Capes makes a great first impression as an original superhero tactics title that feels fresh, tight, and responsive. The turn-based battle system controls well and is easy to pick up, while also being so confident in its smooth player induction that things quickly start getting spicy. The roster of cape-less heroes all look, sound, and play satisfyingly distinct from one another and make choosing your four heroes for a given mission a daunting task. Players who like their turn-based XCOM-like titles to be lean, mean, and brain-meltingly precise will be sucked in for the first six-to-nine hours. After that, the tactical puzzles give way to what are essentially trial-and-error horde-survival missions that betray this title’s ambitions of doing anything interesting with the systems or story.

Conscript will drag you into the mud, but the exhausting fight out is worth it.

With an incredibly colourful and infectious art style, fun combat, clever puzzles, and a relatable narrative about burnout and escapism, Dungeons of Hinterberg is one 2024's most captivating experiences.

Perhaps I shouldn’t have been so surprised at the quality of Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus. It does, after all, feature members of the same team that impressed with their Metroid fan game AM2R, before Nintendo politely (I guess) asked them not to. Arguably one of Nintendo’s smartest moves yet given the results we have now, a bright and beautiful adventure that puts signature Metroidvania pathfinding and action to better use as a clever little blossom within an equally clever world. It’s a pure delight from start to finish, one that deserves all the attention amongst a sea of highly regarded titles already defining 2024, that captures the spirit of old-school action titles and stands out with unique visual palette. It is, in a word, breathtaking.

While it might seem like I actively dislike Flintlock, that’s not the case– the truth is far worse. The reality is that I just don’t have particularly strong opinions on the game, purely because it hasn’t left much of an impression on me, negative or otherwise. The setting and mythos that A44 created has potential, and I can see the makings of something worthwhile in a handful of the systems, but this attempt hasn’t landed. There’s nothing here that’s outwardly terrible or broken, it’s just lacking life in many vital facets. Even if I were to excuse the shoehorned Soulslike systems thrown into the mix, there’s still no compelling reason to play The Siege of Dawn.

I spoke in my preview about Anger Foot having that special something that makes games like Hotline Miami so addictive and multiple hours and many, many doors later, I stand by my early claim. The simple, tight gameplay moves at a frankly ridiculous pace, and the constant barrage of new elements keeps you experimenting to move just that little bit faster. The bosses are a bit hit-and-miss, and the insanity could’ve been reigned in a tad here and there, but that hardly gets in the way of this blisteringly good time. And hey, even if it did, it’s nothing that a bit of sole food won’t fix.

Removing all stressful systems and leaving you with nothing but relaxing vibes and your own creativity, I can’t think of a better way to describe Dystopika than being a playable lo-fi playlist. Given a set of simple tools to create and shape my own visually impressive cyberpunk megacity, I melted into a somewhat meditative state, getting lost in the neon lights and enveloping fog. The directionless approach certainly won’t be for everyone, but it absolutely spoke to me. To come back on the regular, I will need more content, but a roadmap from the developer promises more to come, so it looks like my career in futuristic architecture and city planning is just beginning.

The move to virtual reality strengthens what makes MADiSON an effective scare machine, while shining a light on its poor design choices and slightly wonky VR implementation.

Bungie has been promising the world to us with Destiny 2: The Final Shape and has proven that competent and cohesive story writing is something that is no longer on the cards for Destiny 2. While the story is quite disappointing, there are at least steps in the right direction in a game design sense to make the game feel better to play.

Luigi, the loveable scaredy-cat that he is, returns for another outing that holds up well in its transition from 3DS to Switch. Despite being a straight port without any new features, it remains a gorgeous and inventive world worth exploring for old and new fans alike.

Elden Ring’s Shadow of the Erdtree DLC has more meat on the bones than many full releases, and if you miss the beauty and punishment of the base game then the Shadow Realm beckons.

With a cracking setting and emotional narrative that’s expertly brought to life by fantastic voice acting and writing, Still Wakes the Deep is a solid horror title that falls short of greatness due to its generic gameplay and limited scare factor.

There’s simply nothing else on the market right now like this series – a tonally unhinged pop-cosmopolitan-apocrypha-anime-apocalyptic JRPG that plays like Pokemon on steroids. Just like the best SMT games, its plot is rich as syrup and just as opaque. Read too close into the nonsensical jumble of mythological creatures and themes and you’re sure to be nauseated. However, supposing you can appreciate the excess of everything and have played a few turned-based RPGs before, Vengeance is simply the most approachable and engrossing core Shin Megami Tensei game currently on the market and the best way to check out this weirdo series.

While it’s commendable that OTXO attempts to freshen up the top-down shooter genre by mixing in roguelike qualities and a time-bending mechanic, the result, unfortunately, feels at odds with itself.

RKGK / Rakugaki offers a visually stunning world with great music but struggles with slow pacing, flat interactions, and frustrating gameplay mechanics. The game has potential, but it needs more polish and variety to truly shine.

Where most Mario games will leave a smiling impression between bouts of frustration, this Paper Mario entry wants you to be laughing out loud as well. I’m just worried that the humour might not carry everyone to the finish line in light of repetition, laborious backtracking and uninteresting combat. But there’s no denying that this remake is polished to the smoothest presentable sheen, leaving a first impression I still love, even though it burned me out long before the credits.

An unapologetically cinematic descent into the darkest parts of the human mind, Indika is a unique and crunchy little experiment that comes alive in its ideas and tone if not always its gameplay.

It is a masterclass in vibes, the kind of immersive experience games with a small country’s worth of budgets can only ever try to clumsily emulate. That is of course if you’re open to what POOLS is trying to do, no doubt some will find its lack of explicit systems or goals frustrating or outright boring. Fortunately, I’m a sicko and this kind of slow-burn, ambient horror is exactly what I want from interactive experiences. As I began to piece together my understanding of events in the game through stray imagery and implications, jumping at shadows and straining my ears for an attack that never came, I realised I had drowned somewhere along the way in POOLS.

Paper Trail is a perfect example of a simple but engaging mechanic done well. Its difficulty is spicy enough to make you feel like a moderate origami genius, but not so difficult that you want to throw your crudely crafted swan into the fiery pits of hell. Folding reality itself may perhaps have lent itself to a bit more metastory meat, but a chill colourful aesthetic and a nice feeling of momentum should be more than enough to sate the average puzzle fan.

Which is the overarching tale of Senua’s Saga– for almost everything it does well, there is a better counterpart in its predecessor, the remaining new additions never fully realised. It is painstakingly crafted yet thoroughly unengaging, its ruminations on the human condition are not unwelcome but presented with unearned profundity and housed in gameplay that is apathetic to the player at best. Senua’s Sacrifice was a crunchy experience but, in its limitations, and focus, it blossomed into a striking, contained reflection of emotions through systems. Conversely, Senua’s Saga is undeniably gorgeous and well intentioned, but exhaustively preoccupied with its own reflection.

David Lynch would be proud of Lorelei and the Laser Eyes. It’s wild, clever and compelling in the best of ways, absurd in its visual style and challenging in its puzzles. Do not let this one pass you by.

There is a special category in my heart for a game that offers a precise and calculated afternoon of good clean fun, and Little Kitty, Big City is an ideal fit for such a thing. The kind of game that you whip out to engage with loved ones who may not be all that close to gaming, to show them that the space is not just gloomy headlines and violence-blaming – it can be full of wonder and innocent charm. If you are a cat lover, you will love this game. Even if you are not, I challenge you to play this game and resist the urge to crack a smile.

As a successor to the S.W.A.T. games and tickling a strategic itch that Rainbow Six hasn’t scratched in years, Ready or Not nails the tension and tactical satisfaction that this genre prides itself on. Its single-player Commander mode is one of the better ‘training’ modes for a hardcore multiplayer game in years, though the wobbly AI can lead to many frustrating failures. With friends or a like-minded community, there’s probably no other tactical co-op game this engaging or evocative right now. It’s just a damn shame that the game’s matchmaking does nothing to nurture this experience.

Sand Land manages the tough task of translating an enjoyable story without overdoing the open-world mechanics in the process. It’s rough in places but is a respectful adaptation of Toriyama’s work and a pleasant experience throughout.

Stellar Blade is collage filtered through kaleidoscope, its myriad influences bleeding together in a neon swirl that produces vibrant new colours and dull familiar ones at an uneven pace. When it chooses to use its building blocks to reach new heights it’s a dizzying achievement in combat presentation and approachability, with EVE’s toolset fun and varied enough to carry the weight of the game’s lesser components. It leaves you wanting to see what else this studio could accomplish, even if they’ve gotten this far on borrowed wings.

While Harold Halibut doesn’t quite hit the heights it sets out to reach, you have to admire Slow Bros.’ unwavering commitment to its vision it spent 14 years bringing to life. Unfortunately, Harold Halibut’s stop-motion visuals do the majority of the heavy lifting, with the game’s repetitive and shallow gameplay reducing the overall experience to a tedious trudge through underwater space.

TMNT Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants is a fun diversion for any fan like me that missed it the first time around. I didn’t mind it, despite its obvious flaws, but this console port should have done more. I’ll happily acknowledge that the original team behind the Wrath of the Mutants arcade cabinet did a solid job at the time to rekindle much of what made the originals so fun. It’s just, given the modern world we live in where Shredder’s Revenge exists, the timing on this port is unfortunate.

As baseball games go, MLB: The Show 24 is the only team on the field to choose from but handles its license wonderfully well. No doubt long time players will have their gripes with some of the minor changes here or there, that’s a given when yearly titles constantly attempt to evolve, but if you’re like me and want to experience a baseball game for the first time, this is a no-brainer choice. It’s also reflective of what sports titles should be aiming for; a game that isn’t throwing the microtransactions at you in every menu and that treats the history of the sport with respect while sharing it to a larger audience. There’s still space to evolve further, and there will always be another yearly cycle, but the San Diego Studio team are putting in the work and that should be applauded.

As Tales of Kenzera reaches its natural conclusions and the woes of its crunchier challenges fall away, it’s hard to not be happy in the afterglow. Here’s a game that, while mechanically rather safe, takes huge personal and cultural swings, infusing the genre and industry writ large with almost singular emotional reflections and broader, deeply necessary, creative visions. If this is your genre, you’ll have a blast with its tight platforming and expressive combat, but even if it’s not, bite down and give it a go. We deserve more games like Tales of Kenzera: ZAU.

Broken Roads is a gorgeous Aussie world undone by incurious writing, ambitious but poorly implemented ideas, and unstable performance issues.

The reward for my perseverance with Goblin Stone would be a well-narrated bit of storybook exposition and perhaps a new combat class or weapon tier, before heading back to base to find missing inventory items, goblins, and stats being reset to the impossibly low 0/0/0. It’s just boggling stuff, making for an arguably unplayable late game that kills any curiosity and goodwill that the first impressions made. A disappointment, as there is genuinely a heap of interesting ideas here repurposed from turn-based indie greats, but Goblin Stone forces its implementation onto rails with no fanfare and no incentive or reward for player experimentation or even investment.

Buckshot Roulette is an oddly addicting beast. What starts as a series of frustrating dice rolls quickly progresses into a gripping, sinister experience that commands you to keep at it and master its dark payload. It quickly became a game I wanted to run in a window alongside other things, an interstitial challenge I can summon at will. The horrifying maw of the Dealer loomed in the darkness, and I was hungry to keep finding creative ways to force feed him buckshot.

The thesis of Dragon’s Dogma’s sequel appears to be that the original was ahead of its time, and indeed will likely draw audiences back to the imaginative original. Dragons Dogma 2 is a game filled with genius ideas about how fantasy roleplaying can be turned into a video game. It requires unlearning much of what we take for granted in fantasy action adventures but rewards this with unique and dynamic world events that will constantly surprise players. It is a masterful sequel that polishes every element of its first draft, with the technology to make those ideas into a seamless adventure marked by heart-pounding threats and euphoric discoveries.

Open Roads is a journey I’m glad I went on, though the disappointing circumstances of its development do feel as if they loom over its final form. As a complete package there’s something to love, something to respect and admire, with two lead actors elevating the material well beyond what many others might have achieved. It’s just a shame it couldn’t have been bigger, bolder in its impact and exploration of its themes and its mysteries. Maybe it needed something darker, something stranger to lean into, but the results stand as a simple yet effective road trip that’s worth taking for an hour or two.

Broadside Games’ Bears In Space is an anomaly in the sense that it is like many things, but there is really nothing that is truly like it. As a first-person shooter, it is a chimera that gleefully gobbles up facets of so many other classic games – not just shooters – to create a girthy gameplay experience that can change at a moment’s notice to deliver something completely out of leftfield without giving the player mechanical whiplash. Yes, a moment ago you were casually shooting robots – but this is the Virtua Cop-esque shooting section. And a little later we will do the fishing minigame, okay? On paper it would read like the scribblings of a madman, but in execution it all ties together beautifully into a medley of frenetic fun.

Nintendo has a knack for finding brilliant new ways to keep an existing formula fresh, and in the case of Princess Peach: Showtime! they have managed to take the concept of a simple platformer and spin it on its axis to create something varied and engaging. The Showtime format offers a fantastic opportunity to explore the capabilities of Peach as a character, allowing her to literally slip into multiple roles and wear a myriad of hats – crushing each and every one she attempts. I came away hopeful to see more in future – though I will admit I’d love to see a dedicated Mighty Peach game, if they want to explore that Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker spin-off route at some point. Please? Nintendo?

Rise of the Rōnin's open world is vast and content-rich, but it's a case of quantity over quality that's only partially rescued by the unambitious but technically adequate combat.

Alone in the Dark marks a fine attempt at contemporary survival horror mechanics but is completely adrift with an incoherent narrative, dull design, and baffling tonal choices.

In this devilish game of thrones, you scheme or suffer a terrible insult. And maybe put a few friendships on ice.

Akka Arrh is a relic from a lost time, making itself quite at home with a modern player through overwhelming visuals and a gameplay loop that seeps into your gray matter.

There is a very specific person who will find this game utterly compelling and won’t be able to put it down. This tale of industrialisation colliding with culture and superstition in pre-WW1 Poland has every confidence in itself and begs for your curiosity as you get to know the mysterious Wiktor Szulski and his hunt for emotion-hungry demons. This game is an immediate, though flawed, all-timer and belongs in the Polish canon of interactive literature for generations to come.

Penny’s Big Breakaway manages to create an enjoyable platforming experience, despite some glaring flaws. As a package there’s still plenty of entertainment to be had, a handful of cutscenes do a solid job of telling the tale and a banging soundtrack nicely backs the colour on screen. It does lose some of its magic towards the end, when all the creative ideas run low its the boss battles that carry it through, but despite my worst frustrations I still had a fun time here. It’s an experience I wish had a bigger backing, maybe some voice overs or a bolder overarching story to Penny’s adventure. Ultimately, Evening Star’s debut doesn’t hit my lofty expectations, but if colourful worlds and a bit of old-school shenanigans are your thing, you’d do well to give Penny and her sentient yo-yo a crack.

Riding the momentum of the past two entries, 2K24 brings with it enough new content and meaningful changes to easily be considered the best wrestling game on the market today.

While personally I don’t think Brother: A Tale of Two Sons Remake feels like an essential release, it’s still a welcome and faithful reimagining. Its gentle pace and dark themes are sure to inspire many to spend a few hours traipsing across its beautiful magical land, even if I believe that those dark themes don’t ultimately crystallise into something truly cohesive. The visual makeover is at least profound and breathes new life into the title, and this is certainly the definitive way to experience the tragic yet heartwarming tale of our two suffering siblings.

Persona 3 Reload successfully captures the wonder of Persona 3 and injects the contemporary stylings earned through Persona 5 into the star child of the series. The story holds up well, the remade music and visuals are fantastic, and the systems are as engaging as ever. Against the backdrop of Persona 5 and its various releases and iterations, Persona 3 Reload stands as a wonderfully sensible, well-structured experience that will have you hooked for all 80 hours of its runtime.

Oblivion Override is an easy recommend to fans of rogue-likes, robots and smashing the shit out of stuff. It might not have the staying power of some of the genre’s heavy-weights, but what’s on offer is top-notch, fun to play, and a great first showing from the studio.

Perhaps Ubisoft's most mediocre new IP launch to date, eliciting neither excitement nor offence.

Crafted with intelligence and brimming with chaotic good vibes, Helldivers 2 sets the kind of tone many others in the action space should take notice of, overcoming some early tech issues by being a sheer delight to play.

Set against beautiful landscapes populated by a cast of wickedly cool deities, Diets and Deities is a short multicultural rhythm game which seeks to make your body move, your tastebuds dance, and your heart engage with its casual gameplay experience combining deep story themes exploring cultural preservation and consumption.

Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden is a compelling tale of love and loss brought to life by phenomenal writing and performances with solid combat to boot, and it serves as a reminder that good storytelling remains a crucial element of video games.

A repetitive and dull gameplay loop that’s thematically allergic to the game’s cast of misfits only begins to describe how heartbreakingly disappointing Kill the Justice League truly is. Rocksteady should’ve died a hero, instead, it’s lived long enough to see itself become the villain.

Mario vs Donkey Kong remains an enjoyable platform-puzzler as it did back on the Game Boy Advance, freshened up and featuring a small number of modern and welcome additions.

Ultros is one of those rare beasts that ticks many, many boxes for what makes a game memorable, right from the second its title screen sucker punches you with its prismatic panache.

Turnip Boy proves he's no one-hit wonder, taking a slightly different direction to his debut yet still hitting all the right notes. Fun to play and enjoyable to master, it’s a creative action-shooter that shouldn’t be missed.

Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy is the essential final chapter to the Ace Attorney courtroom experience. It's a hilarious, heartwarming, and mind-bending experience that will leave you cheering at every triumph and gasping at every ridiculous twist.

Tekken 8 is as equally ridiculous as it is sensible. It makes crazy, entertaining choices for its story while also opening its doors to a more contemporary, wider audience through some systems that increase the game’s approachability.

Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth wears its title on its sleeve, a seemingly endless amount of content to explore wrapped in an emotional and entertaining story. It’s Like A Dragon at its very, unique best.

A harsh yet engaging narrative drives Bahnsen Knights down the streets of hell, flanked by vivid violence and stomach-churning scenarios. It’s short, but it packs a punch all the same.

Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader not only promises, but delivers the very thing it was designed to be – a meaty, authentic Warhammer 40k game that feels right at home in its RPG trappings.

Another Code: Recollection is a solid repackage of two classic adventure titles that manages to celebrate the Cing games despite some lacklustre puzzles and clumsy camera controls.

Taking the world established within Gold Club: Nostalgia and pivoting to the platforming genre, The Cub is a continuation of a stunning visual style and a contemplative narrative that feels more topical than ever.

Polished, functional, and visually stunning, The Last of Us Part II Remastered is every bit the product it sets out to be, betraying the game’s art and dealing a blow to its dignity in the process.

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is an expertly executed series revival that displays the best of Ubisoft Montpellier’s pedigree while pushing the action-platformer to new highs.

The Night is Grey is a serviceable point-and-click experience that sees its gorgeous art style and animations overshadowed by a disappointing ending and frustrating puzzles.

While Frontier of Pandora's open world is an audio-visual feast, the formulaic structure of its gameplay and the tools it give you to wade through it feels far too familiar to make it worth visiting for long.

Iron Man VR is an achievement in fully realising a Marvel hero power fantasy and is a must-try experience for any interested Quest 2 owner.

Knuckle Sandwich is a unique and stunningly vibrant and gorgeous pixel-animated RPG that will test your resolve with its mini-games and turn-based sequences.

Cavern of Dreams may not reach the heights of the juggernauts that inspired its creation, but it still provides a solid adventure with plenty of nostalgia.

This earnest, occasionally awkward epilogue to Tales of Arise isn’t essential, but it packs enough delights to reward returning fans.

On the pitch, EA Sports FC 24 provides a promising foundation for EA to build on thanks to some strong gameplay improvements, but off the pitch it still needs a bit more love.

Proving that we can all get along, KarmaZoo is a unique co-op platformer that focuses more on altruistic actions than personal glory. With gorgeous presentation and a set of fun cooperative mechanics, this is an online experience that breaks moulds and makes you feel all warm and fuzzy.

I’m ultimately glad Super Mario RPG exists. I’m even glad it exists as it is here, a pitch-perfect remake that drags one of the stranger bits of Nintendo’s history into the light, allowing new audiences the chance to experience it, new RPG players a welcoming and family-friendly gateway into the genre, and fans of the original a lovingly restored version on modern hardware. It’s good, very good even. For my gold coins, a romantic ideal would have made it great, smoothing some of the edges for modern audiences while sharpening others to give the game the same impact it would have had nearly 30 years ago. Super Mario RPG is beautiful, entertaining, reverent and a little too effortless.

Enjoyed in the same vein as a Saturday morning cartoon, Persona 5 Tactica is welcoming to all and has a pleasantly casual air about it. As a game of two halves, dialogue and turn-based tactical battles, there is little fluff standing in the way of players assembling their team of three Phantom Thieves as they gun their way out of the Metaverse. While Tactica makes no big mistakes, it forgoes bringing new ideas to the table and mostly presents a mundane experience for genre fans.

Though treading over familiar ground, Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name holds enough payoffs and enjoyable moments to make this shorter trip an emotionally worthwhile one.

Regardless of how many hours you’ve sunk into League of Legends over the years, whether it be hundreds, thousands, or perhaps even none at all, Song of Nunu: A League Legends Story is a game worthy of your attention. It’s a roughly eight to twelve hour adventure with an abundance of heart, with a charming duo you’ll quickly fall in love with. The platforming may occasionally frustrate with its stiff and sometimes unreliable nature, but the engaging atmosphere and pleasing visuals of the Freljord and the gameplay that constantly shifts between exploration, puzzle solving and combat are sure to keep you entertained until credits roll.

The team at Outerloop Games exudes confidence and style with Thirsty Suitors, a delightfully approachable palate cleanser that anybody can enjoy in this year of incredible releases. With its heart on its sleeve, a charming cast, and constant nailing of intimacy and culture, Thirsty Suitors comfortably ollies its way into your heart and makes for one of the year’s best depictions of desire, culture, and vulnerability. Jala’s skateboarding odyssey of growth is worth beholding, even when the surrounding gameplay doesn’t quite meet the standard of its writing and visuals.

Quantum Error is a flawed, frustrating and unfun slog that collapses under the weight of its lofty ambitions to blend multiple genres and mechanics on a limited budget and developing skillset.

The Invincible absolutely looks the part, jampacked with stunning alien vistas and a brilliant retrofuturistic aesthetic, but its premise can't quite maintain the momentum of suspense and intrigue generated in its opening act.

Finally, a Switch game that gets why motion control can be a blast under the right circumstances. WarioWare: Move it! hits all the high notes and continues a fine tradition in ridiculousness.

Jusant is a gorgeous and relaxing puzzler with well-design climbing mechanics that evolve over the course of a very tight five-hour runtime.

Creating a sequel to a 13-year-old cult favourite that moves into a new genre, creates connections to a shared universe and introduces a new protagonist is a significant gamble. If Alan Wake II was released and managed to be ‘good,’ many would see that as a win for Remedy, but this game is so much more than that. Unashamedly strange and wonderfully unique, Alan Wake II is one of the finest survival horror games I’ve played, and it’s one of the best games I’ve played in recent memory. An insane narrative, told from the perspective of two equally intriguing characters that are brought to life with convincing performances, accompanied by tense, engaging gameplay that evolves over the course of the game. Without hesitation, I can say that the 13-year wait was worth it in every way.

An impressively intuitive control scheme and accurate ball physics hint at an enjoyable tennis experience, but a lack of meaningful content and a busted online mode end up costing Tennis On-Court the game, set and match.

It is very easy to get swept up by the plastic fantastic iconic imagery of the Hot Wheels franchise, with a clear dedication to true-to-life model cars, this game is a lot of fun if you don’t take it too seriously. Overall I enjoyed my time playing as multiple different vehicles, including bikes, however, my inner child may have found it repetitive outside of the custom building content. This game is sure to bring smiles to many small gamers’ faces as they zoom around the tracks, and I truly believe that is where this game will shine – with its intended audience, children.

Ghostrunner 2 doubles down on everything that made the original so popular, and expands upon it in every conceivable way. Even if the story didn’t quite suck me in, the beauty of the stylish setting and the impeccable finesse of the challenging, fluid gameplay absolutely did. Ghostrunner 2 is the work of a team that you can tell know they’re onto a good thing, who also know that if you’re going to make a game about a slick, wall-running agent of death, you’re honour bound to make it cool as shit.

Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol. 1 is a comprehensive and considered omnibus that, despite dearly missing its creator's input, makes for a definitive way to play one of gaming's greatest series.

Super Mario Bros. Wonder provides an experience so brimming with personality, innovation, creativity and charm that it thrusts the 2D perspective back into the centre of the way we think about Mario games, and if Nintendo sticks with this formula and builds on it, 2D Mario games are never going to have to play second fiddle ever again.

Repeatedly reliving Armageddon may not sound like an appealing prospect, but when it looks and sounds this pretty, I can understand. The audiovisual identity of Wizard with a Gun may be its strongest ally, but that shouldn’t discount the enjoyable gameplay loop and inventive combat options. The mismatched difficulty, unenthusiastic base building and some occasional technical hiccups stop me from fully investing in this world, but I certainly appreciate the more bite-sized survival offering that Galvanic has provided.

If you didn’t catch the Payday bug with the first two releases it’s unlikely you’ll feel the bite with Payday 3, with so much of the game relying on what worked last time around. But if you are a curious first-timer, then Payday 3 is worth at least checking out. Thankfully the game’s launch matchmaking kinks have been ironed out, because Payday’s core cooperative chaos is still a damn fun time with the right squad. But with only eight heists, frustrating progression and some dated gameplay, this heister can’t help but feel a little underwhelmed.

Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is a masterful example of passionate game creation, blending a white-knuckle comic book adventure with the beautiful pathos of being human. It is sensational. It is spectacular. It is Spider-Man. (Two).

While the gameplay isn’t going to leave much of an impact, the twists and turns of Asya’s dramatic journey through war-torn Europe is surprisingly well told, and is further heightened by its unique aesthetic and satisfying soundtrack.

Saltsea Chronicles crafts a striking storybook world and populates it with deeply human characters on a fantastical journey into the unknown.

Lords of The Fallen delivers on the macabre, challenge, and exploration hallmarks of the Souls-like genre. It thrives in the eerie shadows of its obvious inspirations and shines a light on its best features by reimplementing most of them with the benefit of the sexy set dressing brought to life in Unreal 5. While the combat often frustrates when foes begin to crowd, Hexworks seems aware of this with its placement of enemies and world layout. Venturing between the living and the dead with the lamp transcends novelty. Surviving with a partner in tow is also exhilarating. If you can make it past the dense player onboarding that assumes you’ve beaten Dark Souls, then you’re likely to experience the best imagining of a Souls sequel this side of FromSoft.

Smart puzzle design, stylish visuals, and a charming story make Midnight Girl a great option for those wanting an intriguing adventure experience.

With nothing more than a thumbstick and a face button, Cocoon demonstrates an elite level of game design and mechanical proficiency that few others in the genre could ever hope to achieve.

A relatively quaint expansion that doesn’t really strive to do much beyond adding some Pokémon and telling a small, nice story. Still, it is victim to the horrendous technical woes that plague the Generation 9 games, as well as some strange balance choices that make the early periods of the expansion feel quite weird.

Assassin's Creed Mirage is a gorgeously crafted love letter to the memory of the franchise, establishing a vibrant new world but coming up a little short on ideas to match it.

Turn 10 has displayed its technical proficiency and understanding of the sim-racing genre once more with this stellar entry into the Forza Motorsport series. It is a shame that an always-online requirement casts a shadow that looms over what is an otherwise genre-defining game.

A pixel art treasure-hunting adventure title with a pirate theme and boatload of charm, Bilkins’ Folly gets lost and digs holes in the wrong spots, but ultimately finds the booty.