If you want a game that lets you take a club to glorious heights or just go on a one-man sabotage mission to ruin Manchester United, then this is by far the most refined, in-depth and yet most approachable version Sports Interactive has come up with to date.

A wonderful piece of entertainment, and easily the best adventure game since the days of "Grim Fandango."

It takes the inspirational level design of the original, improves upon the atmosphere, and makes the whole thing so much more fun thanks to the hugely refined control and camera system. Far from being a tired, cynical cash-in exercise of a brand past its prime, Tomb Raider Anniversary goes back to its roots and shows how remakes should be done.

It's unashamedly one of the PSP's brightest, most endearing, beguiling and long-lasting games, and its protracted residency in our PSP slot this month speaks as a louder recommendation than any number of orthodox, adulatory adjectives.

For all its grandeur, it'll simply feel too much like hard work for anyone who wasn't already sold on the concept - a timeless classic should have more universal appeal. It's a triumphant achievement nevertheless, a just reward for anyone who's ever lost their heart to an RTS - a love letter to the fans.

Granted, there will always be those for whom story-led gaming and turn-based battles are a complete turn-off, and for those people, Persona 3 is unlikely to be a Road to Damascus experience. For the rest of us, though, this is one of the finest RPGs on the PS2 - and that, in itself, is a huge accolade.

It's a substantial undertaking, too, with breadth as well as depth, and with a control system that demonstrates the Wiimote's capabilities more fully than its direct competitors.

With an online mode that actually works and a wealth of new goodies to round up (not to mention the lure of Gamerpoints making us more likely to push for the higher ranks or actually play through arcade mode for once), we love it even more. Best fighting game on the 360, easily. Best fighting game of this generation, easily. Best version of this sterling beat-'em-up, easily.

It gives you well over a hundred weapons to try out, masses of difficulty levels, and explosions so big that you'll worry they may crack the front of your television. Earth Defence Force 2017 isn't a complex cocktail. It's a Molotov cocktail.

Another deeply professional, personality-filled and progressive take on the shooter from Valve. In a cultural landscape that has as many zombie touchstones as ours, it takes something special to make them shamble appealingly, and Left 4 Dead, both literally and metaphorically, makes them run.

Whatever anyone tells you, you're never too old to enjoy Pokémon. Anyone who says otherwise is an idiot, a liar or possibly both. No, the immense depth, inescapable charms and boundless personalisation found here is enough to put most other commercial releases to shame, with the new battle mechanics making Diamond and Pearl even more covertly complex than the series has previously been.

Whatever anyone tells you, you're never too old to enjoy Pokémon. Anyone who says otherwise is an idiot, a liar or possibly both. No, the immense depth, inescapable charms and boundless personalisation found here is enough to put most other commercial releases to shame, with the new battle mechanics making Diamond and Pearl even more covertly complex than the series has previously been.

One perfectly formed, endlessly absorbing, regularly amusing word game. If you're looking for some brainial stimulation, find logic puzzles like Sudoku and Slitherlink a trifle soulless, and have a nasty 'untreatable' case of leprosy or beriberi, then I really can't recommend Bookworm Adventures enough.

Symphony of the Night presents exquisite design, extraordinary scope, aesthetic coherence and transcendent elegance mostly unmatched elsewhere on Xbox Live Arcade, or anywhere else for that matter.

There's absolutely no doubt that The Mega Quiz is the strongest instalment in the Buzz franchise to date...arguably the first time that the balance of questions, rounds and presentation has been so close to perfection.

By starting with a great control and camera system, building on that with excellent combat and a wonderful spin on Ico's platform adventuring, and then topping it off with a decent storyline, Naughty Dog has cooked up one of the most relentlessly entertaining, fat-free games to emerge in ages. Topped off with the most stunning use of the PS3's underused technical prowess yet, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune is, for my money, the first must-have PlayStation 3 title.

We're just happy to see a flagship game for a modern system that's about running from left to right and jumping over things. New ideas are great, great old ideas are better, and LittleBigPlanet has both: it's the future and the past of videogames, rolled into one.

On top of all this timeless goodness, the icing on the cake is the remodelled, sharpened-up graphics (with character art from Udon Comics), new special effects, online play in every mode, some evil achievements to go for, and, of course, online leaderboards.

This is utter loveliness, embodying everything the DS has come to mean to me. Puzzles, high spirits, and an embracing of beautiful 2D artwork over complicated 3D fuss.

An ode to joy is exactly what Peggle is. It's a constant series of rewards, slapping you on the back and tickling you affectionately under the chin for what you achieve by design and accident alike - the purest of celebrations of what videogames are all about.

Gorgeous, complex, well-written and beautifully presented, Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions has been polished and refined to make it into the best version of one of the best games of the 1990s.

It succeeds not only for being consistently spectacular, but for the way it has been crafted into something that keeps you engaged right to the very end.

It's an instantly appealing refinement of smart ideas, served up with gorgeous production values and back-to-basics strategic muscle. It's intelligently structured, so you can lose yourself for hours or indulge in a quick twenty minute skirmish, while the multiplayer mode is an absolute monster if you're willing to submit to its co-operative style.

In every other respect, Super Stardust HD is an absolute star, the jewel in the crown of the PlayStation Store and quite possibly the best purists' shooter to appear on console since the legendary Geometry Wars.

PGR4 wrings the best yet out of an already scintillating arcade racing game. As a swansong for Activision-bound Bizarre Creations, it's more than we could have wished for, and a daunting prospect for whichever developer Microsoft asks to follow it.

Killzone 2 is a taut and muscular game, a shooter that gives back more than you put in, provided you have the intestinal fortitude. It may take its time revealing its true depths and pleasures, but the journey is well worth taking. Between Killzone 2's unforgiving grit and Resistance 2's alien-bursting excess, the PS3 finally has both ends of the shooter spectrum covered in grand style.

Despite sharing the exact same innards as Guitar Hero II, Legends of Rock is, in every conceivable way, a better product than its predecessors. It's better presented, better put together, more professional, more complete.

Despite sharing the exact same innards as Guitar Hero II, Legends of Rock is, in every conceivable way, a better product than its predecessors. It's better presented, better put together, more professional, more complete.

For your 400 points you get an absolute nailed-down classic that is, in many respects, just as much fun today as it was back when it was released.

The interface is instantly intuitive, while menu choices are always clear and easy to find.

Spruced up from the PSP and offered for 10 quid, it's probably the best release on Microsoft's clever little service all year.

Time does the best job of muffling hyperbole but today, years after we first encountered Disgaea, we still feel like shouting from the rooftops.

In some ways, it's the closest we've come to the enormous social novel from the period after that which Empire chronicles: it's a Tolstoy-esque War and Peace of a game. Its problems may be the inevitable problems of trying something with such sheer scope. As such, if you want the breathtaking vision of the game, you have to accept the flaws in the details - for now, at least.

An all-time great.

In single-player and in co-op, Saints Row 2 is one of the most ridiculous and enjoyable games of the year. Some will dismiss it as GTA's "gangsta" offshoot, but they're missing the point; with its immense scope, fun physics and focus on entertainment over realism or grit, Saints Row is what GTA would have become if Rockstar North had followed Vice City to its pimpin' conclusion.

You can't really fault it for value, because, for GBP 1.99, the few hours of brilliant entertainment you get here are well worth it. A big, warming, chain reaction of delight that you'll want to revisit again and again.

A game that commands your attention, ruthlessly hauling your eyes into the flatscreen while tickling your brain with impeccable track design and spine-snapping speeds.

The game also does a lovely job of framing your relationship with other players and nurturing them.

A happy medium between the mind-blowing excess of its parent game and its somewhat compact Episode One offspring. While initially lacking in gameplay novelty or many truly 'new' elements that fans always hanker for, it more than makes up for this with its consistently engaging narrative tricks, refined set-pieces and a staggering climax.

One of the most interesting and delightful things Valve's ever done, but also one of its least fulfilling. If only we had our own portal gun to bridge the gap to the first infusion of new content, perhaps we could forget it.

For the price, and for the quality of offer, Tomb Raider: Anniversary is easily one the best games released all year. Blessed with an excellent control system and chock full of masterfully designed levels, as far as puzzle-based action adventures go, there have been none finer for years.

Gears of War remains a triumph. It is an almost relentless march of unpretentious, cartoon violence that serves as a satisfyingly brainless alternative to the complexity of its contemporaries. Whether played alone or with a friend, it's essential gaming.

A few extra credits at your discretion are no bad thing when you want to sample the delights that latter levels might bring, so in this case I'm happy to agree with SNK's decision to leave credit allocation to the prudence of the punter.

Boom Blox is brilliant alone, fantastic with friends, a superb addition to the puzzle genre and a game that will make you glad you own a Wii. Here's hoping it's only the first of its kind.

Otherwise, GRID is a great success: the single-player is varied without being confusing; the online multiplayer supports 12 players and damage modelling, reducing the number of first-corner pile-ups; tracks and cars are well chosen and recreated; and Flashback allows you to race with the same determination on lap three as you did on lap one, mitigating risk in a manner of which other racing game developers will soon be envious.

A hidden gem in the PSP catalogue. Beautiful, understated and relaxing, this is to normal "marble puzzle" games what ICO was to normal platform games.

Moria is an evolutionary expansion in which Turbine has honed what it does best: storytelling, an enjoyable, constantly changing levelling curve, and atmosphere in big, rocky buckets.

The real star, however, is Horde, a ballistic assault on your worst score-rush tendencies that transforms maps into Gears-flavoured Mutant Storm: weapons spawn, then a wave of enemies hits, then more weapons and then another, tougher, wave.

This is a ludicrous amount of excellent fun to get for free, and in that price bracket, it automatically gains an extra point on the Out-Of-Ten-o-Meter.

While it acts like a pre-order incentive, in actual fact, playing the Creature Creator, it absolutely justifies itself. Even if you never plan to play Spore, it's absolutely essential you play this.

This is yet another solid improvement over its predecessor that nudges the series back into "must buy" status, even if it sometimes feels more like the game is taking steps forward rather then leaps.

The bike pack on its own, included as standard in the Ultimate Box, adds yet more value, but even in the small details (i.e. adding 1080i support to the PS3 game post-launch) Criterion hasn't let its audience down. And yes, it has a restart option. Best of all, the game is still evolving through yet more DLC. It's just getting better and better, and deserves a score to match.

LostWinds is a great example of what can be achieved on WiiWare. By combining a few simple gesture-based controls within a tightly focused platform-puzzling framework, Frontier has created a mini-masterpiece at the first attempt.

The original Crysis may have given you the basic tools, but Warhead allows you to really use them, and while its previous titles made it clear that Crytek knew technology like few others, it's this strange off-shoot Warhead that proves it's no slouch when it comes to level design and set-pieces either.

The game, as a whole, does not just play to the most talented and devoted. Difficulty can now be adjusted when you fail a song, even if it's the middle song in a set-list. Faced with one of Guitar Hero's notorious difficulty spikes, of which there are a few here, the option to try again at a human level is very welcome.

But while Actionloop Twist has strong presentation and depth of content, it's the controls and Quest mode design that elevate it to essential status.

More or less every concern and complaint we had about the original game has been addressed, the new tracklist is very much to our taste (with 20 more free songs to come, remember), and with the rebalancing of difficulty, modes like Battle of the Bands and the No Fail modifier and Drum Trainer, Harmonix has completed the awkward job of broadening the game's appeal at both ends of the skill spectrum successfully. It's an excellent, measured sequel that should appeal to all.

Improving tenfold on its predecessor in almost every area, it not only belongs on the shopping list of existing Resistance fans, but those who were underwhelmed with the original will also want to check it out, and then fight for it on the internet.

The omission of online play aside, Geometry Wars 2 is everything you hoped it would be. It deftly builds on a simple framework without overloading it, and even finds room to make the core experience more varied and accessible to everyone.

A genuinely ground-breaking blockbuster in videogame history. There were moments playing GTA IV that I thought back to my initial experiences with games, and realised exactly how far we've come. There's never been anything quite like GTA IV in the world. That there makes me genuinely happy to be a gamer.

Fans of the caped crusader really shouldn't hesitate - this isn't just the best grown-up Batman game, it's the best superhero game, bar none.

It's a multi-tiered gameplay system that demands not only fast reactions, but also mind-bogglingly complex mental agility to take account of all the factors in play.

Rare are the games that have you muttering "Well, I didn't know that could happen!" after more than 30 hours, and the fact I could have written another 2000 words describing weird and wonderful moments you're best discovering for yourself is all the recommendation you should need.

The members of 2D Boy should be carried around in chariots while this glory lasts - because at some point, they're going to realise what a murderously high standard they've set for themselves, and run away forever.

Portal remains an absolutely fantastic game, a wonderfully constructed vignette of puzzles and gallows humour that everybody should play.

There hasn't been too much mucking about with the brilliant gameplay mechanics and superb physics that made the original Boom Blox so much fun.

A game that exemplifies so much of what commentators claim has died in the Japanese game industry. A blast of creative brilliance, both technically accomplished, strategically deep and infused with rare imagination, Bayonetta represents the pinnacle of its chosen niche. [JPN Import]

By some combination of cunning and magic, it makes you a child again. It helps you rediscover the bottomless fascination and joy you had in discovering the properties of string, or sand, or animals, or Newtonian physics for the very first time. It makes you free to play, and happy to make your own entertainment, for hours on end.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is quite simply a superb package, with neither single-player nor online feeling like it's been given short shrift.

This might be the most gripping tactics title I've played in getting on for a decade.

While it's a shame that the Xbox 360 experience doesn't do more to move the established template forwards on the multiplayer front, it would also be fairly nit-picky to allow such concerns to detract from the fact that Peggle was, and still is, a wonderful, maddeningly moreish gem of fuss-free game design. Every home should have one.

Packed with inventive ideas and one engaging sequence after another, it's a spirited, poignant and unsettling game that not only delivers a long-overduereturn to form, but reinvigorates horror adventures in the process.

Modern Warfare 2 balances the spectacle and silliness of its single-player campaign with a deep, enduring multiplayer core, carefully covering its bases for players of all persuasions. But there is no denying it seeks merely to build upon the successes of its forebear while doing very little to expand its scope or redefine them.

Modern Warfare 2 balances the spectacle and silliness of its single-player campaign with a deep, enduring multiplayer core, carefully covering its bases for players of all persuasions. But there is no denying it seeks merely to build upon the successes of its forebear while doing very little to expand its scope or redefine them.

Ubisoft Montreal has never been afraid to try new things, but after a few missteps with games like last year's Prince of Persia, perhaps the bravest thing it could have done with Assassin's Creed II was simply to make a classic open-world adventure, filled to the brim with things you want to do and the narrative motivation to continue doing them. The fact it's done so suggests we really should trust the studio when it says it's taken its lesson, and fills me with hope for the third game in the trilogy. In the meantime, we not only have the Assassin's Creed game we'd hoped for in the first place to play with, but one of the best open-world games of the year.

A masterful combination of serious strategy and cartoonish delights - and by adding mini-games, survival modes and a shop, PopCap is practically rubbing it in. The result is as fresh and accessible as Super Mario, and as refined and considered as Left 4 Dead, wading into another established genre and polishing the central ideas in a way that will make it a hard act to follow.

There's just nothing wrong with Guitar Hero 5: no horrible new art direction or gimmicky new features (3's guitar battles still haven't quite been forgiven), no backwards moves, no ill-advised changes to a winning formula.

It's stoic, uncompromising, difficult to get to know, but also deep, intriguingly disturbed and perversely rewarding. You can learn to love Demon's Souls like few other games in the world. But only if you're prepared to give yourself over to it. [JPN Import]

Laid end-to-end, you're looking at maybe as much as 100 hours of top-quality entertainment in Metroid Prime Trilogy. Although it's hardly been spoken of as a high-priority release by Nintendo, this could well be the finest single product it has released for the Wii. For all its quirks, Metroid Prime remains a landmark action series, and as such, owning it ought to be mandatory.

I can think of only a few instances where a new fighting game has broken onto the genre as such a strong contender, but with the Drive system in place BlazBlue is a genuine challenger for any fight fan's time.

With a super-easy Intern difficulty, the accessibility of the controls and the brilliance of the presentation, there's probably no better time for newcomers to jump in.

Turn 10 has sacrificed flash for a faultless 60 frames a second, and understood that in simulation, what you feel is far more important than what you see. It has diverted all of the 360's resources to giving you the smoothest, most believable, most physically rewarding drive you've ever had.

It's a game that will delight gamers old enough to recognise the classics it celebrates, while captivating those oblivious to its inspirations.

Whereas once we treated Left 4 Dead as a stopgap between Half-Lifes, this is no longer a weird little side project with modest expectations, and Valve is confident enough to play around with it, safe in the knowledge that you can trust your players. Left 4 Dead proved it. And whereas that game had a personality, this one is overflowing with it.

Whereas once we treated Left 4 Dead as a stopgap between Half-Lifes, this is no longer a weird little side project with modest expectations, and Valve is confident enough to play around with it, safe in the knowledge that you can trust your players. Left 4 Dead proved it. And whereas that game had a personality, this one is overflowing with it.

The Beatles were fascinated by the number nine. 09/09/09 is no coincidence. So it's only fitting that the game gets...

The Beatles were fascinated by the number nine. 09/09/09 is no coincidence. So it's only fitting that the game gets...

Having convincingly overtaken its main rival last year, FIFA 10 nevertheless consolidates its lead with great authority. Last year, I said FIFA feels like football, rewards football, and punishes football for football reasons. The difference between FIFA 09 and FIFA 10 is that the latter knows exactly where the former fell short of that, and makes up the distance in almost every case.

It may also be the only game you play this year where pulling the trigger makes you really feel something, and I can think of no greater compliment.

This really is the fighting game evolved to the level of artform, and while mastery can be a long, tough slog, it's also its own reward. There are few fighting games better.

It's wonderfully designed, justifies the price, and may end up being the best thing on Xbox Live Arcade all year. If you're in any doubt, there's even a trial version. Thud.

Few games can stand the test of time with such confidence, and whether your interest stems from its genre-defining significance or its reputation as an unforgettable game, you won't be disappointed by time spent on Monkey Island. Anyone who disagrees probably fights like a cow.

With a whole new 80-event campaign designed to showcase these new modes, along with a smattering of traditional races and fastest-lap challenges, Fury almost doubles the size of an already generous game and therefore thoroughly warrants its asking price. One of the best downloadable games available now has one of the best expansion packs.

Past the wordy stuff, the way the game is presented is second to none - there's a mix of animation and drawing styles in the cut-scenes and credits that evokes old-school LucasArts, and the in-game animation/design is kooky and amusing but rarely disturbing.

Tri is definitely the best way to introduce yourself to this incredibly involving and rewarding series.

Between the clever mission design, comedy storyline and imaginative drug-dealing angle, it represents many hours of play, all of which live up to its legacy.

Inside Story is absolutely a return to form.

Chaos Rising is about as generous an expansion as you could possibly want. The single-player mode could stand to be a lot bigger, but it's gone to incredible lengths to address the main complaints about Dawn of War II.

This is a restrained and worthy modern update that keeps the essentials clutter-free.

Highly addictive.

It's just a great pinball game, with intelligent table design that manages to pack in features without losing focus. I cherished the version I had for the homebrew GP32 handheld, so the sight of it resurrected once more for the PSP is a genuine joy.

Who knew that, locked in the time-honoured traditions of Super Mario Bros., one of the greatest co-op games ever was waiting to get out? Well, Shigeru Miyamoto did. In unleashing it, Nintendo hasn't moved its classic series forward one jot; it hasn't had to. But it has given it a riotous new lease of life.

It's a tightly designed adventure, in other words, and although I'm not willing to mention Winter of the Melodias and its season-switching intricacies in same breath as Link to the Past, Frontier's game certainly makes a decent My First Metroid, bringing the environment and Toku's powers together in a series of clever set-pieces while the map grows ever busier as his agility increases.

SCEE Cambridge has done Media Molecule proud and fans of the original game won't be disappointed. PSP owners who missed out first time around should be sure to give it a go, as LittleBigPlanet is undoubtedly one of the standout titles for Sony's handheld.

Far from being mere exercises in nostalgia, these hugely entertaining HD versions underline exactly why we all got so excited about them in the first place, and suggests that while God of War III faces off against a lot of big names in 2010, the greatest threats to its dominance lie in its own past.

Here the rewards are rich, satisfying and threaded in the design. The compulsion to play through the game has not been found in manipulative shortcuts, but in graft and execution and a plethora of ideas. It is expensive game-making, for sure, but it is game-making at its absolute best.

Vintage Nintendo. Maybe a bit too vintage - Spirit Tracks is, like New Super Mario Bros. Wii, a straight rehash, a derivative sequel of the kind the company used not to make, and based on a decades-old template. You could easily mark it down for that. But that would belie the fact that it's also a tighter and more rounded game, crafted with more care, than not just Phantom Hourglass but most modern games for grown-up consoles.

A technical marvel, but with all the clever stuff turned towards the aim of very basic gratification. There are no branching paths, no complex decisions, and no multiplayer modes, but this particular game is all the better for it, since the results are rich and focused rather than drawn-out and a little ragged. Ultimately, if you want to revel in old-school pleasures decked out in the very brightest new armour, this is about as good as it gets.

They combine everything that was best about the older Pokemon games - namely, the more likeable monster designs and inventive spirit - with the much-improved looks and streamlined battle system of the fourth-generation ones.

They combine everything that was best about the older Pokemon games - namely, the more likeable monster designs and inventive spirit - with the much-improved looks and streamlined battle system of the fourth-generation ones.

Perhaps most interestingly, the volume of choices you make leads to what might be an even more variable ending than the previous one. There are some incredibly tough choices to be made, some peculiar allegiances to form, and a region to save from the darkspawn. You're a Grey Warden, it's your duty.

With two-player co-op and versus modes adding a welcome dose of multiplayer fun to the package, Art of Balance is nothing short of essential.

Whether you play this via DLC or as part of the forthcoming Gold Edition of Resident Evil 5, it's an essential episode.

The truth is, when it comes to DLC, nobody is doing this stuff as well as Gearbox's team at the moment.

The truth is, when it comes to DLC, nobody is doing this stuff as well as Gearbox's team at the moment.

The truth is, when it comes to DLC, nobody is doing this stuff as well as Gearbox's team at the moment.

If this game had been released on the NES 20 years ago, it would be recalled by a generation of players as a high point of the 8-bit era. The fact that console gamers are only getting their first crack at Cave Story in 2010 doesn't make the experience any less memorable.

With the usual snappy dialogue, hilarious set-pieces and some genuinely brilliant puzzles to wrap your ailing brain around, it looks like Telltale has hit a rich vein of form.

Penta Tentacles is like a cuddly drug; a game you won't feel guilty about playing relentlessly on a sunny day in June.

If there's a better kids' game this year, I'll eat my Sorting Hat.

Before you know it, you're navigating the winding maze-like 3D structures with aplomb, unpicking their devious secrets.

There's a childlike simplicity in its approach to story and systems that may put off older players who prefer complication and convolution. But Dragon Quest IX cleanses the palate with its straightforwardness, allowing the workmanship to shine, and its clutch of nested fairytales to inspire.

Furious, wasp-in-a-jar electronica does little to diminish the pounding tension, while the restless minimalism of the visuals throws your perception into a blender, morphing seamlessly between 2D and 3D and back again, spinning you upside down before leaving you in a disorientated heap in the face of the next malevolent onslaught.

This steroid-pumped sequel works well.

A game that has very few humans, but a surplus of humanity.

It all adds up to what's just about the definitive version of one of the finest role-players of the last five years.

There have been quite a few really promising DSiWare titles of late, but none come even close to matching 3D Space Tank.

With the trademark sharp witticisms layered onto challenging and inventive puzzles, this is the best possible start to the new season.

With the trademark sharp witticisms layered onto challenging and inventive puzzles, this is the best possible start to the new season.

And, more to the point, because millions will thoroughly enjoy StarCraft II regardless, thanks to a dense, thrilling, relentlessly clever and class-leading campaign adventure that takes this RTS to the masses in spite of itself. It might be less than half this sumptuous package, but it's a lot more game than almost anything else.

This is a game designer's game, one that cherry-picks ideas from gaming's contemporary landscape and melds them together into something at once fresh and familiar.

There are few download games that offer this kind of value for money, and few that are as clever or effortlessly exciting. Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light might be a move away from the Tomb Raider name, but it's a tremendous homage to its spirit.

The fact that games hell-bent on breaking all the rules appear to be showing up on an increasingly regular basis across multiple download channels is genuinely heart-warming.

It all adds up to a downloadable package that stuffs in an awful lot of content, while maintaining the pace and rhythms of a lean blockbuster movie.

Reach captures what you love about Halo, refining it on the multiplayer side and preserving the fluid, dynamic, ever-surprising campaign action that makes most rivals look like clumsy shooting galleries.

With the usual snappy dialogue, hilarious set-pieces and some genuinely brilliant puzzles to wrap your ailing brain around, it looks like Telltale has hit a rich vein of form.

In short, this is the game SEGA should have made 15 years ago. It's just a shame that to be this good took ages.

Super Meat Boy starts out as just another indie game that revels in driving you crazy, but you end up crazy in love.

Obsidian has created a totally compelling world and its frustrations pale into insignificance compared to the immersive, obsessive experience on offer. Just like the scorched scenery that provides its epic backdrop, New Vegas is huge and sprawling, sometimes gaudy, even downright ugly at times – but always effortlessly, shamelessly entertaining.

Doubtless the best third-person shooter ever to come out of Japan, Vanquish builds on Western developers' triumphs to push the genre in new, interesting directions, shifting the balance of power, and cementing Shinji Mikami's position as one of the best directors working in videogames today.

DJ Hero 2 is the freshest thing in rhythm gaming right now, a lifeline for people bored of guitars and drums and genre veterans craving the purer, simpler rhythm-action kick of a pre-Guitar Hero world.

The game is all the better because it doesn't strain to give its puzzles a superficial connection to its script – I don't need to see that pointless struggle.

It's an off-kilter vision of the future, a cumbersome game with odd priorities, certainly. But it's equally a game that heads off in unexpected and exciting directions, makes a few notable improvements, and overflows with love – for cars, for games technology and for its own mad pursuit.

Real pinball fanatics will be in tinkering heaven, too, thanks to the ability to fiddle endlessly with all manner of settings. Just don't get into a conversation with anyone who does this, ok?

This game has the potential to win over a whole new generation, and to do so without eliciting any whinges from those of us old enough to remember the taste of a McRib washed down with Tab Clear.

An unqualified triumph. It's stuffed with content but rarely for the sake of it, and knowing Criterion it will be handsomely supported for months to come, even though it's already the best pure arcade racing game since Burnout Paradise.

Beyond the HD refresh, you can play all three games in 3D if you've got the right kind of telly; it's a decent stab at giving the games extra depth without going overboard, although you can't turn on the 3D until the game gets started, which is a bit clunky.

The sum of FM 2011's parts is the most organic but more importantly, most believable man- and team-management experience the series has provided.

Recettear is one of the best indie games to arrive this year.

Strip away the relentless good looks and the generous open-source playpen, and the bare, underlying platformer's shortcomings may hold it back from classic status. But as a package, as a concept, as an unfinished story, LittleBigPlanet 2 is a world apart.

A dreamily pretty and astonishingly compulsive puzzler that's a good deal more polished than many full-price retail releases.

Raskulls' crazed, crafted combination of platforming, racing and puzzling always promised to be something worth paying attention to, and so it has proved.

A beautifully original game that in another era would have been much-admired at triple the price.

Considered in isolation, Dead Space 2's ambience, brute frights and player toolset are good rather great. But in combination, these three elements prove as irresistible as the pull on Isaac exerted by a malfunctioning airlock. For once, you'll want to let go.

Considered in isolation, Dead Space 2's ambience, brute frights and player toolset are good rather great. But in combination, these three elements prove as irresistible as the pull on Isaac exerted by a malfunctioning airlock. For once, you'll want to let go.

The important thing, above all else, is that it's extremely good fun, a fantastic showcase for the technology (particularly on iPhone 4) and comfortably the most rewarding mobile driving game money can buy right now.

Game Dev Story is easily the best thing I've ever played on the iPhone.

It's just so devastatingly addictive - and the fun doesn't even truly start until you've got some competitive friends on the in-game leaderboards.

Pitched perfectly for casual on-the-move play, it's the kind of game you can happily fill a couple of bored minutes with, or power through for a couple of hours, trying to snag every star. With 100 stages included for starters, and more on the way via updates, welcome to your new favourite waste of time.

Once described as "a Tetris for the 21st Century", there's a beautiful design simplicity that belies some of the most fiendish block-sliding puzzle design you've ever encountered.

Quite unlike anything you've played, Osmos is the kind of game even Brian Eno would admire.

At this early stage, there's only 10 levels to battle through, but with more to be added in Surveillant's upcoming free update, this is a keeper.

If you're looking for a game that will end your Angry Birds obsession, hit Flick Kick Football up. It could well be your new favourite waste of time.

Through Cave's uncompromising vision, Espgaluda II manages to squeeze one of the most frenetic, frenzied and thoroughly enjoyable shooters onto iPhone without sacrifice. That should, without hesitation, be fervently embraced.

The payoff is always worth it, though, with some of the best one-liners and crackpot characters seen in an adventure game since the mighty Day of the Tentacle. Yes, it really is that good, and insanely good value for the three hours of fun it provides.

With its insidious wit and gothic charm, Helsing's Fire is a joyously original instant classic that iPhone owners should buy immediately.

This is a game that wants you to laugh so hard that you sneeze on yourself, but it's also a game that wants you to experiment as much as possible with the tools you've been given. Its cleverness is as lightly worn as it is unexpected. It's the best kind of guilty pleasure.

This is a game that wants you to laugh so hard that you sneeze on yourself, but it's also a game that wants you to experiment as much as possible with the tools you've been given. Its cleverness is as lightly worn as it is unexpected. It's the best kind of guilty pleasure.

A thoroughbred classic, a tactical RPG with all the immediacy of Advance Wars and all the long-view flexibility of Disgaea.

Yet another exceptional puzzle app to add to your growing pile. Absorbing, challenging and unlike anything else out there, buy it and soothe away the stresses of public transport.

Space Invaders: Infinity Gene heaves and grows through infancy to maturity. It's rare that a game builds into its play arc those design iterations it went through from inception to completion. Yet this is exactly what Taito has achieved: leading players from beginning to end, providing a mesmerising journey through both the game and its genre's conceptual history.

Unlike its Japanese release, all five episodes come as part of this excellent-value package, and even if you've played it before, the quality of the writing makes you want to find someone fun at Capcom and kiss them right on the face.

The gameplay is just as well-balanced and finely tuned as it is in the PC version. The presentation is up to the same high standards, while the control system is perhaps even improved. Like so many PopCap titles, PvZ is slick, pretty, charming and funny.

With the trademark sharp witticisms layered onto challenging and inventive puzzles, this is the best possible start to the new season.

Most pleasing of all is the cost. At a time when many downloadable games are sliding up to the 1200 MS Points barrier, the 800-Point price tag for this much-beloved classic shows that a little generosity can go a long way.

Of course there's a lot that's the same. Of course there is. But with a great many small and well-placed innovations, a vivacious, inventive new cast and the biggest cosmetic makeover the series has ever seen, Pokémon Black and White makes it all feel new again. It reminds you what there was to love about Pokémon in the first place – and perhaps we all needed reminding.

Of course there's a lot that's the same. Of course there is. But with a great many small and well-placed innovations, a vivacious, inventive new cast and the biggest cosmetic makeover the series has ever seen, Pokémon Black and White makes it all feel new again. It reminds you what there was to love about Pokémon in the first place – and perhaps we all needed reminding.

Apart from somehow managing to be a game that looks every bit as beautiful as the title it so obviously reveres, and despite the perennial handicap of virtual thumbsticks. Infinity Field plays remarkably well.

Sure, SpaceChem is just pseudo-science, but it does capture that mystique of toying with nature's fundamental ingredients.

Those expecting revelatory improvements in areas like AI may be mildly disappointed by Shogun 2. Those after a sumptious, weekend-whittling strategy epic heaving with flavour and challenge can reach for their uchi-bukuro with confidence. This is a corker.

Predictably, it's a breeze to play on Move. The drag-and-drop premise lends itself particularly well to the new controller. But even on a boring old DualShock, this is among the most intense, competitive, and devilishly strategic puzzle games I've ever come across, and it's as cheap as (posh) chips. Buy it immediately.

And, for my money, they fared brilliantly.

It's a game with real heart that fans of Japanese RPGs can't fail to fall in love with. It's also the best turn-based title on the Game Boy Advance since the original "Advance Wars."

My favourite 2D Metroid yet... [and] the best platform adventure the GBA has.

If a dictionary definition of "just-another-go" gameplay is ever to be written, this game will have to be featured as an example; and if a list of the best handheld games ever made is written, we'd expect to see this very near the top.

It's got the looks, the sounds, the depth and the reward structure, not to mention oodles of gameplay and one of the most endearing multiplayer 'party' dynamics ever.

It takes a tried, tested, and thoroughly flogged old genre and injects some more speed and ingenuity into it, and there's a heck of lot of replay value here, even if the game's levels can probably be beaten in a few hours.

Like most puzzle games, it's all in the gameplay, and Puzzle Fighter's model is more imaginative and works a lot better than most of the others we've seen lately.

Sure, it's a classic, but it's so obviously a £35 mission pack, and is probably double the price it should have been. Unless you were utterly captivated by the original and spend every day pining for more, or never owned the original, it's hard to justify why you should shell out for it.

If variety is the spice of life, then Wario Ware is the digital equivalent of Phall curry, burning the inside of your face with its charm and originality.

One Of The Best GBA games of the year, Nintendo games on the GBA, and RPGs in existence. Simple, fun and rewarding, this is for everyone who ever ogled but never played the original Mario RPG, and everyone else besides.

Every minute of that five hours was excellent, and Zero Mission takes its place as one of the finest titles in the GBA's already impressive pantheon of platformers. However, we can't help but wish that it had been longer.

With the same sort of instant appeal and practically infinite replayability of Tetris, it joins the pantheon of puzzle gods and goes down as another GBA must-buy - so long as the lack of multiplayer doesn't irk you.

A true classic. It may not have the admirable depth of "Final Fantasy Tactics Advance" or "Fire Emblem," but it has twice the character - and twice the fun.

If you can accept that it won't last you as long as you might like, then your quest is clear: leave no stone unturned in your search for this game, and then leave none of its stones unturned either.

In many senses WarioWare Twisted is utterly unique, brilliantly implemented and full of surprises. As GBA purchases go, the recommendation comes no higher than this.

In 1994 the fresh gameplay ideas Final Fantasy 6 brought to the RPG genre, coupled with the highly enjoyable story, brilliant ensemble cast and stirring score would have made the game an easy, trailblazing Eurogamer 10. It's either a remarkable testament to the original development team's vision and skill, or a damning indictment of a genre that this is so very nearly the case thirteen years on.

As a pair, they offer far more pleasure than you could expect for the money, and are the perfect kind of games to while away an evening with, time you'd only spend watching 'Changing Rooms' or something.

The best Star Wars game since "X-Wing" and/or "Tie Fighter," if not ever. Unless something entirely unbelievable descends from the heavens, it's the RPG of the year. If the remaining major players fumble even slightly, it's game of the year.

It might not take as much effort to overcome or offer as much content as arcade stalwarts "Midnight Club" and "Burnout," but neither game has the same depth online, and only hot seating Burnout's crash sections with a few friends can rival the Hollywood playground DICE has built here for sheer fun.

A beautiful, addictive, mechanised feast of destruction, ideally suited to online gamers both new and old.

But you’ll also love Splinter Cell for being a challenge in an age when videogames have all the interaction of a fairground ride.

Innovation takes on many guises; this isn't this generation's "Super Mario 64" in terms of reinvention, but given its comprehensiveness and attention to detail, you might liken its impact on us to that of Yoshi's Island. Except, you know, this is funnier.

No other game manages to deliver on the potential of controlling a ninja with this much flair and authority - it is, no bullshit, one of the finest action games ever made. Sever my spinal cord if I'm lying.

Despite throwing around more polygons than any other Xbox racer we've seen, Racing Evoluzione rarely if ever skips a frame. And that includes our appraisal of the two-player split-screen, which was examined at jaw-to-the-floor inducing length.

The truth is, for every hour our blood was pumping like a turbo charged locomotive through our adrenaline scored veins, there were an equal number of hours where we were bored with the unimaginative repetition of formulaic corridor based FPS trawls. [Single-Player review; Multiplayer also rated 90]

As a single-player experience, even in its slightly compromised state, it's easily one of the most intensely enjoyable console shooters there's ever been.

It's just so massively detailed, so thoroughly improved and so gloriously playable that we have to recommend it. We haven't even touched on the multiplayer aspect, which we'll be doing in our PS2 Online review very soon, but to be honest it wouldn't have to be good - the rest of the game is enough on its own.