10 Video Game Franchises With The BEST Spin-Offs

10. Metal Gear Solid

The Metal Gear Solid universe is one of gaming's more quixotic creations - a place where 15-minute monologues on global politics are juxtaposed with fist-fights between half-naked clones, and where covering yourself in bees gets you a spot in an elite commando unit (as opposed to a psychiatric institution).

Thankfully, that anything-goes attitude extends to MGS' delightfully daft spin-offs.

Take the non-canon Metal Gear Ac!d games (yes, it really is spelt like that). These PSP exclusives transform the stealth-action gameplay the series is known for into a turn-based card game, where you control Solid Snake exclusively via your custom-built deck. Even further upending of the tea table can be found in the Digital Graphic Novel, a comic-book retelling of the original Metal Gear Solid that asks players to scan each panel for MGS-related trivia. It sounds dull, but for Metal Gearheads it's an utterly absorbing experience and a darn fine retelling of one of the series' better stories.

But of course, the tubthumping pinnacle of MGS spin-offs is the one whose photo adorns this very entry - Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, a game so good even an ESL teacher can forgive its heinous assault on the English Language. After all, it's hard to stay mad at a game that starts has you chopping a giant robot in half within 10 minutes of starting, and culminates in a fight against a half-naked US Senator who pauses the fighting to - yes! - monologue on global politics. 

Because even in spin-off land, there are some tropes Metal Gear can't bring itself to shake.