The PlayStation championship series that will never get another game

While PlayStation is currently home to many critically acclaimed and beloved game series such as God of War, The last of usand HorizonSony has been criticized by its fans for forgetting some of its most popular IPs over the past two generations, even those that shaped the PlayStation brand during its early years.

The PS1, PS2, and PS3 used to have exclusives of such high quality that they were instantly considered masterpieces, not to mention helping PlayStation become one of the “Big Three” in the home console market. Alas, aside from the occasional cameo in games like Astro Botthese excellent IPs have been largely forgotten by the brand and are highly unlikely to ever return. The following eight 10/10 series are the most famous examples of this unfortunate phenomenon.

Wipeout

The Quintessential Futuristic Racing Game (and F-Zero's biggest competitor)

There was a time when Wipeout was one of the biggest and most representative PlayStation franchises. Born fairly early in the PS1's lifespan, these futuristic anti-gravity racing games have provided gamers with thousands of hours of fun thanks to their exciting, fast-paced gameplay, stylized graphics, and music. It really felt like Sony's answer to Nintendo F-zero franchise.

Wipeout saw most of its success during the PS1 generation, but new releases eventually slowed down during the PS2 and PS3 eras. Unfortunately, the franchise has been dormant since 2012, with its original developer, Psygnosis, shutting down that same year, most likely never to get another entry. However, Wipeout's the spirit still lives on in india spiritual successors like Antigravitor and Ballistic NG.

PaRappa Rapper

One of the most important rhythm game series of all time

While this may seem pretty silly at first glance, it's worth mentioning Rapper PaRappa was quite groundbreaking for its time. The concept of a rhythm game with gameplay that relied on well-timed player inputs was absolutely stunning in the mid-90s, not to mention that its unique art style, crazy characters, and cheerful tone helped the series stand out even more.

PaRappa himself became one of the most popular unofficial PlayStation mascots during that period, but after two main entries and a spin-off, he was slowly forgotten by Sony and his own fans. Although these types of simple but charming projects are not as popular as before, similar IP as Rhythm Heaven and Taiko no Tatsujin they have huge fan bases today so it would be technically possible PaRappa rapper to come back if Sony decides to give him another chance.

MediEvil

This gothic action adventure franchise made a brief comeback a few years ago

MediEvil was without a doubt one of the best and most underrated PS1 franchises. These two action-adventure games were not only incredibly fun, but also had a unique “Tim Burton-esque” aesthetic and a perfect sense of humor that made them extremely memorable. Oddly the first MediEvil the title has been remade twice: first in 2005 for the PSP in 2005 and second in 2019 for the PS4.

In fact, the recent PS4 remake was a big (but pleasant) surprise to die-hard PlayStation fans, and many of them were confident that it would lead to a much-needed revival of the franchise. Unfortunately, nothing came of it as it looks like mixed income and disappointing sales MediaEvil ​​(2019) discouraged Sony from greenlighting either a MediEvil 2 remodel and/or and MediEvil 3.

Monkey Run

The once innovative franchise has been relegated to random scenes

It is important to realize how vital Monkey Run The IP was on the playing field for the growth of the PlayStation brand during its early years. Just when the Nintendo 64 seemed to gain the upper hand with its innovative analog stick controller, Sony responded by releasing the Dual Analog Controller for the PS1, creating an exclusive that takes full advantage of its features.

Needless to say, the combination of a ground-breaking 3D platformer and a bunch of colorful and likeable characters made it possible Monkey Run on became a huge success and, like PaRappa, the Pipo Monkeys eventually became one of the most recognizable characters on the PlayStation. While the IP still saw moderate levels of success during the PS2/PSP era, the very last one Monkey Run the title was released exclusively for the PlayStation Move in 2010, and the franchise has been pretty much dead ever since (most likely due to the arrival of hyper-realistic AAA games during 2010). Curiously, despite not having received a new game in over fifteen years, the Pipo Monkeys themselves have appeared in a huge number of modern titles such as Astro Bot and Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater.

The Legend of Dragoon

The greatest turn-based RPG on PS1 (that didn't have the words “Final Fantasy” in the title)

Sometimes it's easy to forget how popular turn-based JRPGs were in the 90s, especially on the original PlayStation. In fact, Square's huge critical and financial success Final Fantasy VII inspired Sony to create their own first-party game in the genre, leading to the creation of The Legend of Dragoon.

JRPG fans immediately fell in love with the title, praising its dynamic combat system with quick-time events (which is quite similar to modern masterpieces like Expedition 33), its stunning presentation and its deep and fascinating story. Unfortunately, The Legend of Dragoon is essentially a one-man series as Sony has never been able to bring it back in shape or form (not counting the PS4/PS5 digital port). Its protagonist, Dart, was supposed to be a DLC fighter PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale but was eventually scrapped (fortunately it appeared in Astro Bot alongside many other forgotten PlayStation icons).

Resistance

A gritty first-person shooter from another era

As mentioned earlier, the gaming industry was riddled with dark, gritty and hyper-realistic shooters in the late 2000s and early 2010s, to the point that even Insomniac Games – the developer behind colorful and whimsical franchises like Spyro the Dragon and Ratchet and Clank — created an original series of FPS games with a simple title during this time period Resistance.

Fortunately, because Insomniac is such a talented studio, these games ended up being masterpieces of their time and are now considered some of the best exclusives in the PS3 catalog. As expected from the creators Ratchet and Clank, Resistance the trilogy boasted satisfying shooting mechanics, an array of inventive weapons, and an array of intimidating enemies known as the Chimera. As fun as these first-person shooters were, they're also a holdover from another era in the industry, and Insomniac is now busy with titles that appeal to a more modern audience, such as Marvel's Spider-Man and Marvel's Wolverine.

InFamous

The PlayStation had its own (non-Marvel) superheroes

In a similar vein, Sucker Punch Productions (creators Sly Cooper franchise) during the PS3 era also continued to create a more mature and darker series, but opted for an open world game with playable superheroes instead of making an FPS like everyone else. The result was InFamouswhich quickly grew to become one of the most popular PlayStation exclusive IPs in the late 2000s and early 2010s.

Not only do these games allow players to explore vast open-world environments where they can use a variety of superpowers to their liking, but they also have a stunning morality system that alters the plot based on what decisions they make. The franchise was successful to the point that Cole MacGrath became one of the most recognizable non-comic book superheroes, not to mention that The infamous second son was one of the first real PS4 exclusives to really encourage people to buy the console back in 2014. However, Sucker Punch is now busy Spirit series, and Sony has exclusive video game rights to Marvel superheroes like Spider-Man, so it's unlikely we'll see InFamous again anytime soon.

Puppeteer

PS3's greatest hidden gem

While the PS3 catalog was filled to the brim with mature and violent exclusives such as The last of us or God of War 3Sony's seventh-generation home console also had a solid lineup of colorful, more experimental platformers, of which only LittleBigPlanet seems to have been somewhat successful. Among these forgotten hidden gems, Puppeteer is the most notable so far and it's a real shame that not many people have heard of it.

Developed by Japanese studio Sony, Puppeteer is an endlessly charming 2.5D platformer with a unique puppet theater aesthetic and vibrant art style that made it stand out during a generation when most people didn't pay attention to the genre. Despite rave reviews from critics, the game failed to catch on and received no sequels or ports. It's not all bad news though, as Japan Studio has finally teamed up with the Asobi team and some of the people who at Puppeteer he continued to work Astro Bot (which of course features a portrait of the game's main character, Kutaro).