We’re finally down to it. What follows is the best of the best, the absolute cream of the crop of what 2025 had to offer.

Note: You can listen to a podcast where Jenn and I discuss these awards! Check it out here!

1. Game of the Year: Bronze Award (Third Place)
2. Game of the Year: Silver Award (Second Place)
3. Game of the Year: Runners-Up
4. Game of the Year
5. Additional Commentary!

.

Game of the Year: Bronze Award (Third Place)

Split Fiction – Split Fiction already works wonders by being an absolute roller-coaster ride of set piece after set piece, but then it goes a step farther by making that an expertly-crafted asymmetrical co-op multiplayer masterpiece, and then it even works some subtle game design magic to ensure that it is as accessible as possible, all within a game that looks amazing and has a great story. If you have a Nintendo Switch 2 and a friend who wants to play with you (on pretty much any modern game platform), you need to consider Split Fiction a must-have.

.

Game of the Year: Silver Award (Second Place)

Fast Fusion – When you’re looking at the launch lineup of a new game console, you don’t usually expect the best new exclusive to be the inexpensive budget game, yet here we are. It’s not just the low price or the jaw-dropping stunning visuals that make this one of my favorite games of the year, it’s the amazing sense of speed as I whip through color-coded speed boosts while just barely swapping my vehicle’s color just in time to match, the thrill of launching myself off the track and taking advantage of a shortcut while only just barely making it back in time before landing off the track and exploding, it’s the thrill of landing a jump right on top of an opponent to mess them up and earn extra fuel for my speed boost. The Fast series has always been superb, but this year I feel like they truly brought the franchise into its own and made something I think is a game that should be remembered as one of the great early games of the Nintendo Switch 2’s life.

.

Game of the Year: Runners-Up

Hades II – It’s easy to boil Hades II down to “Its everything you liked about the first game, but more!”, “It’s the same, but different!”, but that doesn’t quite capture the fine line Hades II walks to be great sequel to a truly phenomenal game, holding on to what worked about the first game while adding or tweaking just enough to make this a unique experience that builds on the groundwork its predecessor laid down rather than merely copying it. The combat still feels outstanding, the Roguelike elements still add a lot of variety and nuance, and the storytelling is still exceptional, yet all without feeling like a retread. That is a wonderful accomplishment that deserves recognition.

Ball X Pit – I’m writing this right now in between sessions playing Ball X Pit. When I want to play a game for a short while to relax, this is the game I’ve been reaching for. There’s something almost meditative about jumping into a level, blasting enemies with tons of balls while trying to create the best upgrade synergies, completing the level or dying, upgrading your little town and careening your townsfolk around inside it, and then doing it all over again. Its mix of action, thoughtful elements, and progression all make this game rewarding in different ways, resulting in a game that’s harder to put down than the overwhelming majority of games I’ve played this year.

Battle Suit Aces – I admit, the concept of a mech Card RPG didn’t really excite me before playing Battle Suit Aces. But then, I didn’t expect that the Card RPG gameplay would be so engaging, the artwork so gorgeous, and the characters and story so compelling. Any one of these things could help compel a player to want to keep playing and see more of this outstanding game, but all together, they make one of the best-crafted games of the year, and one that I truly hope more players find their way to.

Shotgun Cop Man – As game titles go, Shotgun Cop Man sounds generic in an almost childish way, and I think that must be intentional, to mirror this game’s absurdly silly idea about a cop assigned to head to hell to arrest Satan. This game’s delightfully ridiculous elements are matched by its crazy over-the-top Action-packed gameplay, making for a truly joyful game about a chunky bald guy blasting himself around while taking out demons. I can’t remember the last time I went from skeptical to overjoyed with a game this quickly, and I cannot recommend enough that you give it a try too.

UFO 50 – It’s easy to say “throw enough at the wall and something’s bound to stick”, but if the things you’re tossing aren’t sticky in the first place, you’re just going to end up with a messy floor. What UFO 50 throws at the wall are 50 wildly inventive games, each wonderfully creative in their own right. And while not all of them stick, the ones that do stick leave a lasting impression. Plus, everything is so diverse that different players are sure to come out of the experience loving different games. However, while players might vary when it comes to what they’ll love about UFO 50, I think just about everyone who enjoys retro-style games will find something to love here, and that’s what makes UFO 50 an absolute success.

.

Game of the Year

Donkey Kong Bananza – Some years, the competition for the #1 game is close. This wasn’t one of those years. Absolutely nothing on Nintendo Switch or Nintendo Switch 2 came anywhere close to the brilliance that is Donkey Kong Bananza.

Nintendo’s Super Mario Odyssey team has left their fingerprints all over this game, and I mean that in the best way. Their level design is absolutely phenomenal, ensuring that everyone one of this game’s worlds is a joy to explore, with plenty of new and interesting challenges throughout the game.

However, of course, the star of the show here is the level destruction elements, which seems like it should run counter to great level design since you can often just tunnel your way to collectibles you’re meant to be seeking out rather than working through a carefully-designed obstacle course, but Bananza carefully blends the two keeping just enough indestructible elements around to ensure that the game has a good level design backbone while also keeping everything malleable enough that players feel like they’re carving their way through the environments along every step of the journey.

Graphically, this game is a wonder to behold, with plenty of detail and lots of activity going on in the game’s destructible environments, as well as some incredible animation. And the soundtrack is truly catchy, and the voice acting for Pauline makes her an endearing part of Donkey Kong’s adventure rather than someone you grudgingly have to let tag along.

And all of this is within the context of a game that clearly loves and respects every chapter of Donkey Kong’s saga, from the original arcade games to Rare’s Country series to Donkey Kong 64, to the post-Rare games, to the Retro Studios era, with some nice nods to Super Mario Odyssey as well.

And while Donkey Kong Bananza has ties to all of those games, it is still completely its own thing, not really playing quite like any past game from Donkey Kong or Mario’s history. And as much as I love those older games, I hope this is the start of a new chapter for DK, and we see a Bananza 2 in a few years, because this game absolutely deserves a follow-up. However, for now this is in my opinion the biggest and best adventure that Nintendo platform owners got to play all year, and there is no doubt in my mind that it is the rightful recipient of the eShopperReviews 2025 Game of the Year award.

.

Additional Commentary!

Okay, I know what many of you want to hear about here, so let’s get to it: games that weren’t named Game of the Year (or even a runner-up) and why.

Momodora: Moonlit Farewell – This was so very close to being one of this year’s runners-up, but I ultimately felt like I had to include UFO 50 instead of this due to its huge variety and creativity. I really wanted to include this, but sadly it was not to be, because I could only have so many runners-up.

Mario Kart World – I complain about it a lot, but I do genuinely like Mario Kart World. It was a solid launch title for Nintendo Switch 2, even if I don’t think it’s the “killer app” the system needed (and would get shortly after launch in the form of Donkey Kong Bananza). I think World had the potential to be something truly great, but that potential is squandered – the Open World isn’t as well-utilized as it should be, the wall-jump and other jumping mechanics are too limited and difficult to use to really change the gameplay, the costumes seemed like they could have added something cool to the game if only they weren’t purely aesthetic, the menu design is lacking, the options are too limited… this is a game with a lot of problems, and it’s coming after Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, a game I maintain is still the greatest Kart Racing game of all-time. That’s a tough act to follow, so it’s no great failing that Mario Kart World just can’t quite live up to it.

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond – Much like Mario Kart World, I genuinely like Metroid Prime 4, and think it is a fun game… but it’s not a very good Metroid game, and some of the design choices here are baffling. You know, if this game had taken the Metroid Prime franchise away from Metroidvania world design and entirely devoted the game to being open-world, that would have been okay – that’s what the Batman Arkham games did when they went from Arkham Asylum to Arkham City. But here, they just shove an Open World right in the middle of the game and make it as bland as possible and give players almost nothing to do in it. Has Nintendo forgotten how to do Open-Worlds in the last few years? Because they seemed to understand how to do them just fine in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. I just have to shake my head here.

Deltarune – Again, I just couldn’t justify putting this game up for Game of the Year when a huge portion of the game has been freely available on Nintendo Switch for years now. I feel like that’s sorta’ part and parcel with releasing games in this staggered, episodic format – if you look at it when the first episode releases, it’s an incomplete game, and if you look at it when it’s more meaty, a large part of it is already old. but just know that even though I didn’t give it any of the highest honors today, I still thought about it quite a lot.

Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition, No Man’s Sky – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition, Guilty Gear -Strive- Nintendo Switch Edition, Final Fantasy Tactics – The Ivalice Chronicles, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4, Donkey Kong Country Returns HD – All games that would have been strong contenders here, potentially even battling with Bananza for Game of the Year (and also probably losing), except they all have far too much content that is too old for the game to be consideration, and thus disqualified.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition, and Kirby and the Forgotten Land – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Star-Crossed World – All of these actually would have been strong competition for Bananza for Game of the Year. But again, the original games are too old. heck, Tears of the Kingdom did win Game of the Year in its respective release year, and Breath of the Wild probably would have done so too if eShopperReviews had been around back then. And Kirby won the bronze in its year.

Hollow Knight: Silksong – Didn’t even consider this for one of the top spots. Sorry, Hollow Knight fans, but I did not love this game. I respect it, I think it is gorgeous, but I think the game design goes well beyond “hard” to straight-up malicious in how much it punishes players. Every other game I’m mentioning on this page, I’m sorely tempted to go back and play more of. But Silksong? I could happily never play this game ever again.

Islanders: New Shores, and Roger, and Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo – All strong contenders, but not strong enough to break into the top spots.

.

That’s all for the eShopperReviews 2025 Game Awards! If you missed the other awards this week, be sure to check back at the Awards’ Start Page to see the other awards that have been handed out!

You can now support this content on Patreon! Please click the link to learn more!