From the birth of Xbox’s biggest franchise to Luigi finally stepping out of Mario’s shadow, these five games helped make 2001 an unforgettable year for gaming.

Somehow, 2001 was 25 years ago.

For gaming, that year represented a major turning point. Sony’s PlayStation 2 was rapidly establishing itself as a dominant force, Nintendo launched the GameCube, and Microsoft officially entered the console market with the original Xbox.

It was also a year packed with games that would go on to influence the industry for decades.

Several franchises that remain relevant today either began or reached defining moments in 2001. New gameplay mechanics emerged, console multiplayer was evolving, and developers were discovering what they could accomplish with a new generation of hardware.

As we celebrate their 25th anniversaries in 2026, here are five games from 2001 that left a lasting mark on gaming.

5. Luigi’s Mansion

Original Release: September 14, 2001 in Japan | Nintendo GameCube

When Nintendo launched the GameCube in 2001, there was something noticeably different about its lineup: Mario wasn’t leading the charge.

Instead, his frequently overshadowed brother got the spotlight.

Luigi’s Mansion put Luigi at the center of his own adventure after he mysteriously won a mansion he never entered a contest to receive. Naturally, things didn’t go particularly well.

Mario disappeared, the mansion was filled with ghosts, and Luigi was forced to overcome his fears with help from the eccentric Professor E. Gadd and his ghost-catching Poltergust 3000.

Rather than following the traditional platforming formula associated with the Mario franchise, Luigi’s Mansion focused on exploration and capturing ghosts. Players used Luigi’s flashlight to stun supernatural enemies before vacuuming them into the Poltergust.

It also served as an impressive early demonstration of what Nintendo’s new console could do. Lighting, shadows, environmental effects and Luigi’s wonderfully expressive animations gave the mansion an atmosphere unlike most Nintendo games of the era.

The game was relatively short and received some criticism at launch for its length, but its reputation grew considerably in the years that followed.

More importantly, Luigi’s unusual adventure eventually became a successful franchise of its own.

Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon arrived on Nintendo 3DS in 2013, followed by Luigi’s Mansion 3 on Nintendo Switch in 2019.

Twenty-five years after entering that haunted mansion, Luigi has firmly established himself as Nintendo’s resident ghost hunter.

4. Max Payne

Original Release: July 23, 2001 | PC

Before Alan Wake and Control made Remedy Entertainment one of the industry’s most recognizable developers, there was Max Payne.

The game followed an NYPD detective whose life is destroyed following the murder of his wife and infant daughter. Years later, while working undercover, Max becomes entangled in a conspiracy involving a mysterious drug called Valkyr.

It was dark, violent and unapologetically influenced by film noir.

Comic-book-style panels were used to tell much of the story, while Max narrated events with the kind of dramatic metaphors you’d expect from a hard-boiled detective novel.

But Max Payne became famous for something else entirely.

Bullet Time.

With the press of a button, players could dramatically slow down the action while Max continued aiming in real time. He could leap sideways through doorways, dodge incoming gunfire and eliminate a room full of enemies in a sequence that looked like something pulled straight from an action movie.

Slow-motion gunfights weren’t invented by Max Payne, but Remedy turned them into an interactive gameplay mechanic that became synonymous with the series.

Bullet Time was subsequently imitated by numerous games, while Max Payne itself spawned two sequels and a feature-film adaptation.

The original game’s presentation may unmistakably belong to the early 2000s, but diving sideways through a doorway with two pistols drawn remains just as satisfying 25 years later.

3. Devil May Cry

Original Release: August 23, 2001 in Japan | PlayStation 2

One of Capcom’s most important franchises exists partly because a Resident Evil game became too different from Resident Evil.

During development of what was originally intended to become Resident Evil 4, director Hideki Kamiya and his team experimented with faster action and more elaborate combat.

Eventually, Capcom decided the project had moved too far away from survival horror.

Instead of abandoning it, the company transformed the project into something new.

Devil May Cry was born.

The game introduced Dante, the demon-hunting son of the legendary Dark Knight Sparda. Armed with his sword Rebellion and twin pistols Ebony and Ivory, Dante battled through a gothic castle filled with demons.

Combat was considerably faster and more aggressive than what players had come to expect from Resident Evil.

Simply defeating enemies wasn’t enough.

Devil May Cry encouraged players to look good while doing it.

Players could launch enemies into the air, juggle them with gunfire and string different attacks together while the game’s Style system evaluated their performance.

That philosophy helped establish what would become known as the stylish or character-action genre.

The influence can be seen in games ranging from Bayonetta to Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, while Devil May Cry itself became one of Capcom’s most recognizable franchises.

Dante has changed considerably since 2001, and the series’ combat systems have become dramatically more sophisticated.

But the basic philosophy remains remarkably familiar:

Killing demons is good.

Killing demons while looking ridiculously cool is better.

2. Super Smash Bros. Melee

Original Release: November 21, 2001 in Japan | Nintendo GameCube

The original Super Smash Bros. proved Nintendo characters beating each other senseless could make for an entertaining multiplayer game.

Super Smash Bros. Melee turned that concept into something much bigger.

Released shortly after the GameCube, Melee expanded almost everything about its Nintendo 64 predecessor.

The roster grew substantially, bringing together characters from Mario, The Legend of Zelda, Pokémon, Metroid, Star Fox, Kirby and other Nintendo franchises.

Characters such as Bowser, Peach, Zelda, Ganondorf, Mewtwo and Mr. Game & Watch joined the fight.

It also introduced many Western players to two characters they probably had never heard of: Marth and Roy.

Their appearance helped generate interest in Nintendo’s previously Japan-exclusive Fire Emblem series, which would eventually become a major franchise internationally.

For many GameCube owners, however, Melee was simply the ultimate party game.

Four controllers, one television and a few friends were all you needed.

But underneath its approachable exterior was an extraordinarily technical fighting game.

Competitive players discovered advanced techniques such as wavedashing, L-canceling and directional influence that dramatically increased the game’s speed and skill ceiling.

What followed was something Nintendo probably never anticipated.

A serious competitive scene emerged around Melee.

And it refused to die.

New Super Smash Bros. games arrived on Wii, Wii U, Nintendo 3DS and Switch, but a dedicated community continued playing Melee.

Twenty-five years after its release, tournaments and competitive matches continue to demonstrate the remarkable longevity of Nintendo’s GameCube fighter.

There aren’t many games from 2001 that people are still practicing for thousands of hours.

Melee is one of them.

1. Halo: Combat Evolved

Original Release: November 15, 2001 | Xbox

Microsoft had a problem in 2001.

It was entering a console industry dominated by companies with established franchises, recognizable characters and millions of loyal customers.

Sony had PlayStation.

Nintendo had Mario, Zelda and Pokémon.

Microsoft needed something that would make people buy an Xbox.

It found Master Chief.

Halo: Combat Evolved launched alongside the original Xbox on November 15, 2001, and quickly became the console’s defining game.

Players assumed the role of Spartan super-soldier Master Chief after the UNSC Pillar of Autumn encountered a mysterious ring-shaped artificial world known as Halo.

Alongside the AI Cortana, Chief battled the alien Covenant before discovering that Halo contained something considerably more dangerous.

The Flood.

Halo wasn’t the first first-person shooter available on a console, but it helped establish how the genre could work exceptionally well with a controller.

Bungie’s control scheme became enormously influential, while its combination of firearms, grenades and melee attacks created a combat rhythm that felt immediately intuitive.

The game’s regenerating shield system encouraged players to move between aggressive attacks and temporary retreats. Its two-weapon limit forced players to make decisions about their loadout rather than carrying an entire arsenal.

Then there were the vehicles.

Driving a Warthog across Halo’s open environments with a friend firing its mounted gun became one of the defining experiences of the original Xbox.

But Halo’s legacy wasn’t limited to its campaign.

Its multiplayer became legendary.

Four players could compete on a single Xbox using split-screen, while system-link allowed multiple consoles to be connected for much larger local multiplayer matches.

For an entire generation of players, Halo multiplayer meant hauling televisions and Xbox consoles into the same room, connecting them together and playing until ridiculously late at night.

The franchise would become even bigger with Halo 2, particularly after Xbox Live transformed online console multiplayer.

But none of that happens without Combat Evolved.

Twenty-five years later, Halo remains synonymous with Xbox, and Master Chief remains one of gaming’s most recognizable characters.

Microsoft needed a killer app in 2001.

Halo: Combat Evolved was it.

25 Years Later, Their Influence Remains

What makes these five games particularly interesting isn’t simply that they’re turning 25.

It’s how much of what they created is still around.

Luigi’s Mansion transformed Mario’s timid brother into the star of his own successful series.

Max Payne popularized one of gaming’s most recognizable slow-motion combat mechanics and helped establish Remedy Entertainment.

Devil May Cry laid important foundations for an entire style of action game.

Super Smash Bros. Melee developed a competitive community that has survived multiple generations of Nintendo hardware.

And Halo: Combat Evolved helped launch Microsoft’s entire Xbox business while influencing how console shooters would be designed for years afterward.

Technology has changed enormously since 2001. Games are bigger, consoles are more powerful and online multiplayer has largely replaced the LAN parties and four-player split-screen sessions that defined the era.

Yet these games haven’t simply disappeared into gaming history.

People still talk about them.

People still play them.

And the franchises they helped establish remain part of the industry today.

That’s a pretty impressive legacy for five games old enough to rent a car.