Continuously bombarded with trailers, announcements, and betas, the gaming community is naturally always looking forward. And unless an older game is considered “classic” or “retro” it often ends up in a $2 bin in some yard sale — forgotten to the times. This list is for those games.
Bully:
Bully, or Canis Canem Edit, is an open world, action-adventure game developed by the now deceased Rockstar Vancouver. It was released in October 2006 to not only great critical acclaim, but much controversy. In one particular instance it was labeled as a “Columbine shooter.” Obviously, this was far from the case. Bully is simply a game with a great sense of humor: where you peg kids in dodgeball, make-out with all the girls you can before art class, and save the school from crazed bullies. A sequel to one of PlayStation 2’s best has yet to be announced, but there has been mention of it in the past. In November 2011, with an interview with Gamasutra, Rockstar executive Dan Houser revealed the studio may focus on a sequel for Bully once Max Payne 3 released, which was in 2012. Further, in September 2013, Dan Houser said he has many different ideas for a Bully sequel. So while many have seem to forgotten about this PS2 gem, Rockstar has not. Whether they are doing anything with the IP, however, remains to be seen.
Chance of a return: 8.5/10
Timesplitters:
The sixth-generation FPS console shooter has been forgotten by many. The series of three games reached its highpoint with Timesplitters 2, which had an extremely impressive score of 90 on Metacritic. At the time of its release in 2002, Timesplitters 2 may very well have been the best split-screen multiplayer-focused first-person shooter ever created. So what happened to the series? Well, developer Freed Radical Games was acquired in 2009 during it’s development of Timesplitters 4 by Crytek. The studio was renamed Crytek UK and development of the 4th installment ceased. In regards to a return to the series, TechRadar spoke to the Timesplitters‘ series developer Steve Ellis, in July of 2013, when Ellis was asked if Timesplitters 4 would ever see the light of day on the 8th generation consoles, he replied “I don’t think there’s any chance that’s going to happen, you always got to the point where the marketing person in the room would say ‘I don’t know how to sell this’ because they want a character that they can put on the front of the box. Every marketing person and every publisher we spoke to [said] ‘You can’t have that as your selling point’.”
Chance of return: 3/10
Sega Soccer Slam:
Sega Soccer Slam is another 2002 game to make the list. The zany, exaggerated interpretation of soccer made it one of most refreshing sports games of all time – especially to play with your friends. Developer Black Box, (the guys who went on to make the Skate Series) has since been shut down, but the IP remains with Sega. However, there has been absolutely no mention of a sequel anywhere. Sega Soccer Slam appears to have bicycle kicked itself off the edge of a cliff into the abyss that is the land of forgotten games. Long live Team Love and ‘eff Team Tsunami.
Chance of Return – 0/10
Jet Set Radio:
Jet Set Radio is symbolic of a time where Sega took more risks in the industry than anyone else. It and its sequel Jet Set Radio Future received great critical acclaim. The former receiving scores such as a 9.6 from IGN at the time of its 2000 release onto Dreamcast. The latter, Jet Set Radio Future is considered one of the most criminally overlooked games ever — Edge ranked the game #44 on its list of “The 100 Best Games To Play Today.”The Xbox game also has one of the greatest video game soundtracks ever. But don’t take just my word – here:
In regards to a pending sequel to the series, a reboot, or just a remaster, Sega doesn’t seem interested. In fact, when Kuju Entertainment pitched an idea for a Jet Set Radio Wii game, Sega rejected it, saying they were not interested in making a new Jet Set Radio for any console. However, the series has both a cult-following and a growing nostalgia factor. This, paired with the fact that the IP is both unique and has a history of quality give it a strong case for an eventual return.
Chance of return: 6.5/10
Dino Crisis:
Fun fact: the first Dino Crisis is the 18th best-selling Capcom game of all-time as of September 2015. Another fun fact: It also has some groovy dinos. The Dino Crisis series, like many other video game series played out like this: Dino Crisis, excellent — Dino Crisis 2, great — Dino Crisis 3, utter garbage. The first two games, especially the first, were a commercial and critical success. The third game achieved neither of these things and essentially brought the series out back and put it down. However, Capcom seems to have a fetish for reboots and remasters at the moment. With that being said, the time seems right for Capcom to bring Dino Crisis back from the dead. Dinosaurs are once again a part of the zeitgeist – with the colossal return of Jurassic Park and surprise hit Ark: Survival Evolved. It seems silly for Capcom to not capitalize on this. But hey it’s Capcom, who knows what they are going to do next –there could be a Dino Crisis cart-racer in development.
Chance of return: 6/10
Disappointed your forgotten game has been forgotten? Let us know your five unremembered series that you think should return in the comments below!
Tyler Fischer is an Associate Writer for MONG who plays video games when he’s not busy researching alien conspiracy theories at 2AM. You can find him on Twitter.
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