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What is the most successful game that never got a sequel, remake or remaster?

CamHostage

Member
Don't think that's what OP is really looking for. I wouldn't call this a standalone game since it's part of the Star Wars franchise overall.

Well, maybe it's a side-canon list of "Standalone Games in a Franchise Which Never got a Sequel" (kind of like the OP's own suggestion of WoW,) but...

I think it's totally worth listing licensed games which should have been their own sub-franchise or continued their storylines yet never got follow-ups. (Especially since these games rarely get re-released since their license agreements get so complicated over time; Star Wars Republic Commando seemed like it was going to fall into that category until its surprise remaster recently.) Some of the biggest sellers on certain platforms were brand-name games that you would have thought you'd see a half-dozen more of across major platforms, but instead they were one-and-done. (A few didn't even really launch their developers big, despite the sales numbers and sometimes review scores.) It's a different category in terms of how they succeeded yet how they were left behind, but its still in the math of what we're talkin about here.

A few licensed games maybe worth mentioning:

* Simpsons Hit & Run
* Walt Disney World Magical Racing Tour
* Die Hard Trilogy / Alien Trilogy (same year/same developer, then never something like this again)
* Cool Spot
* Mad Max
* X-Men Origins Wolverine (thankfully, there was no X-Men Origins 2 movie... but ultimately, Raven never got to make something like this again)
 
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Danjin44

The nicest person on this forum
Maybe its too recent but.....
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IFireflyl

Gold Member
Chrono Trigger. Cross is more of a spiritual successor". A CT Remake would make Square loads of money.
Chrono Trigger (Chrono Cross isn't a sequel)
Jade Empire
Xenogears (Xenosaga/Xenoblade are not sequels)
Eternal Darkness
Titanfall 2 (dose it count if it is a sequel itself?)
I’m gonna say Chrono Trigger, because screw Chrono Cross. It doesn’t deserve any of those titles. Give me an actual sequel, remaster, or remake Sqeenix, you cowards lol.

I don't know what you people are talking about. It got its remaster.



The initial release sucked, but Square Enix did provide updates and patches, including ultrawide support.
 
How did MGS 4 not have a sequel? Since it released we had Peace Walker, Ground Zeros and Phantom Pain. I mean sure they are not "direct" sequels but thats because the plot reached its end, we got an aging snake waiting to die. The franchise itself still kept going. Personally I dont judge if a game never got a remaster/remake. It just means more newer games are out. I dont think the future should be - lets remaster every single game out there. It's totally fine if they belong to a certain platform and If I really wanted to play it, Id have to buy that console. The closest I can come up with is old need for speeds (1-5). Do I really want them remastered? Probably not, Id rather have a new NFS.
 
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Disney's Aladdin never got a sequel or a remaster. I think it's still one of the highest selling non kingdom hearts Disney games. Maybe even more than the Duck tales game.
Even though Duck tales is far superior to Aladdin.
 

Bakkus

Member
People saying Bloodborne are confusing internet discussion with success. Bloodborne is no where the most successful one off game. Bloodborne sold relatively poorly compared to the other games.
But unlike the other games, it was not on Xbox too. If it was, it definitely would have gotten close enough.
Most handheld come to mind. DS, 3DS, GBA. Entire libraries. Many Wii and Wii U games also will never survive porting.

Steel Battalion on Xbox is up there for me also. That shit was crazy.

Mario Galaxy 2. Wii Sports Resort.

Mr. Mosquito on PS2.

Panzer Dragoon Saga. Shining Force 3.
Lots of very SUCCESSFUL games listed here alright. Sucks that SMG2 was the last mainline Mario game too.
Super Mario RPG 😔
Mario & Luigi games carried over a lot of the team albeit with a new studio.
And it was better too. Sorry not sorry.
 

Bakkus

Member
Man, it's hard to think of something for this. Most of them has gotten some rereleases since. I guess Kid Icarus Uprising qualifies. I was very disappointed when a remaster was not announced during last Direct given how many other remasters were announced. It's gotta happen soon. Sakurai has promoted it on his YT channel even.
 
Certainly, Days Gone springs to mind for me as game that deserved a sequel.

I feel like there are other I.P which never made the leap to 8th and 9th generation of consoles.

I'd love to see a current gen version of The Chronicles of Riddick game(s), and it seems to me Bioshock is crying out for a full fat makeover for current gen consoles and pc.
 

RAIDEN1

Member
Full Throttle.....that game totally deserves a sequel....such a huge universe to explore in terms of its story...yet Tim Schafer is like because the lead Ben's voice actor is no longer with us the story can't continue...
 

SCB3

Member
I‘ve been thinking about MGS4 recently, and how it is to my knowledge the biggest game still stuck on the hardware it originally released on, since it never got a rerelease or remaster of any kind (unless there‘s another, more successful title I‘m overlooking that‘s also stuck on old hardware?)

But thinking about MGS4 made me wonder about other games in a similar situation – in particular standalone games that sold well, but which never got any kind of follow-up: no sequels, no prequels, no remasters, no remakes, no reboots. Throughout the decades there have been tons of games without sequels of course, but the reason is usually because they just weren’t good and/or commercially successful. However, I want to know about games that actually were successful, but which nonetheless didn’t get any follow-up for whatever reason.

The first thing that came to my mind was World of Warcraft, though it‘s technically part of the Warcraft series. And since it‘s an mmo that still gets updated continuously, the lack of a sequel doesn’t really matter that much (though I do wonder if we‘ll eventually get see one, or if they‘ll just do expansions forever). So I don’t think WoW counts.

What is the biggest example you can think of? (emulators and games released within the last 5 years or so don’t count obviously)
Hmm, does the PS2 version of Half Life count? I know the PC version is fine and Black Mesa is an unofficial port, but the PS2 version has extra content and a Extra campaign that isn't on anything but that version

I think the cancelled Dreamcast version is the same as well
 

T4keD0wN

Member
No he said most successful. Which narrows it down a lot because anything remotely successful in this industry gets sequels or re-released to hell and back.
Wouldnt even Anthem (the dead EA game) be concidered more successful since it sold more?
 
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Nautilus

Banned
Chrono Trigger.

While it did get many ports, that game was never remastered, remaked. And the sequel not only killed the franchise, but actually pissed over the original, so that's even worse than simply not having a sequel.

I honestly think that Square has enough talent in house nowadays to make a worthy sequel to Chrono Trigger, and it would be the biggest reveal of the last ten years or so, not to mention that the franchise is popular enough and the market big enough for it to be much more of a commercial success than it ever dreamed of. So do it Square!
 

RoboFu

One of the green rats
I’m going to say chronotrigger. Yeah yeah that atrocity on PlayStation was supposed to be a quasi sequel.. but no it doesn’t count.
 

Nautilus

Banned
Chrono Trigger.

While it did get many ports, that game was never remastered, remaked. And the sequel not only killed the franchise, but actually pissed over the original, so that's even worse than simply not having a sequel.

I honestly think that Square has enough talent in house nowadays to make a worthy sequel to Chrono Trigger, and it would be the biggest reveal of the last ten years or so, not to mention that the franchise is popular enough and the market big enough for it to be much more of a commercial success than it ever dreamed of. So do it Square!
Though it has to be said, if Square really wants to bring Chrono Trigger back from the dead, remaking the first game in 2D-HD is the best first step. Keep it faithful to the ganeplay and just modernize where it strictly needs. Other than that, just remake the gane graphically, add a few things here and there(more sidequests like the ones at the end of the game would be awesome).

If you do everything right, you got yourself a 5 million+ seller right there, easily.And you've basically revived the interest for the franchise.
 

DeepEnigma

Gold Member
That‘s actually a good choice, though it‘s still relatively recent. Do we know how much it sold?



Those are sequels. I‘m talking about standalone games.
Official numbers have stopped a long time ago, around 2015/16. Estimates are in the 3m-5m range.
 

Kusarigama

Member
Also not to forget to mention the amazing amazing brawler game from the genius mind of Shinji Mikami
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God Hand was a kick-ass video game literally!
 
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