Franchises That Need To Return This Generation

 

For whatever reason, these companies decided to shelve their IP’s and then let them lie dormant for years when money is ready to be made to be piques my interest. Especially in this day and age where social media allows as open channel to discuss what consumers actually want to purchase with their hard earned money. Square Enix – bless them; has for years shattered any hope for a sequel to one of the best games of all time, Chrono Trigger. When you see the dollar signs ready to spent, its hard to understand why the supply and demand chain isn’t being yanked.

I compiled a list that features franchises I would love to see make some form of return. My wallet is ready.

 

Conker

With the tease that Conker is making a small return to gaming in Project Spark next month, we look to his last outing on the Nintendo 64, with Conker’s Bad Fur Day. This game at the time was a huge shocker and featured a potty-mouthed squirrel on a hungover adventure to save his girlfriend Berri. The game was reworked as Conker: Live & Reloaded with multiplayer, but, it’s been roughly 14 years since the original and well overdue for a revival.

 

 

Banjo-Kazooie

At the time Banjo-Kazooie was lauded as a Super Mario 64 clone. Thankfully what this game did – it did well and has a very passionate fan base itching for a revival. The original title launched in 1998 with a follow-up in 2000 and once again in 2008. The series spun off to handhelds as well, but, the series has its heart on consoles. Rare has been teasing a spiritual successor recently and we hope to hear more soon.

 

 

Battletoads

Battletoads has also been in the news recently, as Microsoft has been teasing something related. The series first launched on the NES and was developed by Rare. The game is infamous for its well-known difficulty and the lack of lives given to the player. I really don’t want to have to start a level over from the beginning ever again! Battletoads has had multiple games, including a crossover with Double Dragon protagonists, Billy and Jimmy and even a cartoon in the 90’s, taking advantage of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ popularity at the time.

 

 

Onimusha

It’s been 14 years since the original Onimusha was released on PlayStation 2. Capcom took popular figures from Japan’s rich history and wove a supernatural story with it. Featuring a satisfying hack and slash battle system with puzzle solving to progress. The series had four main title entries and was last seen in 2006, and was a departure from the pre-rendered backgrounds instead shifting to fully 3D environments allowing for the player to control the camera. This title was the first to also have a co-op feature.

 

 

Mega Man Legends

Launching in the summer on 1998, Mega Man Legends was a drastic departure on the blue bomber’s known adventures, being the first to be fully 3D and an action-adventure title. This wasn’t the Mega Man we knew, no, this was Mega Man Volnutt, who was a treasure hunter and dealt with sky pirates. The shift in design was highly enjoyable according to series creator, Keiji Inafune, and would lead to a prequel and a sequel both in 2000. A decade later with a third entry announced for the Nintendo 3DS, everything was right in the world of video games. The third entry was even being prepped to have a downloadable prototype available for download in the eShop of the 3DS but was ultimately cancelled in 2011; citing “lack of fan support for the title.”

 

 

Chrono Trigger

I think this one is on everybody’s list as a franchise that needs to comeback. The twentieth anniversary just past actually and not a peep from Square Enix. Unfortunately, for whatever reason there hasn’t been anything in 14 years since Chrono Cross was released, aside from that trademark “Chrono Break,” which was given up and nothing became of it. The first game is one of the most important games ever created and is still a staple of any RPG-fanatic’s list. It’s odd that Square hasn’t decided to continue their best work.

 

 

Super Mario RPG

Back in the 90’s if you heard that Nintendo and Squaresoft were teaming up to produce a Super Mario RPG, most likely the expected reaction was fan girl screaming. Needless to say, two titans coming together like this was rare back then and delivered one of the most revered games on the SNES. It was the first time Mario and Bowser worked together to face a greater enemy. While Nintendo did eventually go on and create more Mario RPG’s with Paper Mario and Mario and Luigi, these series didn’t have the magic Super Mario RPG had and offered a much more light-hearted tone and brighter world.

 

 

Crash Bandicoot

Naughty Dog brought us Crash Bandicoot back in 1996 and set the world on fire with their brilliant and wacky series. During the 90’s Crash was a gaming icon and for a brief time was a brand mascot for Sony.  The platforming and level design at the time was some of my favourite giving life and love to the genre. Since then Crash has expanded to racing and party games as well as mobile. Unfortunately, since the series creators left after Crash Team Racing, the series’ quality and humour took a bit of a nosedive and fell off shortly after.  A revival with original developer Naughty Dog at the helm would be most welcome.

 

 

Dark Cloud

I remember how much I enjoyed the first game and how it reminded me of The Legend of Zelda. At the time and being an early title for the PlayStation 2, showcased a ton of great ideas and actually improving on most of them in the sequel, Dark Cloud 2. The world-building mechanic and the weapon-based levelling system were some of the better ones I’ve played through. The thirst meter though; please stay gone. The series vanished back in 2003 and hasn’t been seen since being sorely missed since then.

 

 

Jet Moto

Kids of the era all had at least one title in the Jet Moto series and some even lost a friend or two because of it. This was also the first game I remember being laden with advertisements in-game ranging from Doritos to Slim Jims. Sixteen years later and I still remember the mornings I spent with my neighbours playing Jet Moto 2 for hours on end.

 

 

The Getaway

A third-person sandbox game in a recreated London? The Getaway took advantage of the PS2 hardware and looked damned good for its time. The title was also meant to be more realistic and less like GTA. I remember the difficulty being an issue for me at the time but it was still a blast. The sequel, Black Monday was released the next year to rather average reviews and has been sitting on a shelf waiting to return.