In 2005, Nintendo was cooking with gas as they had three consoles out including the GameCube, Game Boy Advance, and DS. The GameCube was originally released in 2001 and was on its last legs as the Wii would revolutionize the gaming world in 2006. The GBA was released in 2001 as well and was pretty much dead thanks to the DS surprising its place in 2004.
Even though all three systems were at different points in their life, Nintendo and other companies released a bevy of titles for each. Time to celebrate the best ones who will all be enjoying a nice, and hopefully fruitful, 20th anniversary in 2025.
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrowwas the first entry in the serieson the DS which was a direct sequel toCastlevania: Aria of Sorrow. The same gameplay mechanics returned as Soma could collect gear to equip and level up by defeating enemies. He could still capture the essence of monsters too, allowing players to customize Soma’s move set with abilities from gliding to throwing axes. It also used the DS’ touch capabilities to break seals or to lock bosses away which was a novel idea. In 2024,Castlevania Dominus Collectionwas released which gathered all three DS entries to enjoy along with other bonuses.
Chibi-Robo! Plug Into Adventure!is the first game in this oddball platformer/sim series. It debuted in Japan first with North America getting it a year later in 2006. After this, there were two DS games, one of which was exclusive to Walmart in North America and the other being exclusive to Japan. There were also two 3DS games, the last beingChibi-Robo! Zip Lash!which was released in 2015. Nintendo hasn’t done much to keep the series alive with re-releases but Chibi-Robo, as a character, has appeared in games likeSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate. Former developers on the series have gone on to funda spiritual successor,koROBO, and it looks great so far as of the 2024 crowdfunding campaign.
6Ganbare Goemon: Tokaidochu Oedo Tengu Ri Kaeshi No Maki
The Mystical Ninja’s Last Hurrah
TheGanbare Goemonseries was huge in Japanthanks to Konamipumping out sequels and spinoffs. Western fans may be familiar withThe Legend of the Mystical Ninjawhich was one of the SNES games. They all circle around action-adventure, RPG, and platformer genres withGanbare Goemon: Tokaidochu Oedo Tengu ri kaeshi no Makibeing more in the action-adventure variety. Why single this game out even though it was only released in Japan for the DS and there are no fan translations?
The game is significant because it’s the last console release in the series as of twenty years ago, not counting slot machines in Japan. Sadly, so many great adventures lie dormant on a hard drive somewhere in Japan as this is genuinely a looker for the DS thanks to the watercolor aesthetic. While this series may have ended, there was a spiritual successor released in 2024 in North America calledBakeru. Fans ofGanbare Goemonshould check it out.
Mario & Luigi: Partners in Timeis the second game in theMario & Luigiseries which followedMario & Luigi: Superstar Sagaon the GBA in 2003. Itfeatures time travelwherein the two plumbers get to work with their baby forms as first presented inSuper Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island. Each brother is mapped to a face button in battle and in the overworld, most movement is controlled between the adult versions except when the two groups split up. Unlike the first and third games,Mario & Luigi: Partners in Timewas never re-released or remade. It’s one of the more forgotten entries in the various RPG spinoffs.
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Teamwas released for the GBA andPokemon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Teamwas released for the DS. They didn’t make it to North America until 2006 but these two games were the first roguelikespinoffs forPokemonin theMystery Dungeonseries. Other notable franchise spinoffs includeFinal FantasyandDragon Quest. Many morePokemonsequels would follow and these two original games got remade into one adventure for the Switch in 2020 viaPokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX. Other notable 2005 Pokemon anniversaries fans can celebrate in 2025 includePokemon XD: Gale of DarknessandPokemon Trozei.
Resident Evil 4was supposed to be a GameCube exclusive and it was but only for a few months. Eventually, the PS2 received it as well in 2005 but the GameCube can still count its blessings. While the game has been remastered several times and there was a complete remake in 2023, the original version on the GameCube still looks amazing.
The grittiness of the world, the open-ended gameplay, andLeon’s growth as a characterfrom his first appearance in the series all helped it become a classic that fans still adore twenty years later. Also, the mysterious merchant character became an unforgettable icon.
2Super Princess Peach
Mario, Where Are You?
Super Princess Peachwas the firstspinoff that starred Peachon her own adventure. It was released in Japan first with North America getting it a year later in 2006. It was a platformer but players got to use Peach’s emotions to help traverse the world like crying to water a plant to climb it. It has never been physically re-released or remade but Peach recently got a spiritual successor viaPrincess Peach: Showtime!for the Switch in 2024. Two solo games in twenty years is not very good for this iconic princess, so hopefully Nintendo can up their output in 2025.
Trauma Center: Under the Knifeis the last big Nintendo anniversary worth celebrating. This was an Atlus-made game which was like a more down-to-earth story involving doctors and nurses taking care of wildly unwell patients. It was a light novel with mini-games involving patching patients up. The DS was made for touch-based interactions like this and the game was successful enough to get a remake on the Wii in 2006 followed by several sequels across multiple platforms.Trauma Teamwas the last game in 2010, also for the Wii and the franchise hasn’t been touched since. It burned hot like a fever and then fizzled out but diehard Atlus fans still recall this one fondly.
