Dead Game Series That Need A Comeback

Summary

• Banjo-Kazooie: Fans demand a fourth game, but it must be done right to avoid disappointing like Battletoads.
• Thief: Considered the best stealth series, Thief deserves a new game with Stephen Russell returning.
• Marvel Vs. Capcom: Fans eagerly await a fourth entry in the historic fighting game series, despite recent disappointments.

Every one of you has that one or two gaming series that you love so much, even though it’s dead and buried. While a stellar new property can have real multimedia franchise potential, a returning series, if done well, can be a magical gaming experience.

A good example is Return to Monkey Island, a comeback just as legendary as the original two instalments. With the massive fanbase of some of these series, you’d think many would have already returned, but it’s much more complicated than you may think.

10

Banjo-Kazooie

One Of The Most Requested Series, But Also One Of The Hardest To Pull Off

Banjo-Kazooie is the most requested Xbox series that fans want to return. The first two games on the Nintendo 64 are some of the best games on the console, and you can even argue that the first Banjo is a superior experience to Super Mario 64. Nuts & Bolts remains controversial, but it’s a fantastic building game on its own.

A fourth instalment needs to happen, but it has to be done right. Xbox doesn’t want another Battletoads, which didn’t go well with fans. Plus, a fourth game is hard to design in the first place, because in the ending to Nuts & Bolts, the Lord of Games gives the pair their entire moveset back, meaning Banjo 4 would start with all the moves you had at the end of Tooie, plus even more on top of that.

9

Thief

The Stealth Game GOAT

While many modern gamers may have never heard of Thief, stealth game experts know that it’s the best stealth series of all time. Yes, the 2014 reboot was pretty bad, but the original trilogy still holds up as the best stealth experience in the medium. Of all the titles in the genre, Thief emphasizes its audio design most, as that’s the only way to tell where guards are.

No night vision goggles, no radar, no nothing, just your ears. The original voice actor for Garrett, Stephen Russell, still works in the industry, and it would be awesome to see him return in an actual Thief 4, as Thief’s gameplay remains fresh all these years later. That’s unlikely to happen, however, because the series is now owned by Embracer Group, who treated a similar franchise in a nasty way.

8

Deus Ex

Finish The Story

Nowadays, the most popular cyberpunk game is Cyberpunk 2077, but back in the day, that would be Deus Ex. There’s not a single bad entry in the mainline series, with several titles being up there among the best games of their respective generations. Deus Ex deserves a new game based on pedigree alone, but there’s another more important reason.

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided was supposed to be the second in a trilogy, as many plot threads were left unresolved. Sadly, the next Deus Ex game was technically cancelled twice, once with Square Enix, and another with Embracer Group. It’s so frustrating for fans to have the Adam Jensen trilogy unfinished.

7

Marvel Vs. Capcom

Where’s Mahvel?

While there was a rerelease of all the classic arcade Marvel vs. Capcom games, there needs to be a full-blown new entry. Looking back, the partnership between Capcom and Marvel is pretty historic, because the late ’90s was a horrible time for Marvel.

It was in dire financial straits and even filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1996, which is why these fighting games even happened in the first place. Thankfully they did, because the series went on to deliver some of the best fighting games ever made, and the demand for an actual Marvel vs. Capcom 4 remains strong. Like Banjo, Capcom needs to deliver, especially after the lackluster reception to Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite.

6

Parasite Eve

The Best Horror RPG

RPGs and survival horror games were some of the most dominant genres in the PS1 era. If you mix the two together, you will get Parasite Eve, an incredible RPG on the PS1 with a neat time-based battle system, great story and characters, and grotesque monsters.

It still holds up today, and the series’ fanbase remains huge despite the original title being the only entry to receive critical acclaim. The 3rd Birthday handled Aya, the main character of the series, almost as badly as Metroid: Other M’s portrayal of Samus. However, Metroid still came back after that game, and Parasite Eve could easily do the same considering the size of the fanbase.

5

Punch-Out!!

One Of The Most Underrated Nintendo Series

Lowkey, one of the best Nintendo franchises is Punch-Out!! Its simplicity was its genius, being very easy to learn but with a surprisingly high skill ceiling. There’s a bunch of high-level strats requiring one-frame inputs that make you feel like a million bucks if you pull them off. The console trilogy with the NES, SNES, and Wii games is just perfect, and there’s a lot of potential for a future instalment.

It would be awesome for Next Level Games to make another Punch-Out!!, but there’s a likely reason why Nintendo isn’t interested in another one. The franchise is infamous for its racist stereotype characters, even though people enjoy the series due to the gameplay. This makes a new entry unlikely, but surely they can just make new characters and retain the awesome gameplay.

4

Jak And Daxter

The Greatest PlayStation Platformer

It’s great to see that PlayStation platformers like Ratchet & Clank and Astro Bot are going strong, but Sony’s missing the best one in the history of PlayStation: Jak and Daxter. The masterpiece trilogy by Naughty Dog remains the best platformers exclusive to PlayStation and is a must-play on PS4 or 5.

If Ratchet & Clank still receives new games, why not Jak and Daxter? Naughty Dog currently makes more mature games these days, but a Sony studio like Team Asobi would be perfect for revitalizing the series.

3

StarTropics

The Most Underrated Nintendo Series

Created by Punch-Out!! co-creator Genyo Takeda, StarTropics is a top ten NES game with challenging, tight gameplay, memorable puzzles, and a great protagonist that’s lowkey one of the best in Nintendo history. Zoda’s Revenge: StarTropics 2 was a solid sequel, but not as good as the original.

With the presence of dungeons akin to Zelda, StarTropics seemed prime for a new entry on the 3DS that could make use of both screens, but that never happened. StarTropics deserves a new entry at this point because the original is one of those NES games like Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!! that you keep going back to time and time again.

2

Zone Of The Enders

High Speed Robot Action

It’s great to see Konami focus more on Silent Hill and Metal Gear these days, but one franchise remains left in the cold: Zone of the Enders. While the games were developed by Kojima Productions, Hideo Kojima didn’t direct them, and actually had very little involvement in the second game in the series.

The original title was extremely rough, but the sequel is one of the best action games ever. Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner puts Armored Core 6 to shame with its wildly fast and furious mech combat that’s just as exhilarating today as it was in 2003. A third Zone of the Enders would be awesome to see, or even a spiritual successor by Kojima Productions.

1

Viewtiful Joe

Henshin-a-Go-Go, Baby

Beat-’em-ups are a striving genre in today’s age, whether it be indie or double-A. This makes Viewtiful Joe’s absence even more baffling. One of the best, even arguably the greatest, beat-’em-up of the sixth console generation, Viewtiful Joe was one of the best action titles on the GameCube with plenty of style.

The sequel was a lot of fun, too, and there were even a couple side games. With how much the genre’s revived now, surely a brand new double-A Viewtiful Joe could be made.