Capcom franchise that could make a comeback

Summary

• Capcom can revive long-forgotten franchises like Lost Planet with innovative new approaches to gameplay.

• Cult classics like God Hand deserve remasters or sequels, especially with key creators returning to Capcom.

• Capcom should consider bringing back cool titles like Viewtiful Joe to appeal to nostalgic fans and introduce new audiences.

Capcom's franchise library is one of the deepest sets of IPs. Still, many are sadly overshadowed series that have been neglected for some time now, some of which haven't received a new entry in over 20 years. Due to the success of Capcom's best-selling games such as Resident Evil and Monster Huntersome of the lesser known game series have not been given their time to shine.

Capcom is now in a position where it's not just relying on the big guns, and has the potential to channel a large amount of money from its best-selling games to fund new entries in long-forgotten franchises. The following games in this list seem like a no-brainer for a team as skilled as Capcom to bring to the current generation; fans have been pining for some of them for years. Hopefully in the near future Capcom will revive these classics for a new era.

5

Lost Planet

Big Mechs And Even Bigger Monsters

Despite three entries, Lost Planet is a franchise that never quite figured out what it wanted to be. Starts as a smaller single-player shooter and evolves into one Monster Hunter-esuqe boss battle simulator, Lost Planet can find a new lease of life by emulating the success of large-scale sci-fi multiplayer shooters such as The earth Armed Forces or Miscellaneous.

This new approach can lead Lost Planet to become the multiplayer-focused series that Capcom hoped for Exoprimal would be. Taking Lost Planet and turning it into a risky but rewarding live-service endeavor could breathe fresh air into this dormant franchise. Capcom has always found innovative ways to create breathtaking combat scenarios, and a start-from-the-ground sci-fi epic would be a great new genre for the developers to flex into.

4

God Hand

Clover's Cult Classic Deserves Time To Shine

God Hand is a notorious franchise for more than a few reasons. Often not fully understood and even completely ignored by critics at the time, God Hand was a highly innovative beat-em-up with a surprisingly in-depth combo system where players could craft each step of a combo to create their own completely unique combos. This even included unnecessary moves where the main character, Gene, would charge the enemy for zero damage with free-flowing and fast kicks and punches.

This series would benefit so much from a sequel or even a remaster, which doesn't sound so ridiculous considering that games like Lollipop Chainsaw and Shadows Of The Damned has recently received the remaster treatment. Although he did not lead the development of God HandClover Studios' head honcho, Hideki Kamiya, has returned to Capcom and hopes with him that players can have a chance to wield the power of God's Hand.

3

Appearance Joe

Henshin-a-Go-Go, baby!

Appearance Joe is a handsome side-scrolling beat-em-up directed by the aforementioned Hideki Kamiya. The game oozed style similar to Hideki's other classic releases, Devil May Cryso much so that Dante would be part of the game as a guest character. The game was developed as a clear love letter to the classic Tokusatsu films and series such as Power Rangersfeaturing the show's protagonist, Joe, entering a variety of movies to save his girlfriend.

It's a simple premise that gave way to clever game mechanics based on time manipulation. Joe had the ability to slow down time to make his punches and kicks hit extra hard, or speed up time to fly through puzzles and stages at mach speed. Hideki Kamiya has expressed his desire to return to the series since leaving Capcom, even going so far as to tell attendees at PAX East 2020 to email Capcom regarding the formant franchise, specifically Appearance Joe. Kamiya's return to Capcom has many gamers believing that these dormant franchises have a future, as long as he can convince the higher-ups that there is still an audience out there.

2

Marvel vs. Capcom

It's time for a new era of heroes

The Marvel Vs. Capcom the series remains a beloved cornerstone of the fighting game genre. Despite Street Fighter 6's success in revitalizing the Capcom fighting game scene after the rocky launch of Street Fighter 5demand for a new one Marvel Vs. Capcom installment is unmistakable. This series has cultivated an extremely loyal fanbase, with content creators like YouTuber Maximilian Dood funding a fan-made mod to improve Marvel Vs. Capcom: Infinite. The mod fixes the issues that plagued the game and makes it an overall better experience, showing how starved Marvel vs. Capcom fans are.

The Marvel Vs. Capcom game stands out for its easy-to-use, hard-to-master gameplay that unites Marvel's iconic heroes with Capcom's legendary characters. The franchise has technically received a new installment via Capcom Fighting Collectionwhich has been very well received and is now the main way to play those games, according to the pros. Still, a brand new installment could put the franchise back on the map.

1

Devil May Cry

This party is getting crazy

Even if Devil May Cry hasn't been on hiatus as long as the other entries on this list, it's been nearly six years since the last installment in the legendary franchise. The series is still as popular as ever. In their annual super election event, Devil May Cry was voted one of Capcom's most popular franchises, and Dante was voted the most popular character. It's clear that gamers are dying for more of these stylish action games.

Currently, there is an anime series in the works for Devil May Cry from the mind of Adi Shankar, best known for his work on the excellent Castlevania anime. While this doesn't guarantee a game is in the works, one of Capcom's other action series, Dragon's Dogmahad an anime series released on Netflix in 2020. Fast forward four years, and Dragon's Dogma 2 was released. This could be a trend that Capcom is picking up and releasing other media related to their franchises to gauge interest.