9 Indie Video Games That SAVED Doomed Franchises
If you want something done right...
Something we, as gamers, complain about a lot is the same complaint you see in the film industry: "Everything's just sequels, there's no new ideas." But just like in movies there's a reason - we've all got nostalgia sickness and want the things we once loved to continue being in our lives.
We grew up with these classic games, that we loved at the time, and we want more of them. We just want them updated and better.
Sometimes it seems strange to talk about 'classic' games when the industry has only been around for half a century, and really only mainstream for a few decades. But here we are - old folks like me talking about "back in my day we only had two buttons and we were happy to have them".
There are plenty of great games in the classic sphere of time, and there are great games that came out just a decade ago, as well. Just as there are great games coming out now and a few that I hope will be great in the future.
We want our Mario games, Sonics, Call of Duties, but sometimes franchises wither, and they need to be renewed with the vigour of creatives now working in the indie sphere.
9. Advance Wars Became Wargroove
Advance Wars is a turn-based tactical combat game where the player takes control of Andy, the commander of a division of soldiers who serve the Orange Star Army (Red Star in the original Japanese release). It was originally released on the GameBoy Advance in 2001. It was the first game in Nintendo's 'War Series' to get a Western release technically being a sequel to the franchise originally started by 1988's Famicom Wars.
Developed by Intelligent Systems, the same folks who make the much-loved Fire Emblem series, Advance Wars sold like crazy back in the early 2000s, spawning five more sequels on the GBA, Nintendo DS, GameCube, and Wii. The last game in the series, however, was Advance Wars: Days of Ruin on the 3DS.
Chucklefish the indie company who helped publish and distribute such gems as Risk of Rain and Stardew Valley, brought their development arm around to make a cartoony little tactical game called Wargroove in 2019.
Wargroove received praise upon release - not to mention massive sales, breaking even within three days. It also won the IGDA's Best Strategy Game award for 2019.