As we have now entered the eighth generation of gaming consoles, there have been many franchises, or even single games, that have come and gone. Sometimes this can be a good thing, such as when a series may have been completely drained. However, there are way too many games that were halted too early in their series. With long dead games like Killer Instinct returning from the grave on the Xbox One, it seems like a good a time as any to get a list together of fourteen games or series that I would most like to see revisited again in the future.
As with all lists, this is an opinion-based list on the games I’ve played or been interested in and there will of course be games I left out that you think belong on the list. Please use the comments to name the series that you’d most like to see make a triumphant return in the near future.
Banjo-Kazooie
There was absolutely no way I could start this list off with another game. I still remember the day I got my Nintendo 64 for Christmas in 1998, along with Banjo-Kazooie and Diddy Kong Racing, the latter of which could easily be on this list if it wasn’t for licensing issues with the characters. I knew little about the game prior, but instantly fell in love with the giant world around Spiral Mountain. Banjo-Tooie was a perfect follow-up to the original, but the series seemed to die for years until we got Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, which I didn’t dislike, but it just wasn’t Banjo-Kazooie. With Rare owned by Microsoft, I am dying to see a new entry in the series that plays like the original two games on my Xbox One.
Battletoads
It really is amazing how many dead series that Rare has from over the years. Battletoads debuted back on the NES and to this day is still known as one of the hardest games on the system known for its difficulty. The series has been pretty much dead since 1994 when Super Battletoads released on the Super Nintendo, though a game was planned at one point for Game Boy Advance prior to the acquisition of Rare by Microsoft. Battletoads is the perfect example of old-school side scrolling beat-em up games, but with some twists thrown in to make it interesting. This game seems perfect for at the very least a digital game for the Xbox One, but I wouldn’t have a problem with a full release on the system either.
The Getaway
This game is one that always seems to be forgotten about by a majority of gamers due to its similarities to games like Grand Theft Auto. This series only received two games, which were both for the PlayStation 2. A third The Getaway title was announced for PlayStation 3, but was eventually shelved and never saw the light of day. While Grand Theft Auto V gave us multiple playable characters, The Getaway was doing this over a decade prior with intersecting storylines. I still remember renting the first game one weekend and a friend and I spent so much time driving around and enjoying the London environment. With games like Grand Theft Auto still so popular, it is a perfect time to see the return of this franchise.
Crash Bandicoot
Crash Bandicoot has probably had the biggest fall from grace on this entire list as he’s gone from essentially the mascot of the PlayStation and Sony to having a completely defunct series. The series eventually went multi-platform and moved from Naughty Dog to a variety of other developers, which definitely hurt the franchise’s quality. This series was beginning to take the Mario path at one point, with kart racers and party games on top of the main games, but sadly Crash Bandicoot never seemed to make a successful transition beyond the PlayStation and found itself in the state the franchise is in today. Rumors seem to constantly surface that Sony has gotten the rights back, but they all end up being false in the end sadly. For now, it’s all in the hands of Activision, who do not seem to care at all about the property.
Crazy Taxi
The Crazy Taxi series actually began in arcades in 1999, before making the jump to consoles in 1999 on the short-lived Dreamcast. This was followed by a few sequels over the years, as well as ports of the original to systems like the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, iOS, and most recently Android. However, the arcade style of this game is one that can still be built upon, especially with the much larger cities that could be possible on modern game systems. As a side note, I would also love to see the return of the somewhat Crazy Taxi and Grand Theft Auto clone games based on The Simpsons, The Simpsons: Road Rage and The Simpsons: Hit & Run. These were a blast as a big fan of the series and there hasn’t been a console The Simpsons game since the actual The Simpsons Game.
