There have been plenty of one-day games at all times. But there are games that have survived not only the change of technological platforms, but also entire generations of gamers.
With the advent of crowdfunding and Steam Early Acces, new game franchises appear almost every day. The problem is that most of them do not live up to the release or disappear into oblivion after the first months.
This happens not only with independent developers, but also with successful companies. A large studio can create a great episode, but after making a mistake once, stop working on it. It is unlikely that soon we will see Prince of Persia, Duna or Medal of Honor. Still, there are game series that have been able to survive for more than a dozen years and please several generations of gamers.
Castle wolfenstein
Believe it or not, the Wolfenstein series is considered the longest running in the industry. It is believed by many that it started with Wolfenstein 3D in 1992, but the first game came out in 1981.
The project was called Castle Wolfenstein and was a shooter, but isometric, with a top view. The plot, or rather its plot, differed even less. You are the same BJ Blaskowitz who shoots bad fascists. It is also noteworthy that the first version of the game was released for the Apple II computer, and was later ported to MS-DOS, Atari 400 and 800 and Commodore 64. The sequel to Beyond Castle Wolfenstein was released in 1984 for the same platforms.
The latest game in the Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus series was released in 2017 for XONE, PS4 and PC.
Mario
Good old carpenter Mario saw the pixelated light in 1981 in Donkey Kong. The essence was the same: Mario saved the princess, but no longer from Bowser’s paws, but from Kong. In the future, the game received a sequel to Mario Bros and the well-known Super Mario Bros.
The creator of the character was Shigeru Miyamoto, and in total, more than 200 games were released with the participation of Mario. For especially inquisitive minds, I will note that the surname of Mario and his brother Luigi is Mario.
Mario’s last appearance was on the Nintendo Switch console in Super Mario Odyssey in 2017.
Dragon quest
Dragon Quest has been undeservedly deprived of attention in our area, and many players have not even heard of such a series. But in vain, because Dragon Quest is considered the progenitor of the genre of Japanese role-playing games like Final Fantasy. The first part of the series was released in 1986, and was published by Enix, which later merged with Square. You know the outcome.
The creators of the first Dragon Quest are considered: designer Yuji Horii, programmer Koichi Nakamura, and Akira Toriyama was responsible for visuals. According to them, they were inspired by the Wizardry and Ultima series. The first “dragon quest” was ported to many platforms and even modern smartphones. Note that in North America the game was called Dragon Warrior.
For 11 games in the Dragon Quest series, Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age has been released in Japan for Nintendo 3DS and PS4, and is also planned to be released on NSwitch.
Legend of Zelda
Around the same 1986, Legend of Zelda from the already famous Shigeru Miamoto was released on the Nintendo Entertainment System. In addition to its cool adventure gameplay, Legend of Zelda gave players the coveted ability to save game progress. This feature was very useful as the game was quite large and complex.
Unfortunately, “The Legend of Zelda” did not get out of the Nintendo consoles, and the main character became the mascot of the company along with Mario. It is noteworthy that the main character’s name is Link, and Zelda is the princess whom he saves every time. Also in the box with the game was attached a blank card, which the player had to draw himself, exploring the world of the game.
The latest game in the series, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, was released in March 2017 and received excellent press reviews, as well as the title of Best Game of 2017 at The Game Awards 2017.
Street fighter
Another progenitor of the genre can be considered Street Fighter from Capcom. The first game in the series was released in 1987 for slot machines. Later it was ported for TurboGrafx-CD, Nintendo consoles and many others. The creators are considered to be Takashi Nishiyama and Hiroshi Matsumoto.
It is noteworthy that Street Fighter has many branches in the series. Even Street Fighter II has about five different versions: Street Fighter II, Street Fighter II: Champion Edition, Super Street Fighter II: Turbo, Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers, and Super Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighting.
The fifth installment of Street Fighter was released in 2016 for arcade machines, PC, and PS4.
Metal gear
The Metal Gear series is the daddy of all stealth action games. The game first appeared on the MSX computer, and later was released for the NES and the first PlayStation. It was on the console from Sony that the game gained great popularity and was able to grow into such a giant franchise.
The publisher was the same Konami, and the author of the idea was Hideo Kojima. Basically, the games in the series differed only in graphics, but the essence of the gameplay remained the same. The main task is to be secretive and deadly.
The last game about the adventures of Solid Snake was released in 2015 for PS4, XONE and PC, and now a sequel is planned, but without the participation of Hideo Kojima.
Final Fantasy
Final Fantasy has the most interesting creation story. The game was planned as the last project of Hironobu Sakaguchi, because Square was in serious financial problems and the team was about to close the studio. As a result, Sakaguchi’s Final Fantasy sold 100 million copies, which pulled the company out of the critical situation it was in.
In Final Fantasy, the player was asked to take command of four heroes and save the world from evil. The plot does not shine with originality, but the gameplay gave completely new, at that time, sensations. At the moment, the series has 15 mainline games and many more branches in various genres, which have their own sequels.
Virtually Square Enix’s Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy XV came out in 2016 for PS4 and XONE, with a PC release planned for 2018.
