Cayne's Top 5: Game franchises that lost their way

[Cayne]

Some video game series stick with you from the moment you play the first 5 minutes til your completing the 20^th entry in the series……….. and then they change the formula or the team behind the series and shit goes to hell. Now I’m not an elitist dick who bitches about a series for natural progression which is why Resident evil, call of duty, castlevania, and many others were excluded from this list. So here we go

 

DIGIMON WORLD

This series continuously evolved with every entry which was crazy because they got it right with the original. This game did a better job of emulating the anime then Pokémon has ever dared too. The player and their digimon partner travel around saving the digital world. It had a deep digimon raising process involving trial and error, while making everything you did with your partner important. The first entry was great, the second entry was dumbed down, turned based, and grinding was severely necessary I was going to drop the series but I put the work in to beat it for story sake. The third entry kind of went back to the original formula but changed the digivolving mechanic. I liked it so fuck it. Unfortunately, after the third installment the series got worse and worse……………… oh god digimon world 4 was fucking dumb.

 

DOUBLE DRAGON

If you were born in the eighty’s you fucking played Double Dragon. Man there wasn’t too much shit better to do then beating the asses of abobo, the evil ninja twins, Arnold Swarz-a-nigga, buff Apollo Creed, and the shadow boss himself. Double Dragon 2 was the neighborhood favorite, mainly cause of that intro song. That joint pumped you up for an NES difficult game. Three was okay, but had made the difficulty a little high for our liking. DD 4 was just a mess trying to emulate the superior Streets of Rage series and DD 5 was a terrible fighter best left unmentioned. Recently they tried to revive the series with a “neon” version which basically capture the era of the originals. Sadly this just turned Billy and Jimmy into some fucking tool boxes that reminded us why five hit combo systems went extinct.

 

SUPER MARIO BROS

Okay fan boys, I know there’s probably a lot of you that’s saying Mario is still awesome, but I guess it’s not for me. Mario All-Stars, Mario 64, and Mario RPG are all I need from this guy. Mario sunshine is a pass; Mario Galaxies is a pass, Sports titles blah, Kart racers meh (with the exception of Double Dash), Paper Mario suckssssssssss. Spin offs such Luigi’s mansion and super princess peach help, but sadly aren’t actually Mario games. New SMB’s Wii would have been the re-igniter for me, but the game isn’t fun solo and is a pain in the ass with multiple people. Super Mario RPG for the SNES is the greatest Mario game ever made.

KINGDOM HEARTS

‘Kingdom Hearts was a great RPG and Kingdom Hearts 2 came and destroyed the original in epicness with that 1000 heartless slugfest. These two games made grinding fun as hell and side quest were not a choir. I did everything in these games without knowing it I achieved the best endings in both games without even knowing I was being rewarded for doing everything. That’s the recipe for a great game. The one thing that kills this game is the Disney shit forced down your throat. Maybe if you did all the awesome things from the movies the worlds are based on it would be better, but under the sea was fucking awful the whole time there. After the first two games shit started sucking. 365 days or whatever it’s called was just one long flashback on Roxas like anybody cared about his Popsicle eating ass. Chain of memories was boring as hell, as well as birth by sleep. I would say I liked KH3D but I didn’t complete it; I just lost interest.

 

SOUL CALIBUR

Soul Edge was ok, but Soul Calibur on the Dreamcast blew our faces off. As fighting game enthusiasts, we killed much time on Soul Calibur. Constantly trying to get better because the move list was awkward as hell. Soul Calibur 2 took its predecessor and wiped his ass with it. Way more epic and the king of the console exclusive world. I bought all three versions! Soul Calibur three is hated on for some reason, but I like this a lot. I believe because of the Fighting/Tower defense mode that they never bring back!  Sadly 4, 5, and lost Swords blow more sax than Lisa Simpson and that 3^rd person piece of shit was worse than the game it obviously copied. (Drakengard)

 

 

 

[Prodigal Trailblazer]

i'd like to petition the addition of the sonic the hedgehog franchise...

[Cayne]

i'd like to petition the addition of the sonic the hedgehog franchise...

I struggled with sonic because I actually like a few of his last decade titles......................................... and then their is sonic boom. I was really hoping this was the next gen sonic heroes, but they literally erased Classic era and Adventure era Sonic for a really slllllllllllllllllllloooooooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwww sonic, so consider it included in a sequel post.

[MugoUrth]

To be honest, I've NEVER been a fan of Mario games. My opinion on the later Mario games is quite similar, but I also agree that Super Mario RPG is pretty damn swish. As for Double Dragon, I think they were hitting the drugs with DD5. It just wasn't a Double Dragon game by any means except the name and the Dragons.

 

 

i'd like to petition the addition of the sonic the hedgehog franchise...

 

...Too obvious.

[Sweetfire13]

This is gonna be really obvious but a lot of the stuff you mentioned is really obscured by your nostalgia.

[Cayne]

This is gonna be really obvious but a lot of the stuff you mentioned is really obscured by your nostalgia.

So true I suppose but this list spans a entire series and I had to have played each and every title in the main franchise of the mententioned series. Considering Double Dragon came out in 1988 I'd say that nostalgia is a duh factor, just like if someone was born in 1990 their list would probably be Pokemon, Crash Bandicoot, and Lara Croft. Do you disagree with any entry on the list? I am very interested in your feedback since you know your popular here I think

[Prodigal Trailblazer]

 

 

...Too obvious.

just because it is obvious doesnt mean it should not be mentioned...

[Cayne]

just because it is obvious doesnt mean it should not be mentioned...

Agreed. I appreciate feedback and suggestions not to mention there are still die hard Sonic fans out there that may want to share their opinion. My top 5 choices are not meant to give people reasons to troll each other. Ya digg?

[Galvatron]

Well heres is my aspects about some of these:

 

Digimon:

 

To me 'Digimon' was just a compilation to Pokemon (Nintendo/gamefreak) since pokemon came around first (1994-1995 in japan).Digimon (Bandai) (1996-1998 [i don't know the actrual date] ) came around that time pretty much to rival against the pokemon series. I can admit the anime was more interesting then the pokemon anime (with the same damn protagonist every time...) but after the third season it fell short but still holding strong in japan since US stop porting the series afterwards. Though when it comes to its games the mechanics was way different then the pokemon games but the downer to me with most Digimon games that it lacks plot( or I should say stories ) that most pokemon game series have.

 

 

Mario Bro. series:

 

Yes I am too a Mario Fan I played the the first one all the way to 'Galaxy' never played the second one or the new remastered versions of super mario bros. and the reason is the whole 'save the princess thing' is getting old to me. Plus if you look at it this way Mario and Luigi (even though they plumbers) are Guardians who protects mushroom kingdom from threats like Bowser and his troops as well as others if you refer the rpg series So pretty much how I see the whole series goes. and when it comes to their sub/sports games like Mario party and Mario Kart it just pretty much same old thing just different Mechanics However i wish Nintendo would bring about another Kart Double Dash game which was alot of fun but as yall know Business is business. :-P

 

Soul Calibur:

 

The first one was great.

 

The second was awesome when they had special guest characters. (I have the one on gamecube.  :-)   )

 

Third one was alright but i wish they did better with the Tales of souls mode, but I liked the story.

 

Now when came to the forth one to me this is where the series starting to go downhill. I understand they try to do something different but the plot of everyones story just dosn't make since compare to the last three. Plus the story mode was just too short you can practicaly finish the mode in 5-10 minutes. And Also why would they put Star Wars characters in the game where its all medieval? Don't get me wrong I know Bandai was trying to put a twist in the series which is cool but it didn't make since. Pretty much this Soul Calibur was all about online gameplay which is pretty much the only thing that made this one special.

 

I never played or owned the fifth one but after trying it out with one of my old friend's from high school i was very disappionted. They cut halved of the character roster plus a good bunch of character was pretty much clones (like really why would we need three edge Masters type characters). and learning that  Nightmare in this one is just a mere knight working with humans just really killed the whole thing with me on soulcalibur. I believe this is where the series finally died. -_-

[Cayne]

I agree, Digimon Worlds story is so bland that you got take it like a NES game. You know you just play the shit without acknowledging the story because its wonkee (Super Mario Bros 2). The Digimon go to as high as Ultimate level so they turned 3 mega level forms into Ultimate level stages. Me and my DT nigga was mad as fuck we couldnt get WarGreymon. As for Pokemon, No disrespect was ever directed at Pokemon, I was only regarding to its rate of innovation. I mean if you started with red and blue you know what I mean. The game has had really smalls changes over the years. How long must we settle with four attacks and legend killer level 1 pokemon? GIVE ME A DODGE BUTTON

I would actually buy a personal WII U for Double Dash Sequel

 

Im a Star Wars fan and even I thought that was dumb. A pair of Nunchucks blocking a Lightsaber WTF

[GuyZero32k4]

You forgot Resident Evil.

How much time you got? For what went wrong. :)

Oh yeah, Final fight also.

Remember when Capcom used to make good games? Pepperiedge Farms remembers...

So go buy some Damn cookies.

[Cayne]

You forgot Resident Evil.

How much time you got? For what went wrong. :)

Oh yeah, Final fight also.

Remember when Capcom used to make good games? Pepperiedge Farms remembers...

So go buy some Damn cookies.

In the original post I disregarded Resident Evil because of natural progression. RE cannot be the same game it was 18 years ago in the main story line. Fans have a hard time realizing that at the root RE is a viral pandemic meaning the characters will eventually have to form a army (BSAA) and takedown this threat to humanity. They no longer have the luxary to search one building for a key with a sun crest just to unlock two doors for a jewel. They also appeased fans who still desire this kind of gameplay with RE Revelations which is a great game IMO................................. Final Fight was terrible from the get go lol.

[MugoUrth]

just because it is obvious doesnt mean it should not be mentioned...

 

I suppose, but I think Sonic gets enough hate. I know his later games have been hit and miss, but... I knew it the first guh-zillion times since people started rubbing it in.

 

I do find it odd that the Video Game Critic of all people actually gave Rise of Lyric a passing grade. He's usually tougher on games than that. ...Then again, maybe it's not as bad as people say, I can't say myself, haven't played it.

[Cayne]

I suppose, but I think Sonic gets enough hate. I know his later games have been hit and miss, but... I knew it the first guh-zillion times since people started rubbing it in.

 

I do find it odd that the Video Game Critic of all people actually gave Rise of Lyric a passing grade. He's usually tougher on games than that. ...Then again, maybe it's not as bad as people say, I can't say myself, haven't played it.

It...................is......................................................TERRIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SONIC FUCKING WALKS 90% OF THE TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! KNUCKLES IS NOW A DUMB DUMB CHARACTER!!!!!!!!!! AVOID THIS OR RISK LOSING FAITH IN A GOOD SONIC GAME EVER HAPPENING AGAIN!

[Prodigal Trailblazer]

I suppose, but I think Sonic gets enough hate. I know his later games have been hit and miss, but... I knew it the first guh-zillion times since people started rubbing it in.

 

I do find it odd that the Video Game Critic of all people actually gave Rise of Lyric a passing grade. He's usually tougher on games than that. ...Then again, maybe it's not as bad as people say, I can't say myself, haven't played it.

the redesigns are horrible... as cayne said they made knux dumber than the rocks he throws!

 

And trust me I AM AND ALWAYS WILL BE A SONIC KID!

 

as such i am very tough and critical to their products, becuase i love sonic games! i still believe sonic 06' was good! but i will not deny the very glaring flaws of the game.. nor will i turn a blind eye to the flaws of any sonic game no matter how i love the franchise.

[Cayne]

 

 

as such i am very tough and critical to their products, becuase i love sonic games! i still believe sonic 06' was good! but i will not deny the very glaring flaws of the game.. nor will i turn a blind eye to the flaws of any sonic game no matter how i love the franchise.

I liked sonic 06 too, yeah it had flaws but i liked it as a whole.

[Prodigal Trailblazer]

I liked sonic 06 too, yeah it had flaws but i liked it as a whole.

I'd go so far as to say i prefer its soundtrack to sonic adventures. not saying SA and SA@ had bad soundtracks but i liked 06's more.

[Cayne]

I'd go so far as to say i prefer its soundtrack to sonic adventures. not saying SA and SA@ had bad soundtracks but i liked 06's more.

SA 2 had two tracks I like which are the title screen bgm and the city escape theme. I hated all of knuckles and rouges tracks. Sonic CDs intro Sonic boom is all time favorite followed by flying battery zone in Sonic & knuckles