(ThyBlackMan.com) The PlayStation Vita was a really good handheld that faded out and ended PlayStation’s involvement in the handheld market. Nintendo is the undefeated champion. Sega’s Game Gear? It was in color before the Game Boy Color—and still got bounced up out of here. Bandai’s WonderSwan? Eliminated. Neo Geo Pocket? Tossed over the top rope and to the floor. Nokia’s N-Gage? Okay, this is just getting sad. Let’s look at ten franchises that would’ve been awesome on the PS Vita.
1. Spyro (Toys For Bob)
This purple dragon was a major part of the first PlayStation. Such a major part that you’d think Sony held the rights to Spyro the whole time—that is until Spyro games started popping up on the Game Boy Advance, GameCube, and Xbox.
It was after leaving PlayStation that the quality started to dip. The games were still decent enough but they weren’t lowering the boom on platform games when you had old man Mario still putting out quality games, Shantae started to make waves, and PlayStation got its hands on both Sly Cooper and Racket and Clank.
Spyro wasn’t really needed any more at the console level but it would’ve been welcomed on the PlayStation Vita—especially when the quality of games improved.
2. Onimusha (Capcom)
It’s not unusual for a company to put out a series and then let it fall by the wayside with no new entries. It happens all the time. Nintendo did it with Kid Icarus until the Nintendo 3DS dropped. Actually, Kid Icarus is a great example of what can be done with a number of franchises that have been gone for a time. It’s new if you haven’t seen it in roughly a decade. You can reboot it.
Oh look, there’s Onimusha which didn’t have a new game in the series since 2006. Onimusha was one of three Capcom titles that had that odd tank-movement style that I hated. I learned to play with that movement style just to enjoy Onimusha and one other similar game on this list. It’s always been a fun, dope franchise and actually my favorite of Capcom’s three like this.
You’re going to see a common theme in this list starting with Onimusha. Capcom has always been a busy company—just like the developer of number three—so it’s not surprising we haven’t seen a new Onimusha or the game on Vita.
3. Musashi (Square Enix)
This series had two games that dropped on both the PlayStation and the PlayStation 2 in 1998 and 2005 respectively. The first game, Brave Fencer Musashi, was a really good action RPG and showcased what Square could do on the first PlayStation.
Now the second title was solid but is often forgotten. Since Square Enix is often so busy with the slew of games each decade, I’m not surprised we never got another Musashi game. However, it would’ve been a franchise worth having as a PlayStation Vita exclusive.
4. Tomba! (Whoopee Camp)
Tomba was an extremely fun platformer on PlayStation that defined what the console could do. The commercials for this game made it edgier than it actually was but delivered gameplay-wise and visually. I’ve always wanted to see Tomba return. It could’ve been on PlayStation Vita or PlayStation 3 but Tomba with modern graphics, storytelling, and gameplay mechanics would’ve been a beast.
5. Maximo (Capcom)
So, Maximo dropped two games on PS2 with both being very well received and the first being a Greatest Hits. You’d think that would be enough to continue the franchise as a means to keep the Ghosts N’ Goblins franchises fresh after the mobile offerings. Like, this isn’t a case of not working on a new Dino Crisis or Rival Schools, Maximo did very well on PlayStation 2 and there is some mileage there.
Then again, Capcom is a very busy company. If they don’t drop more Street Fighter and Resident Evil at regular intervals, who will?
6. Dark Cloud (Level-5)
Dark Cloud is a series that ended after two games on PlayStation 2. Both titles were really good and could’ve been PlayStation’s response to Nintendo’s Zelda. Now, I didn’t say it was a Zelda killer—none exist—but it was the closest thing to Zelda in the PlayStation library. After the series’ end on PS2, there was no follow up. A return on PlayStation Vita would’ve been nice.
7. Rygar (Tecmo)
Do you know how many Rygar games have been made? Two. One in 1986 and the remake in 2002 for PlayStation 2. Tecmo could’ve looked at the PlayStation Vita and said “You know what? We got something for that” and dropped a Rygar game. Was anyone thinking of a Rygar game? Of course not! We had several God of War games by that time.
Only myself and like four other people were like “Hey, can we have a Rygar game? The last one was pretty dope.” And you know what? If you don’t factor in the Wii version of the game, Rygar: The Legendary Adventure on PlayStation 2 was really good!
Just enough time elapsed from the PS2 game and the PS Vita’s run to drop a new Rygar title and it could’ve been exclusive to the Vita and likely would’ve done well.
8. Legacy of Kain (Crystal Dynamics)
Legacy of Kain was a franchise that had a following and had a home on PlayStation consoles. Sure, it appeared on other consoles but Kain was definitely a PlayStation game that felt like it was just ported elsewhere for whatever reasons.
When I first got my hands on Soul Reaver, it had my attention all weekend and it was a crawl through classes until I could get home play more. Whether it’s putting the Kain games on PlayStation Vita or a dedicated game just for the handheld, Legacy of Kain would’ve been cool to see on it.
9. Legaia (Prokion)
Legaia was a strong RPG series—of two games—which was on PlayStation and PlayStation 2. I won’t say I expect this studio to make more Legaia games since it’s defunct but releasing the only two games on the Vita would’ve been awesome. After that, who knows? Maybe Sony would’ve picked up the rights to the franchise. Honestly, Legaia is a mystery.
What happened to Prokion and what’s up with the rights to Legaia? It was an RPG series that had a lot going for it and introduced some new features such as cooking, something that wasn’t in console RPGs at that time.
10. Dino Crisis (Capcom)
Capcom, you’re killing me! Dino Crisis was basically Resident Evil with dinosaurs but I found it more interesting than Resident Evil. That says nothing about the gameplay which was identical to RE. There was a third Dino Crisis on PlayStation 2 which was dropped as a light gun game.
It’s something no one really asked for from Resident Evil or Dino Crisis but here we are. Capcom’s efforts were mainly on consoles with Monster Hunter being the company’s big handheld offering. Dino Crisis would’ve been a nice addition but let’s be real: it’s no Onimusha, Resident Evil, or Monster Hunter.
Staff Writer; M. Swift
This talented writer is also a podcast host, and comic book fan who loves all things old school. One may also find him on Twitter at; metalswift.