It's been another bumper year in the world of videogames and, as stores begin winding-down in the wake of the festive rush, we thought you might appreciate a comprehensive guide to 2009's leading software titles, as per the diligent assessment of our team of reviewers.

While some of the more recently released games listed here may not so be tantalisingly priced at retail, and a few of your own personal highlights might be missing from our countdown of 2009's creme de la creme, we believe you won't go far wrong with the following when penning your wish list.

20. Red Faction: (Reviewed on PlayStation 3)

In a year (over) populated by adventures of varying quality, Red Faction: Guerrilla stands out from its genre rivals by offering gamers easy access to lashings of sci-fi as they work to help liberate Mars from the oppressive clutches of the evil Earth Defense Force.

Although core missions and the surrounding Martian environment are occasionally a little bland, Red Faction: Guerrilla boasts unparalleled destruction physics, an extremely explosive single-player climax, and a solid selection of options - all of which certainly found favour with our own Richard Walker, who duly labeled the epic as "the ultimate playground in which to wreak havoc."

19. World of Goo (Reviewed on PC)

A beautifully simple physics-based puzzle game created by indie developer 2D Boy, the gloriously titled World of Goo sees players manipulating the aforementioned malleable substance across a darkly whimsical world, forming often perilous wibbly-wobbly level-spanning structures capable of carrying other endangered globs of goo to safety and freedom.

Beyond drawing obvious comparisons with Lemmings, World of Goo delivers a wacky but gorgeous aesthetic seemingly plucked straight from the mind of Hollywood director Tim Burton. And, when factoring in a knock down price and a sense of creative passion that literally oozes throughout proceedings, 2D Boy's little masterpiece hit us out the park as its "genuine innovation and fresh ideas" made it an absolute delight to play.

18. Shadow Complex (Reviewed on 360)

Clearly drawing its inspiration from 16bit classics such as Super and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, pseudo side-scroller Shadow Complex took by storm during the summer and slapped gamers with five eye-popping hours of downloadable action. And with Games (Gears of War) at the helm, that's perhaps hardly surprising.

Eager to retrieve his missing girlfriend from a shadowy paramilitary complex, the heroic exploits of unwitting everyman Jason Fleming (voiced by Nolan North) provide a short but very sweet retread of gaming days of olde, accented by the appeal of a heftily offensive arsenal, progressive character skills, leveling up, and the ability to craft Fleming into the perfect killing machine.

While somewhat hamstrung by a functional narrative thread, and waylaid by overly simplistic mechanoid bosses, Shadow Complex still offers "competent combat, thrilling exploration, and the inherent joy of becoming a world-conquering super solider," all of which meant our prolific Martin Gaston rescued his virtual girlfriend with a satisfied grin firmly spread across his face.

17. Flower (Reviewed on PlayStation 3)

Bursting with elegance and subtlety, Flower raised more than a few critical eyebrows - and even emotionally moved Paul Govan - when it arrived on the PlayStation Network in the early part of 2009.

With controls rooted to the controller's SIXAXIS gyros, Flower's instantly accessible gameplay involves gentle tilting and banking in order to influence the direction of a wind-blown petal from one waiting flower to the next. With more and more petals joining the balletic dance with every successful connection, completing levels in Flower results in the addition of more flora to the game's otherwise dreary urban backdrop, slowly but surely breathing new life and vibrant colour into the world.

Despite providing only a handful of hours on a single play through, Flower's combination of varied environments, appealing challenges, and addictive gameplay mean its brevity is only ever likely to pull players back in upon completion as they strive to improve existing scores while reveling in the game's undeniable majesty. Who said innovation was dead?

16. Motorsport 3 (Reviewed on Xbox 360)

"Turn 10 has improved upon pretty much every facet of Forza 2," trumpeted Richard Walker. "Forza 3 is undoubtedly the most comprehensive [entrant] in the series to date, boasting more cars than you can shake a (gear)stick at and a whole host of fantastic courses to race them on. Slickly presented throughout, Forza 3 has pure quality coursing through its high-performance engine. Make no mistake, this is currently the finest sim money can buy."

'Nuff said.

Turn 10's brash chest-beating at could have emerged as a succession of empty promises as Forza 3 screeched onto retail shelves in the wake of Electronic Arts' surprise package Need for Speed: Shift. Thankfully, that didn't happen. Call if confidence, call it arrogance, Turn 10's boasts were not misplaced - Forza Motorsport 3 is a road-racing giant. And PlayStation 3 owners are now hoping similarly delivers with its onrushing 5.