Failure To Re-Launch: 21 Games That Need A Reboot (10-7)

We continue our coverage of 21 games that desperately need a reboot or a re-launch (aka a sequel). Last week we left off at numbers 15-11, let’s take a look at numbers 10 to 7.

10. Kingdom Hearts

Another Square Enix casualty, Kingdom Hearts has lingered for many years now. Unlike the decaying Final Fantasy Series, Kingdom Hearts has been ‘okey’ on handheld systems like the Nintendo DS… but that’s about all. Kingom Hearts II was a huge success on the PS2 all the way back in 2006!

It’s hard to believe that a game that got such rave reviews hasn’t had a sequel yet; Kingdom Hearts II was #1 in IGN’s 2006 Reader Choice awards for the PS2 and ranked #29 in Famitsu’s readers “All Time Top 100”. Yet this franchise is left drifting on handhelds when there’s a perfectly good Xbox 360 and PS3 that would welcome it with open arms.

The mini games found in the Nintendo DS version just isn’t cutting it anymore. Please Square Enix, give us Kingdom Hearts III on a proper console!

9. King’s Quest

Oh Sierra Entertainment, how I’ve missed you. Sierra will always be remembered for King’s Quest, one of the earliest successes of the… well, I’m not even sure how to describe the genre. It was a graphics heavy game, where you move your character from one screen to the next on a huge quest. It was just a deeply engrossing game where every single screen was colorful and simply delightful.

Sadly, Kings Quest’s last adventure was in 1998, and Sierra is currently owned by the giant money-grubbing-corporation known as Activision-Blizzard.

The good news is that a brand new King’s Quest is on its way. Expected to come out in 2013, I hope new developer Telltale Games keeps the same basic interface. Fallout 3 is a great first-person game that started out as a third-person game, but it’s a mistake to take King’s Quest that direction — it just doesn’t need to go there. There’s lots more that can be done in this click-to-move genre, and so here’s hoping it can make a comeback!

8. Tekken

Oh Tekken, where have you gone? You used to be so good. Your deep game mechanics coupled with 10-string-attacks, balanced unblockables, and interesting characters… it all led to a good time for all. But then things changed around Tekken 4. You became faster and made us look for air juggles. You introduced a bound system, a rage system, and new characters like the sexed up robot (Alisa), which transformed the game a bit more than we were prepared for.

How about bringing back the Tekken 3 game mechanics with a whole new roster of characters?

7. Mutant League (sports)

I’ve always wondered why they stopped making these games. Mutant League Hockey wasn’t too bad, but Mutant League Football was all sorts of awesome. After all, any football game that has a play called “kill the referee” is just downright cool in my book. It was totally worth the penalty.

A new version would need some tweaking, but it could still be lots of fun. There’s lots of room for improvement too, like a XP system to level-up your monsters, or maybe mutations to make your passing-quarterback into a 4-legged running-quarterback by the final quarter. See? The possibilities are truly endless.

And there’s no need for an expensive NFL License either – just make up names and teams.

Next Week…

Next we will we will talk about more games that seriously needs a reboot, numbers 6-4! See ya then!