With the release of WiiU and the upcoming release of the PS4 and XboxOne, gamers everywhere are wondering if they will see the return of old beloved franchises. Some of these franchises have simply faded away, while others were given a short, half-life on portable devices which didn’t live up to the original titles. Here are Capcom’s five franchises that need a new life in this coming generation because they were so damn amazing a few generations ago.
5) Clock Tower – Last seen March 18, 2003 – PS2
Since survival horror is beginning to make a huge comeback, thanks to The Last of Us and upcoming The Evil Within, Capcom should dust off one of their acquired franchises. Capcom purchased this series in 1999 when Human Entertainment went under. Capcom and Sunsoft then went on to make Clock Tower 3, and later Capcom made Haunting Ground, which was intended to be Clock Tower 4. What made this series stand out was the fact that you couldn’t attack your enemies back. Instead you needed to hide and sneak around. With the amazing AI they can program now, hiding and running from an antagonist with giant scissors would be a great challenge. Just think, if Capcom really put their heads together they could reboot this series into an impeccable stealth survival horror game.
4) Dino Crisis – Last seen September 16, 2003 – Xbox
Shinji Mikami took survival horror in a different route for his 1999 PS1 game. Instead of being hunted and stalked by zombies, the protagonist was being hunted by dinosaurs. The game did differ slightly from Resident Evil. Instead of pre-rendered backgrounds, protagonist Regina could “run and gun” in fully 3D environments. The game was successful enough to gain a Dreamcast and PC port and two sequels. Sadly Dino Crisis 3 was a relative commercial and critical failure, usually gaining reviews that barely passed a six. Most reviewers saw this game as a failure to move the franchise forward, and these dinos haven’t been heard from since. With the soon to be revived survival horror renaissance on the horizon, now would be a perfect time for Capcom to hire Mikami to reboot this lost franchise. Just look at what he did with Resident Evil 4. He took his old creation and made it even more amazing than the original. We’ve all heard that The Evil Within will be his last directorial title, but let’s all say nay and get him working on a Dino Crisis reboot. It’s the game gamers need.
3) Onimusha – Last seen March 23, 2004 – PS2
Onimusha is Capcom’s sixth biggest franchise, so why in the world have they not brought it back? The game takes place in feudal Japan and retells its history with some subtle changes. Which, of course, means the supernatural. Basically, Yoshiki Okamoto wanted to make a Resident Evil that took place in Japan, where the protagonist was a ninja and had to deal with foes using swords and shuriken. The idea was a sound one, the game met with financial and critical success and eventually spawned three more sequels. It has also sold almost 8 million copies to date. Capcom, get on this. Imagine Ninja Gaiden 3 mixed with ghosts and puzzles and Japan’s history. Video game gold.
2) Powerstone – Last seen October 31, 2006 – PSP
With the recent influx in the fighting game genre, it’s surprising that Capcom didn’t bring this back along with Marvel vs Capcom. In all fighting games the main story has fighters battling to win a coveted item. This time it is The Power Stone. Battles took place in a 3D arena and the player could pick up items and either throw them or wield them. What made Power Stone unique was that four players could battle each other on the same screen, which made for a great party or dorm game. If they brought it back now they could use the magic of XboxLive or The Playstation Network to have battle royales just like that. Plus an update in graphics, worldwide leader-boards, and ragdoll physics would make this game a fighting champion.
1) Breath of Fire – Last seen February 18, 2003 – PS2
Capcom still holds the rights to one of the most beloved RPGs ever created, Breath of Fire. Breath of Fire was first birthed on the SNES, which some consider the greatest RPG console ever. The game followed a blue haired protagonist, Ryu, who lives in a medieval world and can change his shape into different forms of dragons. Even though it’s been ten years since the last release, fans are still clamoring for a new series in the franchise. With the success of extremely punishing RPG’s like Dragon’s Dogma and Demon’s Souls, there should be no reason why Capcom doesn’t have this one trucking alone. The series has sold over 3 million copies world wide, that in itself should wake the board up at Capcom and get them moving on a new entry.
What Capcom franchises would you like to see revived that didn’t make the list? They have a huge library of untouched franchises just waiting to come back from the dead (or undead in some cases).
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