Ranking by year

The best games of 2005.

149 games compete in this selection. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney tops it with 1,881 points: the ranking comes from player votes alone, and moves with every duel settled.

  1. 1 Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney 2005 · Visual novel 1,881
  2. 2 Sid Meier's Civilization IV 2005 · Strategy 1,872
  3. 3 Shadow of the Colossus 2005 · Action-adventure 1,858
  4. 4 Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory 2005 · TPS 1,836
  5. 5 Kingdom Hearts II 2005 · Action RPG 1,832
  6. 6 Resident Evil 4 2005 · Horror 1,823
  7. 7 Star Wars: Battlefront II 2005 · FPS 1,809
  8. 8 God of War 2005 · Beat 'em up 1,797
  9. 9 Psychonauts 2005 · Platformer 1,784
  10. 10 Battlefield 2 2005 · FPS 1,763
  11. 11 Half-Life 2: Lost Coast 2005 · FPS 1,761
  12. 12 Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening 2005 · Beat 'em up 1,748
  13. 13 Ninja Gaiden Black 2005 · Beat 'em up 1,745
  14. 14 Need for Speed: Most Wanted 2005 · Racing 1,740
  15. 15 Call of Duty 2 2005 · FPS 1,715
  16. 16 F.E.A.R. 2005 · FPS 1,708
  17. 17 Age of Empires III 2005 · Strategy 1,696
  18. 18 Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence 2005 · Action-adventure 1,689
  19. 19 Serious Sam II 2005 · FPS 1,673
  20. 20 Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance 2005 · Strategy 1,656
  21. 21 True Crime: New York City 2005 · Action-adventure 1,645
  22. 22 Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team 2005 · Roguelite 1,644
  23. 23 Mario Kart DS 2005 · Racing 1,642
  24. 24 Star Wars: Republic Commando 2005 · FPS 1,642
  25. 25 SoulCalibur III 2005 · Fighting 1,621
  26. 26 Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness 2005 · JRPG 1,608
  27. 27 Still Life 2005 · Point-and-click 1,608
  28. 28 Jade Empire 2005 · Action RPG 1,604
  29. 29 Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories 2005 · Action-adventure 1,600
  30. 30 Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow 2005 · Metroidvania 1,600
  31. 31 Forza Motorsport 2005 · Racing 1,600
  32. 32 Resident Evil 4 2005 · Horror 1,598
  33. 33 Ratchet: Deadlocked 2005 · Platformer 1,594
  34. 34 Animal Crossing: Wild World 2005 · Simulation 1,593
  35. 35 Quake 4 2005 · FPS 1,589
  36. 36 Indigo Prophecy 2005 · Adventure 1,588
  37. 37 Tekken 5 2005 · Beat 'em up 1,586
  38. 38 Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth 2005 · FPS 1,586
  39. 39 Dynasty Warriors 5 2005 · Beat 'em up 1,569
  40. 40 Guitar Hero 2005 · Rhythm 1,567
  41. 41 Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones 2005 · Platformer 1,566
  42. 42 Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team 2005 · Roguelite 1,560
  43. 43 Tony Hawk's American Wasteland 2005 · Sports 1,556
  44. 44 Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time 2005 · RPG 1,554
  45. 45 Fable: The Lost Chapters 2005 · Action RPG 1,543
  46. 46 Madagascar 2005 · Platformer 1,542
  47. 47 Condemned: Criminal Origins 2005 · FPS 1,540
  48. 48 Super Mario Strikers 2005 · Sports 1,537
  49. 49 Total Overdose 2005 · TPS 1,532
  50. 50 Black & White 2 2005 · Action RPG 1,530
  51. 51 Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 2005 · FPS 1,529
  52. 52 Shadow the Hedgehog 2005 · Platformer 1,528
  53. 53 Destroy All Humans! 2005 · Action-adventure 1,523
  54. 54 Guild Wars 2005 · Action RPG 1,519
  55. 55 Jak X: Combat Racing 2005 · Racing 1,517
  56. 56 Crash Tag Team Racing 2005 · Racing 1,514
  57. 57 Samorost 2 2005 · Point-and-click 1,514
  58. 58 Sonic Rush 2005 · Platformer 1,514
  59. 59 Mega Man Zero 4 2005 · Platformer 1,513
  60. 60 Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction 2005 · TPS 1,512
  61. 61 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire 2005 · Action-adventure 1,511
  62. 62 Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves 2005 · Platformer 1,508
  63. 63 Dragon Ball Z: Sagas 2005 · Beat 'em up 1,507
  64. 64 SSX on Tour 2005 · Sports 1,506
  65. 65 Day of Defeat: Source 2005 · FPS 1,505
  66. 66 TimeSplitters: Future Perfect 2005 · FPS 1,501
  67. 67 SWAT 4 2005 · FPS 1,499
  68. 68 The Matrix: Path of Neo 2005 · Beat 'em up 1,498
  69. 69 Empire Earth II 2005 · Strategy 1,497
  70. 70 Call of Duty 2: Big Red One 2005 · FPS 1,491
  71. 71 Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith 2005 · Beat 'em up 1,489
  72. 72 Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood 2005 · FPS 1,488
  73. 73 Mario Superstar Baseball 2005 · Sports 1,484
  74. 74 Yakuza 2005 · JRPG 1,483
  75. 75 Battle for Wesnoth 2005 · Strategy 1,478
  76. 76 Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks 2005 · Beat 'em up 1,473
  77. 77 Killer7 2005 · FPS 1,472
  78. 78 Dungeon Siege II 2005 · Action RPG 1,471
  79. 79 Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie 2005 · FPS 1,470
  80. 80 The Movies 2005 · Strategy 1,468
  81. 81 Worms 4: Mayhem 2005 · Strategy 1,467
  82. 82 Advance Wars: Dual Strike 2005 · Strategy 1,466
  83. 83 Kirby: Canvas Curse 2005 · Platformer 1,465
  84. 84 James Bond 007: From Russia with Love 2005 · TPS 1,465
  85. 85 Perfect Dark Zero 2005 · FPS 1,464
  86. 86 Fatal Frame III: The Tormented 2005 · Horror 1,464
  87. 87 Star Fox: Assault 2005 · TPS 1,464
  88. 88 We Love Katamari 2005 · Action-adventure 1,463
  89. 89 Burnout Revenge 2005 · Racing 1,461
  90. 90 Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 3 2005 · Fighting 1,461
  91. 91 Conker: Live & Reloaded 2005 · Platformer 1,461
  92. 92 Sniper Elite 2005 · TPS 1,459
  93. 93 Ultimate Spider-Man 2005 · Action-adventure 1,457
  94. 94 Perfect World 2005 · Action RPG 1,457
  95. 95 Burnout Legends 2005 · Racing 1,456
  96. 96 Darkwatch 2005 · FPS 1,455
  97. 97 Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects 2005 · Fighting 1,454
  98. 98 Haunting Ground 2005 · Horror 1,453
  99. 99 Club Penguin 2005 · Point-and-click 1,451
  100. 100 Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day! 2005 · Puzzle 1,451

Filter, combine and travel back in time in the full ranking

Other rankings

Best games of 2000 The best games of 2001 Top games of 2002 Best games of 2003 Best games of 2004 Top games of 2006 Top games of 2007 Best games of 2008 Top games of 2009

In detail

The best games of 2005, what this ranking says

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney leads this selection with 1,881 ELO points, ahead of Sid Meier's Civilization IV and Shadow of the Colossus. The 149 games competing in it have played 21,212 duels.

This selection in figures
Games competing in this selection 149
Duels played by those games 21,212
Game in the lead Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (2005)
Score of the leading game, in ELO points 1,881
Point gap between 1st and 10th 118
Best represented genre FPS
Last reading November 3, 2026

The best game of every genre in 2005

A selection is not read in one block: here is what leads each of its brackets.

The best game of every genre in 2005
Genre Games competing In the lead ELO score Duels played
Strategy 10 Sid Meier's Civilization IV 1,872 204
Action-adventure 11 Shadow of the Colossus 1,858 644
TPS 8 Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory 1,836 301
Action RPG 12 Kingdom Hearts II 1,832 462
FPS 27 Star Wars: Battlefront II 1,809 371
Beat 'em up 15 God of War 1,797 480
Platformer 15 Psychonauts 1,784 302
Racing 9 Need for Speed: Most Wanted 1,740 493
Fighting 8 SoulCalibur III 1,621 174
JRPG 5 Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness 1,608 148
Sports 8 Tony Hawk's American Wasteland 1,556 123

What moved this week

The ranking changes with every duel settled. Over the past seven days, the score of 95 games in this selection moved.

What moved this week
Game Points gained in 7 days ELO score
Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood +76 1,488
Battle for Wesnoth +66 1,478
Mario Superstar Baseball +62 1,484

The most contested match-ups

These pairs of games have faced each other more than any others in this selection.

The most contested match-ups
Wins Against Duels played Win rate
God of War Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening 4 75%
Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence Quake 4 3 100%
Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories Need for Speed: Most Wanted 3 100%
God of War Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones 3 67%
Call of Duty 2 Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence 3 67%

How this ranking is established

No jury, no press score, no sales figures: two games face off, players vote, and every vote updates an ELO score. This page is a view of the world ranking, never a standing kept apart.

Understand the method in detail →

FAQ

What players ask

What is the best game of 2005?

According to community votes, the best game of 2005 is Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, with 1,881 ELO points in the world ranking. It stands ahead of Sid Meier's Civilization IV and Shadow of the Colossus, and its place is replayed with every duel.

How many games of 2005 are ranked?

149 games of this selection take part in the duels, and they have played 21,212 of them so far. The full site catalogue is much wider: only games kept for their fame enter the running.

Which game of 2005 is climbing right now?

Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood is the strongest climb in this selection over the past seven days, with 76 ELO points gained. Over the same period, the score of 95 games in the selection moved.

Vote on a duel