Franchises

Capcom vertically scrolling shooter series that began with Yoshiki Okamoto's 1984 arcade game 1942. Sequels include 1943: The Battle of Midway and later 194X entries such as 1942: Joint Strike.

Terminal Reality off-road racing series of licensed trucks and SUVs, beginning with 4x4 Evo in 2000. The original supported cross-platform online play between Dreamcast, Macintosh, and Windows; 4x4 Evo 2 followed in 2001.

Hip-hop licensed action shooters starring 50 Cent and G-Unit — Genuine Games’ 2005 Bulletproof on PS2/Xbox (plus PSP G Unit Edition) and Swordfish Studios’ 2009 sequel Blood on the Sand.

Japan-only Nintendo 64 sumo series from Bottom Up, mixing career training with short bouts. 64 Ōzumō launched in 1997; the sequel followed in 1999.

Bandai Namco arcade flight-combat series from Project Aces, spanning Strangereal campaigns from Air Combat through Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown and the announced Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve, plus handheld and Assault Horizon spin-offs.

Pendleton Ward animated fantasy franchise set in the Land of Ooo, following Finn the Human and Jake the Dog. The Cartoon Network series (2010–2018) spawned licensed games from WayForward, Little Orbit, and Outright Games, plus Distant Lands and Fionna and Cake spin-offs.

Aero Fighters, known as Sonic Wings in Japan, is Video System's 1992 vertically scrolling shoot 'em up series of national fighter-jet pilots. Hamster later reissued the arcade games, and SUCCESS and Hamster released the new sequel Sonic Wings Reunion in 2025.

Takashi Okazaki’s Afro Samurai franchise spanning manga, anime, and Namco Bandai’s 2009 hack-and-slash game starring Samuel L. Jackson, plus the short-lived Afro Samurai 2: Revenge of Kuma episodic sequel.

Remedy Entertainment action-adventure series. Novelist Alan Wake searches for his missing wife in Bright Falls, Washington, as events from a novel he cannot remember writing come true.

Crossover video-game series blending the Alien and Predator franchises, from early console beat ’em ups and Rebellion’s Atari Jaguar FPS through Fox Interactive PC shooters and Sega’s 2010 multiplatform reboot. Players typically choose Colonial Marine, Alien, or Predator campaigns across shooters, strategy games, and film tie-ins.

Survival horror series that began with Infogrames’ 1992 3D mansion thriller and continued through Jack Is Back, The New Nightmare, Atari’s 2008 Central Park reboot (and Inferno), Illumination, and THQ Nordic’s 2024 reimagining.

Nintendo life-sim series that began with 2001’s Dōbutsu no Mori and grew through GameCube, Wild World, City Folk, New Leaf, and New Horizons — real-time towns and islands shared with animal villagers.

Atari Games light-gun series set at the Area 51 facility, later rebooted by Midway as home first-person shooters. The 1995 arcade original and 1998 sequel Site 4 cast STAAR operators against Kronn aliens; Midway’s 2005 Area 51 and 2007 BlackSite: Area 51 use different plots around the same base.

EA Montreal third-person co-op shooter series. Mercenaries Tyson Rios and Elliot Salem (and later Alpha and Bravo) fight as a two-person team. Three games: Army of Two (2008), The 40th Day (2010), and The Devil’s Cartel (2013).

Ubisoft historical action-adventure series, developed mainly at Ubisoft Montreal. It depicts a millennia-old conflict between the Assassins and the Templars.

Atari brand compilations and modern remasters celebrating the company’s arcade and home-console library—from Digital Eclipse’s Anthology and Code Mystics’ Vault/Flashback Classics to Atari 50’s interactive documentary timelines.

Nickelodeon fantasy franchise created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, set in a world where some people can bend air, water, earth, or fire. It began with the 2005–2008 animated series and includes The Legend of Korra, comics, licensed video games, and later live-action and Avatar Studios projects.

Film-licensed video-game series based on the Back to the Future trilogy. Early film adaptations include LJN’s NES titles and Image Works home-computer/Sega games, Japan’s Super Back to the Future II, and Telltale’s episodic Back to the Future: The Game (2010–2011), later reissued as a 30th Anniversary Edition.

Dungeons & Dragons CRPG series set on the Sword Coast in the Forgotten Realms. BioWare’s Infinity Engine Bhaalspawn Saga began with Baldur's Gate (1998) and Shadows of Amn (2000); Beamdog later shipped Enhanced Editions and Siege of Dragonspear, while Larian’s Baldur's Gate 3 (2023) revived the line. The franchise also includes the Snowblind Dark Alliance action-RPG spin-offs.

Rare platform series starring Banjo the bear and Kazooie the breegull, usually fighting the witch Gruntilda. Debuted on Nintendo 64 in 1998, continued on Game Boy Advance and Xbox 360, and remains largely dormant since Nuts & Bolts (2008), aside from crossover appearances.