Reboots have been one of the most popular themes of this generation, with Lara, Dante and even Bomberman reinventing themselves with varied degrees of success.
But some franchises are screaming out for a makeover more than others. We hear you in the comments; you're tired of Call of Duty, you think Sonic's in need of a redesign...
In this week's Vote we earmark the game franchises most in need of a reboot - or in some cases, a return to their roots. From our selection of candidates, voting 1 signifies no reboot needed at all and 10 indicates it should've been revamped years ago. Who knows - maybe some developers will even pay attention to your demand.
As always, if there are any games you'd like to see added to the candidates let us know in the comments below. We'll let you know how the results go in a follow-up article next week.
Results
- 1
6.6
Shenmue
- 2
6.2
Star Fox
- 3
5.9
Final Fantasy
- 4
5.9
Resident Evil
- 5
5.8
Silent Hill
Comments
56 comments so far...
JPTiger on 2 Aug '12 said:
There is no page 19 CVG. When the poll finishes it justs sends people to an error link.
photoboy on 2 Aug '12 said:
I'm curious why Shenmue is so high in the rankings. Are people asking for Shenmue 1 to be rebooted or for Shenmue 3? Personally I'd rather have Shenmue 3 than a remake of Shenmue 1. If the sales are crap for a rebooted Shenmue 1, Sega would just abandon any sequels again and we'd be no better off...
Balladeer on 2 Aug '12 said:
Voted above average for Pokémon, Starfox, Final Fantasy and Sonic. Oh God, especially Sonic. Keep the classic gameplay, but please, let's have ALMOST EVERYTHING about the main character changed. And all his friends wiped off the map. Except Tales.
Voted below average for FIFA and Mario. While I'd like to see FIFA remade into something which isn't a football sim, if you're keeping anything about the game there's only so much that can change. And Mario doesn't need remaking. The New Super Mario Bros. series can go burn, but other than that he doesn't disappoint.
El Mag on 2 Aug '12 said:
Army Men.
I really should stop drinking so early.
thelazyone on 2 Aug '12 said:
Star Fox for me
and F-Zero, why isn't that on the list lol
MrPirtniw on 2 Aug '12 said:
I'd love to see a modern X-wing vs Tie fighter! As long as it wasn't dumbed down. I'd also like to see Resi rebooted completely- Wipe out everything and start fresh and make it a survival horror game again. Also, Sonic definately needs sorting out. He may be an icon to furries everywhere but he's a laughing stock to everyone else. A reboot would be a great way of forgetting Shadow and Big ever existed.
Final Fantasy is essentially a new game every time (but always stuck with the same clichés: angsty, effeminate teenagers, monsters and lots of cgi). Not sure it needs rebooting but Square Enix need a good, hard kick to the dangle berries.
StonecoldMC on 2 Aug '12 said:
Project. Gotham. Racing.
Why MS, why
?
richomack360 on 2 Aug '12 said:
Desert Strike
Gunstar Heroes
Road Rash
Cybernator
Probotector
Streets of Rage
Eswat
Golden Axe
Colony Wars
Thunderforce
toaplan on 2 Aug '12 said:
I voted 10 for ShenMue, StarFox, PGR and Elite... because I'd really like those series revived.
I gave a 5 for CoD and Sonic, as those series after MW3 and Sonic Generations seem fairly healthy to me and not in need of drastic rebooting (But I still really want new installments in the series). I only gave a 2 for Tony Hawk and Silent Hill, as I personally don't care for another Tony Hawk or Silent Hill, rebooted or not. Slightly complicated poll
budge on 2 Aug '12 said:
Elite.
Why hasn't this game been made with today's engines/graphics? Baffles the f**kin' mind it does.
AndyR on 2 Aug '12 said:
Good shout - we've just added F-Zero!
AndyR on 2 Aug '12 said:
More good shouts - we've added a few of these.
stealth on 2 Aug '12 said:
how would mario even get a reboot? what a dumb idea
MrPirtniw on 2 Aug '12 said:
Powerstone?
ensabahnur on 2 Aug '12 said:
How do you reboot Fifa? Or Call of Duty for that matter? Even a Mario reboot would be difficult.
I think whoever made this list was on the sauce far too early this morning, probably in the same boozer as Mag.
Ali_ on 2 Aug '12 said:
Road Rash, but with trepidation after the mess they made of SSX.
Ali_ on 2 Aug '12 said:
And surely Res Evil, Silent Hill, Perfect Dark, Final Fantasy and Tony Hawks have already had their chance?
Laughlyn on 2 Aug '12 said:
Road Rash deffinitly and we deff need a new F-Zero game, not so much a reboot, just a new game in teh series since it was missed on the Wii. IT would be quite fantastic looking on the 3DS.
Streets of rage should stay a classic as it is. there are so many 3d scrolling beat/slash/combo/whip em ups thaty just get dull and repetetive that SOR doesnt need to be runined by the same problem.
Also 'reboot' i believed was a term for when a game has grown stale and doesnt sell becaus edevs have run out of iudeas, since pokmeon still sels millions each release and always offers some new twist i doubt it needs a reboot, also couldnt HG/SS be classed as a reboot? Same with mario games, majority of Mario games have always been different (on home consoles) and again, nsmb was a kind of reboot as it took it back to the games original 2d scrolling.
in all honesty the games in the article seem a bit of a poor choice and not quite reboot, but almost 'just a new game' i'd class a reboot as a game series that hasnt really had a significant change or release in 10 yrs or so, like Road Rash, Skitchin, Nights (the wii version was awful and should just be struck off history) Sonic should be canned cos they awful nowdays and has had so many reboots already he just needs booting off., bring back Gex, Clockwork Knight, Geist, Panzer Dragoon, Jet Force Gemini, Zombies ate my neighbours. they're real games that deserve reboots not some kiddiefied journos wishlist of new releases for games that havent had a release in a couple years
WHERESMYMONKEY on 2 Aug '12 said:
This quations a bit redundant really because half of the games on the list work in such a way that they are basically rebooted everytime anyway. As althought the games have the same name like Final fantasy for example the actual games themselves bear little to no relation to the previous one in the series. Same goes for pretty much every Nintendo game on the list.
What most people actually want for most of the games on that list are sequels. then again amybe its best that some games are left in the memory. Like Shen Mue. its already had a reboot. It's names Yakuza and there's been 6 of them to date.
Laughlyn on 2 Aug '12 said:
Also, MS need to stop being such control freaks and stop spitting dummy out and allow both themselves and Nintendo to have a new Killer Isntinct game on both the Wii U and either curent or next gen Xbox
AJDarkstar on 2 Aug '12 said:
Rogue Squadron.
F-Zero.
Star Fox needs a decent sequel to Star Fox 64.
RoOhDiNi on 2 Aug '12 said:
Ecco too needs a reboot. Panzer Dragoon. Oddworld games. Turok.
richomack360 on 2 Aug '12 said:
Wahoo ! bring back Gourmond and his frying pans !
ensabahnur on 2 Aug '12 said:
I'd reboot Turrican, Silkworm and International Karate + for XBLA/PSN or The Last Ninja series. Nothing from this gen or last needs rebooted.
El Mag on 2 Aug '12 said:
Fear Effect.
I've sobered up now.
RoOhDiNi on 2 Aug '12 said:
@ photoboy
The clunky controls of the original sure would benefit from a makeover. I'd really like to see what a game like Shenmue would be like taking advantage of the Wii U's GamePad. Also, imagine Shenmue with voice recognition, that would make the game's many interrogation sequnces a lot more interactive and exciting.
ensabahnur on 2 Aug '12 said:
Are you sure, or do you just really want a game featuring some lady loving?
Agent75 on 2 Aug '12 said:
Quite a poor list. I thought it would of been better to include games that haven't had a sequel for years, franchises that died year ago. Road Rash and Shenmue are justified I suppose. No Wave Race or Stunt Race FX which would be ace on the Wii U and 3DS. Konami are obsessed with Castlevania and Metal Gear, a new Legend of the Mystical Ninja would be cool. Project Gotham was pretty good on the Xbox 360, so a new one on the Xbox 720 would be a bonus. Also, Shox on the PS2 was ace. EA have knocked out way too many Need for Speed games, most of which are crap to average. Going back to Road Rash, they could do what was done with Burnout Paradise and have a mix of cars and bikes, but mainly being based on bikes. Being a gamer since the mid 1980s, the list is almost endless. A new Buggyboy and Renegade (Commodore and Spectrum games) would add to the ace list. I best stop...
Agent75 on 2 Aug '12 said:
Star Fox on the SNES wasn't all that good to be honest. I know there was a sequel but it got canned. The one on the N64 was pretty good, but I think the 3DS version was a bad move by Nintendo, they should of spent the time and money on Wave Race 64 (on the 3DS). Star Fox on the GC was done by NAMCO which I thought was crap. There's hundreds, if not thousands of games out there that need a sequel, but a new Star Fox isn't really justified at the mo.
El Mag on 2 Aug '12 said:
That would just be a bonus.
The other two games were decent though if my fuzzy mind remembers right. And I remember seeing a trailer years ago for a cancelled third game in the series called Inferno.
Gretzky on 2 Aug '12 said:
I was torn on that one to be honest as I fear a complete reboot would lose the magic. In the end I went for a 10 because I just want an HD re-release of Shenmue 1+2, SEGA are never going to take the risk on Shenmue 3. I just want to be told "Kiss off, twit!" in glorious HD. Is that too much to dream for?
ensabahnur on 2 Aug '12 said:
Yeah there was a 3rd game planned. Only ever played the first one and got stuck at a bit then never ever returned to it, never played the second but i remember the promotional images of 2 ladies in suggestive poses. Think i may actually still have my PS1 disc of the original, might slip it in the PS3 for a try.
Queen Skillage on 2 Aug '12 said:
The second Fear Effect is great. I got it off the PS store a while back, it's got more survival horror to it than anything that's been out this gen on consoles.
lonewolf2002 on 2 Aug '12 said:
http://www.starwraith.com/evochronmercenary/
Maybe this will suffice until an actual Elite gets released?
HarryJack on 2 Aug '12 said:
Oh balls, I thought the rating system was just CVG changing the page selector again, luckily I voted Shenmue 10!
thelazyone on 2 Aug '12 said:
Wicked man, F zero all the way!
thelazyone on 2 Aug '12 said:
Wicked man, F zero all the way!
SirDMCalot on 2 Aug '12 said:
It doesn't need a reboot, it needs a sequel. One or two of the other games need a sequel, not a reboot.
a3HeadedMonkey on 2 Aug '12 said:
If you think I'm clicking through 22 pages just to see a list of games that could have been on one, you have another thing coming.
Your multi-page bulls**t you do, just for more ad hits, has reached a new level of fail, CVG. Good day.
KK-Headcharge78 on 2 Aug '12 said:
Road Rash by a miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiile.
Streets of Rage is dead live with it an d Wipeout outdid F-Zero over a decade ago the rest can go hang although why Resi and COD are in this list is strange.
flyfletch on 2 Aug '12 said:
Hellfire, Viewpoint, Thunderforce, UN Squadron, Samurai Showdown, Super Mario World, Super Castlevania 4 and Actraiser....I could go on and on lol
Forgot one, super Ghouls and Ghosts!!!
budge on 2 Aug '12 said:
That looks right up my alley but unfortunately i haven't got a PC otherwise i would've been deep into EVE online by now.
slick loose on 2 Aug '12 said:
Out of that lot, Pokemon....it needs to be 3-D now!
As for my own personal choice, it has to be Soul Reaver...I think a current gen version would be ace!
MagicBoughie24 on 2 Aug '12 said:
The Conflict series, like Desert Storm, Vietnam and Global Storm.
MagicBoughie24 on 2 Aug '12 said:
Ty the Tasmanian Tiger
Balladeer on 2 Aug '12 said:
http://assets12.pokemon.com/assets/cms/img/video-games/xd/xd_maindetail.jpg
TerrorK on 3 Aug '12 said:
None. Reboots are stupid. Especially when they just name themselves EXACTLY the same thing as the previous game. As a long-time gamer I'm sick of having to qualify what games I'm talking about whenever I'm having a gaming discussion and list names like Mortal Kombat, Syndicate, Tomb Raider, Prince of Persia, etc. and have to clarify constantly that I'm referring to the original games from the 90's and not their modern reduxes.
I'm also sick of reboots that retcon everything and become something entirely different. Game developers are getting as bad as Hollywood lately: no fresh ideas to they have to reboot, or they want to put something different out there, but sponge of an existing name to try and guarantee sales rather than actually have a completely new I.P. Instead they end up just tagging on a name to the game that often seems like an insult to the original source material.
By all means make more games for these series', and perhaps even give some a major overhaul if they're golden oldies, but please... no more full-on retcon reboots and no more friggin' games with the EXACT. SAME. BLOODY. TITLES!
slick loose on 3 Aug '12 said:
Agent75 on 3 Aug '12 said:
Strange how SEGA have knocked out quite a few Yakuza games, yet there's no Shenmue 3. They're both the same sort of game, so there's no excuses. But Shenmue 1 and 2 flopped, so I suppose that's the reason why there's never been a Shenmue 3. Can't say I'm bothered about HD remakes of 1 and 2 as I've finished them both anyway and I just can't see SEGA paying into that.
lordirongut on 3 Aug '12 said:
There are two franchises in particular that don't need a reboot on that list, and pretty much for opposite reasons: Pokemon and Final Fantasy.
Pokemon simply wouldn't be Pokemon without the formula it has now - the collection aspect and the simplistic but deceptively deep battle mechanics are what make Pokemon what it is. They've been honed to such a fine polish and have become so synonymous with Pokemon that to change the formula significantly would ruin it.
Conversely, Final Fantasy changes so much with each new main series game that there's no need for a reboot. In it's own way, each new game is a reboot unto itself. Literally, only three things survive with each new Final Fantasy: Naming conventions, Moogles and Chocobos. Everything else is done new and from scratch.
sh4dow83 on 3 Aug '12 said:
Actually, Shenmue doesn't need a reboot, it just needs to be F-ING CONTINUED, DAMN IT!!
starwarsjunkie7 on 10 Aug '12 said:
WE NEED AN ONLINE SEQUEL TO ROGUE SQUADRON. THAT WOULD MAKE MY LIFE. THAT GAME WAS (ALMOST) PERFECT. LUCASARTS, Y U LET FACTOR 5 SHUT DOWN!?!?
dethmart on 3 Nov '12 said:
Love to see a new version of 'Road Rash', also I'd like to see nintendo do wave race on the wii u
JustOneMoreGo on 4 Nov '12 said:
Yep. As has Sonic, which they just need to stop making altogether as they can't f**k it up any more than they already have.
Shenmue doesn't need a reboot, it just needs to have an ending.
Elite is about the only game that really needs a reboot, with pretty much everything else being fine as they are home to reboots that turned out to be complete disasters.
brownboy90 on 26 Feb '13 said:
I though Sonic had a kinda reboot. And fifa gets rebooted every season! Zzzzzzz F-zero and Starfox for me! Though Star Fox was re done on the 3DS. That was a re-boot!
Bambis Dad on 26 Feb '13 said:
I wouldn't mind seeing X-Wing re done.