Top 5 Franchises Due a Return

"With every new generation we get new IP’s, while this should be celebrated, there is always a few that are tossed to the scrapheap. This list looks at some examples of franchises currently locked away in a Publishers back room that could still be fun in 2013.", says CalmDownTom

[Linsolv]

No Bushido Blade; therefor intellectually and emotionally bankrupt.

[MatthewMk2]

Why not start a site and write your own list?

[Linsolv]

1 - Was joking. Thought going overboard would imply that.

2 - I could easily make a list of games that should be brought back, but the problem is that most of the developers who made them are now shadows of their former selves.

- Bushido Blade was one of if not THE strongest fighting game for the PS1, and the strongest 3D fighter IMO ever. But Squaresoft (now SquareEnix) is a joke now. They make games bad. The reason they could make Bushido Blade was because they were willing to take the risk on a game concept that's not mainstream.
- Agree on Timesplitters. Great FPS back in the day. Interestingly made by Crytek so it could easily be done, but they've been making bad choices with their headline franchise so I can't imagine they'd bring it back in a shape I approved of.
- Earthworm Jim, assuming they didn't break the concept by making it a 3D platformer ala Mario 64. That would make the already-frustrating whip mechanic even more frustrating. Doug TenNapel might even be convinced to do it. The devs are out of business, though. Joined up with Double Helix making really awful games like Battleship and Silent Hill: Homecoming.
- EA's Skate. This, or an actually-good Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5. However, Black Box was closed by EA (business as usual at EA) and Activision is making bad decisions all around with the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater franchise and has been since THPS4.
- Last Blade. If Bushido Blade was the strongest 3D fighter, this was IMO the strongest 2D fighter. The mechanics are interesting, the characters are interesting, the art is SNK so you can assume it's probably pretty good, and unlike most SNK games that are built around team-fights, LB and LB2 are 1v1 fighters. Sure, there were more well-loved games out there, but they're all pretty much still being worked on. This one was undervalued and needs a LB3.

Honorable Mentions:
- A return to form for Final Fantasy. Stop assuming that the most important thing is graphics. People liked FF7/8/9, even 10, because of the STORY. Because you told an interesting story about (mostly) interesting people. People liked the turn-based gameplay. For some reason Square thinks (clearly has thought for decades, honestly, what with the slow ramping up of ATB) that the closer to real-time that an RPG is, the better. I don't think that has paid off for them.

[BlackIceJoe]

A new Streets of Rage would be great. I just hope it stays 2D I don't want it to be 3D.