Favorite Gaming Franchise?

[AwesomeMonstar]

After seeing all these franchise lift up/let down threads I thought I'd ask all of you what long running series has been your favorite? Mind you I mean franchise so the series has to have atleast three games and you gotta think of them in terms of there long running success rather than a one specific game. Also, to keep things interesting, no Mario and Zelda, no spinoffs (unless the games are real similiar, like I would consider bio-shock and SS2 in the same franchise), and a minimum of three games have to be released in order for it to be a franchise.

So, to start things off nice and toasty, I'll throw up DOOM. The first two games speak for themselves, there is little I can say about doom 1 and 2 that people don't already know. These games are incredible and still hold up as some of the best shooters to date, nostalgia or not.

DOOM 3, on the other hand, catches alot of flak, Flak I find to be rather unfounded. I always thought it was odd hearing my older brother tell me that the first two games were scary. Playing those games at about 6 or 7, the thoughts never crossed my mind, I just knew it was damn fun. It wasn't untill doom 3 that I had legitimately thought that a game could make me scared. The atmosphere, the tricks, the lighting and the animations all scared the hell out of me, but they were also all wrapped around what I thought was a very solid design. I loved blasting away at imps and zombies still because it kept what I like about old shooters at it's core, that hiding is for wimps and the best way to kill something is to go about it head on. Strafing through fireballs and rockets, leaving an insurmountable trail of corpses in my wake, this is what fps gaming is all about to me. Sure, the flashlight was bad, but that just made things more tense! Also, what other game has a power up that makes your character scream in rage for minutes after you pick it up? So screw the detractors, that game kicked ass.

So, what do you all think? What series has stood the test of time or had so many incredible entries that the bad can be overlooked for the good? What series reigns supreme in your minds?

[corn619]

1 Super Mario Bros
2 Dragon Quest
3 Castlevania

[Gamerforlife]

If we're going by consistency of quality

Sly Cooper

Three games, all of them among the best platformers I've ever played. Great characters, great writing, fantastic visual style, perfect blend of classic platforming with stealth gameplay, fun,retro inspired mini-games to give the games variety while acknowledging some gaming classics, there's even just a bit of beat'em up goodness in Sly 3

The series has it all and Sly 4 will be even better

[t0yrobo]

If we're going by consistency of quality

Sly Cooper

Three games, all of them among the best platformers I've ever played. Great characters, great writing, fantastic visual style, perfect blend of classic platforming with stealth gameplay, fun,retro inspired mini-games to give the games variety while acknowledging some gaming classics, there's even just a bit of beat'em up goodness in Sly 3

The series has it all and Sly 4 will be even better

I don't know if I'd say it's my favorite, but Sly Copper never gets enough credit imo. Of all the 3d platforming series on the PS2 I thought it was easily the best.

[MetalSonic]

Mega Man. They've always been my favorite games since I was 4 years old and first played Mega Man 5.

[Snickerd00dle]

Kirby
Mario
Final Fantasy
Resident Evil

[baschlives]

Final Fantasy
Legend of Zelda
Super Mario Bros.

[slowslow325]

Did anyone hear he said no Mario or Zelda?

Metroid Prime (I would just say Metroid, but they're pretty different games, and I haven't played much 2D metroid. However, if that's not allowed, my post is Metroid)

[corn619]

Did anyone hear he said no Mario or Zelda?

His thread title says favorite gaming franchise and Mario is mine. What, am I supposed to pretend its not and say a franchise that really wasn't? That would lying, and lying is wrong my friend. In that case I'll lie and say my absolute favorite franchise is Dragon Quest.

[dsheinem]

All of the games in the Wii/DS' Imagine series have been awesome. Probably the best modern franchise, easily.