One of the most satisfying comeback stories in gaming has to be Capcom. I remember not too long ago when Capcom was seen as an anti-consumer company. Resident Evil failed to satisfy fans, and Capcom was caught in a controversy over on-disc DLC. They ran their franchises through the gutter and seemingly lost their touch. Nowadays, Capcom is seen as one of the premier developers as they create hit after hit. Resident Evil has never been better, and they are using more of the legacy series than ever. Not to mention, they reliably make it into the running for the game of the year. With the fantastic output they have been doing recently, I ask how it could be even better. Today I want to discuss a handful of long-forgotten Capcom franchises that need the Resident Evil treatment.
Capcom: Onimusha
While everyone knows about Resident Evil, not everyone knows its sister series Onimusha. Titled originally as Sengoku Biohazard in Japan, Onimusha is Resident Evil but during the Sengoku era. It’s a hack-and-slash affair, but with the artsy camera angles of the Resident Evil titles. This series for quite a while on the PS2 but has had very little representation in the current generation besides an okay HD remake of the original. Onimusha is a series that Capcom may be interested and hopefully, they can bring the series back to life.
Capcom: Bionic Commando
One of Capcoms oldest franchises Bionic Commando has not seen a new title since 2011. The original game followed Nathan “Rad” Spencer as he infiltrated a nazi base to sabotage their evil plans. What made the games unique was that you had a bionic arm that you could use to grapple walls and enemies. Bionic commando was a traditional 2d platformer that took advantage of the agile abilities that his robot arm brought to the table.
The last few games in the series were commercial flops with the 2009 title only selling 1.30 million units in 2022. Bionic Commando deserves some love and attention in modern gaming. The Grapple and swinging mechanics alone have so much potential for future titles. Hopefully, we will see more of Nathan Spencer in the future as Capcom has shown interest in some of their legacy series.
Capcom: Lost Planet
Out of all of the Capcom Franchises I will be discussing today, Lost Planet is a wild card. The Lost Planet series is a third-person shooter about humanity surviving on an ice planet filled with aliens. The original game was tons of fun and was one of the first titles I played on the Xbox 360. Lost Planet had excellent monster designs and would even let you pilot a giant mech, what more could you want? It’s unlikely to ever return since Lost Planet 3 performed way below series expectations, and we haven’t heard a peep about the series since. I do think there is a lot of potential for a sequel, especially if they let us pilot a giant robot again.
Capcom: Viewtiful Joe
You can’t spell style without Viewtiful Joe. This game series was magnificent. Viewtiful Joe was a gorgeous comic book-styled side-scrolling beat’em up that found its home on the Gamecube. Originally part of the fabled Capcom Five, which were five seemingly promised exclusives for the Gamecube, Viewtiful Joe was an instant cult hit. It was expressive and filled to the brim with personality, which was a perfect fit for the Gamecube. A few sequels came out in the proceeding years, but we haven’t seen anything from the series since 2005, but there is hope. Hideki Kamiya, the director and creator of Viewtiful Joe, has shown interest in concluding the series with a third title. It is up to Capcom if they want to give Kamiya the ability to finish his series off with a bang and hopefully, we’ll get it at Mach speed!
Capcom: Dino Crisis
You can’t have a classic action horror franchise from Capcom without Shinji freaking Mikami and it’s not Resident Evil. Dino Crisis is a true evolution from the original Resident Evil and has all of Shinji Mikami’s trademarks. Artsy camera angles, a vast arsenal, and terrifying bosses. The twist of Dino Crisis is that you fight extremely intelligent dinosaurs instead of zombies. The original Dino Crisis game was a PS1 classic that is well worth playing, but unfortunately, the series died when Dino Crisis 3 was released. It is a notoriously bad game that single-handedly tanked the entire series, and we haven’t had a game since. Dino Crisis has so much potential and could easily get the RE 2 Remake treatment if Capcom cared about the franchise. Fans want a new Dino Crisis game desperately because of its compelling gameplay and over-the-top characters. You know what to do Capcom.
These are our top picks for Capcom franchises that we would love to see new entries in. If you have any games you would want to see, let us know over on Twitter!
