What is the most overrated Video Game Franchise of all time?

[Soul Reaper]

In my opinion it is Sonic and Final Fantasy.

Sonic hasn't had a good game since Sonic Adventure. It just sucks now. I use to love the originals with Knuckles as a bad guy and when Tails was able to fly you places. It was awesome. But Sega has turned it into crap now. Sega shouldn't have left the console business when they left it all the Sonic games became crappy and stale. In the game Sonic the Hedgehog the one for the PS3 and 360. It was freaking disappointing. It looked great. The new character Silver looked interesting but the game was horrible.

Final Fantasy is just a very stale and boring series in my opinion. I've only enjoyed a few FF games. FF7 was awesome and easily the best in the series, FF12 wasn't that bad and I liked it, and I like the one with that girl who was a singer (I forgot which one). Besides those ones the series just isn't as great as everyone makes it out to be. I think Kingdom Hearts was better then Final Fantasy. It was more entertaining to play.

 

[klunderbunker]

I'll have to agree with Sonic here. You run fast and collect rings. Big deal. That was a series based on the strength of one single character. The speed of the game got to be an aggrivation too. You would move too fast to be able to keep up with where you were going or doing.

Another game that I'll call overrated is Madden. Having never been a hardcore fan, I can't really comment on distinct features. The only thing that I know about it is that when the new game is coming out, the world stops moving for one night. How much of an update can you make to a football game in one single year? To me, football is football. Yes the features are updated every year, but how much different can they really be? To me, overrated.

 

[Davi323]

I am probably going to be eviscerated here, but, I am gonna say HALO. It isn't anything 50 games before it didn't do already. It wasn't particularly innovative, and until it was released, you had to use a controller...playing 1st person shooters with game controllers simply is a waste of time. Keyboard and Mouse is a far better control system for a game like that. Repetitive level design, bad weapon designs, and shortness of the game don't help either. I get that it was the first major huge blockbuster for the Xbox...I just don't get why. It isn't all that. Maybe it just falls flat when compared to PC 1st person shooters, but, HALO just doesn't do it for me.

 

[Dead Kennedy]

Halo. Another generic shooter with a completely rotten storyline and a main character with absolutely nothing going for him. Absolutely no innovation, no new ideas for the game, and it's suddenly getting praised as the greatest shooter of all time. I absolutely do not get it. Maybe it's because the majority of Xbox games are much, much worse, but there's not one reason in the world Halo should stick out in an already over-filled market of generic shooters.

 

[Lee]

Ok I'm going to comment on two that have been said, that personally I agree with, then I will mention my choice.

Sonic

I thought Sonic 1-3 were great, after replaying them recently it seems that it's just Sonic 2. Sonic Adventure on the Dreamcast was great, any efforts after that have quite simply been rubbish! Sonic and the Secret rings had horrible controls and was just stupid!

Halo

It's one of those games where you have one fantastic game, and the sequels are just poor in comparison. It's a case of 'oh the first one was great so this one will be.' Not in my opinion, great game, crap franchise!

So I pick my choice;

Bomberman

Can anyone tell me a decent bomberman game? According to wikipedia there's over 40 of them, and they're all TERRIBLE, why keep making the same game time and time and time (x40) again?!

 

[FoleyIsGod]

The Sims.

Granted, the first one was something fresh and new. Then EA basically ****ed out the franchise so your now gettingg box sets where you can change the colour of your turds nad have a butler wipe it for you.

I hate EA

 

[a7xoff]

Ugh I can think of quite a few right off the top of my head, but I'm just going to go with my top 2.

This I'm sure I'll get sumthin negative for, but w/e... WARCRAFT... Warcraft is probably one of the most overrated series I've ever seen. Is it a good series? Certain aspects of it are yes, but overall I find it very overrated. Warcraft III for example for an RTS I found that it focused wayyyyy too much on the heroes. Why could you basically destroy a base with a high level hero and a small force? It really took all of the fun out of it for me from playing games such as Starcraft and Age Of Empires where there are no level up system for heroes and it's basically whoever makes the best base, army, and strategy wins. World Of Warcraft further solidifies my standing on the franchise. WOW for the amount of money it is monthly is not only worth it, but it's ridiculous. I mean really. If you've played Everquest you can see a damn near mirror of a game. Not to mention the repetative missions that plague the game throughout. I just don't see how people are able to sit and literally take a game so seriously that it controls their lives... It really makes me sick....

Anyway... My other overrated franchise is Sonic. Like FlameLee said, 1,2, and 3 were great. Hell Sonic and Knuckles was awesome. However that greatness could not stay. I mean really how many times are we going to go through places collecting rings and gems. I mean at least Mario has differences in the games. I mean Mario 64 has literally nothing in common with Super Mario World for SNES... Besides 100 coins giving you a 1 up. Back in the day Sonic was great. The remakes for Gamecube were great. However once Sonic went 3D, it all died for me. I was very saddened by the fact that he made it into Super Smash Brothers, but at least I have a punching bag...

 

[FoleyIsGod]

Ah, I forgot about World of Warcraft.

Horrible, horrible game. Its main draw is the cartoon network esque graphics. Its a game built for kiddies.

Playing wise, its a long, grinding affair. The PVP system is a joke.

If you want to play real pvp, try Dark Age of Camelot. Now thats a system that works. I mean, would it still get 3k players on one server per night if it was crap? Its nearly 8 years old now, and still is the best system, which is a shame because so much has promised so little(SWG,WOW).

 

[drwow]

I'd have to say poke'mon.
Now, don't get me wrong. I freakin loved the first generation of pokemon games red, blue and yellow were just outstanding games. Then it started to go downhill from there. As the games progressed. it got more and more repetitive. catch this pokemon, now spend hours leveling it up by fighting horeds of ratatas. You could even tell that they were running out of names for the pokemon. (Badoof? what the hell is that?) The gameplay would become stale after a few hours of play. Even the mini-games they added couldn't bring the series back from the dead.

 

[Lee]

I'd have to say poke'mon.
Now, don't get me wrong. I freakin loved the first generation of pokemon games red, blue and yellow were just outstanding games. Then it started to go downhill from there. As the games progressed. it got more and more repetitive. catch this pokemon, now spend hours leveling it up by fighting horeds of ratatas. You could even tell that they were running out of names for the pokemon. (Badoof? what the hell is that?) The gameplay would become stale after a few hours of play. Even the mini-games they added couldn't bring the series back from the dead.

I'm going to agree here, as much as I enjoyed Pokemon blue, the thing got annoying very quickly. Too many games doing the same thing...usually franchises have it so you do follow a formula (rescue the princess etc.) Pokemon's got boring very quickly. Too much conflicting stories at once, am I doing PokeDex? Levelling up? Winning Gym badges? Beating team rocket?

 

[The Snake]

For me it is GTA - Now there is no dispute that it is one of the best games of the generation, but it is not worthy of the hype it makes - GTA 1 and 2 were awful in my opinion. GTAIII was again an average game in the grand scheme of things, you can credit it with turning a poor pair of games into an acceptable one, but 3D graphics were a must on the PS2, so it was nothing really revolutionary, a good game, which I played a lot, but there is a lot of boring and menial stuff in it. GTA: VC was incredible, it's biggest problem is that it made every future game in the series overrated, people got a gaming masterclass, but then they bought the next 2 because this one was good.

GTA: SA was a good game, not as highly rated as everyone made out - VC was better, of course SA was vast and had some new features, all of which meant there was always something to do, but CJ was a crap protagonist and it became a franchise game (Samuel L. Jackson voicing a character - why?), I enjoyed it, but it was certainly not an epic title.

And now GTA: IV some say the best game ever, some say the best on PS3/360, with Metal Gear Solid 4, Ocarina of Time and many more games in existance I find the claims unbelievable. Yes, great game, good graphics, decent gameplay. But a storyline that you can compare to the best of Hollywood movies? I think ill go and watch the Godfather if I want a superbly amazing storyline with a great script, of course a good storyline helps, but the novelty of a game is that you play it, and not enough focus was on the playing side in my book. The game lost it's love, got obsessed with sales and created hype no game would ever live up to.

So, the point I am making is not that it is a poor franchise, it is far from it, but the hype the games have surrounding them, and the sales figures for it, just prove that no matter how well R* tried, they could never live up to the hype after Vice City, everyone bought the next 2 games, and because everyone did, everyone liked it, it was the "in" game. So in terms for reputation to actual goodness of a game, I am giving this to GTA - While it is still a great game and I would reccomend it to anyone, there is no way it is as good as many people claim it to be.

 

[klunderbunker]

Another that pops into my head is Madden. Yes its awesome, but at the end of the day, its a football game. Every year people go insane about its release. How much can really be changed in a single year? Eventually there's so many changes made to it that the football becomes an afterthought. From what I've heard its all about the dynasty mode or special features etc. The players are still the same except rookies and a few big names that retire, the rules are still the same, as are the stadiums. What's the big deal?

 

[TheOneBigWill]

Another game that I'll call overrated is Madden. Having never been a hardcore fan, I can't really comment on distinct features. The only thing that I know about it is that when the new game is coming out, the world stops moving for one night. How much of an update can you make to a football game in one single year? To me, football is football. Yes the features are updated every year, but how much different can they really be? To me, overrated.

Another that pops into my head is Madden. Yes its awesome, but at the end of the day, its a football game. Every year people go insane about its release. How much can really be changed in a single year? Eventually there's so many changes made to it that the football becomes an afterthought. From what I've heard its all about the dynasty mode or special features etc. The players are still the same except rookies and a few big names that retire, the rules are still the same, as are the stadiums. What's the big deal?

We get your point Klunder, you aren't a fan of how the Madden franchise has blown it's load into the world of gaming. I'm sure one post could've proved that same point though.

And to debate the subject, just because it's the same ol' generic Football game doesn't mean each year isn't entirely different. The mere fact that players switch teams, rookies come into the league, and players retire makes the game constantly changing.

I think the best Madden game was the 2005 version that debuted a bigger Franchise mode in which you could raise or lower prices on food, merch., tickets, parking, etc. It also featured a radio show in which it had different segments each week. I loved that one. That was the same year the "hit stick" debuted as well.

But I get your point on how to some the game, albeit ever changing through player stand-point, is nothing drastically different from year to year.

Now then.. my most overrated Gaming Franchise would have to be..

Mortal Kombat: One was somewhat stale, but it was unique. Two was a bit better, and added more, three was what I would consider the all-time best because it had a ton of characters, and ways to kill people. But beyond that.. they just went nuts with the franchise.

They even spawned side games from it, such as quests and chess. I mean, how much more could you ****e out a video game than the maker's of Mortal Kombat did? And let's not forget the failure that was the Sub Zero game. lol

I have to admit, I'm slightly looking forward to the D.C. v. Mortal Kombat game that drops later this year.. but overall, it's just another poor excuse to continue making a game that's best version came out a long, long time ago.

 

[Rusty]

I have to say Kingdom Hearts. One of the worst games I have ever played, but it seems to get good reviews from websites. The Need for Speed Series started off good, but after Most Wanted it just went completely downhill. There are just so many better racing games out now. Tekken is also overrated. I don't find it entertaining at all as it gets repetitive really fast. But apart from those 3, I really can't think of any other major franchise that I really feel is truly overrated.

I noticed some people said Halo and Sonic are overrated. I disagree as I think Sonic was one of the best old school games of all time and Halo is an amazing game. I'm playing Halo 3 at the moment and the game has so many features and maps. The graphics are amazing and the overall gameplay is really fun. Halo 3 online is very addictive and fun. So I wouldn't call those two overrated at all.

 

[Ezzee]

Well, I'm going to agree with the Halo series. Never really got the point of it. It just seemed too much of a rip-off or futuristic version of James Bond.

I would just add the Star Wars franchise is completely over rated. I have yet to see a great game come out of this franchise. Maybe KotR, but that is it.

 

[Uncle Phatso]

I'd have to say poke'mon.
Now, don't get me wrong. I freakin loved the first generation of pokemon games red, blue and yellow were just outstanding games. Then it started to go downhill from there. As the games progressed. it got more and more repetitive. catch this pokemon, now spend hours leveling it up by fighting horeds of ratatas. You could even tell that they were running out of names for the pokemon. (Badoof? what the hell is that?) The gameplay would become stale after a few hours of play. Even the mini-games they added couldn't bring the series back from the dead.

Poke'mon will never die. I will admit its getting abit shitty offa the last two games. I own all the handheld games you can get, and I'm missing the n64 games because I sold them. Big woop, but anyways the first three games to people and myself were amazing. They were somthing kids could play without getting into gore. And still basically kill somthing, There were two objectives to the game. Most never made it to the second one but the first one was the beat the gym leaders and the elete 4. Shit happens the first and second installment were the best. I just wish they would re do the series and put it all in one game. Not just a shitty ass remake with a dumb ass plot after beating the elete four. Serously you had the read fucking brail to get the sapphire. ITs brail you fuckheads, you feel it not read it. Blind people were even depressed after that games falure. I guess thats why the other games are in glass cases and fire red and leaf green are out on shelfs screaming to be stolen, like I have to both and beat then sold.

But anyways away from what I've stolen at wallmart. You ask any 5 people this question, what 3 games made nentendo, Mario, Zelda, and Poke'mon. Don't try to deny it pokemon along with the other two made nentendo what it was. Mario and zelda had it from like the 80's and mid 90's then with poke'mons help they made netendo into what it was today.

 

[Tim]

The Halo series is WAY overrated. Seriously, I have never understood the point of it. Point gun at enemy, shoot, repeat. How is it different to other shooting games? I played ti once over at a friend's house, but I just couldn't get into it. But everybody seems to think it's the best thing since sliced bread, but to me it's just another shooting game with awesome graphics.

 

[Monkey_Mania]

Halo. There is nothing remotely fun about this game. In fact I personally think that it is a ripoff of Unreal Tournament. Master Chief is such a dull character, but people claim him to be Jesus Christ for some reason. The only reason this game is so popular is because it's X-Box's go to game. Much like Mario is for Nintendo. Halo is such an overrated piece of shit. If it werent for the multiplayer option, it wouldnt be nearly as highly rated, plus the mulltiplayer is better on Unreal Tournament anyways.

 

[drwow]

Poke'mon will never die. I will admit its getting abit shitty offa the last two games. I own all the handheld games you can get, and I'm missing the n64 games because I sold them. Big woop, but anyways the first three games to people and myself were amazing. They were somthing kids could play without getting into gore. And still basically kill somthing, There were two objectives to the game. Most never made it to the second one but the first one was the beat the gym leaders and the elete 4. Shit happens the first and second installment were the best. I just wish they would re do the series and put it all in one game. Not just a shitty ass remake with a dumb ass plot after beating the elete four. Serously you had the read fucking brail to get the sapphire. ITs brail you fuckheads, you feel it not read it. Blind people were even depressed after that games falure. I guess thats why the other games are in glass cases and fire red and leaf green are out on shelfs screaming to be stolen, like I have to both and beat then sold.

But anyways away from what I've stolen at wallmart. You ask any 5 people this question, what 3 games made nentendo, Mario, Zelda, and Poke'mon. Don't try to deny it pokemon along with the other two made nentendo what it was. Mario and zelda had it from like the 80's and mid 90's then with poke'mons help they made netendo into what it was today.

Wait, I don't understand what you said about sapphire. Are you saying that you had to know brail to play it?
Oh, and the reason Firered and Leafgreen were such failures is because they were just remakes of the Red and blue versions, I hate it when game companys do that.