Five Big Franchises — and What Makes Them Tick

Modern gaming is as much about preservation and reiteration of classic properties as it is new technologies and emerging IPs.

Sometimes, the appearance of names from eras past can fall short of expectations, failing to make any impact on the masses, the magic ingredients that made previous incarnations so special is missing — perhaps tonally, stylistically, or simply failing to emulate the quality threshold set by its predecessor.

Others appear to hold back the years, and successfully maintain relevancy, and most importantly, stave off apathy amongst their fan bases.

Here are five of the best.