5 franchises Sega should revive

If gaming were our planet then Sega would be my home nation. Since very little I became a fan of the company that brought us Sonic the Hedgehog and haven't stopped been one ever since. So been things as they are today you must imagine how excited I am about Sega's mysterious "new identity" and the barrage of good games that they have either released or announced in the last months. Seen how part of that "new identity" is to revive some of their old franchises, today we will see 5 of them that Sega could and should put into their revival machine soon.

1) Astal 

Why: Gorgeous side scrolling platformers to the likes of Astal have been successful ever since the indie scene brought us Braid.

How: Best bet is digital only on all platforms.

Astal was one of those games back then that showed us how powerful the Sega Saturn was when handling 2D graphics. It was fun, beautiful and had a cool story and soundtrack. It featured a lot of surreal stages that kept us on our toes with all types of side scrolling challenges while the story unfolded and at the same time having bosses were also well designed, ranging from simple to gigantic. The game also featured anime videos on it and nicely narrated/spoken cutscenes. It was a complete game that is a great memory for any Sega fan out there and a good opportunity for bringing some of the younger gamers in.

2) Burning Rangers

Why: It had a good and original action-adventure style of game play coupled with an anime direction that rivals any popular series out there.

How: This can go anyway from physical to digital since Sega seems to consider it one of its classics. Maybe they could release an anime series first and see how it goes.

Burning Rangers was a game that was seen as strange at the time. You controlled one of two futuristic fire fighters in a story where fire and conspiracy were your enemies. The stages were interesting to explore, each having their own story with a good amount of action and puzzle elements that made the game really fun while the story unfolded in beautiful anime cutscenes. This would be one of those games that nowadays would spark the curiosity of gamers and otakus alike, both old and new.

3) Shinning Force

Why: The series has been dormant ever since the Shinning Force 3 trilogy was released and deserves a new one following the classic format, but modernized for a new generation of gamers as there is little that can go wrong with a tactic rpg of that magnitude.

How: Maybe release a bundle having the three scenarios of Shinning Force 3 (because scenarios 2 and 3 were never released in the west) to test things out,  then if successful they can finally make Shinning Force 4.

Shinning Force is one of the top tactic rpg franchises of all time and it was really cut short when the Saturn faded away (Shinning Force 3 been one of the last games in the console). The best way I can describe this series is epic, with awesome tactical battles, great stories about conquest, mysticism and conspiracy and great heroes to use in each battle. In order to clean up the mess that happened with the latest Valkyria Chronicles game, Shinning Force makes a good candidate for Sega's redemption on this genre.

4) Blue Stinger

Why: It was a good survival horror that felt different and mixed characteristics of many genres into one. It had the vibe that Deadly Premonition has and that one has a cult following, so... Why not?

How: Somehow get the rights to do it and make it a reality, full release.

Blue Stinger was one of the games that was released close to the console's 9/9/99 launch date. It was one of those titles that was advertised as survival horror, but in the long run felt like a lot more. The exploration was spot on with lots of places to gun and run through, each with their own puzzles and sticky situations all with the kind of atmosphere that while it looked a little too colorful for a survival horror game, was really interesting because it kept the intrigue going. I know that if anybody plays this now they will see the game as dated and buggy, but picture how a well designed adventure like this would be with updated visuals, controls and overall gameplay while keeping the original vision intact. The game's creator may not be with us anymore, but I am sure somebody could carry out his vision and make that sequel that was cancelled when he passed.

5) Skies of Arcadia

Why: Its one of the best rpgs of the whole Dreamcast/PS2 era.

How: Full release in both physical and digital as the colorfulness and vibe of the game would speak for itself for both fans and newcomers alike.

When this was released on Dreamcast back in October 5, 2000, it was like a dream come true. We had played JRPGs before on Dreamcast at the time, but at the moment we only had Grandia 2 (released August 2000) as the AAA Japanese RPG of choice on Sega's young console. So where Grandia 2 excelled with its gritty end of the world-ish story and game world, Skies of Arcadia did on a more lighthearted environment that was closer to what we could find on a Final Fantasy game. It not only had a turn based battle system that felt different, but it also had awesome airship battles and lots of places to find and explore, all wrapped up in a really cool story about pirates and nations in the sky (floating islands).

Wrapping things up
Sega has been doing the right thing since very early this year and as the trend continues they should give some attention to the previously mentioned franchises as they would most likely make it all even better.