As was foretold, we've added advertisements to the forums! If you have questions, or if you encounter any bugs, please visit this thread: https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/240191/forum-advertisement-faq-and-reports-thread/
We're funding a new Acquisitions Incorporated series on Kickstarter right now! Check it out at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/pennyarcade/acquisitions-incorporated-the-series-2

IGN's top 10 game franchises that jumped the shark.

245

Posts

  • CouscousCouscous Registered User regular
    edited February 2007
    mrots wrote: »
    Herby wrote:
    I have to second the opinion that Sonic Heroes wasn't a terrible game. I liked the teamwork aspect a lot and felt that it was a much better game than the previous two 3d attempts.
    People say I'm fucking crazy, but I completely agree that Heroes was better than either Sonic Adventure game, and actually had a few really interesting levels. It's still not an amazing game (side characters, camera and control niggles, 3D Sonic etc) but a solid like, 6 or 7 in my book.

    I liked the game too. I just wished that they would have concentrated on one team.

    Couscous on
  • yalborapyalborap Registered User regular
    edited February 2007
    titmouse wrote: »
    He likes the mythos, and he loves Shadow, and he loves the fast speed of it all.

    The mythos are retarded, Shadow sucks, and nearly all of the games have had a ton of sections that force you to slow down. In the Adventure games, there were the stupid characters other than Sonic and Shadow that you had to play as.

    Shadow has potential. It's just squandered.

    yalborap on
  • Vincent GraysonVincent Grayson Frederick, MDRegistered User regular
    edited February 2007
    deowolf wrote: »
    Man, FUCK those guys for putting Dynasty Warriors on there. I'm gonna LuBu someone's ass...

    Dynasty Warriors is a strange beast. The gameplay and graphics remain largely unchanged, but almost undeniably improve to some degree between each release.

    Sure, if you don't care for the formula, it's easy to hate DW and its various sequels and spin-offs, but I don't know any fans (myself included) who feel like it's started to take a downhill slide or anything else suggested by "jumping the shark".

    Vincent Grayson on
  • mrotsmrots Registered User regular
    edited February 2007
    Also it should be noted that the "disappointing" THP8 got good reviews from IGN, at least for the PS3 and 360 versions. 7 and 7.8 respectively.

    mrots on
    mrots.png
  • Zephyr_FateZephyr_Fate Registered User regular
    edited February 2007
    yalborap wrote: »
    titmouse wrote: »
    He likes the mythos, and he loves Shadow, and he loves the fast speed of it all.

    The mythos are retarded, Shadow sucks, and nearly all of the games have had a ton of sections that force you to slow down. In the Adventure games, there were the stupid characters other than Sonic and Shadow that you had to play as.

    Shadow has potential. It's just squandered.

    Well at least you didn't respond like that ass up there.

    Zephyr_Fate on
  • Zephyr_FateZephyr_Fate Registered User regular
    edited February 2007
    Dynasty Warriors improving upon each release? I played DW4 to death and could barely touch DW5.

    Zephyr_Fate on
  • ZekZek Registered User regular
    edited February 2007
    titmouse wrote: »
    He likes the mythos, and he loves Shadow, and he loves the fast speed of it all.

    The mythos are retarded, Shadow sucks, and nearly all of the games have had a ton of sections that force you to slow down. In the Adventure games, there were the stupid characters other than Sonic and Shadow that you had to play as.
    You do realize that pretty much every Sonic game ever had tons of sections that forced you to slow down, right?

    Zek on
  • DusdaDusda is ashamed of this post SLC, UTRegistered User regular
    edited February 2007
    God dammit. Why doesn't Capcom make another sequel to Megaman Legends? ML2 is one of my favorite PS1 games :(.

    Dusda on
    and this sig. and this twitch stream.
  • ElendilElendil Registered User regular
    edited February 2007
    Have I mentioned that I hated Sonic Rush?

    Well, I did now.

    Elendil on
  • ZackSchillingZackSchilling Registered User regular
    edited February 2007
    Zek wrote: »
    titmouse wrote: »
    He likes the mythos, and he loves Shadow, and he loves the fast speed of it all.

    The mythos are retarded, Shadow sucks, and nearly all of the games have had a ton of sections that force you to slow down. In the Adventure games, there were the stupid characters other than Sonic and Shadow that you had to play as.
    You do realize that pretty much every Sonic game ever had tons of sections that forced you to slow down, right?

    Spinning thorn bridge in Green Hill Zone Act 1 what?

    ZackSchilling on
    ghost-robot.jpg
  • yalborapyalborap Registered User regular
    edited February 2007
    Dusda wrote: »
    God dammit. Why doesn't Capcom make another sequel to Megaman Legends? ML2 is one of my favorite PS1 games :(.

    Because Capcom hates us.

    yalborap on
  • CraveonCraveon __BANNED USERS regular
    edited February 2007
    mrots wrote: »
    Also it should be noted that the "disappointing" THP8 got good reviews from IGN, at least for the PS3 and 360 versions. 7 and 7.8 respectively.

    Duh, the person that made the list probably isn't the same as the one that reviewed that game. Just because it's on the same site doesn't mean everyone has to have the same opinion.

    Craveon on
    elegyofemptiness.jpg
  • FawfulFawful __BANNED USERS regular
    edited February 2007
    Dusda wrote: »
    God dammit. Why doesn't Capcom make another sequel to Megaman Legends? ML2 is one of my favorite PS1 games :(.
    Cuz they're too busy making MM Battle Network 37 Ruby and Sapphire editions.

    Fawful on
    hytd.jpg
  • AzioAzio Registered User regular
    edited February 2007
    Starfox, jumped the shark? Nonsense! Starfox Command is awesome. They're just cranky because the last one for GameCube sucked.

    Azio on
  • PataPata Registered User regular
    edited February 2007
    Zek wrote: »
    You do realize that pretty much every Sonic game ever had tons of sections that forced you to slow down, right?

    Not to mention that almost every Sonic game has had multiple playable characters.

    Pata on
    SRWWSig.pngEpisode 5: Mecha-World, Mecha-nisim, Mecha-beasts
  • NickleNickle Registered User regular
    edited February 2007
    I don't understand the love for THP8. I can see that the level designs were much better than THUG/American Wasteland (though I have limited experience with American Wasteland), and I like what they did with the animations, but they either took away or neutered everything else that was good. The create-a-skater is completely bare-bones, and the fun my friends and I had creating courses and trading them is taken away all-together. There's absolutely no replay value, whatsoever. Not to mention the game is so short (or seems to be, because all of the goals are incredibly simple to beat with a sick score).

    It was far too easy to beat the game, the gap keys took all of the fun out of finding the gaps, and I hope to god they nix the slow motion special thing, because it completely removes any challenge from the game. I remember when busting out million plus combos was a thing of beauty, now it's just boring.

    My opinion is that anyone who liked project 8 couldn't have been very good at Tony Hawk to begin with, it's waaaaay too easy. But that's coming from someone who's religiously followed the game since it's inception. To me, Project 8 was a step sideways, with some good points, but mostly bad points. Bring back the animations, some of the gameplay innovations (flip button), make some good levels, and for god sakes make the game challenging again, then the series will be back where it belongs.

    Yeah, it jumped the shark after 3, but it didn't stop me from playing.

    EDIT: oh, and the 'Nail the Trick' thing is cool the first few times, until you realize how horribly useless it really is during the course of gameplay. It seemed like they were reaching a bit, just to fit something new in there.

    Nickle on
    Xbox/PSN/NNID/Steam: NickleDL | 3DS: 0731-4750-6906
  • jclastjclast Registered User regular
    edited February 2007
    Azio wrote: »
    Starfox, jumped the shark? Nonsense! Starfox Command is awesome. They're just cranky because the last one for GameCube sucked.

    To be fair, Starfox Adventures, although a solid Zelda clone, did help the series jump the shark.

    It was fun, but it wasn't Starfox. Assault and Command seem to have brought the series back, but there's no excuse for Fox to be out of his Arwing and without his blaster at the same time.

    jclast on
    steam_sig.png
  • ben0207ben0207 Registered User regular
    edited February 2007
    Zek wrote: »
    titmouse wrote: »
    He likes the mythos, and he loves Shadow, and he loves the fast speed of it all.

    The mythos are retarded, Shadow sucks, and nearly all of the games have had a ton of sections that force you to slow down. In the Adventure games, there were the stupid characters other than Sonic and Shadow that you had to play as.
    You do realize that pretty much every Sonic game ever had tons of sections that forced you to slow down, right?

    Spinning thorn bridge in Green Hill Zone Act 1 what?

    You can (if you're good) jump straight across those, and even on the longest ones can find a clearing mid jump and finsih without getting hit.

    ben0207 on
  • wombatwombat __BANNED USERS regular
    edited February 2007
    I dont agree with Tony Hawk being on the list or their little blurb about it


    I still think it peaked at THPS4

    wombat on
    siggy2.jpg
    Vote for my film! (watching it is also an option)
    wii friend code: 7623 9955 2119 1775
  • skaceskace Registered User regular
    edited February 2007
    Tomb Raider Legend was a fucking excellent game. Best in the series even. Had they made a shark jumping list a year or 2 ago, Tomb Raider could have earned every spot. But after Legend, you can't honestly put it on the list.

    skace on
    http://picasaweb.google.com/skacer | Shiren:5413-0147-4655
    steam_sig.png
  • Eight RooksEight Rooks Registered User regular
    edited February 2007
    Didn't "jump the shark" come to mean throwing in something ridiculously over-the-top in a desperate attempt to keep people's attention? I mean, God knows there's reason enough to hate the Dynasty Warriors series' obsession with diminishing returns - I love the basic concept, but Koei's milking of what is pretty much the exact same game and their pathetically antiquated graphics technology is digusting. Ikusagami has the PS2 display 65,000 units on screen at once, DW can't manage more than, what, 25 tops?

    ...anyway, just to say that's got nothing to do with jumping the shark, IMO. Metal Gear Solid would be a more apt entry. :P

    Eight Rooks on
    <AtlusParker> Sorry I'm playing Pokemon and vomiting at the same time so I'm not following the conversation in a linear fashion.

    Read my book. (It has a robot in it.)
  • DusdaDusda is ashamed of this post SLC, UTRegistered User regular
    edited February 2007
    Why isn't Perfect Dark on the list?

    Dusda on
    and this sig. and this twitch stream.
  • yalborapyalborap Registered User regular
    edited February 2007
    Dusda wrote: »
    Why isn't Perfect Dark on the list?

    Because while PD0 is not as good as PD, it certainly does not require jumping over sharks.

    yalborap on
  • RenzoRenzo Registered User regular
    edited February 2007
    yalborap wrote: »
    Dusda wrote: »
    Why isn't Perfect Dark on the list?

    Because while PD0 is not as good as PD, it certainly does not require jumping over sharks.

    It'd probably be a better game if it did.

    Renzo on
  • RenzoRenzo Registered User regular
    edited February 2007
    Didn't "jump the shark" come to mean throwing in something ridiculously over-the-top in a desperate attempt to keep people's attention? I mean, God knows there's reason enough to hate the Dynasty Warriors series' obsession with diminishing returns - I love the basic concept, but Koei's milking of what is pretty much the exact same game and their pathetically antiquated graphics technology is digusting. Ikusagami has the PS2 display 65,000 units on screen at once, DW can't manage more than, what, 25 tops?

    ...anyway, just to say that's got nothing to do with jumping the shark, IMO. Metal Gear Solid would be a more apt entry. :P

    Going off your definition, it seems that MGS doesn't fall into "jumping the shark" territory. It's been pretty much even keel crazy/cool/off the fucking deep end/whatever since MGS1. Whether it appeals to you is something else entirely, of course.

    And why the hell isn't Ikusagami coming to America? 65,000 enemies. Yes please.

    Renzo on
  • yalborapyalborap Registered User regular
    edited February 2007
    Renzo wrote: »
    Didn't "jump the shark" come to mean throwing in something ridiculously over-the-top in a desperate attempt to keep people's attention? I mean, God knows there's reason enough to hate the Dynasty Warriors series' obsession with diminishing returns - I love the basic concept, but Koei's milking of what is pretty much the exact same game and their pathetically antiquated graphics technology is digusting. Ikusagami has the PS2 display 65,000 units on screen at once, DW can't manage more than, what, 25 tops?

    ...anyway, just to say that's got nothing to do with jumping the shark, IMO. Metal Gear Solid would be a more apt entry. :P

    Going off your definition, it seems that MGS doesn't fall into "jumping the shark" territory. It's been pretty much even keel crazy/cool/off the fucking deep end/whatever since MGS1. Whether it appeals to you is something else entirely, of course.

    And why the hell isn't Ikusagami coming to America? 65,000 enemies. Yes please.

    Because god hates us.

    yalborap on
  • AydrAydr Registered User regular
    edited February 2007
    Threepio wrote: »
    jothki wrote: »
    143999 wrote: »
    I'm surprised that these people didn't put Mario on this list.

    There would need to be a crappy Mario game first.

    What Mario party should I mention?

    You would need a crappy Mario Party game first. Even then, can you really say Mario jumps the shark? The spin-offs are far from falling flat on their faces. And while those games came out, the main entry never truly disappoint the fan. And all of them selling millions. So how can you say Mario jump the shark?

    You can say it.


    It just won't be true.

    Oh, Mario jumped the shark.

    He also jumped the blooper, koopa, pirahana plant, and just about anything else you can think of. And it's still awesome every time. As for Mario Party, none of them are actually bad games either. Sure some of them are the exact same game, but that exact same game is still an ok game at worst.

    Come to think of it, I really do have yet to come across a Mario game I didn't like. Yes, that includes his edutainment games.

    Aydr on
  • GoumindongGoumindong Registered User regular
    edited February 2007
    If any series has jumped the shark, it's Final Fantasy. Wake me up when FF12 is over, seriously. That game would do better as a narcotic.

    Seriously. When i read that #1 was predictable i said "final fantasy".

    I am ashamed that isnt on the list.

    Goumindong on
    wbBv3fj.png
  • Psycho Internet HawkPsycho Internet Hawk Registered User regular
    edited February 2007
    yalborap wrote: »
    Dusda wrote: »
    Why isn't Perfect Dark on the list?

    Because while PD0 is not as good as PD, it certainly does not require jumping over sharks.

    Also because PD spans all of two games.

    The fustrating thing about Sonic is that it's so easy to fix. Every fan with half a brain could make a better 3d Sonic than Sega has, even without resorting to Secret Rings style rails.

    Psycho Internet Hawk on
    ezek1t.jpg
  • MattieMattie Registered User regular
    edited February 2007
    I thought they already did a Top 10 on this.

    http://psp.ign.com/articles/750/750797p1.html

    Mattie on
    3DS Code 0001-3323-2884
    Xbox Live Gamertag: Suplex86
  • jclastjclast Registered User regular
    edited February 2007
    Goumindong wrote: »
    If any series has jumped the shark, it's Final Fantasy. Wake me up when FF12 is over, seriously. That game would do better as a narcotic.

    Seriously. When i read that #1 was predictable i said "final fantasy".

    I am ashamed that isnt on the list.

    To be fair, SquarEnix does create a new battle system or level up mechanic for each game.

    Sure, junctioning didn't end up to be a great system, but it was different from Materia and it made using summons more strategic than "Fuck, I need a summon!"

    XII plays differently than X did. X levelled up differently than any other game I can think of.

    You can't claim they aren't trying to keep you from playing the same game with new characters every couple of years.

    jclast on
    steam_sig.png
  • schlewschlew Registered User regular
    edited February 2007
    yalborap wrote: »
    Dusda wrote: »
    Why isn't Perfect Dark on the list?

    Because while PD0 is not as good as PD, it certainly does not require jumping over sharks.

    it did a weird shark jump back in the GameBoy Colour days.
    The only thing it did well was completely ruin the idea that Perfect Dark was cool.
    The enemies were a nightmare, imagine bosses with names that seem to be lifted from Metal Gear, but instead of making sense, the developers attempted to make as little as possible.

    But those were the GBC days, so I won't consider it part of the series.

    If anything, we can say the series jumped the shark, then employed the ability to go back in time stumble over it instead.

    Oh, and I bought it. *sigh*

    schlew on
  • CouscousCouscous Registered User regular
    edited February 2007
    Pata wrote: »
    Zek wrote: »
    You do realize that pretty much every Sonic game ever had tons of sections that forced you to slow down, right?

    Not to mention that almost every Sonic game has had multiple playable characters.

    The characters usually played the same with a few minor differences. Knuckles was as fast as Sonic and didn't have to go around collecting chaos emeralds and Tails didn't pilot a mech.

    Couscous on
  • PataPata Registered User regular
    edited February 2007
    titmouse wrote: »
    Pata wrote: »
    Zek wrote: »
    You do realize that pretty much every Sonic game ever had tons of sections that forced you to slow down, right?

    Not to mention that almost every Sonic game has had multiple playable characters.

    The characters usually played the same with a few minor differences. Knuckles was as fast as Sonic and didn't have to go around collecting chaos emeralds and Tails didn't pilot a mech.

    Tails and Knuckles were rather different even then.

    Knuckle's wall climbing and Tails flight could completely change the way you went through a level.

    Pata on
    SRWWSig.pngEpisode 5: Mecha-World, Mecha-nisim, Mecha-beasts
  • darunia106darunia106 J-bob in games Death MountainRegistered User regular
    edited February 2007
    Goumindong wrote: »
    If any series has jumped the shark, it's Final Fantasy. Wake me up when FF12 is over, seriously. That game would do better as a narcotic.

    Seriously. When i read that #1 was predictable i said "final fantasy".

    I am ashamed that isnt on the list.

    Just curious, when did you think FF jumped?

    darunia106 on
    pHWHd2G.jpg
  • darunia106darunia106 J-bob in games Death MountainRegistered User regular
    edited February 2007
    yalborap wrote: »
    Dusda wrote: »
    God dammit. Why doesn't Capcom make another sequel to Megaman Legends? ML2 is one of my favorite PS1 games :(.

    Because Capcom hates us.

    Of couse they hate us. Why else would they shut down Clover?

    darunia106 on
    pHWHd2G.jpg
  • MattieMattie Registered User regular
    edited February 2007
    darunia106 wrote: »
    Goumindong wrote: »
    If any series has jumped the shark, it's Final Fantasy. Wake me up when FF12 is over, seriously. That game would do better as a narcotic.

    Seriously. When i read that #1 was predictable i said "final fantasy".

    I am ashamed that isnt on the list.

    Just curious, when did you think FF jumped?

    IX

    Mattie on
    3DS Code 0001-3323-2884
    Xbox Live Gamertag: Suplex86
  • Eight RooksEight Rooks Registered User regular
    edited February 2007
    Renzo wrote: »
    Didn't "jump the shark" come to mean throwing in something ridiculously over-the-top in a desperate attempt to keep people's attention? I mean, God knows there's reason enough to hate the Dynasty Warriors series' obsession with diminishing returns - I love the basic concept, but Koei's milking of what is pretty much the exact same game and their pathetically antiquated graphics technology is digusting. Ikusagami has the PS2 display 65,000 units on screen at once, DW can't manage more than, what, 25 tops?

    ...anyway, just to say that's got nothing to do with jumping the shark, IMO. Metal Gear Solid would be a more apt entry. :P

    Going off your definition, it seems that MGS doesn't fall into "jumping the shark" territory. It's been pretty much even keel crazy/cool/off the fucking deep end/whatever since MGS1. Whether it appeals to you is something else entirely, of course.

    And why the hell isn't Ikusagami coming to America? 65,000 enemies. Yes please.

    Oh, I know, I'm just being facetious. ;) Though seriously, my dislike for various aspects of the franchise aside, do you at least see my point? MGS 2 is arguably far crazier than 1, and 3 than 2. DW has remained practically the exact same game for more than a generation.

    And Ikusagami is supposedly coming to Europe and Australia as Demon Chaos, so if that does come to pass you can at least import in English... though if you trust me on only one gaming-related issue, trust me on this - it's really not that great. At least not for the first ten levels or so. Overly simplistic (yes, more so than DW), too easy and ultimately just plain tedious.

    God damn, but 65,000 enemies is still pretty fucking awesome, though. :D

    Eight Rooks on
    <AtlusParker> Sorry I'm playing Pokemon and vomiting at the same time so I'm not following the conversation in a linear fashion.

    Read my book. (It has a robot in it.)
  • darunia106darunia106 J-bob in games Death MountainRegistered User regular
    edited February 2007
    Mattie wrote: »
    darunia106 wrote: »
    Goumindong wrote: »
    If any series has jumped the shark, it's Final Fantasy. Wake me up when FF12 is over, seriously. That game would do better as a narcotic.

    Seriously. When i read that #1 was predictable i said "final fantasy".

    I am ashamed that isnt on the list.

    Just curious, when did you think FF jumped?

    IX

    Aw, IX's my favorite one. Now I feel guilty. :(

    darunia106 on
    pHWHd2G.jpg
  • Psycho Internet HawkPsycho Internet Hawk Registered User regular
    edited February 2007
    I think some people here arn't quite getting the meaning of "jumped the shark."

    The phrase does not simply mean going from great to suck, it implies a change in the overall feel, usually by taking something so far as to be silly. For example, Sonic jumped the shark once the number of playable characters shot through the roof and you played as Sonic for like an hour, and humans started appearing.

    FFIX adheres to the cliches of FF so much that it cannot possibly have "jumped the shark." Perfect Dark Zero didn't radically change the franchise, the quality was just lower, so it too doesn't qualify.

    Psycho Internet Hawk on
    ezek1t.jpg
Sign In or Register to comment.