Games Watch: the 5 best new games coming out in January 2019

New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe – 11 January

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Many of us are still knee-deep in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, unlocking all of the characters and spirits while pummeling gaming’s greatest icons. However, if you’re looking for another, more classic side of Mario, give New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe a look.

Yes, it’s another Wii U port – but if you missed it the first time around, like so many people did, it’s worth your time now. It’s another side-scrolling throwback with a great 3D aesthetic, packing in some fun new twists along the way while also including the original New Super Luigi U expansion alongside.

Platform: Switch

Price: £43

Onimusha: Warlords – 15 January

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Capcom has been looping back on its key properties of late, and Onimusha is one that has been sitting on the shelf for so long. More than a decade after the series’ last entry, the original PS2 game Onimusha: Warlords is back in action with this enhanced remaster.

Although it shares some similarities with the classic Resident Evil games, Onimusha: Warlords takes on more of an action bent as you hack and slash through foes as a skilled samurai. This remaster just adds some fresh gloss to the 2001 original, but it could be the first step towards a proper revival if enough people care about it.

Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, PC, Switch

Price: £16

Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes – 18 January

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No More Heroes was one of the most distinctive experiences on the original Wii, delivering the blood-soaked tale of an anime fan who becomes an assassin after winning a faux lightsaber. Unfortunately, the strong sequel seemed to flop, and it’s been nearly a decade since then.

Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes revives the franchise with a new approach, pairing top-down hack-and-slash combat with an array of mini-games, including some that tie into popular indie games from recent years. Will this be a grand return or just a fun little revival for fans? We’ll find out in a couple weeks.

Platform: Nintendo Switch

Price: £35

Resident Evil 2 – 25 January

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Onimusha is just a shinier version of the original, but Resident Evil 2 is a full-blown remake of the PSone survival horror classic. It takes the core adventure and characters of the 1998 game and reimagines it all with the modern Resident Evil 4-6, over-the-shoulder design approach.

Resident Evil 2 is widely considered a high point of the series, with compelling settings and enemies, and this remake looks like an incredible update. Critics named it the best game of E3 2018, ahead of other blockbuster affairs; hopefully by merging the new and familiar, it will avoid being the overlong slog that was Resident Evil 6.

Platforms: PS4, Xbox One

Price: £40

Kingdom Hearts III – 29 January

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After 13 long, arduous years for fans, Kingdom Hearts III is finally here to conclude the storyline seen in the earlier Disney-meets-Final Fantasy role-playing adventures. And no, you don’t need to have played the myriad spinoffs that released during that epic downtime.

Kingdom Hearts III adds a huge amount of polish to the experience as you take command of Sora, Donald, and Goofy again, this time with worlds inspired by the likes of Toy Story, Big Hero 6, Frozen, and Monsters Inc.

We’d recommend playing the original two console entries first, both of which have helpfully been ported to PlayStation 4 (along with the spinoffs) – but even so, we imagine you can enjoy this colourful thrill-ride even without knowing every nuance of the admittedly nigh-impenetrable backstory.

Platforms: PS4, Xbox One

Price: £50