Monster Hunter: World is Capcom’s best-selling game of all time. As of June of this year, the title has sold over 16 million copies worldwide, blasting past Resident Evil 7 in second place with a little under eight million. Stacking those 16 million copies alongside the Resident Evil remakes, Street Fighter, and Devil May Cry, it’s clear that the company is doing pretty well lately. But as we look forward to the release of Monster Hunter: Rise and Resident Evil Village, I’m thinking about all of Capcom’s franchises and titles that haven’t done so well.
As a developer that’s been around since the late 70s, Capcom has hundreds of games to its name. Many of these are acknowledged as classics and have seen rereleases on various platforms, like Mega Man and Ace Attorney. But many also remain unplayable on modern hardware short of emulation, which is a shame. That said, Capcom has shown a little more willingness to make their back catalog accessible than other major developers — and with that in mind, here are some titles I’d love to see them make more widely available. Many of these games are victims of the company’s other series’ success, which makes it unlikely that they’ll get full new releases or even remakes anytime soon. But still, there’s no reason why Capcom couldn’t dust off these games as they are and put them on digital marketplaces.
1. Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter
The first couple of Breath of Fire games are great examples of the 90s JRPG genre and are available on the Switch Online service. But the series dared to get really weird with the fifth entry, Dragon Quarter, which sees players exploring an underground world by repeatedly restarting the game and getting a little further each time. Despite its distinctive premise, appealing visuals, and unique combat, the game has never been rereleased. Inexplicably, you can get the soundtrack — but not the game — on Steam.
2. Darkstalkers
Based on the limited ways that Capcom references Darkstalkers in their other games, you could be forgiven for thinking it’s a game about women with large breasts vaguely dressed up as cats and bats fighting one another. It’s not not that, but it’s also a game where a yeti can fight a mummy, where the character animations are so over the top that it feels like a cartoon, where there’s a character who’s a zombie that’s obsessed with rock ‘n’ roll. It’s not like Darkstalkers was a one-hit wonder, either — the series saw numerous releases in arcades and on consoles. But it’s been dormant since 2013’s Resurrection, which was an HD compilation that never saw a PC release. A lot of people are holding out for a new entry, but I’d be happy to just have the old games playable again.
3. Mega Man Legends
Yes, Mega Man‘s first foray into three dimensions was kind of awkward. But if you can get past the clunky controls, you’ll find that Mega Man Legends is a gorgeous, colorful game populated by charming characters like series breakout star Tron Bonne, who later got her own title. The cancelled Legends 3 is one of Capcom’s most-requested games, but a release collecting the first two games plus The Misadventures of Tron Bonne seems much more likely, and would make a lot of people — myself included — very happy.
4. Metal Walker
Written off by some as a Pokemon clone back when it was released for the Game Boy Color in 1999, Metal Walker admittedly is about collecting and battling little creatures — robots, in this case — but it stands out from other JRPGs with its unique combat mechanics. Rather than simply selecting commands from a menu, battles in Metal Walker involve launching your robots into walls, items, and enemies billiards-style. There’s never been a sequel, remake, or rerelease, but it’s a fun little title that could easily have a second life on the Switch.
5. Power Stone
Power Stone is an anime-inspired arena fighting game where Street Fighter-esque characters compete to grab the titular rocks in order to transform into superhero versions of themselves and unleash devastating, screen-filling attacks against their enemies. Its sequel, Power Stone 2, singlehandedly made the Dreamcast into a multiplayer party machine, supporting up to four players at once in morphing arenas filled with ridiculous weapons, monsters, and vehicles.
6. Saturday Night Slam Masters
One game stood apart from a sea of mediocre licensed wrestling titles in the 1990s — Capcom’s Saturday Night Slam Masters, known in Japan by the far superior name Muscle Bomber: The Body Explosion. Originally released in arcades and later ported to the SNES and other 16-bit consoles, Saturday Night Slam Masters is like Street Fighter meets pro wrestling, supporting up to four players at once in matches with entrance sequences, grapples, and even weapons like folding chairs. Mike Haggar of Final Fight even makes a guest appearance. Muscle Bomber Duo, an improved version of the game a la Street Fighter‘s many updates, was never ported to any home console.
More Like This:
- Doop Mocdinal: A Review
- The Top 10 Game Console Names That Feel Good in My Mouth
- What Does the Cast of Destiny 2 Smell Like?
7. Viewtiful Joe
Henshin-A-Go-Go, baby! It’s a criminal crime that Viewtiful Joe, one of the most stylish and original platformers of its era, has never been rereleased. The game sees the main character battling his way through movie-inspired cel-shaded stages using a variety of powers themed around camera techniques like close-ups. The original GameCube title was ported to the PlayStation 2 and the DS saw a sequel in 2005, but none of the games are available on any newer platforms. That said, spiritual successor The Wonderful 101 was remastered for the Switch, PS4, and PC earlier this year, so there’s hope yet for a Viewtiful Joe comeback.
8. Maximo: Ghosts to Glory
Ghosts ‘n Goblins remains a well known Capcom arcade game, one that’s been ported and remade numerous times. But the Maximo games, release for the PS2 in the early 2000s, have largely been forgotten. The series merged the world of the Ghosts games with the art of Susumu Matsushita, a manga artist who worked on Hudson’s Adventure Island games as well as numerous comics. Maximo maintains the original games’ quirks, like the protagonist’s armor shattering when hit and leaving him in nothing but his heart print boxers. Ghosts to Glory and its sequel Maximo vs. Army of Zin represent a successful effort to translate a classic 2D series into three dimensions at a time when many developers were trying and failing at the same task, and they’re funny, solid platformers that deserve a rerelease or even a full-on remaster
9. Dino Crisis
It’s a great time to be a Resident Evil fan, with remakes and new titles being released every year. But if you’re into Capcom’s other survival horror series, well, you’re probably dealing with some resentment issues. Launching in 1999 for the PlayStation, the Dino Crisis series follows the Secret Operations Raid Team as they contend with the re-emergence of dinosaurs thanks to time distortion technology. Fans briefly got their hopes up when Capcom renewed the Dino Crisis trademark, but rumors of a remake were soon found to be false, and for the time being, if you want to play the original games, you’ll have to dig out your old hardware. But hey, we’re getting a Resident Evil 4 remake!
10. Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbados’ Treasure
A modernized point-and-click adventure game released for the Wii in 2007, Zack & Wiki never really got a fair shake — pardon the pun. Capcom eschewed a major advertising campaign in the US, hoping instead to replicate Ace Attorney‘s word-of-mouth success. As a result, the game didn’t sell very well, but it did rack up numerous awards and became a critical darling. Given the resurgence of narrative and puzzle-driven adventure games over the past few years, Zack & Wiki could easily find a new audience in a re-release — if it was only given the chance.
