What’s your favorite multi-generation franchise?

A

AirBrian

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For me, it's the Zelda franchise because of the level of polishing and great gameplay that exists in practically every game in the franchise.

Oh yeah, and Mario Kart is a close 2nd.
 
I was going to say Mario, but he really hasn't done much for me this generation. Zelda on the other hand has made me happy during my SNES days, my N64 days, and now. I'll give it up to Zelda.
 
gradius is the only one that comes to mind, really. and even there i have to assume that gradius V won't disappoint. which it won't. most franchises have faltered in one generation or another. or skipped a generation altogether. i wouldn't say gradius has been consistently strong -- III and IV didn't do much to advance the series -- but there's been at least one great, new gradius game every console generation.

8 bit: nes gradius and famicom gradius II
"16 bit": pce cd gradius II
32 bit: gradius gaiden
"128 bit": gradius V

i'm not sure there are any bad zelda or mario games, but i think sunshine and celda are particularly weak entries in both franchises. you could make a case for r type, but i think final falls a bit short.
 
not to beat a dead horse...but clearly its gotta be Zelda...

generations in two sense as well...multiple platforms of nintendo NES, SNES, N64, GC, GameBoy, GameBoy Color, GBA as well as the fact that it appeals to all ages..I started playing this game with my dad and my older brother...all generations of my family loved it.
 
Zelda. I can't think of a Nintendo system (with the exception of the Virtual Boy) that hasn't had at least one great Zelda game on it.
 
Madden. I remember playing the first Madden on the day it came out, that night on my Genesis. On the trip home I read the entire manual (which was thick). I remember the passing windows. I remember thinking gaming had changed forever. At that time, nobody knew about this game, none of my friends. It wasn't big or popular. I played it ever generation since, and a new console isn't shit until Madden's out on it.
 
Zelda, ever since ALTTP came out on SNES. I didn't really get into OOT until well after the fact, but I've enjoyed ALTTP, OOT, WW, and 4 Swords immensely. I have a pretty big backlog of Zelda games to catch up on though, such as the Oracle games and Link's Awakening etc. MM didn't seem up my alley and the first two Zelda games are pretty underwhelming at this point, but I still have to say that the Zelda series continues to progress while many other series either become stale, or fail to live up to their predecessors (MGS2 and Mario Sunshine come to mind).
 
Metroid, Resident Evil and Castlevania.

And if the new Mario is good (unlike Sunshine), Mario.
 
Zelda's the easy favorite, it's the only ARPG series to successfully survive 4 generations and remain at the top of it's genre (and games in general). Actually Nintendo overall seems pretty good at keeping their franchises relevant throughout generations (Mario, Pokemon, F-Zero, Fire Emblem, Wario, Kirby, Metroid, etc).
 
I don't really have a single favorite so I'll just name them all.

Resident Evil
Castlevania
Metroid
Zelda
Mario
Street Fighter
Tekken
Megaman
Final Fantasy
 
I'd include Castlevania too but I thought the PS2 version is crap. Will we get another one on PS2? A good one?
 
Mrbob said:
I'd include Castlevania too but I thought the PS2 version is crap. Will we get another one on PS2? A good one?
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I miss the old good Castlevania days. This series had so much potential going into this generation.
 
1) Castlevania easily
2) Final Fantasy
3) Zelda
4) Metal Gear

Resident Evil & Tomb Raider started out strong last gen but petered out and haven't made any waves this gen. RE4 may reverse that, but it's not here yet and probably won't be till 2005.

Mario would be there easily if the N64 and GC versions did anything at all for me. The Mario series on the NES & SNES are still the epitamy of classic game design.
 
Lost Weekend said:
3) Starfox (don't let be down, Namco)
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Too late. Rare already let 99% of StarFox fans down with SFA.

EDIT: Technically, SFA wasn't atrocious. From a graphical standpoint, the game is gorgeous, but the gameplay is incredibly stale and the overall experience doesn't exude a StarFox vibe.
 
Ristamar said:
Too late. Rare already let 99% of StarFox fans down with SFA.
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Ah, but the games disjointed Dinosaur Planet origins make it easy (in my mind anyway) to discount it :)

The crappy thing about that one is that shortly after Starfox 64's release, I wished and hoped that someone would release a SFA style 'away mission' game. I imagined it would be so bad ass. Naturally, when SFA was announced I was estatic. Damn Rare for crushing the dreams of this young dreamer!
 
Mrbob said:
I'd include Castlevania too but I thought the PS2 version is crap. Will we get another one on PS2? A good one?
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There's also the GBA games for this gen. And 2 of those 3 were excellent. :)
 
Lost Weekend said:
Ah, but the games disjointed Dinosaur Planet origins make it easy (in my mind anyway) to discount it :)

The crappy thing about that one is that shortly after Starfox 64's release, I wished and hoped that someone would release a SFA style 'away mission' game. I imagined it would be so bad ass. Naturally, when SFA was announced I was estatic. Damn Rare for crushing the dreams of this young dreamer!
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Worse yet, evidently EAD were considering making a similar StarFox themed adventure game before the Dinosaur Planet makeover... sad what could've been. :/
 
Damn, that is depressing. I wan't my EAD made SFA game. Rare was never a part of the original equation? Time for me to start dreaming again.
 
Where's the Sonic love? That little guy has been great fun through the years. Excellent music, vibrant colors, and lots of speed. I thought Sonic Heroes was a perfect 3d representation of the franchise.
 
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