The best Mario Kart has ever been, with a near perfect blend of features and frequently astonishing visuals – despite some unnecessary repetition in track settings.
A mostly successful experiment at turning one of the world's biggest studios into an indie developer, with the end result being a charming love letter to the best of Japanese role-playing.
One of the best Kirby games so far, although it still suffers from all the series' usual faults – including the nagging concern that the whole concept could be so much more.
The component games are better than the first time round but less well suited to the mini-game format, resulting in two unsatisfying halves of what could have been the perfect retro compilation.
Kinect is still a solution in search of a problem, and while this is an impressive tech demo it's a largely uninteresting video game experience.
A vastly better game than Lords Of Shadow 2, that smooths the rough edges from the 3DS original and proves that Castlevania need not revert back to a niche retro franchise.
Despite its many and obvious influences this is an impressively unique vision that offers excellent value for money and one of the best surprises on the 3DS's eShop.
One of the best offline multiplayer games for years and yet more proof that the bow and arrow is gaming's most entertaining weapon of choice.
The graphics are a great advert for the power of the PlayStation 4, but in terms of gameplay and story this hasn't moved on at all from the previous generation.
Probably the most satisfying video games crossover ever made, and one that plays with the conventions of both franchises and still delivers a funny and touching story.
About as new as a fossilised dinosaur egg and just about as fast and exciting, this is a depressingly poor degradation of a once great original.
It could do with a few more ancillary options, and a more interesting backstory, but in terms of online gameplay Titanfall is now the game to beat this gen.
Still the same lacklustre combination of Left 4 Dead with a twin-stick shooter, where only the status of PlayStation Plus freebie prevents further criticism.
Still one of the best action games ever made and although this is technically the best-looking version it still doesn't really feel like the definitive one.
The mixture of old school, new school, and Metroidvania works surprisingly well – even if Strider's long-awaited reboot still feels slightly too safe.
It goes completely against the spirit of the movie but at least the game is able to celebrate the creativity of its developers, if not its players.
A highly competent 2D platformer, but one utterly devoid of any new ideas or any reason to buy a Wii U in order to play it.
A great cinematic action adventure, with one of gaming's great lead performances, although its Tomb Raider DNA seems fragmented and even degenerative in parts.
Authentically retro but then many games are these days and Legacy's dungeon-crawling action is not nearly as entertaining as the best of its rivals.
Clever, funny, and thought-provoking, but even without the weight of expectations this is a surprisingly insubstantial and ephemeral experience.