Gaming The System: When franchises die, Part 1
If a falling tree kills a video
game series and there's no one
there to hear it, does anyone care?
None of us hear the end of complaints about franchises being milked dry. Call of Duty, Final Fantasy, take your pick. But while some franchises could use the proverbial Old Yeller treatment and leave us with more good memories than sour, there exists the flipside — franchises that died prematurely due to poor sales or reception or for no reason whatsoever. Aside from a few “i wish they brought it backkk :(” comments on YouTube gameplay videos, these franchises have been forgotten since their sad death.
Road Rash
The series originally began life on the Sega Genesis in 1991, breaking away from the archetype of arcade motorcycle games, with its violent and fun combat alongside its cast of colourful and humorous stereotypes. Road Rash differed itself by placing its races in real-world highways and detailing them realistically with pedestrians, cars and buildings, rather than boring stretches of racing circuits. The game's comic portrayal of illegal underground street racing garnered it enough popularity to spawn a handful of sequels, adding more tracks, characters and the option for split screen multiplayer. The series peaked with the release of the 3DO remake (also titled Road Rash, and later ported to the Saturn, PlayStation and PC), featuring amazingly detailed (for the time) fast-moving graphics, fullmotion video cutscenes, and a kickass soundtrack by grunge rock bands like Soundgarden and Swervedriver. Two more PlayStation entries and a Nintendo 64 remake later, the series breathed its last with Road Rash: Jailbreak on the Gameboy Advance in 2003, and has been missing since.
Panzer Dragoon
Marking the first entry as a launch title with the surprise North American release of the Sega Saturn, Panzer Dragoon was a solid entry into the console's library. Boasting rich and colourful graphics, a beautiful orchestral soundtrack, and a very cool sci-fi/fantasy setting, this rail-shooter about a post-apocalyptic world populated with dragons and monsters sold well enough to spawn a sequel, Panzer Dragon II Zwei. Panzer Dragoon Saga, a spinoff RPG, marked the last Saturn release for the franchise. Despite the acclaim Saga received, with the game still making many greatestof- all-time RPG lists, the game only existed as a paltry 30,000 copy run, and as such, commands up to $400 at auctions today. With the game's source code lost, making any chance of a port impossible, the only way to play this title is with the use of an emulator or mod-chipped Saturn.
After jumping ship to the Xbox with 2002's Panzer Dragoon Orta (also a very good entry that's easy to find and backwards-compatible on the 360 for those interested), the series has been all but active. However, those in need of their dragon-flying fix will be pleased with the arrival of the spin-off series Crimson Dragon (featuring a new setting and the efforts of series creator Yukio Futatsugi) on the Xbox One.
Jet Set Radio
Jet Set Radio proved that games could be fun without being overtly violent (or at least committing acts of violence). Debuting on the Dreamcast, JSR was set in a colourful, near-future Tokyo filled with graffiti gangs vying for tagging space in the bustling metropolis. Players were challenged to tag over rival graffiti with their own, as well as recruiting new gang members by showing off their rollerblading skills. An equall ygood followup, Jet Set Radio Future, came about in 2002 as part of an Xbox bundle, but aside from an HD re-release on the PC, the series' dance and hip-hop music has been silenced.
Check out part two of this list in next week's paper!
None of us hear the end of complaints about franchises being milked dry. Call of Duty, Final Fantasy, take your pick. But while some franchises could use the proverbial Old Yeller treatment and leave us with more good memories than sour, there exists the flipside — franchises that died prematurely due to poor sales or reception or for no reason whatsoever. Aside from a few “i wish they brought it backkk :(” comments on YouTube gameplay videos, these franchises have been forgotten since their sad death.
Road Rash
The series originally began life on the Sega Genesis in 1991, breaking away from the archetype of arcade motorcycle games, with its violent and fun combat alongside its cast of colourful and humorous stereotypes. Road Rash differed itself by placing its races in real-world highways and detailing them realistically with pedestrians, cars and buildings, rather than boring stretches of racing circuits. The game's comic portrayal of illegal underground street racing garnered it enough popularity to spawn a handful of sequels, adding more tracks, characters and the option for split screen multiplayer. The series peaked with the release of the 3DO remake (also titled Road Rash, and later ported to the Saturn, PlayStation and PC), featuring amazingly detailed (for the time) fast-moving graphics, fullmotion video cutscenes, and a kickass soundtrack by grunge rock bands like Soundgarden and Swervedriver. Two more PlayStation entries and a Nintendo 64 remake later, the series breathed its last with Road Rash: Jailbreak on the Gameboy Advance in 2003, and has been missing since.
Panzer Dragoon
Marking the first entry as a launch title with the surprise North American release of the Sega Saturn, Panzer Dragoon was a solid entry into the console's library. Boasting rich and colourful graphics, a beautiful orchestral soundtrack, and a very cool sci-fi/fantasy setting, this rail-shooter about a post-apocalyptic world populated with dragons and monsters sold well enough to spawn a sequel, Panzer Dragon II Zwei. Panzer Dragoon Saga, a spinoff RPG, marked the last Saturn release for the franchise. Despite the acclaim Saga received, with the game still making many greatestof- all-time RPG lists, the game only existed as a paltry 30,000 copy run, and as such, commands up to $400 at auctions today. With the game's source code lost, making any chance of a port impossible, the only way to play this title is with the use of an emulator or mod-chipped Saturn.
After jumping ship to the Xbox with 2002's Panzer Dragoon Orta (also a very good entry that's easy to find and backwards-compatible on the 360 for those interested), the series has been all but active. However, those in need of their dragon-flying fix will be pleased with the arrival of the spin-off series Crimson Dragon (featuring a new setting and the efforts of series creator Yukio Futatsugi) on the Xbox One.
Jet Set Radio
Jet Set Radio proved that games could be fun without being overtly violent (or at least committing acts of violence). Debuting on the Dreamcast, JSR was set in a colourful, near-future Tokyo filled with graffiti gangs vying for tagging space in the bustling metropolis. Players were challenged to tag over rival graffiti with their own, as well as recruiting new gang members by showing off their rollerblading skills. An equall ygood followup, Jet Set Radio Future, came about in 2002 as part of an Xbox bundle, but aside from an HD re-release on the PC, the series' dance and hip-hop music has been silenced.
Check out part two of this list in next week's paper!
