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spiritual successors, franchises, forgotten, games

5 Forgotten Franchises That Need Spiritual Successors

Please, let it happen.
This article is over 7 years old and may contain outdated information

Skies of Arcadia

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Despite going down as one of the finest RPGs of its time, Skies of Arcadia never saw any sort of sequel to its Air Pirate adventure. Players took control of a band of Air Pirates as they searched for treasure high up in the skies above Arcadia. What made the title stand out, though, was how far ahead of its time it was. You could customize your ship, make use of internet-based features to help you along on your journey, and it was all wrapped up in an incredibly written story.

Though the game did get a re-release on the GameCube a few years after its original Dreamcast release, there has been no talk of the series ever making an official return. Give us a spiritual successor that captures the essence of what made Skies of Arcadia so great, though, and we’d be more than happy to sail across the skies in search of treasure once more.

MediEvil

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In an era where many major titles feel very similar to one another, the horror-themed action-adventure fun of MediEvil is certainly something that wouldn’t go amiss. Thanks to the series’ creepy atmosphere and great sense of humor, both the original and the sequel garnered more than their fair share of fans. Yet, due to control and camera issues, the series hasn’t aged particularly well.

With huge advancements in the way games control, as well as a much higher standard of camera work, it feels now would be the perfect time to bring the horror-themed fun back to Sony’s system. Even without Sir Daniel heading the cast, it’s sure to go down a treat, especially with so many other nostalgic Sony classics currently making their return. Here’s hoping someone hears our cries.

Conker

Conker

Yes, yes, we’re aware that Conker is making his reappearance in Young Conker for the HoloLens, but it hardly encapsulates what made the series so darn memorable. Rather than embracing its crude toilet humor and foul-mouthed protagonist, the HoloLens title brings a far goofier-looking Conker into what looks like a child-friendly platformer. Hardly what Conker was all about back in his prime.

What fans really want is something that hasn’t forgotten what made the series so special. With Playtonic Games having recently released Banjo-Kazooie spiritual successor Yooka-Laylee to a somewhat positive reception, there’s always hope. As long as fans get more bizarre boss battles and a foul-mouthed, anthropomorphic animal, it’d no doubt go down a treat. At least much better than the HoloLens sequel no doubt will, anyway.

Okami

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Despite last seeing a release back in 2011 with DS’ Okamiden, the Okami series seems to have slipped to the back of peoples’ minds pretty quickly. Even with its stunning watercolor visuals and a 60-hour story that maintains an impeccable level of quality throughout, Okami seems destined to forever be a criminally underrated title.

A lot has changed since 2006, though, and the industry sure loves its indies and spiritual successors. So what better time to release a spiritual successor to the canvas-painting action of Okami? Whether we took control of Amaterasu once again, or an entirely new character, it’s time for the stunning visuals, unique gameplay, and excellently-paced action of Okami to make a return. Those watercolor visuals sure would look good in a 4K resolution, after all.

Burnout

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Criterion Games’ Burnout series is some of the best fun you can have in a racing game. Focused primarily on massive amounts of destruction and carnage, players would race their way to a finish line all the while trying to take down their opponents along the way. It may seem somewhat straightforward and even a little repetitive, but oh boy was it good.

Unfortunately, ever since the 2008 release of Burnout Paradise – which traded course selection screens for a large open-world playground – the car-crashing chaos has subsided (except for the pile-up focused Burnout Crash of 2011, anyway). Considering the small number of racers releasing on the current generation of consoles, most of which are racing sims, a more eccentric take on the genre certainly wouldn’t go amiss. If Criterion Games don’t want to bring us a sequel, then a spiritual successor would definitely be welcomed by fans.

Former Criterion Games co-founder Alex Ward is thought to have hinted at a Burnout spiritual successor in July 2016, however, there has been no confirmation from Three Fields Entertainment since. Here’s hoping we get a confirmed spiritual successor in the near future.


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Author
Image of Chris Jecks
Chris Jecks
Chris Jecks has been covering the games industry for over eight years. He typically covers new releases, FIFA, Fortnite, any good shooters, and loves nothing more than a good Pro Clubs session with the lads. Chris has a History degree from the University of Central Lancashire. He spends his days eagerly awaiting the release of BioShock 4.