Largely shunning the narrative thread of the pretty decent film version of the second of Cressida Cowell's Dragon novel series, How to Train Your Dragon 2 sticks to the easily implemented staples of flying action and fireball shooting. Simple and straightforward, as are the easily mastered controls, which allow players to soar through a world richly populated with Viking settlements and mountain peaks, all to the backing of a lush orchestral score. Gameplay suffers from a loose approach to progression, but the missions help focus the action on racing, flying, shooting and the staple of all dragon-based entertainment – sheep collecting.

Multiplayer options offer improved longevity for families, with a second dragon controlled via the Wii U screen for faster progress or head-to-head races. A decent-enough fist of fire-breathing fun, then, but ultimately, limitations in scale and a lack of innovation make How to Train Your Dragon 2 seem somewhat tired and pricey next to modern movie tie-in games on tablets and smartphones. Young fans of the film may still enjoy the experience and many families will certainly appreciate the increasingly rare inclusion of a Wii version.

Battle Princess of Arcadias

PS3, NIS America, cert: 13

Released digitally-only on PSN, with minimal publicity, this versatile action game seems doomed for "cult classic" status – a shame, since it deserves more. There's a relatively straightforward plot: monsters have overrun the kingdom of Schwert, forcing its "battle princess" Plume to take up the sword against them. She proves an interesting hero, too – she's a mix of sheltered naivete and gleeful exuberance in combat.

But this set-up is less important than the remarkable gameplay, which shifts from stages of scrolling beat-'em-up-style action, where you can switch between characters at will, to more tactical boss battles in which Plume leads an entire army, issuing commands to the battalions.

Throughout, the game uses a 2D setting and paper-doll animation for the characters, giving it all a stage-like feel. It is a tiny bit cliched in places, particularly if you're familiar with anime tropes, but the offbeat sense of humour, lovely visuals and increasingly challenging gameplay make it deserving of a home on any player's console. Matt Kamen