20 Best Video Games Of The Generation (So Far)

2. Rocket League

Rocket League is almost pure gaming perfection. The proficiency of controls, ease of access, learning curve, sense of reward and core tactile feel - scoring your first goal is something you'll literally never forget, as hitting the back of the net comes with a gorgeous powdery explosion of neon lights and fireworks.

Developers Psyonix knew they were onto something with 2008's Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle Cars (of which the name alone prevented it from catching on), leading to endless refinements of that basic game engine until Rocket League was the end result.

It's a Pong, a Space Invaders, a Tetris for the modern age - a perfect set of gameplay mechanics that ensure you get a great sense of fulfilment, 10, 20, 100 or more hours in. Rocket League benefits endlessly from a core premise you can describe in one sentence, but that plays with the depth of skill associated with any real-world sport. Getting your head around the physics and momentum necessary to score feels like planting your foot for a perfect connection or curving your racket for a drop-shot - that sensation of knowing what you want to do matching the end result, a blend of intent and execution that only comes together through sheer skill.

Sometimes to beat the competition you have to take things back to basics, and although there's an association of quality with huge budgets, bluster and volume, Rocket League dials all that back and delivers one of the purest video game experiences of all time.

Speaking of pure video game experiences...