A while back, I did a blog about once-epic franchises that have become abominations, and thus needed to be put down. To start the new year in a positive spirit, let's discuss the opposite scenario: fantastic series that disappeared before their time was up. Granted, many of these withered because of low commercial appeal, but in this age of DLC and easier distribution, one can never say never.
Jet Set Radio
Or 'Jet Grind Radio' as we called it here in the States, so nobody missed the fact that the game about skater punks with graffiti cans was about, you know, skating.
Part of the problem with JSR was that the game's magic was hard to describe. The elements of the series - skating, funky music, tagging, and personality galore - don't really translate to an easy sales pitch. It wasn't really a skate simulator, so you couldn't sell it as one, and it wasn't really a racer or platformer either. It was just... itself.
And it was awesome.
It was also very short, which didn't help at the registers either. American fans might be surprised to hear that the still-short American version actually had two levels that the Japanese original didn't, which means the first edition must've clicked in at 37 minutes. It also added a hip-hop guy and gothy girl to appeal more to American tastes. (I guess it worked, since I almost always used Cube. Cube, by the way, is the GOTHY chick, and not the hip-hopper, whose name is Combo. Wouldn't their names make more since if they switched? Oh, never mind.) Cube is the classic expert character whose tagging required five hands and had mach speed to go with her utter lack of precision.
The franchise did get a second wind on the original X-Box as part of Microsoft's Operation: Please Don't Hate Us Japan!, but it didn't really work. It turns out that a quirky Eastern widget game WASN'T a good fit for a console designed for Halo and Madden, and Jet Set Radio Future failed to meet sales expectations. (Reviews were glowing, though, and the game added to JSR's considerable cult following.) A quiet outing on the GBA followed, and that's been it.
I think Sega should take another crack at it. The series is more about art design and not polygon crunching - it'd be a fine choice for Live Arcade and the PSN. Or at least port the originals and let them live again - it worked for REZ, and REZ is even weirder than these games are.
The original JSR has a 92% MetaCritic rating - trumping Mass Effect, Gears Of War 3, and Fallout 3. And yet it sleeps!
Beyond Good & Evil
Please come back to me, Yade! I mean, Jade! No more teasers, or trailers, or cryptic messages from Ubisoft executives written on bathroom stalls at E3.
I'll take Jade however I can get her, that quasi-human little she-devil. DLC adventures in chapter format? Fine! I don't expect the Call of Duty crowd to flock to BGE - and neither should the creative team - but there's some untapped love out there for our favorite intrepid reporter and her flatulent porcine uncle.
Maximo
Ghosts And Goblins was a little TOO evil - Maximo, its descendant, was just evil enough. Both Maximo games for the PS2 were quite strong and the franchise was just finding its legs before it disappeared.
Maybe it's just me, but gaming needs at least one quasi-medieval hack-and-slash platformer game on the market to scratch that itch. Golden Axe's rebirth was an utter disaster - someone's gotta fill those shoes! And, more fittingly, Arthur's goofy heart-print boxers.
I liked DeathSpank, but it veered too heavily into fourth wall-busting and modern combat. And you could actually beat DeathSpank, which seems unfair to old-school gamers. Bring back the cruelty!
No One Lives Forever
If publishers insist on reviving old PC franchises as shooters, why not revive one that actually WAS an FPS series? And a REALLY good pair of shooters at that? Strong female protagonist, creative weaponry, great sense of humor... what's not to like?
Oh, right - the third entry, Contract J.A.C.K., was a disaster. You know, the one without Cate Archer, fun weapons, or any of the elements that made the series great to begin with. It's like declaring the Mario series was done for because Hotel Mario didn't pan out.
Come on, Warner Bros. - find Cate in the moth balls and let the girl breathe again. In this era of sterile military shooters, we need some STYLE, baby.
Which bygone series do you miss the most?