Please Rip-Off Nintendo
OPINION
Remember those early Nintendo titles? Great weren't they? More companies should take those ideas and re-imagine them because Nintendo certainly aren't.
The Legend of Zelda
The Legend of Zelda is one of the biggest gaming franchises ever, so it makes sense for other developers to “borrow” the classic formula, right? Forget the annoying sidekicks and stupid elf costumes; just keep the combination of puzzle-filled dungeons, open-world exploration and epic boss battles that everybody fell in love with. We saw Okami do this way back in 2006 and that game was a massive success.
It would blow my mind if a developer took that old-school style and combined it with the scope of modern games (Imagine collecting heart pieces in a world the size of Skyrim, or fighting moblins in high-definition.) Both a more sophisticated story and voice acting are much needed and a multi-platform release would mean achievements, better graphics and a return to classic controls.
Things to add: Deeper story, voice acting, high-definition graphics, give the main-character some pants
Things to keep: Dungeons, puzzles, adventurous setting, HUGE boss battles
Super Smash Bros.
In my opinion, Super Smash Bros., is still the best party game of all time. The huge roster and four-player brawls are perfect for friends hanging out; the game is just the right combination of competitive and crazy. Fighting games nowadays are dime-a-dozen (i.e. Soul Calibur V, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Street Fighter X Tekken, etc.) but you never seem to get one that takes as wacky of an approach as the Super Smash Bros. series. Seriously, why isn’t there another game with percentage-based endurance?!
An online mode that actually works and a couple of new battle-modes would help switch things up and a story that made sense some sense would also be greatly appreciated. I’d love to see a large company like Microsoft or Sony make a mash-up game like this, but one that capitalized on third-party developers would be even better. Ezio Auditore vs. Isaac Clarke, Cloud Strife vs. Big Daddy, Elena Fischer vs. Lara Croft (wink wink); that’s worth getting excited over. A project that needs so many licensing agreements is obviously unlikely, but hey, a man can dream can’t he?
Things to add: New characters, working online, variety of game modes
Things to keep: Huge roster, tons of items, tons of levels, “percentage-based” endurance
So, what do you think? Should new developers try and compete with Nintendo’s old-school genres, or are you happy with the way things are now? Are there games like this out there that just go unnoticed? Let us know in the comment section below.