Hello, well met stranger, and welcome to Jurassic Park! Nintendo Life’s Alternative Awards 2025!

It’s been…well…it’s been a year in which we have all existed, that’s for sure, and as a result games happened. Loads of them, in fact. Of course, and as is tradition at this time of year (it’s Christmas, mate, wake up), you’ve got your usual shoe-ins for Game of the Year, your fancy writing awards, nice acting, and good gameplay nods. All that stuff and nonsense for people who do everything right all the time.

However, and as anyone who’s drunk as much festive sherry as we have over the years will tell you, there are many more games worthy of a mention in any given year when you broaden your horizons ever-so-slightly. Who needs the pomp and circumstance of a Silksong, for example, when you’ve got the guns and squirrels of Squirrel with a Gun? That sort of thing.

Now, that’s not to say what follows is in any way less prestigious, mind you. We’ve got some absolute bangers in here. It’s just that some good games come at you from unexpected angles. Y’know. Like those wee Christmas vol-au-vents. You just never see them coming.

So, without further ado, and before these delicious flaky pastries go cold, let’s dig into our 2025 Alternative Award choices. Regarde!

Nintendo Life’s Alternative Awards 2025

Best ‘Game We Wish We Liked More’ 2025

Winner: Daemon x Machina: Titanic Scion

When Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion was announced for Switch 2, this particular writer couldn’t quite contain their excitement. The reason? Well, it seemed as though this sequel to a super-solid predecessor was going to give early Switch 2 adopters exactly what they wanted to see on a new console. Huge big open worlds, high-octane robot fights, and all the other sorts of things that made the original Switch crap itself.

In the end, and as you can read about in more depth in our review, what we got was a very good game at its core, but one that just didn’t satisfy when it came to performance at all. This 30fps effort stuttered too much, it’s too janky overall, and combat that sings on other platforms feels well mushy and unsatisfying at points here as a result. A shame! There have been updates and fixes, so there’s hope yet.

Runners Up: Pokémon Z-A, Shadow Labyrinth

Best ‘Game Featuring A Squirrel With A Gun’ 2025

Winner: Squirrel with a Gun

One of the tougher categories to judge, as we’re sure you can imagine. *cough* This prestigious — and also very large and expensive — award goes to a bit of a left-field choice in this category. Yes, that’s right, it’s Dee Dee Creation’s Squirrel with a Gun.

Congratulations to everyone involved in a game that sure did make this writer’s children laugh a lot. They also know the names of loads of types of real-world guns and weapons now, too. LEARNING BONUS MULTIPLIER X5!

Best Retro Remake / Remaster / Re-Release 2025

Winner: Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles

This very (bald) writer gave Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles a great big juicy 9/10 in our review back at launch, and he’d do it again!

Yes, some folk haven’t taken to the way in which some War of the Lions content was cut, but honestly we reckon the remix works better overall. Also, the extra fighting you got in War of the Lions…who really needed it? Seriously. You just had like 40 hours of top-notch combat and you’re kicking up a stink for more?

With meaningful quality-of-life enhancements, gloriously slick visuals and performance, and CPU tweaks to make battles even better, this is the best version of one of the best FF games. So there.

Runners Up: Tony Hawks Pro Skater 3+4, Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter, Dragon Quest 1 & 2 HD Remake

Best ‘Game Featuring A Glass Skater Whose Soul Is Chained To Their Board’ 2025

Winner: Skate Story

Unbelievable scenes here at the awards. Unreal stuff. We were up all night (this writer pulled all of his own hair out), but in the end the decision has been made to award Best Game Featuring A Glass Skater Whose Soul Is Chained To Their Board 2025 to…*drum roll*

It’s Skate Story! Devolver has given us another one of those games, you know the ones, like your Hotline Miamis and whatnot, that immediately…as soon as you start to play…you just feel x100 cooler. The plot (involving hell, souls, demons, glass things, skating) is exactly mad enough that you simply must know how it ends, and on this chaotic hook is then hung some supremely good skating.

Like, actually. The skating is great. Who knew?! We just thought it was gonna look nice, but it’s got the whole lot this one. Check out our 8/10 review if you don’t believe me.