As a child of the ’90s, I can’t help but feel a pang of nostalgia when reminiscing about these iconic Capcom franchises that have fallen by the wayside. The Mega Man Legends, Breath of Fire, and Darkstalkers series were staples in my gaming library, providing endless hours of entertainment and creating unforgettable memories.
Capcom is among the most productive companies in the annals of video game production, having created numerous iconic series such as Street Fighter, Resident Evil, Monster Hunter, and many others.
Over the course of several decades since the 80s, Capcom has created numerous games totaling over hundreds, launching several enduring franchises that persist today. Yet, there are other franchises that didn’t achieve the same lasting success, even though they garnered a passionate cult following among Capcom enthusiasts. Here are some beloved Capcom series whose latest installment has been years ago and may not return in the future.
6 Rival Schools
Heated Rivalries Between High School Fighters
In the height of the fighting game craze during the 90s, Capcom developed numerous distinctive and varied fighting game franchises, with “Rival Schools” being one of their most well-received creations. The characters hail from different high schools, who find themselves embroiled in fights after a series of random attacks and abductions on the streets. This game was succeeded by only one sequel, “Project Justice,” which hit the shelves in 2000.
For over two decades since Project Justice, Rival Schools hasn’t seen a new installment. Despite a resurgence in popularity for fighting games following Street Fighter 4, there’s been no sign of renewed interest in Rival Schools. With Hideaki Itsuno, the game’s designer and director, leaving Capcom, the future of Rival Schools appears more questionable than ever.
5 Viewtiful Joe
Flashy And Vibrant Tokusatsu Action
Among Capcom’s less traditional video games, it’s hard to ignore the extravagant and flamboyant nature of “Viewtiful Joe”. This game, developed by a team that later formed Clover Studio, was a side-scrolling brawler where you control the character Joe, who embarks on an adventure through the cinematic world of Movieland to rescue his girlfriend Silvia.
The game was followed by several sequels up until 2005, but hasn’t had a follow-up since then. As Clover Studio closed down in 2007, many of the original developers who made Viewtiful Joe moved on to form their own studios, effectively putting the franchise on ice at Capcom. Despite creator Hideki Kamiya expressing a desire to revisit the series, it seems unlikely given that he is no longer employed by Capcom.
4 Final Fight
The Dangerous Streets Of Metro City
Originally created as a sequel to Street Fighter, Final Fight eventually emerged as Capcom’s main beat-em-up series, launching a line of games that continued throughout the 90s. The storyline is set in the same world as Street Fighter, and characters like Cody and Guy made their debut in Final Fight but later appeared in Street Fighter games, thus linking the two series together permanently.
As a devoted fan of the Final Fight series, it’s been a rollercoaster ride, with many beloved entries. However, the less-than-warm welcome for Final Fight Revenge in 1999 and the disappointing Streetwise in 2006 have left the franchise in an uncertain state. Nowadays, Capcom occasionally references Final Fight through character appearances in Street Fighter, but it seems like new installments are nowhere to be seen on the horizon.
3 Mega Man Legends
A Beloved Subseries In An Iconic Franchise
The video game series known as Mega Man, developed by Capcom, is one of their longest-running and widely recognized franchises, dating back to 1987. The initial series spawned numerous spin-offs and subseries, with Mega Man X and Mega Man Battle Network among the most successful. Mega Man Legends, on the other hand, offered a fresh take on the franchise by transforming the traditional side-scrolling gameplay into a third-person action-adventure experience.
Among various spin-offs within the Mega Man series, the lamented Mega Man Legends stands out as one of the most deeply missed, given that no sequel has been produced for more than two decades. The overall pace of new releases in the Mega Man franchise has significantly decreased, with only one new game, Mega Man 11, released in 2018 over the past decade. Regrettably, even though Mega Man Legends 3 was announced in 2010, it was eventually canceled, effectively ending the subseries without any further development.
2 Breath Of Fire
Capcom’s 90s Flagship RPG
While fighting games were incredibly popular in the 90s, another genre of video games was also taking the world by storm: role-playing games, particularly ones from Japan. Capcom threw their hat in the ring in 1993 with the first Breath of Fire game, which followed a hero named Ryu, who has the power to transform into dragons. The game received four follow-ups between 1994 and 2002, with Breath of Fire 3 and 4 commonly being seen as some of the best entries in the series.
Although the Breath of Fire series had gained some popularity, it was temporarily halted due to the surge in fame of other role-playing game franchises, as explained by Keiji Inafune. A free-to-play gacha game named Breath of Fire 6 emerged in 2016; however, it ceased operations the next year and is often disregarded by fans of the series as a non-canonical addition to the franchise.
1 Darkstalkers
The Classic Horror Fighting Game
While Street Fighter and Marvel vs. Capcom are undeniably Capcom’s most popular fighting game series, it’s clear that Darkstalkers holds the third position. This gothic-horror themed fighting game draws its characters from various ghost stories and folklore, and it was one of the first to introduce several innovative gameplay mechanics that are still significant in modern fighting games today.
Although Darkstalkers has garnered significant popularity with characters such as Morrigan and Felicia, it hasn’t seen a proper sequel since 1997, resulting in a hiatus of more than 25 years. Capcom attempted to rejuvenate the series in 2013 by releasing Darkstalkers Resurrection, which combined the second and third installments of the game. However, the modest sales of this collection halted its revival, and it appears unlikely that we’ll see any new games in the franchise.
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2024-09-11 05:04