Making its beginnings in the industry through the arcades, Capcom made a name for itself with titles such as 1942 and Vulgus. When the Nintendo Entertainment System brought gaming back into the home scene, the company brought out heavy hitters such as Bionic Commando, Ghosts 'n Goblins, and the highly prolific Mega Man titles.
The company pretty much created the fighting and survival horror genres with Street Fighter and Resident Evil, respectively. Truly, Capcom's greatest strength is its ability to adapt to different gaming climates. That being said, the studio has had its fair share of missteps, such as some poorly made titles, bad movie tie-ins, and dubious business decisions.
10 Creative Differences Led To The Shuttering Of Capcom Vancouver
The success of Dead Rising 2 and Keji Inafune's departure essentially gave the keys of the franchise to Blue Castle Games — later rebranded as Capcom Vancouver. Unfortunately, subsequent titles in the series garnered a more mixed reception for their grittier and less comical approach.
The final nail in the coffin was the eventually canceled Dead Rising 5, which suffered a protracted development process with many different iterations and concepts. Dissatisfied with the studio's progress, Capcom officially shuttered the Vancouver branch's doors with investors noting a 40 Million Dollar loss in canceled projects.
9 The Frustrations Of The Bionic Commando Reboot Overshadowed The Fun
Keji Inafune regarded Capcom Japan's collaboration with Swedish Developer Grin on the 2009 reboot of Bionic Commando as "messed up," and the final product certainly shows. The game was met with a mixed response for its uneven tone, swinging mechanics that are fun one minute and frustrating the next, and one of the most absurd plot twists in gaming.
Much like how the NES version of Bionic Commando is remembered as "that game where you blow up Hitler's head at the end," the reboot is remembered as "that game where it's revealed that your wife is your metal arm."
8 The Capcom Five Strained Their Relationship With Nintendo
The Capcom Five were titles that were slated to be exclusives for the Nintendo GameCube. These consisted of Viewtiful Joe, Resident Evil 4, Killer 7, PN03, and Dead Phoenix. However, Dead Phoenix was eventually canceled, and the dismal sales of the Resident Evil remake on the GameCube caused Capcom to get cold feet and eventually make RE4 multiplatform.
Eventually, all but one of the released titles would see versions on competing platforms, with the only exclusive Nintendo would net being the critically panned PN03. This is apparently the reason why Smash Bros. Brawl did not see any Capcom characters join the fray.
7 Marvel Vs. Capcom Infinite Is Held Back By A Small Roster And Poor Presentation
When it was announced at PlayStation Expo 2017, Marvel Vs. Capcom Infinite was hotly anticipated by both gaming and comic fans alike. However, the bizarre-looking character models and the lack of the slick stylization of MVC3 made the game pale in comparison to Arc System's Dragon Ball FighterZ.
Since the game was meant as a tie-in to the MCU, many fan-favorite characters were excised to focus on heroes who were represented in Disney's films. The most egregious omission from the roster was Wolverine or any of the other X-Men, especially considering that it was the arcade coin-op tie-in Children of the Atom that kick-started this crossover series.
6 Resident Evil 6 Is a Bloated Quick Time Heavy Mess
Noticing the popularity of shooters in the West, a team led by Eiichiro Sasaki decided to breathe new life into Capcom's undead franchise by injecting it with a greater emphasis on action and gunplay. Adding to this new direction was the constant presence of quick-time events, which bombarded players throughout each of the four bloated campaigns and tasked them with hammering the buttons and wiggling the sticks.
Desperate to appeal to everyone, Resident Evil 6 alienated hardcore fans of the series who decried its deviation from the franchise's horror roots and attempts to chase the Call of Duty market.
5 Mega Man's North American Box Art Nearly Killed The Franchise In Its Crib
While the first Mega Man entry received rave reviews, its sales in Japan were less than stellar. Still, it was seen as commercially viable to commission a Western localization — albeit a very rushed one. The hastiness of this release shows with box art that depicts a man who bears only superficial similarities to the blue bomber in front of a ravaged futuristic city.
Thankfully, word of mouth was able to overcome the game's abysmal North American cover to make it a sleeper hit, justifying its far superior sequel and, by extension, the entire franchise.
4 Dino Crisis 3's Mix Of Platforming And Horror Is Like Oil And Water
Years before Doctor Who, Capcom attempted to bring a prehistoric menace into space with Dino Crisis 3. The game is completely at odds with itself as it attempts to be more action-focused with its purchasable weapons and jetpack-infused platforming. However, it still uses the same old survival horror tropes such as hunting for key cards and its completely inappropriate use of a fixed camera.
Had the game stuck to the series' roots and just tasked players with managing their resources and fending off hostile dinosaurs, the use of this kind of camera would've been fine, but it's actively detrimental when players have to perform jumps to progress.
3 Final Fight Streetwise's Attempts At Maturity Fall Completely Flat
Attempting to push the series in a direction closer to the Grand Theft Auto franchise, Final Fight Streetwise deviated from its beat 'em up roots to be less linear and more "adult" and "edgy." Players were still tasked with beating baddies to a pulp, but in between the brawling, they'd have to explore a half-baked sandbox that didn't really give players an incentive to deviate from the story path.
The combat's as basic as the arcade games of yore and greatly hindered by the game's uncooperative camera. Even more embarrassing is the game's downright bizarre mix of urban violence with supernatural creatures.
2 Both Live Action Street Fighter Movies Are Cinematic Disasters
The Street Fighter brand's been blighted with not one but two different live-action theatrical stinkers that fail to capture the fun and over-the-top nature of its source material. While the first film is graced with a fine performance by Raul Julia as M. Bison and a few genuinely funny pieces of dialogue, there are no other characters to latch onto, and the plot is very by-the-numbers.
Street Fighter's intended reboot, Legend of Chun Li, fared even worse with changes made to the source material that hinder rather than simplify the plot, a wildly uneven tone, and unbelievably awful performances.
1 Keji Inafune's Departure Took Its Toll On The Mega Man Franchise
The departure of keji Inafune led to the cancellation of two anticipated Mega Man titles. Mega Man Universe was pitched as a community-level editing game akin to Little Big Planet, while Mega Man Legends 3 was the long-awaited sequel to a series with a huge cult following.
Capcom Europe's Twitter account didn't help matters when they attributed the lack of fan feedback to the game's cancellation, prompting one user to tweet, "Do you want us to make the game for you?" Evidently, they did, considering the only title released to celebrate the blue bomber's 25th was a fan-made crossover with Street Fighter.