There's always a temptation from higher-ups to take an established property and give it the darker and grittier treatment - especially in the realm of video games. Most of the time, this just means adding some gratuitous violence, swearing, and sexual content while jettisoning any color or humor found in the original.
Some titles can manage to pull of a more grounded and mature take, while others completely ruin what made their franchises so beloved in an attempt to chase trends. Whether it's due to executive meddling or increased pressure from consumer tastes, these games fumbled in their attempt to stay relevant.
10 Devil May Cry 2 Jettisons The Attitude And Difficulty Of The Original
When Devil May Cry was released for the PlayStation 2, its hack and slash gameplay and attitude changed the landscape of gaming. For some reason, higher-ups at Capcom decided to hand the sequel's development to a completely different team.
Not only that, but an unidentified director decided that the difficulty and over-the-top nature were elements of the original that had to go. After a troubled development period, Hideaki Itsuno took over and attempted to salvage the work that had been done. Still, the end result felt like a lifeless facsimile of what was a revolutionary title.
9 Anarchy Reigns Tries To Give Its Mass Murdering Protagonist Some Pathos
The Wii exclusive hack and slash Madworld had some neat gameplay ideas, a distinct black and white cel-shaded look, and hilarious profanity-laced dialogue from some color commentators. Unfortunately, this didn't translate to sales. For the follow-up, Platinum Games decided to move the fray to HD consoles, eschew the black and white noir style, and tone down the humor considerably.
Jack works better as a Jason Voorhees type who murders people in ridiculous over-the-top ways. Trying to give him genuine pathos and a tragic backstory involving a deceased child just doesn't work for an over-the-top fighting game.
8 Dead Rising 3 Is Less Colorful And Outlandish
While enough of the core gameplay remained intact, Dead Rising 3 was considerably less colorful and tongue in cheek than the first two. A lot of the charm of the earlier entries was the juxtaposition of the cheerful shopping malls and casinos mixed with the undead hordes that occupied them.
In Dead Rising 3, the zombies don't really stand out amongst the decimated city of Los Perdidos. Not only that, but the brutal challenge of the earlier games was completely absent. This would be the start of an identity crisis that would plague the series and eventually lead to the shuttering of Capcom's Vancouver branch.
7 Space Raiders Doesn't Evolve Much From 1978
The original arcade shooter Space Invaders was one of the first games that got progressively harder with its ships that would descend faster as the player thinned out their ranks. During its debut, the game became a pop culture phenomenon, received a couple of follow-ups, and proceeded to lay dormant for many years.
2002 saw the release of the critically panned Space Raiders. Putting aside the game's melodramatic storyline and the gratuitous shower scene, the gameplay hadn't really evolved much since 1978. Space Raiders manages to be duller and less challenging than its predecessor.
6 Zork Nemesis Is A Game That's At Odds With Itself
The original Zork titles were pioneers in video game narrative and role-playing. While devoid of visuals, the fantastical settings and easy-to-use text interface influenced many of the adventure games that would follow in its wake.
Return to Zork moved the series from Infocom to Activision and was the first in the series to deviate from its predecessors' text-based formula. Its follow-up, Nemesis, is a game that seems at odds with itself. One moment, the player is reanimating a decapitated head, and the next, the main villain makes a Toy Story reference.
5 Bionic Commando Is a Swing And A Miss
The original Bionic Commando was a game where players took on the role of a soldier with a mechanical arm/grappling hook who blew up the head of a dictator who was most certainly not Adolph Hitler. While the game received a suitably tongue-in-cheek remake in the form of Bionic Commando Rearmed, it also saw a darker and grittier follow-up simply called Bionic Commando.
Asking players to take the plight of Nathan "Rad" Spencer seriously is a bridge too far, even with his bionic grappling hook. The game also sports what might be one of the most absurd plot twists in gaming.
4 No Local Multiplayer In Bomberman Act Zero's Apocalyptic Setting
Taking the bright and colorful Bomberman franchise and placing it into a grim post-apocalyptic setting, Bomberman Act Zero was lambasted by fans and critics alike. Aside from the change in tone, Act Zero suffered from some bizarre design choices.
The game's "first-person mode" is actually just a very zoomed-in third-person perspective that doesn't convey where players are in relation to other players. In addition, there is no saving allowed in the game's 99 level single-player campaign. Finally, there is no local multiplayer of any kind - an omission that misses the entire point of the franchise.
3 Final Fight Streetwise Tries Too hard To Be Edgy
Final Fight Streetwise goes for an "everything but the kitchen sink approach" with its attempt at a grittier tone. The game deviates from the more linear beat 'em ups of yore and makes a half-hearted attempt at a more non-linear sandbox structure akin to Grand Theft Auto. Characters shout obscenities left and right in a desperate attempt to be cool and edgy.
The game also takes a weird supernatural turn with the bad guys undergoing mutations from the game's fictional drug called "glow." All of this might have been worth forgiving had the game been any fun - which it isn't.
2 Prince of Persia Warrior Within Negates The Character Development From Sands Of Time
Warrior Within's gameplay was a considerable improvement from Sands of Time, but everything else was an unbelievable step-down. All of the character development that the Prince had undergone in the previous title is nowhere to be seen as he snarls obnoxious self-aggrandizing threats and is willing to kill a person he's never met just to save his own skin.
Any goodwill towards female representation that Ubisoft might have earned with Farah is completely undone by the poorly written and scantily clad Hench girl the player fights at the beginning of the game.
1 Shadow The Hedgehog Packs Heat And Swears
There was a time when Sonic the Hedgehog was the king of the hill, but the release of games such as Grand Theft Auto III and Halo radically changed the demands of the market. Kids just didn't seem that interested in games staring cuddly animal mascots. Noticing the popularity of these more mature titles, Sonic Team decided to take a gamble on the series.
This new title would revolve around the morally ambiguous Shadow and give him access to firearms and mild obscenities. The end result is quite possibly one of the most embarrassing moments of the franchise alongside Sonic '06 and Sonic Boom.