Video game reboots are all the rage these days.Why invest in a new IP that may not be successful when you can bring back a beloved franchise to the modern era?
On paper, it’s a no-brainer: copy the DNA of what made a classic game great, give it some modern-day improvements and quality-of-life updates, and call it a day.
10 Game Franchises With Hugely Successful Reboots
With different stories, mechanics, or styles, these entries changed their series for the better.
Sadly, you’d be surprised how often video game reboots fail to deliver. Sometimes, injecting modern-day mechanics doesn’t work with some old-school franchises.Sonic the Hedgehog, for example, works best as a 2D side-scrolling platform rather than a 3D game. Look no further thanSonic Maniafor proof of that.
Other times, the games are broken beyond repair by going too all-in on buzz-word design ideas that were popular at the time but inappropriate for their titles.
These are the worst video game reboots that have ever released. Pour a cold one out for these formerly great franchises.
10Medal of Honor (2010)
Didn’t Answer The Call Of Duty
Medal of Honor (2010)
Believe it or not, there was a time whenMedal of Honorwas the premiere WWII shooter franchise in a world whereCall of Dutyhad yet to burst onto the scene. That all changed in 2000 with theoriginal Call of Duty, and Medal of Honor was never able to recover.
A reboot made sense, given how the series was falling behind the premier FPS franchise in gaming. Sometimes, if you want to compete with the best in the industry, you need to get a fresh start.
2010’s Medal of Honor was better than anything else we’ll talk about on our list, but ultimately, it was forgettable.
The entire reason this game existed was to dethrone Call of Duty, which it failed to do. The game wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t anywhere near as good as its contemporaries and failed to prove its place in the modern world.
The multiplayer mode originally let you play as the Taliban. For those unfamiliar with American history in the 2000s and 2010s, that’s a questionable decision.
9SimCity (2013)
Moving Out
2003’sSimCity4 is an excellent city builder that, in the eyes of many, is the high point in the series. How could any subsequent releases top it without taking some big swings?
The team at Maxis thought that too, as 2013’s SimCity reboot indeed made some major changes.
Rather than focus on a gigantic, sprawling city, the game revolves around developing smaller cities to make up one region.
You can also work together with friends in online multiplayer, which is a great idea in theory, but then there’s the fact that the game’s servers flat out did not work at launch. Multiplayer was unplayable, as was the game’s single-player mode, since itrequired an internet connection.
Modders would find ways to disable this always-online requirement, but fans would also realize that the game’s touted features for your city’s citizens weren’t working properly. The game never recovered.
If you’re looking for a moderncity-builder, check out theCities: Skylinesgames instead.
8Saints Row (2022)
Didn’t Come Marching In
Saints Row 2022
Some reboots don’t have a need for existing. 2022’sSaints Rowis one of them.
For those who missed out on theSaints Row franchise, the games were enjoyable, over-the-top open-world experiences that originated as a Grand Theft Auto spin-off before morphing into their own thing.
Following 2013’s Saints Row IV, the franchise took a break before its reboot in 2022. Their return missed the mark on all levels.
By trying to make the game more dramatic and mature,developer Volition forgot what made these games so beloved. There’s a reason why it stopped trying to present itself as a serious game and went all-in on the wackiness: it worked better as a non-serious open-world playground.
Instead, 2022’s Saints Row instantly felt dated in terms of its story, writing, and, worst of all, gameplay.
7Perfect Dark Zero
Failure To Launch
Perfect Dark Zero
It feels weird to labelPerfect DarkZero a reboot since it’s a prequel to a game released five years prior, but that is the case here.
Rather than developing a sequel to theNintendo 64classic Perfect Dark, Rare dove into Joanna Dark’s origins in a prequel while also making some big changes to the core gameplay.
Where Perfect Dark was a first-person shooter, Perfect Dark Zero is an FPS/third-person hybrid, featuring a roll-and-cover system. Sadly, the design choices don’t work out, especially sinceGears of Warwould outclass it a year later.
The biggest issue with Perfect Dark Zero is thatit lacks the magic that made the original game so beloved. There’s no heart, the gameplay suffers, and the enemy AI is severely lacking.
This was supposed to showcase the new Xbox 360 hardware, but upon release, it already felt left behind.
6Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)
A Blue Blur
Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)
You knew this was coming after I brought up Sonic Mania in the introduction.
2006’sSonic the Hedgehogis an excellent example of “if it ain’t broke, why fix it?” Sure, Sonic Adventure games proved that Sonic can work in 3D environments, but I’m not sure what Sega was thinking about this one.
Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Movie Dated, As Third Movie Crosses $400M
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 has now crossed the S450 million mark in the worldwide box office.
TheSonic serieshas floundered throughout recent memory, with this entry being the worst because it doesn’t really do anything well.The graphics are lackluster, the story is cringeworthy, and the gameplay is nowhere near enjoyable.
Sega has continued to try to make 3D Sonic games happen, but honestly, it should stick with the 2D formula, especially with the popularity of old-school sprite games.
5Alone In The Dark
Lights Out
Alone in the Dark (2008)
Older gamers remember that the survival horror genre arguably began with theAlone in the Darkfranchise. These games were ahead of their time, delivering immersive environments in a frightening atmosphere that legitimately scared us to death.
Over time, the Resident Evil franchise became one of the premieresurvival horror games, while Alone in the Dark floundered.
So what do you do with any formerly great franchise that’s fallen out of favor? You reboot it! And what happens more often than not? It’s not good! That’s the case with 2008’s Alone in the Dark Reboot.
The game lost sight of what made the originals so great. Instead, it felt adapted for a modern audience rather than staying true to its roots. It results ina clunky, broken mess of a game that squanders any potential it had. At least it wasn’t trying so hard to be edgy, right?
Fun Gone Extinct
I love the originalTurokgames. The stories are filled with impressive lore, the gameplay felt natural for a console FPS from the 90s, and the level design was ahead of its time.
Plus, the game’s weapon designs are incredible. The Cerebral Bore is still one of myfavorite weapons in any video game.
Turok: Origins - Announcement Trailer
Play as the legendary Turok warriors to face off against ferocious dinosaurs and a terrifying alien threat that seeks to destroy all human life in the
What I’m trying to say here is that I was excited for the franchise to get a reboot in 2008. Sadly, the game suffers for all the reasons you’d expect from a 2000s-era reboot: it doesn’t understand what made the original games so great.
The level design is unfortunate, the gameplay is clunky, and the camera is frustrating.
Worst of all,the story is a low-key mess that feels more at home with a summer blockbuster that failed to make its money backat the box office.
At least we havea new entry in the seriesto look forward to.
3Bionic Commando
A Bionic Disappointment
Bionic Commando
I’m not sure who asked for a reboot ofBionic Commando, but there is one because the late 2000s were all about reboots.
Worst of all, it was released a year after a remake of the original game, which wasn’t bad! The actual reboot, though, was a disaster.
Many remember how bad the ending is, falling into the traps of making sure it has some super awesome twist that will impress audiences, even though it just pissed everyone off.
Even then, for a reboot of a game that centered around impressive controls,Bionic Commando’s biggest flaw was its technical failures. It’s the perfect example of a game that’s great in theory but with terrible execution. It never lives up to its potential and is ultimately a frustrating experience from beginning to end.
2Space Raiders
A Game With No Target Audience
Speaking of games nobody asked for, I had to do a double-take the first time I saw a copy of Space Raiders in the wild. I was working at GameStop then and wondered what they did to make Space Invaders more suitable for modern audiences. It turns out: absolutely nothing!
The only thing I can think of that happened during the pitch for Space Raiders was that they wanted to make a “modern, edgy, mature” version of the arcade classic. Either that or the development team had a bad idea that was floundering until they tried to tie it into one of the most beloved games of all time.
Space Raiders somehow plays like a far worse version of the 1978 arcade game, complete withan insane amount of poor acting, bad cutscenes, and cringeworthy environmentsthat would even makeMetroid: Other Mblush.
1Bomberman: Act Zero
Zero Reasons To Play
I’m not sure what’s more puzzling: the fact that someone tried to makeBombermana gritty futuristic game, or the fact that someone tried to do it following the failure of Space Raiders.
In 2006, Hudson Soft decided to reboot the Bomberman franchise with Bomberman: Act Zero. Gameplay-wise, fans will feel right at home, though arguably a little too at home. There are no innovations or updates for the gameplay. It’s the same Bomberman you know and love, copied and pasted into an absolute mess of a modern-day game.
Where do we begin with the flaws? It hadpoor collision detection, long load times, copied and pasted textures, and a tonal shift from past Bomberman gamesso abrupt that it gave us whiplash. You know, the staples of any bad Xbox 360-era game.
Friends don’t let friends play bad games, so from me to you, steer clear of this mess.
