VGC Top 10: Game Franchises That Need To Be Resurrected - News
by VGChartz Staff , posted on 20 December 2009 / 52,688 Views
It seems like every few years I sit back and reminisce on games that I used to play and think: “hey why don’t they make that game more often”? There are a lot of game franchises that were very popular or innovative upon release, but were ended for whatever reason before they could hit their peak. As you will see by reading this, I feel that a lot of these games were harmed due to the massive cash-in on 3D games about a decade ago that resulted in the stagnation of quite a few series that were never meant to go to 3D or the outright dumping of franchises that couldn’t really go that direction. This is a list of games that I feel should be brought back to shine in the spotlight once again. As usual, these are no particular order.
Bushido Blade
After a long period of Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter clones, it took a game like Bushido Blade to show that a fun fighting game does not in fact need any of the staples that the genre had seen as commonplace at the time. Removing such mainstays as a health bar and combo system, the game was seen as a more “realistic” fighting game than the more "arcade-style" fighters.
In Bushido Blade you were trying to take down your opponent just like in any other fighter, but the way that this battle happened was entirely different. Your lifespan was relatively short, as you could die with one well placed blow if hit right. If you were hit with a glancing blow, you could lose the use of an arm or hobble around in a daze, thus making the gameplay that much more tactical than most other fighters. Sadly Bushido Blade ended just as soon as it began, and the company responsible started making a similar gamer series called “Kengo” which was not received well by anyone. Even a remake of the first two games with better graphics would be awesome.
Kid Icarus
I know that a revival is supposedly in the works and is perpetually “going to be shown" at every E3 since Super Smash Bros. Brawl was announced. Melding RPG elements with a harsh and enjoyable 2d platformer really gave Kid Icarus its own take on the genre. At times the game was similar to the second Zelda game, and others it was like a vertical scrolling Metroid, a combination not really seen in any other game.
What I never understood was that Kid Icarus was a fairly popular game that got a tad overshadowed by another game - Metroid. Even if it turns out to be a retro styled 2d platformer for the DS, I want to hear that Iconic theme tune at least one more time.
X-wing/Tie Fighter
I know I’m going oldschool here, but this particular series of PC games whether it be TIE Fighter, X-Wing, or the X-Wing vs TIE Fighter game, Star Wars shooters have not been the same since. Granted Rogue Squadron was close, but I never got the same sense of accomplishment that I got from these games with their ranking system and challenges.
At times you could honestly believe that you were a pilot for the organization that you chose to play as. With Star Wars games getting better after a decade of mediocrity, I would love to see one of these bad boys resurface.
Battletoads
Even Despite that horrendous side scrolling vehicle level, I will still hold up that Battletoads is one of the best “beat ‘em up” games ever made. From the ridiculous sense of humor to the catchy music, a game like this would never exist in our modern era. Speaking of catchy music, who can forget that awesome repetitive song that played when you paused the game?
If there was ever another song in need of a techno remix that one is.
......Oh wait, what’s this?
Seriously, if rappers can use the kid's song “do your ears hang low” as the cornerstone of a rap song, maybe somebody could sample this tasty track.
Streets of Rage
Right after Battletoads I can only think one other “beat ‘em up” game that truly deserves a reboot and relaunch, and that game is Streets of Rage. For my money, it one was of the very best games to grace the Sega Genesis, and I still play it to this day. After a few missteps with similar game relaunches like Final Fight, anyone trying this would have to be careful, or a bad situation may occur. I think one would almost have to stay with the games roots to make it happen.
Space Quest
With the successful re-awakening of the point and click adventure genre, I feel that Sierra, or someone else (cough Telltale cough) should revisit some of their old games. And no I don’t mean that crap that came out of the Leisure Suit Larry relaunch, but an actual point and click adventure just like the old days. For me the best of these games was the Space Quest series, mainly for the humor within.
In what other game series are you made to work at a burger joint just to make enough money to buy some women’s clothes to use a stolen ATM? Yeah, I thought so.
Oddworld
This one may never happen as the folks who created the franchise have apparently moved on to CGI motion pictures, but I still have hope. The Oddworld series went on a strange tangent once it left the cozy confines of the Playstation, and for me it wasn’t for the better. While I liked some things in Munch’s Oddysee and Stranger’s Wrath, I felt that they left out a lot of the great things that made the game really stand out in favor of “safe” 3D action games.
While Munch’s Oddysee had the great GameSpeak elements from the original games, the pacing and sense of hopelessness found within was not really there. For this to work, I would love to see the series go back to its roots, not an RTS or whatever the next game in the series is supposed to be, that is if it ever comes out.
Donkey Kong Country
It’s a real shame that Rare left Nintendo, as Donkey Kong games have been pretty scarce since then. At the time DKC was an amazing game, with a little graphical witchery, it looked better than what any SNES game was supposed to look like, and played like a dream. Unfortunately the game series went #D on the N64, and that was that.
I don’t want to sound like a videogame luddite, a pro 2D zealot, but some games simply work the best in 2D, and many of those have began to go back to their roots. If another DKC ever comes out, I hope that is the case with it as well.
Nightmare Creatures
I guess I’m just a sucker for weird gothic anachronistic 19th century shenanigans, but I loved the Nightmare Creatures series. Despite the game being a fairly barebones hack and slash 3D game, it had a bit of spunk, and seemed to really take off for the system, at least in my neighborhood as all of my friends loved it.
I was saddened to learn that the third game in the series was cancelled despite Ubisoft claiming it wasn’t. That was 6 years ago Ubisoft, I think one can surely assume it’s done.
Rival Schools
Rival Schools is one of those games that has been almost totally absent for this entire decade. The last game in the series came out almost exactly ten years ago, as of the writing of this list. Aside from crossovers with a few Street Fighter and other Capcom games, Capcom seems to be more likely to make 36 Megaman games every year than explore a few of their other franchises. I always like Rival Schools because it was simplified control-wise from street fighter, but was just as complex gameplay-wise.
Rival Schools also had a nifty character creation minigame (that is in Japan only sadly) that most other games including Mortal Kombat ripped off throughout the years to make a fighting game seem longer than it is. Despite the innovation in Rival Schools, sadly there is no word on another game.
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there should have been more Total Anhilation (PC) as it was the first real time startegy game and it kicked some serious butt.
I forgot all about Nightmare Creatures. Beat the first one, didn't know about the second one..
I'd say it's time to bring back Roadrash. But I only say that because I think it's perfect for Wii controls (steer with nunchuck, whack opponents with the Wiimote)
Star Fox should be here
Ummmm Id have to also add Duke Nukem to the list. We need to put this whole Forever debacle behind us and have Duke back kicking ass and chewing gum. I do agree with the majority of the list(There are about 50 franchises I would like to see resurrected) save for Bushido Blade and Rival schools.
comment on roger wilco; I think all lucasarts adventure games need to be resurrected. Whose brilliant idea was it to do away with such a great gaming genre within the company.
This list sucks. Only Battle Toads is worth remaking.
Shenmue, Jet Grind Radio and Crazy Taxi!!!!
Space Quest, Streets of Rage, Battletoads, and Donkey Kong Country FTW!
only one i'm interested in is the star wars one.
No SHENMUE!!!
Are you SERIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
hell yea, Donkey Kong Country....................
oh man, I totally forgot about battletoads until I read this!
Totally agree about Bushido Blade!
The first one was such a good game. With the technology, I think they could do a wonderful job with this "realistic" fighter.
Definitely Streets of rage. I can imagine a new xbl/psn game with realistic graphics more violence, that would rock, matching the outstanding music though would be a real challenge.
I also liked golden axe, but their last resurrection was an abomination of the series.
Oddworld, I love the art direction and the storyline, would make for a great foundation to any game.
Wing commander would be great, maybe next time they put better production values into the Videos.
Another chrono game would be amazing, but they'll never do it cause they can't get the same staff together, and it just wouldn't be the same.
Lastly I want to see another jet moto game.
Sega should make a zelda type game by resurrecting the Wonder Boy In Monsterland game
this game was amazing and i still don't get it why sega doesn't make the zelda killer with a wonder boy theme... no matter how much i love zelda it never came even close to what Wonder boy in monsterland achieved in the 80s arcades (at least in europe) :))) I could say the same for Green Berret/Rush n attack for konami.. another classic game that could be an fps or smth... anyway...
And you forgot Wing Commander. I'm ashamed!!!
Oddworld was the best choice on the list :)
those games were awesome
I concur with:
Space Quest
Battletoads
XWing vs. Tie Fighter
Donkey Kong Country
The others are poor choices....
Kid Icarus
where's Double Dragon???!??!?!??! BOOO jk
good list!
@chazy13: Yeah.
GREAT list!! I support:
Battletoads
Streets of Rage
Nightmare Creatures
Oddworld
The last i heard the developer of spore was making the next oddworld
Wow, now that was a serious trip down memory lane!
Jess
www.anonymous-web.cz.tc
Oddworld yes!
unfortunately oddworld is completely dead, its because they couldnt find a good publisher, they started with EA but got screwed quite a bit, then started with someone else and it was the same ol shit so they just quit. unfortunately..........
the concept art for their next odd world game was awesome as hell too
i miss oddworld.
@.jayderyu
I hope this doesn't sound harsh, but if you think Final Fight is better than Streets of Rage, you must've either been a SNES fanboy or simply lack good judgment on what makes a great beat-em-up. Sure, FF was prettier, but that's all it was.
I long for a return of the Streets of Rage franchise, but fear that there is nothing compelling that could be done with the genre right now. The FF reinterpretation tried so hard to be gritty that it missed the point. I fear a SoR remake would do the same and miss the fact that it was all about the fun of the gameplay and the best 16-bit music ever.
I have to disagree with a fair amount of them.
Streets of Rage and Battle Toad should be replaced by Shadows over Mystaria or Final Fight for something simpler.
Star Wars XWing? please that was pitched by the guy who made Wing Commander. Lucas Arts said no to his Star Wars, then he went off to make Wing Commander. Which was just a better game series until the end.
Space Quest yes. The problem was SQ and the entire series was that for a while they were the pinnacle of game development budgets. They were expensive and required more strange game universe logic. But I will agree that SQ and Roger would be a great come back.
Rival Schools. No. it's pretty darn straight forward 3d tag team fighter.
MULE as richardhutnik says.
There plenty of DKC games. Replay the original. The DS iteration is pretty darn good and it's not that old.
Bushido Blade had awesome promise. Then they screwed it up with part 2. They needed to enhance what was there not remove it in favour of less stratgey. And Kengo was well like any of the others.
There needs to be a new Streets if Rage asap, if only for the fact that I've beaten all the existing versions far too many times to count. Although I'm looking forward to Streets of Rage Remake!
Oddworld, yes. The rest........... no thank you.
I really don't care about any of those franchises. Guess I'm too young.
M.U.L.E!
Herzog Zwei!
l pretty much agree with the list, but l'm surprised that nobody says anything about a little game called Vagrant Story, that is a game that l would kill for a sequel...
Id pay good money for a downloadable Battletoads game. I'd pay even better money for a downloadable Streets of Rage game.
Streets of Rage 4 FTW, Streets of Rage 2 is the joint greatest 2D side scrolling beat em up of all time alongside the sublime Guardian Heroes.
Streets of Rage 4 & Guardian Heroes 2 would make 2010 one of the best years for gaming EVER.
No Chrono Trigger? I'm not pleased.
And yes, Rival Schools kicks all kinds of ass.
@couchmonkey
I made it across myself, but never in 2 player...I can't remember the level I could never beat, but it was towards the end.
Did you ever make it past the car level of Battletoads? Because I feel in many ways the fun of Battletoads is that it's not really a beat-em-up so much as a crazy multi-task action game where every level is something new.
I still agree though, a new one would be cool. Rare has a ton of franchises that would be worthy of sequels, really, besides Battletoads and DKC tons of people ask for a new Killer Instinct and there are some requests for Conker right in these comments...there also seem to be a lot of Jet Force Gemini and Blast Corps fans out there although I don't think either game is much of a mainstream success.
Oddworld and Space Quest. Amen.
Donkey Kong should definitely be remade. Those games were great.
Well, just realized that this list lacks Croc, Dungeon Keeper and Little Big Adventure (Twinsens Odyssey).
War of the monsters, a full simcity game, earthworm jim, conker, and timesplitters need to be on here!
I want Clockwork Knight
Twisted Metal anyone????? the greatest car combat game of all time needs a new life, and Icarus was dumped into Hades by Kratos so that's out.
Great that DKC was included, Nintendo get to work.
can we get SOUL REAVER in there? that game diserves a spot in my opinion!
Kid Icarus frustrated me. I could never get anywhere on that damn game. Battletoads was amazing, and I actually LOVED the hover car board...it was so difficult it really gave me a sense of accomplishment when I finally beat it. DKC I + II were awesome...I never played the third, but didn't really feel like I was missing anything - without Diddy, what was the point? I'd like to see a new Diddy Kong Racing, by the way...that games was insanely fun.
I would have put Conker on there. I would love for a new 360 game in the series.
F Zero anyone?
haha thiat battletoads song is awesome, but when you have to here it all day while you try to do something, it drives ya insane lol
I want Earthworm Jim.
Nightmare Creatures definitely was a game that I liked. The character models were fantastic for the time.
no double dragon? :( im gonna go cry in the corner lol
Definitely Rival Schools!!! It had the best style and i need another good fighter aside from Street Fighter.
Im glad someone else remembers Nightmare Creatures
donkey kong 3d and oddworld
YES to X-wing vs. Tie Fighter. I loved that game. I tried to play it more recently but even with the use of old school emulators and DOS and whatnot, it didn't work. I don't think my processor knows what to do with it 0.0
no Chrono Trigger and Legend of Dragoon makes this list fail!
Needs moar Eternal Darkness!
I'd like to see Wizardry come back maybe a remake of the last three into one game like they were ment to be...
I vote for Rival Schools, Streets of Rage and Donkey Kong Country (in 2D).
ive only played oddworld out of all those series.
Heroes of Might and Magic technically isn't dead, though the same could be said of Sonic. Okay, maybe it isn't that bad, but...
Streets of Rage!
Un donkey kong par Rare j'achète direct !!
<3 DKC and Kid Icarus
Where's Panzer Dragon?
Only franchise of interest to me on this list is Oddworld. I guess because Lost Frontier has just recently come out Jak isn't a franchise that requires resurrecting. Bu it does need to be brought forward to the current gen console.
Yeah, DKC MUST come back, also Ristar, Vectorman, Ecco the Dolphin, Crusader of Centy and Streets of Rage.
the only games i know r starwars donkey kong and oddworld lol
Indeed Donkey Kong needs to come back.
And i would love to see another Conker game, Conker's Bad Fur Day was awesome, especially the multiplayer on N64.
horrible list
Where is Wing Commander ??? I like this saga ! I want it back !
I'm so glad you included Streets Of Rage. I was totally about to get my CAPS on.
"Lack of Thief, X-Com, and Heroes of Might and Magic makes this list an epic failure."
While I agree with X-Com, Thief is already being resurrected and last HOMM release was just 3 years ago. Thief 4 was officially confirmed just 6 months ago.
Good list, id especially like to see a new oddworld game.
Ill add one of mine: Blast Corps
I think I could buy an XBox just for a good Battletoads game.
I think you forgot about Twisted Metal Game.
Its really need a ressurection, because we don't see innovation or this genre at all. If something comes with Car Combat genre its just sucks. Its just really sucks.
ahh, my bad
I see that the Rebelstar game on GBA was a spin off
.....crazy that they decided to basically make more M&M games that have nothing to do with old ones.
@spdk1
That wasn't a HOMM, that was Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes. Big difference. The last real x-com was also a while ago, nonhandheld of course.
Bushido Blade is an excellent game and deserves a remake!
@ Vlad
the title implied dead franchises
Might and magic and X-com have had recent games, there was just a ds might and magic game released like a month ago, and X-com had a GBA game like 4 years ago.
thief wouldn't be bad though
Lack of Thief, X-Com, and Heroes of Might and Magic makes this list an epic failure.
Fear Effect and Summoner plz thx
I would donate a kidney to have another Abe's Odyssey.
Bushido Blade isn't SSBB level but it one of my top 3 fighters. It still puts many modern fighters to shame.
Wow! I had almost forgot about Bushido Blade! That game was ahead of its time alright...
Agreed Agreed :D! DKC would be at the top of my list
