I've realized I haven't Sounded Off in quite some time, and this is certainly worth talking about. Unless you're on my Facebook friends list or (to a lesser extent) following me on Twitter, you really didn't hear much from me…
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It has been 16 years since Nintendo has had a new installment of the legendary Mario franchise ready for one of its console launches. To find the last such instance, you're going to need to go all the way back…
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The Lumines franchise has certainly established itself at this point, despite only arriving on the gaming scene relatively recently as part of the 2005 PlayStation Portable launch. It was an unlikely headliner for the system's inaugural lineup, but it ended…
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As long-running and robust as the Final Fantasy series has become, it certainly is fair that Square-Enix has explicitly come to consider each installment as a franchise unto itself. This way of thinking has already been put into practice numerous…
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The King of Fighters franchise arrived in the fighting genre not long after Street Fighter II started a full-scale movement. Since then, it has represented some of the best of SNK's fighting offerings, but long held a reputation for being…
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EA Canada, the Hockey branch of the EA Sports brand, has been on a complete tear for several years now. Just as competitor 2K Sports hit a monumental slump from which they still have yet to even show the earliest…
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For years, the Mortal Kombat fanbase was the polar opposite of the fighting game community at large. While most franchises were finding their success in implementing the greater depth and balance that a tournament scene thrives on, Mortal Kombat revelled…
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Released in 1999, Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike is unquestionably one of the most finely-crafted games of all time, with a number of players considering it among the greatest overall. With such a strong following, it's no question why fans…
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Kicking off in 1995, the Sega Rally Championship franchise has long stood among the best that arcade racing has to offer. It didn't enjoy a wealth of sequels like most great games do, but it made for great games any…
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The Mortal Kombat franchise has been many things to many gamers over the years. Its legions of existing fans consider it one of the long-standing greats for its style and story, while competitive fighting gamers tend to look at it…
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Nintendo has two kinds of franchises; the ones that get used a couple times a year to maximize sales, and the ones that see such little time in the spotlight that you have to stop and wonder if they'll ever…
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The classic Ridge Racer series has been around since 1993, and has been a part of more system launches than it has missed since it made its console debut as part of 1995's Sony PlayStation launch. However, Nintendo fans have…
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by Patrick Mifflin