There are over a hundred long-running franchises that keep this industry going right now. Some of them pop out sequels every year or two, while others make fans wait a little longer. Most of these series also have several spinoffs to jump into other genres, or to give the reigns to other characters within that series.
One of the biggest franchises of all time, Mario, is probably the greatest example of this. Mario has gone golfing, become a doctor, played tennis, and the list goes on. How have some of these other big franchises not had any spinoffs? Let’s dive into the biggest examples with a few minor caveats to give the list some wiggle room.
8 BioShock
The BioShock series began in 2007 as an Xbox 360 exclusive before getting ported to other consoles. There are three games in the main trilogy with a new game supposedly on the way. Will the next game continue from where the last game left off or will it create a whole new timeline?
It’s hard to say but the series almost got a spinoff on the PS Vita before this. The game was going to be a tactical RPG in the realm of Final Fantasy Tactics, unlike the other games, which are primarily horror shooters.
7 Breath Of Fire
Breath of Fire began on the SNES in 1994 in North America. It’s one of the few turn-based RPG series that Capcom ever produced. It sporadically released throughout the years on various platforms with the latest entry, Breath of Fire 6, landing in 2016.
Even though it is a numbered sequel, it’s on mobile phones and in Japan only right now. Lots of games get mobile spinoffs, especially in Japan, but, oddly, this one is numbered. Regardless of the latest entry, the series never received any big spinoffs on consoles.
6 Crackdown
Crackdown began as an Xbox 360-exclusive game in 2007. The series has remained exclusive to Xbox consoles with the latest, Crackdown 3, releasing in 2019. That game was announced when the Xbox One was also revealed and it took almost the console’s whole life before Crackdown 3 came out.
The reviews weren’t kind to it either, but reviews for this entire series have never been spectacular to begin with. That last game may have put an end to this Xbox franchise before it could even think to make a spinoff.
5 EarthBound
EarthBound, or Mother as the series is known in Japan, began on the NES in 1989. EarthBound, the 1995 sequel, was the first game North America ever received regarding this series. It would remain that way until the original hit the Wii U digitally in 2015, renamed EarthBound Beginnings.
There is also Mother 3, a 2006 Game Boy Advance RPG that still hasn’t been officially released in the West. Here’s the big question. Will North American fans get Mother 3, Mother 4, or a Mother spinoff first? That's a real gamble wherein the odds are astronomical either way.
4 Kid Icarus
Kid Icarus has also had a sporadic lifespan. The series began on the NES in 1987 for North America. It got a Game Boy sequel in 1991, which Japan never received. Then, over a decade later, the final game as of now released in 2012.
Kid Icarus: Uprising was a 3DS action game that had a split fanbase. The controls were frustrating on the handheld, but players that got over the controls were in for a treat. If Nintendo re-released the game on Switch, maybe it could find a new audience with better controls. Maybe then a spinoff could happen.
3 MediEvil
MediEvil, perhaps, has a history even wilder than Mother’s release schedule. Made for the PS1, MediEvil was released in 1998 and was an action-adventure game. It received a sequel, also on PS1, and that was that. However, the first game did get a remake on the PSP in 2005 with plans to do the same for the sequel.
Plans for that fell through, so the series was dormant yet again until the first game was remade a second time in 2019. Few games get the remake treatment and even fewer get remade twice, so that’s got to count for something.
2 Shantae
Shantae was one of the last Game Boy Color games to ever release. That was in 2002 and since then the series has evolved immensely. The latest entry, Shantae and the Seven Sirens, was in 2019.
Every game in the series has been ported more times than one can count, so it is a very prevalent Metroidvania franchise worth seeking out. As many games and ports as this series has received, it’s wild there hasn’t been a spinoff yet. The closest fans have come are the mini-games locked within each new entry.
1 Super Smash Bros.
Super Smash Bros. is kind of like a spinoff of every Nintendo franchise under the sun. It combines famous series like The Legend of Zelda and Pokemon for a truly wild fighting game. Every entry since it debuted in 1999 has been a fighting game. Fans have dreamed of the possibility of getting something beyond this genre though.
What if it got the Kingdom Hearts action RPG treatment instead? Imagine a spinoff game wherein Mario and Link could fight Goombas side by side. Now that would be epic!