what video game franchise jumped the shark?

[Tish-the-Scorpion]

and when did they jump?

[Bruce Wayne Jr.]

I'll start with the most obvious:

FINAL FANTASY X-2

[J Dog]

Another good example is the Atari group.

They jumped the shark the day that almost ruined video games forever.

[J Dog]

Oh, and Final Fantasy IX.

[Sanagi]

All RPGs after Chrono Trigger.

[Pepsigirl]

Crash Bandicoot after it made the jump from PSX to everything else.

[UncleBob]

Tomb Raider.

Big boobs and great legs were so 6 years ago.

[The Drunkard Kid]

Oh, and Final Fantasy IX.*shrug* I liked that version better than any of the other PS versions of Final fantasy.

Heck, between Vivi, specialized characters, and the nostalgia value, the only things that keeps it from being my fav FF altogether were Zidane and especially Kuja's taste in clothing.

EDIT: I mean Zidane's taste in clothing, not Zidane himself.

[The Mirrorball Man]

Pac-Land.

The Pac-Man video game franchise never really recovered after that.

[Draconomicon]

*shrug* I liked that version better than any of the other PS versions of Final fantasy.

Heck, between Vivi, specialized characters, and the nostalgia value, the only things that keeps it from being my fav FF altogether were Zidane and especially Kuja's taste in clothing.
Preach on!
I felt the same.
Vivi is probably the most cool FF character EVA!

[blackdragon6]

resident evil(story wise) they never solve loop holes in the timeline and story

mortal kombat jumped the shark whe it became a martial arts version of stargate.

[Mike Pothier]

Tomb Raider.

Big boobs and great legs were so 6 years ago.

I gotta agree here. The first one was only so-so to begin with, and every subsequent sequel on the PS1 was basically TR1 repackaged.

[twilight]

Oh, and Final Fantasy IX.

I loved FFIX.

Great characters and an engaging story.

[J Dog]

Tomb Raider.

Big boobs and great legs were so 6 years ago.

Plus the game graphics were crappy. I got killed by the same damn tiger.

[titanfan]

Oh, and Final Fantasy IX.

Let me guess, you started playing at Final Fantasy VII, didn't you?

Imho, Final Fantasy IX was the attempt to "unjump" shark so to speak.

To a lot of the early fans of Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy VIII was really looking like it was going to be the "jump the shark" game of the series. Square spent so much time into making sure that the game was aesthetically pleasing, that they forgot about the little things like plot, storyline, and having a good character advancement system. The worst part of it, that despite getting horrid reviews from RPG fans, it was actually a commercial success--worrying a lot of people that Square was going to continue in this direction--all style no substance.

In that respect, IX was a throwback game to the earlier series. Yeah, it may have been less "pretty" than 7 and 8, but it featured great characters, a good storyline, and had many of the classic elements that we came to enjoy. If there were no Final Fantasy 9, I wouldn't have bothered to pick up X.

I don't know if this counts as "jumping the shark", but the Bard's Tale franchise should have never have bothered to returned. The latest game is abominable.

The Ultima series was never the same after Ultima VI.

Whatever happened to Dragon Warrior?

[Draconomicon]

The Ultima series was never the same after Ultima VI.

Dunno.
Ultima 7/2 is my favorite Ultima game.. but U8 sucked..

[The Drunkard Kid]

Whatever happened to Dragon Warrior?
I'm not too familiar with the series, but Dragon Warrior Eight is coming to the PS2 pretty soon, and it looks kinda neat from what I read in Game Informer.

EDIT: And as for not being as pretty as the other FF's, well, other than being SD all the time in the screen, I found it to be the most beautiful FF entry on the Playstation.

Well, to be fair, the Trance forms were mostly very ugly.

[yeoman]

Preach on!
I felt the same.
Vivi is probably the most cool FF character EVA!

All hail to the little black mage who could.

[Xero Kaiser]

mortal kombat jumped the shark whe it became a martial arts version of stargate.

so....the first game?

[blackdragon6]

so....the first game?
not quite.............the frist game seems like almost a completly different game.true it was always there but when deception camed out it was extremly over done.

[Hiromi]

*shrug* I liked that version better than any of the other PS versions of Final fantasy.

Heck, between Vivi, specialized characters, and the nostalgia value, the only things that keeps it from being my fav FF altogether were Zidane and especially Kuja's taste in clothing.



Amen.

Now 10 you could make a better case for, due to the fact that the thing was on rails for most of the entire game and they made a sequel for it. FF12 is getting me worried as well...

[KameTen]

I'm just glad to see some Vivi love on this board. Little black mage made the game for me, along with Quina and Zidane (despite his fashion sense:P).

And Street Fighter jumped the shark after SFA 3. Couldn't get no better than that.

And I'm throwing in Final Fantasy VII, because it was the game that convinced many RPG players that pretty graphics were greater than a solid storyline and actual character progression beyond flashback resolutions and a decent villian.

[sir_snikt'alot]

I'm just glad to see some Vivi love on this board. Little black mage made the game for me, along with Quina and Zidane (despite his fashion sense:P).

And Street Fighter jumped the shark after SFA 3. Couldn't get no better than that.

And I'm throwing in Final Fantasy VII, because it was the game that convinced many RPG players that pretty graphics were greater than a solid storyline and actual character progression beyond flashback resolutions and a decent villian.

why did they stain the history of sf with sf3! why!!!

[icymatt]

I thought SF3 (Third Strike) was an excellent, excellent game. One of the best fighting games ever made.

[Metaphysician]

In terms of graphics and mechanics, I'd agree. However, it really suffered from the near total lack of returning characters.

[icymatt]

How is that a problem? They were trying to keep the game fresh.

[Xero Kaiser]

yeah, and SFA3 regarded as one of the worst SF games around. third strike stomps every other SF game out, returning characters or not

"stain the history" indeed

[Headhunter]

Haven't been as enamoured with the Mario franchise since Super Mario 64.

[TitoJones]

Mortal Kombat 3
The first two were great, but after that it was just "meh"

Tekken 4

As for Final Fantasy, I started with 7 so I'm not hip with the greatness that is 1-6 (even though I'm playing 4 right now), but I will agree that FF 8 was by far the worst one out of the bunch. All of them coming from the same orphange? WTF?!?

[icymatt]

yeah, and SFA3 regarded as one of the worst SF games around. third strike stomps every other SF game out, returning characters or not

"stain the history" indeed

What? Where did you hear that? What were they smoking? Alpha 3 is amazing. It's just slightly behind TS.

[Metaphysician]

How is that a problem? They were trying to keep the game fresh.

If it were a new series, no problem at all.

However, its hard to swallow a Street Fighter game that has almost none of the same cast as the earlier ones.

[Metaphysician]

yeah, and SFA3 regarded as one of the worst SF games around. third strike stomps every other SF game out, returning characters or not

"stain the history" indeed

This, I must disagree with. I thought SFA3 was awesome. SF3 had better mechanics and graphics, certainly, but SFA3 "felt" more like a SF game.

[SuperSaiyaMan12]

I can't believe anyone hasn't said Megaman yet.

[Devon C.]

I can't believe anyone hasn't said Megaman yet.
That *has* been going on for a while. And I hardly can keep up with it.

The Mario series, though I love it, is standing at the top of the ramp with its skis.

[icymatt]

If it were a new series, no problem at all.

However, its hard to swallow a Street Fighter game that has almost none of the same cast as the earlier ones.

It had Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li and Akuma. Isn't that good enough?
Plus, some of the characters they introduced were worthy replacements for the older characters.

[Metaphysician]

Frankly, no, especially since they only finally had that many by the third incarnation.

I would have liked to see an Adult Sakura and Adult Karin, for one.

[Vaders shoeshine boy]

Frankly, no, especially since they only finally had that many by the third incarnation.

I would have liked to see an Adult Sakura and Adult Karin, for one.


Can they keep their old outfits? ;)

[Hiromi]

I can't believe anyone hasn't said Megaman yet.

For the Megaman games to have Jumped the Shark they'd have to have done something different, which for the majority they really haven't :/ cept they're easier nowadays.

[SuperSaiyaMan12]

For the Megaman games to have Jumped the Shark they'd have to have done something different, which for the majority they really haven't :/ cept they're easier nowadays.
I think the Megaman games jumped the shark when they went 3D.

[une]

I think the Megaman games jumped the shark when they went 3D.

oh yeah, I remember those games! Those games sucked!

[SuperSaiyaMan12]

oh yeah, I remember those games! Those games sucked!
Megaman was a very good completely 2D sidescroller. When it jumped to 3D, it jumped the shark.

[Sanagi]

Megaman jumped the shark after the third game.

As did the Battle Network series, oddly enough.

Megaman X did it after the first game.

But if you take all the different series as a whole, it still goes back to Mega Man 3 on the NES.

[The Mirrorball Man]

The Monkey Island series jumped the shark with "Escape from Monkey Island", the fourth installment: too many rehashed jokes, very easy puzzles, LeChuck not being the main villain, plus a 3D engine that didn't really work with the story.

[titanfan]

However, its hard to swallow a Street Fighter game that has almost none of the same cast as the earlier ones.

Well, they were actually following Street Fighter tradition. From SF to SFII, there were very little returning characters too.

I remember the huge hype for SFIII followed by utter dissappointment after we all played it. Sure, the graphics were great and it was a definite improvement, but they forgot why a lot of people played in the first place--love of the characters.

[Metaphysician]

Actually, they kept 100% of the characters from 1 to 2. . . 100% of the *playable* characters. ;)

[DrewTheXenocide]

Megaman jumped the shark after the third game.

As did the Battle Network series, oddly enough.

Megaman X did it after the first game.

But if you take all the different series as a whole, it still goes back to Mega Man 3 on the NES.

I don't think the X series went sharkward until X5 or so. It just so happens that that's when it started sucking.

[The Herald of Torrent]

resident evil(story wise) they never solve loop holes in the timeline and story

mortal kombat jumped the shark whe it became a martial arts version of stargate.
Well actually, I think RE4 took care of that. :D

[CHEYENNE-BLACKBIRD]

Well actually, I think RE4 took care of that. :D
it was more of a aftrer thought, though.just so they can get to a story that ahs little to do with the original.

[The Defenestrator]

Doom hopped on Fonzie's bike with Doom 3. They took a fun, visceral, high-powered game and turned it into a slow-moving crapfest with lousy hit detection and cheap traps. And made it available for Xbox. Poopy!

[SuperSaiyaMan12]

Doom hopped on Fonzie's bike with Doom 3. They took a fun, visceral, high-powered game and turned it into a slow-moving crapfest with lousy hit detection and cheap traps. And made it available for Xbox. Poopy!
Uh, haven't played Doom 3, but I heard it was great. What was your problem with it?

[The Defenestrator]

It looked great, but the gameplay didn't make it for me. There was a real over-reliance on scripted scenes (same every time you play) and cheapness with guys teleporting behind you. The original Doom games, though reeeally old, just had a lot more speed and fun. I just had the feeling while playing that Doom 3 was overproduced and lacking in the fun and spontaneity that the old games had.

[Phrozen]

Uh, haven't played Doom 3, but I heard it was great. What was your problem with it?

The graphics and atmosphere are great. The weapons are snooze inducing though. Your basic pistol, shotgun, machine gun, grenade, rocket launcher fare. The weapons all suck as far as damage to enemies goes. That and apparently there isn't a single roll of duct tape on Mars.

[blackdragon6]

Well actually, I think RE4 took care of that. :D
yes....and no,they explained the demise of umbrella (albeit vaguely) wich was fair if nothing else.but they never explain what happened to important characters from the past.i wanted to know sense they was apparently going in a new direction (storywise).they could have atleast gone into details,instead of rushing to a completly different storyline.i mean if your gonna do that then the least you can do is tie up loose ends first.

[Tish-the-Scorpion]

yes....and no,they explained the demise of umbrella (albeit vaguely) wich was fair if nothing else.but they never explain what happened to important characters from the past.i wanted to know sense they was apparently going in a new direction (storywise).they could have atleast gone into details,instead of rushing to a completly different storyline.i mean if your gonna do that then the least you can do is tie up loose ends first.actually in a article i read about RE5-When asked about the unshaven man, Takeuchi said that the core developers for RE5 include staff members that worked on RE1, hinting that it might possibly be Chris Redfield from the original Resident Evil. Takeuchi also revealed that RE5 will be an authentic sequel to the series' main storyline rather than a side story. He added that if the main character is indeed Chris, the developers might be preparing to create some kind of a conclusion to the series' long storyline.so there you go