Danganronpa 2 tells a great story that’s worthy of your time. The characters will keep you invested as you wait for the next death. Monokuma continues as a great lead villain, and the new cast may feel familiar, but offer plenty of new tales to discover.

It's a gorgeous, decent football game that's trying a bit too hard to be "PES" when it should be celebrating what it already was.

Rage is a technical powerhouse, and if you can overlook the bits that don't quite work, you'll find one of the most exciting shooters we've had in years.

If you're a fan of the "X-Men Legends" games that have appeared over the last few years you'll know what to expect from Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, but you'll probably still be surprised at how polished and lengthy the game is.

Easily the best game in the series to date, and a must-buy for WWE fans - especially if you've been giving it a wide-berth for a few years. The controls are refined, the game modes are plentiful, the presentation is top class and the customisation features will excite the little kid in WWE fans the world over.

Series heritage aside, this is a pleasingly lengthy adventure spread across two DVDs that's most definitely worth a look.

It's probably a better value proposition on PC, but if PS4 is your only way to play then this is well worth £15.

A solid simulation basketball game that's worth picking up if you've got a hankering for the sport, not to mention the fact that's it's incredibly affordable.

The story of Necrobarista isn't lost in its bold anime-inspired style and maximalist presentation. These elements mix and swirl together like a cup of damned good coffee.

The game engine is certainly in need of a makeover, and this might be the last year THQ can offer what is more or less a slight update, but it's a fun game and something that will get more than a few hours play with some mates.

This is action gaming at its very best.

The changes are quite slight, but the putting is vastly improved and the new features make for a better game than before, so if you like the sound of those you won't be disappointed.

If you take just the combat and the music from Stellar Blade, you’ve got a fantastic game. Sadly, this is not the whole package.

For all the praise I’m about to heap on Senua’s Saga Hellblade 2, it’s a game I never want to play again. An odd thing to say, but one said with the best of intentions.

Campaign is dull and forgettable, but multiplayer is great fun and Zombies has had some real effort poured into it.

A tabletop-esque strategy game with surprisingly variable routes to success, Antihero is stylish, fresh, and beautifully designed.

OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast might just be the best arcade racer available on all three systems.

Prince of Persia does away with one of the most fundamental game design rules and is all the better for it.

Whether you demand more than comfort from your games will inform the way you see Kena: Bridge of Spirits; is it merely a graphically sumptuous example of design that you wish we would leave behind, or is it a vivifying tribute to a rich precursor legacy?

Gods & Kings doesn't tear down and rebuild Civilization V, but instead acts as a gentle overhaul that rounds out and deepens many of the game's core systems. Gods & Kings won't be enough to silence the non-believers, but this expansion will certainly rekindle the attention of those faithful to Civilization V's streamlined focus.

If you can cope with the archaic gameplay elements you'll find a JRPG that shames many of its more modern cousins with its entrancing plot and bewitching charm.

It's a game that reaches a baseline of enjoyment – and that baseline is fairly high – and doesn't raise it further. The mission loop is too samey – drive here, hack a few things, sneak/shoot out – and multiplayer is too throwaway to really affect much. You'll undoubtedly enjoy your time with it, but it won't linger long in the memory.

With a stunning single-player campaign, a wealth of capable online multiplayer facilities and the provisions of raw power the 360 offers, Ace Combat finally feels like it has become what it has always strived to be.

The flight controls are clunky, and the character switching is nonsensical, leaving several buttons seemingly perfect for the job completely unused, but none of these tarnish what is the strongest Lego title yet, and the best Marvel game ever made.

You'll care about sneaking back to your dorm after curfew, forgetting to buy flowers for the girl you quite fancy, or earning a few quid before school starts. It's a fun experience from start to finish (something that will take longer than you might think) and a welcome breath of fresh air - even if it is a port.

Treading an all too familiar path with little in the way of major changes, Black and White 2 will satisfy the itch while we wait for a true 3DS successor, but this tried and true formula is well overdue for a few more evolutions of its own.

Veterans will still find the nuanced fighting system rewarding to master and, essentially, pixel perfect. But in a year destined to be remembered as the one that saw the resurgence of the fighting game, Tekken 6's star is too dull to shine brightest.

Rocket Riot is a simple game in all areas, but the core gameplay is great fun and the visuals have a retro feel that gives the game a trendy appearance.

With two great games that will take somewhere in the region of 15-20 hours to complete, superb presentation and a sense that you're playing something different to the norm, The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena comes highly recommended. If it weren't for a few unfortunate bugs and the odd strange design decision that score below this paragraph might even have been a notch higher.

Hugely addictive, it works really well on the PSP (apart from the lengthy load times), and is great fun. There's not a whole lot to it though, so if you're expecting hours upon hours of gameplay, you're likely to be disappointed.

The lack of challenge in The Artful Escape, not just in its play but in its emotional texture, somewhat shreds the odyssey.

So, for the first time, a new Assassin's Creed game is worse than its predecessor, the first time the short development period has had a noticeable impact on the game's quality. It's a game of nearlies and might-have-beens: summed up by the hookblade, a supposedly key new feature which in practice merely extends Ezio's reach slightly, and allows him to glide down the occasional zipline.

A noble, if distinctly old fashioned, effort to capture the magic of a classic series in the palm of your hand. Amazingly, it even gives the sublime Advance Wars Dual Strike a run for its strategy money.

Far superior to its predecessor in just about every way, despite some glaring issues that prevent this year's gridiron game from being a true classic. The problem here is that Madden is still in desperate need of a makeover.

Early-game issues aside, Volume is an entertaining and addictive mix of Metal Gear Solid and Trials.

It may be unusual, insistent on clinging to a long-gone gaming era, and incredibly hard at times, but by including every major Metal Slug game, is without doubt one of the finest platform shooter titles yet released.

Easily the best game in the series to date, and a must-buy for WWE fans - especially if you've been giving it a wide-berth for a few years. The controls are refined, the game modes are plentiful, the presentation is top class and the customisation features will excite the little kid in WWE fans the world over.

Despite these minor grievances Grimoire of the Rift is a deep and involving game, with excellent presentation and a great sense of scale.

Bold and brilliant, Reanimal is a strangling, grim adventure that’s anything but little or nightmarish, leaning into legitimate, unsettling horror through its stellar artistic direction, tense atmosphere, and grisly, haunting world.

The changes are quite slight, but the putting is vastly improved and the new features make for a better game than before, so if you like the sound of those you won't be disappointed.

So, for the first time, a new Assassin's Creed game is worse than its predecessor, the first time the short development period has had a noticeable impact on the game's quality. It's a game of nearlies and might-have-beens: summed up by the hookblade, a supposedly key new feature which in practice merely extends Ezio's reach slightly, and allows him to glide down the occasional zipline.

Sadly, that string of hours, spent clambering up towers and defogging the map, bounding across the fields in a hopeful, happy loop, was the last of the fun on offer.

This is an enjoyable game, and Studio Bend has proved itself capable of competently shepherding Sony's trusted franchises, but its limited spectacle and lacking script also make it the worst entry in the Uncharted series since the original Drake's Fortune.

1-bit Ninja's appeal is immediate, and its visual style will easily curry favour with anybody that remembers growing up in the '80s and early '90s. Even two decades later, however, Super Mario Land vastly outshines this simple imitation.

It's the audio that steals the show though.

It's slightly disappointing, but I found myself returning to Blood Dragon after I'd finished it. The compulsive appeal of the parent game carries over, and it's nice to play a sci-fi shooter that's not trying to tell a so-called 'epic' story. Here you shoot people, a lot, and for most of its short running time that's good fun.

Driver San Francisco could have been a one-trick pony, but it has managed to use that trick in a variety of clever and interesting ways, ensuring the driving gameplay never becomes tiresome or generic.

Complete Saga is just a bringing together of those two games with a smattering of new levels. But for those of you who haven't tried Lego Star Wars before and are looking for one of the best games for the Wii, Complete Saga will charm your socks off.

Blood & Truth is an exciting shooter with some deft VR touches; its forgettable plot and characters are made up for by the intricate details of its world.

There’s more than enough here for almost every baseball fan to find something they enjoy, which is ultimately the goal. Not everyone’s going to love Road to the Show, but they’ll like something else. Not all of MLB The Show 24 is good, but there is a love and respect for baseball present. It’s not a home run, but it is a solid hit.

Things like the lack of online co-op are undoubtedly more prevalent with each iteration, but Lego Lord of the Rings is still a huge success that's wonderfully adorable and an absolute delight to play.

There's plenty here to do alone, but as with the original Wii Sports, Resort is far better when played with a friend.

With two great games that will take somewhere in the region of 15-20 hours to complete, superb presentation and a sense that you're playing something different to the norm, The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena comes highly recommended. If it weren't for a few unfortunate bugs and the odd strange design decision that score below this paragraph might even have been a notch higher.

It's easy to appreciate From Dust, but harder to enjoy it.

Minor gripes aside, Homecourt is a deliciously addictive baller and a commendable next-gen Street effort on EA's part.

Where Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy proves most winsome, however, is in its twining of the intergalactic and the terrestrial.

We can't help but feel that PES 2008 PSP puts the more illustrious versions of the game to shame, a bit like Barnsley knocking Chelsea out of the FA Cup.

A brief hit of retro goodness that loses its enchantment all too soon. If you're looking for a demanding blast from the past, Renegade Ops will sort you out for a week or two; just don't expect to be playing it for much longer than that.

It's a promising start, but the game's commendable mechanics are matched by numerous wonky moments, an awkward cast of characters and some wearying repetition. The Darkness II has plenty of heart, but it needs more soul.

If Dragon Age didn't float your boat, neither will Awakening. Dragon Age enthusiasts, however, should consider it an essential purchase. It offers more of the same - no bad thing - in a great value package.

Pokémon Sword and Shield is a bold move into a new generation. There are technical hiccups, but those pale in comparison to the bustling Wild Area and the charming Gen 8 additions.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare’s campaign is more throwaway blockbuster than challenging look at conflict, but its mission variety makes for an enjoyable few hours. And even with the disappointing Spec Ops, a wealth of entertaining multiplayer modes makes this a worthwhile addition to any Call of Duty fan’s collection.

Home to some of the most immersive experiences, detailed graphics, and engaging features in the sports game industry, NBA 2K23 has set the bar of excellence for what a world class sports game is truly made of. Though its clear-cut inconsistencies across the next and current generation editions diminishes its overall potential, NBA 2K23 has still risen to the top as one of the best sports games of the year.

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is an engrossing, dense, and hard-fought slog, but nevertheless a slog weighed down by some heavy recycling and inconsistent difficulty.

The campaign is simultaneously more of the same and less of the same, being marginally shorter than God of War III’s story, yet lacking that game’s ferocity and pacing. It arguably has the lowest ‘wow’ factor of the four mainline games to date, and in a series that trades on spectacle, that’s not the best sign. Yet the multiplayer component is as fresh as the single-player is familiar.

Had the course count been on par with the current-gen releases there'd be no question over which version you should buy, but even with nine less courses, I'd still recommend you go with Tiger's next-gen offering.

Buzz! Quiz TV isn't quite the brilliant PS3 debut we wanted it to be, but it's still one of the best quiz games on the market. Its superb production values and impressive online functionality, including user created quizzes, make it a must own for anyone who watches quiz shows on a regular basis or anyone who fancies themselves as a bit of an egghead.

LEGO Dimensions is the most fun I've had with a LEGO video game since the whole idea was new back on the PS2. It's full of cool new ideas and a story rammed with iconic references and witty humour - something that adults will enjoy perhaps even more than young children.

It's exhausting, it's cruel and the control system could have done with some tweaking - the lack of in-air mobility really seems unfair. But there are also a lot of things it does right: it's truly original; it's got buckets of style; it allows three players to work together at once. Best of all, it's got a built-in video recorder that helps you film your acrobatics and upload them to YouTube.

If you miss the old days, before games of this ilk got streamlined and simplified, give this a whirl before you read too much about it. It's well worth the small outlay.

It's a brilliant concept, executed well, and the variety in the stages and characters is excellent. It can feel overly attritional, with minor control issues (diagonal shooting is a pain) and seemingly-wonky collision detection causing annoyance. That said, Super Time Force is still worth checking out.

If you’ve been looking for a SWAT simulator for console—and judging by the game’s popularity on the PlayStation Store, a lot of people have—Ready or Not really is as good as they come. It could do with some more polished controls across the board, but VOID Interactive has done a great job bringing the game to a lot more players, even if PC gamers must suffer some very minor consequences.

Refining most of the series' hallmarks make Black and White 2 top of their class, but they highlight as many ageing qualities as they do endearing ones.

Pokémon Sword and Shield is a bold move into a new generation. There are technical hiccups, but those pale in comparison to the bustling Wild Area and the charming Gen 8 additions.

Skate 3, to be blunt, doesn't offer a great deal that's different to the previous two games in the series, with the added team, online and sharing functionality being the key additions.

Puppeteer is Sony's best pure platformer on the PS3, delivering the kind of tight mechanics and pin-point controls usually only found in games starring plumbers or apes.

Xbox, PlayStation 2 and PC owners certainly get better value for money, but the Xbox 360 version signals a strong next-gen future for Lara.

A visually stunning, epic adventure that continues Crystal Dynamics' excellent run. We reckon it's the best completely original Tomb Raider (Anniversary was, of course, a remake) we've had in years, and is only let down by the odd control quirk and camera issue.

College Football 25 is exactly the return to the series that fans will have wanted. The gameplay is solid, and sets itself apart from Madden in a way that rewards dedicated players, and the Dynasty mode will alone will keep you engaged endlessly. A lack of depth in the other modes and some fiddly UI pull the experience down a bit, but never by enough to hinder what the game does best.

Don't expect any big innovations but if you enjoyed Titan Quest then you will love Immortal Throne.

Prison Architect is a full-on sim that will eat your time. If you fancy a dark look inside the running of a prison, look no further.

If the game has any major flaws at all, it's that whilst the two halves of the game, RTS and RPG, mesh together brilliantly, if you take either of those elements in isolation, they're perhaps a little on the lightweight side. Fortunately, the game does have real synergy: it's greater than the sum of its parts.

Trine isn't as new and exciting as current 2D platforming king Braid was on its release, but its combination of tight controls, exiting action and physics-based puzzles makes it easy to recommend to platforming fans. It's a shame the multiplayer isn't more interesting, but when played alone it shouldn't be hard to get many hours of fun out of Frozenbyte's impressive looking title.

Dishonored is a great game that doesn't quite achieve excellence, and this collection is the best way to experience it all on consoles, but the port simply offers a crisper image and more defined textures. There's very little reason to buy this if you've already played it, but newcomers will still find a very entertaining title if they embrace the stealth mechanics.

Sleeping Dogs may not offer anything particularly new and certainly nothing groundbreaking, but what it does do is deliver sharp, thrilling and just downright enjoyable action to savour. Other open-worlders have tried to veer from Rockstar's path, some have even tried to lampoon it, but Sleeping Dogs has shown, confidently and emphatically, that you don't always need to change the rules. You just have to know how to play.

Remnant 2 successfully evolves on its predecessor, isolating and expanding upon the best aspects to create a cohesive and challenging shooter experience, supplemented by stunningly designed environments and a unique story system. A cooperative game at heart, its single-player campaign takes a hit, but never enough to substantially detract from the game’s successes.

It's testament to Telltale Games' storytelling qualities that each of the DLC's five mini-episodes could be fully developed during Season Two. While the depth and severity of the original series is missing, this quintet of sub-plots is well worth picking up for 400 MSP.

It’s a beautiful, gritty and spectacular strategy game, and while it doesn’t do much particularly new, it doesn’t have to.

Other games of its ilk may punch harder on their message, and the challenge here is all but non-existent. But RiME is a beautiful painting come to life, backed by an exceptional score that will make your journey across this island a joy.

One of the best action games on the Wii. It's a gamers' game, with old school mechanics some will find tiresome (mentally and physically), and control issues guaranteed to frustrate. But it all comes together to work well, which is the most important thing.

If we're being picky, we could say that Ninjatown might be a bit too cute for some, and not quite as in depth as other tower defence games on the DS (the recent Lock's Quest springs to mind), but on the whole it's a fun, accessible strategy title with a lovely art style that's sure to please fans of the genre.

For a next-gen price tag you expect to get a next-gen product, and sadly MotoGP '06 hasn't quite made a successful leap to the next-generation.

Complete Saga will charm the socks off Star Wars fanatics and platforming fanboys alike.

If I didn’t feel the sugary twinge of sentiment in Alba: A Wildlife Adventure, it is down to its pastel starkness.

What is without doubt the biggest disappointment of all is the online implementation. It's currently woefully behind what we've got in Forza 2 and PGR4, lacking even basic support for custom races. Support for up to 16 players is excellent, but without a friends list or any proper match making you're left to pick from the 35 events currently listed.

The familiar Fable experience is as engrossing as ever, and it's incredibly hard to stay mad at a game that oozes charm from every one of its pores. Fable III is a game that is inexplicably better than the sum of its parts.

Despite the occasional glimpse of dollar signs in its publisher's eyes, Skylanders Giants is that rarest of beasts: a kids' game that's very, very easy for adults to like.

As much as I want to commend Treyarch for essentially reducing Black Ops to fit on the Wii, it's impossible to engage with the game when so much of what's been lost is absolutely crucial to the overall experience.