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.

For fans of the series who really do care about its story, True Fear: Forsaken Souls Part 3 will be a fitting end to the franchise.

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.

There is a lot to love about WILL: Follow The Light; Tomorrowhead’s debut game. The varied gameplay is very interesting, and the visuals and sound are top-notch. I do think pacing is a problem in some places though, and the story is slightly at fault for this, failing to deliver what is promised.

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.