Series' that have never misstepped

Can anyone think of a series in which every installment has been excellent? For the most part, let's limit a series to a string of three or more games.

I'll go first:
The Panzer Dragoon series.

- Kabuki

Look to your sig young man!

Mr Driller is infallible.

Pa

I have yet to dislike a Mega Man game X or otherwise.

Panzer Dragoon Mini screws up that series.

Army Men

Zelda
Metal Gear
Soul Edge
Thunderforce

Any game with "Wario" in the title.
This includes Land, Woods, Ware, and World (I hope).

Lets see...

In my opinion:
The Soul Edge/Soul Calibur series

The Wario series

The Desert Strike series :D

The Samurai Showdown series (even the 3D one was pretty neat)

Metroid

Shenmue
Metroid
Jet Set/Grind Radio

Panzer Dragoon

Metroid

Mobile Light Force ;)

Metal Slug. Even 4 is better than 90% of the games out there. Of course, the minute Metal Slug 3D is released, that'll go to hell.

I can't think of any perfect series, as most long running series have a bump in the road or a black sheep, or a game that is despised due to drastic changes in play mechanics.

Suikoden
Persona
Star Ocean
Rocket Knight Adventures
Fantasy Zone


I can't think of any longer series. Castlevania had an almost perfect streak but the N64 version screwed it up.

I agree with Korian; for every series of games I can think of I can think of 1 or 2 bad apples in it. However, a lot of those are simply voices of opinion -- some (like myself) claim that MGS2 ruined the Metal Gear franchise, while others see no problem with it. Some claim that Metroid Prime ruined Metroid by changing it into a FPS game. Others claim that Mario was ruined when it went to 3D in Mario 64.

Like a lot of discussions I see in here, the only acceptable answer is it's a matter of opinion.

Others

Monster World
Strikers 1945
System Shock

I so badly want to name Contra, but damn those shitty psx titles and Contra Force (which wasn't too bad, though).

With awesome games like Contra: SS for ps2, and Hard Corps for Genesis, it's too bad this series got so messed up, only to return to glory days.

Ok, I will go with these 2 serieses:

Soul Edge/Blade, Calibur, Calibur 2 - Great fighting games.

Also I agree with Yoshi on Metal Slug - they all were good, even part 4.

Legacy of Kain-some were better then others but IMO they were all great. I also think the exact same way about Mario and Zelda.

I would love to say Zelda and Mario.... but I their N64 games were really horrible.

Ummm... Strikers 1945
Metal Slug
Punchout!!

And the biggest flawless series of all time: DDR

Monster World
Wario Land

Those are all I can think of for series that have more than 3 games.

Virtua Fighter, omitting the home ports.

Quake, Elite, and, uh, that's about it.

I shoudl think that with only 2 games in the series, it shouldent count, but anyway...

DDRs
Metal Slugs
Guilty Gears
Thunder Forces
I want to say Castlevania, and I should be able to, 3D ones dont count ^^!
Ninja Gaidens [heres hoping]
True Loves
Front Missions
Metroids

Zelda
Metroid
Jet Grind Radio
Mario
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
Halo
Panzer Dragoon

Halo is one game!

You noticed!

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Originally posted by Shakey
Halo is one game!

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Pff. Only if you don't count the ones that aren't out yet.

Zelda - Even the CDI ones?! :wtf:

Virtua Fighter
Soul Blade/Calibur
Panzer Dragoon
Jet Set Radio

Mario
GTA

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Originally posted by Box Drink
GTA

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The whole series is a misstep :o

You've got the GTA series mixed up with your life.

How funny :rolleyes:. Personal insults... how mature of you.

I wouldn't consider someone with a Pokemon avatar to be an authority on maturity.

( no comment)

Conker being the most mature game of all time.

I don't remember calling anyone out for their maturity level, Chaoofnee.

Fuck, Tyler_Durden fights too much...

-Castlevania (the 3D one was average...not terrible)

-Soul Edge/Caliber

I'd say megaman if it wasn't for X6

i always like the zelda series and the boihazard/re games. oh wait....there was that horrible gameboy game on the boat....nm :D

the streets of rage games have been pretty good so far as well.

Holy shit, Orta just changed his avatar.

Yes, Orta has changed his avatar . Pikachu is dead. Long live Pikachu.

Orta, are you about to commit or something? The avatar/custom status/sig combo is a little disturbing.

Suicide is for losers.

You fit the bill.

Quite nicely may I add.

You may not.

You two...please.

Anyway, I dunno about Mario. The mario Party games arent exactly good imo. Then theres the whole Mario Picross and Luigis mansion, Mario in time, mario is missing...etc etc

stop fighting im getting queasy......

F-Zero

I know mostly console stuff is being talked about but I'll throw this one into the hat anyway:

Warcraft

Am still only taking into consideration games that have more then 2 in the series. ^^

I'm curious, has there ever been a bad game in the Gradius series? I haven't played all of them so I'm unsure if it's a worthy candidate for this.

All three Rolling Thunder games were pretty good, but the first one was still the best.

The Metal Gear series (including Snake's Revenge) has been consistently good so far (despite Raiden's inclusion in Sons of Liberty).

The Castlevanias were all alright with me (even the 64 games).

Metroid is awesome regardless of it's incarnation (I liked Prime).

Contra is cool if you ignore the Appaloosa games.

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Legacy of Kain-some were better then others but IMO they were all great.

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Good choice.

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Originally posted by Box Drink
GTA

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The whole series is a misstep

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You've got the GTA series mixed up with your life

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Excellent comment, took the words right out of my mouth.

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Tony Hawk's Pro Skater

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I agree, even though I didn't think part 3 was as good as the others.

Anyone who's mentioning Megaman must've never played the crappy SNES soccer game, the crappy PS-J kart racer, and the crappy FMV game.

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Originally posted by Regus

Excellent comment, took the words right out of my mouth.

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:blank: :kirby:

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Originally posted by Mr_Furious
Anyone who's mentioning Megaman must've never played the crappy SNES soccer game, the crappy PS-J kart racer, and the crappy FMV game.

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What?!?!?

Tell me more.

It is an FMV game that sucks.. obviously...

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Originally posted by Regus
What?!?!?

Tell me more.

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There was an anime FMV game that was released in Japan called Rockman Adventure or some such. It's about as interactive as the Streetfighter FMV game released in Japan only as well (no, not the crappy fighter based off the crappy movie).

I have Rockman Adventure, it sucks balls to say the least.

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Originally posted by §eraphim
I have Rockman Adventure, it sucks balls to say the least.

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http://mediaservice.photoisland.com/...1103393090.jpg
Here's a pic stolen from an auction (may change or turn into a red x at any time)

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Originally posted by §eraphim
Zelda - Even the CDI ones?! :wtf:

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If Panzer doesn't count because of PD Mini, then the CDi titles kill the Zelda series :)

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Originally posted by Xero_Kaiser
-Castlevania (the 3D one was average...not terrible)

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Still a misstep.

Fatal Fury

/me hides in a bomb shelter.

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Originally posted by Seven Force
Fatal Fury

* Seven Force hides in a bomb shelter.

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even the horrible 3d one(s)?!?:eek: :cool:

WA wasn't that bad....was it?

Bomberman series (although, I remember the bomberman 1 was quite boring on the NES).

Metal Gear.... almost (especially if you don't count Snake's Revenge which is a bastard child of the series anyway), MGS2 kinda sucks.

Lastblade 1 and 2 are both awesome, but it is such a short series.

Metroids are all good.

Metal Slug 1 - 3 (plus X) are awesome, 4.... sigh, not great, not bad.

King of Fighters, I love all of them, even the weaker ones like 2000, but that's highly subjective.

Puyo Puyos are great puzzle games. Love them all.

Bubble Bobble as well, love this series.

Beatmania, it is a case of if you like one, you probably like them all (like DDR)

ThunderForce series, R-types, all great shooters.

Here's one you all forgot...

The Ogre Battle / Tactics Ogre series. I lump them as one since I believe they are all telling one big story, but it's been awhile.

I don't think there's been a version that has misstepped, as they've all gotten crtical acclaim.

i will go with the ogre battle series, though there usually was one element that pissed me off royally about them,such as the chaos frame,or the even more annoying reputation meter in ob 64/snes respectively.

I will go with all of the zeldas that were released for nintendo consoles,cdi's dont count

Thunder Force- Parts II, III, and IV have all been excellent. Part III eschewed the Last Mission style overhead scenes to give us more of what IMO is the real part of the game- the horizontal sequences. TFIV is more than likely the pinnacle of the series with its strong challenge and 10 stages that are in many cases a good 2-3 screens high. TFV is still very good but unfortunately shorter and less challenging than IV.

Rolling Thunder- I like the arcade version of 2 the best, but the quality is consistent through the series.

Darius- Face it, this is Taito- a company who has never compromised on their shooters.

DoDonPachi- Let's pretend that the so-called DoDonPachi II is not a real part of the series since Cave didn't do it. All of Cave's own DP games are sterling.

Streets of Rage- All 3 are excellent. The only bad thing in 3 is the absence of Max. The music is just fine, even if it veers onto a rather different path.

Doom

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Originally posted by kingoffighters
Bomberman series (although, I remember the bomberman 1 was quite boring on the NES).

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Atomic Bomberman anyone?

Wario, Mario, and the Yoshi's Island series.

Yoshi's Island SERIES?

Darius- Face it, this is Taito- a company who has never compromised on their shooters.


Ever play Darius Twin?

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Originally posted by Jeremy
Yoshi's Island SERIES?

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Yes.

Darius Twin isn't a bad little shooter. It's nothing stellar, but it's solid nonetheless.

Let's see...

Final Fantasy? Er... nope, 8's characters and story were wicked lame.

Dragon Warrior? No, 7 was naaaaaaaaasty-looking.

Raiden? The SNES/Genesis ports keep that one from being perfect.

Street Fighter? SF1 is a steaming pile of donkey turds.

Contra? PS1 games. Enough said.

San Francisco Rush? Awesome series, but the PS1 version of the first is one of the worst games in the genre.

I give up.

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Originally posted by Doug Branches
Doom

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I don't care what anybody says, Doom 64 sucked.

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Originally posted by frostwolf ex
I will go with all of the zeldas that were released for nintendo consoles,cdi's dont count

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No. Majora's Mask sucked.

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Originally posted by Andrew
Yes.

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Hey slugger, ever hear of Yoshi's Story?

Wasn't Yoshi's Island given a subtitle of Super Mario World 2 at one point?

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Originally posted by 88mph
No. Majora's Mask sucked.

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I feel the same way about The Legend of Zelda 2 on the NES.

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Originally posted by Regus
I don't care what anybody says, Doom 64 sucked.

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*no longer thinks regus is cool*

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Originally posted by Nash
*no longer thinks regus is cool*

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Pfffft.

I hated how they altered everything. All the enemies looked stupid, and they completely ruined the double shotgun's animations, among other things.

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Originally posted by Seven Force
Fatal Fury

* Seven Force hides in a bomb shelter.

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Hmm...the first one had great characters and atmosphere, but it's essentially unplayable. No matter how hard I tried, just doing a fireball was always a 1 in 5 proposition. But it has just gotten better over time.

I'll say Ridge Racer.

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Originally posted by Gutsman
Zelda

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Cough, cough, CD-I cough...



I think every long running series has mistepped at some point or another.

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Originally posted by StriderKyo
I'll say Ridge Racer.

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And I'll say Ridge Racer 5, which I'm sure some people liked but I personally felt it was a pretty big disappointment after Ridge Racer Type 4 (which was awesome IMO, but no doubt someone out there views it as crap).

All the other Ridge Racers were pretty tight, especially the N64 one.

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Originally posted by NoFace
And I'll say Ridge Racer 5, which I'm sure some people liked but I personally felt it was a pretty big disappointment after Ridge Racer Type 4 (which was awesome IMO, but no doubt someone out there views it as crap).

All the other Ridge Racers were pretty tight, especially the N64 one.

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R5 wasn't as good as R4, but it was still a great game I didn't put down until I'd finished it, so I wouldn't really say it was a misstep.

All the Shining Force games were excellent!

Gran Toursimo series was pretty good (Unless you hated that style of game.).


The Street Fighter Alpha series were all excellent as well.

All the Wild Arms games have been pretty good so far.

So have the two Golden Suns :)

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Originally posted by Regus
I don't care what anybody says, Doom 64 sucked.

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Final Doom also sucked.

Both Kid Icarus games were good.

Well, I know its sucks that some series have been fucked up by teams that dident do the others, but it is about name. Therefore Metal Slug, Castlevania, and Dodonpachi have to go....as much as it hurts.

Parodius!

Thunderforce, R-Type

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Originally posted by §eraphim
Well, I know its sucks that some series have been fucked up by teams that dident do the others, but it is about name. Therefore Metal Slug, Castlevania, and Dodonpachi have to go....as much as it hurts.

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Metal Slug 4 was really quite good in the grand run-n-gun scheme of things.

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Originally posted by Regus
I don't care what anybody says, Doom 64 sucked.

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Doom 64 was the second best game on the N64 behind F-Zero.

All you guys that are saying the Metal Slug series never misstepped seem to have forgotten Metal Slug 2. The atrocious, constant slowdown makes it unplayable and completely ruins whatever game might be in there. And "grand scheme" or no, MS4 is still a bad game.

Hmm....I say.....Raiden. Bad ports don't count, all the original games in their original form are great.

Hey, I like Metal Slug 2! Somedays my brain is running in slow-mo and it doesn't even notice! Seriously though, if you can look past the slowdown its a great game.

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Originally posted by Chibi Nappa
Doom 64 was the second best game on the N64 behind F-Zero.

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:wtf: Let me fix that typo for you.

"Doom 64 was the second best FPS on the N64 behind Goldeneye."

Much better.

:p

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Originally posted by kingoffighters

Metal Gear.... almost (especially if you don't count Snake's Revenge which is a bastard child of the series anyway), MGS2 kinda sucks.

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Snake's Revenge wasn't that bad. Aside from the annoying side-scrolling stages (which weren't that hard or that many), Snake's Revenge was a decent game (with or without the Metal Gear-association) and was way better than the NES port of the first game (which was poorly coded and didn't even have the Metal Gear end-boss).