Top 10 Games That Never Got a Sequel

Sometimes I think about awesome games I played in the past, and I realize that said games were either one-off titles, never receiving any sequels, or they were the last game released in their respective series, doomed to never see a continuation of their saga. This is my list of 10 of those games without sequels!

I’ll admit I bent the rules a bit with some of these entries. Some of them have one or more spiritual successors, or maybe some spin-offs and remakes were released in the series afterward but no true sequels. With that in mind, here’s the list.

10. Amazing Island

Amazing Island deserves a sequel for one reason alone: its awesome monster creator tools. I loved creating my own monster allies in Amazing Island as a kid, and unlocking more customization options as I played was always exciting. There’s probably a few other games kind of like this, but it never got an actual sequel. The closest thing to its monster creation that I’ve seen in a game is probably Spore’s creature designer, which is also pretty fun in that game. Outside of the monster creation, Amazing Island is mostly a mini-game collection and the mini-games themselves are just okay.

While I enjoyed it as a kid, trying to play it as an adult has gone pretty poorly. I just can’t win at some of the mini-games anymore, and I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong!

9. Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg

While it could be pretty frustrating to play at times due to some janky mechanics, I remember enjoying Billy Hatcher as a kid. It’s a 3D platformer where the main gimmick is that you’ll be rolling eggs around for much of the experience, using them to bounce, jump, and roll your way to collect all the shiny things. Level selection and structure is similar to Super Mario 64 or Sunshine, but the egg-based platforming definitely makes it unique.

It would have been cool to see Sonic Team polish up the mechanics a bit and revisit the unique platforming of Billy Hatcher in a sequel, but alas, it was not meant to be.

8. Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen

I never finished this game because I got stuck relatively early, but it has some really interesting mechanics. Huge monsters that you can climb on and hack away at, and deep customization of the Pawns that make up your party made this game stand out.

As I learned while researching for this post, there was actually another Dragon’s Dogma game, an MMORPG called Dragon’s Dogma Online, released only in Japan. I don’t know if that counts as a sequel to Dragon’s Dogma or not, but since it wasn’t released internationally I think Dragon’s Dogma is still a valid entry on this list.

There’s also a Dragon’s Dogma anime releasing on Netflix soon. Maybe this means a sequel is still possible someday, who knows?

7. Jeanne d’Arc

For this one it makes sense there was never a direct sequel. Jeanne d’Arc does what it sets out to do, and tells the story of Joan of Arc in an alternate history with monsters and magic. A direct sequel wouldn’t make sense, and it’s no surprise we never got a Jeanne d’Arc 2. However, I would love if Level-5 made another SRPG with this concept. The “historical fantasy” setting is so cool, I would have loved to see it again with another historical figure. Although, at that point it’s not really a sequel…unless they used it to start a brand new historical fantasy SRPG franchise! That would have been pretty sweet.

6. Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Blacklist

I never finished Blacklist, and in general I preferred the previous entry in the series, Splinter Cell: Conviction. Had I known at the time that Blacklist would be the last Splinter Cell game until the series entered hibernation, I probably would have given it more attention.

Reading the Wikipedia article for Blacklist, apparently long-time series fans didn’t really like Conviction, and mostly prefer Blacklist over it. Since Conviction is still the only Splinter Cell I’ve played, I can’t compare it to any others. It sounds like I ought to give Blacklist another chance someday though!

5. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Vegas 2

While the Rainbow Six series may not be dead since Rainbow Six: Siege exists, it skips the single-player campaign offered by the Rainbow Six: Vegas games and doubles down on the multiplayer components instead. I enjoy Siege, but the lack of a full single-player campaign is a real shame in my opinion! The squad-based, tactical single-player campaign in Rainbow Six Vegas 2 was a cool experience, and I wish we could have seen another entry in the series featuring something like it.

For a while I was really excited for the announced Rainbow Six: Patriots, which would probably have featured something similar to the Rainbow Six campaign I’m dreaming of, but it appears that project was either scrapped or transformed into Siege during development.

4. Kathy Rain

This was such a good point-and-click adventure game! It’s unfortunate that Kathy Rain never got another game, it seems like this could have been the beginning of a promising, retro-style adventure game series featuring the titular character.

I had thought that Kathy Rain was developer Clifftop Games’ only game to date, but when I was doing research for this post I was delighted to find I was wrong! In 2019, Clifftop Games released another point-and-click adventure game, Whispers of a Machine. I don’t think this one has any connection to Kathy Rain, but from the screenshots it looks like it employs a similar pixel art style. Kathy Rain may not have any sequels, but I am really glad to see the developer released another point-and-click game!

3. Super Mario RPG The Legend of the Seven Stars

While the first Paper Mario game is a spiritual successor to Super Mario RPG in many ways, Square would never return to develop another Mario RPG. I love Paper Mario, but it differs from Super Mario RPG in some significant ways. Paper Mario has simplified stats and features badges instead of equipment, while Super Mario RPG stays much closer to typical RPG elements and features several kinds of character stats and interchangeable equipment slots for weapons, armor, and accessories.

Since the time of Super Mario RPG, Nintendo has published a number of RPGs featuring Mario, including a few Paper Mario RPGs and the Mario & Luigi series. Therefore, I don’t think it’s likely they’ll ever partner with Square Enix to create a Super Mario RPG 2. We’ll probably always be left wondering what a Square-developed Super Mario RPG followup would look like.

2. Metroid Fusion

Metroid Fusion may be more guided than earlier entries in the series, but I really enjoyed it nonetheless. Unfortunately, it never received a sequel! Metroid as a series has been very stagnant since, with new entries mostly consisting of remakes and spin-offs. I hold on to the hope that Metroid 5 will release someday, but I don’t think it’s very likely. At least Metroid Prime 4 is still reportedly on the horizon.

1. Mischief Makers

I love this 2D action platformer on N64. That Mischief Makers never got a sequel on either N64 or any future console is a real travesty. It hasn’t even received a re-release of any kind! The reviews for it were fairly average when it first came out, so that’s probably a contributing factor to why a sequel never came to be.

Mischief Makers is definitely an underrated game. It has some unique gameplay mechanics, with grabbing, shaking, and throwing things playing a large role. Boss fights are quite memorable too, there’s one towards the end that I remember being especially impressive, and I just might have to replay the game soon just to experience that fight again! It might take a little time to get used to the controls and the unique platforming, but it’s definitely worth it!

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Top 10 Games That Never Got a Sequel

September 12, 2020

Top 10 Games That Never Got a Sequel

10. Amazing Island

9. Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg

8. Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen

7. Jeanne d’Arc

6. Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Blacklist

5. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Vegas 2

4. Kathy Rain

3. Super Mario RPG The Legend of the Seven Stars

2. Metroid Fusion

1. Mischief Makers

Ben

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