There is no single, evidence-backed “best game of 2000”: critic charts, industry awards, publication awards, and popularity records point to different winners. If you want a review-led shortlist, start with Perfect Dark, NFL 2K1, Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn, The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, Final Fantasy IX, and Chrono Cross. If you want the year’s top overall award winner, look to The Sims. The right pick depends on what “best” means to you.
How to judge the best games of 2000
Several useful records capture different kinds of recognition, and they should not be collapsed into one ranking. Metacritic’s current release-year chart reflects aggregated reviews; the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) and GameSpot selected award winners; and the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) published a year-end title ranking as popularity context. None alone establishes a universal winner.
- For critic reception: use the Metacritic chart as a snapshot of aggregated scores and chart ordering.
- For formal recognition: compare AIAS’s award categories with GameSpot’s separate PC and console awards.
- For popularity context: consider the ESA’s “Top Games of 2000” list, which does not provide individual title sales in the cited table.
These comparisons span different platforms and genres, from PC role-playing games to console shooters, sports games, and handheld Pokémon titles. A score, an award, and a popularity ranking answer different questions.
Critic-chart standouts
Metacritic’s current release-year filter contains 297 results. Its leading listings include Perfect Dark and NFL 2K1 at 97, Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn and The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask at 95, and Final Fantasy IX at 94. Chrono Cross is also among the leading entries. These are current aggregate scores and chart positions, not a timeless or objective verdict; the chart can change and does not ensure equal representation across genres or platforms. See Metacritic’s 2000 chart.
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Perfect Dark
The Nintendo 64 shooter is one of the chart’s top entries, with a listed Metacritic score of 97. It is a strong choice for readers whose priority is critic-chart standing and console action.
NFL 2K1
Also listed at 97, NFL 2K1 shows why a year-end shortlist should not be limited to role-playing games and adventure titles. It is the sports-game pick among the chart’s highest listings.
Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn
At 95 on the chart, this PC role-playing game belongs among the most highly rated entries. Its inclusion gives the shortlist a distinct PC and role-playing perspective.
The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask
Listed at 95, Majora’s Mask is another leading Nintendo 64 choice, offering a different kind of console experience from a shooter or sports game.
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Final Fantasy IX and Chrono Cross
Final Fantasy IX is listed at 94, while Chrono Cross also appears among the chart’s leading games. Both make the case for including Japanese role-playing games in a year-end shortlist, though the cited chart listing gives no score here for Chrono Cross.
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Award winners: why the winner depends on the category
The AIAS archive names The Sims Game of the Year, Age of Empires II: Age of Kings Computer Game of the Year, and Soul Calibur Console Game of the Year. Its genre awards also include Star Wars: Episode I Racer for console racing and Knockout Kings 2000 for console sports. The variety matters: the organization’s overall award, platform awards, and genre awards identify different kinds of achievement rather than one interchangeable ranking. View the AIAS 2000 awards archive.
GameSpot also split its 2000 awards by platform: Chrono Cross was its console Game of the Year, while The Sims was its PC Game of the Year. That is a separate publication’s judgment, not an AIAS result. GameSpot’s retrospective explains its PC and console award format for 1998–2001. Read GameSpot’s retrospective.
Popularity adds another view of the year
The ESA’s State of the Industry 2001 report labels a table “Top Games of 2000.” Its first four positions are Pokémon Silver, Pokémon Gold, Pokémon Stadium, and Pokémon Yellow, followed by Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2. This is a useful counterweight to review-led lists: the titles that top a popularity ranking need not be the same games that lead a critic chart or win an award. The cited table gives an ordering but not its methodology or individual sales totals, so its positions should not be converted into precise per-title sales claims. Read the ESA’s 2001 industry report.
The same report says the Interactive Digital Software Association (IDSA), the association’s earlier name, reported that over 219 million computer and video games were sold in 2000. The report framed that U.S. total as “almost two games for every household in America.” This is an industry-wide figure, not a sales estimate for any individual title.
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The year’s awards and contemporary shortlist reporting help fill out a list beyond the highest chart entries. The AIAS archive includes Age of Empires II: Age of Kings, Soul Calibur, Star Wars: Episode I Racer, and Knockout Kings 2000 among its winners. In a May 8, 2000 report about the AIAS Interactive Achievement Awards, GameSpot noted that the ceremony included 29 categories and listed nominees such as Age of Empires II, Donkey Kong 64, Pokémon Yellow, Soul Calibur, The Sims, and Unreal Tournament. A nomination is not a win, but the range illustrates how many platforms and genres were in contention. Read GameSpot’s 2000 awards report.
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The Sims also remains a useful example of the gap between the categories: it won the AIAS overall Game of the Year and GameSpot’s PC Game of the Year, while the ESA popularity list highlights Pokémon releases and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2. GameSpot’s retrospective preserves reviewer Andrew Park’s February 11, 2000 assessment: “This isn’t to say that The Sims isn’t an enjoyable and intriguing game, because it is.” That is a reviewer’s comment, not an award-body statement.
For Chrono Cross, GameSpot’s retrospective quotes reviewer Andrew Vestal, whose review was dated January 6, 2000: “Chrono Cross may not have had the largest budget, but it has the largest heart.” It is a contemporary review line, not the rationale for GameSpot’s console award.
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Use the evidence that matches your own priorities rather than treating one source as definitive:
- Want the highest chart-listed score? Begin with Perfect Dark or NFL 2K1, both listed at 97 in Metacritic’s current chart.
- Want a game with major overall award recognition? Consider The Sims, the AIAS Game of the Year and GameSpot PC Game of the Year.
- Want a platform-specific award pick? Chrono Cross won GameSpot’s console award; Age of Empires II: Age of Kings and Soul Calibur won AIAS computer and console awards, respectively.
- Want a popularity-led pick? The ESA list points to the Pokémon games and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2.
- Want a particular genre or platform? Narrow the choice by system and play style; the year’s candidates range from PC strategy and role-playing to console action, sports, and handheld games.
If you are seeking a copy to play, check the specific edition, region, condition, and hardware compatibility before buying. The historical records cited here do not establish present-day store availability or compatibility for any particular release.
Verdict
For a review-chart answer, Perfect Dark and NFL 2K1 lead the cited Metacritic listings. For the AIAS overall award, the answer is The Sims; for GameSpot, the 2000 winners were Chrono Cross on console and The Sims on PC. The ESA’s popularity list points elsewhere, toward Pokémon and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2. The most defensible answer to “best game of 2000” is therefore a shortlist matched to the reader’s criteria, not a single universal champion.
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