9 Video Game Franchises That Never Beat Their First Instalment

5. Batman: Arkham

There's nothing wrong with Arkham City, Origins or Knight, but the sheer power of having a much tighter narrative, play-space, set of character interactions, unlocks and general pace, thunders Arkham Asylum into the lead overall.

Where latter instalments would embrace open-world aspects to the point where it felt as though a formerly tight experience was fractured and scattered across fairly empty connective tissue, Arkham Asylum hits the ground sprinting, and doesn't let up for the duration.

With a brilliant mix of almost horror-esque design as Joker takes over, Bruce mustering all his wits and cunning on the spot to come out on top felt incredible to see. The "hidden Bat-cave moment" is still an all-time franchise best, and the tone cemented here only factored into Asylum's legendarily satisfying fighting system, or a neat Metroidvania structure encouraging you to see every inch of the island.

Also, Asylum is the only one of these games with a genuinely reasonable amount of Riddler Trophies to find.