As far as comebacks go, this has gotta be up there with one of the best. After years waiting for a new Metroid, this is a massive treat. A huge adventure, where achievement and progression is almost like a high. Finding new power ups and defeating tough bosses is a great feeling and just when you think you've been everywhere and got everything, you realise you've missed one little bit that opens up to even more.

The action is fast paced and slick. Once you get to grips with the controls, it's an absolute pleasure to play. I say that because I'd come straight from playing Super Metroid with a different control layout and it took some getting used to.

My only criticism is that some of the speed blocks are absolute arseholes, some of the items are so well hidden I'm finding it near impossible to get 100% in some of the areas and some of the boss fights take the piss with how many different patterns etc you've got to get used to. The last one in particular took a fair few attempts.

But overall I've enjoyed pretty much everything about it and have done nothing but want to play it when I've had to other things (thanks, work). It's got me hyped for more Metroid. Might have to rig up the Wii U again and get the Prime Trilogy on the go.

As soon as I completed my first play through, I wanted more. Unlocking hard mode was a good enough excuse to play through it again and I loved it even more this time around. I managed to collect all items and I found myself being a bit more chill this time around, too.

It did get stressful at times in my first run, and it took me perhaps too long to get comfortable with the amount of bosses and fighting styles you had to adapt to. But this time around, it was like when Neo finally becomes The One. Everything fell into place and I found myself loving this more than I thought possible.

A contender for one of the best games on Switch and one of the best of this generation.

This was great fun. I never got to play it back in the day and I've been slowly playing through a couple of races here and there since I got it. It really captures the excitement of the new Star War from back in the day. The anticipation of episode 1 and absolutely massive hype surrounding every tidbit you could get a glimpse of all feel perfectly summed up in this fun racer.

The ridiculous speed and the great selection of music add to the mix and make for a cracking game and also a time capsule that captures the feeling of that era.

I completed the story mode playing as Wario. It was a daft little story intersected with playing a battle version of Dr Mario. Whilst it was compulsive stuff, it was quite difficult but I soldiered on and thought it was ok.

I think I prefer the NES version of Dr Mario. I played that loads when the NES app was launched on Switch. There's something about this version that hasn't quite clicked. It's pretty much the same game only with added functions and jazzier graphics, but maybe I just prefer the more basic version.

I had played this back in the day, and whilst I found entertaining enough, I never really made much progress. From the opening level of playing this via the Switch, I was hooked.

It's a great pick up and play cover shooter which you can't go wrong with for a half hour to an hour of thrilling videogame action. It's a bit of a generalisation to say it's somewhere in between Time Crisis and Metal Gear Solid, yet that's exactly what it feels like.

I had a very good time with this and despite some spammy bosses, I would go as far to say it's one of the best games I've played this year. I'm thrilled it was included with the first batch of N64 games on Switch. An underrated gem.

This is such a weird and great game. Really different to a lot of shooters of its time. The controls feel like they're fighting against you yet that feels like it's part of the challenge. The level design is cracking and it has that wonderful late 90s konami vibe.

I'm so pleased with the Nintendo Switch N64 app. The people whinging about it on the internet last week are probably the same folk who pay £100 for Earthworm Jim 3D on eBay or whatever.

I can't wait to see what other classics are made available down the line. I hope there's more along the line of this and Operation WinBack. Daft fun action.

After enjoying the Halo Infinite multiplayer, I really want to play the campaign. But I have to wait so looked to the Master Chief Collection. I realised I've never actually played Halo 4. I've played all the others, and I did make a start going through them earlier this year, finishing some in co-op with a pal, which is what I was waiting on this one for. But life gets in the way etc...

Anyways, I started this on a Friday evening, partly for some Master Chief action, partly to drown out the neighbours dog constantly barking. I finished it the next day having thoroughly enjoyed a varied and fun campaign full of action. I almost gave up, feeling it was a retread of Halo 2, but then it introduces new baddies and gives us new toys to play with like mechs and pelicans. Great fun. Though I have a feeling I will have completely forgotten the story by the time infinite comes along. I've finished Reach thru Halo 3 multiple times and the story is still a vague memory. Although I played through 5 when I first got an Xbox one, I yet again retain very little memory of it, so if I get chance, I'm gonna blast through that before Infinite launches.

I enjoyed this one. A pleasant surprise.

I normally only review a game once I've completed it or given up. Whilst I've not done the latter, I'm not totally sure the former applied either. I have finished all the Horizon career events, but the seasonal ones seem vague and bogged down.

I really enjoyed this. Funnily enough, I've never really cared for driving games all that much, but two of the most impressive games I've played on Series X this year are Dirt 5 and this one. Both provide a lot of pick up and play fun, and although Dirt 5 was a lot more arcadey, they felt very similar at times, though I think I preferred Dirt's more streamlined approach.

As with the previous Horizon, it feels like it's getting you to do too much and once and soon you are overwhelmed with choice and it takes a little while to figure everything out. Once you've got it sussed however, it's a good time.

The game looks great and playing in performance mode really gives it a wild sense of speed. I can get lost in it for ages just aimlessly driving around, despite the games near countless amount of activities.

On the subject of which, it's seasonal career objectives are seldom explained properly and the description can be cryptic or vague as to what you actually need to do.

I enjoyed most of the story objectives and the big raves against planes and jetskis were great, even if they are rigged for you to win.

It's an impressive game that I find myself playing for a lot longer than intended. It also makes me realise I enjoy drum and bass a lot, too.

I'm fairly certain the last time I played this through to the end that it glitched out and skipped some levels. I know I finished it as I remember pondering the orb at the end. Yet half of the levels leading up to it I have zero recollection of and I only got the achievements for finishing them on this play through. Which is weird.

As much as enjoyed the 2nd half of this campaign, it took a lot of warming too. I didn't like playing as Spartan Locke. I play these to Master Chef, dammit. But once the story progresses I found myself warming to the characters a bit more and come the finale, I was INTO IT.

I feel like we're thrown in halfway through what the full story should be as there's just blanks between the end of 4 and the start of this one. I know they're filled in through conversation and cut scenes, but a bit more of that at the beginning would've helped me warm to the characters more, even the chief who comes across as annoyingly stubborn at times.

I know the split story lines and new characters add something a bit fresh to proceedings, but you know what else might? Getting rid of the sterile grey and white buildings that make you feel like you're in a Hannah-Barbera corridor animation. The greeneries and cities look great, but the constant reliance on drab grey structures for the finale outstayed its welcome in the first game.

Still, great gameplay, lovely graphics and top sound design give that great AAA blockbuster game you just got for Xmas vibe, and once it bedded in, I had a great time. I've now finished all the Halo games over the course of the last 12 months. I'm ready for Infinite.

I remember this being one of the first Xbox 360 games I pre-ordered. I was rather excited as I really liked Halo 3. What I got was not what I expected and I was quite disappointed as a result. It's not the straight forward run and gun action from the previous three games. You have to use cover and plan your attacks. And that's just wandering around the abandoned streets.

Fast forward 13 years and I'm giving it another go in the run up to Infinite. Obviously with you playing as normies you can't bound around, sprinting and jumping everywhere while fighting baddies. You're pretty much grounded. This time around, after immersing myself in Halo lore, I enjoyed this a lot more.

It's full of action but also has some quieter more introspective moments, which I actually thought worked really well. The way the story is pieced together and the music come together for some great moments.

Some of the missions you can fly through, some you have to take your time. Overall it's a great little spin off that I completed in the course of a few sessions.

This was a fun adventure game not too dissimilar in style to The Outer Wilds. However instead of outer space, it's ancient Rome. Speak to various NPC's to get information on where you are and their various comings and goings in order to stop a cataclysmic event from killing everyone.

Some of the characters I found to be quite endearing, and some I would've been happy to let them perish. The action sections took me by surprise as this felt quite chilled until they popped up.

There's a few different endings as well. I've unlocked 2 of them, one of which was the 'canon' ending, and actually really nice, it felt like a good reward for my hard work.

There's quite a learning curve, as deciphering the rules and what you can interact with and do in the game can result in disaster if you get it wrong, so there is a bit of a stressful edge to it at times. It took a while for it to really get going for me as well, as there was quite a lot of character interaction and exposition to get through before it really opened up for me. But otherwise, I totally recommend giving this a go, especially as it's on Gamepass. If you dug Outer Wilds, you'll probably dig this too.

Really enjoyed this one. Lots of influence from 4 behind it. The structure, the characters and the scares all hit the right notes for me. In terms of story, it's easily the best one since 4. Very entertaining, gory, grim, grotty... The 3 G's. Still not 100% sold on the switch to first person though as I liked the recent remakes better than this one, with 3 being a particular highlight.

Village has such a great atmosphere and it was cracking playing while it was actually cold and snowy outside. The Duke was a good lad too. Always a moment of respite and can be rather amusing at times as well.

Surprised to see how quick it took to get past certain areas that I'd seen in the prerelease hype and that, but it's still a big enough game with a lot to it. Certainly more entertaining than 7 which just felt miserable (but still a good game). I wonder if they're gonna stick with this style for 9?

For all my excitement, it didn't let me down. The first new Halo campaign in 6/7 years, and for the most part it was an absolute blast. It seems to have carried over elements of lots of open world games I've played over the last few years. Destiny (somewhat ironically), Just Cause and Breath of the Wild all immediately spring to mind, yet it also retains everything that is uniquely Halo. Make of that what you will.

I found the difficulty in this one to be quite tougher than usual. Playing on normal, I wasn't expecting to breeze through, but there were some areas and boss fights where it felt near impossible at times and victory was more down to luck than anything else. Most of the enemies and fire fights tend to be pretty fun and you get into a pattern of how best to kill them and what the best weapons for each type are etc.

I enjoyed traversing the landscape on foot or using one of the several vehicles you can choose from. Having your own little band of soldiers at your disposal comes in quite handy at times as well. I enjoy unlocking the FOBs and searching for the collectables and liberating captured UNSC. There's a decent amount to keep you busy. The only thing that's really missing is being able to do this all with a friend. A game like this is crying out for a pal, and sometimes it feels like this has been made with that in mind, particularly when things get a little overwhelming.

Visually, the game is stunning. It's probably the first game of this new generation I feel really pushed things forward, rather than just slightly adding a bit more detail to a few things and having a higher frame rate. It had me stopping in my tracks to look around at the scenery more than once. Those lush greens of the Halo ring really popped out, and getting to play this on a 4k TV really added to it as well. It looks incredible.

There's lots of positives going for this, but I think the inconsistency in difficulty, especially in the final few missions, really put a dampener on what was potentially shaping up to be my GOTY. And the lack of co-op play feels like there's a chunk missing.

Definitely my favourite Halo since the 360 era, at least.

This came along at the right time. A nice wee game that looks fantastic and has a fun story. Finished it in about 5-6 hours and I had a great time playing it.

I loved cleaning the gunk and having lush greenery appear in its place. A nice change of pace after playing Halo Infinite pretty solidly for over a week.

Looks great, plays great and was a nice little distraction to play over a couple of evenings.