strikes, blocks, grapples and jumps.

A wonderful game that rewards experimentation and co-operation.

No other game provides such rich atmosphere or better blends exciting action with sublime storytelling. It is much more than a science-fiction shoot-'em up: the adventure has convincing characters with great emotional depth and thrilling cinematic set pieces providing astonishing spectacle.

Fantastic animation, incredible art design and an intensely challenging fighting system ensure Virtua Fighter 5 is a game PS3 owners will be proud of for months to come.

Taken as a full package this is arguably the best Sonic game there is. Mania mode is fun as ever, the cast is fuller, and the bonus challenges, unlockables, Encore mode and multiplayer makes for a game that earns its spot on the retail shelf. Some existing owners might wonder whether two extra characters, remixed singleplayer and revamped splitscreen is worth the upgrade given there's no substantially new levels to speak of, but I think it's a fine way to extend the experience.

Magnificent on the Xbox 360, this could be a contender for game of the year.

Obsidian has created something exceptionally special with Avowed. A smaller-scale Skyrim-like set in the Pillars of Eternity universe, it's an entirely accessible first-person RPG that ditches a lot of obnoxious fluff and doubles down on what makes big role-playing games great. The writing and storytelling is phenomenal, the crunchy combat lets you make a sick build whether you're into swords, axes, guns or spells, and the problems your character faces feel unexpectedly touching and relevant. It's a perfect entry into this genre for new players and the RPG-curious, but top-tier comfort food for us old-heads.

The epic scale astounds, with dazzling scenery including space stations, war-torn cities, temples, snowy wastelands and ruins. The audio is equally extravagant.

This is one of my favourite games of the year and it's one I'd encourage any previous Final Fantasy fan to consider. Besides the brilliant nods to the series past — adorable retro touches like pixel art character menus and classic game soundtracks you can buy in servos and listen to in the Regalia — this is a game that's doing something new and great with what's come before. It's the fondest I've felt about the series since VIII.

A masterpiece. As you guide your endearing digital denizens to health, happiness, fame and fortune, you may become so addicted that your own life suffers.

Pokemon games are in a unique spot. They have to change significantly from game to game in order to keep casual fans engaged, have to stand on their own enough to entice new players in and also have to maintain a certain degree of continuity so that dedicated players' collections of monsters work in the new game and will continue to work beyond. Sun and Moon are the first games in several generations that I've honestly felt have nailed them all, and should provide hundreds of hours of entertainment for fans new and old.

Pokemon games are in a unique spot. They have to change significantly from game to game in order to keep casual fans engaged, have to stand on their own enough to entice new players in and also have to maintain a certain degree of continuity so that dedicated players' collections of monsters work in the new game and will continue to work beyond. Sun and Moon are the first games in several generations that I've honestly felt have nailed them all, and should provide hundreds of hours of entertainment for fans new and old.

A wonderful game that rewards experimentation and co-operation.

The way the scale changes seamlessly is incredibly cunning with areas becoming accessible and later off-limits again according to the size of your flotsam-encrusted orb.

A relentlessly gripping ride that assaults the senses.

Imaginative and masterfully designed, Twilight Princess is every bit as good as the best Zelda adventures. It is hugely rewarding and absolutely essential for new Wii owners.

Captain Olimar is now joined by larrikin Louie - a clever addition that allows efficient multi-tasking, more complex puzzles and absorbing two-player action.

It is infinitely replayable, incredibly balanced and faster-paced. Combat has been improved, with the addition of both depth and simplicity, while peacemaking and cultural supremacy are more viable options.

The first glimpse of a mighty colossus in this breathtaking adventure is awe-inspiring. Their size, fearsome power, deafening roars and otherworldly looks are both terrifying and fascinating.

To maintain the level of immersion, even the loading screens have been replaced by stunning helicopter rides, delivering you to the next mission where the action continues seamlessly.

A wonderful game that rewards experimentation and co-operation.

Mario Odyssey is an inventive, playful and incredibly polished experience that pays constant homage to the storied series' past while never feeling redundant or old. From the creative way classic characters and styles of play are inserted into the worlds to the brand new capture mechanic that gives a new perspective on what an open-world Mario game can be, this is a timeless journey I'll keep coming back to for a long time.

The most captivating first-person role-playing game yet. This is essential gaming.

Its biggest strength is the realistic handling. You feel every nuance of the car's movements, weight shifts and suspension, particularly with a Driving Force Pro steering wheel. This is a peerless driving simulation that will test even professional drivers.

With a total of 164 secret-filled courses, a bunch of extra modes including the ever-addictive challenges and a small number of smart tweaks and additions, this is an incredible amount of platforming goodness in a single package. It's both the deepest and most accessible 2D Mario action you can get, as well as an endlessly enjoyable party game you can bust out with friends, and Switch is the perfect place for it.

One of the finest games ever crafted, Ico is a unique and memorable experience, and hauntingly beautiful.

Pairing one of the most brilliant yet underplayed games in Mario history with a wild and experimental new adventure, Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury is an incredible one-two punch of platforming perfection. While the combination of these two games may not be as exciting as an entirely new full-scale adventure, they're absolutely packed with the trademark Mario blend of creativity and control that seems so effortless but is also virtually without rival.

Like Tomb Raider before it, God of War has managed to keep something of its heritage while grounding its previously inaccessible main character and filling the whole experience with depth and feeling.

Game visuals might need overhauls every few years to stay relevant, but good game design is timeless. So is Demon's Souls.

The new Resident Evil 2 is everything the original was; tense, scary, brilliant and filled with secrets and additional content to find. But it's also a game perfectly suited to 2019, not just because of its cutting edge look and sound; but because we don't get games like this anymore, and that's a shame.

More than any previous game in the series, Ultimate seems to have taken into account the needs and desires of all players, and made it possible. Ancillary content like Spirits may not quite live up to pure fun of the main Smash mode, but then few things in video games do. And that main mode is the biggest achievement here. It's bigger and better than it ever has been before, and somehow incorporates just about everything that's come previously.

Spectacular visuals, ruthless opposition and gritty, tactical gunplay make this intense entertainment for solo soldiers and a hoot to play online with friends.

The sequel to Australia's favourite game last year will get everyone off the couch. The 12 digital camera games offer more depth, diversity and longevity, with a wide variety of challenging and amusing stages.

Those looking for something unique to enliven a dull commute should definitely call on the Elite Beat Agents.

While convoluted, the story is more approachable than its predecessor, with strong villains, plot twists, humour and much pretentiousness.

If you like your games fast, then strap yourself in for a white-knuckle ride, because Burnout Revenge is relentlessly intense.

Fallen Order offers both an enthralling look at a shadowy time in the Star Wars continuum and a gameplay design that kept me hooked. From force pushing an astromech through the air and hearing it emit the exact panicked yowling sound it's supposed to make, to tracking down and defeating a giant albino spider that just killed me to restore my experience points (and dignity), it's been a long time since I've had this much fun in a galaxy far, far away.

The handling is remarkable, and the fact the tracks are littered with obstacles that bounce and crash realistically makes it all the more fun. Throw in excellent damage modelling and it's plain to see that this game has nailed the core mechanics of an addictive racer perfectly.

This beautiful metroidvania roguelite strikes a near-perfect balance between what persists and what is totally randomised each time you die. And when you eventually run all the way from the beginning, through the bosses and to the final encounter in one go, it's not because your character is more powerful, it's because you know the game so intimately from all your previous lives.

While it's not quite as epic as "GTA:SA," the combat within Mercenaries is more focused and polished, thanks to tight controls, amazing graphics and clever physics.

A delightful racer perfectly suited to PSP. Even three minutes waiting for the train can be packed with thrills.

Visually, the game is spectacular, but the 3D engine demands a fairly powerful PC - the bigger the battle, the slower the performance. Thankfully there are plenty of graphics options to fiddle with.

Capcom may be a little late to its own creation's birthday party, but this is an extremely impressive collection which has been put together with a great deal of care.

So addictive it should come with a warning sticker on the box.

It's testament to the PSP's power that Wipeout looks and plays better now than it ever did on PS2. This classy remake rolls all the tastiest bits of this futuristic racing series into one glorious parcel of pixels.

It would be easy to ask for more, but as it stands these are the best officially available versions of the some of the greatest 3D platform games of all time. The HD visuals and elegant control adaptations are arguably close to bare minimum, but the charm, craft and imagination on display in these three games is timeless and undeniable.

Some may complain that the game is too short and lacks multi-player features, but grumbling seems churlish. Don't miss it.

Stunning and consistent as ever, this is more of the fantasy racing festival we know and love, but this time in a shared online world with even more driving diversity thanks to the regularly shifting seasons.

With gratifying combat, practically unmatched visual grandeur, a new focus on exploration and some of the most interesting locations and characters at the high-budget end of modern gaming, Gears 5 is an incredible leap forward for the original cover-based third-person shooter series.

Owners of an Xbox 360 have a right to feel a little miffed that their version isn't identical to the PS2 but Pro Evo 6 is still top of the table.

The handling is remarkable, and the fact the tracks are littered with obstacles that bounce and crash realistically makes it all the more fun. Throw in excellent damage modelling and it's plain to see that this game has nailed the core mechanics of an addictive racer perfectly.

This is a stunning celebration of all things Super Mario, from the music and the art to the characters and items, and it's also a great social tool that uses the ubiquitous language of running and jumping to share gameplay and narrative ideas between players worldwide. It has lost a bit of its weird edge since last time, but it's also gained a lot more variety and much more substantial systems for sorting stages and playing with friends.

Engaging sub-quests extend the game's lifespan and chatting to the beguiling locals while humming the tunes is a joy.

With near endless creativity, thoughtful puzzles and a lot of laughs, Luigi's Mansion 3 offers a smart and theatrical haunted house with a huge amount to see, do, collect and play around with.

Half-Genie Hero is a masterclass in small-scale game design, packing hours of gorgeous, hilarious, brilliantly-crafted jumping and hair-whipping into just a handful of stages. The series has changed a lot in the past 15 years but this latest entry, which seems designed as a soft reboot to attract new fans on new platforms, has only strengthened my belief that it's one of the best and most under-appreciated there is.

This is a practically perfect iteration of a game that was already stellar the first time around. The satisfying rhythm of powersliding, gliding and boosting is more or less the same as it always was but the new content and tweaks paired with the connectivity and versatility of the Switch console means the deluxe version is streets ahead.

With beautiful visuals and sound, some of the most imaginative stage concepts you'll ever find in a platforming game and a heap of secrets that are rewarding to find and even more so to conquer, Tropical Freeze is one of the all-time greats. It's disappointing that Funky Mode, the only Switch-specific feature besides technical upgrades, doesn't feel as polished as the rest of the experience, but this is an unassailably brilliant game no matter how you play it.

Striking a careful balance between updating an old classic for 2019 and maintaining what made the original so special, The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening is a remarkable and unmissable game despite a few small stumbles. The artistry of the original is so strong, and the update so measured, that both devoted fans and entirely new players are bound to be delighted.

Old-fashioned Mario fun. As pleasurable, challenging and addictive as two decades ago.

Horizon is a special game, one which puts forth a very confident spin on action-RPG conventions and on the idea of a post-apocalyptic survival tale, but also one that will engross you in its mystery and poke at common humanistic ideas from an angle we don't see a whole lot. That said, it certainly doesn't hurt that it's amazing to look at and has heaps of cool robots to blow up, and its actual game mechanics are just as engaging as the story it tells.

So addictive it should come with a warning sticker on the box.

As an adaptation of the Assassin's Creed RPG style to a breezier, more open and more playful world, Immortals Fenyx Rising is a total success. It might come off second best to Breath of the Wild, and its chatty and light-hearted take on subject matter traditionally treated in games as dark and bloody might not be to everyone's taste, but the treatment of greek myth's gods and monsters here makes for a delightful experience in its own right.

Serving as both a quirky Zelda spinoff and a sequel to 2015's rhythm-action indie hit Crypt of the Necrodancer, Cadence of Hyrule is a polished and charmingly inventive game sure to appeal to fans of either franchise. From the Rougelike dungeon and item design to the inspired musical remixes, this crossover has worked out better than anyone could have expected.

But while there's little appeal in tackling Phoenix Wright's cases again, this is a unique, lengthy, deep and absolutely gripping game. Highly recommended.

Playing with dozens of real-life comrades is exhilarating.

By keeping most of the driving fundamentals, but greatly expanding your competitive options and wildly rethinking the approach to circuits and locations, Nintendo has transformed Mario Kart into a modern yet utterly charming platform for social racing or serious competition. The open-world structure and 24-player races make for an air of chaotic road tripping, yet one that doubles down on the appeal and nostalgia of Mario's wonderful world.

The battle system may initially seem unwieldy, particularly with unhelpful camera angles often obscuring foes, but its subtle sophistication adds terrific depth.

Whether it's the opportunity to recruit a mini-boss like Bugzzy after defeating him, or the puzzle rooms that test your skills like not many Kirby games before have done, Star Allies is the freshest the series has felt in years, and certainly the most fun to play with friends.

The game can be maddeningly frustrating, requiring precision and steely nerves, but also hugely addictive.

Juiced is instantly approachable but has depth.

A superior sequel worth the wait. It's another huge, memorable and magical adventure.

Gloriously cheerful and refreshingly original rock 'n' roll fun.

Offering a fresh take on Super Metroid while updating the franchise for modern audiences and supplanting the sluggish (but narratively important) Metroid II, this return to form is everything a 2D Metroid game should be. Not every modernising addition to the classic formula is as well-polished as it could be, but this is still one of the best entries the series has to offer.

A complete makeover is overdue, but Pokemon remains as engrossing as ever.

Even just interacting with villagers is enjoyable, particularly when they bow down in fear, applaud your courage, or swoon at your handsome looks.

This time the AI is a harder nut to crack, requiring more thoughtful passing to open up your opponent before you strike. So long as you're thinking like a footballer, you're going to score goals.

Distilling everything that's made the series great to this point and offering a razor sharp modern take on the combo-heavy character action genre that DMC helped instigate, Devil May Cry 5 is a juvenile-yet-very-adult game for those who like their monsters grotesque, their combat stylish and their demon-hunting boys and girls dumb but outrageously sexy.

Everything you'd expect from the PS2 game has somehow made it intact, lending credence to Sony's claims that the handy portable is almost as powerful as its big brother.