Editorial: Games That Need Sequels!

I know, I know… we all hate sequels.  Too many derivative games, not enough original IPs.  Well, in my opinion, not enough original IPs are getting their due sequels, so that’s where I come in.

This list may as well be called “Some of my all time favorite games” but I’m sure I’m not alone in requesting a sequel for these masterpieces.  I’ll be including a “games that come close” section and I’d love it if commenters could add to those lists (I’ll edit this article appropriately, with credit.)

Blast Corps. (N64) – Considering how far destruction physics have advanced in the past decade (have you SEEN Red Faction: Guerrilla?!) it’s surprising the gameplay mechanic of “destroy everything” isn’t really being used to its full advantage.  For those not in the know, Blast Corps. was a Nintendo 64 game where you piloted a few different mechs in order to blow up buildings in order to clear a path for a nuclear carrier.  Yes, the plot is pointless, and perfecting the game is impossible (I actually e-mailed Rare asking if it was worth the time and they actually replied, “No.”) but the fun of just blowing everything up in creative ways made it one of my all-time favorite games.

Now I don’t know if there are licensing problems… if people are still freaking out about the World Trade Center… if Rare is now in charge of working solely on terrible games… or if they’ve been told that working on old IPs (which they announced they would not do anymore) would lead to a beheading… but Blast Corps. needs a sequel.  How much do you want to bet that Mercenaries 2 sold as many copies as it did because everyone saw how fun it was to just nuke a city and watch it all crumble?  How many copies do you think RF:G will sell solely based on the fact that if you knock out all the struts on a building, it will fall over and break apart accurately?  I’m still crossing my fingers that the PC version will be moddable, but in this day and age of un-moddable PC engines (it’s either UE3, Source, Crytek related, or nothing apparently… *coughDLCcoughBULLSHITcough*) I’m not holding my breath.

All I’m saying is… imagine being able to play something that looks as good as Crysis where you climb into a mech that does somersaults through buildings that get destroyed and accurately fall over.  Imagine flying a jetpack propelled tank into the air and clobbering down onto tall skyscrapers.  This kind of destruction is in other games, but it’s not the main focus point and it’s not done as well as it could be done.

Games that come close: Red Faction: Guerrilla, Mercenaries 2, Earth Defense Force 2017.

Shadow of the Colossus (PS2) – Prequel, Sequel, Side-story, Remake?  I don’t care what you wanna give me, but the gaming world needs a full frame rate game with epic music in which you climb atop lumbering beasts and try to take them down through wits and resilience.  Apparently, “Trico” (third Ico team game, get it?) will be this game, but nobody will really know until (hopefully) E3.  To be honest, I was amazed there were no games that did this kind of game earlier, but considering all the hacks the Ico team had to use just to get the thing running how they wanted, it’s understandable that something so ambitious had to wait for the right hardware to come out.  Now that we’re a generation later and SotC is still considered one of the best games ever, you have to wonder… where the hell are the other games that do the same thing?  Well, I suppose we have a couple to look forward to.

Games that come close: Demon’s Souls (maybe), God of War series (kinda).

Super Baseball 2020 (Genesis, SNES, Arcade) – No, not Sealab 2020, Super BASEBALL 2020!  It’s like Mutant League Football but for Baseball and with a futuristic theme (duh).  This multiplatform title managed to captivate even people who weren’t fans of baseball.  With catchy music, interesting futuristic themes, and the ability to upgrade players into super-saiyan robots, SB2020 has been unmatched in the “future sports” genre.  Considering how dull the sports genre is nowadays, it’s rather sad more people aren’t trying to put out games like this.  No, Mario Sports do not count.  I don’t care if Mario grows mechanical legs in his Soccer game, it’s still not even close to as awesome as it is to hit a home run in SB2020 and watch the pitcher cry out in shame.  No sports game can still quite grasp the awesomeness that was the metal-bat against metal-ball sound of SB2020.

So imagine to yourself a futuristic baseball game where you can create custom characters, piece by piece, enhancement by enhancement, using funds you gain during gameplay for doing actions with more flare (extra 1000 bucks for jumping in order to catch that fly ball.)  Imagine this futuristic world and all the ways you could flesh it out to make baseball more interesting (a hard prospect, I’m sure.)  I dunno, maybe I’m asking for too much, but it’s not like nobody’s been asking for a Mutant League Football sequel ever since that came out.

Games that come close: Blood Bowl (I can only hope)

Rez (PS2/Dreamcast/Xbox 360): I’m going to say this once and only once.  This game was only good on the Dreamcast.  And if anyone reading this can contact Tetsuya Mizuguchi, please ask him why the 360 version has broken music.  I mean, literally, I own the soundtrack for Rez and the 360 version actually has broken music.  Can someone help here?  I’m surprised this wasn’t even patched.

Okay enough bitching, Rez is beautiful, awesome, fun, and probably the one game that has my most logged game hours.  No, you don’t have to be high to play this game and enjoy it… but it doesn’t hurt either.  Essentially inventing the word synthesthesia (thanks Tycho of Penny-Arcade), this game is how you are supposed to blend amazing visuals with amazing aurals.  And despite all this awesomeness, this game gives you an amazing sense of speed.  This is something even racing games often get wrong.  What’s really wonderful is that Rez gets to this point where if you’ve mastered it enough, you’re essentially DJing the game for other people.  I’ve actually played the game just to show it to people and they say, “No, I don’t want to play, I just want to watch you play.”  I’ve even been invited to a party where, upon entering the door,  I was asked to play this game for people; it’s that ridiculously fun to watch.

The real problem I have with the game is that it’s short.  I’m very saddened that the Miz isn’t going to create more levels for DLC on the 360.  My only real hope for any kind of new content is in the form of the renewed IP licenses that Sega recently made.  It’s good to know that at least a company still wants to own this game, but it’s still no guarantee that new content will ever see the light of day.

Games that come close: Frequency (barely), Amplitude (dammit Harmonix, stop with the real-music video games and come back to the goofy techno days!)

Star Fox 64 (N64… like I had to tell you) – As much as the original Star Fox was fun and inventive (OMFG FX CHIP WOOT), it was still a painfully clunky mess.  The game didn’t receive real justice until it came out as Star Fox 64.  Unfortunately, every sequel afterward has been either a clunky mess (DS version) or something the fans never wanted (Dinosaur Planet and Star Fox Assault).  Let’s face it, Nintendo has basically turned this franchise into some kind of sick furry paradise – or maybe the furry culture ruined Star Fox?  Who knows, but it really doesn’t matter because nobody would really care about any of that if Nintendo could just make a new game that played exactly like Star Fox 64 but just had new levels, new music, and maybe one new vehicle.  Nobody cares about being on foot (fuck you Star Fox Assault), nobody cares about plot (fuck you Dino Planet) and nobody cares about Fox’s love affair with whoever (fuck you Star Fox 64 for even starting that.)

Are there even rail-shooter games nowadays?  Are there futuristic jet/spaceship games anymore?  I’m talking well-developed stuff, not that garage game on the Xbox Live Arcade.  Everything that comes out now is in all-range mode with the highest ceiling possible.  In other words, only jet games are really coming out.  Not that that’s a bad thing… HAWX is looking pretty awesome.  But Ace Combat 6 coulda been better…

Games that come close: You tell me, I haven’t seen anything near as good since Star Fox Assault.

I might turn this into a longer running column, but for now you have my top… hah… top 5!