You won’t be wowed, a better save system would be great, and you’re not going to find too much in here that hasn’t been done a million times over before, but should you be in the market for a good, fun, stress free Metroidvania-fuelled journey, then you could do a lot worse than help Sarge, Bear and Dex take down that damn Doctor Omega.

While the presentation is a little bland and the price tag is north of the value it offers, Educational Games for Children on Xbox One has been made with real care. If your kids are anything like mine, they’ll love it.

Brawlers are meant to be played in one sitting, with friends, while the sound of button smashing drowns out the catchy music coming out of the TV. By that standard alone 99Vidas is successful.

For all the visual upgrades, The Persistence Enhanced is still found delivering the same roguelike experience, and that will be the defining point as to whether it attracts players, or puts them off.

Copycat works in giving the player the feel of being a cat, with fun found in knocking things over and hiding away, all delivered in a way that will pull on those heartstrings.

Froggie - A Retro Platformer is certainly worth consideration. Go in with expectations low, and you should be pleasantly surprised by how well this retro platformer holds up.

You’ll have a good time with Robots at Midnight and should well enjoy the world-building that takes place. It's a relatively short experience, clocking in at around five to six hours to complete, or an hour shorter if you just plough through the main story.

Strange bugs and lack of challenge aside, you should enjoy the new stories found in Detective Minerva Case.

Spectrolite is fun in short sprints, but there isn’t yet enough content to give the game the legs it requires for marathon sessions. The parkour mechanics are tight and precise while the difficulty is staunch yet rewarding; just don’t expect too much in the way of accessibility options.

The journey, atmosphere, and concept of Spirit of the North: Enhanced Edition are all fantastic, as is the setting and the visuals. It’s a shame that the platforming elements are at times frustrating in regards the accuracy and weight of the fox, and some of the animations don’t work as planned, but this is still a very unique and endearing experience.

What DETECTIVE – Scene Crime does is give you a solid detective experience, challenging your mind and leaving you to make notes as you try to work out everything from the scene.

Ring of Pain is a tempting toy to return to. There’s something spellbinding in its art and world, and it’s all too easy to give it a spin for the five minutes it takes to complete a run. But it’s also a fickle little toy. It’s as likely to give you a poor hand as it is to give you a knockout one, and there’s often no coming back from the first.

Lakeview Cabin Collection is full of inventiveness, playing out as a homage to the golden era of horror movies. For that, it should be applauded.

Don’t Be Afraid is a shortish game that comes in around the three-hour mark, but it doesn't feel like it should be any longer. The scares, puzzles, and environments live up to the survival horror label and I’ve loved the mannequins and enjoy the tricks that are played

Monopoly is Monopoly - but it’s probably the best version of virtual Monopoly to date; the version you will want to play going forward. Full of customisation and personalisation. And with the inclusion of both local and online play, you won’t need to huddle around a board to do so.

Dakar Desert Rally can feel great, until you start trying to drive anywhere, and then it is quite a let down. There is the opportunity to learn to drive around these issues (and just accept that AI drivers will hit you, avoiding them as best you can), but Dakar Desert Rally fails to ever really flow.

As an FMV game, Dead Reset comes complete with good production values, a great premise, and excellent performances. The gameplay mechanics, though, are quite basic, and sometimes you will be left watching along, without playing for too long.

If all you want is an interesting, but complex, tale of war and politics, then Masquerada: Songs and Shadows is probably worth a punt. If not, just wait for it to drop in price a little. It’s not a bad game; it just seems to have lost focus on a few things.

Defend the Rook manages to create a pretty good tactical affair that’s got neat loot, an easy-to-grasp setup and a shed load of cool enemies to defeat.

Among Us is a great game. It has kept people connected over the pandemic. It's a hoot with friends and randoms. I have played a ton of matches for a reason. But Among Us on console, while still the same great core game, is nowhere near as enjoyable when played with a controller.

Magical Delicacy has some tasty elements - the game looks gorgeous and revealing more of the map as you discover new, previously unreachable locations is exciting. However, there are quite a few annoying aspects we just can’t ignore.

White Day 2: The Flower That Tells Lies - Complete Edition’s best assets are the well-crafted puzzles and a very spooky school that’s primed for exploring. Unfortunately the patrolling threats and chase sequences are an unwelcome distraction, meaning you’re unable to fully appreciate the clever solutions and lore tidbits.

All in all and Niffelheim on Xbox One is the very definition of a game of two halves. The mining, the crafting and the constructing all work very well, and I’ve not been happier in this game than when down in the depths of my mine. Sadly, as good as this side of the game is, the combat is equally poor on the other side of the scale.

For those with patience and time for plenty of tongue-in-cheek humour, Chaos on Deponia will prove a more than satisfactory point and click adventure. If you want something a little more serious however then it’s fair to say this isn’t the game for you.

This is not a bad game by any means – although it can be as frustrating as hell – but the amazing world design feels second fiddle to the lacklustre gameplay and it would have been a lot better to focus on the exploration, or even make it an out and out stealth experience.

Star Overdrive is a game that delivers a lovely sci-fi retro adventure, and for that, it deserves your attention.

Hats must be tipped to Disaster Band for being able to capture the pain, celebrating the non-gifted musicians out there.

I love the visuals, I adore the soundtrack and I feel the huge open world that is being delivered is ripe for exploration purposes. But the sheer ruthlessness of the bosses that have caged the poor children is just a bit too much to bear, as is the struggle back from the checkpoint after they have wiped you out for what seems like the millionth time.