Video game creators and publishers are like any other sort of media and entertainment company. When they have a franchise on their hands that is popular and sells well they want to keep it going. However, it’s tough to pump out new installments and sequels over and over on a regular basis.
This leads companies to produce spin-off games. They can either continue the story with different characters, diverging plot lines, or even be a game that is completely out of canon. Also, it’s a chance to explore other forms of gameplay outside the franchise’s main title. Here’s a list of some of the best spin-off games around.
From a gameplay standpoint, Project Legacy is as simple as it gets. It was a Facebook game that utilized resource management to unlock new areas of the game and learn more about the Assassin’s Creed lore.
Mainly, it’s for Assassin’s Creed fanatics as it dives headfirst into the mythology at a time when the franchise was really expanding. Eventually, the game stopped being updated and was removed from Facebook’s platform, but it definitely lives on as canon within the Assassin’s Creed Universe.
In many respects, Gears Tactics is the embodiment of a spin-off game. It takes a popular franchise and tells a prequel story using a simple turn-based gameplay style. It’s fun, fast, and adds something different to the franchise.
The only downside to it compared to something like Halo Wars is that it was primarily designed to be a game for the PC. Gears of War is an Xbox franchise, so it was a weird decision to target PC players at first. Still, it’s a worthy addition to the series.
Acid might look like a Metal Gear Solid game and feel like a Metal Gear Solid game, but it is definitely not a Metal Gear Solid game. It’s awesome playing as Snake on another one of his stealthy adventures, but the gameplay is completely different.
It’s card focused, which relies on some classic Metal Gear Solid characters and weapons to determine how the action plays out. It’s weird yet oddly satisfying. It was so satisfying that it got a very surprising sequel, something spin-off games like this don’t usually have.
Spartan Assault was released during a particularly shaky time for the Halo franchise. After years of successful games and expanded media, Halo was trying to exist without Bungie, the driving force in its creation. Halo 4 was a fairly lackluster attempt to keep the franchise going.
Luckily, Spartan Assault showed that the franchise’s design and spirit can still live on in many different forms. This top-down shooter gave a classic Halo experience in a completely new way, proving that there was still magic in its universe.
There was really no reason for this game to be associated with the Pokemon brand. It’s essentially a puzzle game with a gameplay mechanic completely detached from the world of Pokemon. Still, it’s awesome that it is connected because the game is fun and the fact Pokemon are involved makes it even better.
For kids obsessed with the franchise, simply playing any game that helps immerse them in the world and its characters is something worth playing, especially if it’s good.
Final Fantasy Tactics is a great merger of classic Final Fantasy details and turn-based strategy gameplay. Besides the fact that it has an intricate fantasy storyline that’s the hallmark of the franchise, it also features the classes of characters that Final Fantasy fans are used to.
On the tactical side of things, the game provides a much more structured alternative to the traditional Final Fantasy experience. The result is a worthy spin-off that keeps this already successful franchise going in new and interesting ways.
Pinball games are primarily arcade activities, so it might seem odd to try to make one for a console game. Sonic Spinball shows not only that it can be done but that it can be a lot of fun, too.
Given that playing Sonic’s regular game involves an adrenaline-filled burst of speed, he’s the perfect character to try and make a pinball-inspired spin-off for. The game’s fast-paced pinball action is perfect for Sonic fans looking for a different way to play as their favorite character.
Like with Pokemon Puzzle League, there’s really no reason for Mario to be involved in a game like this. It’s a puzzle game similar to Tetris that involves eliminating “viruses.” However, it’s hard not to get sucked into the fun gameplay and the fact that Mario is acting as a doctor.
He is such a fun and lovable character that his doctor outfit makes the game even more enjoyable. It also helps that Dr. Mario lives on as a popular version of the character in other media.
As an idea, Pokemon Snap is ridiculous. The entire premise is that players are stuck on a simulated level and take pictures of Pokémon around the level. That’s it. And yet, the world and its characters are so immersive that it’s hard not to get sucked into all the different things going on in the levels.
Pokémon fans have no problem spending hours going through the same motions and simply snapping photos of their favorite characters. This is probably why there are so many different spin-off games that take place within the universe.
It’s hard to encapsulate exactly what Halo Wars was able to accomplish. Real-time strategy games are popular, so it makes sense to try to expand a franchise by employing one. However, Halo Wars made the bold decision of trying to make the game compatible with a console, something RTS games have notoriously had problems with.
Fortunately, the designers cracked the RTS code and created a worthwhile expansion to the Halo franchise with a new group of Spartans, something not easily done given its devoted fanbase.
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