Y'all, where did 2025 go? I remember sitting here at this same desk, telling everybody how I couldn't wait to get Grand Theft Auto 6 in my hands. That's just one indicator of how the year often unfolds way differently than we planned. In December, App Trigger is taking a look back at the stories that defined the year in gaming. Longtime readers will probably remember some of these, while others are hearing about them for the first time. Either way, join us as we walk down memory lane, won't you?
I tell anybody unsure about getting a new console at launch that often, there's no hurry. It's your money, and you're welcome to spend it however you like. But consoles often yawn, stretch, and take a year or more to really justify their existence. Then there's the Nintendo Switch 2.
How about coming straight out of the gate with a Game of the Year contender in Donkey Kong Bananza? It didn't get The Game Awards trophy for GOTY, but did win Best Family Game. All three of the young critics in my house are thoroughly impressed. I'll get some time with it when they return to school soon.
Awards aside, I suspect in a few years, we'll be looking back at Bananza the same way we look at Super Mario Odyssey now. This is what the best in the industry can do with proper support. So many great games don't get their success built upon for reasons that have little to do with creativity. We all know Mario, Link, and Donkey Kong are going to bring it. But I don't know if anybody expected them to hit quite this hard this fast.
The racing genre has needed some love, and Nintendo served it well with a reinvention of Mario Kart. Open-world racing, an elimination mode? It was enough to make us forget that Mario Kart World ushered in the era of the $80 game.
Kirby Air Riders is a racing game that shares more than a bit of DNA with Super Smash Bros, and for many that is not a bad thing at all. In an era in which far too many play it safe with successful franchises, Nintendo has not been afraid to swing for the fences.
In a year that brought far too many layoffs, delays, and disappointments, Nintendo delivered what it has for decades: pure unadulterated joy. Less than a year into its life cycle, the Switch 2 is setting the standard.