Countless video game titles have weaved themselves in and out of the public consciousness, with many properties – such as Super Mario Bros., Final Fantasy, and Sonic the Hedgehog – even continuing to this day as full-fledged meta-franchises that encompass various series, subseries, and ancillary media. However, there are also many other gaming properties that failed to take off in a significant fashion, and the following are ones that might need to be revisited.

10. Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare (2001)

Admittedly, being more of a part of a larger video game franchise needing to be revisited, I’d like to see someone go back and follow-up on Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare, which was intended as a grittier and more sci-fi-leaning reboot to the older Alone in the Dark MS-DOS series. Despite obviously borrowing heavy elements from the then-explosively popular Resident Evil franchise, I thought the game had a unique charm to it, as supplemented by its focus on warding off strange, xenomorph-esque monstrosities with light (and even destroying them with light-producing ammo).

9. Okage: Shadow King (2001)

Briefly discussed in another article I wrote, Okage: Shadow King is an extremely quirky but also immensely enjoyable RPG taking place in a strange, Burton-esque setting that’s suspiciously closed off from the “larger world” (if anything else even exists). But by the end of the story, the heroes – having seemingly “liberated” themselves from their world’s hidden god-like figure – part ways to explore the now-larger world around them…only, in one final scene, deuteragonist “Evil King” Stan reappears and promises that things are “just getting started” between him and the main character.

8. Rocket Knight Adventures (1993 – 1994, 2010)

It’s yet another underrated video game franchise that I still love to this day, and I hope (most likely in vain) that 2024’s Rocket Knight Adventures: Re-Sparked! collection will not only attract new audiences to these obscure (yet highly fun) 16-bit titles but might also encourage developers to take one more crack at making a brand-new game. The last entry in the series, 2010’s Rocket Knight, was a less-than-stellar return to the IP that essentially pushed it back into obscurity for 14 more years.

7. Vectorman (1995 – 1996)

Despite almost receiving a third game for the Saturn, Dreamcast, or PS2 before its cancellation, the excellent “run ‘n gun” titles Vectorman and Vectorman 2 constitute a very short but memorable franchise that graphically pushed the Sega Genesis to its limits. I’d still like to see the Vectorman series return in a third entry one day, but I’d specifically prefer it to be developed as a 2.5D title that updates the look of the two Genesis games while also maintaining their original gameplay format.

6. Einhänder (1998)

If only just to bring the original Einhänder back into the public’s attention, I’d like to see a follow-up taking decades (or maybe centuries) later where the peace established between the opposing armies of Earth and the Moon sadly – but inevitably, as our own history sometimes shows us – falls apart. As with my proposed idea for a third Vectorman game, I’d maintain its hybrid 2.5D and 3D level format, but with obviously higher, more advanced graphical assets provided by current-gen platforms.

5. Knuckles’ Chaotix (1995)

While not a necessarily astounding game due to its tedious “rubber band” mechanic effectively handcuffing the player to another character under spotty computer control, Knuckles’ Chaotix for the Genesis’ 32X peripheral is still seen as an interesting curio for its vibrant color palette, eclectic soundtrack, and considerable inaccessibility due to various issues complicating a rerelease. That is a shame because I could see the creative team behind Sonic Mania very easily taking Chaotix and crafting a much better-functioning sequel with an even flashier graphical and audio presentation.

4. Resident Evil: Revelations (2012 – 2015)

Serving as interquels respectively set between the events of RE4 and RE5, as well as RE5 and RE6, Revelations and Revelations 2 each provided smaller (yet interesting) side-stories that not only filled in the gaps of the in-universe years between both pairs of games but also brought back fan-favorite characters who hadn’t been active in the franchise for the longest time. If Capcom was ever willing to develop a third entry, I’d like to see an original story set between RE6 and RE7 – with long-absent protagonist Billy Coen from RE0 possibly returning (and even reuniting with Rebecca Chambers).

3. Shenmue (2000 – 2019)

While I’m very well aware that 2019’s Shenmue III was simultaneously something of a miracle and a disappointment (especially considering the nearly 20-year gap between it and Shenmue II), part of me still wants to see the franchise’s story concluded at some point in my lifetime. Likewise, despite the critical/commercial failure of Shenmue III, series creator Yu Suzuki is still reportedly interested in developing a fourth entry: I’d actually be willing to give Suzuki another chance after the lackluster release of SIII – however, at this point, I feel that Shenmue IV should endeavor to close out the story.

2. Castlevania (1986 – 2008)

Beginning in 1986 and effectively ending with Order of Ecclesia in 2008 (some remakes and a continuity reboot notwithstanding), the mainline Castlevania series is a massive intergenerational story told nonchronologically over numerous games. However, one last major part of the larger saga has still gone unseen outside of references in Aria of Sorrow: namely, the final, definitive “defeat” of Dracula by Julius Belmont in 1999; seeing that Konami is slowly but surely showing some (slightly) renewed interest in the franchise, maybe it’s time to finally make a new entry showing this event.

1. Mega Man Legends (1998 – 2000)

Once again, lamenting the tragic cancellation of Mega Man Legends 3 and also wanting to see part of another larger video game meta-franchise be followed up on, I still can’t help but futilely hope and wish that Capcom will even consider rebooting the Legends subseries. At the very end of Mega Man Legends 2 (released all the way back in 2000), the main hero is stuck on the Earth’s (now techno-formed) Moon with supporting characters back on the former trying to build a shuttle to go rescue him – while an ancient, nebulously defined “system” is reawakening to cause further disaster.