8. FIFA 13
I know, I know it's not really a sequel in the traditional sense but FIFA has become a great example of a game series that doesn't have to change too much to be able to sell copies and gain critical respect. The FIFA franchise is a phenomenon in its own right. In many ways, they are a love-hate game for hardcore gamers; on the one hand we say that games need development time and shouldn't be released every year but on the other we pick up yearly versions of FIFA to satisfy our footballing needs. We just have to look at the sales figures, critical success and the response on WhatCulture! in the last month to acknowledge that EA still release brilliant sequels for their football games. FIFA hasn't always had such an easy ride though; throughout the mid-2000s they had intense competition from rivals such as Pro Evolution Soccer as their dominance over the sports genre was questioned. Fifa always had a big advantage of their rivals though due to their use of exclusive licensing, which now includes up to 30 of the world's football leagues. EA's constant tweaking of the series combined with great original features has seen FIFA once again hold a dominance over the football genre. There has been a FIFA game released every year since 1993, some years there are even more than one. They continue to sell and continue to innovate as well change the way we play football games thereby making them a leading example in the sport-genre. There really isn't much more to say about this entry than that. What can be learned: Make sure you're able to capture your niche market and kill off all opposition if you're going to repetitive release similar games each year. Honourable Mention: Madden (any) Personally I've never been as a big fan of the Madden Series, they are usually very confusing for non-American Football fans. This is not to say they are bad games though, they've sold slightly fewer copies than FIFA but have a similar level of critical success.