There was once a time when Konami was one of the largest and most respected developers in the video game industry. It seems like a lifetime ago, but in the 90’s it was a company that was responsible for some of the biggest games of the era. As the years have passed however, all that has changed.
Many feel that it’s been an age since a Konami title was truly innovative. And indeed, many of its promising IPs continue to stagnate by the wayside as it marches on with several properties that have likely worn out their welcome in the minds of many once-dedicated fans.
10 Deserves More Love: Silent Scope
Silent Scope was a series that never quite realized its potential. It wasn’t bad, but it just couldn’t quite compete with the likes of Time Crisis and House of the Dead. Given that neither of those series have appeared on console for quite some time though, now might be the perfect opportunity for Silent Scope to step in and fill the void.
The move away from CRT technology may have put the brakes on light gun games, but recent advancements in technology have once again cleared a path. As well as there being several different light guns that work with LED displays available now, modern motion controls can also provide a viable alternative. With any luck, the Falcon will one day rise again.
9 Has Run Its Course: Bomberman
When Konami merged with Hudson Soft it inherited one of the longest-running franchises in gaming. While other long-running franchises have continuously reinvented themselves to remain relevant though, Bomberman games have largely remained the same. That’s not for a lack of trying though.
Many efforts have been made to rework the Bomberman format over the years, but none have been particularly successful. The issue is that it’s a series that revolves around a single mechanic that only really works in some very specific situations and settings. While new elements can be added, having to work them around the bombing mechanic severely limits what can be achieved.
8 Deserves More Love: Vandal Hearts
Vandal Hearts perhaps arrived a few years too late to receive the same level of recognition as some of the other tactical RPGs of the era. Furthermore, the drastic changes made to combat in Vandal Hearts II made it difficult for the series to build up a solid fan base. All the same though, it remains a great IP with some nice ideas.
There have been significant changes in the genre since the last true Vandal Hearts game, but that needn’t mean that there’s no longer a place for the series. It’s one that makes few compromises both in terms of its presentation and its complexity. Such franchises do still exist these days, but there aren’t nearly enough of them.
7 Has Run Its Course: Pro Evolution Soccer
Competition is incredibly important in the video game industry. It forces developers to innovate rather than simply rest on their laurels and drives the industry forward. Unfortunately, it’s been quite some time since PES has been able to truly compete with FIFA and this has led to both series stagnating. Things weren’t always this way though.
Back at the turn of the century, the two series took turns trading blows with each one scoring its fair share of points. As time passed, however, PES stopped trying to do its own thing and instead began trying to emulate its former rival. As a result, it is now always one step behind. For the sake of the genre, it’s time for Konami to step aside and allow someone else to take a shot.
6 Deserves More Love: Suikoden
It’s been a long time since the last new Suikoden game and longer still since the last great one. In its prime though, the series played an integral role in shaping the JRPG genre with its unique mechanics and out-of-the-box ideas. It may not have been the most well-known or well-liked of series, but it was one of the most influential.
Were the series to return it would do so to a landscape that has changed dramatically in its absence. It may seem like a daunting prospect, but it would provide the series with the perfect opportunity to reinvent itself while reworking some of those old ideas for a new generation. Series fans will likely have to rely on Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes to do this instead, but, given the potential that Suikoden still has, they really shouldn’t have to.
5 Has Run Its Course: Yu-Gi-Oh!
There have been some great Yu-Gi-Oh! games over the years, but it’s been quite a while since the IP has really been relevant. What’s more, aside from a few enhanced rereleases, the Yu-Gi-Oh! games that Konami has been making as of late have typically been low-quality mobile titles that are often laden with microtransactions.
To say that Yu-Gi-Oh! is dead as a series would be a little unfair to its devoted fanbase. Given the diminishing size of that fanbase, however, it’s hard to justify pumping resources and man-hours into what is now an incredibly niche franchise. This is especially true when there are so many viable alternatives waiting in the wings.
4 Deserves More Love: Castlevania
There’s a big difference between fans turning on a series and fans becoming burned out. Unfortunately for Castlevania, Konami seems unable to recognize this. Fans never stopped liking Castlevania, but instead grew weary following a barrage of quickfire releases – many of which were rushed out of the door and made big changes to the series’ formula. Rather than take a step back and reevaluate their approach, Konami’s response was to simply give up on the franchise.
The success of Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night on Kickstarter and the positive response it received from fans and critics shows that there’s still a market for Castlevania style games. However, instead of taking note of this and meeting this demand as Capcom did with Mega Man, Konami instead released a mobile game. Frustratingly, Grimoire of Souls wasn’t actually half bad, but it was shut down long before it had a chance to find its audience.
3 Has Run Its Course: Contra
After the release of Hard Corps: Uprising, the Contra franchise lay dormant for quite some time. It’s for this reason that the release of Rogue Corps last year was met with such excitement. Unfortunately, however, this excitement quickly turned to disappointment and anger when fans finally got their hands on the game.
Although there isn’t an inherent need for modern releases of classic IPs to play to fans’ nostalgia, there at least has to be some sort of acknowledgment of what made the original games so enjoyable to fans. The wholesale changes made throughout Rogue Corps highlighted a disconnect between the current developers and the Contra series and is not a good omen for the future of the series.
2 Deserves More Love: Silent Hill
The endless ‘will they? won’t they?’ when it comes to Silent Hill is starting to become a little tedious. Fans have been clamoring for a new game for nearly a decade now and rumors of one’s impending arrival continue to pop up on a regular basis. As of the time of writing, however, a new Silent Hill title is still to materialize.
The excellent tech demo P.T. is the closest we’ve seen, but, for a variety of reasons, that didn’t quite work out. It’s hard to hold that against Konami as that’s just how things go sometimes, but P.T. was six years ago now. If the developer really cared about giving fans what they wanted, one suspects that a new game would have at the very least been announced during that time, if not already delivered.
1 Has Run Its Course: Metal gear
Konami are in a tricky situation when it comes to the Metal Gear IP. Should they continue as if nothing happened or start anew by rebooting it? There is a third option as well though, which would involve simply laying the series to rest. It would certainly be a gutsy decision, but one that may well be for the best.
Both the general state of Metal Gear Survive and the ending of Metal Gear Solid V suggest that in Kojima’s absence, Konami no longer has what it takes to drive the series forward. Combine this with the backlash that replacing Kojima would inevitably yield, and discontinuing the franchise suddenly doesn’t sound so crazy.
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