Let's assume the planets align and you've somehow managed to land a spot as a head designer for a video game franchise, one that needs some serious repair to become awesome again. If you had the chance, what franchise would you fix, and how would you fix it?

Probably out of sheer nostalgia for some of my younger days, Crash bandicoot, the first three games where fantastic, but after that...kinda meh. I would pretty much just make the games...better, and much more akin to the first 3.

Sonic. Un-make all the 3D games after SA2 and make more Sonic Rush-esque titles. Or...3D ones that don't suck.

Hear, hear. There'd be a great franchise to fix.

I'm surprised no one's mentioned one of Capcom's franchises.

Here's how I'd fix Megaman:

-Make an official ending for X, and maybe Classic.
-Clean up some plotholes.
-Cut down the repetitiveness: you can still kill eight bosses, but there's more to do beyond that.
-Make a Megaman RPG with sickass real-time combat.

And, while we're at it:

-That thing where the Guardians in MMZ died when Omega exploded? Yeah. That didn't happen due to how frickin' lame it is. Instead, they...I dunno. Gave all their energy to Zero for him to kill Weil. And the energy was their life force, manifested in the form of Getter Rays or something. Yeah. Anything else would work, really.

Or maybe they all died during the aftermath. Like, they sacrificed themselves in the mop-up of Weil's forces or something.

I'd fix up Mega Man for sure. I'd make a 3-D Original Series game that utilizes the WiiMote for the aiming. Simultaneously, bring an official end to the Classic Series that ties in to the X Series.

I'd also make a more decent 3-D X Game, either for the Wii or the PS3. I think a Legends 3 is also in order.

Mega Man aside, I'd like to make more Mario games that have Luigi in it. Perhaps add two player simultaneous co-op action.

"Mega Man aside, I'd like to make more Mario games that have Luigi in it. Perhaps add two player simultaneous co-op action."

Have you forgotten the single greatest Mario game ever?



Awww yeah.

*shutters*

I have no idea what I was thinking when I played that game. I can't believe I drained time out of my life to beat it.

What I meant was have games where two different players play as both Bros, at the same time. So I mean, not just have one brother or the other, but rather both.

So, here's how I'd fix the X series. Boy, there's a lot to discuss with that one, isn't there?

First off, we'll start things off by returning to the original 5-game premise that Inafune had wanted in the beginning.

Add more story factor, like in MHX. Revamp the beginning game by using MHX as a base. We'll also incorporate Xtreme 1 and 2 into the first three games, perhaps as a canon-friendly bonus for beating X2 and X3. In other words, we'll continue the story: they are bonuses, but it is canon. Also, with Xtreme 2, you have a chance to develop Zero and Iris's relationship, so you can make Iris a better character and help improve the fourth game.

Naturally, X2 and X3 would be a bit different as Dr. Cain apparently gets nuked in MHX (don't argue with me, people, the standard anime formula more or less shows him getting nuked. I'm not debating it.) But, the general theme for X2 and X3 remains (Rebuilding Zero, and Doppler and Sigma's collaboration). However, include more references and influences from Wily in these three games.

X4 would have to be done much differently, but the general plot will still be used. First of all, give General and Colonel a much more solid, much more believable reason for starting a coup. Then, remove Magma Dragoon, Cyber Peacock, and Split Mushroom from the mainstream boss battles. Make them endgame bosses like Colonel, Iris, and General instead. Why didn't I mention Double, you ask? That's easy: Double's inclusion was pointless. His role could have been done much better by, you guessed it, Magma Dragoon. By replacing Double with Dragoon, you can increase the tension factor when Dragoon is revealed as a traitor. Also, Dragoon makes a much better double agent than that bumbling metallic tub of lard ever could.

This goes without saying that fighting Dragoon should be a much more difficult, but that much more awesome, boss battle. Again, include his reasoning for betrayal (wanting to fight X and Sigma giving him the chance). Meanwhile, continue on with the basic tension between Zero and Colonel during the Maverick uprising. This will naturally put a strain on the relationship between Zero and Iris, which will eventually culminate in the battle where Zero is forced to defeat and destroy Iris, causing heartbreak and angst for the Bishie-Bot.

Again, have Wily influences in X4. Goes without saying.

Finally, we reach the X-series endgame: Mega Man X5. Again, we'll stick with the Eurasia plot. However, make Wily's influence in this game much more obvious. Also, make the colony drop feel that much more urgent. Go back to the anime cutscenes. Make it so that the game gets harder as Eurasia gets closer. In the end, have Wily himself appear as a boss alongside Sigma.

And of course, make the final boss X or Zero, depending on the character you choose. And make the battle epic. I mean absolutely epic. Make the character much more difficult (X was irritating with the Ultimate Armor and X4 attacks, and Zero was just lame in the current X5) and give Zero a much more solid reason for turning on X and the Hunters. Tension across the games (especially with Iris) can influence this, such as more connections between Zero and the Maverick Virus.

Naturally, the ending of the game would involve X's victory over Zero, and X taking the Z-Saber in memory of his friend. Leave the ending open for MMZ1, and then proceed to revamp that series (but leave Zero 1 alone, that game was pretty much perfect).

If you do the multiple endings for X5, make it so that they all tie into one another, not have radically different ending scenarios. This gives replay value, as to fully understand the end of the game, you have to take all the different routes to see each side of the story.

That's how you fix a series, ladies and gentlemen.

And the great RisingDragon has spoken

You do make a few points there

The series lack certain storyline-parts that it really needed. MHX was a great way to put more story in a MMX game.

Ofcourse the story needs some changes, like with the nukage of Cain. so no cain in the rest of the series.

In X2, use Doppler in his place, making the story more dramatic in X3

Aside from MegaMan,

Sonic 3d games need a makeover, the only decent games were SA1 and SA2 on the Dreamcast. after that = suckage

Mario is getting his regenration this week, so no problems there
Metroid is great
Starfox is doing better
Final Fantasy finally gets some new games and no ports.

These are just some of my favorite franchises

In general I think that the best way to "fix" a franchise is to back to it's roots when it was still great, and add some new stuff that will not interfere with the old things. try to improve the graphics a little if it is on the same console and try to make it look better. a small sidestory-game can never hurt (a lot) and try to experiment with completely new things.

Since a few people have told me to post this somewhere...

I'll just take Sega's' Sonic series, yeah.

Not ALL the Sonic games after SA2 are bad, in my opinion.

So here's what I'd fix/change/whatever.

Heroes: The only things wrong were that the graphics were a tiny bit too bright, and that Knuckles and Tails didn't do Super. I'd fix those.

Battle: I'd make Knux(when you first fight him as Emerl) a tiny bit easier, either than that, fine.

ShadowTH: Fine, the only hate being towards the, "FINE ZE WANDERINGS CHAOSES!", mission. Well, and the VAs, but in my opinion, this game was when they were all at their best(Also, the current Eggman VA has always been good, IMO).

Rush: Fine the way it is.

2006: It can go die. I'd introduce Silver in a different way.

Secret Rings: Jason improved for this game(coulda done better on Darkspine Sonic's' voice, though), and overall pretty good.

Rivals: God does the storyline suck, I'd change that. But gameplay wise, not bad.

Riders: Like Rivals, the story is in need of major improvement. The gameplay is great, though.

Rush Adventure: Great, yay.

I believe I've named them all, if not, I'll add them to this list later.

Edit: OH I forgot the Advance games, their fine. Yeah...

Edited by DreamSword on November 8, 2007 at 13:20:14.

Every gaming series ever made: Demand that Miyamoto and Nomura work on pretty much anything you throw at them that needs fixing. Seriously.

Edited by Teej on November 8, 2007 at 20:56:54.

But seriously, what would you fix, Teej?