Achtung! Cthulhu Tactics is, honestly, a bit of a disappointment. It’s a perfectly competent tactics game, and there is a solid 10 hours of narrative here for you to explore. However, it’s mostly upsetting because of the flecks of brilliance that don’t quite fit together, and the good ideas that aren’t explored enough.

As a collection it’s hard to fault the amount of content you get in Mario Sports Superstars. However, all five sports are lacking in key areas. Accept these for what they are and you'll find it easy to pump numerous hours into this package, but go in with hopes of this 3DS title rekindling the glory days of Mario sports titles and, sadly, you’ll be disappointed.

A meaty and highly distinctive package which should delight cartoon-obsessed youngsters and those who live to play Japanese RPGs. But, despite the Disney involvement, it doesn’t feel likely to challenge the mainstream. In certain respects – albeit in the grand tradition of Japanese RPGs – it’s so complex as to be baffling.

Warmind represents Bungie finally getting its PvP house in order after a rocky start, but this success comes at the cost of an underwhelming PvE offering. The campaign is a one-note run through a handful of missions that boil down to run here, kill dudes then throw a magic space javelin at more dudes for the big finale. The Escalation mode and Raid-Lair are nice little additions, but Warmind really does offer staggeringly little for its price tag.

Telltale wraps up its Batman story in mediocre fashion, but the series as a whole is still worth your time if you consider yourself a Dark Knight fan.

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided could – and should – have been amazing. All the ingredients were there: an intriguing premise, engaging and mature narrative themes, solid gameplay foundations and a beautiful look. However, the rushed plot, nonsensical conclusion, under-developed characters and continued shortcomings in combat mean this is a title which fails to live up to its potential.

Fishing Sim World welcomes those who want to take its subject matter seriously, and throws its arms open to players who don’t mind life slowing down. But if you’re here for unbridled fun and explosive action? This probably isn’t even the right genre for you.

Team Sonic Racing is fun yet ultimately underwhelming kart racer. It’s innovative team-based mechanics can make the solo campaign a joy, but aren’t fleshed out enough to prevent things becoming repetitive. Combine that with finicky handling alongside performance issues and you’ve a package that fails to live up to what came before it. Although, given its budget launch price, hardcore Sonic fans could find something to love here.

On the one hand, it’s lost the look and feel of the original classic, so if you’re looking for a slice of RPG history, look elsewhere. On the other, the core, combat-heavy gameplay doesn’t really work for a modern audience; the fighting’s either aggravating or plain dull. Put it all together an you have a retro RPG that’s fun in places, but that wears away at your enthusiasm over the long haul.

Featuring reworked combat and open-world story mechanics, Dynasty Warriors 9 is a definite step in the right direction. But even without the technical issues around its framerate, Dynasty Warriors 9 feels like a fundamentally compromised game that lacks depth.

A very well put together retro collection that takes a group of games that are well remembered and drags them into the 21st century. It’s not going to overly surprise, but nor is it meant to.

Fate/Extella: The Umbral Star is a competently crafted hack ‘n’ slasher that suffers from the same issues of repetition as its contemporaries. While making attempts at customization and depth, the core combat never rises to the challenge to match it. For hardcore fans, there are oodles of playable characters and plotlines waiting to be discovered. For others, there are better games out there.

The Crew 2’s evident ambition to encompass cars, planes and boats into a seamless sporting experience is admirable, but constantly undermined by the bland, unattractive shell in which it’s contained.

There is a charmingly competent puzzler here, yet it’s hard to recommend without an abundance of caveats. If you’ve yet to play the Captain Toad and solving cute and charming puzzles, it could be worth a shot if it drops in price, even though the asking price is lower than most to begin with. If possible, and if you own a Wii U, you would be better off dusting that system down and playing it on there.

A nice return for the series as it continues to be as light and easy as before. The perfect next step for families who love Mojang’s absurdly successful creation.

Journey to Batuu is an enjoyable game pack for The Sims 4 and a worthwhile glimpse into the Star Wars universe, but it sadly lacks ambition when it comes to doing something new with the property. At times, it feels like a glorified tourist attraction, and the lukewarm narrative doesn’t pull you in enough to feel worthwhile. But for hardcore fans, this is possibly a journey worth taking for the price.

Got an Aim controller? You might want to look at Bravo Team. It’s a horribly flawed but fun lightgun blaster with some cool co-op cover shooter twists.

Life is Strange: Before the Storm is an underwhelming start to a miniseries that still has plenty of promise. Deck Nine has shown it can create lovable characters and believable drama, yet fails to cohesively implement them into the experience. That being said, things could easily improve from here.

Dead Island 2 has been long in the making, but it might’ve been a little too long. Various aspects of the game, from the semi-open world to the tongue-in-cheek characters are reminiscent of zombie titles from 8-10 years ago and do little to reinvent the overly-used zombie trope. The only real saving grace is the combat, which when paired with the gory flesh system provides visceral, satisfying melee combat that’ll keep you entertained throughout the otherwise dull campaign.

I can understand Volition wanting to reboot the Saints Row series given the original launched all the way back in 2006. But the latest entry feels like a backwards step for the developer, with this release misses out on the over-the-top satirical humour that made the series so beloved. As a result, Saints Row now feels like a mediocre open-world action game, becoming just like all of the games at which the series used to poke fun. Mission objectives are bland and repetitive, while the story is boring and lacks cohesion. Worst of all, the slapstick jokes rarely land and are arguably more cringeworthy than they are funny. You can still have fun if you simply want mindless chaotic action, but I’d argue you’d have a better time with the likes of CyberPunk 2077 or even Saints Row The Third Remastered.

As far as smartphone ‘uplifts’ to consoles go, Aces of the Luftwaffe: Squadron is one of the better I’ve seen. It isn’t going to challenge shmup fans, but it does gain some points for at least trying to do something original with the formula.

The addition of PSVR is gimmicky, but fun, with VR shining in cabin-based games like this one, was re-jigged to be. The rest of the game despite showing its age heavily in places manages to feel a fresh experience, as surprisingly nothing has really come out in all this time that comes close to how slickly agile aerial mech combat feels here.

Code of Princess EX is a bit of a mixed bag for. It looks great, never missing a beat no matter how action-packed things get, and it’s certainly very accessible. And it’s fun – for a time. It simply isn’t a game that will stay with you for any length of time. It’s more a palate cleanser between meatier fare, or for those times you want to relive your youth with some Streets of Rage-style bashing.

Not Tonight proves that the Papers Please formula can work in a less soviet setting, but the experience is slightly diminished by the transplant. Yet it’s eccentricities remain endearing, with characters, landscapes and a haunting sound of muffled music that will be rambling around my skull for a little while yet.

This isn’t the smartest, most exciting or most imaginative 2D platformer you’ll find on the 3DS. In fact, Sega seems hell-bent on hobbling its chances with a selection of tedious or frustrating mini-games...Yet, overall, Sonic Boom: Fire and Ice isn't bad, dishing out the kind of rollercoaster looping, spring-heeled madness that first made us love the little fella. It’s a high-speed sprint in the right direction; it's just a shame about the missteps on the way.

Danganronpa is lunacy personified where games are concerned but does do a very good job in keeping the series going and make it accessible to newcomers, too. A crazy RPG experience.

It feels like PlayStation VR Worlds has two very good games buried within it that have been stripped back to demos. Rather than being amazing, indulgent main courses, they’re bite-sized chunks thrown into a pick-and-mix. Each experience is fun, yet far too fleeting and lacking in replay value.

The Walking Dead’s third season finale does what it has to do to tick all the expected boxes, and while not as high as the series has been, it’s still more than solid.

I want to say these games are still great. Experience them yourself for the first time, or take Dante and his demon-slaughtering exploits out for another spin. But the HD remastering is so basic, and the rough edges so rough, that I can’t quite bring myself to recommend this new collection.

Rainbow Six Extraction is a great co-op shooter, seeing you take on hordes of aliens in squads of three. There’s a wide selection of character abilities and upgrades here, with rewarding level progression to boot, but the limited content on offer at launch fails to justify the steep cost, leaving Extraction feeling more like an expansion pack than an independent entry in the Rainbow Six series.

The gameplay needs more polish, better balancing and more finesse and the same goes for the presentation. If or when it gets that it could be a contender, particularly if you love the franchise, but until that happens you might want to stick to something else.

Like Sonic? Play Sonic Mania. Played Sonic Mania? Play it some more. While Sonic Forces looks fantastic, it’s one of the least engaging games in the entire series...True, it doesn’t have the broken controls or half-witted camera of the worst examples, but there’s very little here to actually play, enjoy or discover – bar a cool custom character designer and a whole bunch of costumes to unlock.

Black Forest Games' remake of Destroy All Humans is a worthwhile adventure for fans of the series and those who grew up with Crypto's antics on the PS2 and Xbox. However, you'll need to make peace with its outdated gameplay mechanics alongside tired dialogue and story beats, many of which feature a number of offensive stereotypes.

There’s space out there for more games in the Left 4 Dead mould, and Earthfall tries its best with limited assets and a limited budget. Sadly, it lacks the things that could have made up for both: imagination, invention, thrilling pacing, suspense and brilliant level design. Even without the current – and frankly unforgivable – matchmaking problems, it’s a game that struggles to match the ten-year-old classic it’s cloning, let alone surpass it.

There are good ideas at work in Reservoir Dogs: Bloody Days, but it’s a shame that one of the most intense and shocking indie movies ever made has spawned a game that’s neither. At its best, it’s a tight, engaging twin-stick shooter with an element of strategy and a cool rewind mechanic, but it never manages to be anything more than that.

It’s a painful reminder that we have it and had it so much better, even if the remaster seems to be far more prone to crashing than the original. Games like Horizon Zero Dawn, Mad Max, and even Bad Company 2 do almost everything better than Red Faction ever could.

Has-Been Heroes is an interesting attempt at a new kind of puzzle/strategy/brawler hybrid, but it’s never as much fun to play as it looks like it should be. It’s a game that has good ideas and strong visual design in its favour, but it never manages to balance the high difficulty level with rewards that make the hardship worth your while.

Obviously, Surgeon Simulator isn’t meant to be taken seriously, and as long as you can keep that in the forefront of your mind, there’s some fun to be had here. I should imagine it would make for some great streaming material and a few comical sessions with friends. Beyond that, however, the game is light on content and the added Switch features don’t add anything worth the price of entry.

Journey to the Savage Planet offers an atypical open-world feedback loop with some small bits of clever detail but there’s not much else going for it. The writing is tired while the combat is uninspired, with pea shooter guns and a variety of frustrating enemies. Despite this, there’s still no sense of difficulty or tantalising mystery to distance it from its peers or keep you exploring beyond the short narrative – and the addition of co-op feels pointless.

Metal Gear Survive is a brave move for Konami and a decent survival game – it’s just not particularly fun. If you like the more abrasive side of the medium, give it a go. Everyone else should probably stay away.

Some will relish the gruesome spectacle and challenge, but Execution manages to transform giant-slaying into something of a chore.

It’s never that V-Rally 4 is actively bad, but the 16-year wait since V-Rally 3 is no way near worth it.

Yooka-Laylee is a nostalgic old-school adventure, but it’s too retro for its own good. Frustrating game mechanics, annoying boss fights and the complete lack of guidance become infuriating as the game progresses...Hopefully, in Yooka-Laylee 2, Playtonic finds a balance between new and old – because it’s quite clear the magic isn't lost; it just needs a few new tricks.

Compared to open-world rivals such as GTA, Assassin’s Creed or The Witcher, there’s simply far too little to do in this world – and what little you’re asked to do, you’re asked to do so much it becomes bland and uninteresting.

Considering all the amazing Wii U games still yet to come to the Nintendo Switch, I could have happily seen Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze moved much further back in the queue. It’s simply an average 2D platformer that doesn’t deliver the level of fun or excitement you’d expect from a Nintendo-exclusive title – particularly one featuring some of the company’s most iconic mascots.

Episode 4 of Batman’s Telltale series continues to tell a good story, but the lack of progression and pay-off does hamper it quite significantly.

Although Resident Evil: Revelations remains a great game in its own right, it’s hard to recommend this HD (HD-er?) version to even staunch loyalists of Capcom’s fright fest, especially if they picked up the home console release in the last hardware generation. The exception would be those who really loved Raid, as the new Chaos mode might prove reason enough to revisit. Instead, this is probably best suited to those who’ve never played Revelations before, or who came to Resident Evil off the back of Resi 7 and are curious about the series’ history. Even if you fall into that camp, unless you’re a one format gamer, holding out for the Switch release seems wise.

Batman’s third episode from season two does enough to keep the overall story ticking over, but a crowded narrative and confusing relationships mean this is the low point so far. Episode four will have to do much better.

Sonic Colors Ultimate is a faithful remake of the 2010 game that you’ll probably enjoy if you’re either a dedicated Sonic fan or a child that doesn’t mind the easy difficulty and childish dialogue. Otherwise, there’s not much to love here, with floaty gameplay and an unengaging story.

It isn't clear why this real-time game was created at all, when the world would be far happier with another BLiTZ system title. It makes it tough to recommend, even for a Chronicles aficionado, because the other things that went into making the earlier game so enjoyable – a jaunty alternative history/fantasy plot populated by an interesting bunch of characters – feel half-baked here. Everything, from gameplay to graphics to the storyline, is worse.

It’s fun for a bit but quickly runs out of steam. The more casual fan, looking for something to have a laugh with their mates with and little else is almost certainly going to be better served by hanging on for Nintendo’s new Smash Bros game because there’s simply not enough interesting content outside of unlocking clothing accessories.

PSVR is screaming out for another big-hitter to give early adopters something to dive into, but its short and uneventful campaign, weak design and dull visuals mean it won't live long in the memory. We can only hope that future VR shooters take full advantage of the excellent Aim Controller.

Serious Sam 4 repackages, rather than reimagines the iconic shooter’s core mechanics in a way that will amuse fans of the original games. Sadly, a lack of innovation and outdated sense of hmour will undoubtedly put off newcomers.

I love PaRappa and his ‘I gotta believe’ attitude, but this early rhythm action game no longer holds up. That’s no slur on its charming visuals, great music and superb animation, all of which look great in this HD update, but the gameplay just doesn’t really work. Enjoy PaRappa in your memories or on YouTube if you must, but this remaster will leave you thinking bad of the rapping pup and, really, who wants that?

What Miitopia lacks in actual game it makes up for in how weird and wonderful it is. If you’re easily charmed by Nintendo, this will eat you up and spit you out.

Talk about a squandered opportunity. There’s nothing much wrong with the graphics or the rough-and-tumble arcade racing, but the new Micro Machines hasn’t got the single-player mode to pull players in or the multiplayer content required to keep them there. There’s a sorry sense of ‘will this do?’ about World Series. While the nostalgia factor is high, the rest is a letdown.

Payday 2 continues to maintain a very dedicated audience, but even fans of the game are unlikely to enjoy what’s being put forward for Nintendo Switch. Stripped-back visuals, poor performance and a lack of adaptation to the console results in a shoddy port at best...It’s ironic that a game about heists is trying to jump on a bandwagon and rob you of your hard-earned cash.

Without the bugs, The Bard’s Tale IV is okay at best. With them, it’s perhaps best to preserve your nostalgia and play the HD remaster of The Bard’s Tale I to III instead.

Shenmue 3 would have been well received in 2003, but we’re 18 years on from the last entry and Shenmue hasn’t budged an inch. If you weld your nostalgia goggles to your face, you’ll be able to slog through the story, but it really is a chore. Poor game design and a complete lack of innovation are the killers, but even the continuation of the story is a meagre offering thanks to ludicrous levels of padding.

Ultimately, Immortal: Unchained serves to highlight one thing above all else. Every frustrating aspect of the Dark Souls experience is tolerated and even praised by its fans because the underlying combat system is so fantastically well-realised...Strip that away and all you’re left with is a mediocre exercise in frustration. Immortal: Unchained has thrown guns into the mix, but no consideration has been given to how their addition might affect the classic Souls formula. Dark Souls but with bad combat is a tough sell.

Capable movement mechanics can't save this game from its endless grind, and lack of variety. Wings of Freedom has its had its feathers clipped, and never manages to get off the ground.

It’s no disaster, but State of Mind delivers only disappointingly forgettable returns on some significant pre-release promise.

Four games in and Dead Rising as a series has all but exhausted its core concepts, but these tricks might still entertain you if you just want to cut some rotting meat in half. For me, Dead Rising 4’s surface schlock quickly became tedious shoddiness, and the result is a disappointingly dull open-world game that simply can’t hold a candle to this year’s best.

Dreamfall Chapters stays true to the adventure genre it embraced in 1999, but sticking to the same approach in 2017 means it feels a little past its prime.

A ruined, post-apocalyptic anime future could have made for a fantastic game, but it falters at every genre it attempts to ape. Code Vein is clearly attempting to spin a lot of plates. But unless you’re into playing a great character creator with a bad Dark Souls clone attached to it, we’d say steer clear.

Unless you're a hardcore lover of the original MediEvil, I can find little reason to recommend this remake when there are numerous superior platformers available on PS4. Heck, even Knack manages to produce a more compelling experience than this, surpassing the brittle bones of Sir Daniel Fortesque in almost every department. As someone who was equally enthralled and terrified by the original duo of games, this is an unfortunate disappointment.

Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3 offers some of the most satisfying sniping you can imagine, but everything outside of that just feels too drab and lacklustre to truly make it standout.

Ghost Recon Breakpoint may have solid shooting and co-op play foundations, but it can't make up for the aggressive microstransactions, infuriating technical issues and mission structures so repetitive they soon become tedious to complete. After attempting to cherry pick popular features from other games, Breakpoint ends up feeling like a chaotic yet bland mess that really isn't worthy of your time.

Ultimately, this is a 12-year-old game, and no amount of spit and polish can overcome the dated mechanics and repetitive combat that lies at its core.

This game shares a lot of DNA with the Dragonball Xenoverse titles but manages to falter at almost every aspect, with flaws in the mission structure, the combat, the way you attain loot and in the way that you develop your character.

Dead Rising 4: Frank’s Big Package is an exceptional port of the original package, with additional content that fans will have a blast with. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t still the worst entry in the series by quite a wide margin.

A shame, then, as Agony is a bold and deliberately non-conventional release from a studio that clearly has a vision. However, no matter the content, when the game is both boring and broken, it immediately overshadows any positives.

More slot machine than it is video game. If you have oodles of cash you want to throw away then give it a look; otherwise, steer well clear.