2026 is going to be a big year for a lot of entertainment franchises with anniversaries happening for a number of key video game franchises such as The Legend of Zelda, Pokemon, Sonic the Hedgehog, Dragon Quest, and many more. Here’s a list of some of the gaming series which will be celebrating their anniversary in 2026:
- Zelda: 40 years
- Metroid: 40 years
- Dragon Quest: 40 years
- Kid Icarus: 40 years
- Castlevania: 40 years
- Sonic: 35 years
- Persona: 30 years
- Pokemon: 30 years
- Animal Crossing: 25 years
- Luigi’s Mansion: 25 years
- Pikmin: 25 years
I don’t consider Kid Icarus or Castlevania to be worthy of the rest of this list (and I love Castlevania) because they are not series where there continue to be new games released on a regular basis since they started. Kid Icarus has had about 3 games in those 40 years fgs!
Rumors have been a new game or remake is coming for Castlevania so hopefully this year. Kid Icarus Uorising needs a Switch release.
I have to agree. Kid Icarus needs a remake or a new game.
Lament Of Innocence remake by Virtuos however they should bring Igarashi back to supervise.
Konami should bring Igarashi back to supervise a proper Japanese anime adaption of Castlevania adapt Lament Of Innocense get Gonzo or MAPPA to adapt it
Which do you guys think is more likely to come out this year: a from the ground remake of Ocarina of Time or a new mainline 3D Sonic game?
We are probably getting Frontiers 2 personally don’t like it but yeah…
I’ve always been happy playing the handheld games, especially Metroid and Castlevania.Im playing Metroid prime 4 now,if a shadow drop for Castlevania 2026 came out I would be happy
That’s what I been saying earlier on another post.
Nintendos biggest mascot, Mario had its 40th anniversary last year, but there wasn’t nothing big that stood out, just some Mario games like tennis and galaxy so not sure if it’s worth getting hyped for anything major.
This years biggest news probably will be the new 3D Mario game
There’s actually more Castlevania games than you think. If you count the amount of numerous Gameboy/GBA/3DS titles you’ll have more then two handfuls. Then you have all the console titles that were released from NES, Genesis, PlayStation (1,2 &3) and Xbox. Probably even some I forgot to mention. So figure there’s probably over 30 Castlevania titles gathered from handheld and consoles. We truly need a better Castlevania Anniversary title than what we have. ✌🏼✊🏼
Not to sound like a hater but kid icarus isn’t a BIG franchise, pit is like a third string character.
Super Mario run2 is Nintendo developing mobile games
Nintendo said there is a Mario and rabbids spark of hope update says super Mario oddesey develpers
Silver The Hedgehog 20th anniversary demand Sega give us a game like a expansion Shadow Generations style
Yes. I wish they would just buy Platinum and have them make a Shadow 2 and a Silver game
Dead Or Alive is turning 30.
RIP Tomonobu Itagaki
Hopefully we get 7 this year revealed question is who’s making it. Koei Tecmo said they would outsource Ninja Gaiden and Dead Or Alive, 2 Ninja Gaiden games outsourced but who makes Dead Or Alive? Platinum? That could be crazy. Only options I see are Arika, Eighting, and Dimps would have loved if Nagoshi Studio made it but they seem busy also think they should hire Yuya Takahashi and the team from Kamen Rider Geats to write the story. Eighting I do think should return Bloody Roar, Konami should adapt it into an anime and bring the series back. Next year is their 30th.
Companies: do nothing about it
Excited for future Mario movies
Does this mean that Baldurs Gate 3 is really coming to NS2?
Regards,
JaimeTheHood
Don’t forget July 9th 1981, yes, Donkey Kongs 45th anniversary! Yikes! 😛👍
Since there’s no way we’ll get a new Zelda released this year – if they can’t do an announcement, how about…Twilight Princess remaster? How about remakes of any of the Zelda GBC/GBA games like what they did with Link’s Awakening?
I don’t think Sonic should be on this list. If you’re going to celebrate an anniversary as a special landmark every 5 years it stops being special. Ones that end with a 5 should be reserved for quarterly ones, like 25, 50, 75, etc.