eFootball PES 2021 Season Update on Xbox One should be overlooked by those who own PES 2020 because it’s not worth the hassle of starting all over again for a selection of kits and partially updated squads. On the other hand, the gameplay and the modes combined with the updates makes it slightly more alluring to newcomers who haven’t experienced any of it. Even then it’s not a must-have and you may be best picking up PES 2020 on the cheap.

If you don’t have many other kart games on the Xbox, and your kids love the charms of Gigantosaurus, then don’t hesitate: this is a no-brainer. If that doesn’t describe you, however, then you might want to be more wary. Gigantosaurus: Dino Kart is a fine racer, but not a great one.

Void Gore on Xbox will slap you in the face with its intense difficulty, but persistence, consistency and utilising the powers and upgrades available makes this retro title a dream to spend ten minutes or ten hours with. What it lacks in beauty, it makes up for with its retro vibes, charm and the ability to suck you in, making you frustrated but providing you with sheer enjoyment at the same time.

Overall I enjoyed my time playing HUMANKIND and would recommend it to both strategy game veterans and beginners. It can be extremely enjoyable however it is held back by some bugs and half-baked gameplay mechanics.

I loved my short time with this delightful little game. Yes, it’s a swift experience, but sometimes the shorter packages are the best ones. The gameplay is great, but I can fully understand that this won’t be for everyone, and I think you can count that sentiment for the game as a whole.

Atomfall is an intriguing concept done just about well enough. It won’t be the clunky first-person combat or the fetch quest-esque approach that will be what it’s remembered for, but the surrounding mystery and how you as the player choose to uncover it.

It’s cheap, it’s cheerful and it’s a blast to play and whilst it may be yet another short adventure, the fresh appearance of the new world and the new challenge included is certainly one I’m all for.

I’ve enjoyed my time with Rocket Arena on Xbox One, especially in terms of the short, sharp games that suit the game composition. My immediate concern though is just how busy the servers will be in a few months and whether or not those who are already dominating the scene will put off any newcomers.

Pick Dreamland Solitaire: Dark Prophecy up if you somehow need more Spider Solitaire after the first two Dreamland games. Otherwise, this can sit cozily on a wishlist for a while.

CATAN - Console Edition is mighty lovely to look at, a CATAN board carved out of finest materials and then comes to life, and the game itself has lost none of its charm. You can play in any permutation you can think of, with local players, online players and CPU bots all waiting to stiff you on lumber.

I’ve liked the way Night Lights manages to tell a very simple story over a few hours. That’s complemented well with the use and manipulation of light and the need for a bit of clever puzzle solving.

The weakest of the LucasArts remasters, Grim Fandango Remastered on Xbox One has aged the most in terms of its visuals and obscure puzzling. There’s a fantastic story being told here, with Glottis, Manny, Chepito and the rest being absolute belters. But they’re stuck in a limbo of bloated sandboxes, plodding character speeds and puzzles that should have come with a pre-packaged walkthrough.

At the end of the day, It’s Quiz Time isn’t a game you’ll be playing every single day for the next year. It’s been made for a purpose – filling time during those holiday gatherings when you’re stuck in the same room with family. And it fulfills that purpose brilliantly.

Random dungeons, random perks and continuous progress: it’s a winning mix, and it elevates Space Robinson beyond mediocrity and into the realms of ‘just one more go’.

If you have the reflexes of a ninja, if you eat Mega Man games for breakfast, if you are young and limber, then OkunoKA Madness on Xbox One will challenge you. If you are riddled by the ravages of time, however, it will break you... without a word of a lie. It plays well, controls brilliantly, but is absolutely unforgiving, so if you want to challenge your reactions and your finger dexterity, OkunoKA Madness is the game for you.

Aluna: Sentinel of the Shards is quite enjoyable. It isn’t good enough to sit at the top table of the ARPG world, but can quite comfortably be found on the second tier. With better balancing through the game it would have been a contender, but the extreme difficulty spikes spoil the experience somewhat.

You’ll have fun with Lumo 2, even if the isometric visuals do prove to be a persistent nightmare during the more demanding platforming sections. See through that and this is a well-crafted, retro-themed surprise.

Rack N Ruin on Xbox is fairly enjoyable. The storyline is fun to follow, the combat pretty interesting, and apart from it being far too easy to get lost, the design of the world and enemies is pretty spot on. With a better map Rack N Ruin could well have been a star, but frankly that element in itself is enough to bring it down a notch or two.

Imp of the Sun's puzzles will satisfy you, and by the end of the game it sticks in memory not because of its weak points, but because of the strong puzzling and platforming.

What starts off as a seemingly impossible challenge quickly becomes one of the best POWGI games for logical thinking. Word Web by POWGI not only ramps the difficulty up, but also the satisfaction of completing a puzzle.

There are enough levels to keep you entertained, and it is this which more than justifies the price, meaning even the hardiest dog lovers should embrace the other furry friends and give I and Me a go.

There isn’t a bad Yakuza game, but Yakuza 3 Remastered on Xbox is the weakest in the series. Its lengthy introduction takes up about a third of the entire story, whilst it also lacks some of the quality of life improvements found in later versions. But it is still a solid entry, and worth playing through to see the foundations of Kiryu’s later life beginning.

RiffTrax: The Game is one to bring out in the holiday season with the family, or after a night out drinking with friends - something which will make the whole experience even more hilarious.

State of Decay's formula has so much potential to be special in the future. Its zombie survival and RPG mechanics are uniquely applied to an open world but there's too much repetition and bland environments in State of Decay 2 to make it the zombie apocalypse of our dreams. More narrative missions to add gameplay variety and focused map design can go a long way in State of Decay's future, but for now the Juggernaut Edition on Xbox One is a welcome improvement to the 2018 game.

DOA6 is fast, fun and doesn’t take itself too seriously – the perfect way to wind down after a hard day at work. If you are looking for a new fighting game to embrace and spend time getting to know, you can do a lot worse than Dead or Alive 6, although I’m going to have to be slightly harsh with the scoring due to the online gremlins that are in place.

Pig Eat Ball on Xbox One is a game unlike any other in many ways, and there’s plenty on offer for your money here. Despite lacking challenge and taking a while to reveal its depth, it’s still a lot of fun to play.

Devastator is going to be for those who want to grab that old arcade feeling; gamers who want a quick and easy game to just pick up and play.

I am a huge Assassin’s Creed fan and loved the Valhalla base game. Yet the first Wrath of the Druids expansion failed to blow me away. It’s a similar case here with The Siege of Paris. It’s good, but really nowhere near what we have come to expect from the franchise as a whole.

Frog Hop is the equivalent of that TV series that only gets good in the second season. You have to show patience, persisting through some rocky levels and understanding what the overall vision is.

Going for a slide in the mountains is a whole lot of fun, whether that be for a mission or just to pass the time. The scenery looks amazing, and drifting feels so right that I can forgive a lot of the bad points found in JDM: Japanese Drift Master. It isn’t the most polished game ever, and does come with its quirks, but as a drifting game, it is currently right up at the top of the tree.

Thanks to the visuals, storytelling, and sound, Life of Delta may well suck you in. Personally, I loved the exploration, the wandering around the environments and seeing the narrative progress. Unfortunately, some of the gameplay mechanics are a bit rough around the edges and it’s not always accurate enough.

Newbie’s Adventure is oddly addictive. Even just roaming around the vast worlds as a cardboard box, taking out groups of Wild Cards with the slam ability and in general just chilling out is hugely enjoyable.

Play it once without the cheats, then flick a few on and go on a tour of Gynoug’s hellish spaces.

While problems with combat and the camera can make Fall of Light harder than it needs to be, the pull is there to push through and see what comes next.

Flatland Vol.2 is a very hard platformer with a lot of depth to it. And that in itself will determine what you get from the game. If you want a challenge, and have the necessary vocabulary, then Flatland Vol.2 might be right up your alley. Personally, I need a lie down.

The illustrations are truly breath-taking and the way the panels fit together and interact are ingenious. It’s just missing a way to truly appreciate the artwork outside of the main narrative, as crucially these are what you will remember most about Gorogoa.

I cannot stress enough about how important it is for games like Torii to exist, as they push boundaries and try new things in the gaming space, working all-new narratives. I like how this game uses symbolic visuals, rarely spelling out the narrative to the gamer, leaving them to instead figure out the message being told.

Nine Witches: Family Disruption on Xbox doesn’t reinvent the graphic-adventure wheel, and you won’t find it on any end-of-year lists. What it does do, though, is tell a spooky, kooky story, tickle your ribs as it does it, and wrap it all in a frustration-free experience. Having saved the world with them, we’d happily follow Alexei and Akiro to other supernatural jaunts.

Whilst Night Slashers: Remake is not the greatest beat 'em up in history, it does have a good shot at being one of the only horror-themed side-scrolling fighters on the market. If you fancy punching a vampire in the face, this is the game for you.

Treat Speed Truck Racing like a puzzle to be solved - a new take on driving - and there’s fun to be had here. It’s not going to be for everyone, not by a long shot, but we felt like Speed Truck Racing was money well spent.

All in all, Hood: Outlaws and Legends is a fun time. The PvPvE mode is refreshing, the presentation and performance rock solid and the price fair. However, in its current form, it does start to lose its lustre after a while. Its deeply flawed matchmaking system has a far way to go to ensure that the game is fun and balanced for everyone. Hood has a lot of promise, but like its titular hero, it's not quite out of the woods yet.

The visual problems are the talk of this wilderness and without them Way of the Hunter could well have had enough about it to challenge the most prolific of marksmen.

Venus: Improbable Dream is not the first visual novel that you’d recommend to a newbie. It doesn’t meet the reader halfway by giving them things to do, like choices or branching endings. It doesn’t even get out of first gear. But we suspect that Venus: Improbable Dream will work as a deep cut, a visual novel for lovers of the genre, who want a wholesome, heartwarming tale with characters they can believe in.

There’s something very genuine about Starlight Shores. It’s a nostalgic get-together with friends around a campfire, and there’s a warmth between the characters that’s lovely to share for an hour or two.

While it seems that Popcap and EA have played it somewhat safe, Neighborville is still an interesting game to play, and with more of an emphasis on the story mode, including the return of the gnomes to find and vanquish, there is plenty of fun to be had here. Just don't expect to have your socks blown off with the originality on display.

Super Sports Blast, as a package, on Xbox is a lot of fun. I very much enjoyed the volleyball and tennis segments, and whilst the football section doesn't work for me personally, I feel that you can blame the likes of FIFA for that rather than anything this collection of games does wrong. If you've looking for a party game to be added for local multiplayer rotation then this will be a perfect addition, what with its range of competitions and fun, quick gameplay.

Legal Dungeon is an unusual and unique game, one that you may not think you’ll enjoy. But it does manage to hook you in, as you get involved in each case.

I really liked what I saw in Hacked: The Streamer; a short but engaging FMV title. The narrative is genuinely exciting and highly relevant to 2026.

I love the vast majority of what Wales Interactive do and that is the case with I Saw Black Clouds on Xbox. It's a game that works as a solo adventure, but equally good with someone to throw ideas off, dictating the decisions you make.

Cymatically Muffed looks rubbish, there’s no two ways about it. But it plays so much better than it looks. It’s fast, smooth and interesting, and is like a twin-stick shooter for the modern age. I would even go so far as to mention it in the same breath as Smash TV from back in the day, it is that much fun to play.

Forest Grove is a neat and interesting take on the detective genre. It is original, even though it borrows ideas, mostly as it takes elements but then works through things in its own unique way. Fans of story and whodunit mysteries will have a ball here, playing detective and unraveling a mystery.

oOo: Ascension is a superb little puzzle game with a really interesting, yet quite unusual, visual design that innovates and frustrates in equal measure.

Creamative has put a lot of work into Clan N on Xbox One, and it shows. Not only does the game both look and play great, there is a solid amount of content available. Not everything is a home run though. The obscure nature of what some stats do, and when you level up, can make things tedious at times. But between the seven levels, two campaigns, and mini-games that are found throughout, there is enough here to warrant the asking price.

It’s in the jetpack use where the highlights will be found, but if you are on the lookout for a new adventure on a different planet then you’ll not go too wrong with Outcast: A New Beginning.

Inspector Waffles Early Days is a short, sweet love letter to a different era of gaming. Perhaps as a result of aiming to be wholly true to the time, it also comes with familiar limitations.

We were a little caught out by how smurfing playable The Smurfs - Mission Vileaf is. So, get out the blue make-up and white gloves and play this one cooperatively. You won’t smurfing regret it.

Sure, it’s on the unfairly punishing side, and both the controls and the weapons could have done with more work, but this is a worthy rewind to the time of the Dreamcast. Pick up Rainbow Cotton on the Xbox and save yourself that £300.

Figment 2: Creed Valley is more beautiful, there is absolutely no denying that: it’s an absolute feast for the eyeballs and ears. But when we looked back and ticked off the wonderful moments, we didn’t get off our first hand. In Figment: Journey into the Mind, we could barely fit them on our fingers and toes. A stand-out game has become merely a very good one.

Inversus Deluxe is a hugely enjoyable game. Or at least half of it is because whilst I adore Arcade mode, the XP system and the multiple maps that the game comes with, the Versus option is lacking the fun factor.

Project Highrise: Architect’s Edition is not quite as addictive as other big hitters in the sim genre, but the game offers an enjoyable experience and a solid challenge with plenty of detailed gameplay to get stuck into. However, things do slow down the further you progress with your building, and can become repetitive which may turn some players away.

Dragon Snack: From Ice to Ember isn’t anything substantial. Breaking it down, the core mechanic is exactly the same as you would find in any other game that has you fixing wires or rerouting plumbing. Whether that is your bag or not will depend on your gaming needs.

If you hate multitasking, or get panicked when given a time limit, then Boris the Rocket on the Xbox isn’t for you. It’s a brutal test of time management and steady nerves, as you construct and configure missiles in a desperate bid to stay alive. For our tastes, the pressure was too unrelenting, and Boris the Rocket could have approached ‘enjoyable’ if it offered some calm moments to go with the not-so-calm.

There is a very good narrative found in Orten Was The Case with a great concept and a huge puzzle within a puzzle to solve. I loved the hand-drawn animation and the town of Orten itself, what with its strange and wonderful characters.

State of Decay 2 is far from a bad game and, in spite of its technical odiousness, it’s just so much fun to play. Offering more of what made the series great in the first place, fans of the original will be more than satisfied. Newer players might be harder to impress though, as their truck somersaults gaily through the air and they ultimately quit in frustration.

Brunch Club on Xbox One is a fun, short game to play with friends or, if you’re particularly determined or masochistic, to play alone and try to overcome the increasingly unforgiving difficulty levels.

It feels like there is so much more potential that Rue Valley never capitalises on. The world is a good size and the characters are interesting, but the game gets tunnel vision on specific plot points and they resolve too quickly to tie-in to the conclusion

Bus Bound is a cosy bus experience that strips away the complex bells and whistles found in more detailed simulators. It offers a fun city to drive around, but the repetitive core loop may well make you realise you are not quite the dedicated bus driver this game wants you to be.

When you take into account the price tag, Broken Mind fits perfectly. It is completely compelling to play and will hook you in from beginning to the very end of the four or five hour running time.

For many, a beloved childhood classic has returned in Croc Legend of the Gobbos on Xbox. And, aside from the improved camera and graphics, it plays exactly as you remember. Easy to start with, getting more and more tricky but with the overarching sense that it was never quite as good as a Crash or Spyro game.

If Sun Wukong VS Robot was longer and structured a bit more like a traditional metroidvania where the upgrades were tied to progression, it could well be a great little game. As it is, it’s a good challenge and does manage to kill a couple hours, and so if you grew up playing old Game Boy or NES games, then Sun Wukong VS Robot might be a nice nostalgia trip.

Zomborg is a very worthy stab at a twin-stick shooter, and the challenge certainly becomes real on the later levels. If you fancy a go at the genre, this isn’t a bad place to start, and there are certainly worse games on the market.

All in all, Gnomes Garden 3: The Thief of Castles isn’t a bad game. There are a lot of levels to beat, and even if they do get a little repetitive, there is still a small draw to seeing what the next stage brings. It’s a nice, cute game let down only by a dodgy control method and a general feeling of deja vu.

It amounts to a game that is hard to score. On the one hand, we have a stellar songlist. Everyone is catered for, and we’d make no hesitation in crowning Let's Sing 2022 as the best of any Let’s Sing. It’s beautifully presented and fully featured, with capability for microphone and smartphones alike, as well as room for up to eight players. On the other hand, barely a whisker has moved out of place since the last Let’s Sing.

Fatum Betula is a game - and an experience - that feels old school yet completely new and unique in the same breath. The lack of guidance is something that will split the gaming community, but it must be agreed that the surreal visual design is fascinating, disturbing, and brilliantly designed.

Shooty McSpaceFace is very much typical of the genre; you’ll likely have seen it all before. However, for the reasonable asking price, there’s an hour or two of solid platforming fun on offer here.

I have really enjoyed my time with Warhammer Quest and more than happy that it reminded me of games and D&D experiences from times gone by. It is very addictive and there is a lot of content that will take you a good chunk of time to get through, but it can get very repetitive, and also gets very hard as you progress.

Taimumari: Complete Edition on Xbox One is very much a game of two halves. Taimumari itself is an enjoyable retro platform romp from the era where gameplay outweighed graphics, and it is still a great deal of fun to play to this day. The Legend of Himari, on the other hand, tries to do something different and sadly fails, creating a game that isn't fun, instead causing frustration.

There is a unique charm to King’s Bounty II. It may be long, at times laborious and a bit rough around the edges, but it’s reminiscent of early 3D RPGs. And for that, it’s an enjoyable throwback.

Murder Mystery Machine will make you feel like a real-world detective trying to solve the trickiest of crimes, all whilst delivering intriguing and suspenseful cases. The evidence board will become your main focus, and whilst this part of the game works extremely well and makes you feel at one with the investigation, the controls are fiddly and awkward to use; you’ll be left holding out for the precision of a mouse.

Cartel Tycoon is a good management sim with a different take. It's an interesting and unique look at the drug market, even if it does get a bit similar and pretty hectic the more you play. But it works, pushed along nicely by the story.

Candylands Journey is a solid, plucky platformer which does enough to keep your interest, even if you’ve seen it all before.

NHL 22 has started to lay down the groundwork for a great ice hockey game. It’s incorporated new mechanics in X-Factor players, graphically it’s improving and the gameplay is a mixture of fluid simulation and fast paced arcade which is a great balance. However, Be A Pro mode is still stagnant, there is a heavy reliance on spending real money on card packs in Ultimate Team and there just doesn’t feel like enough new additions to get excited by.

We Were Here Forever is the biggest game of the series so far, and it’s pretty good without reaching the upper echelons of its genre. Sure, the story isn’t going to put you on tenterhooks, but the ingenuity of the puzzling more than makes up for its shortcomings in that department.

If you’re an old-school point-and-click fan then you will adore VirtuaVerse. It has a good story, a great setting, and a solid challenge to its play. Some may struggle with parts, especially as screens are full of so much detail, but the writing and world-building are top notch.

If you’re a puzzle fan then you’ll enjoy Seven Doors, particularly as it delivers a lovely surprise in the latter parts of the game. The puzzle and mental elements are great, with some brain-teasing tests which are fun to solve and participate in. The more physical side of things doesn’t work as well though; more annoying and - at times - just not fun.

What we have here with 9th Dawn III is a game that is a great deal of fun almost in spite of its features, rather than because of them. It’s big, it’s hard and it’s brutally unforgiving, but strangely it’s equally as tough to put down.

Even though Galaxy Shooter plays well, has plenty of ship upgrade opportunities and is able to deliver some decent bite-sized pieces of gameplay, it ultimately ends all too briefly.

THE HOUSE OF THE DEAD 2: Remake is more brains than pains, through the thrilling on-rail action maintained from the original, and stellar boss fights with behemoths.

If you want a fishing game then Fishing Sim World is still the daddy, however if you want to try something different, then The Fisherman – Fishing Planet just might scratch that itch.

DEADCRAFT brings something new to the survival genre. It’s a bit too slow, but fun nonetheless, and if you are tired of regular survival games, this is different enough to offer a change of pace.

Battle Islands: Commanders deserves a few mini-sessions of play a day, because it’s not a bad little strategy game at all. Deciding upon placement, timing and whether to allow your opponent to deploy his troops first are all important factors in winning. It’s frantic at the best of times, with most battles going right to the last minute, but it’s a one-trick pony in that Ranked Battles are all it really has.

The levels are well-designed, whilst the questing, building freedom and gathering of tools helps it to standout from many of the other LEGO titles. Throw in the massive amount of items and characters, plus the exciting relics, and there’s a lot to like. Unfortunately, it’s lacking in the storytelling department, has far less longevity than one would expect for the price and often repeats objectives for the side quests. Oh, and it’s frustrating to have so many technical problems.

With the majority of sports on offer in Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 – The Official Video Game proving to be fun and easily accessible, it makes this latest Olympic Games game an easy recommendation for those looking for a party game to be enjoyed with friends. It might not quite have the charm of the Mario and Sonic Olympic Games variants, but it still manages to borrow a lot of what makes those games fun by toning down a bit of the emphasis on sports simulation.

If you are looking for a slice of gaming nostalgia, Alisa Developer’s Cut will hit the spot, but be aware that the controls take an awful lot of getting used to.

A remaster of any already existing game may not have been the first choice, but Sonic Colors: Ultimate on Xbox is still a solid entry. Fans that played the original on the Nintendo Wii may not find anything to warrant another purchase here, as the work gone into the remaster comes across as a little rushed in places. Gameplay wise however, Sonic Colors: Ultimate is up there with the best 3D Sonic entries.

Tram Simulator: Urban Transit is one the better travel sims out there, with some pretty hefty modes added in, giving purpose.

Unpacking is a very original title, and one that is a lot more than virtually unpacking boxes. The ebbs and flows of the story will make you want to see it through to the end, even when the lines between unpacking items and Unpacking (the game) start to blur.

Fans of roguelike experiences will have a lot of fun here. There is something great about Overland on Xbox One, but if it’s taught me one thing, it’s that survival in the apocalypse is a bloody nightmare.