Weekend Argument: Bring back the dead!

I've done some soul searching, and asked a few colleagues of mine what games we want to see revisited, dusted off and brought out again in this week's Weekend Argument.

Alpha Centauri

Firaxis has been busy with Civilization since Take Two bought Sid Meier's studio, but they do own most of their old IP's including Alpha Centauri the science fiction themed Civ spin off. When they have taken the time to revisit Pirates, Colonization and Railroads in recent times, surely an Alpha Centauri sequel wouldn't be too much to ask for would it?

Baldur's Gate (or Dark Alliance)

While it's a scary thought to see some other than Bioware handling the Baldur's Gate franchise a third game is long overdue. Atari still holds the rights and they have hinted at a possible revisit to a series that saw its last entry in 2001. But I would be satisfied with a new entry in the not quite as popular but still respected Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance series of console dungeon crawlers. Naturally the fallout of Interplay's demise is partly to blame, but Atari needs to pick up the slack or maybe EA could buy the license?

Crazy Taxi

The original Crazy Taxi was a huge hit for Sega. It sucked down quarters in the arcades and sold more than a million copies on Dreamcast in North America alone. The sequel did not do as well, and apart from a PSP port and the PSN/XBLA release of the Dreamcast original there hasn't been anything else coming out of the series since Crazy Taxi 3 was released on Xbox. A proper reinvention of the series with larger cities, more varied missions (some passengers like it slow and smooth, others want it crazy and fast), online play and no jumping would sit nicely with us.

Creatures

"There just isn't enough torture in today's video games!" editor-in-chief Gillen McAllister begin_of_the_skype_highlighting     end_of_the_skype_highlighting begin_of_the_skype_highlighting     end_of_the_skype_highlighting. Bring back Thalamus Software's old Commodore 64 titles for some punishing platform torture. Challenging platform/puzzle torture rooms that would be ideal for say a digital release or on a handheld (just not iPhone, it's not meant for touch controls).

F-Zero

Can you believe we haven't seen a new F-Zero since F-Zero Climaz on Gameboy Advance in 2004. The fast paced futuristic hover racer would surely be a great fit for the Nintendo 3DS or perhaps even something on Wii or its successor. Given that it was Sega's Amusement Vision that created the Gamecube title F-Zero GX it's been more than a decade since Nintendo themselves came out with a home version of F-Zero. Listen up, Kyoto!

Jak and Daxter

The first Jak and Daxter was a brilliant platformer, and even if the series may not have reached the same heights after that it still provided us with lots of entertainment. Sidekick Daxter got an outing on PSP in 2006 and there was a PSP/PS2 release called Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier in 2009 that you probably didn't even know about. Jak and Daxter deserve a proper full on Playstation 3 game, stat!

Jet Set Radio

Sega are notorious for either releases sequels way too often or far too late. The original Jet Set Radio was a fresh and vibrant game that helped define the Dreamcast in 2000. The sequel Jet Set Radio Future came out on Xbox two years later. A Gameboy Advance version was released in 2003, but since then there has been no signs of life.

Killer Instinct

A friend of mine has been going on about how Killer Instinct needs another entry in the series for ages and Rare have been baiting him with little teasers for ages now. Some kind of freshened up XBLA release should be within the realms of possibility, but perhaps the Rare of 2010 isn't the same kind of developer as they were back when they were making fighting games?

Panzer Dragoon (with or without Saga)

Sega's Panzer Dragoon series may need a proper reinvention to fully appeal to today's gamers, but it's a shame that we haven't seen or heard anything about the series since the wonderful Panzer Dragoon Orta on Xbox back in 2003. How about a fourth title on Nintendo 3DS, I'm sure Saturn fans would love to see Panzer Dragoon Saga revisited as well or how about releasing it on PSN/XBLA so more people can enjoy it? Act now, Sega!

Secret of Mana

Yeah, we know Square Enix has been keeping the series alive with handheld releases (last one Heroes of Mana came out on DS in 2007), but we need a proper new Secret of Mana game. One that dares follow in the footsteps of the Super Nintendo classic and build on that experience. Perhaps what the series needs is a big budget console game?

Streets of Rage

Streets of Rage or Bare Knuckle as it was called in Japan was Sega's answer of Double Dragon and Final Fight. And it was great. To me Streets of Rage II is the highlight of the series and a fourth game was actually in the planning stages for Dreamcast, but it never saw the light of day. It's certainly a game that would make for an ideal PSN/XBLA title with beautiful new graphics, spruced up gameplay and co-operative online play. Hey Sega, your list is getting pretty long...

How about you? Any great games you'd like to see sequels for or have I mentioned any games that should remain buried deep under six feet of dirt? Let us know in the comments below...