8 Worst Spin-Offs From HUGE Video Game Franchises

In 2017, during the decade-long wait between the third and fourth main Pikmin games, Nintendo foisted the handheld spin-off Hey! Pikmin upon fans. 

And while in theory a handheld Pikmin for the Nintendo 3DS made complete sense, Hey! Pikmin ill-advisedly watered-down the series' much-loved core gameplay.

Swapping out the expected 3D real-time strategy mechanics for 2D side-scrolling platforming makes the resulting experience so simplistic as to be genuinely boring. 

It's linear, repetitive, and just too damn easy for its own good, ensuring that anyone who enjoyed the complexity and surprising challenge of the mainline titles was left with a game that felt like a desperate attempt to appease fans impatiently waiting for a new mainline Pikmin.

Despite this, Hey! Pikmin underperformed commercially, with the major gameplay shift likely being primary responsible for the lack of interest among all but the series' most die-hard fans.

Though the game's lackluster sales led many to believe that Nintendo might just give up on the cult IP entirely, thankfully they didn't, even if fans had to wait until 2023 for Pikmin 4 to finally release.