darksnowman Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 I was listening to Retronauts on the way to work this morning and they briefly alluded to Zelda recently (discounting the CD-i games) having become a series they can no longer rely on to be top quality. They attributed this to Spirit Tracks and probably Phantom Hourglass too... and maybe Link's Crossbow Training. I see where they are coming from, as sadly I didn't love ST by any means either, but that hasn't made me think twice about wanting Skyward Sword. I think the Zelda series needs a few more ST entries before I start to doubt whether or not I'll buy them. What other game series are there that you count on? Is there anything whose quality you used to be able to take for granted that you can't any more? (Castlevania anyone...?) Are you just a slave to Fifa? Put your 3DS into its cradle and discuss! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arnieboy Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 (edited) It's hard to say which franchise has 'never' let me down, because almost all of my favourite franchises have let me down at least once. Sunshine was a bit disappointing, Mario Kart Wii was a let down, Animal Crossing: City Folk was a bit poor, etc. I suppose Zelda is the most consistent, but for me the Super Smash Brothers series has never let me down, even with the 'clone' characters. Edited March 30, 2011 by Arnieboy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grazza Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 I've never played a bad F-Zero, Metroid or main-series Mario. Out of the three, I'd choose F-Zero as the stellar performer. Zelda is still an essential buy, it's just my expectations for it are stratospheric. When I get a new one, I hope it's the best game ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronnie Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 Zelda games never let me down, although Phantom Hourglass came very close Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hero-of-Time Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 The Halo franchise has never let me down. I love the main games, ODST and even Halo Wars. Each of them had memorable moments, whether it was in the single player campaign, co-op campaign or just the multiplayer. It's a series which I always get excited about when a new one is announced and released. I'm not a big reader but after playing the games I really got into the whole story of Halo and bought the books. Now I buy and read every one that gets released, so I can see the bigger picture of this fantastic universe that Bungie created. It's probably too early to call this a franchise but both Uncharted games are awesome and are easily 2 of my favourite games, not just from this generation, but ever. I suppose you could say i'm a big fan of the developers, Naughty Dog. From Crash Bandicoot to Jak and Daxter and finally Uncharted, I know when that little paw loads up at the start of a game that i'm gonna be in for a hell of a ride. Metal Gear Solid is another series that I love to bits. For me the games have some of the best boss fights in any game. Although the story can lose its way a little ( see MGS2 ) most of the time I found it a great experience and i'm one of the people who could quite happily sit and watch the whole thing on a dvd rather than having to play it. Sony's God of War franchise is another killer ap. I've played all 3 of the main games aswell as the first PSP version and every single one of them was a fantastic ride. Again, like MGS, I found myself drawn in to the over the top storyline of the games but that didn't stop me from enjoying ripping apart the Gods when the time came. Another Sony franchise that I adore is Ratchet and Clank. I actually hold these alongside Mario when it comes to may favourite platformers. The humour and story in these games are fantastic, which is what sets it apart from the Mario games. Some of the weapons that Insomniac come up with for each game are insane, but in a good way. Lastly this series gave us one of the greatest game characters ever created...Captain Quark! Looking at my choices it seems that having a storyline that I get drawn into plays a big part in the franchises that I trust, never really noticed that until now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonnas Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 Golden Sun has yet to leave me down. Ditto for Metroid. Also Super Smash Bros. But I feel this is a bit of a useless point, I mean, in a big series, you are bound to be let down once or twice. What's important is the quality of the games that didn't let you down. Not to mention that the games that let you down don't necessarily leave others down. TP let me down, but Spirit Tracks didn't, and others feel the other way around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nekunando Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 I haven't played Maximum Velocity, but I believe I've played every other game in the F-Zero franchise and it definitely hasn't let me down There are also a couple of franchises with very few entries that I would consider to have never put a foot wrong. These include 1080 Snowboarding, Wave Race (I even enjoyed the GB version when I borrowed it from my cousin many years ago ) and Pilotwings I would also say that I've never been let down by any of the main Super Mario platformers and I don't thenk I've played a bad Metroid game I do, however, have one suggestion that probably won't be fully endorsed by a lot of you but Starfox hasn't let me down yet either I've enjoyed the lot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Falcon Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 I wasn't bowled over by Wind Waker but it was never enough to put me of the Zelda series but I felt Phantom Hourglass bad enough to not make me want to play Spirit Tracks and I really hope Link's inevitably 3DS outing (not counting N64 ports) don't continue that trend. Often times when thinking about a series on the whole, hindsight makes you realize that games weren't as good as you thought at the time, and you can spot the problems a mile off. But if you genuinely enjoyed them on that first play through, just have much have you really been let down by them? There aren't many games were I've played enough entries in the entire series (and the series consist of more than 2 or 3 titles) to say I've never felt let down. I love Metroid games and I know at the time I did enjoy playing through Hunters but you can forget it if you think I'm going to ever play it again. If I won't play it again, does that make it a bad game? Has the series let me down? Two NSMB games and Sunshine have robbed Mario from claiming such a position. Their problems were were apparent on the first play through - no new game awe could hide that. The only time I've ever felt let down by Golden Sun was the first lot of credits hit at the end of the first game because I wasn't aware it was a two parter - but that's because I loved everything up until that point so much... and now everything past it too. Despite the decision to remain as accurate to the original in the Shadow Dragon, I can't say I've ever felt let down by Fire Emblem and the sooner they announce either a 3DS version or Shin Monshou no Nazo for western release, the better. SD did have me raising a couple of questions at times compared to previous titles but I stuck at it and soon appreciated it for what it was rather than what it wasn't. I don't follow too many franchises closely that aren't on Nintendo machines or Nintendo's own. I have a massive love for Sonic but I know he's been in some crap games (and I'm only really a fan of Sonic 3 from his MD games). I think the Jedi Knight series of games have always left satisfied... except the last level on Mysteries of the Sith which is just confusing, but not enough to take it out of that bracket. It's the one series I would actually bother to upgrade my PC for if I had to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nekunando Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 It's a shame there's no way to 'thank' the thread title Captain Falcon has reminded me that maybe I have played a bad Metroid game after all, namely Metroid Prime: Hunters However, I didn't exactly hate it.. it was just a bit average Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcj metroid Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 Sonic.............. LOL JK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Falcon Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 Sonic.............. LOL JK I know, I know - what can I say, I'm a glutton for punishment But for me, when it's good, it's brilliant and that's why I'll always keep a close eye on his games. That's a franchise I'll never give up rather than it never letting me down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zechs Merquise Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 As I don;t play handhelds, Zelda, Mario Kart, Mario (main series) and Metroid games are always must have titles for me. I've never played a home console version of any of these games that wasn't amazing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retro_Link Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 (edited) Good thread! Tbh I'm having a hard time thinking of ANY! Entries that have Let Me Down... Mario - Sunshine, SMB2, (World, didn't let me down but not a great fan of) Zelda - Twilight Princess Smash Bros - Brawl Resident Evil - 5 Metroid Prime Series - 2 Mario Kart - Double Dash Sonic - Obviously! Donkey Kong - 64 It's all been going well for a few franchises until the latest entries, Zelda, Resi, SSB... And there are great games that I haven't played the sequels/prequels too, so can't really comment on the strength of the series as a whole, like Starfox, 1080, Wave Race, Banjo Kazooie, Kirby (only played Dream Land 2) etc... I guess maybe F-Zero might be my choice aswell! I cannot tell you how much I love F-Zero X... Maximum Velocity I didn't love, but that was down to it going back to the 2D SNES style, not because it was a bad game, and whilst IMO F-Zero X >>> GX, that was a great game too. Also Shenmue (well I was a bit annoyed by the lack of English voices in Shenmue 2). However that series has let me down in the sense that where the fuck is Shenmue 3! Edited March 31, 2011 by Retro_Link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fused King Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 Paper Mario Series: Never let me down! Whilst I didn't really like the platforming aspect/'jumping on bosses until they die' aspect, Super Paper Mario still had all the charm of a Paper Mario game. Mario&Luigi Series: Though the middle one in the franchise lacked something, the entire series still has me playing them with a grin to my face. Layton Series: Brilliant, just brilliant! Little King's Story: Though some might argue that this isn't a series;... they're WRONG. A sequel was on the drawing board and I'll be willing to bet that NINTENDO secretly bought CING and with them formed a team to dechipher the blueprints. (That's why there's this new R&D building coming) Games from series that have let me down are probably Pokémon: HeartGold, Mario Party 8, and to an extent (and to put my av/sig to shame) some Kirby games. There are probably more, but I'll leave it at this:awesome: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retro_Link Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 Little King's Story: Though some might argue that this isn't a series;... they're WRONG. A sequel was on the drawing board They'd be right! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killer kirby Posted April 1, 2011 Share Posted April 1, 2011 Final Fantasy and Sonic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darksnowman Posted April 2, 2011 Author Share Posted April 2, 2011 Thread title is amazing. Thinking of franchises that are consistently brilliant is tough. Hows about coming at it from the angle of what are your go-to series? Series that you know you are gonna buy the next instalment in without having to check reviews. How many times do you have to be bitten by a series before you become stand-offish with it? Sonic's glory days were 20 years ago. Are gamers as forgiving with everything? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tapedeck Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 (edited) I think most of the titles discussed here are still top notch - it's just that they have had such excellent heritage that any newer outing can seem poor in comparison to previous iterations. The videogame industry is unique in this way as we usually see familiar franchises every year or two. I also think that since handhelds have become more powerful we are seeing more console quality titles in our hands - thus diluting the impact of console gaming. For instance, the DS Zelda titles went a different route to the console versions and weren't as warmly received. IMO I think this was a clever move on Nintendo's behalf keeping the DS games in line with what we saw on their portables in past years. This also ensures they can have two markets, home and portable. Interesting discussion no doubt but I actually believe that with time, (specifically) Nintendo have only become stronger due to their focus on innovation. And (as I sit playing Pilotwings) I'm as content with video games as adult life allows! Edited April 3, 2011 by tapedeck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grazza Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 I also think that since handhelds have become more powerful we are seeing more console quality titles in our hands - thus diluting the impact of console gaming. For instance, the DS Zelda titles went a different route to the console versions and weren't as warmly received.IMO I think this was a clever move on Nintendo's behalf keeping the DS games in line with what we saw on their portables in past years. This also ensures they can have two markets, home and portable. True, but specifically in terms of controls, I think the touch screen-based gameplay was merely a good solution for the DS not having an analogue stick. Now we have the 3DS with the Slide Pad, I would very much like to see controls as good as, say, Ocarina of Time. They can still distinguish themselves from the console series by being side stories, having different main villains and being set on strange islands etc. To answer darksnowman's other question, my "go to" franchises are Zelda and Dragon Quest. Some are better than others (you have to go back almost a decade for the best ones), but they are the two main reasons I still love gaming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pratty Posted April 5, 2011 Share Posted April 5, 2011 Zelda has always been great to me, only played the first half hour of Spirit Tracks so far but it's been fine, and I really liked Phantom Hourglass. I don't think Link's Crossbow training should be included, I think if you're going to include that then you might as well count Tingle's Rupee game aswell. Mario Kart is another series that has never let me down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murr Posted April 5, 2011 Share Posted April 5, 2011 Not a Nintendo franchise. But Grand Theft Auto Series since GTA3, has never let me down, even the 'Stories' titles for the PSP and later released for PS2. I loved the whole GTA3 cannon, characters & era. And i'm really hoping Rockstar can make me feel the same with GTA4, and it's later releases (Assuming GTA4 characters are referenced in the new GTA game) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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