Today, the Tuesday 10s return with a glimpse at the ten titles that I am most anticipated and hyped about for the rest of 2025. From a plethora of platformers to new remakes of old loves, as well as some speedy racers, this list contains a wide variety of gaming goodness to see off the year that was 2025. The following list is in alphabetical order of game names.
Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles (Multi)
One of the seminal games of my youth, Final Fantasy Tactics remains one of my most treasured tactical game experiences. Between its myriad memorable battles, sensational soundtrack (one of my favorites within gaming), and narrative that I've only grown to appreciate more as an adult than I did in my younger years, Final Fantasy Tactics is an epic in every sense of the word.
This remaster, Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles, heads to basically every current platform with an updated graphical style as well as the old style for purists or simply folks who prefer the original look. Voice acting throughout is included, too, and it sounds glorious, in all honesty. The Ivalice Chronicles from the looks of it appears to be what you get when you improve upon near-perfection. Fans knowledgeable of a certain Wiegraf series of battles probably know what I mean by "near-perfection"!
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment (NS2)
To be perfectly honest, I could not care less about the Imprisoning War or learning more lore behind The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. That just doesn't interest me in the slightest, nor does following along with the whims of Nintendo with the lore of The Legend of Zelda series. Where in the timeline does THIS take place? I do not care in the slightest.
I DO, however, care about the Hyrule Warriors series, and while I'm a bit remiss that we're not getting more in the way of the original Hyrule Warriors, instead adhering again to the Breath of the Wild / Tears of the Kingdom cast and story rather than the entire franchise, I'm eager to participate in epic, grand-scale battles across Hyrule. There's something to Musou-style games that tickle the pleasure part of my gaymer brain, and Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment looks to do that yet again with one of my favorite franchises in gaming. Can't complain about that!
Kirby Air Riders (NS2)
The madman Masahiro Sakurai and his team at Sora are back it again. Right from the word "go" and from the information revealed in the first Nintendo Direct dedicated to the game, we know Kirby Air Riders is a racer that is absolutely going to be stuffed with content. Heck, if I didn't gather that from the first Nintendo Direct, the announcement of a second Direct dedicated to the game would have hit that point home big time. Essentially taking the GameCube cult classic and packing it with more, more, more in the way of modes, characters, and features (including a second button to be used during gameplay--you're getting crazy, Mr. Sakurai!!), Kirby Air Riders is destined to provide plenty to love for fans of the original, as well as newcomers experiencing this Kirby racing spin-off series for the first time through this sequel.
Metroid Prime 4: Beyond (NS2, NSW)
Metroid Prime and Metroid fans in general have really been put the ringer with waiting for the fourth installment of Metroid Prime. Fortunately, the long worldwide nightmare is almost over. ...Maybe. Unless after all this time the game doesn't live up to the impossible expectations thrust upon it. Now, wouldn't that suck!
But, I'm forever an optimist, and I do have faith in Nintendo and Retro Studios to deliver. For almost two decades we've been teased by the return of Sylux, and now his main villain arc is presumably here with Metroid Prime 4: Beyond. Throw in eye-watering visuals, especially on the Switch 2 version (with graphics and performance options available), optional JoyCon 2 mouse controls, and Samus on a bike (!!), and you have an entry that I truly hope turns out wonderfully. And not just for me, of course, but the entire Metroid fandom. Another win for all of us is deserved!
Mina the Hollower (Multi)
From the team behind Shovel Knight comes a new game after all this time--Mina the Hollower. Featuring gorgeous pixel art modeled after the Game Boy Color (though using tricks beyond its full capabilities), a massive world to traverse and explore, combat with creatures of all shapes and sizes with Mina's magical whip, multiple Trinkets that can change up a given player's play style in a snap (or maybe a crack of the whip), and you have a game that promises to delight. I can think of no better treat to trick out on when it releases this Halloween than Mina the Hollower.
Pac-Man World 2 Re-Pac (Multi)
I very much enjoyed Pac-Man World Re-Pac, a remake of the PlayStation 1's Pac-Man World. The hope with that remake was that Bandai Namco would eventually get around to remaking the more cult-favorite of the bunch: Pac-Man World 2. The Nintendo Partner Direct from this past July revealed this hope would prosper into a dream come true for fans with Pac-Man World 2 Re-Pac. Featuring a more 3D world rather than the side-scrolling 3D style of the original Pac-Man World, this remade sequel boasts new improvements to bosses, to accessibility with the new Fairy Mode, and even a light co-op mode with one player taking on the role of Pac-Man while the other controls a drone. I never did finish Pac-Man World 2, but with these upgrades and improvements, I'm looking forward to trying when the remake releases this Friday.
Pokemon Legends Z-A (NS2, NSW)
As a big fan of the previous Pokemon Legends game, Pokemon Legends: Arceus, I'm certainly looking forward to exploring Lumiose City, a veritable Pokemon playground to explore and do battle in. Plus, it won't hurt that with the Nintendo Switch 2 version of the game that Game Freak's latest will hopefully run at minimum competently on the hardware, unlike certain recent efforts from the dev. Sorry, not sorry. Regardless, I'm more than ready to once again hop into real-time action battles, where positioning and timing are key factors in the difference between victory and defeat. Throw in the multiplayer Battle Club mode, where battles against wild Pokemon or other players occur, and you have one pretty promising Pokemon package with Legends Z-A.
Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds (Multi)
Firstly, let me just mention that I do not care about any forced, cringe, manufactured rivalry between this next game and Mario Kart World. I'd rather be happy for multiple great kart racers in a single year than engage in some juvenile made-up war to pit two awesome games against each other, so please miss me with that console war-like nonsense.
Now with that out of the way, Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds sports a colorful cast of characters to customize their rides and speed into one of over 21 unique tracks plus the dozen or so eponymous "CrossWorlds" which take the action on the second lap to a completely new and different locale, albeit briefly. This makes races all the more dynamic and interesting. With crossplay across every platform, this Sonic racing iteration certainly shouldn't see its online population dying in weeks like Team Sonic Racing's did. In fact, I'm positive that with SEGA's determined support of this game, that we'll see a long-lasting racer here, which I'm all for.
Super Mario Galaxy + Super Mario Galaxy 2 (NSW)
Let's start off by mentioning how much Nintendo sometimes has me by the throat. It's sad, really. All the company had to do for me to bite down was put together two of my favorite 3D platformer into one slightly updated package on the Nintendo Switch for Mario's 40th anniversary. Seventy dollars USD, you say? I shamefully submit and will pay that for this, Super Mario Galaxy + Super Mario Galaxy 2. Yes, I am part of the problem, I admit, and for that I profusely apologize. But, BOTH Super Mario Galaxy games--two of the finest, most masterful platformers ever conceived? I have no regrets!
Yooka-Replaylee (Multi)
2017's Yooka-Laylee was Playtonic's answer to Banjo-Kazooie. Heck, it was a spiritual successor, after all, with various staff who had worked on Rare's platforming classic having had also worked on Yooka-Laylee. That said, the final product wasn't everything that it could have been. I guess even Playtonic knew this, hence a remake of the game less than a decade after.
Enter Yooka-Replaylee. It's not just the same base game with prettier, more modern graphics and visual effects. No, instead, the team at Playtonic added much more in the way of content--new Pagies (the Jiggies of the Yooka-Laylee series), new challenges, and new mechanics, too! That's on top of remedying and fixing many of the issues and problems that the original Yooka-Laylee suffered from. Even as someone who enjoyed the 2017 original, I'm super excited to be able to return to the world of Yooka-Laylee in this fully remade and newly realized title.
