10 FAILED Video Game Reboots
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00:00 Welcome to Mojo Plays and today, we're looking at 10 games that tried to modernize their
00:04 series and failed spectacularly.
00:09 Turok The Turok series on the N64 was a hit with
00:21 both fans and critics alike.
00:24 It was often compared to the benchmark console FPS, GoldenEye 007 at the time, with its impressive
00:30 graphics, level design, tight gameplay, and innovative game mechanics.
00:35 The 2008 reboot of the franchise left most of that behind, and instead of continuing
00:40 the mythological aspect of the original series, players took on the role of a generic soldier.
00:46 The inventive weapons of the original were replaced by the standard assortment of modern
00:50 warfare-style gunplay and mechanics.
00:53 When even the admittedly cool dinosaurs can't save your shooter about fighting dinosaurs,
00:59 this is a reboot that completely misses what made the original games so iconic.
01:11 Saints Row
01:22 The only real competitor to GTA's Crown, the Saints Row series went through numerous
01:27 iterations and managed to split the fanbase with some fans preferring the more realistic
01:32 take in Saints Row 2 and others leaning more towards the over-the-top nature of Saints
01:37 Row III.
01:38 But with their 2022 reboot, Volition attempted to find a balance between the two and managed
01:44 to please no one.
01:46 Not only was the game filled with a myriad of bugs and glitches, but most of the main
01:51 characters were just unlikable.
01:53 It felt like the developers tried too hard to appeal to a new, younger generation, as
01:59 well as a story and world that didn't appeal to long-time fans of the series.
02:04 While the game was mechanically competent, it just wasn't fun, which is the main draw
02:09 of the Saints Row series and resulted in a reboot that completely lost its identity.
02:20 Spy Hunter Nowhere to Run
02:32 While the Spy Hunter series has certainly seen its share of reboots throughout the years,
02:36 Nowhere to Run attempted to tap into the more cinematic and Hollywood-style video games
02:41 we're heading towards, but ended up in straight-to-DVD B-movie territory instead.
02:47 The Spy Hunter series made no secrets about their James Bond inspirations, so naturally
02:52 when it came time for a Hollywood-style adaptation of the franchise, they got Dwayne "The Rock"
02:57 Johnson as their leading man.
03:05 Letting players get out of the car and explore the world had become standard by this point,
03:10 but ended up being the worst aspect of an already disappointing entry in a beloved franchise.
03:16 With bland and repetitive gameplay, even the surprisingly solid story and The Rock's
03:21 usual charm couldn't save this spy from getting burned, and the franchise has been
03:26 mostly M.I.A. ever since.
03:43 Frogger He's Back
03:50 The simplicity of Frogger was most likely its biggest draw during the game's initial
03:54 release, where your only goal was to help the poor little froggy cross the road to the
03:59 other side while surviving various obstacles.
04:02 Proving that not every game's formula needs an update, this is one road Frogger should
04:07 have avoided entirely.
04:09 While the game did feature some interesting and creative level designs, everything else
04:14 about the game was lackluster, especially the game's controls which actively fought
04:19 against the player at every turn.
04:21 They effectively made the game and its need for precision jumps nearly unplayable and
04:27 unfairly increased the game's overall difficulty.
04:30 Why did the frog cross the road?
04:40 Dungeon Keeper
04:46 The original 1997 Dungeon Keeper saw players building and managing their dungeons to keep
04:52 the "hero" away from the treasures within.
04:55 Even today, Dungeon Keeper has a loyal fanbase, but because EA was involved, naturally the
05:01 newest entry became an over-monetized mess even by mobile standards.
05:06 Instead of the original's strategic dungeon-building gameplay, EA turned the title into a mobile
05:12 tower defense game.
05:14 This meant that players were forced to wait extortionist amounts of time or fork over
05:18 real-world cash for the game's multiple in-game currencies necessary for building
05:24 traps and generally playing the game at all.
05:27 Naturally this didn't go over well with fans of the series or critics and the game
05:32 was rightfully lambasted for its greedy practices.
05:35 Just because you're the bad guy, doesn't mean you have to be the bad guy.
05:45 Golden Axe - Beast Rider
05:54 Yet another unneeded "update" to a classic franchise, the Golden Axe games were a staple
06:00 of arcades and Sega Genesises everywhere and was one of the early pioneers in multiplayer
06:05 gaming.
06:06 The simple hack and slash gameplay made the game easy to pick up and play, so naturally
06:11 the series was a perfect fit for a gritty 3D single-player reboot, right?
06:16 The game attempted to appeal to an older audience with an over-sexualized main character as
06:22 well as buckets of blood and gore, but forgot to include engaging gameplay or a meaningful
06:27 story.
06:28 While many other beat-em-ups have successfully made the transition into 3D, Beast Rider somehow
06:33 made Golden Axe's simple and fun combat boring.
06:38 The game's bland graphics and repetitive gameplay were made even worse by the game's
06:42 horrendous control design.
06:46 Space Raiders - Space Invaders
07:04 Speaking of unnecessary reboots, Space Invaders has been an industry icon since it first debuted
07:10 in 1978 and virtually nothing has needed to be updated or changed since its initial release.
07:18 Why then did developer Taito feel the need to reboot or change up a formula that had
07:23 been perfect for nearly three decades by that point is anyone's guess.
07:28 Switching to a third-person perspective and putting players on ground level instead of
07:32 their trusty ship, but maintaining the original game's shooting mechanics and gameplay, somehow
07:38 made the original's tried and true gameplay feel repetitive.
07:42 It's a poor imitation of its predecessor, full of pointless cinematics, terrible graphics
07:48 and drab, lifeless environments.
07:50 It's no wonder they didn't have the nerve to use the Space Invaders name.
08:03 Bionic Commando - Bionic Commando
08:14 There's definitely an ongoing trend with these mid-2000s reboots and developers feeling the
08:19 need to take an established property and give it a dark and mature overhaul.
08:24 And while it has worked on occasion, this list has more than proved it doesn't work
08:29 for everything.
08:30 Bionic Commando is probably the closest to a decent game on our list with its surprisingly
08:36 solid graphics and swinging mechanics, but is held back by one major core component of
08:41 its reboot, the story.
08:43 This might not be a deal-breaker for some, but the bizarre story of Rad Spencer investigating
08:49 the disappearance of his wife takes a major twist when he discovers she sacrificed herself
08:54 to make his Bionic arm.
09:04 Even by video game standards, this one's a bit of a stretch.
09:09 Thankfully, alongside the reboot, fans got a more traditional 2D Bionic Commando game
09:14 that proved successful enough it even earned itself a sequel.
09:26 Alone in the Dark - Alone in the Dark
09:37 The true granddaddy of survival horror, the impact of Alone in the Dark on the genre it
09:42 helped to create cannot be understated, with the likes of Silent Hill and Resident Evil
09:47 taking direct inspiration from it.
09:50 While the 2008 reboot had good intentions, the title's poor implementation of its
09:55 new mechanics only aided in its fall into obscurity.
10:00 Taking an episodic approach to the game's poorly written and designed narrative didn't
10:04 do the game any favors, and its focus on combat and set-piece moments lost what made the series
10:09 an icon to begin with.
10:12 Moving Edward Carnby out of the mansion and into large cityscape environments didn't
10:17 lend itself to many scares either, completely undermining the core of the Alone in the Dark
10:22 series.
10:23 The fire effects remain impressive even today, however, as does the game's inventory system.
10:32 Bomberman Act Zero
10:42 As we keep constantly mentioning, everything in the mid-2000s needed to be dark and gritty
10:48 no matter the source material.
10:50 So seemingly for this reason alone, Hudson Soft decided to take the cute and cartoony
10:56 Bomberman and give him a makeover to better reflect the dark times of the 2000s.
11:03 Even this could have probably been forgiven had the core gameplay remained the same, but
11:08 along with the game's decidedly more violent tone was a myriad of bizarre design decisions
11:14 such as first person.
11:16 Coupled with ugly and poorly designed environments and long load times, the game lost the soul
11:22 of what makes the Bomberman games so enjoyable.
11:25 Thankfully, the series returned to its roots and never looked back, but we almost lost
11:30 the entire Bomberman franchise to the dark timeline.
11:39 Which video game reboot do you think was the biggest failure?
11:42 Let us know in the comments below.
11:53 Thanks for watching.