threevue

This week I’m publishing a three-part series concerning franchise reboots (you know, when a series gets “reinvigorated”/”reinvented” rather than work on a new IP). Below are what I consider the five worst reboots, followed by the five best reboots, and finally five games that could use a sequel.

Franchise reboots are nothing new to popular culture - just look at this summer’s movie release listing. Video games in particular have had a huge amount of franchise reboots (not to mention video games based on movie franchise reboots, too). For the most part, they do an okay job, but sometimes they fail miserably.

There are some franchises I don’t even want to get into, like the Frogger, Pac-Man, Mortal Kombat and Sonic games, which have just become progressively worse to the point of joke status.

5. Rampage
Series peak: 1986 on Arcade (Rampage)
Rebooted: 2006 on Nintendo Wii, PS3, NGC (Rampage: Total Destruction)

It seems like eons ago, but the first Rampage in the arcade was a sight to behold - totally destructible environments, campy humor, and multiplayer. Unfortunately, every attempt to reboot this franchise has failed miserably, and here’s why: this was a game that was perfect for 1986 in its own capacity. And today, it’s not as fun as it was back then. Trying to recapture its humor and originality fail, because they don’t try anything new, and even slapping a new polish on an aged game doesn’t do anything.

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4. Golden Axe
Series peak: 1989 on Arcade, Genesis (Golden Axe)
Rebooted: 2008 on Xbox 360, PS3 (Golden Axe: Beast Rider)

This is another game that should just be left alone, because it worked well in its time but probably won’t work today. Slashing up magic medieval bad guys, kicking gnomes, and riding bird/lizard monsters was just plain awesome in 1989; today, it’s just plain nerdy. This game hasn’t come out yet, but I’m pretty sure it’s going to fall flat on its face.

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3. Rygar
Series peak: 1987 on NES (Rygar)
Rebooted: 2002 on Playstation 2 (Rygar)

I’ll tell you right now to your face - I had never even heard of Rygar until I read about this remake in 2002. I guess it was a game I missed as a kid. I don’t think many people cared that the franchise was getting a reboot, which seems to coincide with its less-than-stellar sales. Either way, this is a good example of bucko bucks being spent on revitalizing a franchise instead of attempting to create something new. How many Amityville movies have been made now? Isn’t it time for something new?

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2. Bionic Commando
Series peak: 1988 on NES (Bionic Commando)
Rebooted: 2008 on Xbox 360, PS3 (Bionic Commando)

Bionic Commando was awesome. So awesome that I don’t mind its imminent XBLA remake, Bionic Commando: Rearmed. But what I do mind is when a company attempts to “reinvent” something that was just about perfect to begin with. The original had an awesome feel to it - and honestly, it was probably magic. I don’t think lightning can strike twice. Then again, Capcom is rebooting it, and they have made some pretty awesome games lately (and some crappers, too).

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1. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Series peak: 1989/1990 on Arcade, NES (TMNT II: The Arcade Game)
Rebooted: 2006 on Wii, Xbox 360, PS3 (TMNT)

Now, this is a reboot of reboots. Really. In 1989 a TMNT NES game was created, which everyone played the hell out of despite how crappy and hard it was. It was the turtles, man! And then later that year the arcade game came out, and blew our minds. It was like playing the cartoon, or so it seemed to my 9-year-old eyes. And then a faithful port was made on the NES a year later, saving kids across America quarters by the truckload. There were plenty of games later on, including the much-adored TMNT IV: Turtles in Time, but I still prefer the arcade/NES title. After a few failed attempts at other genres (Tournament Fighters comes to mind), the series disappeared from the video game map until last year, when Ubisoft released a next-gen game to coincide with the franchise’s movie reboot. The movie wasn’t half-bad, and the game wasn’t either, taking cues from Ubisoft’s own Prince of Persia franchise reboot. But when you think of what that first arcade game delivered to us screaming fans I can’t help but feel like this latest TMNT was a complete and utter failure; they took a sacred product and made it just another movie game. And we all know how us gamers feel about movie games.