5 Iconic Gaming Characters Completely Ruined By One Bad Entry

sega-logo - CopyChange is unavoidable; it just is the way of things. Yet, this hasn't stopped us from hating the result of this process. Woodrow Wilson once said, "if you want to make enemies, try to change something." This has been proven to be truth over and over again. As a wrestling and comic fan, I am overly familiar with the "They changed it, so now I hate it" trope... sadly, sometimes this is true. Video games are the only place where this trope actually is justified. How often have you played a great game only to be horrified by a bad series of sequels? For me, way too often! The story, the characters, location, feel controls and everything that you loved was overhauled and scraped. This has happened again and again. To the horror of fans everywhere, just check out the reaction the last Resident Evil, GTA IV or even the latest Saints Row game. Innovation is a great thing but when develops decide on a total overhaul the results are usually catastrophic. Sadly, classic gaming franchises are first in the firing line for massive changes, as retro classics are "reworked", "improved" or "updated", to the point of it being a different entity. There are a lot of great video game franchises past and present, and this effect is not a blanket one. It affects each one in different ways. With newer franchises, this comes late into the series, usually by the fourth game, when the wheels fall off and it is exposed as a worn out title and past its prime; Tomb Raider: The Angel Of Darkness and Assassin's Creed 3 were nearly unplayable. Tomb Raider has recovered with Tomb Raider: Legend and then the awesome Tomb Raider in 2012. We are still waiting for Assassin's Creed to pick up. It can be done! On that note, it rarely is achieved once a series dips so far there is slim chance of saving it. In the past, one bad game was such a failure that it tanks the entire franchise and kills it dead or kills all the good will that once existed towards it. Here are 5 iconic gaming characters that were completely ruined by one bad game, or a succession of bad games...
 
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Roman Historian, computer nerd, Freelance Journalist, Podcaster, Star Wars Fanboy, and a Sci-fi/Horror über fan with a soft spot for awesomely terrible films. Host of the weekly Wrestleview International Desk radio show on WViDesk.com. Feel free to follow me on Twitter @DarraghWV.