We live in a world where sequels, remakes, and their ilk rule the box office and sales charts. Despite this, some games came and went with only a single entry. Some developers created perfection on their first try while others couldn't continue their vision due to studio closure or other reasons.
I've made a list of 5 fantastic games that deserve to be picked back up and given a proper sequel.
Arms (Switch, 2017)
Image: Nintendo
Arms was a pretty early title in the Switch's life and man, was it solid! It was basically Wii Boxing, but every character had springy arms. Each character had their own distinct fighting style and special characteristics to make them stand out and the various arms that could be equipped were so varied and allowed for endless customization. There's a normal glove that could light your enemy on fire on-impact, bird shaped gloves that flew in an arc when you throw a punch, a heavy glove that plows through smaller gloves, and so much more! You could mix and match any two and with the right character, you could make the ultimate fighting machine.
The combat was so deceptively simple. You had your left and right punch, a block, and so forth. But it was essentially a game of rock, paper, scissors with your opponent. When they block, use a grab. When they go for a grab, throw a punch. When they throw a punch, block.
If they decided to make a sequel, they could add a story mode that fleshed-out the lore of the series and could expand on the character backstories. With how great the characters were in this game, a sequel could make some even better characters and add even more depth to the combat.
Kirby Air Ride (GameCube, 2003)
Image: NeoSeeker
Kirby Air Ride is such a unique racing game and it's such a shame that you don't ever hear others talking about it! The controls were incredibly simple: press the gigantic "A" button on the GameCube controller to do nearly everything, except steer. There were many different types of vehicles that behaved differently from the rest and in typical Kirby fashion, lots of enemies to inhale and copy powers from!
It was your typical racing game in many ways, except for one game mode that really set it apart from others: CITY TRIAL. In City Trial mode, you and a bunch of other characters (AI and/or friends via split screen) cruise around on this big open island. You need to gather power-ups to enhance your vehicles. The power-ups would enhance stats such as top speed, charges, offense, and more. You could also find lots of other vehicles all over the city to swap with and you could also find legendary vehicles after finding all 5 of their parts! Lots of cool events could happen in the city, but after the timer runs out, you were put to the test in a race against the others with your vehicle and remaining stat boosts. Such a sweet idea! It was essentially a battle royale/racing game combo.
A sequel could add even more vehicles, different playable characters, an EVEN BIGGER CITY TRIAL, and so much more!
Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE (Wii-U/Switch, 2015/2020)
Image: Eurogamer
PLEASE HEAR ME OUT ON THIS ONE. Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE is a collaboration of Fire Emblem and Shin Megami Tensei originally released for the Wii-U and later received an enhanced port to the Switch.
You could definitely tell that it was a Shin Megami Tensei game at its core for many reasons. The combat relied on exploiting an enemy's weakness to trigger a Session Attack, which is triggered depending on the type of attack used and could be chained into multiple other Session Attacks to do as much damage as possible in one turn. The skill progression system is incredibly similar to Shin Megami Tensei games, using spells like Agi, Zio, Dia, and much more.
The Fire Emblem aspects come in with how each character uses one specific type of weapon and with the Mirages - this game's versions of Personas. They were based entirely on popular Fire Emblem characters, like Chrom, Navarre, and Tharja.
It plays out a lot like a Persona game, but instead of focusing on high school, it focuses on each character's careers, so-to-speak. One character having a cooking show, one being a pop idol, and another playing a superhero on a kid's TV show. Each character was entirely unique and added a different personality to the palette and made for some very enjoyable story beats. Just like Persona, spending time with different characters enhances your bond with them, which in-turn provides benefits in battle and out of battle.
A sequel could follow in typical Persona fashion. With a brand new cast of characters, different careers, different Mirages, and more!
Split/Second (Xbox 360/PS3/PSP/PC, 2010)
Image: Amazon
Split/Second is one of the most intense racing games you'll ever play. Taking place in a fictional TV show, you'll race through different tracks with fictional cars while drifting and drafting off of your opponents. What really sets it apart is the ability to absolutely demolish the entire track with the press of a button.
By doing certain actions such as the aforementioned drifting, drafting, jumping cars, and more, you'll fill up your Power Play meter. You'll use that to trigger different events in different parts of the track, depending on the level of your Power Play meter. Events such as causing an airliner to suddenly crash into the track, a crane crashing onto the ground and creating a shortcut, and lots more!
A sequel was planned, but sadly cancelled. This goes without saying, but a sequel on modern consoles could be just what we need. Imagine the Final Destination movies, but as a racing game. Just give it to us!
Gun (PS2/Xbox/GameCube/PC/Xbox 360, 2005)
Image: Steam
This one's for Tommy! Gun is a western-themed action game that was basically Red Dead Redemption before Red Dead Redemption.
While the world isn't as open as Red Dead Redemption, it was still very much ahead of its time. You could complete missions in whatever way you wanted, similar to Deus Ex. You could take enemies out in a stealthy manner, go out guns blazing, or however you wanted! I guess it's more of a fusion of Red Dead Redemption and Deus Ex.
To quote Tommy: "Gun was the best western video game ever made for about 5 years. Before Red Dead Redemption perfected the genre, Gun set the standard for what a western video game could be. The game never received a sequel because the developers, Neversoft, went into the Guitar Hero business and never looked back."
There we are! All 5 of these games need a sequel ASAP. GET ON IT, DEVS.
PEACE OUT, PEEPS.
