When looking at some of gaming's longest-running series, it's interesting to see where some franchises stumbled or even fell into the unfortunate void of irrelevancy. Factors that can harm a franchise's critical and commercial reception include advancements in gaming hardware, which can immediately date certain genres; a reluctance to change or to innovate; and, of course, a change in development team.
There have been countless examples of franchises changing developers and immediately dropping in quality, with notable examples being Spyro the Dragon, Championship Manager, and Crash Bandicoot, which has only recently found its feet again. Changing development studios is certainly not a death sentence for franchises, however, as numerous series have seen their original creators leave only for the series' quality to remain consistent or even improve.
7 Wolfenstein
Wolfenstein is one of gaming's longest-running series that is still active today, with the franchise's first game, Castle Wolfenstein, having first hit stores all the way back in 1981. 1981's Castle Wolfenstein was developed by Muse Software and is a 2D action-adventure game that is played from a top-down perspective; it was one of the first games to ever feature stealth gameplay.
Stealth wasn't the only genre that Wolfenstein helped popularize, however, as id Software's Wolfenstein 3D was instrumental in the rise of first-person shooters. The Wolfenstein series never looked back from Wolfenstein 3D and has continuously put out solid FPS efforts over the years with MachineGames now at the helm. Swedish studio MachineGames has been on a hot streak since their first game in the series, Wolfenstein: The New Order, and have earned the right to develop Bethesda's highly anticipated Indiana Jones game.
6 Halo
Although many would argue that 343 Industries' Halo releases have struggled to reach the heights of Bungie's legendary first three Halo games, there's little doubt that the series can still be classed as 'great.'
343 Industries' first Halo game was Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, a remake of the series' first game. 343 Industries have released every main series Halo game since then, along with a handful of spin-off games, such as Halo: Spartan Assault and the real-time strategy game Halo Wars 2. Ensemble Studios also deserve mention for developing the original Halo Wars, which did a great job of replicating the thrill of Halo combat in a different genre.
5 Gears Of War
Like Halo, Gears of War was at its best with its original developers - in this case Epic Games - at the helm, though the series has certainly remained great. Before they were raking in eye-watering sums of cash with Fortnite, Epic Games were developing the iconic original Gears of War trilogy.
The Coalition, who developed Gears of Wars 4 and Gears 5, first developed a remake of the original Gears of War game, much like how 343 Industries got their start by developing a remake of the first Halo game. Polish studio People Can Fly did a great job when they co-developed Gears of War: Judgment with Epic Games and British Studio Splash Damage deserve credit for their work on the spin-off turn-based tactics game Gears Tactics.
4 Donkey Kong
Donkey Kong fans certainly can't complain about the prestige of gaming studios that have developed their favorite series, as the IP has been in the very safe hands of esteemed development teams like Rare, Namco, and Nintendo.
Nintendo developed the iconic original Donkey Kong game, while Rare were at the helm for the legendary Donkey Kong Country and highly-regarded Donkey Kong 64. Namco came out of left field with the Donkey Konga trilogy, which wasn't ever going to win any game of the year awards but was great fun to play with friends and deceivingly addictive. Retro Studios ensured that the series didn't falter during the 2010s, with Donkey Kong Country Returns and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze both being well received.
3 Civilization
The Civilization series has been a cornerstone of the strategy genre since MicroProse created the 4X series in 1991. As is common in the 4X genre, the Civilization series tasks players with building a thriving civilization over time that will achieve one of the game's win conditions, such as science or domination, before any other civ. The Civilization series has stayed true to its roots over the decades but has grown to become one of the most engrossing and addictive PC franchises of all time.
The first two Civilization games were developed by MicroProse, before Sid Meier, Brian Reynolds, and Jeff Briggs left the company in 1996 to found Firaxis Games, which has developed the main series and spin-off titles since then.
2 Mortal Kombat
Mortal Kombat has been one of the biggest names in the fighting genre since the first game came to arcades in 1992. The series is known for its over-the-top violence, particularly its brutal Fatality finishing moves, which sparked a ton of controversy from concerned parents throughout the '90s.
The series was created by Midway Games, who developed the series' games for almost two decades before filing for bankruptcy in 2009; Warner Bros. purchased many of the company's assets, including Mortal Kombat. Fans of the fighting series were understandably worried about the series' future, though NetherRealm Studios have done an excellent job of maintaining the series' high quality.
1 Tomb Raider
The first Tomb Raider game hit shelves in 1996 and was developed by Core Design. The game took a risk by featuring a female protagonist, which was uncommon in the '90s, though it certainly paid off as Lara Croft soon became one of gaming's biggest icons and is credited as being instrumental in the rise of strong female protagonists in gaming.
Crystal Dynamics' Legend and Survivor trilogies have both done excellent jobs at reinventing the classic original trilogy for modern systems. Crystal Dynamic passed the torch to Canadian development studio Eidos-Montréal for the latest main series game, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, which capped off the Survivor series in style.