The gaming industry has gone through many consoles, franchises and trends ever since the arcade scene transitioned to homes. Like all things, nothing lasts forever, and things are constantly changing on a dime. For example, the one who thought that physical media would die out for games, but now it is slowly becoming a reality. Also, the connection between players has changed from the couch to online, which is a positive.
The 10 Most Visually Stunning Video Games of the 20th Century, Ranked
Although these games are a few decades old, they are still visually among the most charming games of their time.
Let's take a look at some specific game examples that spelled an end to their franchise in one way or another. Maybe the end of these gaming eras wasn't a bad thing, but they're certainly important enough to discuss.
Fit the 9 games into the grid.
Start
Final Fantasy 9
PS1's Swan Song for traditional Final Fantasy
Final Fantasy 9 terminated the PS1's connection to the mainline Final Fantasy on a high note, also serving as the last classic example of what the franchise became known for over a decade. Set in a vivid fantasy world of warring kingdoms, unique races and airship technology, everything felt alive.
The party system featured four characters that each join classic jobs such as Black Mage, Thief and Dragoon. There were tons of mini-games and a world map that tied everything together. It is easy to rank Final Fantasy 9 as a perfect representation of what the series is about: thrilling adventure in a diverse fantasy world.
Halo: Well
Bungie is moving on from Halo
Halo: Well
9/10
- Released
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September 14, 2010
Bungie first became popular with the Mac crowd with their Marathon series, but then things evolved when they teamed up with Microsoft to launch their next hit, Halo: Combat Evolvedalong with the original Xbox. The Halo games soon became the blueprints for how first-person shooters should be on consoles, and it's all thanks to Bungie.
Their last game in the franchise, Halo: Wellwas a prequel set before the first game, which was based on a beloved novel that fans grew to love. Fans knew the ending would be tragic coming in, if they read the novel, just as it was known, this could be Bungie's last Halo the game before moving on to Fate and 343 Industries took over the Master Chief duties.
Hideo Kojima's history with the series and Konami dissolves
Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain bridged the gap between the prequel games starring Big Boss and the original Metal Gearalthough things weren't exactly finished as the game's overall output was reduced. This was partly due to Hideo Kojima falling out with Konami, which then led to his departure after being with the company since 1986, with Metal Gear to be his baby.
He may have threatened a hundred times that the next title would be his last, but it never came true until Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain launched in 2015. Although things were broken, the game is overall a masterclass in stealth gameplay.
Star Fox Adventures
The End Of Rare's Golden Era
Star Fox Adventures
- Released
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September 23, 2002
- ESRB
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Teen // Animated gore, mild violence
Rare had a long career developing random titles mostly for the NES, but they seem to have hit a plateau when they eventually created Donkey Kong Country for Nintendo. It helped create a solid bond between the two companies and produced exclusive hits like more Donkey Kong gamesBanjo-Kazooie, Perfect Dark, and GoldenEye 007. Then, in 2002, Microsoft bought out the company, which led to Rare finishing some last-minute projects for Nintendo and canceling others before moving on.
5 JRPGs that aged like fine wines after a decade of being ignored
These JRPGs got a second chance at life thanks to remasters.
One of the biggest examples was Star Fox Adventures for the GameCube, which had a mixed reaction at the time, but was ultimately seen as a good game. Rare's output after this wasn't necessarily bad, but for longtime fans they certainly saw a decline with Microsoft over Nintendo's partnership.
Resident Evil 0
The End Of Classic, Tank Control Resident Evil
Resident Evil 0 was a prequel to the events of the first game, starring Rebecca Chambers on a train that eventually leads to the Spencer Mansion, where the franchise properly began. Along with his doomed partner, Billy Coen, players controlled both characters with classic tank controls and limited inventory space.
Enemies were mostly zombies, but other mutants lurked around, along with a hive of leeches. After this, the series evolved its controls, moved away from zombies, and changed the overall design to be more action-oriented, starting with Resident Evil 4 just a few years later.
The Legend Of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Clogging up big motion-based titles
Nintendo ushered in a new era of control with the Wii in 2006. Thanks to its massive success, Sony and Microsoft soon took note and launched their own motion-based peripherals for the PS3 and Xbox 360 to limited success.
By 2011, the movement craze was already dying, and The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword was the last major first-party release from Nintendo to focus on motion controls, which some would argue wasn't the best decision. Thanks to it splitting the fanbase mostly because of its motion controls, this is probably what made Nintendo stop thinking about using motion controls in their major franchises.
Rock band 4
The music phase in plastic instruments is over
Rhythm-based music games existed before Guitar Hero, but it really started a new movement. It led to sequels, a spiritual successor via Rock Band, and several other copycats.
The plastic instruments faded once and tried to come back for one last gasp between Guitar Hero Live and Rock Band 4, and while the latter example was considered better, neither resurrected the genre. It was a craze that dominated the parties for a good decade, thanks to the impressive number of songs, but now the dumps are probably piled high with its remains.
Astro's playroom
The last game from The Legendary Japan Studio
When it comes to first-party developers from Sony for its consoles, none was more legendary than Japan Studio, in all its iterations from PS1 to PS5. Some examples include The Legend of Dragoon, Shadow of the Colossus, Ape Escape 2, LocoRoco, Puppeteerand so many others. Their last major release was Astro's playroomwhich was a launch game for the PS5, along with assisting in the development of the Demon's Souls remake, also for launch.
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In 2021, they were absorbed by Team Asobi, ending the iconic studio. Team Asobi is also a great developer, and with the help of key members they helped make Astro Bot even better than Astro's playroom as a concept, but not seeing the Japan Studio logo appear in a PlayStation game will be sad.
Starlink: Battle for Atlas
The end of Toys-To-Life
The toys-to-life genre began with Skylanders: The Adventures of Spyro 2011 and became an instant hit. After several sequels, other companies took notice and tried to cash in on the success. Skylanders, Disney Infinityand Lego Dimensions all found success in their own ways, but eventually they all fell.
That said, Ubisoft was a little late to the party, but they decided to try anyway Starlink: Battle for Atlasa spaceship shooter with multiple ships and campaigns to purchase. While the Switch version was cool thanks to the Star Fox tie-in, it didn't find a large audience. Technically, the toys-to-life idea still exists within Amiibo, but they're like a whole different subcategory.
Puyo Pop Fever
Sega's last first-party game on a console Puyo Pop Fever
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Developer: Sonic Team
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Publisher: Sega
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Released: February 24, 2004 (Dreamcast version, Japan)
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Genre: Puzzle game
In the 90s, the rivalry between Nintendo and Sega was magnetic, and it lasted for quite some time with both companies competing their hardware and software against each other. However, after the failure of the Sega Saturn and Sega Dreamcast, Sega dropped its hardware business in favor of becoming a third-party developer and publisher.
The Dreamcast was discontinued in 2001, just three years after it was launched, but games still came out for it. As a first party game, Puyo Pop Fever will forever be known for Sega's last major release on the console in 2003, which was also released on other platforms. Puyo Pop Feverwas at least a good game to note, as its puzzle-based gameplay ranks with some of the best.
10 Most Polarizing Games Released Since 2010
Explore the games that have had fans talking and arguing since the early 2010s in this collection of the most polarizing titles.
