3 Dormant Video Game Franchises That Should Return

There’s certainly no shortage of great games to play in the triple-A and indie spaces but there are few franchises that have been gone that need to make a comeback.

Some franchises just didn’t take off but others have been neglected by publishers while fans sign petitions and send tweets featuring Futurama’s Fry begging to give them money.

Corporate consolidation has led to bigger and fewer major video game publishers (sans indies and a few “AA” companies) that possess more properties than they need or even care to utilize. This has led to big franchises to be left by the wayside while people wish they could make and/or play them. Ahh, capitalism.

3 Dormant Video Game Franchises That Should Return

Image Source: Eric Persson – ArtStation

Silent Hill

This is a pretty big one. At this point there’s probably a significant amount of people that are only aware of Silent Hill from fans begging for new games. I don’t necessarily know if the series needs any additional games since Team Silent has moved on but, it also really shouldn’t be up to anyone.

People want to play Silent Hill games. People want to make Silent Hill games. Konami should either lease the IP or sell it. Another company might at least work on a better remaster of Silent Hill 2.

Whether the series “needs” another game or not, it is pretty silly that fans want to buy games, people in the industry would like to make said games, and yet nothing can be done to make that happen.

It would be sad if it was for an average game but the Silent Hill series is phenomenal, especially the earlier titles. It’s a tragedy born out of Silent Hill itself.

Croc

Okay, so I understand why Croc 3 didn’t happen right away. Croc 2 was not a very good game. But wow, that first game is so special. Colorful ‘90s flavored platformers have been making a comeback in recent years. Heck, even Nintendo started making them like they used to.

I love every Mario game but Super Mario Odyssey is absolutely one of the best games in the series. A Hat in Time, Yooka-Laylee, and other titles have sold well too. Even Bubsy came back! People are ready to run, jump, and move in other worlds.

Probably in part because of how doomed this one is.

Now is the perfect time to bring Croc back and the Croc renaissance needs to start with a remake of the first game. Croc: Legend of the Gobbos is suuuch a good game. It has jank. The camera is rough. It’s not perfect. But it also came out in 1996.

It stars an adorable little crocodile. Also, the soundtrack is still incredible. Seriously, listen to it. I would buy this on vinyl. It’s time to bring Croc back. Without looking it up, I imagine Disney owns the rights. Let’s all start asking for the return of Croc underneath Marvel tweets. Do it for Croc.

Power Quest

You probably didn’t play Power Quest. It was only released for the Game Boy and Nintendo doesn’t like it when people play their older games for some reason. It was really good though, despite some balance issues.

Okay, there were a few other problems, but Japan System Supply squeezed everything they could out of the Game Boy.

Fights are epic and fun, despite the limited graphics. Each pixel working around the clock, begging the audience to believe it looks like robots fighting on screen. I was amazed how well this played though when it was first released — and I still am.

Nintendo and Capcom should work together and bring it back. A remaster with the same effort and care being put into Advance Wars could make this an exciting fighting exclusive for the Nintendo Switch.

Winning battles, unlocking new parts, and adjusting the stats of your robot in between online battles would be a lot of fun. And God knows Nintendo needs reasons for people to care about Nintendo Switch Online.

Related: Pages into Polygons — Horror Haunts That Should Be Games