Feature: Top 10 Most Influential Video Game Franchises (Part 2)

All right, and we’re back with part 2. I bet the anticipation was killing you.

5. Pokemon

Pokemon always brings me back to a more innocent time. A time when I would bully, cheat, steal, and lie my way to more Pokemon cards. However, this article’s not about the cards. I suppose it may be said that Pokemon was one of the first RPGs that I played, shortly followed by FFVIII, so it has a special place in my childhood and my roots as a gamer. Pokemon Red and Blue were released in North America in 1998. The game’s simple, yet addictive gameplay has allowed the series to grow into a full fledged franchise with a collectible card game, an animated television show, movies, shirts, toys, etc. It defined, and continues to define, the childhood of many children. According to Nintendo, the franchise has sold more than 175 million units as of April 23, 2008. That’s a lot of people who “gotta catch ‘em all.”

4. Metroid

When Metroid was first released in Northa America in 1987 for the NES, it was a unique action adventure game that emphasized exploration as well as combat. It combined elements from other Nintendo games to form a unique style of gameplay. It took the platforming of Super Mario Bros. and the adventuring of The Legend of Zelda, and then added shooter elements and a darker tone. Metroid was one of the first games to allow the player to scroll the screen to the left instead of being restricted to rightways exploration. This introduced the concept of returning to areas that you had already visited in order to find secret items, also known as backtracking, one of the most overly used game concepts ever, but since Metroid did it first it was revolutionary instead of annoying. Metroid is also known for being one of the first games to include multiple endings. It contained five endings depending on how fast you completed the game. The best times were rewarded with a glimpse of Samus without her Power Suit, revealing that she was, indeed, a female. Thus, Metroid is considered to be one of the first games to ever have a female protagonist. The original game spawned many sequels, all of which were 2D sidescrolling shooters. But in 2002, Metroid made a successful leap to 3D (Sonic take note) with the release of Metroid Prime on the Gamecube. Metroid Prime reinvented the series, but still kept many of the same gameplay elements. The exploration and the power up collecting were all still there, yet it moved to a first person perspective and introduced full 3D with beautiful graphics, making it one of the most successful reinventions of a series.

3. Final Fantasy

Final Fantasy was originally created as a last ditch effort by Square to find success in the game industry. The game was Square’s final attempt, hence the title. Then there’s the fact that each game has its own independent story. Regardless of the title though, this game is the RPG franchise. If you haven’t played a Final Fantasy game, then you have yet to experience the genre. The original Final Fantasy for the NES introduced many of the elements that would come to define a console RPG. It also helped to mainstream the genre, and, of course, it saved an entire company. Wallowing in its success, Final Fantasy has also evolved into an entire franchise with multiple spin-offs into various genres, movies, merchandise, etc. Final Fantasy is also notable for having one of the most confusing numbering systems, as some games were only released in Japan, and for numbering continuity, later games released in the United States were given earlier numbers. Instead of attempting to explain it, I’ll just link to this Wikipedia article.

2. The Legend of Zelda

I bet you guessed what the last two entries would be when you first read the title of the article, didn’t you? You perceptive reader, you. So The Legend of Zelda basically defined what an action adventure game should be like. The first game in the series was inspired by creator Shigeru Miyamoto’s own explorations as a child. He often found himself exploring forests, caves, and rural villages. All of which is represented in some form in the Zelda games. And that is exactly what Miyamoto intended with the game. He wanted the player to be able to share in the wonderful experiences he had as a child. With its open-world, non-linear gameplay, there really was nothing else that compared to The Legend of Zelda. In fact, since it was so open-ended and had such a huge world, it was one of the first games to implement a save system using battery-backed memory. Every Zelda game (except those CD-i games, which we’ll just completely forget about as they weren’t even developed by Nintendo) has received critical acclaim. After many successful 2D, isometric perspective games, The Legend of Zelda was brought into 3D with Ocarina of Time. Sega should really take note of the things Nintendo does with its franchises, as Ocarina of Time, just like Metroid Prime (and Mario 64 as well), successfully brought Zelda into full 3D. The game was reinvented, but it did not lose the things that made it a Zelda game. Many would even argue that it is the best game in the entire series. Like Final Fantasy, Zelda also has a somewhat notorious element to it: its timeline. There are only a couple of times throughout the entire franchise where games released chronologically one after the other actually follow that same principle within the game. Once again, instead of trying to explain it, here’s a gametrailers video that does a much better job. It is worth noting though that there are many different theories about the Zelda timeline out there.

1. Mario

Remember how I said that Final Fantasy helped to save an entire company? Well, Mario did something like that, except that he helped to save the entire industry. Super Mario Bros. was the title that shipped with every NES. The NES being the console that saved the industry. There’s really not much else I can say here that you don’t already know. Mario’s bigger than Mickey Mouse. He’s had a million spin-offs; his games created/reinvented/revolutionized the platforming genre; Shigeru Miyamoto created him; he was originally known as Jumpman in Donkey Kong. He had a successful jump to 3D (seriously, Sega, take notes), etc., etc. To sum up: it’s mario, what else do you need?

So, there you have it. Disagree? I’m sure you do. Sound off in the comments, or go start your own site and write your own list.

Author: Ryan