It is vital that any video game series in search of success define its identity clearly and concisely. Players need to know what they get when they get a Mario or Zelda game. However, this often means that a series is limited to one game genre, so as not to alienate the audience. This is where spin-offs come into play.
Spin-offs allow game developers to try out new and interesting visual styles and game mechanics without changing their main series too much. Often they are just given the name of a series as a marketing tactic to attract fans. However, these games should not be discounted as companies like Nintendo have produced a number of extremely high quality spin-offs for their various franchises over the years.
Xenoblade Chronicles
With the release and success of Xenoblade Chronicles 3MonolithSoft’s RPG series has continued its streak of success since the critical acclaim that the original Xenoblade Chronicles receive. Despite appearing iconic now, the series is actually quite young and hasn’t seen many opportunities for spin-off titles.
While some may not consider it a spin-off, Xenoblade Chronicles X is a title outside of the other’s somewhat linked canon XBC titles, which also brings a lot of big changes in the way the series plays. It takes the open world exploration of the series to heights not attempted since, and its current absence from the Switch library is a huge missed opportunity.
Donkey Kong
Donkey Kong is a rather strange franchise. The original Donkey Kong saw Mario’s first appearance, but the plumber quickly grew into his ape-like rival. utilities DK is seen as a spin-off series to Mario himself, and has struggled over the years to find his identity.
Most people know the series before Donkey Kong: land and its sequel, but it’s hard to pinpoint what the series’ main identity is. Despite this, there have been some full spin-offs, such as: Diddy Kong Racing and Mario vs Donkey Kong. The series also has weirder entries like the Donkey Konga games that are more of a mixed bag, but overall the great ape spin-off offerings are mostly positive.
fire emblem
Although it is a big name nowadays, fire emblem has actually been quite a niche for most of its lifespan. Before Super Smash Bros Melee introduced Marth and Roy to the west, the series wasn’t even available in English. Even after that it took Fire Emblem: Awakening so that the series finally gets a foothold in the Nintendo catalog.
As such, there haven’t been too many spin-offs from FE. Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE crossed the series with Shin Megami Tensei, creating a pretty good albeit tedious RPG. The series has also managed to be successfully adapted for the mobile market with FE: Heroes. FE: Warriorshowever, is the best spin-off the series has seen, managing to evolve the scale of the series’ combat.
The Legend of Zelda
Despite being one of Nintendo’s heavy hitters, The Legend of Zelda has actually had a rather mixed history, especially in the beginning. While the original Legend of Zelda is still universally loved today, the sequel, Zelda 2has since become the dark horse of the series, and there’s no shortage of criticism for titles like Skyward Sword and Twilight Princess.
On the spin-off front, the series also got off to a bad start with the now infamous Zelda CD I games. These titles were failures in everything from gameplay to story and sales, and seem to deter Nintendo somewhat Zelda some time spin-offs. With the release of Hyrule Warriors on the Wii U however, Zelda spin-offs have seen a huge improvement. HW still accounts for most of the series’ great spin-offs, but titles like Cadence of Hyrule and four swords shows Zelda is a series still ripe for crossovers and spin-offs.
pokemon
Although not wholly owned by Nintendo, the pokemon series has a long and storied history with the company, particularly in the video game market. Pokemon Red and Blue may be considered partially responsible for the success of the original Gameboy, and any pokemon game since then, Nintendo has helped sell millions of consoles. With such an interest in and out of video games, it should come as no surprise to learn that pokemon has no shortage of spin-off titles
There are occasional forgettable titles such as pokemon dashbut the Mysterious Dungeon, snap and Stadium series are what people think about when they discuss pokemon spin-offs, and are all iconic in their own right. pokemon seems to have slowed down a bit with its spin-offs lately, but many fans are still begging for new entries for Pokken Tournament and Pokemon Legendsshowing that there is no shortage of demand.
Kirby
It is often heard in discussions about the Kirby series, that there has never been a bad one Kirby game. It’s hard to deny this when the series consistently delivers light, light-hearted adventures with a hidden challenge for experienced players and tons of content. Particularly in recent years, the series has been pumping out spin-off after spin-off without ever dropping the ball.
There are some old ones Kirby classics like Kirby’s dream course and Kirby Air Ride that still hold up today, but in the 3DS and Switch eras, games like Kirby Fighters, Kirby Battle Royale and the newly released Kirby’s dream buffet have proven that the pink puffball can adopt new gameplay styles whenever it wants without seeing a huge drop in quality.
Mario
The original super mario on the NES helped defend Nintendo’s claim to the video game market, and since then Mario games are an integral part of Nintendo’s success. Given the long history and huge popularity of the series, it has received almost too many spin-offs to even mention. While the list includes some stinkers, there are so many spin-offs in total that they are far outnumbered by the good ones.
Some of these spin-offs like: Mario Kart and the various Mario sports games can even be counted as new series of their own. Mario has covered almost every genre gaming has to offer, and even has headlines with crossovers Sonic and the Rabbidsevery time they create something memorable and profitable in their own way.
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