The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening manages to feel new, but still maintain the essence of the amazing original. This is peak old-school Zelda, and it's never looked better.
Gameplay tweaks and attention to detail make Pokemon Sword and Shield the most compelling Pokemon world to date.
There continues to be nothing quite like Animal Crossing, and New Horizons proves that there's life in the old Nook yet.
Paper Mario: The Origami King is fun, light-hearted and a celebration of Super Mario with a strong story, great humour and brilliant characters.
Quirky, creative, and constant good fun, Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury blends Mario gameplay old and new with great success, creating a title that feels worthy of his 35th birthday celebrations.
Pokemon Legends: Arceus is a refreshing take on the Pokemon formula, stripping back the game to focus on the titular creatures with such great success. It's just let down by the graphics.
What Guerrilla Games has achieved here is nothing short of phenomenal. Story, gameplay, mechanics, and the world itself are all such an improvement on the original game - which in itself is a feat alone.
Everything that made GT Sport so good, plus everything that made early Gran Turismo games so good. A simply stunning driving game and a superb showcase for PS5.
Stray is a phenomenal, if compact, feline adventure that captures cats perfectly - even if they do find themselves in a bizarrely beautiful robotic world.
Sam Barlow has somehow done it again, raising the bar for the FMV / interactive movie genre once more. Immortality is yet another masterpiece of storytelling.
Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope captures everything that made the original so special, all while delivering a more complex and complete experience. It offers a new level of strategic depth, with world-building that makes it more of a Super Mario game than you might expect.
Horizon Call of the Mountain is a touch of magic, bringing the Horizon world to life in first person on PSVR 2. It's stunning, captivating, and never loses sight of what made Horizon Zero Dawn and Horizon Forbidden West so special.
Pikmin 4 isn't just another Pikmin game. Nintendo has taken the formula and twisted it by adding new challenges, ways to play, and a whole new character. It's cute and packs a great RTS punch despite multiple ways to make it more approachable overall.
Between the 2.0 Update and Phantom Liberty, Cyberpunk 2077 is a different game now. It not only looks more beautiful than ever, but it's also vast. The Phantom Liberty expansion adds 13 core missions, 17 new side quests and gigs, and a brand new ending for the base game. That's a lot of content without even thinking about what's been added in the three years between now and launch.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder is an excellent 2D Mario game with easily the most impressive world-building we've seen in this style. The trilogy of new power-ups are brilliant fun, and regularly humorous, with Nintendo's finishing touches adding extra personality at every turn.
Now bring on that movie.
GTA + Saints Row 2 + hacking. What more do you want?
Paper Mario Colour Splash might not be the Paper Mario game everyone wanted, but it's a game that oozes polish and manages to sit somewhere in a niche between RPG and adventure game. It's a memorable journey full of charm, craft, chuckles and a whole lot of paint.
F1 2016 gives you even better racing than last year's version, then makes it the centre of a brilliant career mode. The handling, AI and sense of speed have never been better, while the changes to starting and the new practice goals have a major impact on the race weekend. This is an F1 game for F1 fans, but exciting enough to pull in those who'd never normally sit through qualifying. You can't really ask for more than that.
Whether you're coming back to Phoenix Wright once more or are coming at it afresh, you'll have no objections to Spirit of Justice.