10 Games That Desperately Need A Sequel

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We’re not looking for a spiritual successor here, people. We want the real deal. We want true 2D action, true near-death experiences prevented by a single double jump, and true hardcore difficulty. We want it all. Sadly, with the death of the 16-bit era, it appears that has resulted in the death of this franchise, as well. Arthur in MvC3 can suffice as a nice shout-out and all, but we‘re really hankering for another game in the series. Capcom: make it happen.

Remember what we said about spiritual successors? The same rules apply here. While Okimiden was certainly nothing to scoff at, we want a legitimate sequel with Amaterasu that is fit for console gaming. Hell, we’d even be pleased with the possibility of running it on the upcoming Wii U, so long as that was excuse enough to see the goddess of the sun back on our gaming radars. The creative techniques of the first game could even prove to be successful on the new console. Hey, Nintendo! Are you listening? 

Even in the 90s this game proved to be ahead of its time. It didn’t play like anything else on the market, but being that it arrived when the Genesis was on its last legs, it was unfortunately shuffled to the sidelines. Regardless of its misfortune, Comix Zone definitely deserved more attention than it received. It was a pretty awesome beat-em-up that we still remember fondly today. With comics invading the multiplatform territory right now, just think of the endless possibilities involving the the game’s protagonist, Sketch Turner, fighting in eComics these days. We. Want. This. Game. Now!

Did you know the abomination that was Fighting Force was initially supposed to be Streets of Rage 4? But because Eidos wanted to go all cross-platform on that ass, Sega pulled the SoR name from the title. Thank God for that, because real SoR fans never wanted Fighting Force. We wanted a straight, no bullshit follow-up with Axel, Blaze, Skate and the rest of the bare-knuckle crew. Unfortunately, we never got it. And no, we don’t want it to be in 3D. 2D would be banging. HD is preferable. Throw in a multiplayer angle and we’re golden. Man! This list is harder to write than we thought it would be because we fear how viable these suggestions are…(teardrop).

Along with Power Stone, Saturday Night Slam Masters is probably Capcom’s most criminally underappreciated titles in their entire stable of games. Why? We have yet to come up with a reasonable idea to answer that question. What we’d love to see is an update with Mike Haggar coming off of the Marvel vs. Capcom 3 circuit, and wanting to kick some butt because, you know, he loves doing it. This is one game on this list that actually could (and should) make the 3D jump. We imagine it would play something like the WWE games, but flashier and with Hadouken special moves. If only.

Talk about a major disappointment. What was supposed to be an epic, 16-chapter saga eventually ended up as two games encompassing only five chapters. One of these wasn’t even in the game but, instead, published in a Japan-only released manga. Dandy. The first game for the Dreamcast was undoubtedly one of the best titles for what was an exceptional console. But we knew there would be problems when the sequel never made it to the Dreamcast in the US, going straight to the X-Box sans features that we were promised. And then, there was nothing. Sources say that we’re in for a whole boatload of more nothing, and that’s that. If there were ever a game that desperately needed a sequel, it’s this one. Unfortunately, like the other games on this list, it doesn’t seem to be in our near future. Another criminal act. 

Yes, we know that most gamers out there could care less about Billy and Jimmy Lee of Double Dragon fame, as nobody’s calling Gamestop for any of THEIR games. But justice must be carried out. Battletoads got both an arcade follow-up and a sequel for the SNES. While we’d love to get another one of their games for a modern day console, we’d much rather get another crossover classic starring both the toads AND the dragons. We just can’t get enough. However, let’s face it: both series could use an update to withstand the shower of glossy games out there. An arduous task or not, the Ultimate team needs to rise again! Bring ‘em back, please. Bring ‘em back. 

If we’re talking action-horror games here, it doesn’t get any better than Eternal Darkness. We’ve definitely seen our fair share of the two genres: Resident Evil has its action, and Silent Hill has its psychological frights. Eternal Darkness, however, amazingly had both of those in equal abundance, with its sanity meter being its biggest draw. Sanity’s Requiem has a beautifully told story to boot, with each “stage” effectively functioning as another chapter in the Roivas family history. It was a game that begged for a sequel, and it was even promised for a while, but we haven’t seen anything from it since. For shame. 

Rare is just cruel. It’s been teased and hinted at since the last game, but Killer Instinct – the series most famous for its ultra combos – hasn’t gotten a sequel since Killer Instinct Gold, which was just an N64 version of KI2. What doesn’t make sense is Rare’s refusal to acknowledge fans’ clamoring for a follow-up to this game. It might be fair to assume that the development team is afraid that they’ll produce another bust like Banjo-Kazooie (Nuts & Bolts was nothing to write home about). We don’t know. But with both Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat making major comebacks in this past decade, it begs the question: why not? The fighting genre is alive and kicking, so…where is it?

Chrono Trigger typically seems like the prime title for discussion when considering what games we want to see more of. Well, Chrono Trigger HAD a sequel, and it was Chrono Cross. Might this oversight be because of people not knowing of Chrono Cross for some reason? No, of course not. It was a very popular game upon release, and lots of people played it. So, what’s the deal? Well, some argue that Chrono Cross was not a suitable follow-up to the masterpiece that was CT. We beg to differ. Chrono Cross was amazing, and an excellent sequel to its quality predecessor.

But here’s the thing: what made CC so great was that it was distinguished enough from CT while still retaining many of the elements that made the original great - like interesting side characters, the ability to skip battles, multiple endings, and an excellent storyline and music. At the end of the day, that’s really all CT fans want: another sequel that does what the first two titles did, but with a unique perspective. Whether it’s time travel, jumping between parallel dimensions or something totally different, we want another game in the franchise. In fact, we want it so badly that we’d actually trade all of the games on this list just for the once rumored Chrono Break. We are not joking. Please, Square Enix, we’re begging you. Within our lifetimes, make this game happen. Love, the gaming staff at Complex.