Hello again and welcome to another installment of Great Video Game Ideas Not Used. Welcome to “Throwback Edition #2″. If you haven’t read “Throwback Edition #1″, I’d suggest you do, but it’s not a must. As with the first edition I’ll be covering a few games that I think need to be expanded upon, and possibly just re-released in similar fashion to my last article. I’ll also give my own ideas as to why and how these games should be expanded. I’ll do my best to keep this list as diverse as possible. And just for future reference, I will be posting video renditions of each GVGINU to youtube using Xtranormal Movie Maker. Though the videos may be split into so many parts just to make it easier for people to find them, and they won’t be labeled the same as the articles.
#1: F-Zero – It’s been a while since an F-Zero game was made. It was actually one of my favorite video game series, and probably my favorite racer above all. The last game in the series to be released was actually F-Zero Climax back in 2004, though it was a Japan exclusive game. It had the first ever custom track editor in the series without need of an expansion device or add-on. The tracks could be saved to the cart, and there was also a track password system for when available slots ran out. It would have been awesome if Nintendo would have done something like this and released an F-Zero Wii game. That along with the customized car system from F-Zero GX would have made for an awesome game with a lot of replay value. They would have to include an online multi-player mode as well, one that would allow the usage of customized tracks and cars. But we’ll probably have to wait for a while after Wii U is released, which in my estimation will be probably 3 rd quarter of the year, as it would give time for games to be fully developed. I know I’d love to play online against 29 other players trying win. Computerized opponents become predictable, people aren’t so much. This is something that they’ll have to figure out, and when they do, this game will most likely top Mario Kart Wii as their online racer.
#2: Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber – Now, I know that this series has been continued and I’m glad for that. But this game in particular I think needs to be released again with online features (not like it was with the Wii Virtual Console). Quite simply, it just needs to be put together with an online match service, otherwise, the game is pretty much perfect as it is. I wouldn’t even want them to update the graphics other than smoothing them out a bit, this way the game retains the same essence. Being that this was a Nintendo 64 game, the sound quality could stay the same, but I’d feel that updated sound effects and music should be included in a remake. Maybe two different sound quality modes, one for the original N64 sound output, and one for a cleaner, crisper sound quality. This would be up to Atlus though, and isn’t likely to happen, still, it would be nice.
#3: Kid Chameleon – This was one of my favorite games on the Sega Genesis . The level design was great, and the game had a good level of challenge. I’m actually surprised that there hasn’t actually been a sequel made to this game. From what I remember about the game when it was released, it was fairly popular (at least where I grew up). It has been re-released several times but nothing has been done in the way of making an actual sequel. All I’m saying is that it should be considered.
#4: No More Heroes – This series is actually very fun, and really interesting. It’s also very twisted and strange, but hey….that’s part of it’s charm. The game itself is very action packed and fun, though it can get a bit repetitive. The story however, man….the story of this game will have you laughing at and questions things on a number of levels you probably didn’t think possible. Oddly enough, this series started out on the Wii (though development originally started for the Xbox 360), a console that isn’t that well known for it’s great games. As the first game did, the second left off with what could possibly be the beginning of another story. I’d really love to see Grasshopper Manufacture hook up with Ubisoft again and get another installment out there. But they could just be waiting for the Wii U to hit the market before they start on another game in this series. They could do one of two things with this series, the first being a continuation from where No More Heroes 2 left off. The second would be for them to explain what Travis Touchdown went through after the events of the first game, and before the events of the second. Heck, they could even do both in the same game if they wanted with flashback scenes. If you haven’t played either game, it would probably be best to pick them both up, but I’m warning you the game content isn’t for children.
#5: Final Fantasy VII – Now I know there have been various games and even a movie that actually continued the story of this game after the defeat of Sephiroth the first time. I also know that this has been pretty much deemed the most interesting and complex story of the Final Fantasy series, and people want more out of it. Dirge of Cerberus was a game that exclusively featured Vincent Valentine from a third-person shooter perspective. There have also been fan games that have been made to continue the story. I’ve heard that Square Enix had been thinking about remaking the game for current generation consoles, but it is something that would still require a lot of time and effort to produce. I’d love a remake and continuation in the same play style. We can only wait to see.
#6: Rival Schools – For anyone that has ever played this series, they would probably think the same things that I am right now. This was another alternative fighter made by Capcom, though I’m not quite sure if it was supposed to be a spin-off of the Street Fighter series of games. The only clue to that could be that the character Sakura from the Street Fighter Alpha series was playable in the first game. There are two things that I would like to see done with this fighter. Firstly, a remake collection, and then a game that actually continues the series.
Rival Schools was originally released on the Sony Playstation . From what I’ve seen and heard of the game, it played fairly well and was decently fun. It’s a fully 3D rendered fighting game that was pretty well received. I’ve never had the chance to actually play this one myself so I can only give a limited perspective on it. For me, just re-releasing it with updated graphics, loading times, and online capability would be enough.
Project Justice (also known as Rival Schools 2 )which is the sequel was released on the Sega Dreamcast (Worldwide) and the Sony Playstation (Japan Only). The game as I played it, as fast, fun, and the characters all seemed to have very unique personalities and moves. This to me was a nice departure from how the Street Fighter series had been, reminding me more of The King Of Fighters or Tekken . But the controls did feel very much like Street Fighter in terms of simplicity. Unfortunately, there were some differences between the Japanese version and the others released in different countries. These differences don’t really make the game any less playable, and I figure only happened for lack of time.
In the NTSC-J version of Project Justice , players could actually create their own characters for the game. Now they would only be useable in the modes outside of Story and Arcade, so pretty much just versus characters to play against your friends with. This was pretty much a stand alone game in and of itself because you had to play through a board game and unlock certain things in order to be able to use your character. I have briefly played it, but without understanding of Japanese, I didn’t get very far. What was sent out to other markets stripped this away from the game. More because of the amount of time it would have taken to translate everything over to English and whichever other languages it was released in. But instead of leaving it as is, Capcom did give unlockable generic characters that could be used in every mode other than Story and Arcade, using some of the parts and moves that players would have been given with the board game.
Another difference was online playability. The NTSC-J game did have a Network mode that allowed players to take each other on online. This wasn’t put into the game for other regions, I think maybe it was because at the time not very many people outside of Japan were sure about how well online console play would do. Nonetheless, it just didn’t make it to other markets, but again, it didn’t really hurt the game.
Now, what I would like to see is a re-release of these games as a set, similar to what Tecmo did with Dead or Alive and Dead of Alive 2 (Dead or Alive Ultimate ) when they re-released both games on the original Xbox . Quite simply, the only thing that would need to be done for Rival Schools is as I said, updated graphics, shorter loading time, and online play. For Project Justice , all that needs to be done is fully translating the NTSC-J version and also leaving in the generic characters that were put into the game for other regions. That would make it fair for all regions to have everything included in one package, and it’s not like it can’t be done.
And an idea for a sequel, which was obviously coming, being Rival Schools 3 . Now both of the game that have been released (I don’t know about any plans that have been mentioned for possible expansion) everything that happened took place in Japan. Rivals Schools 3 could take a worldwide approach, using multiple different schools from multiple countries. All of these schools would be made up, and each one would have a specialty, with the possibility of duplicate specialties (meaning there could be two or more schools specializing in sports, music, art, anything of the sort). This would give the game a bit more depth, and no, the characters wouldn’t have to have the same moves.
Another great thing that could be added, Create-A-School. This would have to be outside of the story mode, pretty much just for multi-player and online modes. With this would be an Emblem creation tool for customized school emblems, or the ability to import a picture (of a non-adult nature) to be your school’s emblem. And of course, if you can make your own school and emblem, then you’d definitely need to be able to make your own your own characters to be able to fill that school.
Now I know this is long-winded for this one game, but please bare with me as this idea is extensive. Now created characters would be one of three classes of character, Student, Faculty, or Principal. The reasons for these choices are obvious, certain classes have move restrictions, and advantages/disadvantages against other classes. This would be for Capcom to figure out, though if I took the time to do it, I could come up with a system that would work.
The only thing I will say on the matter, each school should be limited to 5 students, 3 faculty, and 1 principal, totaling 9 characters per school. I’d give this reasoning just in case Capcom wants to use returning characters in more matured roles, though I think that it wouldn’t help the game much. It could be an interesting path to go down.
But this part of my idea I think a lot of people could agree with, and that is to use some of the younger characters from some of Capcom’s other games in the Rival Schools setting (as long as they could logically fit into that world). The perfect example, characters from Street Fighter 3 like Sean, Yun, Yang, Makoto, Ibuki, and Elena (I’m no sure on the age group of Alex as of this article, but if he was young enough, then yes, him too). Characters from Street Fighter Alpha 3 like Sakura, Karen, and Rainbow Mika (think she’s pretty young). Plus whatever character Capcom would decide from Street Fighter EX series, I haven’t played any of the games so I couldn’t really think of any of the characters by name or how they played. Then they could pick and choose from some of the other games they have young characters available to choose from. But with that, I’m finally done talking about Rival Schools.
I think I’ve covered as much as I can for this article, seeing as I wholly gushed over the idea of another Rival Schools game. I do hope that you enjoyed it though, as I will continue to do this. Thank you for the time you took to read and please, post this to any forum you are a part of, especially those related to video games. And please support All Games Radio, and the idea of making Game Radio Mainstream. Please also be on the look out for future editions of GVGINU, thank you.