Chris Jecks
Alas, for whatever reason, some of these absolute gems never got the sequel they truly deserved, and to this day, we still find ourselves longing for that surprise announcement that they’ve been brought back from the dead. If Shenmue can be resurrected, then these 5 GameCube games that never got the sequel they truly deserved should be, too.
Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem
Eternal Darkness holds a unique accolade in the sense that it was the first ever M-rated game published by Nintendo. For the most part, the game played out like a Resident Evil title, with third-person combat and puzzles to solve as you progress through the game. But when the second chapter of the game begins, Eternal Darkness ups the ante by introducing its sanity meter. Whenever the player is spotted by an enemy, the green bar will decrease. When the meter gets too low, the game will quite literally start to play tricks on you. These range from skewed camera angles and heads of statues following the character through the world to bleeding walls and ceilings, thinking you’ve walked into a new room only to actually still be in the one you thought you’d left. These things really added to the atmosphere, but the Sanity’s Requiem wasn’t done there, with TV and GameCube ‘errors’ and ‘glitches’ simulated to break the fourth wall. It’s stuff that was way ahead of its time and made the whole experience an unforgettable one.
Star Fox Adventures
While Star Fox may be most commonly associated with aerial dogfights in Arwings, Star Fox Adventures saw Fox McLoud set out on foot to save Dinosaur Planet from destruction. Featuring a little dino companion in the form of Prince Tricky and a mysterious blue fox called Krystal, the game was an action-adventure not too dissimilar from Ocarina of Time. It had varied areas to explore, engaging third-person combat, and even some Arwing sections thrown in for good measure. Sure, Fox’s visit to Dinosaur Planet felt a little out of place for the series, but the general action-adventure gameplay actually worked pretty well. While Star Fox Assault would turn the balance of Adventures on its head with a more vehicle-heavy approach to gameplay, Nintendo has never deemed a Star Fox return to the action-adventure genre one worthy of its time. Given that the Star Fox series is sadly relegated to a new release every blue moon (if that), and an unquenchable thirst for first-party Nintendo content, a return to the genre might not be a bad thing at all. We’d absolutely be down to go on a space adventure visiting different planets with the Star Fox crew once more. C’mon, Nintendo, make it happen.
SEGA Soccer Slam
SEGA Soccer Slam is a game very near and dear to my heart. I have fond memories of dividing up the various teams between my brother and me and having hours-long showdowns to see who would reign supreme. It’s football… sorry, soccer for you Yankee-doodles, but without the rules, super shots, and a colorful cast of characters, each with their own unique celebrations and personalities that you just don’t see nowadays. It was a chaotic, fast-paced goal-fest and – despite the somewhat questionable accents for the various players – had a lot to love about it. A prime example of the arcadey sports party games that have fallen by the wayside in recent years, SEGA Soccer Slam deserves a true sequel with new teams, improved mechanics, customization options, and online multiplayer to bring it into the modern day. We can’t imagine it ever happening, but a young lad from ol’ Blighty can dream.
Killer7
If you do any reading around the internet about Killer7, you’ll notice that everyone comes away from playing it saying the same thing: it’s wholly unique, imaginative, and wrapped up in a zany wrapper that makes it one of the strangest and most memorable experiences you can play in games. Even now, 17 years after its initial release on GameCube and PS2, the FPS-cross-puzzler-cross-third-person-exploration game is a confounding experience. With a modern lick of paint, a new game in the series could make for a rather fantastic shooter. Removing the on-rails traversal and fleshing out the actual FPS sections of the game with modernized mechanics while retaining all of that sumptuous style that the game is so well known for could be a recipe for success. It’s just straight-up weirdness, but that is what makes Killer7 so unique… and so oddly great despite its formulaic gameplay.
Ikaruga
While Ikaruga may have been ported to plenty of consoles, the challenging arcade-style shooter never actually got the sequel it so rightly deserved. The vertically-scrolling shoot ’em up featured just five stages with three levels of difficulty and had two-player co-op if you needed some help… and you probably did, as the game was hard as nails. There aren’t any power-ups or pick-ups distracting you from the monsoon of bullets raining down from the top of the screen. Instead, players just had their standard firing weapons and a homing laser which was 10 times more powerful than a standard shot but required players to absorb enemy bullets to use and ‘level up.’ Given we’re now in an era of sadistic gamers who love nothing more than seeing the words ‘You Died’ scrawled across their screens, it seems like the perfect time for Ikaruga to grace our screens in the form of a sequel once more. More levels, more bullet hell action, online co-op, and more controller-smashing difficulty would certainly separate the ‘pro gamers’ from the novices.
Skies of Arcadia
Despite actually releasing on the SEGA Dreamcast, the head honcho of Twinfinite demanded that, once again, Skies of Arcadia made it onto a list of games that deserves a sequel or just hasn’t received the praise and recognition it deserves. The qualifying argument this time was, it was ported to Nintendo’s ‘cube and it never got a sequel. So, here ya go Ed, here’s your beloved once more. To be fair to him, Skies of Arcadia is a beloved RPG that, with modern-day technology, could deliver a rather excellent sequel. Players step into the shoes of Vyse, a young air pirate who, with his friends, attempts to stop the Valuan Empire from destroying the world with the help of some ancient weapons. Featuring turn-based battles and a 3D overworld where players would fly their airship around, it’s got the makings for a fantastic remake or sequel. This would especially be true if the game featured an extensive air-based open world that players need to chart out as they explore, just like in the original. The potentially good news is that, even 20 years on, the developer is still desperate to make a sequel for the game. Whether his wish will ever be granted, however, remains to be seen. Ed also wanted me to point out that this is one of the greatest JRPGs ever made (as per its Metacritic score), and I had to, and I quote “respect the GOAT.” So there you go folks. Respect has been shown!
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