Join today to claim your daily loot

Nintendo Has Forgotten and Neglected These 15 Game Franchises

1-15

Ignacio Weil

Gaming - May 27th 2026, 23:55 GMT+2

Star Fox Zero cropped processed by imagy — 1. Star Fox

A new *Star Fox* remake is finally headed to Switch 2, but even that comeback says a lot about Nintendo’s relationship with Fox McCloud: the company keeps returning to *Star Fox 64* instead of sending the team somewhere new. *Star Fox Zero* tried to restart the engines on Wii U, then the series spent years living through cameos, retro libraries, and arguments about motion controls. For a franchise built on speed, branching routes, and radio chatter, it has been circling the same space lane for a suspiciously long time. | © Nintendo

Punch Out — 2. Punch-Out!!

Little Mac still has one of Nintendo’s best underdog setups: a tiny boxer, absurd opponents, perfect timing, and the eternal joy of watching King Hippo hit the canvas. The Wii revival proved *Punch-Out!!* could still work beautifully without sanding off its arcade-era personality, but Nintendo has left the ring mostly empty since then. It is not hard to imagine a modern version with new fighters, online challenges, and sharper presentation; apparently, it is harder to convince Nintendo to book the match. | © Nintendo

Cropped earthbound — 3. Earthbound

*EarthBound* went from underappreciated SNES oddity to one of Nintendo’s most influential cult RPGs, which makes its official treatment even stranger. Ness became a household name through *Super Smash Bros.*, the original games eventually reached modern platforms, and *Mother 3* still sits there like the localization request Nintendo pretends not to hear at parties. The series helped shape the way indie games mix comedy, sadness, and suburban weirdness, yet Nintendo mostly treats it like a museum piece with excellent merch potential. | © Nintendo

Cropped Kid Icarus Uprising — 4. Kid Icarus

*Kid Icarus: Uprising* did the impossible: it revived Pit after decades of dormancy, gave him a full personality, and turned a dusty NES name into one of the funniest Nintendo adventures of its era. Then Nintendo watched fans praise the writing, music, bosses, and chaotic energy, and apparently decided that was enough cardio for one angel. The 3DS controls remain a love-it-or-ice-your-hand situation, but the world itself is too lively to be left floating in remake rumors and Smash appearances forever. | © Nintendo

Cropped F Zero 99 — 5. F-Zero

Nintendo did throw *F-Zero* fans a bone with *F-Zero 99*, and to be fair, that bone came wrapped in speed, chaos, and genuine affection for the SNES original. Still, Captain Falcon’s main job for years has been yelling “Falcon Punch” in a fighting series instead of racing at suicidal speeds in his own. After *F-Zero GX* showed how stylish and vicious futuristic racing could be, the franchise somehow got parked behind *Mario Kart*, as if Nintendo only has room for one set of reckless drivers. | © Nintendo

Golden Sun Dark Dawn cropped processed by imagy — 6. Golden Sun

The first two *Golden Sun* games still have a very specific glow: elemental puzzles, screen-filling summons, Djinn collecting, and a fantasy world that made the Game Boy Advance feel much bigger than it had any right to feel. *Dark Dawn* continued the story on DS, but it ended with enough loose threads to make the silence afterward feel almost rude. Nintendo brought the GBA classics back for modern subscribers, yet the actual franchise remains asleep, which is odd for a company that rarely lacks dragons, magic, or children saving civilization. | © Nintendo

Pokémon Stadium cropped processed by imagy — 7. Pokémon Stadium

*Pokémon Stadium* returning through Nintendo Switch Online was nice, especially for anyone who missed the sound of dramatic announcer commentary turning a simple Thunderbolt into a sporting event. The problem is that the original magic came from connecting your handheld Pokémon and watching your own team battle in 3D, while the modern release cannot transfer Pokémon from the Game Boy games. As a spin-off concept, Stadium should be a no-brainer in the age of online battles, custom teams, and Pokémon Home; instead, it feels trapped in rental mode. | © Nintendo

Hotel Dusk Room 215 cropped processed by imagy — 8. Hotel Dusk

*Hotel Dusk: Room 215* had the nerve to make a Nintendo DS game feel like a paperback crime novel someone forgot in a motel drawer, and that is exactly why it still stands out. Kyle Hyde was not a mascot; he was a tired ex-cop with posture problems, a sharp coat, and the emotional availability of a locked filing cabinet. Its sequel, *Last Window*, never even reached North America, and with Cing gone, Nintendo has let one of its coolest adventure identities fade into cult-memory fog. | © Nintendo

Another Code cropped processed by imagy — 9. Another Code

*Another Code: Recollection* gave Ashley Mizuki Robbins a beautiful second chance, especially since it finally bundled the DS original with the Wii sequel that never made it to North America. That release mattered, but it was still a restoration project rather than a new chapter. The series has always worked best as Nintendo’s quiet mystery corner: less spectacle, more family secrets, memory puzzles, and melancholy rooms full of objects that clearly know too much. Now that the door has been reopened, leaving Ashley there again would feel unusually cruel. | © Nintendo

Cropped Eternal Darkness — 10. Eternal Darkness

Nintendo owns one of the most inventive horror games of its generation and has spent more than two decades acting like the sanity meter worked too well on the company itself. *Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem* was not just “scary GameCube game”; it messed with saves, volume levels, camera angles, and player trust in ways that still feel sharper than many modern horror tricks. The fact that it has never received a proper remaster or sequel is baffling, especially now that prestige horror games are no longer a niche bet. | © Nintendo

Pokémon Ranger Guardian Signs cropped processed by imagy — 11. Pokémon Ranger

*Pokémon Ranger* was built around one of the DS era’s most physical gimmicks: drawing frantic loops around Pokémon until the touchscreen practically begged for mercy. That control scheme is probably the reason Nintendo has not rushed it back, but it is also what made the series feel distinct from the mainline games. *Guardian Signs* was the third entry, not a failed first try, and the idea of protecting wild Pokémon rather than catching them still gives the franchise a rare identity within the larger Pokémon machine. | © Nintendo

Sin and Punishment cropped processed by imagy — 12. Sin and Punishment

*Sin and Punishment* has always felt like the Nintendo franchise that accidentally wandered in from a louder, stranger arcade cabinet. Treasure’s rail-shooter DNA gave it speed, spectacle, and a story that made sense mostly through vibes, explosions, and people shouting dramatically while the screen lost its mind. *Star Successor* on Wii proved the concept could still hit hard with modern controls, but Nintendo has barely touched it since. For a company with such a carefully polished image, this is the perfect messy action series to keep around. | © Nintendo

Wario Land Shake It cropped processed by imagy — 13. Wario Land

Wario has stayed busy through *WarioWare*, but that only makes the disappearance of *Wario Land* more frustrating. The platforming series gave him a completely different flavor from Mario: greedier, heavier, weirder, and more interested in smashing through walls than gracefully saving anyone. *Wario Land: Shake It!* looked gorgeous on Wii, then Nintendo quietly let the treasure-hunting side of Wario vanish while the microgame side kept getting invited back. Great for five-second chaos, sure, but the man also deserves a full vacation built around stealing everything not nailed down. | © Nintendo

Pilotwings Resort cropped processed by imagy — 14. Pilotwings

*Pilotwings* was never Nintendo’s loudest franchise, but that was part of the charm: no princess, no apocalypse, just hang gliders, rocket belts, light planes, and the constant threat of failing a license test in front of no one. *Pilotwings Resort* gave the 3DS a breezy early showcase, then the series drifted away again like a balloon with no adult supervision. In an era where cozy exploration games and physics toys thrive, Nintendo having a ready-made flight playground and not using it feels almost aggressively relaxed. | © Nintendo

Wave Race Blue Storm cropped processed by imagy — 15. Wave Race

*Wave Race* should be an easy win in modern Nintendo terms: bright settings, competitive racing, water physics that actually matter, and enough nostalgia to make GameCube owners start talking about wave deformation unprompted. *Wave Race 64* still plays with a clean, slippery confidence, while *Blue Storm* pushed the weather and water effects even further. Then the series disappeared so completely that every Nintendo Direct with a beach shot briefly becomes emotional hazard territory. Racing on water should not feel like a lost art, but Nintendo has somehow made it one. | © Nintendo

1-15

Nintendo has one of the most recognizable libraries in gaming, but not every franchise gets treated like Mario, Zelda, or Pokémon. Buried beneath the company’s biggest hits are once-beloved series that helped define entire consoles, only to spend years waiting for a proper comeback. From cult classics stuck in the past to fan favorites that keep surviving through cameos and nostalgia, these are the Nintendo game franchises that deserve more than silence.

Facebook X Reddit WhatsApp Copy URL

Nintendo has one of the most recognizable libraries in gaming, but not every franchise gets treated like Mario, Zelda, or Pokémon. Buried beneath the company’s biggest hits are once-beloved series that helped define entire consoles, only to spend years waiting for a proper comeback. From cult classics stuck in the past to fan favorites that keep surviving through cameos and nostalgia, these are the Nintendo game franchises that deserve more than silence.