2005 Nintendo Power Awards

The 2005 Nintendo Power Awards were the 18th annual awards published in the May 2006 issue (Volume 203) after listing the nominees in Volume 201,

For these awards, Nintendo Power decided to come up with a new way of awarding each game for each award: Each category would have two kinds of awards: The Readers' Pick, and the NP Crew's pick. This was also the first awards to do away with Online Only awards. Of course, most of the awards of both types went unsurprisingly to Resident Evil 4. The Legend of Zelda: The MInish Cap was just as favored by the handheld awards.

Award and Nomination	NP's Pick Winner	Readers' Pick Winner
Nintendo GameCube Game of the Year Donkey Kong Jungle Beat Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance Peter Jackson's King Kong Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones Resident Evil 4 (NP's & Readers' Pick) Tony Hawk's American Wasteland
Nintendo DS Game of the Year Animal Crossing: Wild World Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (NP's Pick) Mario Kart DS (Readers' Pick) Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time Nintendogs Sonic Rush
Game Boy Advance Game of the Year Final Fantasy IV Advance Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones Gunstar Super Heroes The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (NP's & Readers' Pick) Pokémon Emerald WarioWare: Twisted!
Best Graphics (GameCube) Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat Killer7 Peter Jackson's King Kong Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones Resident Evil 4 (NP's & Readers' Pick) Spartan: Total Warrior
Best Graphics (Handhelds) Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (NP's Pick) Gunstar Super Heroes The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap Mario Kart DS]] (Readers' Pick) Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time Tony Hawk's American Sk8land (DS)
Best Music Call of Duty 2: Big Red One Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow Final Fantasy IV Advance Meteos (NP's Pick) Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones Tony Hawk's American Wasteland (Readers' Pick)
Best Sound/Voice Acting From Russia With Love Gun Killer7 Medal of Honor: European Assault Peter Jackson's King Kong Resident Evil 4 (NP's & Readers' Pick)
Best RPG/Strategy Game Advance Wars: Dual Strike Final Fantasy IV Advance Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance (NP's Pick) Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time (Readers' Pick) Pokémon Emerald
Best Adventure Game Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow Killer7 The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (Readers; Pick) Peter Jackson's King Kong Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones Resident Evil 4 (NP's Pick)
Best Platformer DK: King of Swing Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat Klonoa 2: Dream Champ Tournament Shadow the Hedgehog (Readers' Pick) Sonic Gems Collection Sonic Rush (NP's Pick)
Best Shooter/Action Game Battalion Wars Gunstar Super Heroes (NP's Pick) The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction Mega Man Zero 4 Spartan: Total Warrior Star Fox Assault (Readers' Pick)
Best Sports/Racing Game Fight Night Round 2 Madden NFL 06 Mario Kart DS (NP's & Readers' Pick) MVP Baseball 2005 Super Mario Strikers Mario Superstar Baseball
Best New Concept Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat Killer7 Kirby Canvas Curse Meteos Nintendogs (Readers' Pick) Trauma Center: Under the Knife (NP's Pick)
Best Multiplayer Animal Crossing: Wild World Karaoke Revolution Party Madden NFL 06 Mario Kart DS (NP's & Readers' Pick) Meteos Super Mario Strikers
Best New Character Ezlo (The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap) (Readers' Pick) Harman Smith (Killer7) (NP's Pick) Lyle (Animal Crossing: Wild World) Phoenix Wright (Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney) Soren (Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance) Stuffwell (Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time)
Best Story/Writing Final Fantasy IV Advance Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance (NP's Pick) Killer7 Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time (Readers' Pick) Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Resident Evil 4
Game of the Year Advance Wars: Dual Strike Animal Crossing: Wild World Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow Donkey Kong Jungle Beat Final Fantasy IV Advance Gunstar Super Heroes Killer7 The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap Mario Kart DS Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time Mario Superstar Baseball Meteos MVP Baseball 2005 Nintendogs Peter Jackson's King Kong (GCN) Pokémon Emerald Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones Resident Evil 4 (NP's & Readers' Pick) Sonic Rush Tony Hawk's American Wasteland Trauma Center: Under the Knife WarioWare: Twisted!

Total number of nominations

The following lists the number of nominations for each game.

1. Resident Evil 4 - 6 Nominees
2. Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance - 6 Nominees
3. Killer7 - 7 Nominees
4. Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time - 6 Nominees
5. The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap - 5 Nominees
6. Mario Kart DS - 5 Nominees

Resident Evil 4 - 9 Awards

The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap - 4 Awards