Franchises that should have never continued

[elvis]

King of Fighters series *Did they really need to update this Street Fighter rip-off every year of the last decade?*

KOF XII is the first one I've actually enjoyed. I'm kind of glad they continued the franchise.

And yeah, full agreement with all of the above replies - not every 2D fighter is a "Street Fighter rip off". (Considering Street Fighter wasn't even the first 1-on-1 fighter anyway).

Maybe I'm crazy for saying this but, I think the Zelda series is in need of a serious break.

I don't know about a break. I definitely think they need to try a new direction. Wind Waker was an amazing change of style and refreshing to the series. Twilight Princess was OK, but very average.

I'd say the same for Mario too. Mario Galaxy was "meh", and the sequel looks like more of the same. Considering what Nintendo (and/or Team Ninja) are doing with Metriod (Other M), there's potential there to do amazing things with all of their key franchises.

And I'm praying that "Project Needlemouse" will make Sonic fun again. If it doesn't, I'll cry.

[Erik_Twice]

Dance Dance Revolution series *Worse than Guitar Hero will ever be. Enough is enough!*

I beg your pardon? Because I tell you that no music game fan wants DDR to die. Also unlike GH the quality is not going downhill. In fact there's only one thing DDR needs, more difficulty.

[MrPopo]

And yeah, full agreement with all of the above replies - not every 2D fighter is a "Street Fighter rip off". (Considering Street Fighter wasn't even the first 1-on-1 fighter anyway).

And Doom wasn't the first FPS, but that doesn't stop Halo from being a Doom clone.

[Luke]

Everyone hits a bump in the road once in a while, but I'm glad that franchises still reboot some of their flagship titles. Love the new Metorids, love Mega Man 9, love the rebirth series. Hopefully one day we'll get another great sonic game.

[jfe2]

Everyone hits a bump in the road once in a while, but I'm glad that franchises still reboot some of their flagship titles. Love the new Metorids, love Mega Man 9, love the rebirth series. Hopefully one day we'll get another great sonic game.

IIRC, that was a trailer for a new Sonic 2D game that will be released on PSN, XBLA, and Wiiware. Hopefully that turns out to be a decent game!

[weasels]

Dance Dance Revolution series *Worse than Guitar Hero will ever be. Enough is enough!*

I beg your pardon? Because I tell you that no music game fan wants DDR to die. Also unlike GH the quality is not going downhill. In fact there's only one thing DDR needs, more difficulty.

I, agree. i love ddr. the console versions....i can do without though, just a bunch of hip-hop american songs i hate.

imo quite possibly final fantasy (especially the 7 series). i enjoy them but square-enix is putting little effort into other franchises that quite possibly have a lot of promise...then again, square-enix really needs to sit back and realize what kind of monster they become. they no longer are for the customer but are more focused on getting money from us. they have been milking final fantasy too much (even though they promised they would never do so) and while i actually like some of the newer final fantasy incarnations (dissidia being one of my favorites) i realize when enough is enough. and while on occasion they have released something good that's not from the FF series, at least half of their games would be less then stellar. you wouldn't see that often with the square(soft) of old.

[Weekend_Warrior]

Take a look at how different each King of Fighters is compared to each Street Fighter. While Capcom usually changed a few moves up and threw in a couple of characters every now and then, KOF always had new characters, new backgrounds, new gameplay mechanics, new stories, a new GUI, etc.

I'm pretty sure that Street Fighter games have almost always introduced new backgrounds along with new gameplay mechanics. Better check your facts there

Also, tell me: How was it a SF rip-off? Because it had characters fighting each other on a 2D plane?

Hey, let's face it. Almost every 2D fighting game since Street Fighter is a rip-off. Even Mortal Kombat frequently gets accused of being a Street Fighter rip-off even though it featured realistic, digitized graphics and ushered in a new level of violence in video games with horrific finishing moves.

[Frag Mortuus]

I agree that a lot of series should have been discontinued when they were at their prime.

GH should have stopped at 2, the first and second ones were amazingly fun, but they have steadily gone down hill ever since.

TH, who cant agree that that series should have died at 3?

Now, I think Zelda doesnt need to stop, but it needs a fundamental shift in its progression. The game play is fine, but the way the game progresses (i.e. going from dungeon to dungeon killing bosses and getting new items) is getting old. I say keep that scheme but add more depth. Make the world HUGE like Oblivion, fill the game with TONS of side quests and secret armor and items. I think that if they made it an action/rpg with leveling that would be really fun. Look at how much it changed Castlevania for the better.

Halo is at the verge where it could definitely be destroyed. 1,2,and 3 are great (multiplayer) games, but I dont care for the campaigns at all. ODST on the other hand has an absolutely awesome campaign. It has a bit of a mystery feel to it, as you are trying to figure out what happened to your squad mates. You pick up clues and follow trails and what not to find out where they landed in New Mombasa. So that adds a good bit of depth to the single player campaign, and the new fire fight mode is ripped straight from Gears of War 2 but it is different enough to feel fresh and is ridiculously fun as well. But if they continue to put out new Halo games every year the franchise will die a terrible death.

I cant comment of COD because I have never played them before. Im not a fan of realistic military games.

I think that everyone has touched on the most obvious series that should die, so I cant think of any new ones!

Good thread.

[Weekend_Warrior]

Dance Dance Revolution series *Worse than Guitar Hero will ever be. Enough is enough!*

I beg your pardon? Because I tell you that no music game fan wants DDR to die. Also unlike GH the quality is not going downhill. In fact there's only one thing DDR needs, more difficulty.

That doesn't mean that they needed to make 50+ games!

Look at this list. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Da ... tion_games

The term "played out" comes to mind. And as for your comment that the "DDR franchise isn't going to downhill like Guitar Hero" comment. Dude, you're not telling me that every DDR game has been rated well. Take a good hard look at how well the majority of Guitar Hero games have been rated. Then look at how well the latest Guitar Hero games - Guitar Hero: Metallica, Guitar Hero: Smash Hits, and Guitar Hero 5 were rated.

[Flashman85]

Now, I think Zelda doesnt need to stop, but it needs a fundamental shift in its progression.

I agree. Now, I'm not a huge Zelda fan so it's possible I don't know what I'm talking about, but I also think that some of the fans' problems with the franchise come from the fact that Toon Link is getting all the attention and continuity. So, is it that the Zelda franchise as a whole needs a change, or is it that good ol' classic Link needs some more solid hits?

Everyone hits a bump in the road once in a while, but I'm glad that franchises still reboot some of their flagship titles. Love the new Metorids, love Mega Man 9, love the rebirth series.

Ditto. Now, maybe it's just your word choice here, but Metroid and the original Mega Man series technically haven't been rebooted, at least not in the sense that James Bond and Star Trek recently were. Other M (at least as far as I've heard) and Mega Man 9 are true continuations of the series, but they take a different direction from their immediate predecessors.

Maybe it's that I'm a sucker for good stories, but as long as fresh ideas exist and the franchise's continuity hasn't been horribly mangled, I don't see any reason for most of the games we've mentioned to stop altogether, unless a franchise really has absolutely nothing new to offer. In other words, don't slam the car into a wall just because it took a wrong turn somewhere.