14 Forgotten Video Game Franchises That Desperately Need Sequels

By Scott Tailford / August 7, 2015

Sequels are a weird thing in gaming, as unlike when a movie is championed for coming out of nowhere and telling a unique tale full of incredible characters, a great unexpected story and an all-round progressive approach to camerawork, gamers can focus on what didn't work, using that to fuel hype whilst forever thinking "Well, I can't wait to see how this is going to be in the next one." You saw it with Watch_Dogs' disastrous launch in 2014, a release so bad, delayed and eventually underwhelming it completely ruined what would've been Ubisoft's next Assassin's Creed. Still, that didn't stop people commenting on what a rectifying second instalment that ticked all the right boxes could look or feel like. So, as both E3 and Gamescom are in the bag for 2015, we've got a pretty solid idea of what's coming later this year and across the majority of 2016, but that only covers the most bankable titles production companies need you to know about right now - it doesn't account for the big surprises that always emerge in between. Both Microsoft and Sony have done a great job at righting the next-gen ship after almost two years of scattershot games and over-marketed ideas (RIP Kinect, we hardly knew ye), but it's over to us gamers to point them in the direction of those franchises and/or one-offs we'd all love to see more of.

14. Burnout

Forget Need for Speed, it's the eyeball-searing, side swipe-filled Burnout where it's at. Developers Criterion have confirmed they're working on some new project - having shown it off at E3 2014 - but as for a 'proper' sequel? We've not had one since 2008's Paradise, and even that had an open-world element that, for me anyway, took away from the drop-in, drop-out appeal of an arcade racer. So instead, let's see a proper sequel to something like Burnout: Takedown or Revenge; the games that dove head-first into giving you all sorts of tip-top motors, chicane-filled tracks with occasional long straights - and more excuses to get really good at ramming your opponent clear off the track. Hell, it could even be labelled as a 'remaster'; providing it's one that spruces up the original's frame rate to a glorious 60FPS and includes new achievements/trophies alongside the requisite cars and tracks. In a world where we've not heard from Criterion in over a year and Need for Speed seems to be the dominating driving game outside of Forza (many of Criterion's employees helped out on the fantastic Hot Pursuit from 2010), it's about time such a widely-regarded and instantly enjoyable series made a return to new consoles.