2025. We are a quarter of the way through the first century of the new millennium and they are still making cool games! Here is a recap of my 2025 in gaming, though few of these games came out in 2025.

Games Beaten

January—Star Fox Guard (Wii U); Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Switch); Spider-Man: Miles Morales (PS4)

February—Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: Radical Rescue (Game Boy via Cowabunga Collection on Switch); Super Monkey Ball: Banana Rumble (Switch); Lord Winklebottom Investigates (Switch)

March—Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight (PS5)

April—Cat Quest III (Switch); Undertale (Vita)

May—Shadow of the Ninja Reborn (Switch); Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure (Wii)

June—Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution! (GBA); Picross S Namco Legendary Edition (Switch)

July—Mechstermination Force (Switch); Pocky & Rocky Reshrined (Switch); Monster Hunter Rise + Sunbreak (Switch)

August—Piczle Cross Adventure (Switch); Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair (Switch)

September—Turrican (Switch); Turrican II (Switch); Super Turrican (Switch); Mega Turrican (Switch) [these four are from the Turrican Flashbak collection]

October—

November—Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana (Switch)

December—Destiny 2: Edge of Fate (PS5); Hollow Knight: Silksong (Switch); Cotton Reboot! (Switch)

Total Beaten: 26

26 games is a lot! Not counting the PS+ games, I think I might have shrunk the backlog a little in 2025. Let's find out!

Games Bought

or somehow acquired

Note: Click on a month to go to that month's recap and see what these games are. The PS+ games in parentheses are part of the total but I wanted to make special note of them since I didn't have to pay for them beyond the subscription fee.

January—8 (PS+: 3)

February—3 (PS+: 2)

March—3 (PS+: 3)

April—1 (PS+: 1)

May—7 (PS+: 1)

June—1 (PS+: 1)

July—3 (PS+: 2)

August—3 (PS+: 2)

September—5 (PS+: 3)

October—5 (PS+: 3)

November—3 (PS+: 1)

December—13 (PS+: 4)

Total Bought/Acquired: 55 (PS+: 26)

Dang. Even without the PS+ games, I still had 29 new games, meaning that the ol' backlog did indeed grow in 2025, though only by three games. Maybe next year!

Addendum of Sorrow

Games I spent time with in 2025 but didn't finish

-Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun (PS5)

Boltgun was fun but eventually I just felt like I was spinning my wheels. The gameplay never really evolved any and I lost interest in playing it.

***

The Golden Hippo Awards

And now it's time for the Golden Hippo Awards! These awards are based solely on the actual games I played in 2025, regardless of whether or not they came out in 2025.

Am I on Drugs?: Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Switch)

The trippy wonder powers in Mario Wonder were a consistent delight and sometimes were just so wonderfully weird.

Pun Appreciation: Cat Quest III (Switch)

Whether you play this game meow or later, hopefully you will appreciate the writing. It's nearly purrfect.

Best Music: Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana (Switch)

This early-game song is one of my favorite pieces of game music, period. It's what first drew my attention to Ys VIII.

Best Story: Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair (Switch)

The first Danganronpa game won this award last year and the sequel did not disappoint. The game starts very similarly to its predecessor but takes a late-game swerve that could have been eye rolly and cliché but it really worked and put this game over the top.

Game of the Year: Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana (Switch)

I first wanted to play this game because of the cool music but man, did I ever enjoy the whole package! The action RPG combat remained engaging throughout, I loved the cast of characters, and the devs did a great job of keeping the story from stagnating. It was the game that pulled me in the most all year and what I enjoyed playing more than anything else.