After a few races it'll have you hooked like the very best MMOs and you won't be able to remove it from your disc tray. With a sublime racing model, superb AI, tons of content, brilliantly simple car upgrades and tuning, an unbelievable paint shop tool and all the online options you can imagine, Forza 2 is the premier Xbox 360 racer and the new king of the genre.

Bar this niggle, Pinball Fantasies on PSP is as good as it possibly could be. At £3.99 it's definitely worth a download if you're after a commute killer. Hell, at that price, it's worth a download just for nostalgia's sake.

A brilliant racing game. It's got some issues still, with the lengthy load times and a fair amount of re-used content from PGR3 likely to turn away a few gamers, but it remains the Xbox 360's premier racing title.

It may not pack the same shock and awe as its next-gen cousin (the visual concessions made during multiplayer and occasional bug smack of an engine cracking under pressure), but the top-drawer gameplay makes Battlefield 4 a deeply enjoyable title regardless of platform. As one of the best multiplayer games available on 360 and PS3, DICE’s shooter offers a delightfully destructive send-off to the current-generation.

There's depth here that you'll only discover hours into time trialling a single stage, and as we said, no other game in recent memory comes close to being as cool. We can't wait to see what Faith gets up to next.

The best FIFA game ever made. Over to you Konami.

Shadow Complex is a triumph, a new standard for downloadable games. It’s a game in the purest sense, but is as “next-gen” as any Xbox 360 owner could hope for. And at 1200 MS Points it’s an absolute bargain guaranteed to fill rival XBLA developers with fear.

I can't recommend Monolith's sequel highly enough. It might not have the jaw-dropping visuals to rival Killzone 2, but it's a hugely satisfying shooter that'll have you clinging onto that controller or mouse throughout its tension-filled campaign. If you like your combat meaty and with a solid dose of supernatural scares, there's every chance this will rank as one of your favourite games of 2009.

The definitive Super Smash Bros. game, Ultimate is not only a pure and unadulterated joy, but also a fantastic fighting game stuffed to the gills with characters and other content. A little smasher.

If you've never played Minecraft before, the Xbox 360 version is by far the easiest to get to grips with.

The unavoidable reality is that, for all Rock Band 3's considerable refinements and intuitive advancements, your current games and equipment will probably suffice if you're just after banging a few plastic keys to the odd tune every now and then. But if you've still got a passion for the genre, or you're seriously considering furthering your understanding of the instruments with Pro mode, Rock Band 3 might just be the most important rhythm game to date.

For true next-gen arcade racing thrills Burnout Paradise is most definitely your best option, and on PC your only option.

A stunning game that doesn't miss a beat from start to finish and includes one of the most feature packed multiplayer components of any game released this year.

Despite a sweeping range of improvements across the board, the core rhythms are just as entertaining in Trials HD as they are here. But it's in the way that Trials Evolution is explained and developed over its hefty course that pushes RedLynx's latest and greatest far above its much-loved ancestry.

It might be tailored more for experienced players than complete newcomers, but that's not a bad thing, and the new multiplayer modes and practice options are excellent.

If you enjoy rich worlds, interesting stories and endearing characters, however, I implore you: don't let this pass you by.

More important than all the above is the fact that Football Manager 2011 is a huge time sink that will keep you playing for hours on end for months to come.

For some The Last Guardian's iffy controls, awkward camera, and glitches might be hard to overcome. Others won't care as they experience one of the most incredible relationships in video game history.

Celeste is special, because not only does it serve up a delight in precise platforming and environmental puzzle-solving, it also tells an emotional story of a girl trying to overcome her depression. While there are times where it feels like the mountain drains you of your will, it’s important to never stop pushing.

A charming triumph, an absolute joy to play, and a fresh modern title that effortlessly manages to play the same notes as the best video games of the 90s.

Company of Heroes reinvigorates the sub-genre of the World War II real-time strategy game, and its confidence in its own excellence is aptly demonstrated in the very first few minutes of play.

I had no idea I'd enjoy Axiom Verge so much. Whereas many modern takes on classic retro genres fall foul of style over substance, this has been built with such skill that it doesn't need to rely on our annoying fondness of the past to impress.

God of War pushed the PS2 to breaking point on its release in 2005 and this sequel amazingly outdoes the original in every respect.

Minor problems aside, DIRT 2 is everything racing fans will want from an off-road racer. The driving is fast, fun and be tailored to your skill level. Hardcore fans will work hard shaving split seconds off their best times, while novices can still work through the career and have fun with their fiends online.

Even the most modern, pretentious, sensationalist piece of art can't hope to rival Rez's bold blend of craftsmanship, fun, interaction and sensory tantalisation. While art hangs on the walls in plain white rooms, Rez is out in the playground and at the front of the rave, and you're obliged to join it.

Chrono Trigger is brilliant for loads of reasons: the unobtrusive combat, the time-traveling plot, the incredible character design, the entrancing music, but what impresses most is how great it plays despite the fact it's 14 years old. It feels fresh, vibrant and innovative.

It's wonderfully colourful and completely unique, and it should provide the usual hundreds of hours of gameplay for the hardcore. Those worrying about a retrograde step being taken for the series shouldn't have done so - it's a classic, no question.

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.