Guardian's Reviews
Given that its hero can smash through any barrier – which is delightful fun in itself – Nintendo's new 3D platformer has a surreal freeform audacity
This remake is a nostalgia fest of grabs, spins, flips and skids – and a stiff, even occasionally humiliating test of skill
This is a mystifying and provocatively slow-paced game with more celebrities than you would find on a Cannes red carpet
The Nintendo Switch 2's flagship game is a winner, and often feels more like a journey with your friends than a straight competition
Fortnite meets Elden Ring in a matchup where a three-person team faces so many high-speed challenges you may feel distinctly short-handed
This 1950s-set game offers a gorgeous, fully destroyable map but makes baffling decisions on how to use it
Set during Ecuador's 2002 World Cup qualifying campaign, this fascinating, semi-autobiographical game gives you control of the life of a soccer-mad eight-year-old
This prequel takes a blunt force trauma approach to problem-solving and demon-killing, with a slower pace but more spectacular weaponry
Build a card deck of landscape features; organise your territory on a Tetris-like playfield; battle enemies and bosses to progress. It might sound complicated, but this is an ingenious experiment in game design by combination
This attempt to cosy-fi an immersive sim game is full of 'zany' gags as you rescue cats from a spaceship, but it gets a bit too saccharine
Boasting a unique world, challenging combat and great writing, this RPG has a lot going for it, if only it didn't revel in its own mysteriousness so much
Thoughtful design details and puzzles will keep you returning to an atmospherically uninhabited family mansion to search for a hidden room and family secrets
A spell-casting high-school athlete ventures into the heart of southern folklore in this distinct yet uneven action adventure
A fallen warrior trades in fighting for putting the kettle on, wandering round gardens and watering plants. Much more than cosy – it's healing
Inkle's latest game revels in lying, stealing and blackmail as you resort to any means necessary to avoid expulsion from a posh school
This humorous management game puts you in charge of cultural institutions, creating entertaining displays on everything from natural history to the paranormal
Obsidian's huge, heavily detailed fantasy world has a lot of variety and texture, and interesting people to meet - but the combat and exploration wear thin
In a year that has given us not one but three Mario-themed RPGs, I was ready to be underwhelmed by Brothership. Yet thanks to captivating combat, varied platforming and well-judged difficulty, Brothership not only lives up to my childhood nostalgia for this series, but improves upon it. It is an inviting serving of sun-soaked delight at the beginning of a gloomy November.
There is lots to do in this huge and beautiful fantasy world, but inconsistent writing and muted combat dull its blade
This bundle of 50 new games from the creator of Spelunky offers an electrifying range of retro genres rebooted, from point-and-click horror to Pong