I can imagine it now, the family sitting down Christmas afternoon watching Mamma Mia, then wanting to emulate it with SingStar, by the end of the night even granddad will be a dancing queen, and when all is said and done, isn’t that all we want?

Cradle of Rome is an entirely inoffensive puzzle game that relies heavily on its central mechanic of flawless match three gameplay.

Fortunately for everyone, Street Fighter’s core gameplay still prevails and that is really all fighting games are about.

Chrono Trigger is worth travelling back in time for again and again.

If you’re determined to see the purchase of the Voralberg toy factory finalized, you’d be better off accompanying Kate Walker on the unabridged PC version.

Mythologies is also a very sizeable package, offering over 20 hours of play with just the single-player campaigns, and the multiplayer component is a well thought out addition players can break out whenever the mood strikes.

And that symbolises the entire experience, really. It seems strange that to get my RPG fix in 2009, four years after this generation hit the scene, I have to dust off my PS2 to give me the type of experience that so many of us have been longing for in current-gen glory.

Why, Sega? Why did you do this? Why did you botch what was potentially the most amazing Sonic game of this generation? All that can be done is to hope the next attempt succeeds where this failed so horribly.

In the long run, the consistently buggy and flawed level design keeps Lara from reaching new heights.

Lips is sure to work its way up the chart, no matter how badly you want Auntie Glenda to put down the whiskey and stop bellowing out "Another One Bites the Dust.

This title does all the right things in terms of challenge, weapons, character options, and level designs. The problem is that it rarely goes beyond what’s been previously established; aside from a few insanely awesome boss fights and a handful of fancy new throwaway underlings to ravage, nearly all of your foes have been plucked from the older titles.

Once the excitement of the 3-D match engine dies down, and it will, the reality that you’re playing the exact same game that you played two years ago, albeit at a slower pace, ruins the experience. As stated in last years review, Si Games have rarely deviated from the successful formula, and if it ain’t broke then by all means don’t fix it, but Football Manager needs rejuvenating as well as a rocket up its backside.

A workable contender in the Live Community, Biology Battle is a worthy addition to the shmup library, but whether or not players will want to throw down 800MS over other Live titles could keep this quirky shoot 'em up from the ranks inhabited by better games.

It’s not nearly as methodical, subtle or intelligent as their other IPs, but Left 4 Dead dives head first into the abyss covered in blood, guts, bile – every horrible bodily fluid you can possibly think of, and comes out of the other end smelling like roses.

A disappointing title. It doesn’t build on the series in any way, basically sticking to Most Wanted’s fundamentals, whilst adding more technical issues.

You might get a little lost on your journey sometimes, but you’ll never feel anything less than totally immersed. EverQuest II comes highly recommended both to MMORPG newbies and to those who might have become jaded with what other MMORPGs have to offer.

It seems that with the aid of their superhero counterparts, Mortal Kombat is back, and in better skull cracking shape than before.

It’s not the top fighting game out there, but it’s certainly the best Mortal Kombat game in some time, and the use of DC characters only adds to the fun, even if the whole thing is absurd.

Bottom line: the whole game feels remarkably uncomfortable despite looking so smooth and natural.

There simply isn’t enough of anything new and revolutionary to warrant years of dedicated play filling the same catalogues of collectables and earning awards that no-one except yourself will ever care about.

With a highly improved and immersive questing system, a new profession to master, a largely PvP focused zone, a level-cap of 80, and a devious new class to play, fans of World of Warcraft will be greeted with a multitude of new reasons to sell their souls and their time to Blizzard’s outrageously successful online RPG.

The match engine is a return to form and it feels somewhat relieving knowing I’ll have a football game to enjoy this year, but the entire thing looks thrown together and basic when compared to what a certain other developer is getting out of the same development kit.

An entertaining romp.

But for every bit as brilliant Mirror’s Edge is, it’s also equally as frustrating. For every time you exclaim in joyful accomplishment by nailing a series of jumps and lifts, you’ll lament missing a ledge by the width of a fingernail for what feels like the hundredth time, just as much.

It has some great moments in gaming, but most of the time there is only frustration awaiting you at every turn. While it could have been a great start for a new franchise, DICE should have made the game more friendly and open.

Facebreaker shows some promise at the start; it’s plucky, full of spunk, and mildly charming. But play it more and it becomes apparent that it’s nothing but a one tricky pony. That charm and dazzle soon withers away along with your enthusiasm, and Facebreaker ends up punching itself in the face.

Again, what the game aims to achieve is what leads to its downfall, resting securely in the shade of its predecessor's success and achieving some value in that way, without ever coming out to mark its own territory.

It may not be everyone’s cup of tea, and I feel like it could be forgotten in the winter rush, but Nuts & Bolts is an excellent game - and original as well, even for a sequel.