It’s that time again to look at the current state of certain franchises, and this time we’re going through Bandai’s Stacked Library. What games of theirs still hold up to this day, and which ones deserve their own revival. That’s what we’ll be finding out in this video today. If you enjoyed do consider subscribing and dropping a like!
All music in this video has been used for entertainment purposes and all rights go to the copyright owners.
Timestamps:
Intro: 0:00
History: 1:06
Gee Bee: 3:40
Galaxian: 4:44
Pac-Man: 6:00
Rally X: 7:28
Tank Battalion: 8:46
Bosconian: 10:16
Dig Dug: 10:49
Mr Driller: 11:51
Pole Position: 12:59
Xevious: 14:10
Gundam: 15:32
Mappy: 17:02
Tower of Druaga: 17:52
Baraduke: 19:12
Sky Kid: 20:31
Star Luster: 21:40
Tag Team Muscle: 22:30
Thunder Ceptor: 23:25
Valkyrie no Boken: 24:14
Genpei Toumaden: 25:25
Dragon Ball: 26:33
Rolling Thunder: 28:24
Family Stadium: 29:17
World Stadium: 30:04
Family Fun Fitness: 30:39
Youkai Douchuuki: 31:27
Final Lap: 32:07
Saint Seiya: 32:58
Wonder Momo: 34:02
Bravoman: 35:12
Slaughterhouse: 36:15
Winning Run: 37:27
Golly Ghost: 38:07
Steel Gunner: 39:08
Super Robot Wars: 39:50
Sailor Moon: 40:43
Suzuka 8 Hours: 42:04
Cyber Sled: 42:32
Numan Athletics: 43:22
Ridge Racer: 44:28
Ace Driver: 45:32
Point Blank: 46:24
Tekken: 47:11
Ace Combat: 48:52
Alpine Racer: 50:08
Namco Museum: 51:10
Soulcalibur: 51:58
Tales: 53:36
Time Crisis: 55:09
Tamagotchi: 55:57
Klonoa: 57:24
Digimon: 58:15
Simple Series: 59:14
Gunpey: 59:52
MotoGP: 1:01:00
One Piece: 1:01:30
Summon Night: 1:03:10
Taiko no Tatsujin: 1:04:29
Wangan Midnight: 1:05:31
.Hack: 1:06:37
Xenosaga: 1:08:17
Naruto: 1:08:42
Baten Kaitos: 1:10:05
Katamari Damacy: 1:11:19
Ar Tonelico: 1:12:12
We Ski: 1:13:39
God Eater: 1:14:45
Dark Souls: 1:16:20
Project X Zone: 1:17:35
Sword Art Online: 1:18:52
Project Cars: 1:20:07
Little Nightmares: 1:20:45
My Hero One’s Justice: 1:22:16
Ace Angler: 1:23:09
Gameplay and Footage Credits:
vghchannel
hirudov2d
World of Longplays
old classic retro gaming
highretrogamelord
nintendocomplete
replay ceptors
ammonue
long n play
loading geek
arcade games old school
xtimeless gaming
Amadeus.
20.08.2023If I remember correctly you didn't cover Nintendo's Japanese franchises. I would love for you to someday go back and do a part 2 on the franchises you missed.
Wildblack
20.08.2023Spoilers for Xenoblade 3 and Future Redeemed
1:08:23 First of all you seem to think that Xenosaga is owned by Nintendo but it is not, the IP is owned by Bandai Namco. Also I think Xenosaga should be moved up a tier. While it has not had any games in a while it has been referenced in the Xenoblade series. Kos-mos and T-elos appeared in Xenoblade 2 as blades and In Future redeemed the radio referenced Xenosaga, potentially even making it cannon to the Xenoblade series. That combined with the recent remaster of Baten Kaitos on switch, I think it is decently likely for it to get a remake eventually.
Christopher Carrasco
19.08.2023If we want to get technical, Galaxian/Galaga is probably their most active franchise when you take in consideration Galaga, Galaxian, Baraduke, Dig Dug, Mr. Driller, Ace Combat, Xevious and more are part of one big narrative. Yeah… A video game universe lmao. The Dig Dug thing confused me with Baraduke too until I found out that the Pookas are aliens? If I'm not mistaken Air Combat is one gigantic prequel.
GoToJayl
19.08.2023Im gonna have to choose Square Enix as thats the company Im most familiar with.
Also, "The State of…." series has been one of my favorite series on YouTube and I look forward to every new entry. It had solidified itself as a mainstay in my YouTube watching.
Lozzu
19.08.2023It’s just pronounced Fighterz, not Fighter-Z
Lomaxion Peerixonez
19.08.2023You forgot to mention the little tail Bronx series its been a round since the PS1 games include tail concerto 1998 solatorobo 2010 little tail story 2014 fuga Melodies of steel 2021 fuga Melodies of steel 2 2023 and a sequel next year its literally a bandai namco franchise
Togarashi
19.08.2023Even with all the obscure series, I'm surprised you didn't mention the Little Tail Bronx series, particularly its first two entries, Tail Concerto and Solatorobo, which are owned by Bandai Namco. The latest entry was released this year, which was without their involvement. It's probably in the zombie tier or even dead tier since the last BN published game in the series released in 2010, but Cyberconnect2 has interest in revisiting it, although it's up to Namco if that comes into fruition.
Lozzu
19.08.2023Xenosaga is owned by Bandai Namco
Lozzu
19.08.2023It’s pronounced Project Cross Zone
Lozzu
19.08.2023Code Vein is part of the God Eater franchise
Vent
19.08.2023Just ask i know jojo not have many games with same title but why not mention that game
Feuer
19.08.2023I'm so sad you didn't cut to the Atari ad when talking about Pole Position, I still have that one living rent-free in my brain.
Terry Goebitz
18.08.2023Awesome video as usual! But i just wanted to point out that you're pronouncing the word "adaptation" funny, as you omit the 'ta-' part
Terry Syvertson
18.08.2023xenosaga is completely different and separate from xenoblade
TARDISES
18.08.2023hah, of course Trombe would be the music accompanying the SRW segment.
Jose Ruiz
18.08.2023Koei, SNK and ArcSystem Works
Red Quartize
18.08.2023one thing i remember about bandai namco is prior to 2015 alot of their namco games would be branded as such and vice versa with bandai
Shadow
18.08.2023Wait where's JoJo's Bizarre Adventure?
Gustavo Rodrigues
18.08.2023Sony or Square Enix next
Edgar Lozada
18.08.2023I loved the video as always, Square-Enix would be a difficult one to tackle because of also its manga editorial. Konami can wait, SNK or Arc System Works would be fun.
There's a few things that I need to point though:
1.) Xenosaga is not owned by Nintendo, is still Bandai Namco. Xenosaga and Xenoblade are each separate franchises, you can see this on KOS-MOS and T-elos having Bandai Namco copyrights when they showed up in Xenoblade 2.
2.) Code Vein is part of the God Eater franchise, though can't blame you there. That was a plot twist.
3.) Around 2 months ago, on anniversary concert was confirmed that .hack// is getting a brand name game. But yeah I agree with the position until more is shown.
4.) Like many have stated, is surprising you didn't showed Last Bronx, as is still an active, with a brand new game that is about to release, Fuga 2.
5.) Super Robot Wars should be on mainstays as it doesn't get US releases not because of lack of interest, is because of the hellish licensing issues, and that has been changing recently.
Again this topics are not complains (maybe number 5 a bit), I vastly enjoy these vídeos and I am happily waiting for the next video.
PLAYER42_ready
18.08.2023I don’t know what to say, so, great job and keep up the great work!
FreakGeSt
18.08.2023Super Robot Wars only stayed in Japan or on SEA territory the majority of time because the license nightmare, that's why SRW 30 was a miracle of miracles (maybe that explains why not a single Gainax franchise is in that game, or was a coincidence), but the OG titles, like Masokishin and others, they can be release outside Japan but somebody in Bandai Namco needs to yell that games never left Japan.
Also, did you know the Project X Zone games are canon for the SRW OG games? Because the fisrt PxZ game features Zanger Zonvolt, a SRW OG character and Haken Browning, from SRW Endles Frontier, who they re appear in SRW Moon Dwellers, who are the very same of that PxZ game. Also there is this character, named Gillian Jagger, who appear way back in a obscure JRPG game named Hero Senki: Project Olympus, a crossover game with Gundam, Kamen Rider and Ultraman, in that game, he was the final boss, who entered in a dimensional warp, made him travel across various SRW games and non SRW games, to finally stay in the SRW OG games, meaning, the interaction of Gundams, Ultramans, Kamen Riders, and now characters from Capcom, Sega, and thanks to PxZ2, Nintendo, make that the one of the biggest, if not the biggest multimedia crossover that ever exist and it's canon thanks to SRW OG Moon Dwellers. (Sorry for my broken grammar)
Mr. K
17.08.2023While not necessarily the west, Super Robot Wars has had a couple of games get official English translations exclusively to the Asian region (since a lot of Asian countries do speak English.) SRW V and X specifically both have English versions.
Togarashi
17.08.2023Good video, Kai.
It's honestly pretty sad how much they focus on the licensed IPs over their original ones.
I know it's what makes the most money, but still, many of these are dead in the water, including those that died with defunct mobile games.
I checked how many games BN published, and around half of them were based on pre-existing non-video game IPs.
Ben Dover
17.08.2023I could really use another God Eater and more .Hack
F
17.08.2023Massive epilepsy warning during Point Blank section
TNTfan153
17.08.2023For your next video you should do Konami first and then Square Enix and then you should do EA
Amos de Guzman
17.08.2023This is an insanely ambitious video series! I skimmed through the series that I know of and just want to correct or clarify some things:
Super Robot Wars didn't usually get released in the west because of licensing issues. Because Macross was a mainstay in these games, Harmony Gold in particular blocked the Super Robot Wars Alpha games because they held copyrights to Macross in the west.
Xenosaga is still a property of Bandai Namco. Xenoblade Chronicles does contain elements of Xenosaga, but as seen on the copyrights of Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Future Redeemed, Xenosaga is still property of Bandai Namco.
The series Project X Zone is pronounced with a Cross not an X. As in, crossover and the Cross Active Battle System. Same goes for Namco X Capcom's X pronunciation.
Superbro64
17.08.2023This is a simply incredible video, both in how comprehensive it is, and how well its presented. Simply bravo
Hopefully more people can come to see this in time, you certainly deserve it!
JurnJurn
17.08.2023As much as I love my boy Klonoa, I must admit it is on Life Support right now. The recent remaster collection (which did increase its rank from Zombie) didn't sell too many copies, and the last original title was created in 2002. Klonoa also had a webcomic (that had some chapters released) and a planned movie even, but both have since been canceled. The franchise doesn't sell well at all, and the fact we even got any remasters in the current generation feels like a miracle.
Super Static
17.08.2023i look forward to these videos
Niosai
17.08.2023Whoa, this is a super cool video. I like this, definitely subscribed!
Elyas Elyas
16.08.2023I love this concept
Keep up the good work bro
F1 Bobby
16.08.2023I want them to make a new Ridge Racer. That is all.
Samuel Turner
16.08.2023Hmm. I get your reasoning for saying Xenosaga is dead but I’d disagree, especially as it’s likely seeing a revival of the original 3 games very soon.
Bandai Namco still owns the Xenosaga IP and just renewed it so Monolith is getting permission to licence it out for now and in the future.
Sure Xenosaga 4 won’t be called that but considering it’s basically confirmed Xenosaga is coming back via Xenoblade, and we’ll likely be getting something 1-3 related so we can understand Xeno 4, I’d consider that a franchise revival.
QF Dan
16.08.20231:01:10 The MotoGP games from Namco are not average. Ignore the journalists and instead look deeper at the fanbase. Many fans would agree those games have good controls and the physics were well coded. Each MotoGP entries added more content than the previous ones until MotoGP 4 which was considered by many to be the best game in the Namco series due to the full rider rosters/tracks of the same irl season. The game was that good that it can also rival some of the later MotoGP games.
Also, you forgot to mention the Namco MotoGP series originated from an early arcade exclusive Namco game, 500 GP so technically, there are six games.
Btw, the footage you shown in that segment (before the Milestone scene) is not from any of the Namco MotoGP games which means it can be very misleading to any viewers that are familiar with the series
Behemoth
16.08.2023Do Level5
Kuarim
16.08.2023great vil allthough small rincle
technically the dark souls franchise ended with 3 so shouldnt it be in the lowest tier?
Phantom Fencer
16.08.2023Man I love Digimon, especially the games, but sometimes it feels like the series is kept alive by the spite fans have for Bandai. Before Survive released I remember one if the higher ups on the game said the budget they get for the games is largely decided by the success of the previous game. And paired with the extremely limited PR for Digimon outside Japan it's depressing to think the company would pull the plug on western release again if the games don't do well.
2la84me
16.08.2023What a wonderful video!
Out of all the game series on this list I can only say that Ridge Racer is number one for me. Not a single game has music that rivals it on here, some are damn good but not RIDGE RACER good.
Arcanus Afonso
16.08.2023Watching these videos while doing a playthrough of Project X Zone is one hell of a trip down memory lane
Strikerwott12
16.08.2023AAAAAAA super awesome video!!! I really love Pac-Man, Digimon, and Taiko!!! I recently got into Mr. Driller as well!
I’d absolutely love love love a Square Enix video omg
Goku Black
14.08.2023Hope to see EA soon
Shadow03
14.08.2023Sonic and dragon ball crossover
Mr.MagillanicaMayvin
14.08.2023Gotta love the refusal to use the new company logo lol
nintendolife25
14.08.2023Hey Legend of Kai, I just want to say thank you for taking the time to make these videos. It’s not easy looking up the history of not one but two companies that merged together into one that also happens to have successful anime series into the mix. I greatly appreciate it and this history.
Ask for Bandai Namco, yeah they definitely did better than our last company, though it’s funny how many of their Flagships and Mianstays are anime related. I’m so glad Digimon is still a Flagship franchise after all these years. I love Digimon Adventures as a child.
BrightHero Ultimate
14.08.2023When are you gonna do western companies?
KremBotop9525
14.08.2023While the sudden drought of Sailor Moon games in the last few years is unfortunate, with not even the franchise's 30th Anniversary last year being enough of a push to make / announce a new one, there are indeed a great amount of SM games already released during the series' initial run for any fan to enjoy. And most of them have since been getting English fan translations recently. Makes one wonder why so very few of these were officially released overseas, considering just how big the series was back then. But still, hopefully a new game gets made soon.
Aside from the fighting and beat em up games mentioned, there're also some puzzle games and a visual novel game for the PC Engine CD too. The latter even has an original story set during the show's second season (while the Super Famicom RPG takes place after the third) and both it and the arcade beat em up make use of impressive pixel art renditions of key art that very closely matches the art of the show itself. And one of the fighting games in particular, a Super Famicom entry based on the third season (Sailor Moon S), has recently become notorious for being an early effort done by Arc System Works, now of Guilty Gear and Dragon Ball FighterZ fame; as well as for it having very broken and unbalanced gameplay overall. And after being rediscovered by some fighting game fans a few years ago, it has since turned into a cult favorite in the fighting game community and has even been featured in various tournaments.
Kesmar
14.08.2023.hack//G.U. Last Recode actually does contain a brand new fourth entry into the G.U. series. Also Project X Zone is said Project CROSS Zone
BozoDLuffy
14.08.2023Okay a few things.
1. Thank you so much for these videos they are truly a treat.
2. Your Japanese is pretty solid when pronouncing Japanese games, curious if you’ve studied any
3. ONE PIECE IS PEAK FICTION LETS FUCKING GOOOOOOO!
Edit: bro really did Robin like that 😭