A lot of your favorite games are 20 years old now. Congratulate them on officially being seasoned veterans of the industry, cherished elders who will serve to inspire countless generations to come, kind of like every Morgan Freeman character.
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But among those dual-decade elites, you’ll find plenty of games in one of the oldest and most treasured genres: platformers. Whether in 2D, 3D, or a quirky hybrid, the act of jumping around a video game world never gets stale, and some of the greats find themselves celebrating 20 impactful years in 2025.
8
Sonic Rush
November 15, 2005 (Nintendo DS, North America)
Sonic Rush
- Released
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November 15, 2005
In 2005, the Sonic the Hedgehog series was in a bit of a rut. The rather mixed Sonic Heroes and the well-regarded Sonic Advance handheld games kept it afloat well enough, but it still had yet to really strike gold. Granted, since 2006’s Sonic the Hedgehog hadn’t come out yet, it also blissfully hadn’t struck that other stuff either.
Seen by many as a breath of fresh air for the blue blur, Sonic Rush felt like the jolt the series needed at the time, at least for those who played it. Serving as the debut for mainstays like Blaze the Cat and the Boost mechanic, this 2D/3D hybrid made excellent use of the Nintendo DS dual screens and sported a fantastic soundtrack from Jet Set Radio composer Hideki Naganuma.
7
Mega Man Zero 4
April 21, 2005 (Game Boy Advance, Japan)
Kicking off as a sequel to the Mega Man X series, the Mega Man Zero games on the Game Boy Advance managed to continue the overarching Mega Man trend of tight platforming and shooting gameplay with plenty of style. Introducing the cute little Cyber Elves as a new upgrade system, they established an identity all their own as well.
Mega Man Zero 4 was the final game in the series, remaining a solid gameplay experience while not really adding too much compared to its predecessors. Luckily, when it comes to Mega Man, more of the same is kind of what you’re there for, and the streamlined take seen in Zero 4 absolutely delivered.
6
Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves
September 26, 2005 (PS2, North America)
- Released
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September 26, 2005
The Sly Cooper series was a bit of a surprise in the PlayStation 2’s catalog of games. While the first game, Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus, came out of the gate swinging with satisfying stealth platforming and tons of charm, each sequel managed to one-up in its own way.
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Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves is seen by some as trying a bit too hard while others consider it the peak of the series. True, it adds a bunch of new characters to play as, which might dilute the experience for certain players. But its trademark sense of humor is fully intact and it remains a classic character platformer for the PlayStation brand.
5
Ratchet: Deadlocked
October 25, 2005 (PS2, North America)
Ratchet: Deadlocked
- Released
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October 25, 2005
The hybrid platformer/shooter Ratchet & Clank series kept the ball rolling in the PlayStation 2 era by maintaining consistent gameplay while relegating most of its eclectic new ideas to the weapon and gadget selection. But Ratchet: Deadlocked decided to shake things up in an unexpected way, and fans of the Ratchet storyline weren’t particularly thrilled.
Now, instead of planet-hopping on an adventure with his trusty buddy Clank at his back, Ratchet is captured and forced to compete in a deadly televised competition with two fun but slightly less charming robots. Despite the changes, Deadlocked is a remarkably satisfying game to play, with much more of a focus on combat and plenty of weapons that make taking out hordes of enemies a breeze.
4
Shadow The Hedgehog
November 15, 2005 (PS2/GameCube/Xbox, North America)
Shadow the Hedgehog
Platformer
Action-Adventure
Third-Person Shooter
- Released
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December 15, 2005
If you weren’t edgy in 2005, then you were honestly probably ok. But random out-of-touch CEOs seemed to think you were totally lame, because edge and angst were all the rage in everything aimed at young people, despite actual young people just kind of being the same they’ve always been.
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Shadow the Hedgehog remains one of the most memorable instances of companies thinking everything needed to be super edgy to appeal to kids, famously giving Shadow a whole entire gun. But despite the intent, the game actually holds up shockingly well, even utilizing a morality system and branching storyline that were both way ahead of their time.
3
Kirby: Canvas Curse
March 24, 2005 (Nintendo DS, Japan)
Kirby: Canvas Curse
Kirby feels like one of those series where trying something new for each game isn’t all that big of a risk. The fans are always up for more Kirby, and as long as he’s still a friendly little pink ball, they’re mostly on board. Kirby: Canvas Curse on the Nintendo DS is an interesting and characteristically adorable example.
It pushed the envelope in interesting ways for the series, taking advantage of the system’s touch screen to change the typical platforming and sucking-up-enemies formula to using the stylus to guide a rolling limbless Kirby through levels. Ambitious, and it worked, even spawning a delightful claymation-styled sequel in Kirby and the Rainbow Curse ten years later on the Wii U.
2
Lego Star Wars: The Video Game
March 29, 2005 (PS2/PC/Game Boy Advance, North America)
LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game
Adventure
Platformer
Science Fiction
Have you ever had a movie spoiled by a video game? Well, if you were a Star Wars fan in 2005, you may just have had that happen. Twice. Lego Star Wars: The Video Game retold the events of the prequel trilogy, including Revenge of the Sith, which hadn’t even been released yet by the time this and the official Revenge of the Sith game came out. Some games can be so impatient.
If you’ve played other Lego games, particularly the Lego Star Wars ones, this might seem positively quaint to you. It started the Lego video game craze that now covers series from The Lord of the Rings to Indiana Jones and beyond, so it’s really the most basic form of the now beloved action platformer series. Jump around, hit things with a lightsaber, and collect little Lego pieces. Sometimes the simplest ideas bring the greatest satisfaction.
1
Psychonauts
April 19, 2005 (Xbox/PC, North America)
Psychonauts 2 was a revelation. Not only was it a sequel to a cult classic game long considered a financial failure that fans thought nobody would ever touch again, but it was also way better than so many people expected. But if you played the original Psychonauts, maybe you weren’t all that surprised at its quality.
Psychonauts is an ultra-stylized 3D platformer that makes use of psychic powers to augment the regular platforming gameplay. You explore Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp as well as the actual minds of the people there, honing your skills while uncovering a sinister plot. Between its incredible sense of humor, creative gameplay, and shockingly poignant moments, it’s no wonder those who played it almost invariably fell in love.
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