Weekend Gaming Update

By: Sam Robinson
Published: Jul 20, 2014
at 12:55 pm

Welcome to The Game Fanatic’s Weekend Gaming Update! This is where we answer random gaming related questions and generally just embarrass ourselves. This week? We’re going to take the shock paddles to some of our most personal and beloved franchises and square off to see who actually dates their age the worst by accident.

Sam Robinson - Editor — Sam Robinson – Editor

The Suikoden series. The most epic, well-written, dramatic RPG franchise of all time, in my opinion. At this point I would be happy with a Suikoden 2 release on the PSN though.

Ben Runnings - Contributor — Ben Runnings – Contributor

Sonic. For the love of sliced bread, please, bring back classic 2D Sonic. Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.

William Harmon - Contributor — William Harmon – Contributor

Chrono Trigger. Hands down. Great story, great themes, great characters. Square has focused so heavily on their Final Fantasy franchise that they’ve forgotten some of the tremendous IPs they have lying around.

Alex Androski - Contributor — Alex Androski – Contributor

When it comes to gaming franchises I’d like to see revived, it’s hard not to look at the genres that have been murdered by annualization. I miss both the Extreme Sports and the Plastic Guitar genres. I’d love to see Harmonix do another Rock Band, and while I would have said I’d love to see Neversoft make another Tony Hawk game, Neversoft sadly shut their doors and were absorbed into another Call of Duty factory earlier this week.

So, I’ll go the obscure route, instead. I want Nintendo to put out another Picross game in English. They put out a TON of Picross games on SNES in Japan, and they localized one for Game Boy… and then they put out a 3D Picross game for NDS that was really fun, but I’m itching for more of those.

Tom Dearsley - Contributor — Tom Dearsley – Editor

I am lacking a bit of Robofish in my life. TimeSplitters was the definitive multiplayer game, and the reason I had a multi-tap before I even got a PS2! A great roster of characters with some fantastic multiplayer modes and Graeme Norgates bombastic soundtrack. It’s a shame that FreeRadical, now Crytek UK is having so much trouble, which means that the prospect of a sequel is unlikely.

Chris Angel - Contributor — Chris Angel – Contributor

This is easy. The Legacy of Kain. I miss this series so much. No other game required me to play with a dictionary by my side and none other have drawn me in by the sheer power of its narrative. I don’t want a reboot either, but a continuation. The series is near perfect and the only improvements that could ever be made to it lies in the combat. Pleaaaaaaaseeee Crystal Dynamics! Here’s my left kidney…

Chris Calasahan - Contributor — Chris Calasahan – Contributor

One franchise that needs to be revived in my eyes is Rival Schools. Capcom had a fantastic cast of characters with this game that offered a great game and a very interesting story. Rival Schools: United By Fate was a definitely highlight for the PlayStation One and Poetic Justice: Rival Schools 2 was among the best fighting games on the Dreamcast. I think an HD version of this title with added characters, improved graphics and tighter gameplay could be a huge hit among current fighting game fans.