8 Iconic Video Game Franchises That Went Completely Off The Rails

3. Pro Evolution Soccer

Probably the best known rival to EA’s goliath FIFA franchise; Pro Evo (Winning Eleven in the States) was always a viable alternative to the nation’s favourite football simulator offering a raft of features and quirks that you just couldn’t get anywhere else.

In previous entries, you could construct your own team and take on a custom designed league – something you couldn’t do on FIFA without commandeering an existing club and booting out their players in favour of your own.

You also had a much more comprehensive creation centre and the gameplay as a whole was much more difficult to master. You couldn’t score too many screamers on Pro Evo; you had to work on your tactics, passing and keep a close eye on the stamina gauge or you’d lose heavily to Man Red every time.

Now, Pro Evo is nothing short of a FIFA clone that seems to work as hard as it can to emulate everything about the rival title. The gameplay is virtually identical, the graphics are about on a level par and, frankly, there’s nothing to buy Pro Evo for – you’ll just buy FIFA like all your friends to maximise the online possibilities.