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.

A contemplative adventure that won’t set the world on fire, but its logical and tactile climbing mechanics are genuinely fun and present a compelling proposition to keep exploring in spite of its relatively short length.

It's got a decent array of songs, with both modern hits and dance classics forming a well rounded track-list (doing the Soulja Boy dance to 'Crank That' is a personal favourite of mine). It looks great, too, polished to a shiny finish with excellent visuals and an accessible interface. But above all else, it works.

There are still a few too many gimmicks in Escalation for my tastes - Stockpile's garage doors are very much Escalation's useless ziplines - but there's plenty of variety on offer, and the quintet of new competitive maps will slot extremely nicely into the broader rotation.

Despite imperfections, Splatoon 2 improves on the original, and is a colourful, joyous addition to the Switch.

It’s no doubt the most authentic. The biggest problem is how inaccessible it is. As a Brit who understands how the sport works, and who played Madden back in 2000, the game can still be a mind-bending, frustrating exercise in trial and error.

It's one of the best games released this year.

The co-op career and battle modes are great fun, but had the new tracks been released for GH2 as downloadable content, we would no doubt have had just as much fun.

For all its originality, Dead Rising 2 smacks of old-school design. Perhaps I should be more critical of that, but it's hard to be stern when the game offers such a good time.

The games themselves are the real stars here, only really let down by lack of 60hz support.

Could The Movies live without Stunts & Effects? Probably, but it's more entertaining thanks to the additions found in the expansion.

Close your eyes after playing, and a carnival of neon sea-creatures and fluorescent shapes will pulsate under your eye-lids. Child of Eden will linger in your conscious long after playing. While it's a fleeting and - on rare occasions - frustrating experience, it'll leave its mark on 2011 in just the same way.

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.

Once again, the violence is extremely well-rendered, and there's no doubt that Undisputed's beatings are among the most visceral in modern gaming.

A superb overall package, one that has me interested in Call of Duty again. For a future warfare title with drones and jetpacks, Sledgehammer's success is partly to be found by looking to the series' past, and by combining its own ideas with COD's natural appeal it has reinvigorated the franchise.

The big question hanging over Euro 2008 is if it's worth its price tag, given that it's essential a tweaked FIFA 08 and FIFA 09 is only a few months away? The core gameplay has been tweaked enough to make FIFA 08 feel slightly dated, but chances are FIFA 09 will improve on this even further.

Bold, thrilling and immense, and deserves every success. The Action RTS has arrived and let's hope it is here to stay.

A strong, compelling narrative that's only made better by great visuals and superb voice acting.

As addictive as the perk goals are, it's the bread-and-butter sabotage that proves to be the real distraction.

A solid first effort, a great start for Konami's genre-scrambling control system and, with practice, extremely rewarding. I won't go as far as to say it's revolutionised the series - for me the traditional control scheme is still the best way to play PES.

An evolution of the core Call of Duty concepts rather than a revolution for multiplayer shooters as a whole, Titanfall feels, in a way, like a hyper-budgeted mod that will only truly see its aims realised in the inevitable sequel.

There's no question that FIFA on PS2 is starting to show its age. It looks good for a PS2 game and the new animations are excellent, but the frame rate isn't as smooth as we'd like it to be. It's also a big disappointment that online play is nowhere to be seen in FIFA 09 on PS2.

1200 MS Points might seem a little steep for a game that originally came out ten years ago, but this is a true classic and a game that stands up very well today. Visually it's certainly showing its age, but the HD spruce up means it's by no means ugly and the core gameplay is just as universally appealing as it ever was.

While it's by no means a perfect recreation of the sport, it does a lot of things very well. Casual fans might be best advised to stay away though, unless prepared to invest a lot of time into learning circuits and how to drive the incredibly powerful cars.

Fight Night Round 3 features online play, with the usual set of options such as player stats, leader boards etc. There's minimal lag, mostly appearing at the beginning of each match, but the fights play out smoothly and the frame rate most definitely holds its own.

It does exactly what a Borderlands game should: offer great shooting and fun looting. The introduction of moon-based combat has added some spice to general gameplay, while Aussie voice acting has also injecting some more character into what was already one of the more entertaining series on the market.

Utterly unique.

This all sounds a bit doomy and dour, but the truth is that Operation Anchorage is neither brilliant nor terrible: it's simply a sidestep that doesn't quite work. It's linear, simplistic and extremely un-Fallouty, but it does have couple of decent items and it offers a fresh change of scenery.

Deathsmiles is Cave's most successful iOS port yet, however, and while hardened bullet hell veterans will find the difficulty level far too low for their personal liking, this is the perfect game to sit around on an iDevice for occasional high-score runs.

The action in F.E.A.R. is relentless from start to finish, and the AI of enemy soldiers is about the best you'll find in video games at the moment. Bar an ending that will leave you wanting a lot more, there's little not to enjoy.

As SimBin's first title on the platform, Race Pro can definitely be characterised as a solid, if mildly uninspiring, effort. However, if the same attention to detail had been paid to the game's presentation and structure as had been paid to the level of accuracy in the track, car and damage modelling and the handling physics, Race Pro would be a real stand-out title in the genre.

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.

Dark Conflict remains one of the best games on the DS, is perfect for a lengthy commute, works brilliantly online and, for us, comes out on top compared with Dual Strike.

At 800 Microsoft Points ilomilo is ludicrously good value for money.

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.

That the game feels overly familiar is undoubtedly a good thing.

Whichever version of Sonic and SEGA All-Stars Racing you choose you're going to get a well produced, fun arcade racer, with enough tracks and unlockables to keep you playing for a long time.

Dustforce comes into its own after you've invested some time, transforming into a frantic and occasionally frustrating experience that manages to eke out repeat play.

Effortlessly shows why Rovio is currently on top.

If you can't get enough of the original, you'll love this. If you've never played the original, but like music-centred games, you'll love this too. If you wanted the developers to make strides with the gameplay and are expecting a true sequel, and not what feels like an expansion, you might be disappointed.

What you essentially get here is 49 tracks metal and heavy rock tracks - 28 of them culled from Metallica's back catalogue, and a further 21 selected by the band themselves.

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.

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.

Super Mario Maker for 3DS is a perfect fit for the handheld, with loads of content and excellent creation tools, but why can't you share levels online? That decision is baffling.

I’ve had a great time leading the Inquisition. It’s unusual to be able to look back at a game like this and have such fine memories, despite being so underwhelmed by its opening hours. For some, it may well feel like too much of a grind to begin with, and for time-poor players those 15 hours may be far too much of an investment.

There is a somewhat dated feel to the action that will be felt most firmly by those used to elaborate team-based shooters, but for fans of the best of the series, and those who want a shining example of the epitome of first wave third-person-shooters, the latest Syphon Filter is an essential purchase.

In many ways, it actually outshines its console counterparts. Bar a few niggling control issues, the battle system could well be the best in the series yet, and at times I actually felt it looked better than its PS2 cousins.

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.

PC FIFA fans have wanted a little more effort put into their version for years and finally the moaning and commitment to the series has paid off. FIFA 09 is the best FIFA the PC has seen in years and a great step forward for the series on the platform.

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.

After an hour of 'easy' exploration, you welcome back the real survival horror of Amnesia.

A glorious return to the hay-day of 8-bit gaming; a fantastic challenge built on the back of some of the most refined mechanics the genre has ever seen.

An adeptly handled game. It's an exciting, occasionally thrilling online shooter with a genuinely engaging hook, and a clever hodgepodge of many pre-existing trends to boot.

This is old-school gaming, with none of the modern day handholding we're used to, but it's jam-packed with gaming goodness. The campaign can be frustrating due to a lack of direction, but it's still full of great moments, and the multiplayer is as much fun as it ever was.

Bungie's iconic title was clearly an ambitious project, and this modern remastering sufficiently highlights what it was that made the original Halo: Combat Evolved such a landmark gaming moment to begin with.

You get to have a different survival story every time, in a lovely setting, whilst discovering hints of civilisation in the emptiness – feral children who share arrows with you, the distant radio signal that is your first objective, fires that are lit before you arrived.

The vibrant, retro look reinforces the game's charm even further.

It's a survival horror game with incredible ambition, so succeeding in a few areas is still very commendable.

If you crave for more humour in games and are looking for drama and tension without having to dabble in drawn out RPGs or nerve-wracking twitch games, then Justice for All might just be for you.

Super Mario Maker is an excellent creation tool and, thanks to the foundations it's been built on, a tremendous platformer. Its true potential is in the hands of the community, though, and anyone expecting anything else will probably be a little disappointed.

The representation of a familly dealing with the protracted illness of a child is well done, but wasn't as interesting to me as the exploration of faith that was inextricably woven into it.

Lords of the Fallen is a game that wears its passion and love of the genre on its sleeve. A gorgeous world, gripping gameplay, enthralling bosses, and depthless worldbuilding persist in spite of some rough edges and a struggling sense of unique identity.

It's easy to pick up, good fun to play and features some impressive battle scenes which - storyline aside - must be the biggest draw of the movie.

If you've bought your 3DS to show off its new-fangled gadgetry, you might do better to pick up one of the other launch titles. But if, heaven forefend, you might actually want to actually play something fun, or something that requires a bit of thought, look no further. For all its lack of 3D showboating, Shadow Wars offers genuine depth.

The single-player Career won't take all that long to complete, but with a hugely entertaining multiplayer mode both on and offline, there's a good chance you'll continue playing for a while after.

Pacific is very much the son of its forebear. If you're prepared to push through its choppier moments, you'll find a rich and highly enjoyable game that should keep you occupied for months.

For the Murtaugh-esque Pokémon fans, the question of whether or not Omega Ruby or Alpha Sapphire are worth picking up boils down to when you last played Pokémon, and how enthusiastic you remain for the series.

The variety on show is exceptional; one second you're throwing water balloons at burning rope bridges, the next you’re being hounded underwater by a kraken in a mad dash to the surface. The weight of Donkey Kong (accompanied by Diddy, Dixie and Cranky now, who appear in power-up barrels or as a co-op partner) means the pace of the jumping is more deliberate than Mario and less forgiving than Rayman, but this is still a game of flawless control and deliberate design.

A triumphant return for a forgotten hero; a dazzling, silly, beautiful adventure that mostly, but never completely, overcomes its control woes. When Pit's wings are clipped then so is his game, but in the air it's a different story. Here, Uprising doesn't fly; it soars.

If you have any fondness for Star Wars you'll find Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy incredibly hard to resist. It's packed to the brim with fun and offers plenty of value despite what seems like a fairly short main story.

By virtue of the control system it's the best console RTS available. There are problems of course - the campaign is a bit of a slog, the multiplayer lacks variety and PC RTS players will no doubt dismiss the game, saying it would have been better on the PC (there's a degree of truth to that) - but those issues don't prevent Halo Wars from being as good as RTS games get on console.

The team at Telltale Games have done an incredible job keeping the series fresh, and they don't look like they're going to rest on their laurels anytime soon.

This novel mix of cinematic direction, episodic storytelling, and player choice defies convention and the result is an extraordinarily accomplished piece of interactive fiction.

If you love FPS gaming you owe it to yourself to get The Orange Box. Hell, if you love gaming, you owe it to yourself to get it.

While the main narrative drags a little, wonderfully crafted characters that deal with real-life issues, fill this beautiful Saturday morning cartoon show where the mundanity of life is the backdrop for some wonderful exchanges between Mae and her friends.

Eat Them! taps in to what makes mindless destruction addictively fun.

Alone in the Dark is a considerate reimagining of a pioneering classic, weaving together nifty puzzles, edge-of-your-sofa combat, and clever scares.

Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater is unequivocally the best way to play Metal Gear Solid 3 if you’re all about modern comforts and higher frame rates. But under all the modernising gloss, it’s the same silly, daft game full of world-saving babble, over-the-top performances, surprise-stuffing, and a confounding script that’s very much a product of its time, for better or for worse.

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.

The strength of Star Fox's aesthetic counts for a lot, as it distracts you from the rather simplistic rail shooter that lies underneath. Juxtaposed with the recent resurrection of Ocarina of Time, Star Fox 64 3D is no masterpiece. All the same, it's one of the best-looking games on the platform, and a respectful restoration that will please the fans.

The troubled launch and the shoddy state of the last-gen versions will hurt nobody more intensely than the artists and developers, who may well have come to resemble the characters of their own creation—frazzled, fused to their computers, and wired into the limbo of non-stop work.

Jagged Alliance 3 is a worthy successor to the franchise that brings modern graphics and characters to life in engaging turn-based tactical combat. Its world is well-built and its supporting elements add much. But the game remains rough around the edges here and there, with a fairly standard storyline and a learning curve that could be more accessible.

A point and click adventure for the now, Thimbleweed Park takes everything great about classic Lucasfilm games and leaves out the flaws. You might not love all the central characters, but this is as weird and compelling a town as Twin Peaks.

Crash Course isn't likely to win any awards for its visuals, looking like a smart version of an Xbox LIVE Indie game, but it does the job and no fancy effects get in the way of the requisite precision jumping.

Overall it's a missed opportunity to provide an already working formula with new ideas.

While it may not be the refined, leisurely paced kill-'em-up many eager landlubbers might have signed up for, The Ship does quickly prove itself a subtly addictive, relentless nail biter that will only get better as those already aboard learn to rule the bloody waves. Notch this one up as another killer for Steam.

The new game world looks great, and the omnipresent vegetation is a real change from the barren rock and destroyed highways that we’re used to. At times the frame rate seemed to take a bit of a hit, but this issue never became serious enough to affect gameplay - the action was just a bit less smooth than usual.

It's good fun with mates and has a surprising amount of depth, but lacks the magic that would have elevated it to a must own title.

The core driving is never anything but exhilarating, visually it's almost flawless and the Autolog features are genre leading. There's still something missing, though. While the high-speed pursuits are up there with the best gaming experiences of the year, the game needs more than that: car tuning, a resemblance of a story - complete with cheesy acting - and a reason to explore the open world.

Hopefully somewhere inside Ubisoft there's a team working on a proper sequel to Zombi(U), but for now this is a reasonably priced port that is definitely recommended to anyone who doesn't own a Wii U. Given the lack of meaningful changes for the better, the original game still delivers the best experience, even if the new-gen game looks and performs marginally better.

In terms of gameplay mechanics it's incredibly simple, but that works in the its favour, leaving you to become fully engrossed in the thrilling and malleable storyline. If you fancy a gory treat that hits plenty of high notes, Until Dawn is highly recommended.

It's a cohesive party experience with a plethora of activities tied together in a fantastic hub world. While there's not a whole lot of depth to it, it does what it does very well.

UT3 really is a stunning-looking game that's only really surpassed in terms of visuals by recent PC-killer Crysis.

If you own a Wii you owe it to yourself to give LostWinds a whirl, even though you'll be finished before you've really began.

The gun-play is excellent, the production values are top notch and the multiplayer game modes will keep you coming back months down the line. As long as you're not expecting a complete overhaul of the gameplay seen in the original, Vegas 2 will provide plenty of terrorist hunting fun.

Let's face it: it's unlikely you're going to pick this up instead of FIFA 11, but as an alternative to play when football isn't on your brain, this does the job very well indeed.

Even with its problems, Dead Rising is a ton of fun to play, offers a respectable narrative, and come on, you can use a lawnmower for cryin' out load. Enough said.

It's clear that the TBC really just serves one purpose. That purpose isn't particularly subtle, nor is it a masterstroke from developers Blizzard. But the important thing is that this purpose is achieved with a kind of wonderful self assurance you only really get from a developer confident in the knowledge it is responsible for the most popular MMO in history. If it 'aint broke, don't fix it.