From worst to first
Until I started writing this week’s Destructoid Discusses piece, I didn’t realize just how manyRaymangames there were. Seriously, look at thisWikipedia page. It’s not nearly as bad as Mario, but hell, Ubisoft sure threw Rayman into everything it could. Of course not all those games made it over to the States so I, like most people, probably most associated the character with his original trio of platformers.Rayman,The Great Escape,Hoodlum Havok; all exquisite titles and still pretty damn fun to play.
Then came the Rabbids.
I’ll admit, I was excited forRayman’s Raving Rabbidswhen it was the original concept: a free-roaming action game where Rayman battled the invading horde of Rabbids. Seriously, this looksamazing. But that’s not the Rabbids game we got. What we were given was a title similar to many others that plagued the Wii throughout its existence: a mini-game collection.Rayman Raving Rabbidswas followed byRaving Rabbids 2, another mini-game collection. And then another mini-game collection. And thenRabbids Go Home, which is actually very fun. And then two more mini-game collections. I don’t even think Rayman had anything to do with the series at that point, like how Spyro became less of a factor in theSkylandersseries as the franchise evolved.
But then came July 28, 2025. Having long grown tired of the Rabbids and their antics, I was right ready to get back to theRaymanseries I loved. So on that day I headed out to my local Target and put down my hard-earned cash… to buyFossil Fighters: Champions. I picked upRayman Originsa week later.
Like a hammer to the head,Originsis a blunt reminder of just how goodRaymanand 2D platformers can be. Coming off the disappointing and feature-deficient port ofRayman 2to the 3DS, it was a welcomed reminder that Ubisoft still cared about this character.Originsand its follow-upLegends, simultaneously a better and worse game, are still the best examples of the power of the UbiArt Framework engine and, if you ask me, superior toNew Super Mario Bros Wii.andUas four-player platformers.
Rayman OriginssavedRaymanand I would love to see it ported to the PS4, Xbox One, or Nintendo Switch because I’d happily pay $20 for another trip through the entire Desert of Dijiridoos.
Peter Glagowski
This is probably going to sound ludicrous to most people (especially sincePokémonnever really stopped being popular), butPokémon XandYkind of re-sparked everyone’s interest in Nintendo’s critter catching series. People in my age group either became die-hard fans or completely fell off the wagon — I’m the latter — but Nintendo seemed to only be catering to a younger audience beforeXandYcame along.
Once those two titles hit, it seemed like the whole internet was back intoPoké-fever. You couldn’t casually scroll through Twitter or Facebook without seeing someone talk about all of the new creatures they had encountered and how their fond memories of the past were flowing back to them.XandYwas a nostalgic trip that also happened to propel the series forward in a massive way.
So I suppose these games didn’t necessarily “redeem” the franchise, but they definitely brought it back into being mega-popular. Funny for the game that first introduced mega-evolutions.
Occams Electric Toothbrush
The saga of theDoomfranchise has been an interesting one. I was around when it first came out and remember just how amazing that experience was.Doom IIwould go on to occupy many happy moments in my brain. Then things got quiet. Consoles started to have a bigger presence and Doom had a legacy but not a lot of presence in the modern gaming world. ThenDoom 3came out. And reading the wiki for the game, it looks to have been a critical and commercial success. But I remember it feeling…hollow. The charm wasn’t there. Monster closets and darkness and that goddamn flashlight being its own equippable item(yeah, yeah, I know, atmosphere and shit)just made the game feel like it could have been any sci-fi horror shooter.
ThenDOOMwas announced back in 2016. I was skeptical. It looked kind of corny. But then it came out and the hype was tangible, so I rented it from Gamefly out of curiosity. Not 20 minutes into the game and I was transported back to 1994 and my time withDoom 2. The sense of wonder and joy that the chubby flannel-wearing nerd felt was back. They made it so simple. It was violent. It was visceral. The pacing was akin to shooting cocaine directly into your eyeball. The magic was back and suddenly id Software had once again shown all of us the simple joy of ripping and tearing.
In a world that demands gaming grow to reflect the complexity of society, it’s nice to have a game remind us that there is something profound and beautiful in the simplicity of using a chainsaw to disembowel a demon.
Chris Seto
Being a purveyor of more niche titles, I’ve had my fair share of… shall we say, not good games. AndHyperdimension Neptunia mk2is definitely one such game. From the offset, the performance was just bad. Low framerates, jerky animations, and just very shoddy presentation didn’t make for a good first impression. So why did I put this on this list?
Well, there are 2 reasons.
Firstly, despite the issues, you could tell that there were solid foundations for a decent game underneath it all. It just needed refinement and that was what we got with the sequel and remakes following this game. It took a while but you can’t really call the most recentNeptuniagames junk & their increase in quality started here!
Secondly, I’m not sure how many of you actually remember the originalHyperdimension Neptuniagame (notRebirth) but it was GODAWFUL!!! The game was a massive boring grind-fest and committed some abhorrent sins in game mechanics and design, making the mere existence ofmk2a bit of a miracle.
Like the series or not, theNeptuniagames have dug out a decent and solid niche for itself, which is surprising considering the very rough start it had but it’s doing quite well for itself now and the rise of the series started right here!
Kevin McClusky
For the most part, the best game in theMario Kartfranchise is the most recent one. That changed whenMario Kart Wiilaunched in 2008. While motion controls and motorbikes made the game more accessible to casual players, the game completely missed the point of its battle mode, requiring each team to be filled with bots and ruining the last man standing “Balloon Battle” game type. The new tracks included were also fairly bland and seemed to take forever to drive through.
Two years later, a portable version ofMario Kartwas released for the 3DS asMario Kart 7. Even thoughsome niche outletsthought the game was too set in its ways, I thoughtMK7added some great innovations that paid off in a big way forMario Kart 8on the Wii U and Switch. Being able to select your tires, chassis, and glider let each player create a kart that fit their individual playstyle, and the new underwater and air sections let the tracks go places they’d never been before. What’s more, the game got an actual battle mode, bringing back Coin Runners and the frag-fest Balloon Battle.
Basically, everything you like aboutMario Kart 8 Deluxecame fromMario Kart 7.Still not sure why they screwed up the battle mode again on the Wii U, though.
Charlotte Cutts
Mario Mario, Esq. and Link duke it out from generation to generation for the title of Nintendo mascot, so both deserve to have pretty special games. I can’t think of a bad mainlineMariogame that I’ve played; even the sports spin-offs and party games were great fun. I played the ever-loving crap out ofMario and Sonic at the Olympic Gamesbelieve you me. But there are some games in the series that don’t really take your breath away, even if they are extremely enjoyable.
Super Mario Sunshinefor the GameCube received excellent reviews but didn’t quite have the same magic about it as its successor,Super Mario Galaxyfor the Wii. Right from the title screen,SMGsmacks you in the face with its majestic orchestral OST; the vast intergalactic environments felt like they were pushing the capabilities of the Wii, even though the game came out relatively early in the console’s lifecycle. It gave us one of the strongest female characters in the entire series and certified best girl forMario Kart, Rosalina. And who can forget filling up a Luma’s tum ’til he explodes?
Super Mario Galaxywas pure magic and showcased how theMariofranchise should drive people to buy a new console. History repeated itself with the release ofSuper Mario Odysseyfor the Switch a few months ago, which proved to be a small step above the Wii U’sSuper Mario 3D Worldin terms of flashiness and marketability. AMariogame should be a highly touching and memorable experience, andSuper Mario Galaxydelivered that in spades, despite some of its predecessors being a millimetre or two off the mark.
Jonathan Holmes
Mega Man 9, Sonic Mania,andDonkey Kong ’94are just a few of the games I could write about here. That’s why it was hard for me to land onPac-Man Championship Edition, as that’s not even the best game in its sub-group (that trophy still goes toPac-Man CE DX). Still, when it comes down to fitting the definition of “series redemption,” no other game better fits the bill.
Pac-Manwas, for a time, the most popular game series on the planet. He had his own cartoon show. Kids bought his trading cards by the box-full. He even gothis own chart-topping disco song. None of that would have ever happened if it weren’t for the game’s simple but exciting premise; run through a never-ending maze, eat as much as you’re able to and try to escape from your inevitable death. A universally relatable scenario, easy to pick-up but hard to master gameplay, and a mascot who rivals the smiley face in iconic simplicity. It all added up to a recipe for success that has yet to be fully replicated, and Namco almost threw it all away.
For years, all we saw from Pac-Man were games that looked and played nothing like the greats that put him on the map in the first place.Pac-Land, Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures, Pac-Attack, Pac-in-Time, Pac-Man World,all games that werePac-Manin name only. They dominated the Pac-o-sphere for most of the 90s, almost completely eclipsing the little yellow ball-man’s sunshine years throughout the 80s. They must have sold well enough, or else Namco wouldn’t have kept them coming, but for true fans of the originalPac-Man, they were amusing head scratchers at best or deformed sell-outs at worst.
That’s why it was such a relief to seePac-Man Championship Editionreleased to critical and commercial success. It brought realPac-Manback to the front, where it’s managed to stay for a good ten years now, thanks to severalChampionship Editionsequels. Personally, I hope this little pac-er never stops pac-ing.
Rich Meister
Resident Evilwas a series that really shaped my love for the original PlayStation. As I got older the games continued to catch my interest,Resident 4is easily in my top 10 games ever. It’s a damn near perfect example of the series pairing the perfect amount of action and horror survival.
I’m something of aResident Evil 5apologist. I stand by it being a perfectly competent co-op shooter, though, it might lean on action elements a bit too much.Resident Evil 6, on the other hand, is a horrible mess. I wasn’t sure anything would bring me back to Raccoon City after that, but then along cameResident Evil 7.
The series takes its first plunge into 3D while drawing back on its horror roots in a big way. The Baker House is a terrifying labyrinth and the family themselves make for great constant threats. I played the game entirely in VR only adding to my enjoyment. Cautiously peeking through doors and stopping for a moment to catch my breath after a large enemy encounter. I hadn’t felt legitimate fear in a game before or at least not on the levelResident Evil 7scared me.
I’m not sure where Capcom’s horror shooter goes from here, but I sure hope it keeps embracing both its horror roots and VR technology. I wouldn’t mind returning to the Spencer Mansion in VR.
Marcel Hoang
I thinkStreet Fighter IVdidn’t redeem the series sinceThird Strikehad existed for a while before that. Every mainStreet Fightergame before IV was praised in some way if I had to guess. I mean, I think the versions beforeThird Strikewere weird but they weren’t bad.
So yeah, this entry is to imply the broader concept I think everyone attributes toSFIV: that it reignited the fighting game genre as a whole. EVO wouldn’t be on ESPN2 if it weren’t forSFIVreanimating the corpse of fighting games after the genre as a whole went through a mini-crash thanks to the rush of competitors sinceStreet Fighter II. I meanTattoo Assassins? Are you kidding me? The scene would probably be still alive on in a subtler way, but thanks toSFIVbringing fighting games back into the limelight, everyone and their grandmother knows who Daigo is, Justin Wong, Alex Valle, Sanford Kelly, SonicFox, and even more people own a stick now.
Josh Tolentino
Perhaps it’s a bit early for me to be declaring this, but I’d argue thatFinal Fantasy XVreally redeemed theFinal Fantasyfranchise, at least in my eyes. And I say this as a person who didn’t thinkFinal Fantasy XIIIwas all that bad! But despite the fact that I think the criticism of that particular series is overblown, no one can deny that the debacle of theFFXIIItrilogy, regardless of the merits of the individual games (which, again, I argue are underappreciated), damaged the brand greatly.
The voices calling forFinal Fantasyto either get with the times or just die out had never been louder than afterFFXIII(with a twist of the knife from the horrific state ofFinal Fantasy XIV‘s original incarnation), and even a company like Square Enix couldn’t fail to notice. Ultimately, what it took was to bring in people who could right the ship after years of meandering and put out a game. And in the end, despite being clearly unfinished and flawed in some key respects, it showed me that aFinal Fantasygame could actually feel like a contemporary title and not just a reminder that I’m never going to feel the way I did in 1995, when I quit playingFinal Fantasy VI(neeFinal Fantasy III) because I was 11 and couldn’t figure out how to progress in the World of Ruin, or how I felt when paid a month’s allowance to pick up a bootleg copyFinal Fantasy VIIto play on my sister’s boyfriend’s PlayStation.
Whether it’s thanks to the distinctly ultramodern aesthetic, or maybe its slightly-too-modern business models (not entirely happy about the DLC schemes, I’ll admit),Final Fantasy XVfeels like a game I can enjoy as a dumpy 30-something, without having to conjure up teen me.
Chris Moyse
Mortal Kombat(2011) was a fan’s dream. FromMK3onwards, Boon and Co. screwed around with the franchise, leading to an overblown roster of nobodies, sloppy 3D controls, and horrible gimmicks such as stage hazards and weapons. ButMortal Kombat 2011was a much-needed smack on the big ol’ reset button.
Rewinding the clock to when the franchise was at its peak, the newly-rechristened NetherRealm Studios went back to what brought them to the dance: pulse-pounding, two-dimensional gameplay, ridiculously violent finishers, foreboding music and iconic characters. Familiar faces and locales from arcade days past received a modern-day rework, with the series’ muddled lore being rebooted via an excellent Story Mode, setting a new standard in fighters for single-player content.
Most of all, it just feltfucking greatto play. Gone were the sluggish, polygonal models, gimmick-filled stages, and over-reliance on bad comedy.MKreturned to crisp, skillful combat, drenched with lashings of the ol’ ultraviolence. From roster to story, from stages to music,Mortal Kombatfelt like a gift to those who never lost hope that the series would find itself once again. It remains one of the best video game reboots to date.
Oh, and there was that amazing scene where Sindel kicked the living shit out ofeverybody.
So many great games, so many franchises saved by developers revisiting exactly what it is players want. Hopefully, other developers wallowing in mediocrity can look to these games as blueprints for what they should do going forward. I’m looking at you,Dead Risingdevelopers.
