Video games aren’t excluded from being placed upon the shelf, collecting dust, only quietly forgotten by both the developers and publishers that brought them to life. Over the span of the history of games, there are franchises that are some of the most beloved out there, and they’ve all but been seemingly forgotten by developers or the publishers that helped bring them to life.

Some of those franchises sit under some big publisher names such as Square Enix, SIE Studio Japan, Koei Tecmo, Microsoft Studios and even Valve – just to name a few. But what franchises are we talking about? Lets take a look at some of the most highly anticipated sequels, reboots, or remasters that fans have been waiting for.

11. Parasite Eve | Square Enix

When you talk about classic games, Parasite Eve is normally in there somewhere, and there’s a good reason why. It was a beloved game by almost every PlayStation owner out there. The game served as one of the most important games out there for fans of localized titles, allowing fans to enjoy a survival horror title, one that decided to de-emphasize its use of battle for horror elements including atmosphere, story, and genetics.

Unlike titles such as Silent Hill or Resident Evil, Parasite Eve ditched the games use of limited ammo and limited items. Instead it did follow several traditional steps: an amazing story using journals, text documents, and NPCs. A lot of this changed with the third entry The Third Birthday, which released exclusively on the PlayStation Portable, and didn’t see the staggering success its predecessors had.

10. Jade Empire | BioWare

By now it seems that BioWare has all-but-forgotten their smash-hit game Jade Empire. The game was unique in the sense that it combined both martial arts combat, RPG elements, and their traditional sense of strong story-telling in an entirely new setting. Let alone was it one of the most impressive games for its age, it’s a game that still stands out, even in the modern era. It’s a game that fans have been dying to see receive a remastering or even a sequel. Sadly, it seems that BioWare, as stated, has forgotten about the title, and has sense parted ways with the IP itself.

Since Microsoft Studios has rights to the publishing, we could cross our fingers, and hope that we do get a chance to see a rebooted series helmed by BioWare themselves.

 

9. Contra | Konami, Ocean Software, Backbone Entertainment, Paul Owens

Shigeharu Umezaki wasn’t just a genius, he remains one in the modern day, and has always shown us what humiliation is. It’s where games will beat us down, kick us harder, and kick us even harder as it gets under way. That’s where Contra, one of the most infuriating games out there. It’s a game that showed us what what “prepare to die” really means. Let alone was the series well known for its side-scrolling SHMUP gameplay, it was also known for its unique designs, difficult levels, and cooperative play. Since the release of Contra 4 on the Nintendo DS, the series has fallen into obscurity, and not much has been said about the series being brought back to life, or even overhauled in any form.

Sadly, this is a series that definitely deserves it in an era of reboots, remasters, and the likes.

8. Advent Rising | Majesco

Do you remember the days when Microsoft was just starting out in the console market and had some of the strongest titles out there? Sure you do, we have Halo because of the Xbox, we even have titles such as Forza thanks to it, but one we’ve seen to forgot about is Advent Rising. Advent Rising was an interesting title, it’s one that saw players take on a game that felt like a true cross-over between both Mass Effect and Halo. Not just because of the games aesthetics, but because of the games overall approach. Gunplay felt smooth, gameplay even smoother, except for the battle between humans and an alien collective was already underway.

This is where Orson Scott Card (Ender’s Game) comes into play. Gameplay includes both shooting, unique powers, and your willingness to navigate a story with moral choices.

7. Rule of Rose | Punchline, Shirogumi, Inc.

Whether you liked Rule of Rose or not, it’s one of those games you can’t talk about games, and not mention. It’s a survival horror game that released at the peak of the genres Golden Age. It’s a game that wasn’t just weird. It was down right creepy as Hell, which made it one of the best out there, and one of the hardest to find in the modern day. It’s a game that set players forth as Jennifer, the games protagonist, and her Labrador Retriever Brown. Except the game was a bit different than titles such as Silent Hill or Fatal Frame. Combat wasn’t expected, instead evasion was. It served as a trademark portion of the game, causing players to elude animal-headed imps, creepy bosses, and an environment that sought to kill.

6. The Legend of Dragoon | SIE Studio Japan

Do we even need to emphasize why The Legend of Dragoon is on this list? Hopefully not. But just in case, The Legend Dragoon is quite possibly one of the most iconic RPGs to date. It’s not recognized just for its gameplay, but its story. It’s narrative was one of the strongest to come out of the PlayStation era, and still to this date, serves as one of the most notable retro games out there. Ever wanted to see what your abilities were as a Dragoon? This game would let you do just that.

5. Heretic | id Software/Ravensoft

While DOOM, Quake, and Wolfenstein surely stand out as three of the strongest and most beloved franchises to come out of id Software in their early years. Little do many know, they also had a few games that were off the wall, and made those very titles pale in comparison when it came to dark fantasy games: Heretic. The Hexen series is one of the best out there, even as a FPS franchise, and that’s all because it carried on with what we know and loved about id Software’s classic days. This series is surely one that would draw in a lot of attention if modernized.

4. Blood One Whole Unit |Monolith

In the 90’s FPS games were a big deal. Among them were a lot of games that stood out, but one in particular stood next to the id Software franchises and that just happened to be Blood One Whole Unit. Just like DOOM, Wolfenstein, Quake, and many others; Blood One Whole Unit was a game that put players in the role of some unknown hero, but for Blood it just happened to be a man named Caleb. A man out revenge who is tearing the world apart in search of the games final boss. Players would have to find hidden panels, dig through maps for multiple keys, and even navigate mazes of traps in order to stay alive.

Sadly, after Blood One Whole Unit, Monolith shut down and walked away from the franchise, only to never utter another word about it. The biggest kept secret about the game and how early it released in the FPS genres reign? It was quite possibly the first game to offer fans a chance to use alternative fire-modes for weapons within an FPS title.

3. Legacy of Kain | Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics

If there is any series out there that made vampires notoriously vile creatures, it was definitely Legacy of Kain. The series took us on the adventures of Raziel and the big-bad-vampire himself – Kain. Known for its outstanding combat, storyline, and puzzels; Legacy of Kain was an absolutely amazing series, so-much-so that fans actually detested the spin-off game Nosgoth – an online class based PvP title – and let it die. Sadly, the franchise has remained in obscurity for quite some time and very little about it has been spoken since then.

There was even a cancelled game that was revealed in 2013 by some Reddit users, but sadly, even that has fallen into obscurity. It seems, just like The Legend of Dragoon, we may never see this series come back to life anytime soon or at all for that matter.

2. Conker | Rare

Lets face it, we all love this foulmouthed rascal. He drank, he smoked, and he was as belligerent as a boat full of sailors. But we loved the foulmouthed rascal. He was fun to play, he was fun to listen to, and he wasn’t shy to let his mind speak for itself. This little red squirrel had a lot to say and did so quit well with his arsenal of weapons, bad temper, and his fists. Just like any character in the platform adventure genre, Conker was able to find himself in some of the most awkward positions, and never for the best of reasons.

1. Tenchu | Acquire and SIE Studio Japan

Stealth games were all the rave in the PlayStation 1, GameCube, and Xbox era. Among them came Tenchu, a series that was anything, but forgiving. It was a series that rated players on more than just their combat prowess. It rated them based upon their stealth capabilities rather it’s getting caught, silently taking out enemies, and even completing missions in a timely manner. All of this without being caught. This included, at times, assassinating targets that were completely surrounded. Sadly, Tenchu has fallen silent since Tenchu Z and doesn’t seem to be showing any signs of making a return in the future.

What games would you like to see get rebooted or remastered? Let us know in the comments.

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About the Writer:

Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the boarders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. You can find him over on Twitter or Facebook.