Not a few years in the course of the 2000s loved higher online game releases than 2004. The peak of the PS2, Xbox, and GameCube helped usher in a whirlwind of iconic originals, unimaginable sequels to legendary video games, and spinoff titles that spiced up their respective sequence.
Even the indie scene began to achieve traction. These 2004 video video games have fun their twentieth anniversary in 2024, and it may be time to choose them up and luxuriate in them yet again!
1. Paper Mario: The Thousand-12 months Door
Paper Mario: The Thousand-12 months Door represents the proper sequel. The sport elevates the whole lot about its predecessor whereas making a legacy that feels unimaginable to match. The paper aesthetic mixes with the Mushroom Kingdom’s authentic characters to indulge avid gamers in a mirthful universe that the majority trendy titles resist to copy.
The sport will likely be re-released with remastered graphics and sound in 2024 on the Swap.
2. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Each Grand Theft Auto set up alters the open-world gaming panorama, and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was no totally different. San Andreas moved the sequence in a pivotal path by creating the Southern California/Western vibes emulated in sequels like Grand Theft Auto V. The sport boosted the sequence’ potential with trendy graphics and adherence to historic and human curiosity plotting.
3. Pikmin 2
Pikmin 2 goes underneath the radar now that the sequence spans 20 years and extra mainline titles. The sport eradicated many odd quirks that followers disliked from the primary sport, like aggravating cut-off dates, whereas introducing new technique methods via the capabilities of novel Pikmin, equivalent to purple bodybuilder Pikmin.
4. Halo 2
Halo 2 cemented the IP’s success by going grander and extra formidable than its predecessor. First-person shooters would take the throne as the most well-liked style of console gaming in the course of the mid-2000s, because of Grasp Chief’s heroic missions and movie-character qualities.
5. Gran Turismo 4
Gran Turismo separates itself from different racing video games as a result of it introduced realism and a focus to element to the style within the 2000s. Gran Turismo 4 didn’t reinvent the wheel, but it surely gifted avid gamers with all desired objects, equivalent to new automobiles and racetracks, along with top-of-the-line graphics.
6. The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap
After the controversial, cartoonish vibes given by The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Nintendo leaned into the immature visible aptitude with The Minish Cap on Recreation Boy Advance. The sport sticks to the sequence’ roots whereas differentiating itself from the console releases by scaling itself small, each actually and figuratively. The power to rework Hyperlink right into a tiny type of himself stays a favourite mechanic for longtime Zelda followers, making this title one of the vital endearing 2004 video video games.
7. Half-Life 2
Half-Life 2 didn’t attain the mainstream recognition of Halo 2, however first-person shooter followers who take pleasure in a extra diverse method to the style swear by this title as one of the best sport in its class. The sport requires extra pondering than a typical shooter, with rigorously designed puzzles and a daring sense of environment and journey.
8. Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes was Nintendo’s entry into the first-person shooter style in 2004. The darker aesthetic in comparison with the primary sport could have turned some folks off from the title, in addition to the excessive issue, however little doubt Samus’s return to the GameCube represents the top of journey gaming on the console.
9. Pokémon Hearth Purple/Leaf Inexperienced
Pokémon Hearth Purple and Leaf Inexperienced began the sequence’ tried-and-true development of enhancing older video games within the franchise for a brand new technology of gamers. A number of the most liked monsters within the sequence are featured closely, serving to the sport function a connector between the Recreation Boy Coloration and Recreation Boy Advance when enjoying Pokémon.
10. WarioWare: Twisted!
The WarioWare sequence depends on Nintendo’s willingness to let go of all artistic restrictions and let wild concepts fly. The microgames in WarioWare: Twisted! revolved across the sport cartridge’s built-in gyro-sensor. Turning the Recreation Boy Advance in circles labored higher than anyone might have thought, and it previewed the movement controls of the Wii simply two years later.
11. Cave Story
Cave Story revolutionized impartial sport improvement by touching avid gamers with the intimacy of a single particular person’s imaginative and prescient. Gamers discover caves, battle enemies, and achieve new energy benefits much like SNES side-scrolling journey video games, giving the world a template for future Metroidvania indies.
12. World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft blazed via gaming vernacular in such a method that individuals who by no means performed pc video games earlier than wished to take a crack at it. The MMORPG style would by no means be the identical after this title, and the need for extra fantasy gaming experiences and on-line multiplayer video games would affect Xbox Reside and different related platforms within the 2000s and 2010s. Of all of the 2004 video video games profiled right here, this one may need essentially the most revolutionary affect.
13. Fable
The motion RPG style wanted to evolve after the top-down, hack-and-slash experiences of the Nineties. Fable went with a third-person perspective, and though not everybody liked it, the sport supplied a distinct class for folk who love parading via magical lands with swords and axes.
14. Far Cry
The unique Far Cry stood out within the crowded first-person shooter style with a extra heroic, Jack Reacher-esque protagonist on the helm of the story. Being set in pure environments as an alternative of area (like Halo or Metroid Prime) or warfare (assume Name of Responsibility) made for a grittier sport.
15. Burnout 3: Takedown
Burnout 3: Takedown aided the peak of console racers in the course of the 2000s, with different video games like Gran Turismo, Mario Kart, and Forza additionally becoming a member of the highest of the meals chain. Burnout usually grew to become the selection for avid gamers who wished a racer to make them sweat and compete with mates like their lives relied on victory!
16. Hearth Emblem: The Sacred Stones
Hearth Emblem: The Sacred Stones signified a change in the best way Nintendo developed the Hearth Emblem sequence. With gross sales dropping in America, the sport’s simpler issue helped popularize the technique sequence in new methods. The Sacred Stones served because the stopgap earlier than Hearth Emblem: Awakening saved the sequence on the Nintendo 3D lower than ten years later.
17. Kirby & the Superb Mirror
Kirby & the Superb Mirror didn’t reinvent Kirby’s video games, however this GBA title centered on journey and puzzle-solving greater than the platforming-heavy doses in earlier video games. The open-ended exploration of the sport by no means actually acquired its due or appeared once more in future installments.
18. Mario vs. Donkey Kong
Mario vs. Donkey Kong capitalized on the nostalgia directed towards a basic Eighties rivalry between the portly plumber and the superior ape. The puzzle platforming motion suits the GBA model completely. The sport will likely be remastered for the Nintendo Swap in 2024.
19. Prince of Persia: Warrior Inside
Prince of Persia: Warrior Inside didn’t attain the height that Sands of Time did, however the sequel refined fundamental facets of the unique sport’s enjoyable and tweaked the tone of the storytelling. Mature and violent battles made this extra of an motion sport than an journey title.
20. Tremendous Mario 64 DS
Though Tremendous Mario 64 was solely a few decade outdated on the time of the Nintendo DS’s launch, Nintendo made the precise choice in remaking it for his or her latest handheld console in 2004. Tremendous Mario 64 DS additionally confirmed the relevance of Yoshi and Wario inside the Mushroom Kingdom universe.
21. Baldur’s Gate: Darkish Alliance 2
Baldur’s Gate: Darkish Alliance 2 could also be certainly one of this biased creator’s favorites of 2004, but it surely deserves a shoutout nonetheless. The highest-down dungeon-crawling motion paying homage to Diablo expanded with extra weapons and characters from the primary sport. Co-op mode makes this sport much more enjoyable, by the best way!
22. Donkey King Jungle Beat
The bongo drum peripheral grew to become certainly one of Nintendo’s most-used toys in the course of the center of the GameCube’s run. After Donkey Konga obtained households rocking their plastic drums to the beat of basic pop songs, the lovable ape returned to the jungle for a platforming romp with Donkey Kong Jungle Beat.
