Ever felt let down by a franchise?

[yomomma1]

I've been let down by games, but they don't have sequels, and for good reason.

I would say sonic, but then again I liked some of those later games.

Tetris, because the most superior version was released 20 years ago.

[Onikage]

The Tenchu series. The first 3 were atmospheric ninja stealth games. After them the series started waning further and further down the path of mediocrity. Now it's just a complete mess.

[Ack]

Oh, another series that let me down was the Onimusha series. When the first Onimusha was released, I loved it: it was a pseudo-survival horror samurai game game, with great gameplay and some interesting challenges. Onimusha 2 moved away from the horror aspects a good bit, but I enjoyed the way the world was expanded upon, the friendship system that somewhat reminds me of dating sims, the alternate storylines depending on how much other characters like me, etc.

And then came Onimusha 3. I like Jean Reno. The gameplay's the same. It even brings back the original characters. But something about it just felt wrong. While I beat the game, I have no desire to ever go back and play through it again, which I did several times with both Onimusha and the sequel.

[AwesomeMonstar]

the last boss to onimusha 2 is hell, just hell. I finally beat the guy only to find out there's an entirely new segment where I have to play in a completely different style to finally kill him.

[Joeyg329]

I know this one is tricky because of developer changes, but i remember how upset i was when twisted metal 3 came out. I loved the first one (even though early ps1 games left alot to be desired) and the 2nd one was one of my favorite games of all time. Then 3 came out, i think i was 15, i went out and bought it, saw a little "989 studios" logo, and then proceeded to play one of the worst games ever. The 4th one was crap. Now Twisted Metal Black on the other hand was a good game since insomniac did it, but it was too involved and long to be pick up and play fun. Head on was ok too, but none of them were ever as fun as the first 2.

[8bit]

I am personally let down down by Lunar and its failure to evolve. There have been a ton of remakes over the years but no new stories in the franchise that started 15 years ago on the Sega CD.

[J T]

And then came Onimusha 3. I like Jean Reno. The gameplay's the same. It even brings back the original characters. But something about it just felt wrong. While I beat the game, I have no desire to ever go back and play through it again, which I did several times with both Onimusha and the sequel.

The third was weird. I thought the whole time travel thing was kind of lame and the combo of french cops and samurai just didn't jive with me. Yet, I enjoyed it enough to finish it, so it can't be all bad becaue I don't finish that many games. I also have Onimusha Dawn of Dreams, which I haven't really had a chance to get into, but the intro movie is great: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YV3Lsqv1sOs

[Gnashvar]

Sonic is amazing to me. The Sonic games peeked back in the early 90s. It's over 15 years later and people still buy Sonic games based on the reputation of those early games, even though they know full well that there has been at least a decade of crap that followed. I've never seen such devotion to any other franchise.

I actually enjoy playin all the Sonic games. I guess I love the franchise so much that it gives me the energy to play even the crappy ones. Some are difficult to play because of controls. Like Sonic Riders and Sonic R. But I still like them. I hope they make a big enough effort with colors to make me really happy again.

[Koopin_Krackerz]

Hands down the Sonic series. I still play the Sonic Genesis games (excluding Sonic 3D) to this day. They are a perfect example of how great games stand the test of time. I remember being excited seeing Sonic 3D at the rental place and going home and expecting another great game...instead it was the beginning of a terrible trend for the series. Looked great and had some great ideas, just didn't pan out and play the way it was planned (which can sum up practically every Sonic game since). Also, I can't stand how Sega has marketed the franchise towards younger kids. Quite a turnaround from when he was first introduced, but they got to find a way to insure the future of their franchise somehow since they can't make a decent game.

Kirby has been a love/hate relationship too. It's not that the games were bad, just the length of time between a proper new release (barring any mini game/air ride type of release). Kirby 64 was a fantastic game and the time between that game and the new Wii game coming out soon (which looks great) is simply way too long. As long as the proper games remain excellent, I guess I can wait out the years.

Halo was the quickest I lost interest in a franchise. The first game had a great campaign that was interesting and engaging and of course the multiplayer was a game changer for Halo and Microsoft. Halo 2, they changed so much and focused on making the game mainstream and catered to the terrible FPS subculture that sucked the fun out of the multiplayer. The campaign was bland and the graphics engine bothered me a lot (how sometimes when it changed a frame, the characters weren't totally all there). Halo 3 was a continuation of this.

[Jrecee]

I agree sonic seems to have lost a lot of his attitude and been transformed into some sort of "friendship is rad!" role model thing. It almost makes me wish Sega of america hadn't gotten involved and left sonic in the rock band. Maybe then he wouldn't have gotten watered down with all these different "versions"