5 Franchises That Microsoft Should Bring Back for the Xbox One

 Fuzion Frenzy

The first two games in this series are not good. In fact, they are bad. Maybe even Bubsy bad. But in a generation where couch co-op has shown signs of a comeback, a polished working of the systems in Fuzion Frenzy could be a family-friendly, accessible title to round out the Xbox One’s library. Despite the many issues in the original Fuzion Frenzy, playing it with friends is still a great time. Some mini-games are worse than others, but overall, the series is ripe for resurrection.

Local multiplayer is hot again, and piecing together a fun package and covering it with a shiny label seems doable. Games like Overcooked, Nidhogg, and others have brought interest back to playing multiplayer like the good ol’ days, and Microsoft would do themselves well to firmly enter that niche. Online play opens new avenues, and something as mindless as Fuzion Frenzy could find a place as a social gaming experience. In many ways, Fuzion Frenzy has parallels with Mario Party. Like Mario Party, Fuzion Frenzy isn’t a perfect game. Still, it serves a valuable role in bringing friends and family together, only to ruthlessly tear them apart. Microsoft should give Xbox One owners a way to experience that madness.

This post was originally written by Sean Pyle.

Blinx

Ironically, Blinx the Cat was originally created in Microsoft’s desperate attempt to quickly create a brand during their first venture into the console wars. Blinx is far from perfect, but the title’s emphasis on unique time-shifting mechanics make it a fertile ground for growth and expansion in a modern iteration. However, the time-manipulating cat never appeared again after his first two titles on the original Xbox, and his legend now remains more attached to his games’ commercials than anything else.

A more open world approach could certainly function with the Blinx universe. While the desire for linear platformers is still alive, Blinx’s time-shifting abilities lend themselves to a world of puzzle solving and exploration. Much of Blinx’s movement around time in the first game was around combat, but a shift away from this would be a fresh new approach. Alternatively, a simple retread of what made Blinx good, along with reasonable improvements, also seems like a slam dunk for the Xbox One. A $40 package, like Sony’s most recent take on Ratchet and Clank, would be a safe exploration of Blinx’ potential. The Xbox One is starved for character-centered experiences, and Blinx would be a perfect bone to throw to console owners.

Fable

While it might sound premature to call Fable a dead franchise, the end of Lionhead Studios and the termination of the series’ last offering looms ominously. The cancellation of Fable Legends was a heartbreak for Microsoft’s RPG fans, and this (perhaps overly) ambitious series now appears to be, at best, temporarily shelved. Peter Molyneux never shies from hyping up his games, and Fable was no exception.

Despite the series’ inevitable inability to reach the heights proposed by its creator, Fable ultimately scratched a unique itch among RPG fans – one that gave the players a decent amount of autonomy while still guiding them along a well-crafted adventure. Boredom certainly struck some fans by the third entry, but Fable Legends promised to shake the series up in meaningful ways. We may never know what would have come from the game’s release, but one thing is for certain: Fable can’t stay dead. Fable was never perfect, but it was certainly good enough, and a more open world, modern take could perhaps give the series a clearer path to deliver on its promises.

The third installment of The Witcher lays a compelling groundwork for what a WRPG can be, and the Fable series is perfectly suited to adopt some of the Witcher’s best elements (effective writing, expansive world-building) while still staying true to what made Fable unique in the first place.

Conker

More so than most of this list, Conker is genuinely unique; Microsoft is doing the Xbox One a disservice by not offering a new take on the foul rodent. The occasional grotesque art style of the earlier Conker games would translate magnificently into the HD-era, and even a remaster like the recently released Crash Trilogy would be a step in the right direction. Conker’s staying power isn’t a certainty, but a remaster would allow Microsoft to dip their toes in the water and see if the dirty furball’s fanbase has maintained itself over the years.

Conker’s unique blend of cartoon-like animation and mature content makes it something special, and considering how much the originals were held back by the consoles of the time, seeing Conker’s potential fleshed out through the power of the Xbox One X would be awesome. Plus, isn’t the idea of confused moms buying Conker as a Christmas gift for their Timmy wonderful? Poop monsters are timeless; therefore, so is Conker.

Banjo-Kazooie

Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts is a reasonably pleasant game if played in a vacuum, but the title’s massive deviation from the series’ classic gameplay leaves it as a nasty sauerkraut stain on the 360’s mostly pristine library. The desire for classic platformers is clearly alive, even to the extent that Yooka-Laylee, a B&K homage, experienced rapid success in a Kickstarter campaign. Yooka-Laylee failed to hit the same notes as Banjo-Kazooie, but an actual attempt at recapturing the platforming magic of the originals, hopefully with the help of the original creators, would be an adrenaline shot into the side of the Xbox One’s library. The immense popularity of Super Mario Odyssey shows that well-made platformers can still dominate the charts, and the time could not be better for an Xbox alternative to the red-hatted plumber.

Unlike some of the other titles on this list, Banjo-Kazooie’s best path to success is directly emulating what made past games in the series good. After all, it was a significant change in the game’s mechanics that tanked Nuts and Bolts, and the original’s gameplay holds up well. Much like Mario Odyssey, Banjo-Kazooie entices players through the pure fun of exploration rather than other types of extrinsic reward, and this type of gameplay has resonated in the gaming community recently. While constant comparisons to Mario Odyssey soon become tired, the power of Odyssey (both in sales and critical acclaim) make an argument for the potential of Banjo-Kazooie on Xbox One. A true follow-up to classic Banjo-Kazooie is certainly a high-risk, high-reward move, but at this point, it’s exactly what Microsoft needs.