Highlights
- Despite receiving positive reviews and showcasing innovative gameplay, many good games in the video game industry get overlooked and don't receive sequels or continuations due to various reasons such as poor sales or licensing issues.
- Games like Prince of Persia 2008, MediEvil 2, and Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge had potential for successful franchises but failed to gain enough interest from gamers, despite their captivating worlds and strong gameplay.
- Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts and Mirror's Edge: Catalyst faced backlash from fans for taking different directions from their predecessors, ultimately hindering their chances of getting sequels. Dark Cloud 2 and Call of Juarez: Gunslinger also suffered from low sales but were praised for their innovative mechanics and polished content.
In the video game industry, once the money starts rolling in from the high sales of a successful title, there’s little anyone can do to stop them from calling for a follow-up. That being said, winning over fans doesn't always guarantee the continuation of the series, doubly so if the game only becomes a cult classic later down the line.
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While there are countless examples of excellent sequels that saved their franchises from the brink, there are also plenty of cases of good games being left in the dark despite all the glowing reviews. Whether it's due to poor sales at release, licensing issues, or finance issues, sadly, these excellent but overlooked last-ditch attempts never found their audience and were lost to time.
8 Prince Of Persia 2008 (3D)
The Prince of Persia series is practically gaming royalty, beginning back in 1989. However, the second reboot of the series, simply entitled Prince of Persia 2008, seemingly abdicated without any airs (although there was a DS game, it was released at the same time as more of a companion rather than a follow-up).
The series made leaps and bounds (pun intended) in terms of technology, story, and art, delivering mind-bending time manipulation abilities and fluid, never-before-seen acrobatics. While there is a "back to basics" 2.5D entry around, it's sad that 2008 was the last time audiences really got to see the Prince in action before the franchise took a back seat to the Assassin's Creed series.
7 MediEvil 2
The charmingly Burtonesque world of MediEvil saw only two entries on the PlayStation before gathering dust in some long-forgotten crypt. Two remakes (a reimagining and a loving reconstruction) have graced gamers since, but both failed to recapture interest in Sir Dan's fine rusty hide. A shame, as its universe was bursting with charm and magic, with excellent, meaty gameplay and head-scratching puzzle set pieces abound.
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A few other nostalgic PSX classics have been polished up: Crash Bandicoot got It's About Timeafter the launch of a successful remake of the original three. However, since it's already been an age (in gaming time) since the 2019 remake, a new Fortesque adventure seems unlikely. Perhaps Dan deserves some eternal shut-eye anyway.
6 Crimson Skies: High Road To Revenge
Sky pirates in the 1930s post-United States of America! This high-flying hit was the follow-up to a cult-classic PC game simply called Crimson Skies. The original Xbox was graced with High Road To Revenge, a game that had all the potential to explode into a long-running series (huge open worlds and long draw distances, strong story delivery and atmosphere, and countless other charms), but somehow, despite it all, it failed to take off.
Sadly, the game did not sell well, and even though the critics of the day lapped up its stunning visuals, intuitive controls, and unique world-building, it wasn't enough to get gamers interested in getting into the pilot seat themselves. Thankfully, High Road to Revenge is available to play today with the Xbox Game Pass.
5 Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts And Bolts
When the long-awaited third entry in the Banjo-Kazooie series finally hit storefronts, it is perhaps an understatement to say that fans were disappointed. Rather than the power-ups, partner puzzles, and platforming they had dreamed about, Rare took the bear and bird on an unexpected road trip. It is understandable why fans would have been upset, especially given their new chunky Minecraft-esque look.
However, in retrospect, Nuts and Bolts was an interesting direction for the duo to go in. The change was perhaps just ahead of its time, as evidenced by the reception to Tears of the Kingdom's vehicle-building mechanics and overall departure from its original dungeon-crawling format. However, because of the sheer heat of the backlash, it's unlikely fans will be able to fly like a bear or climb like a bird any time soon.
4 Mirror's Edge: Catalyst
Mirror’s Edge was a (pun intended) cutting-edge game for its time. Its first-person parkour is equally thrilling as it is terrifying. Just as in the first entry, the protagonist, Faith, uses a variety of acrobatic skills to traverse the fictional dystopian city, Glass. While many applauded the free-running spectacles, many gamers were perhaps confused by the total lack of firearms with the first-person, open-world perspective.
Additionally, although critics praised the overhaul of graphics and mechanics, many players felt that the reboot had come too soon and were treading the same old ground as before (rather than expanding the story in a sequel), and Mirror's Edge got dulled before it had a chance to shine.
3 Dark Cloud 2
They say that every cloud has a silver lining, but in the case of Dark Cloud and Dark Cloud 2 (known as Dark Chronicle outside the US), the horizon looks like it will never brighten. For the sheer level of innovative gameplay on display from start to finish, the technical wonder of its visuals, and the flawless polish, it's odd that this series didn't break through the atmosphere in terms of popularity.
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One explanation for the total silence surrounding Dark Cloud 3 is licensing. Sony co-owns the rights to the series, and without any interest in a follow-up, it's unlikely that any of the money people wanted to give the green light to the developers. It’s probably too late for a comeback for this forgotten gem of an RPG, but who knows? Miracles can happen.
2 Call Of Juarez: Gunslinger
After Call ofJuarez: The Cartel, Techland had an uphill battle in front of them. Its predecessor was considered a weaker entry, riddled with cringe-worthy Mexican stereotypes, unpolished animations, and weak dialogue and animations. But those who came back to play Call of Juarez: Gunslinger praised the sheer amount of polished content packed into one firearm-twirling package.
Unfortunately, its poor reputation still preceded it, and Gunslinger sold poorly. However, its tight shooting mechanics, good-humored writing, and fantastic set pieces made it an instant classic. One highlight of Gunslinger is its use of unreliable narration, in which events can shift mid-play depending on whether the game's narrator feels like embellishing facts (or if he gets called out for his tall tales).
1 Freelancer
It may surprise the lucky few who managed to play this stellar space game that Freelancer was a sequel to another game called Starlancer, although there was very little connecting the two story-wise, but plenty in terms of game mechanics. Gamers are spoiled for choice when it comes to great games set in outer space these days (some of those games have been developed by Freelancer's team), but what sets Freelancer apart is its setting.
Each sector of explodable space was home to descendants from different parts of our world: Liberty, Britonia, Kusari, and Rheinland: 1920s America, Victorian Britain, Shogunate Japan, and the Second Industrial Revolution Germany, respectively. It seems that both Starlancer and Freelancer are games that have been lost to time, and it isn't hard to see how gamers would lap up a sequel.