You'll find the sheer number of weapons and stages welcome, but Remote Life just does not find a way to thrive in the darkness of space.

Double Dragon III: The Sacred Stones on Xbox One isn’t a beacon of beat em’ up games in 2020, but hindsight is a little kinder to its well-intentioned ideas that were unfortunately rather flimsy in execution. This game was part of the swansong for NES, and decades later it’s now a case of a historical curiosity which may be enjoyable to those genre enthusiasts with an acquired taste.

It’s hard to feel even an iota of excitement about Puzzle by Nikoli W Sudoku. But if you’re looking to get kicks out of a sudoku game then you’re doing it wrong. The basics are all present: it controls well, the puzzles have numbers in all the right places, and achievements pop for your efforts.

If you want a short burst of fun and some mini arcade action, then Turret Rampage does the job. The action is fast and furious, coming across like spinning a ton of plates that are on fire. Perhaps it needs more levels, even for the low price that is being asked, but it’ll mostly be the easy achievements that gamers will go hunting down.

Immortal Planet on Xbox One has style and decent gameplay to offer. However, it’s extremely difficult and requires patience to get the most from it, which can leave the player with an aftertaste of repetition and occasional frustration.

Jewel Match Solitaire L’Amour didn’t surprise us once. It’s the Jewel Match Solitaire template, decorated by Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen. It’s the same power-ups, the same obstacles, and hundreds of Tri-Peaks puzzles.

Hyper Jam may feel like it has been ripped straight from Blade Runner or Tron with its neon lights and synthwave sounds, but it also feels like they only ripped the bare minimum for the game. It functions well enough as a local and online multiplayer arena brawler but after only a couple of hours there was nothing left for me or my friends to do.

If you’re ready to get on with the times and embrace change, then Contra: Rogue Corps will provide entertainment with its own unique interpretation of the Contra spirit.

Sacred 2 is very much a game of its era, and I’d say that era has passed. Unless you are a rabid fan, you’ll not miss much if you skip this remaster.

Not everyone is going to willingly invite the pressure and multitasking of Sweet Bakery Tycoon. But for those that do, this is a surprisingly intuitive, delicious-looking little time-management sim. In terms of portion size, though, it’s too big: the bland levels got dished up over and over, and we were overstuffed.

Aftercharge on Xbox One is a fun game. The matches are relatively short, there aren’t a lot of confusing upgrade tiers to worry about, no grinding needed to unlock weapons and gear, and plenty of opportunities to try new strategies to win the match.

Access Denied is a short, simple and straight up puzzler. It’s a pretty dry game aimed directly at its target audience, something which may instantly turn some players off. However, for all that, there is enjoyment to be had for the die hard puzzle enthusiasts out there.

Phantom Abyss is a valiant attempt at trying something a bit different, but Version 1.0 still has the feel of a game needing a bit more content. The asynchronous side of things is a novel addition for multiplayer, but it isn’t obvious what it brings to the table; playing these temples ‘live’ against friends would probably be more exciting

It’s easy to see what Citizens of Space on Xbox One is going for: a playable Saturday morning cartoon for children. But many of the decisions made to achieve this – such as simplistic combat and a dumbed down story – make it hard to recommend. At best, Citizens of Space can be regarded as a fine JRPG to get your children started.

Unfortunately, it seems the more of Marvel’s Avengers you play, the less likely you are to come away with an overall positive experience. The single player by itself might take you up to 10 hours but diminishing returns for the multiplayer aspects set in rather fast. The single player is Hulk: strong, fast and a surprise when you aren’t expecting it. The multiplayer is Bruce Banner: calculated, small, and has the potential to be something powerful but isn’t quite there yet.

I for one would love to see the return of anti-gravity racers to the market once more, but Redout simply doesn’t provide the same magic seen in previous titles in the genre, and with a hefty price tag to accompany it, this is probably one headache we can all do without.

From the Bunker does provide an hour's worth of entertainment, but once you’ve escaped there is no completion screen, and no desire to ever play it again.

For all its knocks and criticisms, I had fun playing Deep Ones. The relatively short length means the game doesn’t overstay its welcome and for the price of a pint in the city centre, you could do far worse. It’s a rough and ready release in need of an update or two, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

Blightbound is a great co-op experience for dungeon crawling enthusiasts, but if you don’t have anyone to play with, you’re better off skipping this one.

I have very much enjoyed the concept, visuals, and idea behind Shadow Fencer Theatre. It’s a decent game to play with mates, especially if you’re looking for a quick bit of fun. If you hate physics-based momentum games then you could be in a bit of trouble though.

Overall, and whilst Baja: Edge of Control HD isn’t anywhere near close to the “Forza-for-off-road fans” experience that many gamers have been clamouring for, there are still plenty of improvements to be found with a title that was overly disappointing on its initial release back in 2008.

The Hitman HD Enhanced Collection costs £50, and whilst this may be for two games that are now in HD, they have not had the type of overhaul that would usually warrant such a price tag. If you enjoyed the original titles you’ll love these, but this release won’t do anything to convert critics of the series.

Get-A-Grip Chip and the Body Bugs is nearly a carbon copy of the first game, just with a reskin and some difficulty tweaks.

It’s a bit of a tough one this. I can't penalise the game for being a recreation of what is. But I do think that NASCAR as a whole will appeal to some, but not others. What I can penalise it for is not making very good sense in the race screens, for its lack of proper tuning to try and make my car faster, for the way nothing is explained very well, and for generally not being above average in terms of being a racer.

I had high hopes going into the first DLC for Immortals Fenyx Rising. A New God on Xbox though feels like a safe entry, and even for a piece of DLC it overstays its welcome with a large number of trials and not much else.

Run Tekila Run! surprised me, mostly as it’s a departure from Tonguç Bodur's usual style. This action-oriented isometric game, set in a fantasy world overrun by zombies, offers a unique premise and enjoyable gameplay. However, whilst it plays with a fun concept, a mad story, and some good gameplay, it does grow monotonous after a short while and is occasionally hard to navigate.

The charm and originality means that Buildings Have Feelings Too! is infectious to begin with, however it doesn’t take long for things to go awry. The control system fast becomes clunky and it’s certainly not a game that is as intuitive as it should be.

Timberman VS on the Xbox One is a game that requires very little skill to jump in with, so makes a great party game for an evening or two with friends. When playing in single player, it’s best enjoyed in short bursts like most casual games. But also like most casual games, it has that "one more go” feel to it, and a short burst can quickly become a longer session.