When a television show gets extremely popular, it'll have a spin-off based around a popular character. When a game franchise gets massively popular, they too will spin-off and create a game from either a different character's perspective or turn it into an entirely different genre. While some spin-offs are sold well because they were actually good, some only sell based on the name alone, and sometimes it seems like that was done on purpose. This week we take a look at the best and worst examples of spin-off games.THE TYPICAL SPIN-OFFS
When a franchise is going to do a spin-off, it will very likely choose one of the following genres:
Racing (usually Kart) - Grab some characters, make them race around popular areas in past games, and throw in some weapons. This is very likely to happen to any franchise that appeals to the kids. The most obvious example would be Mario Kart, perhaps the best spin-off of the Mario games or even all-time. Other examples include Sonic, Crash Bandicoot, Pokemon, and Konami Racers.
RPG - Make it the same kind of game, except throw in the typical RPG stuff such as HP, MP, Money, Equips, and some completely new characters that wind up staying only in that game. Since most RPG spin-offs wind up as non-canon to the series, this is mostly just a way to get fans to keep buying their games. Obvious example again would be the Mario RPG's (SMRPG, Paper Mario, and M&L). Another example of this would be Mega Man X Command Mission.
Sports - Sport is apparently the universal language of video games, as no matter what timeline or what characters roam about, they all enjoy a good old fashioned sports game. Mario has just about done every major sport (still waiting for Football and Hockey though), but two perfect examples that don't include plumbers are Mega Man Soccer and DOA Xtreme Beach Volleyball.
Trading Card Game - What is it about these things that appeals to people we'll never know. Hell I'm even semi-into this kind of thing. So of course if it works in real life, it's bound to happen to a video game franchise! If right now you're thinking that this only appeals to kids, then you're wrong, because plenty of franchises market to teenagers and adults get their own TCG spin-off. Pokemon is the obvious one, but others include Metal Gear Solid, SNK vs. Capcom, and Phantasy Star Online. Surprisingly, unless you count Mario Party-e, Mario has yet to do this kind of thing.
Pinball - This is like the Monopoly of video games, as in just about anything can be turned into a pinball variation (which is funny because I have a Monopoly pinball machine). It doesn't actually matter what franchise you use, as anything can be a pinball game once you add the flippers and the bumpers and those bright lights. Once again Mario is an example, though this time around his game sucked. The best example of a good pinball spin-off would be Pokemon Pinball. Other pinball spin-offs include Metroid, Sonic, and The House of the Dead.
BEST EXAMPLES
So what really makes a spin-off work? Besides needing good gameplay, I think the best spin-offs come from those that don't use an obvious or the same genre as the original franchise. Here are some of the best spin-offs that come to mind:
Pokemon Snap - You go around trying to take the best pictures of Pokemon as possible. Concept may sound incredibly stupid, but this turned out to be a pretty addictive game. You can't just point and click and call it a day, oh no. You have to make them strike the right pose, evolve some of them, or gather many of them together to get higher points. Even though this was a uniquely great game to play, there was a couple things I was disappointed about. The first being that not all of the Pokemon were featured as there was about 63 out of 151. Another complaint would be that the game was WAY too short, because I beat this thing in about six hours. But overall, I say this was a good spin-off because you don't find much camera snapping games these days.
A l33t speaker's worst nightmare
The Typing of the Dead - Talk about getting your edu-ma-cation on. This game was based on The House of the Dead 2, but instead of using one of those light-guns, you had to use your keyboard and type as fast and accurate as you can. Bosses required to type out whole sentences, and making mistakes would cause you to take damage. Besides re-tooling the arcade mode, it also came with a tutoring mode to make you a better typist. This game is very obscure enough to be worth checking out, and as it turns out, it wasn't a bad game either.
World of Warcraft - Take one of the most popular RTS games of all time and turn into one of the biggest MMORPGs since Everquest. A vast world with just so much damn stuff to do, it's almost no wonder that this game gets so addictive that many people's personal lives are being ruined and South Park did an episode based on it. With WoW being the MMO every PC gamer is playing, is there any MMO that can topple it? Only one possible game comes to mind: World of Starcraft.
WORST EXAMPLES
Why do games that don't use the same or obvious genre work? Because those that do wind up sucking. Here are the worst examples of how NOT to do a spin-off:
FF7: Dirge of Cerberus - When there are nearly more cutscenes then actual gameplay, you've got a problem. This game was part of the whole "Let's appease the FF7 fanboys" project by releasing spin-offs in game and movie form to expand the already complicated FF7 storyline (or just do more Cloud & Sephiroth fights). This one had you play as Vincent, who technically was supposed to be a side character you didn't have to unlock in the first place (but honestly, how many actually didn't unlock him?). While the story didn't wind up being an excuse for a Cloud/Seph fight, it was still annoying to see that sometimes, Vincent was almost thrown into the background in some of the cutscenes. Besides the story, the game had terrible controls as well, but then again most FF7 fans just wanted the story anyway, so at least they were somewhat pleased.
Made terrible Sonic game. Go Directly to Jail.
Sonic Shuffle – The problem: Mario is winning over fans with Mario Party.
The solution: Create a party game like Mario's except use Sonic characters.
The result: Quite possibly the worst Sonic game ever. Mario Party has you going around a game board and collecting the most stars, and throwing in lots of mini-games in order to gain the advantage. Sonic Shuffle tried doing the same thing, except you didn't win just by collecting the most precious stones, OH NO! Getting the most only earned you one emblem at the end, and the rest goes to people who have the most rings, collected the first one, or completed some stupid side quest. So basically, they took the simple concept of Mario Party and completely screwed it up.
Ehrgeiz - First of all, how the hell do you pronounce this title? Is it "Er-Geez" or "Er-Jize" or "Energize"? Seriously, this has got to be one of the worst named games ever. Anyways, this game was a sort of spin-off to Final Fantasy 7, as the game was advertised a lot by mentioning the FF7 cast as playable characters. But this 3D fighting game wasn't just focused on the never-ending Cloud/Seph feud, but rather seemed like a test in order to see if Squaresoft can succeed in other genres. With Dream Factory (the creators of Tobal) and Namco (the creators of Tekken) helping out, this seemed like a sure fire hit. Unfortunately, many problems from convoluted control schemes to disappointing extras pretty much kicked Squaresoft out of the fighting game biz almost as fast as the motion picture biz.
LOOKING AHEAD
Halo Wars - Last time I thought if Halo was getting a game outside of the trilogy, I claimed it would absolutely suck and be an embarrassment. Halo Wars, however, seems to be shaping up to be a decent spin-off of the franchise. Halo Wars will be a Real-Time Strategy game that takes place before Halo 1 and no release date has been given yet.
Sorry for those who missed this column and wondered what the hell happened to it. Next time, with SpikeTV's award show airing last week, I'll be looking at the trend of Video Game Awards. (Credit to IGN and Gamespot for the information.)
