8 Game Franchises That Deserve To Be Rebooted

With the reboot of Lara Croft Tomb Raider on the horizon, bringing an overhauled game engine, a new, grittier take on the character and a new origin story, there's a lot of talk about what other games should be rebooted flying around. So I thought I'd share a few of my own ideas for reboots, remakes and sequels. Obviously, if it's between getting reboots or new IPs, I'd go for a new game every time, and I don't like the fact that games seem to go in circles like this quite often, considering it's such a young medium. But hey, I'm looking forward to the new Tomb Raider and there's defiantly a few games out there I'd like to see more of. So without further ado, here are 8 game properties that I believe deserve to be given a reboot, by virtue of there being enough in the established universes of the games, or enough appeal in the characters to suggest that a new game would be marketable. And obviously, these properties, for one reason or another have been mistreated and fallen to ruin, making a reboot, and not a real sequel the best approach...

1. OddWorld

Not wholly unlike The Legacy of Kain, Oddworld games each had separate stories, which all came together into the overall chronicle of Oddworld. These were incredibly stylish and entertaining games, which, as the name implies had a very odd sense about them - the characters were really quirky and the stories were quite mad, and at times gruesome. The games' chief success was in their varied styles and gameplay mechanics. I'd like to see Oddworld return in any way to be quite honest. I think it would be cool to set the story in another time, and to look back on the events of the other games as an established mythology, meaning no one would have had to play the originals for the new series to have a sense of continuation. Like Kain, I'd like to see a number of games plotted, each with different stories, characters and game styles, as there is certainly enough potential in the property, in terms of existing characters and the possibilities of dropping new ones into the established environments of the Oddworld.
 
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I am primarily a performer, with particular interest in experimental theatre. I'm also trying to write a kids book. I find the idea of interactive storytelling fascinating and I think Computer Games are one of the most important things that have happened, in terms of story telling potential...I just don't think anyone has properly worked out to use them yet. I keep an art blog here: http://sketchesandscratches.wordpress.com/