Nintendo has a huge and rich catalog of beloved franchises. While they love to trot them out when the newest iteration of Smash Bros hits, they’re much more reluctant to actually give them their own games. I was shocked when Punch Out got a new installment on the Wii, but what else are they sitting on that needs to be dusted off and brought back to life?
#5 Earthbound
Image source: Earthbound Wiki
An obvious choice, Earthbound is a fan favorite. The Mother series was primarily a Japanese franchise, but Nintendo decided to bring Earthbound to the US and while it didn’t initially set the sales charts on fire, what it did accomplish was creating a legion of die-hard fans over the next 20+ years. Earthbound is one of the most expensive games to collect on the Super Nintendo and its fans have been screaming for a sequel for years.
The re-release of Earthbound on the Wii U shows Nintendo is at least listening to its fans, so hopefully we’ll see this series get a true sequel sometime soon.
#4 Eternal Darkness
Image source: DumeeGamer
While the game was developed by now-defunct developer Silicon Knights, the Gamecube survival-horror title was groundbreaking and loved by both critics and fans. For those who’ve never heard of it, the game used an innovative ‘sanity meter’ that decreased as your character encountered monsters and supernatural events. If the sanity dropped too low, the game would start introducing tricks to mess with the player, like simulating a game crash or turning the volume of your TV down, showing blood dripping down the walls and even acting like the game erased all the data on your memory card.
Its time to see this series revived. I can’t wait to see what type of sanity effects they could pull off with the Switch.
#3 Chibi-Robo
While we did get a new entry a few years ago on the 3DS, its time for a full-fledged console-based sequel. Chibi-Robo is a simple, yet addictive game where you play as the diminutive robot whose goal is to keep the home of its owners clean and tidy. The challege of the game is navigating the average family home when you’re just 4 inches tall. With about 15 years of technological advances since the original, the basic concept of the game could be revisited and greatly expanded on.
#2 Paper Mario (proper)
Image source: Just RPG
This is cheating even more, since there were Paper Mario titles released on the Wii, Wii U and 3DS, but none of them were true followups to the N64 original and Gamecube sequel. The exploration, party system, combat and sense of humor in these games is top notch and while we appreciate getting games in the Paper Mario franchise, its not the same if they’re not true sequels to the core Paper Mario RPG series.
#1 F-Zero
Image source: Giant Bomb
I’ve barked up this tree before, but its way past time for a new F-Zero game. The last console entry we got was F-Zero GX on the Gamecube way back in 2003. Fifteen years is far too long to see one of Nintendo’s most beloved franchises go cold.
GX was developed by Sega and published by Nintendo. Let’s go the same route, but this time farm it out to developer Shin’en Multimedia who has created the wonderful F-Zero clone series FAST Racing. With three titles in the series, including the beautiful FAST Racing RMX on the Switch, they’re already experienced enough to take the reins and create a new entry for Nintendo of this classic racing franchise.
What series would you like to see get dusted off and brought to new consoles? Anything Nintendo I’ve overlooked? What about neglected franchises on other consoles? Let’s discuss!
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Cover Image Source: Verdict