The best Rayman gets is some cameo appearance in Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope, and there’s no word at all on another Might & Magic. There’s a Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake in the works, but it’s been delayed indefinitely. Given they’re running the creative well dry for those games, it might be prudent for the publisher to take another look at titles that put them on the map: Prince of Persia, Rayman and Might & Magic. Review scores for the latest entries from each franchise suggest critics and everyday gamers alike are noticing the stagnation. Instead, Ubisoft keeps churning out increasingly formulaic, uninspired open-world games like Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry and Watch Dogs. Then there’s the mysterious absences – given the successful resurgence of Spyro and Crash, Ubisoft continuing to leave Rayman in the dust is mind-bogglingly stupid. Not too many people were looking for that MediEvil remake, and practically no one asked for a new Kao the Kangaroo. There’ve been obvious comebacks like Spyro the Dragon and Crash Bandicoot, but plenty of weirder ones throwing their hats in the ring too.

Rhythm games haven’t been a hot item for many years now, and the maraca-shaker was always fairly niche – only seeing releases in arcades, the Sega Dreamcast and Nintendo Wii, Samba de Amigo has been entirely dormant since 2008.īut with the Nintendo Switch having motion controls, emphasizing local multiplayer gaming, and being the “kiddie console” with lots of vibrant, silly games, Samba de Amigo is a natural fit for the platform – Sega saw the stars align and they’re going for it.īut for every time a publisher like Sega seizes such an opportunity, you can watch as they let a dozen other opportunities pass them by – with the success of Sonic Mania, Streets of Rage 4 and Puyo Puyo Tetris, I have a hard time believing gamers wouldn’t welcome another shot at Golden Axe, Shinobi, NiGHTS or Shining Force.

I was utterly shocked when Sega announced Samba de Amigo: Party Central during last month’s Nintendo Direct. With all of the remakes, remasters and re-releases prominent in today’s nostalgia-focused entertainment market – video games included – it’s sometimes baffling to see which franchises get another shot at life while others are left to rot.

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