10 Video Game Franchises With The BEST Spin-Offs

Not every Resident Evil spin-off has been a success (if you've never played Operation: Raccoon City then for the love of God, keep it that way). But when Capcom's signature zombie series hits, it hits hard.

Hell, you don't need to look outside the main games in the series for proof of that last statement. With Mercenaries mode, Resident Evil has been nestling one of its best spin-offs inside each of the numbered instalments for years now . A staple of the franchise since Resident Evil 4, Mercenaries turns Capcom's survival horror games into an arena-based shooter where the series' iconic cast blast their way through the respective game's bestiary. As a free addition to Resident Evils 4-6, Mercenaries is a staggeringly generous, monstrously addictive slice of content (and in the case of RE 6, arguably the only reason to buy the game).

Of course, not all of Resident Evil's best spin-offs are unlockable bonuses (mores the pity). The Chronicles duology retold the stories of the numbered games via the light-gun genre, and did a damn fine job of it. Umbrella Chronicles in particular, with its numerous side missions and unlockables, is easily the most content-rich light-gun game ever made.

And of course, there's the Outbreak games which are famous for two things - offering online multiplayer on the PS2, and letting you fight a zombie elephant in a T-virus infected zoo (hopefully the writers of the upcoming Resident Evil movie reboot take their inspiration from Outbreak so we can enjoy the cinematic majesty of "Resident Evil: We Fought A Zoo").