GameDynamo - If a franchise proves popular enough, it's inevitable that it'll see not only sequels, but spin-offs into different types of games and audiences. Sometimes, they'll even take a franchise way out into left field, territory that most people would never consider unless in a chemically altered state. This doesn't necessarily mean the spin-off will be a bad game, and at the very least it'll offer an entertaining display of bizarreness. Here are ten spin-offs that took familiar characters into the least familiar territory possible, the kind that elicits no response but "What The Hell?!"
Shadow the Hedgehog, even 20 years later, remains one of the SEGA's most unhinged and comically edgy titles ever.
From Cinelinx:
As we prepare to embark on a new Pokémon adventure, we’re taking a look back on the franchise’s spin-off titles and which ones should return!
Luigi's Mansion is the best Mario spin-off, and we need a lot more games like it
I enjoyed LM3 well enough but honestly, I was expecting more. I want to see Nintendo get a little more ambitious with IP's like Luigi's Mansion. Expand the dev budget for a game like this and increase production value. I want to see LM expand into a true free-roaming "open world" type of game. Break away from the fixed plane level design and give Luigi the same kind of freedom Mario has in say, Odyssey.
Nintendo-only, eh? And Theatrythm? Really? A music-based game for a franchise renown more for its incredible music than anything else was a WTH spin-off? Really?
The only spin-offs that provoke that kind of reaction from me are things that just... don't... make... any... sense. Like Valkyria going from PS3 to PSP to mobile phones. Or SE looking at its two best, biggest roleplaying franchises and saying, "you know what would be great? If these were MMOs."
Yikes.
Or that Mass Effect 2 spin-off a few months ago that sucked so hard.
Or those weird Fallout FPS spin-offs with the vampires and orcs. WEIRD.
Or that Persona spin-off where you just sit in a bar the whole time chatting with a shemale and playing arcade games. WEIRD.
Or turning Age of Empires into an MMO.
What I'm saying is... there's a lot out there. And THESE are the ones you pick? Really?
Quite a flawed list, Theatre rhythm I really would not include in this list it's great.
A lot of those spin-offs actually ended up being pretty successful - I wouldn't call them all WTH.