If there is one thingNintendofans can count on, it’s the idea that Nintendo never truly abandons a franchise they created. Yes, they may let it lie dormant for decades, likeKid Icarus, but they always seem game to try something again.
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Still, there are plenty of first-party and third-party games from Nintendo’s past that never received a single sequel. In this age of remakes and remasters from nostalgia, the time is now for these fires to be rekindled and there are certainly plenty of Nintendo exclusives to choose from.
10Code Name: Steam
Intelligent Systems is known most notably forAdvance WarsandFire Emblem. This3DSgame from 2015 was like a combination of both of those franchises with a moreX-COM-like approach to gameplay. It also had a whacky premise wherein President Lincoln was recruiting a global set of warriors to fight off aliens.Code Name: Steamwas far from perfect forthe 3DS system, but it still deserves a second shot.
9Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem
This game is heralded as one of the must-own titlesfor the GameCubealong with being a horror legend. It released exclusively for theGameCubein 2002. Attempts have been made over the years to get a sequel. When that didn’t happen via Silicon Knights, the director of the game, Denis Dyack, turned to Kickstarter to make a spiritual sequel viaShadow of the Eternals. That didn’t turn out either.
8Henry Hatsworth In The Puzzling Adventure
The title is as much of a mouthful as is the gameplay. This was aDSexclusive from EA in 2009. The top screen was an action platformer while the bottom was a match-3 style puzzle game.
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Players had to defeat the blocks in order to ensure the top screen wouldn’t be invaded. It could be a handful to juggle at first but worked well with practice.
7Gunple: Gunman’s Proof
Let’s go back to 1997 in Japan with thisSNEShidden gem.Gunplecan best be described as a Wild West version ofThe Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Pastspliced withEarthBound. If that sounds great, then it’s high time to check it out onthe SNES system. Unfortunately, it both never came out over here or even got a sequel in Japan. The silver lining here is that there has been an English fan patch.
6Shadow Of The Ninja
Going back even further, this released in 1990on the NES. It’s a ninja action platformer, which is still great today, but what sets it apart is the co-op. For the sake of clarity this game almost got a sequel on the Game Boy. However, it was later changed into aNinja Gaidengame instead which was calledNinja Gaiden Shadow. ThisNESgame makes it on here then on a technicality.
5Radiant Historia
This time-traveling RPG hit the DS in 2011 in North America, making 2021 this territory’s 10th anniversary. At its core, it is a turn-based RPG with not a lot to it. However, it’s also a puzzle game in that one has to change events in history in order to progress. It later got an enhanced port on the 3DS in 2018, which was good, but not as good as a sequel.
4Fragile Dreams
There aren’t many RPGs that onecould call horrordirectly.Bloodbornecomes to mind along withCastlevaniabut the point is there aren’t many.Fragile Dreamswas another attempt at the genre. It was an action RPG on theWiiwhich released in 2010 in North America. It didn’t get tremendous reviews, but they were decent enough to justify a sequel to hammer out the kinks.
3Pokemon Conquest
There have been manyPokemonspinoffs over the years but this might be the best and or strangest. This blended the Pokemon series with Nobunaga’s Ambition which is a historical-themed strategy series. Historical figures like Nobunaga became Pokemon Trainers in this strategy RPG.
It wasa wild DS gamein 2012 but also well-liked. A sequel could even tackle another era of history like China and cross over with Romance of the Three Kingdoms instead which is also a Koei Tecmo franchise.
2Super Princess Peach
How many core titles and or spinoffs hasMarioreceived? The answer is a lot compared to the one solo game Princess Peach ever got. This was a DS exclusive which released in 2006 in North America.
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It too was a platformer but Peach got emotional powers like crying in order to make plants grow. It sounds more offensive than it is but the game is good rest assured.
1Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood
Like Mario,Sonictoo has received many spinoffs. However, unlike the plumber, this is the only RPG. It was releasedon the DSin 2008 and was developed by BioWare of all people. It had turn-based action gameplay akin toSuper Mario RPGas well as dialogue choices like inMass Effect.
So far Sega has announced plans for a new Sonic game in 2022 and a remaster ofSonic Colorsfor his 30th anniversary. A sequel and or remaster to this game would assuredly make fans dance as well.
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