Just as last year marked the anniversaries of video games like God of War, Shadow of the Colossus, and the Star Wars Episode III tie-in game, 2026 marks yet more video game anniversaries for you to look out for. From video games released just a decade ago to games released during the respective launches of the PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii, come and take a look back at these anniversaries.
20th Anniversaries
Star Wars: Empire at War (February 16, 2006) – The Star Wars saga may have been complete (years before a new trilogy would be created under Disney), but the world of Star Wars video games was not. Star Wars: Empire at War is a Star Wars RTS game that took place leading up to the events of A New Hope and the era’s Galactic Civil War. The game recently reached its 20th anniversary, remains on sale on PC via Steam, and continues to have an active modding scene keeping the game alive to this day.
LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (September 11, 2006) – One of the most beloved Star Wars and LEGO games of all time, Lego Star Wars II is, needless to say, a love letter to the original trilogy. Just as LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game recreated the prequel trilogy, the sequel did the same for the classic trilogy. Subsequent LEGO Star Wars games have since continued the experience that fans have loved since the first two instalments, so much so that Lego Star Wars II was added to modern PlayStation consoles via the PS Plus Premium Catalog in 2024.
The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning (October 10, 2006) – While Spyro’s post-PlayStation era games had mixed results with the likes of Enter The Dragonfly and A Hero’s Tail, Spyro would live up to the name of his big 2006 title. This was the first installment in a new reboot continuity that brought a darker tone of storytelling and combat-focused gameplay to the franchise. Now, Spyro is a rare purple dragon raised as a sibling to Sparx the Dragonfly, and the purple dragon himself is also a prophesized chosen one that gets thrust into saving the world from the forces of a malevolent dark master. Perhaps the new reboot would give an opportunity for a potential love interest for Spyro (hint hint, wink wink).
Spyro went from being voiced by Carlos Alazraqui and Tom Kenny during the classic days to being voiced by Frodo Baggins and Mumble Happy Feet himself: Elijah Wood. The Legend of Spyro also introduced a new voice cast featuring David Spade, Gary Oldman, Jeff Bennett, and Kevin Michael Richardson. Some fan reactions were mixed due to how the reboot greatly deviated from the franchise’s roots, yet A New Beginning was still successful enough to receive two sequels in the following years.
Gears of War (November 7, 2006) – Gears of War may as well be considered a member of Xbox’s three killer IPs (joined by Halo and Forza), and though it recently broke Xbox/PC exclusivity, Gears undoubtedly helped the Xbox 360 burst onto the next gen gaming scene. In the beginning, the first generation of Gears fans bore witness to a war-torn galaxy with protagonist Marcus Fenix fighting the horde of The Locust in order to save humanity. Just echo the game’s name and longtime fans will mentally picture tearing up enemies with weapons such as the iconic Mark 2 Lancer chainsaw assault rifle.
Bionicle Heroes (November 14, 2006) – Back in 2006, Lego Bionicle was still in the middle of its original run. The toyline already received several video games spread across 6th gen consoles, PC, and Game Boy Advance… and Bionicle Heroes was no different. Eidos and Traveler’s Tale joined forces in giving Bionicle the LEGO Star Wars treatment, releasing the game during the same week as the launches of the Xbox 360’s competitors the PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii. Going back to LEGO Star Wars for a quick second, the trailer for LEGO Star Wars II was included in Bionicle Heroes. You could say that, in a nutshell, the game combined (and made kid-friendly) Gears of War’s gameplay and over-the-shoulder camera while replacing the studs of LEGO Star Wars with LEGO Technic pieces and further offering fans the experience of fighting Bionicle enemies from 2001-2006.
By contrast to the game’s signature ports on consoles and PC, the Nintendo DS port was a First Person Shooter, and the Game Boy Advance port being a sort of top-down/isometric shooter. Additionally, Bionicle Heroes never received a port on PS3, instead being passed up for a Wii port that released in Spring 2007.
10th Anniversaries
Ratchet & Clank (April 12, 2016) – Don’t get this mistaken for the 2002 PS2 exclusive of the same name. This 2016 PS4 exclusive is a reboot/reimagining of the early 2000s era platformer. The reboot/reimagining gave a modern recreation of the franchise’s first installment, and made some additional changes to the characters/story while following the overall meeting of the bot & Lombax duo.
The 2016 reboot received solid reviews overall on Metacritic for its gameplay and gorgeous, kid-friendly visuals. After all, the reboot also served as a video game tie-in to the animated movie. However, following the critical failure of the movie, the Ratchet & Clank franchise would go dormant for the next few years. That is, until a brand new instalment was revealed in 2020 ahead of the PlayStation 5 console launch. While Rift Apart was released in 2021 (and almost five years later, little to no official word of another game coming anytime soon), it seems that hardly anyone remembers the ill-faded reboot… aside from its limited free release to promote Rift Apart (via ResetEra).
Overwatch (May 24, 2016) – The GOTY winner at The Game Awards 2016, Overwatch took the Esports scene by storm and contributed to the rise in popularity of hero shooters. Overwatch has captivated fans for the past several years with its iconic characters and art style. But things for the Blizzard-developed multiplayer shooter haven’t always panned out so well. Other hero shooters have tried to best Overwatch, with one particular Marvel hero shooter becoming a true rival. Additionally, following the release of its “sequel”, the original Overwatch was swallowed up and forever replaced back in October 2022, even if you happen to own a physical copy of the original game.
Though in a twist, early February this year brought the ironic news that Blizzard dropped the 2 from Overwatch 2 and essentially rebooted the sequel with a new story-driven direction (as reported by GameSpot). So, Overwatch is kinda back… right?
Pokémon GO (July 6, 2016) – Whaddya know… nearly a decade later and this smartphone Pokémon game is still available on mobile storefronts (including the App Store). Pokémon fans could live out their pocket monster-catching dreams to the real world by walking (or riding) around town and having Pokéstops layered on top of the real world’s parks and various landmarks. Battling other Pokémon trainers was still a feature though.
Perhaps even more memorable than the game itself was all the real life chaos spawned from the game craze. Whether you laughed or cringed, how could anyone ever forget during that year’s US Presidential Election when Hillary Clinton’s pitch was for players to Pokémon GO to the polls? Fans may also remember (for the wrong reasons) when Pokémon hunting resulted in some real life discoveries that included uncovering dead bodies (via The Denver Post). The franchise has definitely changed during the decade after Pokémon GO’s craze, from a live action Pokémon movie to Pokémon-related products being the frequent target of scalpers.
Battlefield 1 (October 18, 2016) – No, this wasn’t DICE and EA’s first ever Battlefield game… but it was a first person shooter that tackles a considerably underexposed time period in human history. Indeed, while many first person shooters like Call of Duty and even the Battlefield franchise itself started off with the WWII setting, Battlefield 1 by contrast heads over a decade earlier with the first ever World War. Battlefield 1 is one of the top highest rated games in the franchise on Metacritic, so much so that its successors Battlefield V, 2042, and Battlefield 6 struggle to top their 2016 predecessor.
Titanfall 2 (October 28, 2016) – Last but not least is the sequel to the 2014 Xbox One, Xbox 360, and PC exclusive Titanfall. The human & titan duo sequel brought the series to PlayStation 4 a couple years later and received great acclaim by fans and critics alike for its gameplay and story. Unfortunately, the game was considerably a financial flop (as reported by GameSpot), as a big part of it was due to releasing between the FPS giants Battlefield 1 and Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare. No matter how much fans fondly remember Titanfall 2, a sequel has never been pursued. In place of a Titanfall 3 is the still ongoing shadow dropped Titanfall multiplayer live service game from 2019 known as Apex Legends. In fact, the creators of Titanfall and Apex Legends even formed a new studio and dropped a new hero shooter in attempts to recreate the success of Apex Legends… and the release of said new hero shooter has been catastrophic.
Did we miss any of your favourite gaming anniversaries? Let us know in the comments and stay tuned to Smash Jump for more.
