What game series would be completely ruined with a gritty reboot?

[GangstaGeek]

I was just talking with my friend about the terrible idea that with each entry in a video game series it gets gritter and more hardcore. Looking at examples like Bomberman: Zero and every sonic game since sonic adventure.

I was thinking the worst example is Donkey Kong or Kirby. Would completely bomb.

 

[Fiz_The_Toaster]

Ratchet and Clank.

No more cutsie art design and quirky, funny humor. Clank will be a murderous robot and Ratchet will be a grizzled lab experiment gone horribly wrong, and then turned into a super soldier by the government that created it.

 

[hazabaza1]

I dunno. Probably the Zelda franchise, that'd be pretty shit.

Ratchet and Clank.

No more cutsie art design and quirky, funny humor. Clank will be a murderous robot and Ratchet will be a grizzled lab experiment gone horribly wrong, and then turned into a super soldier by the government that created it.

ohgodmychildhood

 

[sextus the crazy]

I was thinking the worst example is Donkey Kong or Kirby. Would completely bomb.

Pretty much this. Anything where un-ironic and all-encompassing cuteness is integral to the series identity. Although, a gritty reboot of Pokemon would pretty much turn into Persona. Hmmmm....

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

Spoiler: oh god this would be so horrible if it was a gritty reboot

[HEADING=1] You mad? [/HEADING]

Yoshi's story. end of story.

 

[kyogen]

ICO would be terrible without the innocent and rather sweet hand-holding between Ico and Yorda. The fairytale is grim in any case. It really doesn't need to be gritty as well. That would be the sort of overkill that kills an IP. Shadow of the Colossus elegantly sidestepped the problem by changing the basic situation and narrative.

 

[Fiz_The_Toaster]

Ratchet and Clank.

No more cutsie art design and quirky, funny humor. Clank will be a murderous robot and Ratchet will be a grizzled lab experiment gone horribly wrong, and then turned into a super soldier by the government that created it.

they did that
it was called jack 2 and 3
and it was great

Jak was funny and awesome.

So, the opposite of that.

 

[Zenn3k]

Frogger
Portal
Metroid

 

[Rawne1980]

Not a series (yet, fingers crossed for a sequel) but Beyond Good and Evil.

It was a bit "cartoony" and that's one of the things I loved about it but if they remade it into a dark, gritty blood bath it would just ruin it completely.

 

[ResonanceSD]

Kirby or Yoshi. Also it would be HILARIOUS.

Frogger
Portal
Metroid

How could you make Portal Grittier than it is?

 

[Fiz_The_Toaster]

Ratchet and Clank.

No more cutsie art design and quirky, funny humor. Clank will be a murderous robot and Ratchet will be a grizzled lab experiment gone horribly wrong, and then turned into a super soldier by the government that created it.

they did that
it was called jack 2 and 3
and it was great

Jak was funny and awesome.

So, the opposite of that.

play jack 1 then play jack 2 and 3
it escalates and a will farrel rate
the only funny thing are occasional side character
and daxter one of the most unlucky video game characters ever, but he takes it in stride
other than that, while it didnt become say

this

the games got pretty dark, hell at the bigging of what was it jack 3 they just send you in the desert to die, and not in the funny ratchet and clank way , they just drop you off while daxter makes jokes.

I have (finally) played all of them, but they still have their charm and humor.

What I mean is take away the humor, charm, and whimsy lovableness and make a super serious game with Ratchet and Clank.

 

[CpT_x_Killsteal]

Kirby or Yoshi. Also it would be HILARIOUS.

Frogger
Portal
Metroid

How could you make Portal Grittier than it is?

Make it a cover based shooter and add a chainsaw to the portal gun?

 

[TheNecromancer]

I want to say Sam and Max would be ruined but honestly I feel like it could almost possibly be done well if there was a level of irony in the grittiness.

Half life would definitely be ruined by it.

 

[Boggelz]

Banjo Kazooie

Can anyone honestly see this as a gritty reboot? Banjo ripping people to shreds and kazooie pecking enemies eyes out.

inb4 still better than nuts and bolts

 

[Nomanslander]

Mario game.

Nuff said.

...

Okay, I'll speak a bit more.

I mean - excluding the fact of how gritty the war machines in Mario 3 sorta looked - this series has been the Disney-esque franchise of video game industry. The games have been mostly bright, colorful, and cheerful looking. So to imagine them taking on a dark dystopian setting being-

wait a sec...

THE MOVIE!!

There you go! Take the Super Mario Bros. movie, and you can see just how wrong the series would go if it ever attempted this.

 

[an annoyed writer]

Banjo Kazooie

Can anyone honestly see this as a gritty reboot? Banjo ripping people to shreds and kazooie pecking enemies eyes out.

inb4 still better than nuts and bolts

Oshit Ninja'd!

But yeah, that would be pretty horrid. Nuts and Bolts was a departure, but that idea right there is outright betrayal.