Racketboy

One of my favorite new blogs, Siliconera, has put out a thought-provoking piece about 5 classic franchises that have a chance at being resurected on the XBox 360.

The 5 Choices were:

• Bonk
• Battletoads
• Snatcher / Policenauts
• Strider
• Chrono Trigger

As I mentioned in the article’s comments section, my main concern is that the older franchises (Strider and Battletoads primarily) might be hurt if brought to 3D.

Bonk could make the transition to 3D (but cell-shading would be nice) and the character is different enought to stand out to the kids while bringing back memories for the main XBox demographic.

Battletoads would be cool in a Viewtiful Joe-type setup. It has a similar flashy action style and a cool cartoon look. I’m just curious as to if Rare is still up to these kind of games. It just seems like ever since they made the transistion to being under Microsoft, they haven’t been the same. Maybe getting back to their roots would be beneficial for them.

Snatcher & Policenauts are probably the combo that has the most potential, in my opinion. It has a loyal (but limited) fanbase, has ties into the MGS universe. Also as I mentioned in The Top Games That Nobody Played – But You Should, Snatcher was an excellent graphical adventure game that never got the exposure it deserved. The sequel Policenauts also recieved only a limited Japan-only production run. It’s hard for me to imagine this series as a next-gen title as I am so accustomed to seeing it in it’s original form, but I would be eager to see what Hideo Kojima could do with it.

As Siliconera mentioned, Strider has some similarities with Capcom’s newer franchise, Devil May Cry. However, I’m afraid that if it did make the transition to 3D, much of it’s character would be lost and would be viewed simply as a Devil May Cry clone. It could also be likened to Shinobi’s transition to 3D. Personally, I think it would fare better as a good XBox Live Arcade release — along with the more graphically updated Strider 2 game that appeared on the Playstation.

Chrono Trigger is another interesting choice (it was one of my Games That Actually NEED a Sequel). But as everyone knows, Microsoft is having a hard time getting Japanese developers onboard.

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