Leveled Up 12.09.09: What The Readers Want

Posted by Joshua Richey on 12.09.2009

This week we go over some of the suggestions that I got from readers for what franchises they would like see make a comeback.



Last week's article about video games franchises that needed to be revived got a lot of response from you readers. If you missed it, click here to check it out. There were so many great suggestions left in the comments, and there were even some franchises that you guys listed that I had forgotten about entirely. So instead of moving on to another topic, this week we're going to look at the franchises that you guys want to see revived.

(NOTE: If I didn't respond to your suggestion from last week, please don't take it personal. I either didn't have time or wasn't that familiar with the game you recommended.)



I would love to see a new Grim Fandango, but only if Tim Schafer were involved. For Lucas Arts to make a new Grim game without him would be a crime. I'm not sure how possible a new Grim game would be, though. Schafer has had a lot of success with Brutal Legend and Psychonauts since Grim Fandango in the late-90's. Would he even want to return to it? Plus, with the financial setbacks that Lucas Arts have had to make, would they invest into a new game considering that the first one didn't sell that well?

Perhaps we could find a middle ground. Lucas Arts released a cleaned up version of Monkey Island this past Summer; perhaps they could do the same with Grim.





Good suggestions, but the one that I want to talk about the most is Shenmue. Last weeks article was supposed to be 'five game franchises that I want to see revived.' Because of time constraints, I had to bump that down to four. The game that I removed was none other than Shenmue. Now I didn't remove it because it was my least favorite of the five. Oh, no. I removed it because it was the game that I would have wrote about, and wrote about, and wrote about. You see, I loved Shenmue; both of them, in fact. If my Dreamcast still worked, I'd still play that game regularly.

Sony, can you hear me? Please, please, please bless us with another Shenmue game.

While we wait for that, the star of Shenmue, Ryo, will be in Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, which comes out next year.



Yes, that Mutant League cartoon was the tits. Watched it every morning.

Double Dragon, Streets of Rage, and Battletoads all got a lot of mentions in last week's comments. Whatever happened to the old school beat 'em ups? I mean, I can kind of understand why there hasn't been a Double Dragon game in forever. Did you guys see that movie? Good Lord. Who in their right mind decides to make a Double Dragon game, then decides to put Scott Wolf in one of the lead roles? Probably the same person that thought it would be wise to give Alyssa Milano short blonde hair. That's how you destroy a franchise, boys & girls.



As for Battletoads, Rare, stop making clothes for our Xbox Avatars and make us another Battletoads game, dammit.

(BTW: I told my buddy that I'd also remind you to make a new Jet Force Gemini game. So do that too, please.)



I can't really speak on Skies of Arcadia or Dragon Force, but I'm with you on the others 110%.

Donkey Kong's been around in games like DK Jungle Beat, Mario Kart, and games like that, but we've not had a true Donkey Kong game since, what, Donkey Kong 64? That's too damn long. I remember the first time I played Donkey Kong Country for the SNES. I was a little kid, still partial to my Sega and games like Boogerman, but then my Dad got Donkey Kong Country and all that changed. It was the game that made me have to have a Super Nintendo.

As for Jet Set Radio, man, that was a great game. It was original, had beautiful visuals, and a stellar soundtrack. It was one of the most underrated games for the Dreamcast, that's for sure. I'd love to see an updated Jet Set Radio in beautiful HD.





That's a game that I've not heard anyone talk about in a long time. A new Killer Instinct? Why not! Fighters are making a comeback. Hell, let's not stop there. Let's get a new Clayfighter. Let's get a new Primal Rage. Let's get a new Eternal Champions. Let's get a new Shaq Fu...wait, nevermind the Shaq Fu.



XIII was a beautiful cel-shaded FPS for the Xbox. I'm pretty sure that it was also the basis of the short-lived show on Fox that went by the same name. Unlike the show, the game was very good. It successfully captured the look and feel of a comic book. A sequel to XIII (XIV?) would be great, but the folks at Ubisoft are pretty busy these days.

As for Deus Ex, I've got good news. Deus Ex 3 is scheduled to be released next year.



Damn, Alan Grant really loves him some dinosaurs, huh?

Dino Crisis is a game that I forgot all about last week as I was trying to think up my list. I remember being a freshman in high school trying to explain the game to a friend of mine. "It's like Resident Evil...BUT WITH DINOSAURS!!!!"

The first two Dino Crisis games were great. The third one...well, we can forget that the thrid one ever happened. Dinosaurs in space probably sounded like a great idea at the time

A rebirth of the Dino Crisis franchise needs to happen. Imagine something that looked like Resident Evil 5, but with Raptors. Almost gives you a boner, doesn't it?



That's all for this week's edition of Leveled Up. Again, I thank you all for the suggestions. I also thank you all for not mentioning Army Men. I'm pretty sure that we can all agree that's one franchise that needs to stay dead. Speaking of shitty games, I'm still trying to motivate myself to finish playing Fairytale Fights so that I can review it. It's an absolutely dreadful experience. I honestly can't say one good thing about it right now. I'm definitely kicking myself in the ass for volunteering to review it for the site. It's about as bad as those Burger King games from a few years ago - which, ironically enough, I also had to play through and review for this site.

Oh, and one last thing that I wanted to add. Our Gaming Editor, Ramon, got married this week. He's probably on his honeymoon this very second making babies. Congratulations, Ramon!

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