Anything and everything made by Nintendo will go past 6 games.
Though Mortal Kombat is a good one. Deadly Alliance (Game #5) was by far the most revolutionary - pretty much changing up the game in a huge way, to the point where the next games mostly improved on that.
But yeah, if you want a game series to continue - you gotta change it up at some point.
Unless it's a sports game.
Burnout went 5.
1 to 4 then paradise.
I like to think that series can continue for as long as they want as long as they innovate and try to offer something new within the franchise. It's all about balancing, when games go stale you know you need to spice things up.
Where does Prince of Persia or Splinter Cell go from here I wonder?
gamingeek said:Burnout went 5.
1 to 4 then paradise.
I like to think that series can continue for as long as they want as long as they innovate and try to offer something new within the franchise. It's all about balancing, when games go stale you know you need to spice things up.
Where does Prince of Persia or Splinter Cell go from here I wonder?
I loved Burnout, played them all and beat most of them, but as they progressed they got further and further from their origins. 3 was the absolute best, and I think Criterion moving on to need for Speed Hot Pursuit will be just right. So many arcade racers have come along with some promise, but none of them gripped, I think the Need for Speed name has enough heritage that people who don't pay that much attention will be drawn in.
Prince of Persia, at this point is a confusing jumble. I have no fucking idea whatsoever where they are with that game. PC Original -> wilderness ->Sands of Time Rebirth -> Second Angry Game -> Third game everyone skipped (except for a few of us) -> Current gen Reboot that played itself, but looked cool -> (um hang on, Ubi doesn;t know what to do now that Assassin's Creed worked out so well) -> Movie-tie in? MOVIE TIE-IN? REALLY?
So who knows.
Splinter Cell seems to have come back with this last one no?
Archangel3371 said:For me any series can get as many sequels as they want. I'm still enjoying Tekken, Street Fighter, Call of Duty, etc. Like you said Final Fantasy is pretty much a new game each time although they usually adhere to a few of it's conventions. For me I generally don't demand a whole lot of changes in my sequels. I really can't think of too many franchises I ever grew tired of and stopped playing. The only one I can think of off the top of my head was Mega Man for the NES. My interest diminished during the 4th one.
For the most part, if it is a game I love, I just want the sequel to be the same with more "levels", and I'll buy as many of them that come out.
I think it's like what Geek said about balance. Change too much you end up with Tony Hawk Gonzopalooza THUGfest Underground Clownsuit (which drives away loyal adherants of the original game), don't change enough and someone else will make those slight changes for you and steal your audience (just as COD took from MOH and Halo).
I'm not really sure you can put a real number of it. I've seen some game series die after 3, 6, or 10, and others have had over a dozen installments and stayed good.
I was into the first 10 or so Harvest Moon's (what the hell else did you think I'd bring up?), but I'll admit it's been a while since I've been able to complete one. That's a classic example of a series that can't figure out how to evolve. In fairness they've tried several times, but they've never been good at identifying which changes are good and which are bad and ultimately they just end up abandoning anything new they try.
Sonic is another good example of a series like that where the designers are willing to make changes, but end up not being able to identify if the changes were for the better or not. Hopefully they've finally figured that out with Colours (we'll find out next week I suppose).
And to mention another series that did manage to evolve well you have to give a nod to Castlevania. The 2-D Castlevania's are almost universally good, though you can debate Simon's Quest and Portrait of Ruine (and maybe Dracula X). But from the original to Order of Ecclesia the series has changed quite a bit, and still managed to keep a distinct theme througout and more importantly it's stayed good.
^indeed, going from being linear platformer in the first game to the more exploratory metroid style.
You say that the game has been able to keep a disinct theme thoughout. Do you mean storywise? I'd be interested in what the theme of Castlevania is (since I've only played the Gameboy one -- yes the OGB one).
Yeah, a series can get old if they don't change up the formula. As with games like Call of Duty though, since it's the multiplayer that sells, people would buy it. I know this has been said so many times before but I know a lot of people that play nothing else buy Call of Duty. It's like the Madden for FPSs. If they build it, they will buy it.
As for fighting, since it's a niche anyway, I don't see the problem with going beyond 6 sequels. It's always just new characters, new environments, and maybe a few more moves. For fighting games, it's a huge no-no to revamp a series, like how Tekken 4 almost killed it. Namco wisely went back to the Tekken formula with 5. Same with Street Fighter and SoulCalibur, etc. Fighting games' bread and butter is its longtime fans and the fighting community. As long as they're there, fighting games should have its niche.
But for some series, mainly single player series, after 6 it may be tough to continue it. Resident Evil is a reminder of this. I just don't see how the series could've stayed afloat if they didn't revamp it with RE4. I think Zelda is facing this same problem. Nintendo better do something different and awesome with Skyward Sword and I'm not talking about just Motion+ either.
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Now Playing: Golden Sun Dark Dawn, God of War Ghost of Sparta, and DKC Returns
I wouldn't categorise Castlevania like that. The series basically got completely overhauled with Symphony of the Night. The early titles are closer to Mega Man type tough as nails pit of doom platforming gameplay, while the newer are much more Metroid than Castlevania with the emphasis on exploration and combat with little precise jumping required. They just (almost?) all happen to have vampires and Belmonts and all that (as well as tons of sprite recycling). Newer titles seem to have gotten popular on their own rather than keep the old fans satisfied. Imo they also got very, very stale very, very fast as they all closely followed Symphony of the Night's formula yet failed to deliver an experience quite as good as that, at least until Order of Ecclesia which went a bit back to the retro titles' difficulty and structure (but it's still quite different, unlike say, Castlevania Rebirth's attempt).
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^ Castlevania also has that niche thing going. I wouldn't mind if Iga and Konami made 10 more MetroVania games for the DS. I'd buy all of them, day one!
But I can say that as a fan. As for non-fans, the series is practically ignored.
Makes me wonder how Lords of Shadow performed at retail. It was a revamp of the series for the mainstream but I wonder how it did?
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Now Playing: Golden Sun Dark Dawn, God of War Ghost of Sparta, and DKC Returns
Resident Evil has gone well beyond that. Many of the games are mediocre, but they made over six gems, namely Resident Evil 1, Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, Resident Evil: Code Veronica, Resident Evil Outbreak, Resident Evil 4, and Resident Evil 5. Some people like Resident Evil 0, some people like the Chronicles games, and some people even like Dead Aim, so the series has some longevity depending on your tastes.
There are seven Silent Hill games, and none of them have really been bad. Fans complain about certain installations, but it's more of a case of Konami, in a way, messing up and making Silent Hill 2 so good, it'll probably never be surpassed.
Command & Conquer was consistantly good for seven games, until C&C4 and RA3 came out from what I hear. I haven't played them, so I don't know for sure.
If you're into Contra, all thirteen games are pretty good.
So is Metal Slug 1 - 7.
They could rehash Doom until it's some sort of T-Rated COD clone, and I'd still play them.
Listen to Iced Earth and play Doom
When I say "distinct theme" I'm referring to the mood, setting, music, and everything else that makes up the game short of the gamplay. Most Castlevania games feel like Castlevania games. When you play the original and compare it to Symphony of the Night there's a lot of similarities despite the completely different style of gameplay. The monster design, the music... hell just the way you enter the front gates of the Castle is very similar.
To put it a different way, I believe the major complaint of Lords of Shadow was despite it being a good game it just never felt like Castlevania. Soundtrack was too different. Familiar monsters and settings were gone. It wasn't the gameplay, graphics, or story that were complained about. It just the small details, the little things that set the mood and make Castlevania what it is.
I was thinking this today while listening to the latest giantbombcast. Tony Hawk petered out around the 6 game mark, Guitar Hero is at 6 now and is basically done. Call of Duty is now on 7, and while it is still selling strong, there is a lot of discussion as to where they go from here.
Exceptions? Final Fantasy has been a new game (essentially) each time, and was not annualized. Dragon Quest is basically the same each time, but they have been spaced out pretty well.
But for games like Tekken, Ridge Racer, Gran Turismo, Halo -- you tell me more -- are they basically done?
If you look at Naughty Dog, Insomniac, Sucker Punch they all basically went three games then changed it up. Burnout went 4 (?) before Criterion moved on (wisely I think).
So anyway, let's talk about long lasting game series, which worked, didn't, current ones that shoudl go on and current ones that should move on.