Characters with high "Series Potential"

What is "series potential", you may ask? It's simply a term to describe just how successful a series would be for a certain character, should one be based around them. There's no exact science to determining how successful a character's series would be, but a few factors may still apply:

1. A well-written character is appreciated, but Not Crucial if Mario's massive success is any indication. In fact, many popular or iconic vidya characters are written two dimensionally, coasting by on just their iconic designs or special skills&abilities alone. Like Kirby for instance. Still though, it helps if your character is actually likable. Mario isn't an emo edgelord for example. If they were unlikable shits like MGS2's whiny Raiden or DmC's rebooted Dante, the series is gonna suffer.

2. An iconic design is a definite plus. If your character can stand out from the crowd, they already have a heads-up over the competition. They can achieve this with either their unique clothing. Like how Samus' suit is more recognizable than Samus herself. Or achieve it by how their own bodies look. Cartoony characters like Ratchet or Layton can pull this off easily. Anime and realistic human characters have a tougher time because the human form is used very prominently. Humans like AssCreed's Desmond Miles being too bland and forgetable.

3. It greatly helps to have good skills or abilities, for gameplay purposes. Anything within the character's capabilities that would help make their series more fun to play. Things like Sonic's super speed, Amaterasu's godly interventions, or Mega Man's boss copy abilities that gamers would find fun to use.

^ Looking over these, it's no wonder why Shantae's series was revived back in 2010 to great success. She always had a lot of "series potential". Her character may have been written two dimensionally, but she was still likable enough. Her dark skin, violet hair, and red arabian outfit made her design very memorable. And her hair whip attacks and genie powers have made for some interesting gameplay. A character whose current success is definitely well-deserved.

That all said, I still feel like there are some underrated characters out there with high "series potential". I'm still holding out hope for Mischief Makers' Marina to star in another great game. Hat Kid probably has a sequel already in the works, but I still wish her blossoming series the best.

How about you? Do you feel that way about any video game characters who deserve to have a successful series?

You may not like it, but this is what peak franchising looks like

I know exactly what you are talking about.

Sparkster's treatment was pretty pitiful. Two and a half games that matter, and then a shitty Xbox live revival no one remembers. It occured to me recently that the boost style of Sonic games, along with the homing attack would probably fit a Sparkster game better than a Sonic game.

Appropriate replies to an appropriate thread.

>Marina will never give you a SHAKE SHAKE

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As complete and well-realized as the game is, Ristar could definitely be expanded as a game concept.

Oh right! After Sonic's massive success back in '91, there was an onslaught of RaDiKaL animal mascots, wasn't there? Out of all them, I think I liked Sparkster the most because he wasn't trying to be cool or edgy. He just had jetpack and a sword that made for some really fantastic gameplay. A real damn shame that the Xbox revival fucked up so hard.

Ristar is another good choice but…. I dunno. The black sphere and yellow star design is indeed very distinct and memorable, as is the grabbing ability. It's just…. I dunno…. the grabbing ability opens itself to a lot of snickering, you know…
Even so, yeah, I could see him having a series that could be moderately successful, sure.

Maybe. I feel like Frisk could reasonably star in another adventure, but probably won't. The devs likely don't have what it takes to make another dialogue intensive game. The writing of the first probably took them ages to write.

I…. I guess?…. I dunno, man. If that's what you're into, I guess. I just think that after Bubsy 3D, it's like trying salvage a lost cause at that point.
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Personally, I think that Nights could have been treated better over the years. As a game with unique gameplay and acting as the Sega Saturn's poster child, Nights shouldn't have recieved such neglect or shitty treatment with that Wii game.

Another person I think could make a great series would be the Guardian, from The Guardian Legend. She's a robot girl who could transform in a shmup fighter jet. Making her NES game a cross between Zelda and shmup gameplay. She also has a memorable red/black/white NES sprite design that can traverse in 8 different directions. A rarity for NES games.

Klonoa

Is there anyone in this board who played klonoa and isn't a gay furfaggot?

Everyone is gay for Klonoa.

this

Burning Rangers

I've never tried Klonoa. Will I become gay if I play it?

Evidence seems to point to yes.

Klonoa sound like a std. Also Lunatea's Veil is better.

Why dont you play it and find out?

user, they literally ran an ad for the game that read like an STD

cotton

Why is 99.9999% furfag art so fucking shit?

Because it got hit with the cancer stick.

Why do 99.9999% of anons have im-paw-sibly high standards?

furry is a western scene, kemono is pretty aesthetically pleasing however

>im-paw-sibly

Kill urself furfag.

Learn to take a joke nigger.

As long as I live, i create salt
No noosy-goosy today because it triggers you, soyboy :3

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Just gonna say there's nothing special about Marina. Especially since the translation job was so fucking shitty. There's very little that's unique about her character though. everything that makes her unique is done through the actual gameplay and not through any of her dialog.

Reading the her diary completely ruined her for me. The retards made her WRITE in a way that not even a retarded 15 yo brainwashed slut with a brain melted by drugs speaks. If you guys have any screencaps, post them. I wouldn't be able to sound dumber than that if I wanted too, it's like they engineered being retarded.

Poor Klonoa. He definitely has an iconic design, but also a lot of…. "fans", shall we say. Regardless, the grab and throw ability seems like it could make for some ok, fun gameplay. I just didn't know the series had fallen to the wayside in recent years. I mean, there were handheld games and everything, no? Either way, I guess it's about time for a revival.

I'm not too familiar with this game, aside from it being a firefighter / mech game. Seems really niche at its core, but hey, if that's you're into, it wouldn't hurt to see a sequel or something.
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I was gonna post Gwendolyn from Odin Sphere, but there's apparently something called Odin Sphere: Leifthrasir out right now. Gonna go chreck what that's all about. Vanillaware's other games are also all pretty great, but I doubt I'll ever see a sequel to any of them.

Zack & Wiki was a pretty good puzzle game, and I'm a sucker for good cell shading. I liked the idea of a pirate and golden monkey who went around solving weird puzzles.

I just read all the entries on her diary. It's not THAT bad, I was just unlucky to only read the worst ones.
>I beat him up and now he just wants me to go away, but he also like, can't make me, so whatever.Holy shit, this one is disgusting

Oh god, not this game again.
That scene where she implies that she fucks the butcher kinda ruined it for me.

Shake shake

Nips always have to ruin it someway.

Why is he so perfect
*sigh*

Bmup

Only as a titty monster.

Female Bubsy (male) has a nice dick o3o

well, she is a slut that would fuck anyone.

what if bubsy had a game similar to bad fur day complete with loads of swearing, violence and piss

tbh i like trap bubsy best, and it seems he could be a fun character.

Bubsy needs the Conker's Bad Fur Day treatment and become and adult game

Actually its a cool game for kids, its kind of really easy for someone who has loads of experience but it has all the platforming elements and is a good introductory game for children to the genre.

That's a straight up r63 Bubs. This is trap Bubs.

We need more games with Sabers.
There's not enough, in my opinion.
We need a Saber racing game, a few more Saber fighting games, a Saber plat-former, a couple of open-world Saber RPGs. Really, there isn't a single genre of video game that wouldn't be dramatically improved with the introduction of Sabers. Even a Saber MUD would be just fine.

Saber/Saber Saber would be the greatest FPS the "S" is for Saber of all time.

I don't think Toby would want to, either. He's been very adamant about keeping the game itself as a self-contained thing. He even declared at one point that nothing, official or otherwise, outside of the base game would ever be canon.

She probably fails on the abilities part, but Vibri could have been a cuter, more defining and more original choice for a PS Mascot than Crash or Spyro.

Artorias is cool, but I hated her in Fate/Zero. Kuritsugu wasn't much better, but I could sympathize with him at least.

I just came here to say: Shake! Shake!

You are the first person I've ever seen mention The Guardian Legend, so I wanted to share this image I downloaded a long time ago then found out was supposed to be the MC of that game.

I'd play that! It'd be great to see Bubsy embrace his meme status and make a game that's a satire of the gaming industry.

Microsoft are sitting on a goldmine and instead of taking advantage of it, they waste their time with retarded VR shit, a "create-your-own" game that dies a few years after they release it and a always online pirate game that looks boring as fuck.

The whole 90s nostalgia boom is just starting and they don't seem to want to cash-in on it.

Gee I wonder why.

Not that I have a problem with that.

No fucking shit. He can't be genuine. I only got to the tower with that child recruiting you and asking about your "junk" in the first level and I uninstalled it. Pretty good controls but unbearably world/story/character.

She needs a new game.

Can we do the opposite thread instead? Why the fuck does Tingle have so many games? What's the appeal? It's not even funny in an ironic sense, it's just a bunch of innuendos thrown together with random humor. Worst part is that the games themselves aren't even half bad.

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Fuck off Takeuchi, your waifu is shit.

I don't play visual novels, but I know I seen this character before. Can't remember where, but I do remember her memorable knightly blue dress. It's a pretty unforgettable design, to say the least. Even so, while I may not be well-versed in VNs at all, I'm not asking for a character's series to be milked dry and stripmined. That would defeat the purpose of reviving them imo. No, rather, I only ask for them to get another chance of starring in a few more Awesome games. That's all.

That said, if there's one thing I chose to omit from the thread's original post, it's that high "series potential" can be a blessing. But also a curse. And one need look no further than Sonic the Hedgehog to explain why. There's no denying that Sonic is an iconic character and his games can be downright amazing if done right. The problem lies when he starts to headline in some mediocre or truly awful games, with Sonic fans suddenly becoming like battered housewives. Putting up with whatever garbage Sega pumps out to the public, knowing full well that they're just gonna lap it up because it "stars Sonic". That's what I mean by curse. Developers sometimes bank on a character's popularity alone with no regard to making, you know, a good fucking game. And then you get disgusting travesties like Sonic 06.

You know what? I was actually pleasantly surprised by this character, as well as a few of her songs. She was somewhat charming in her own right, I suppose. Looking at her wireframe rabbit appearance, I honestly really wasn't expecting much from her. Even so, I don't think she's completely viable in today's day and age tbh. She would have to compete with Bit Trip Runner and other similar music games that vying for people's attention right now. Maybe if she ditched the Black-colored background for something more visually appealing, she might stand a chance against the rainbow visuals of Bit Trip Runner.

Some people in this thread are asking a for an adult Bubsy game…. I guess. I know for certain that Microsoft will never approve of another raunchy Conker game. That's for sure. They're too pozzed with feminists to really let that happen in this post-Anita environment we find ourselves in. Not sure if that adult Bubsy game is very likely either. I know those new South Park games are trying to fill the void, but they're just not same.

And as for Battletoads, I don't think Microsoft will ever stay true to the spirit of the original games. Which is to say, being extremely fucking difficult. While the TMNT-inspired toads and Dark Queen are still viable characters today, I doubt that the moneygrubbers at Microsoft would approve of masochistic games either. Given that money is their bottomline, and hard games scare off the mainstream noobies.

As for Banjo Kazooie, they have no fucking excuse. It's not raunchy. It's not difficult. And it's NOT a shitty cart game. The "series potential" is absolutely there, waiting to be tapped, but Microsoft really are too stupid to realize that.

If nothing else, yes, Microsoft are complete and utter morons.
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Vyse, Aika, and Fina from Skies of Arcadia. Why didn't this become a thing? People love sky pirates and adventures, so what exactly went wrong here?

Yuki from The Last Blade. Kaede is kinda generic to represent this great series imo. After all these years, Yuki's long bandana, long blonde hair, spear, and ice powers made her stood out in my mind more Kaede and his generic design. Although, she herself is still a little generic looking next to someone like Saber. I guess maybe I just like the spritework of the game in general. It's so mesmerizingly beautiful, and Yuki just happened to be the most memorably designed imo.


Yes, I genuinely enjoyed the game. Ok, maybe they could have picked out better voice actors imo, but I still found the game incredibly charming. It's the type of game I would aspire to make one day.

And then the Despicable Me movie came out which threw salt into that wound.

I want to see Battletoads on the UbiArt engine, or something equivalent.

Considering who owns the IP I would rather them let their KI game continue to burn down while both IPs fall into irrelevancy again. Making battletoads a meme was a mistake.

Battletoads is a genuinely good game though. I don't even care about the meme appeal.

It WAS a fun game. That's why it really depresses me to see that the IP is just used for meme status for their Killer Instinct game, which is making negative money by the way. Put it this way, do you trust the current IP holders to make a battletoads game that will do the series justice? When has ANY dev in the past 10 years met that criteria?

The new Rayman games were really fun, which is why I mention that as a template they could follow.

Yeah, they really were. Too bad Ubishit would rather hold the IP hostage and shit out more liberal garbage because they are being payed by the french (((government))) to stay afloat now.

Could've use more games off Saturn.

A shame what happened to this series. I have no nostalgia of it, but I played it recently and was surprised how fun and unique it was. It just needed a sequel to iron everything out but it never got it.

Can it be called a series if it only has one entry?

Constantly releasing games devalues the brand, same with discounts.


Yes?
In programming an array can be null, or size 0, or size 1 which are three distinct things.

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He needs a new game, not another port.

Gang Garrison 2

lmao kill la kill ripoff

Name a single franchise that's only gotten better and better past its third title.

Mario

Mario is a series / IP, not a franchise.
Even the core SMB games ended at 3.

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What the other user said. The games have only gotten objectively worse as well.

This isn't programming though, or math for the matter. In normalfag world, a series always needs more than one entry. E.g. a single movie is not a series unto itself.

Could somebody take another crack at this one…so much potential but the lead in development didn't give a rats ass and shit out a half assed game.

This ass deserved better.

I think it's an underrated game, I actually liked it.
Anyway I think Bayonetta kind of took many of Vanessa's character design concepts. Both visually and personality-wise.

just end my life now

Kek, series was a poor choice of words on my part


I don't consider Super Mario Bros a trilogy, World is very much a part of that line up, unless I misunderstood your post

I tried it, but i didn't really see what people liked about it. Really all playing this and ristar did was make me want to play mischief makers again.


BUBSY GET THE FUCK OUT

Simple, the games didn't sell. It bombed on the dreamcast, and they still wanted to make a sequel, but wanted to see what the ps2/gc ports did first, but they cancelled the PS2 port in favor of making it a gamecube exclusive, and it ended it bombing again.

how the fuck her anatomy works?

It doesn't, she's a robot.

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Let me correct myself; she's a Hyper Power Beauty Robo.

Any and all anime characters, because pathetic weebs and otakus would willingly shell out hundreds of dollars per release of anything with their shitty cartoon characters in it.

Goes for all hardcore fans of anything, really.

Reduced to not even appearing in the new MvC shitfest. Sad state of affairs for a real hero.

I always thought this would make an awesome vidya character for an action game series.

Oh god, why did the developers have to Purposefully give her unlikable traits. She's downright insufferable at times. Her only saving grace is that she starred in some great shmups with imaginative bosses, enemies, and level design. Cotton 1 & 2 were pretty ok imo, but Panorama Cotton felt utterly unique to me. I've just never seen a fantasy-setting, "Space Harrier"-styled game before. Rainbow Cotton was also notable, feeling like a slower-paced Star Fox 64. Cotton's design herself is serviceable, I guess. Her red Japanese bob hairstyle translated well in her 3D model of Rainbow Cotton, and her blue outfit and fairy sidekick make them a somewhat memorable duo.
Although I hate her personality, I would only welcome her back IF her new games continue being so great.

The standard monkeys themselves have the most "series potential" out of anyone in this series. Their iconic design even made a cameo in that one minigame in MGS3 Snake Eater. But besides them, I guess that the earlier protagonists (like Spike) and recurring villain (Specter) have more clout than Yumi when it comes to reappearing in another new game. She might have been the first female catcher, but it's very unlikely she'll get the lead role ever again. Her design is somewhat memorable with that blue bunny backpack, but cute anime girls are a dime a dozen nowadays. However, her cosplay transformation powers are what truly make her and Ape Escape 3's gameplay standout imo. Cementing it as one of the best in the series.
Although "later" protagonists in famous franchises often recieve little love from their creators, let's be thankful that Yumi at least starred in such a great game. Some later protagonists don't even recieve that.

lol Talk about male gaze. This girl's over-the-top sexy animations may not be as sexy as Bayonetta's, but godammit they're trying! And couple that with her shades and white cybernetic suit, and it's easy to see why a lot of guys still remember her today. Her game is also rather unique in gameplay. Rack up combos and clear rooms as quickly as possible, while avoiding any damage. The only problem with this idea is that the level design is very bland, only ever offering clean white indoors or dusty brown outdoors. Both of which got boring quickly.
If Vanessa ever gets a sequel, let's hope for better level designs and more gyrating.

I've always like this tsundere more than Roll tbh. I was even glad that she got her own game in Misadventures way back then. Her anti-heroine personality, her memorable design and hairstyle, and her henchmen and big robots gave her enough "series potential" to earn herself a spinoff, at least. I'm just…. well…. I'm just not sure what her future holds anymore, given Mega Man Legends 3's cancellation.
She still got some love in MvC3, but another Misadventures seems very unlikely.

lol What's her game gonna be about? Sexy car washes? lol

Joking aside, I guess as far sexy car mechanic girls are concerned, she probably has the market cornered right now. Her design is very distinct and memorable, but I doubt she has any clout among Squeenix executives to headline in her own game.

Well…. he has a memorable design…. unfortunately. Another reason why too much "series potential" is a curse.
I seriously could never understand Nintendo sometimes. They give this weird fucker his own games, but leave Princess Zelda out to dry? C'mon, man. An Ocarina spinoff starring her might be a good story at least. One that details her tutelage under Impa and how her persona of Sheik came to be.
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I was gonna suggest Viewtiful Joe next, but it looks like someone already beat me to the punch.

I also want another game with Reco , from the Mushihime-sama series. I personally think that she has really generic Sailor Moon outfit and design. BUT, she does ride around a huge fucking bug in one the most difficult bullet hell series out there. I gotta give her my utmost respect for that.

Tingle is more popular in Japan.
I'll actually defend their decision to go with a Tingle spinoff over Princess Zelda. There are places you can go with a goofy character who totally contrasts Link. What would a Princess Zelda game be. Just more Zelda but with Link and Zelda's roles reversed?
Zelda also lacks any real strong personality, iconic design, and changes rapidly from game to game to fit whatever role she needs to play in that particular story. Maybe you could make a Tetra game. She has the most personality of any Zelda.

Perhaps you're right.
Links have stayed relatively consistent and similar, but Zeldas have differed greatly from game to game. Both in designs and personalities.

But when you already got the WarioWare series for Nintendo to channel their insane goofiness into, I don't think that they should have expended any time or resources on making Tingle games. If anything, I think the titular character herself should have at least One game under her belt.
I just figured an Ocarina spinoff would be a good place to start, given her unexplained drastic change in just 7 short years during OoT's events. The origin story of her Sheik persona being a possibly good side story.

Something called Tetra's Trackers got cancelled a long time ago, apparently.

WEW

Crono would have probably starred in more games if Chrono Cross hadn't, almost deliberately, done everything it could to kill the series. Terranigma's epilogue was open-ended enough to have another game with Ark. I don't what happened with Magical Pop'n. It could have made for a great series.

I assume you've already checked it out at this point, but it's a gameplay remake with some additional content. Pretty damn good too, as it includes both the original combat and the remake mode in the same package to satisfy multiple camps: those that liked the original combat, those that didn't like the original combat and would have wanted it tweaked, as well as newcomers to the game.

I could easily get the ball rolling on making one, but I wouldn't want to be the one writing and designing scenarios. I'm better at programming and art production
If someone were to write up design notes and a scenario or two, I could see what I shit out

It doesn't have much franchise potential on its own, largely because it's the capstone to the Soul Blazer trilogy

You're quite correct. World had a superscript title of Super Mario Bros. 4 in japan

Hey at least it isn't that one artist who made asgore a pregnant trans female somehow

I miss Ulala and Patricia needs more attention mainly because she's overshadowed by Shantae.


Great taste.
Sex appeal aside, she would have been a great playable character along with other characters like Iris, Aranea, and Gentiana (Shiva) but sadly SE keeps pushing you to the worst girl Luna .


I'm going to miss staring at Vanessa's sweet ass.


I would love to see a Fireball Charming game.
I cant resist her robo butt.

I'd say the main cast of Resonance of Fate would make a great series. They balance each other out well, and half the scenes in the game with them just goofing around are better than the overarching story they're put in. The setting and aesthetic of the game are perfect for expanding into series, it'd be a shame not to.

sage: OP here. I will stop doing these recap posts.

What recap posts?

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But that wasn't cancelled. I believe that it was only in the Japanese and Korean versions of Four Swords Adventures.

Isn't this one manga Einstein?

Chrono Cross should have never been a Chrono Game. It should've been its own thing.

Megaman if you consider X and MMZ as elaborations of the original.
Zelda, considering 3D as sequels to 2D (OOT, MM can be arguably better than LttP)
Smash Bros. Brawl was shit and 4 was better than that.

You're a retard. World is better than 3. objectively, graphically, gameplay wise, in every fucking field.

This game would never be approved (or had happened) in current year.

Kind of an unfair expectation. A series could have an amazing fourth, fifth, and sixth game, but if the seventh is bad it doesn't pass according to these requirements.
Anyhow, some obvious franchises that improved after the third game would include Final Fantasy, Castlevania, and Metal Gear.

A very indredasting thread. It reminds me of potatoes.

Leave OP alone. He's been very polite.

klonoa 2 is a lot better than 1 but nobody ever plays it.

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