10 Fatal Video Games That Killed Popular Franchises

There are many reasons why any given franchise might finally give up the ghost, and it often has comparatively little to do with the franchise itself. In many instances, even a good game can inadvertently murder a long-running series, either by underperforming commercially or failing to meet the unrealistic expectations of uninformed publishers.

In many cases, even a relatively popular game can unintentionally topple an empire. After all, publishers expect results, and sometimes they expect too much. Sometimes, even a hugely successful instalment can wind up killing an otherwise lucrative run, and in those instances, the games themselves can’t really be held responsible.

With that said, sometimes a title is just objectively poor, turning people away from a popular franchise once and for good. After all, people demand innovation, and can grow easily bored of endless instalments that refuse to develop meaningfully with the times. In some cases, the death of an entire franchise can be attributed to just one unsuccessful entry: A single game that failed in some way or another, either critically or commercially - or perhaps both.

Here are 10 video games that murdered their respective franchises, and shall henceforth be referred to as franchise killers.

The fifth game in the Alex Kidd franchise, Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle was a huge commercial failure, and resulted in the death of the entire franchise. Previously, Alex Kidd had enjoyed a modicum of success, and was arguably the closest thing SEGA had to an actual mascot. In the 1990s, SEGA's direction changed, and Alex Kidd was soon abandoned in favour of more contemporary characters, like Sonic the Hedgehog.

Arguably, this change was prompted by the failure of Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle, which was heavily criticised for its floaty controls and random, unpredictable mechanics, including an irritating rock, paper, scissors minigame that appeared frequently throughout the levels, and involved no skill whatsoever. The game was also criticised for being shallow, consisting of only eleven stages, and a handful of unique enemies.

Ultimately, Enchanted Castle became the penultimate entry in the franchise, and after a brief attempt to revive the series with Alex Kidd in Shinobi World, it was finally put to rest in 1990. Since then, Alex Kidd has been featured sporadically as an unlockable character in multiple SEGA games, including Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing and Sega Superstars Tennis, but has never been given another shot at his own game.