10 Gaming Franchises Sega Really Need To Resurrect
It's not all Sonic and Football Manager, y'know.
Every gamer out there knows that successful franchises are the lifeblood of any big name publisher. One of the oldest and most innovative companies in existence, Sega knows that better than anyone. After all, these are the guys who publish Football Manager, Total War, Yakusa and seemingly endless games starring a certain blue hedgehog.
In recent years we have seen the resurrection of Phantasy Star, Crazy Taxi, House of The Dead and Super Monkey Ball among others, and even more recently it was announced that both Shenmue and Wonder Boy are making a comeback.
So that begs the question - why they have ignored so many classic franchises from their vast back catalogue? Let's take a look at 10 such games, solid gold hits that, with the right tweaks and reimaginings, would deserve a place in gamers’ hearts once more.
10. Alex Kidd
Sega’s answer to Super Mario Bros., Alex Kidd first appeared on their own Master System console back in 1986 in his titular game Alex Kidd in Miracle World. He would go on to become the poster boy for Sega’s impressive 8-bit machine starring in no less than 5 different games.
That was until a certain blue hedgehog came onto the scene 5 years later and changed everything. Alex Kidd just didn’t seem cool anymore, Sonic was the character all the kids wanted. After one outing on the Mega Drive it was game over for the Kidd and the character was soon forgotten about.
In more recent years Alex Kidd has popped his big eared head back up again making several cameos in games such as Sega Superstars Tennis and Sonic All-Stars Racing Transformed. A collection of his games also appeared as a download for both Xbox 360 and PS3.
With 2D platformers enjoying somewhat of a renaissance lately with titles like Super Mario Bros. U and Rayman Legends, surely Alex Kidd deserves a chance to impress a new generation of gamers? Because of it's style it wouldn't need much of a makeover either, just stick to the old mantra of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". Just give us some good old-fashioned 2D platforming please, oh and a level designer (Mario Maker style) would be very nice too.