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Forums - Gaming Discussion - Vote for the Top 100 Retro Franchises!

No Longer accepting votes. Check out the most recent "Retro Sales Franchise of the Day" article to see the franchises that have been revealed so far. No longer accepting votes, but you can continue to leave brief comments about why you think a franchise should make a list, and I may include you comment in the franchise's description. Thanks to everyone who participated!

In the "Sales of the Day" series I do, I've been thinking of ways to increase interest in the Retro Sales threads/articles. I had decided instead of focusing on individual games, to start looking at franchises.  Then I decided, the best way to get more interest is to turn the series into a joint Sales of the Day article/ top 100 retro franchises countdown. That way, I can be sure I'm writing about franchises people are interested in, plus there will be the revealing of the games you all voted for, and everybody loves top 100 lists.

So here are the requirements for voting. I'm considering anything during the Playsation/N64 era and before a "retro" title. Does not have to be a console title, it can be handheld, PC, or Arcade as well. If a game has only one entry, but you still think it is worthy of being considered one of the top retro franchises that's ok, just remember it is competing against franchises, so potentially it is competing against many games by itself.  Also, I want this list to only be about the games that qualify, don't consider what the franchise has become more recently when making your decision (i.e if you think Zelda Twilight Princess was the first good Zelda game don’t vote for it here).

Update: More clear qualification guidelines. If it was on a 5th gen console(Playstation/N64/Saturn) or before it counts. But if it is not on a console, it needs to have been released in 2001 or before (when the N64 was discontinued and the Xbox/Gamecube were released which I'm going to say officially eneded the 5th gen).

For this list I want you to consider spinoffs separate franchises. I know what classifies as a spinoff can be subjective, so I'm going to break down the Mario titles to show what I'm considering spinoffs.

Super Mario (Main Series) -  Super Mario Bros 1, 2, 3. Super Mario World 1,2. Super Mario 64. Super Mario Land 1,2 (Gameboy).

Mario Kart - Super Mario Kart, Mario Kart 64

Mario RPGs - Mario RPG, Super Paper Mario

Smash Bros. - Super Smash Bros. (64)

Mario Tennis - Mario Tennis (64) Mario Tennis (GB)

Mario Golf - Mario Golf (64), Mario Golf (GB)

Mario Party - Mario Party 1,2,3

While that is not an extensive list, I hope its enough to show how I'm wanting franchises to be considered for this countdown. A good rule of thumb is that if a game has multiple entries.( ex. Mario Tennis is considered its own franchise because there are multiple games with that title ) then I'm considering it as a separate franchise. If you are not sure if a game counts as a separate franchise just ask in your post and I'll let you know how I want to classify it.

To vote, I'm going to copy the method TWRoO uses in his Most Wanted threads/articles, but instead of 5 votes, vote for 10, since we're making a top 100 list.

 So for example here is my list.

  1. Super Mario (10 points)
  2. The Legend of Zelda (9 points)
  3. Tetris (8 points)
  4. Sim City (7 points)
  5. Sonic the Hedgehog (6 points)
  6. Pong (5 points)
  7. Mega Man (4 points)
  8. Pac-Man (3 points)
  9. Frogger (2 points)
  10. Punch-Out!! (1 point)

You don't need to put the number of points in your list, that is just to show how points will be awarded. The rankings will be determined using this method: (2 * # of total votes) + total points

If you want to give a description of why you are voting for a certain franchise, I may include it in the description of the game in the countdown article.

If you are having trouble coming up with 10, here is an alphabetical list of all the franchises that have gotten votes so far.

You can only vote once, and I'll stop taking votes after we have 100 votes, so that I have time to tally and organize the votes and hopefully get the first thread/article up soon after the New Year starts.

Update: If you are wanting to edit your vote, please make a new post telling me you are changing it, and give me your changes using this format, so that it is easier for me to follow. I will only update a person's vote once, but it will obviously be easier for me if are happy with your vote the first time.

Franchise Name, number you want it ranked, (previous rank in your list).

Ex.

Legend of Zelda, 3, (1)

Mario, 1, (2)

Tetris, 2, (3)

Be sure you let me know of all the games that are being changed. I.e Don't say Resident Evil ,7, (Not listed) without telling me which 4 games are being bumped down/off the list.

Thanks for participating!

 

  1. Harvest Moon (1 point)
  2. Street Fighter (2 points)
  3. Mega Man (3 points)
  4. Pac-Man (4 points)
  5. Metroid  (5 points)
  6. Sonic the Hedgehog (6 points)
  7. Donkey Kong (7 points)
  8. Tetris  (8 points)
  9. The Legend of Zelda (9 points)
  10. Super Mario  (10 points)


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Hmm, let's see. Not sure if this'll be 100% accurate with my views, but hey, it's for fun :)

1. The Legend of Zelda
2. Super Mario
3. Metroid
4. Final Fantasy
5. Castlevania
6. Mario Kart
7. Star Fox
8. Mega Man
9. Sonic
10. Harvest Moon



QUICK QUESTION tarheel!!!

Can we count the "tycoon" series on PC (rollercoaster tycoon, zoo tycoon, airport tycoon....& so on)

all as ONE series?



All hail the KING, Andrespetmonkey

1- Final Fantasy
2- Tetris
3- Super Mario
4- Sonic the Hedgehog
5- Pac-Man
6- Street Fighter
7- Castlevania
8- Mortal Kombat
9- Resident Evil
10- The Legend of Zelda



darthdevidem01 said:
QUICK QUESTION tarheel!!!

Can we count the "tycoon" series on PC (rollercoaster tycoon, zoo tycoon, airport tycoon....& so on)

all as ONE series?

Thats a tough one. I'm going to have to say they are separate franchises though, since most of those have gotten number sequels. I.e. RollerCoaster Tycoon 1,2,3 and Zoo Tycoon 1, 2.  So if you want to vote for them they will need to each be their own vote.



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1. Bomb Jack (no-one's gonna remember this but I loved it!)
2. Half-Life (I believe the PC version was released around the time of PS1)
3. Super Mario
4. Legend of Zelda
5. Age of Empires
6. Starcraft
7. Final Fantasy
8. Baldurs Gate
9. Street Fighter
10. Tetris



1. Super Mario
2. Legend of Zelda
3. Mega Man
4. Castlevania
5. Dragon Quest
6. Final Fantasy (It was a toss-up between this and DQ; ultimately I decided that there have been some FF games that have disappointed me, and I'm not sure I totally like the "new direction" of this and previous gen's game (call me old-fashioned if you will))
7. Metal Gear Solid (Not the biggest Metal Gear original series fan, but I love the PS1 and up games)
8. Tetris (definitely deserve a nod)
9. Monkey Island (hell, if I could categorize all of the Lucasarts point-n-click games I would)
10. Street Fighter (Best_fighting_game_period)



                          GETTIN' CHRONOCRUNK

1. Final Fantasy
2. Metal Gear Solid
3. Resident Evil
4. Pokemon
5. Tekken
6. Gran Turismo
7. Sim City
8. King of Fighter (new KOF was bad)
9. Dragon Quest
10. Harvest Moon



Scoobes said:
1. Bomb Jack (no-one's gonna remember this but I loved it!)
2. Half-Life (I believe the PC version was released around the time of PS1)
3. Super Mario
4. Legend of Zelda
5. Age of Empires
6. Starcraft
7. Final Fantasy
8. Baldurs Gate
9. Street Fighter
10. Tetris

I've never heard of Bomb Jack, what kind of game is it, and what platform(s) was it for?



1. Monkey Island
2. The Legend of Zelda
3. Civilization
4. Dungeon Keeper
5. Age of Empires
6. Baldur's Gate
7. Sim City
8. Super Mario
9. Tetris
10. The Settlers