25 Video Games That Turn 25 in 2025

The Legend of Zelda: Majoras Mask (2000)

While many Zelda fans cherish Ocarina of Time to no end, the love for Majoras Mask came in droves this year. So many streamers and YouTubers jumped on to pay their respects to one of the last games to launch on Nintendo 64. It truly is one of the most unique Zelda games in the franchise with its darker story and how it was designed entirely around a 3-day cycle. Admittedly, some aspects like the fetch quests havent aged all that well, but still, Majoras Mask will forever go down as one of the best and frankly most underrated Nintendo games ever made.

Resident Evil - Code: Veronica (2000)

Speaking of underrated, Code - Veronica is often the most neglected and underappreciated title in the Resident Evil series. Perhaps this is because not many folks played the game when it was initially released as a Dreamcast exclusive. But with the game being widely available on nearly every platform today, any self-respecting Resident Evil fan ought to play it today, and not just because the 25th anniversary was in February 2025. Code: Veronica has some of the coolest puzzles and environments the franchise has ever seen. Heres hoping Capcoms got a remake planned for the near future.

Diablo II (2000)

Some may call it a flash in the pan before Blizzard got all loot happy with the franchise starting with Diablo III. Others still call it one of the greatest games Blizzard has ever put out. Diablo II to this day remains as one of the best dungeon crawler RPGs you could play. Between the diverse character classes, insane powers, and grim world, it was easy to get lost in the sauce and just spend hours mindlessly fighting enemies. Farming felt fun even when we didnt realize it! If you havent played this gem for yourself, a remaster called Diablo II Resurrected was released in 2021 and is currently available on just about every platform.

Spyro: Year of the Dragon (2000)

It doesnt matter if youre playing the original game on the PS1 or on modern hardware through the Reignited Trilogy remake. Year of the Dragon is not just the best Spyro game ever made - its also one of the greatest 3D platformers the PS1 had ever seen! Prior to creating Ratchet & Clank and the 2018 Marvels Spider-Man game, Insomniac Games got to truly flex their creativity with Year of the Dragon. You had different playable characters that offered new playstyles on top of fun minigames that broke up the hunt for gems and dragon eggs. Honestly, this game alone should be the reason why you grab Spyro Reignited Trilogy!

Final Fantasy IX (2000)

If Final Fantasy fans arent gushing over FF7 and why Tifa is better than Aerith, Final Fantasy IX fans are enjoying their favorite game in their own humble corner. Indeed, Final Fantasy IX boasts a remarkable story and combat system at the same level as its more famous predecessor between Vivis identity crisis and Garnet struggling with her own enigmatic past. Its a heartwrenching JRPG about reflection and the discovery of ones place in the world, hard topics that still resonate with so many players today. If you have yet to experience this captivating entry in the long-running franchise, you can get Final Fantasy IX on just about every platform on the market, and at a pretty good price, too.

American McGees Alice (2000)

While American McGee has worked on a handful of games in his post-DOOM career, Alice remains his most iconic work, warts and all. Despite the controls and mechanics feeling outdated by todays standards, the main draw of the game was the macabre take on Lewis Carrolls Alice in Wonderland. With the Cheshire Cat now a mangy feline and Wonderland now a corrupted nightmare of gore and sorrow, American McGees Alice was a wonderful dark fantasy that was unlike any other game on the market at the time. The games 25th anniversary isnt until December 5, so heres hoping EA recognizes the anniversary and ports the game to modern hardware.

Pokemon Crystal (2000)

2025 marks a major milestone for Pokemon as Pokemon Crystal turns twenty-five on December 14. Even though most fans gravitate towards Gold & Silver, Crystal was a mish-mash of both games while introducing a handful of new features that would become staples of the franchise. The choice in making your character a boy or a girl, the Battle Tower, and the animated sprites that played during battle helped bring the world of Pokemon to life despite being on Game Boy Color. That said, it might behoove Nintendo to get this classic on Switch Online before the end of the year.

Mario Tennis (2000)

The year 2000 was quite a year for the Nintendo 64, more significant than most other consoles in their swan song years. Mario Tennis was among the N64s swan song games, and it was a hit or a miss depending on who you ask. One side will tell you it was fun with friends and how it was cool seeing such a diverse roster of Marios friends and foes including the new golden boy known as Waluigi. The other side might rant about difficulty ramping up a little too quickly in the Tournament mode. Either way, it did offer some incredibly fun multiplayer, especially if you play on the Bowser Stage where your shots spawned items to hinder your opponents.

Persona 2: Eternal Punishment (2000)

For the longest time, the Persona franchise has been heavily represented by its third, fourth, and fifth mainline games, and understandably so. But what about the older games, specifically Persona 2? Well, June 29, 2025 marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of Eternal Punishment, the sequel to Persona 2: Innocent Sin. Yes, we have a Final Fantasy X situation on our hands: a sequel to a sequel of a game. Though some aspects of Eternal Punishment dont match up with the newer games, there is a part of us that hopes Atlus will capitalize on the occasion and port not just EP, but IS as well to form the complete Persona 2 experience. But were not holding our breaths.

Mega Man Legends 2 (2000)

For some bizarre reason, just about every Mega Man game under the sun has been preserved on modern hardware except for the Mega Man Legends games. Well, Mega Man Legends 2 turned twenty-five in April, and there has still been no recognition of this series from Capcom. Its a real shame because these were really cool third-person shooters back in the day, and it was a format that worked pretty well for the Mega Man formula. And yet, they remain stranded on PS1. Come on, Capcom - wheres the Mega Man Legends collection, huh?

Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards (2000)

While every Kirby game has come with its own neat gimmicks, Kirby 64 had one of the coolest ideas in the franchise. In addition to the usual Copy Abilities youd expect to appear, Kirby 64 allows you to throw your Copy Ability at other enemies to combine their powers. Fire and Rock could turn Kirby into a volcano while Sword and Plasma allowed Kirby to channel his inner Darth Maul. You could discover all kinds of different powers through this mechanic, and sometimes, it could wind up breaking the game a bit. Those new to Kirby 64 can play the game via Switch Onlines Expansion Pack service.

Tony Hawks Pro Skater 2 (2000)

Funny how 2025 is the year for Tony Hawks Pro Skater 3+4 when it's the twenty-fifth anniversary of Pro Skater 2. But we did get the 1+2 remake in 2020, so the game is more or less preserved. Compared to the original game, though, Pro Skater 2 featured some of the coolest levels in the franchise between The Hangar, School II, Venice Beach, and Chopper Drop. But perhaps the coolest feature in the game was how you could skate around as Spider-Man! Speaking of, the webheads got an anniversary in 2025 as well

Spider-Man (2000)

Yes, the classic Spider-Man on PS1 turns twenty-five on August 30, 2025. Folks have so much love for this game, more than almost any other Spider-Man game ever made. We are among those fans as this was one of the first tried and true iterations of Spidey with its wall-crawling traversal and unique spider abilities. Admittedly, the controls and difficulty have not aged gracefully. Even so, we would love to go through this game again should it ever resurface on modern hardware. The thing is that are Sony, Marvel, and Activision willing to work out a deal, especially now that Microsoft owns Activision? Probably not, but stranger things have happened.

Vagrant Story (2000)

Square Enix has a lot of forgotten RPGs under its belt, and among them is Vagrant Story. This JRPG was one of the last to release on the original PlayStation console, and to this day, it is known to be one of the most strangely innovative games in the genre. It kind of leaves you to figure things out on your own and gives all of the tools you could possibly need. There are no shops, no ways to interact with NPCs - just you, your weapons, some puzzles, and whatever enemies dare challenge you. Unfortunately, Square Eniz hasnt paid Vagrant Story much mind since releasing a port of it on PlayStation Vita. Perhaps well see it pop up on PS4 and PS5 later in 2025?

Dark Cloud (2000)

Many months after the release of Vagrant Story came one of the first big releases for the PlayStation 2. Dark Cloud, developed by Level-5, featured a beautiful blend of classic dungeon-crawling, hack & slash combat, and procedurally generated level design. Some may not have dug the survival mechanics being thrown in, but overall, the combat, story, and world caught thousands of players attention. If only it had caught on quicker at launch; sales numbers were not great, and though we did get a sequel, Dark Cloud is now just a time capsule. But it's a rather wondrous time capsule in the best of ways.

Banjo-Tooie (2000)

While many reminisce about Banjo-Kazooie more often, Banjo-Tooie deserves some attention this year as it turns twenty-five. In addition to featuring new worlds to explore and new bosses to face, Banjo-Tooie incorporated new mechanics between new transformations from Humba Wumba and the inclusion of Mumbo Jumbo as a playable character. Adding to the value of this sequel was the multiplayer, which ranged from first-person shooter minigames to trivia to soccer and so much more. So, please, if you have a Nintendo 64, maybe its time to dust off the console and give Banjo-Tooie some love this year.

Midnight Club: Street Racing (2000)

Rockstar Games is pretty much known for only two IPs these days: Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead. Older fans may fawn over the old days of L.A. Noire or Bully, but the much older fans might be celebrating Midnight Clubs anniversary this year. Developed by Angel Studios before being rebranded as Rockstar San Diego, Midnight Club was a surprisingly thrilling racing game that could almost rival Sony and its Gran Turismo franchise. The controls were spot-on for the time, and the visual fidelity showed the potential power of the PlayStation 2. Alas, Rockstar has sort of allowed GTA to absorb Midnight Club with its inclusion of street racing. So, the conglomerate has very, very little reason to resurrect this IP regardless of anniversaries.

Skies of Arcadia (2000)

If there were two Dreamcast games we could bring to modern hardware, one of them would absolutely be Skies of Arcadia. Between the simple theme of sky pirates and the whimsical world of airships and Japanese steampunk, Skies of Arcadia was one of the most captivating JRPGs in what was already a stellar year for the genre. Sadly, the failure of the Dreamcast led to abysmal sales, and by the time it was ported to GameCube, most were busy playing Sonic or the litany of first-party Nintendo exclusives. And SEGAwell, whos going to be the first to explain to them what a Sky of Arcadia is? Because it seems well never get this gem on modern hardware. Ever.

Mario Party 3 (2000)

The final Mario Party on Nintendo 64, Mario Party 3 was perhaps the most beloved game in the series with Mario Party 2 coming in at a close second. But this one was the most innovative at the time. For starters, the roster finally expanded beyond the six characters we had previously with Waluigi and Daisy being added. Then, you had an entire single-player campaign within the Story Mode section as well as a much shorter 2-player party mode known as Duel Mode. Couple all of that with the accoutrements the previous games delivered, and Mario Party 3 may as well have been the ultimate Mario Party...at least until we got into the GameCube era.

TimeSplitters (2000)

Free from the shackles of 007 licensing, several Rare staff left the UK-based studio to form their own company. What better way to storm onto the market than with a spiritual successor to one of your biggest games? Although, TimeSplitters proved that it could be more than just another GoldenEye clone. The theme of time travel opened the gates for imaginative level design, and the inclusion of co-op in the campaign allowed for all kinds of chaos between the players and enemies. And do we even need to mention the inclusion of a map editor, a feature that was incredibly rare for games to even include in the year 2000? That said, 2025 is a pretty good time to pay tribute to TimeSplitters and replay the seriesor play them for the first time if you havent before!

The Sims (2000)

Twenty-five years ago, EA published a game that would quickly become a key pillar in their business. On paper, The Sims sounds about as interesting as watching paint dry. You want the player to design homes and watch virtual characters live their own lives? Well, Maxis clearly knew what they were doing and delivered a game that was interesting, goofy, and somewhat comforting in its low stakes atmosphere. But of course, most probably remember this game mostly for all the Sims that drowned because they couldnt find a ladder in their pool.

Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes (2000)

Hard to believe that 2000 was such a light year for fighting games. Sure, there was Guilty Gear X, but the biggest game that came out in the year 2000 was Marvel vs. Capcom 2! At the time, reception towards the game wasnt great with critics citing the lounge jazz music and overwhelming gameplay. In the arcades and some folks homes, it was a different story and continues to be. Marvel vs. Capcom 2 boasts so much experimentation and malleability that you can discover new playstyles with every permutation of characters. Will they always be effective? Not really, but when things get nutty in MvC2, they get ultra nutty! I still cant fathom that this game turned twenty-five in March.

Deus Ex (2000)

Deus Ex is one classic IP that has fallen by the wayside, sadly. Following the disastrous launch of Daikatana (which also turns twenty-five in 2025), Ion Storm would launch Deus Ex, the only commercial success the studio would ever see before its closure in 2005. Directed by Warren Spector who was known for Thief, Ultima IV, and System Shock, Deus Ex threw players into a cyberpunk world marred by government conspiracies, leading to tactical espionage, mistrust, and paranoia. Thematically unique, thought-provoking, and flexible in interactivity, Deus Ex truly is one of the greatest games ever made and one that every fan of gaming needs to play. You have no excuse - its seven bucks on Steam!

Jet Set Radio (2000)

Yes, Jet Set Radio is the other Dreamcast game wed love to bring back, and for good reason! It wasnt because of a super deep story or complex mechanics or some technical achievement. It was the vibes, man! Listening to a funky hip-hop soundtrack while wreaking havoc in the city and pulling off tricks felt so awesome that we easily lost hours playing Jet Set Radio, sometimes entire afternoons! It's part of the reason why the upcoming revival is such a big deal to us, and were honestly hoping SEGA will port the original game in some way before launching the new game.

Perfect Dark (2000)

While David Doak and his team were busy with TimeSplitters, Rare attempted their own spiritual successor to GoldenEye 007 with this gem. Perfect Dark not only replicated the skeleton of the James Bond game, it added onto it with more gadgets and different objectives that made gameplay much more diverse and immersive than before. It also helped that the level design felt more reasonable and logical than some of the sets we saw in GoldenEye. Will the new Perfect Dark make it in time for the franchises twenty-fifth anniversary? Might be wishful thinking, but that reboot could be popping up again in the near future.

Which of these games are you planning to celebrate with? Let us know down in the comments, and dont forget to subscribe to MojoPlays for more great videos everyday!