Top Five Spinoff Games

This week tell us about your five favorite spinoff games. I will let you guys use your own judgment here, but stuff that isn't a part of the mainline series I guess. Or that wacky puzzle game/racer in the series you love. Stuff like that.

Bonus Question: Are there any spinoffs you prefer to the main series?

Donkey Kong Country is the only thing that comes to mind. I'll do a top 5, but I wanted to get this in to steal anyone else's thunder. I'm awesome like that.

1. Phantasy Star Online- Spent so many hours playing this thing. Game was just crazy addicting and so much fun. Definitely prefer this to main Phantasy Star, can't wait for 2 to hit the Vita.

2. Metal Gear Rising: Revengence- I was actually thinking this morning how perfect of a spin-off this is. MGS games are great, but you're really limited in what Snake can do, so to have a game where you're throwing Metal Gears around and cutting up enemies in one of the most fun combat systems I've ever played is awesome.

3. Sonic and Sega All Stars Racing Transformed- Best kart racer I've ever played. Also my favorite racing game ever.

4. Crash Team Racing- Another great kart racer that used to be my favorite one ever. Great game.

5. Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga- One of the few RPGs I loved before I liked RPGs. I love how the combat works, the crazy story, and the Bean Bean Kingdom is one of my favorite areas in the Mario universe.

Honorable mention: Pokemon Conquest- This game would get a spot on my list if it didn't hate me. I spent so many hours grinding to evolve my Pokemon only for those stats necessary to never go up even as years would pass in the game. Still crazy fun and addicting, but it hates me so much.

Also I prefer the Warioware games to Wario Land games and the Wario Land games to the two Mario Land games on the Game Boy. So the spin-off of the spin-off is my favorite there.

I know reboots don't count (mentioned in the feedback thread) but do games like Onimusha count? It was originally a RE game. Jsut trying to find the parameters before I screw everything up as per usual.

1. Final Fantasy Tactics (PS1) - I actually consider this as much a part of the main series as any of the numbered games, and I know I'm not the only one who does.

2. Xenoblade Chronicles - a spinoff of Xenogears, one of my favorite games of all time.

3. Panzer Dragoon Saga - the main PD series is a 3-D rail shooter like Star Fox, this is a supremely awesome RPG.

4. BlazBlue - a spinoff from Guilty Gear that was made when ASW lost the rights to the Guilty Gear franchise (they regained those rights, however).

5. Mega Man Legends - the only Mega Man game I ever really got into.

In answer to the bonus question, Panzer Dragoon Saga and Mega Man Legends from this list were far more enjoyable to me than their core series, and I'd also rate FF Tactics near the top of the Final Fantasy series, perhaps behind only FF7 and FF12. I still prefer Guilty Gear over BlazBlue and I still like Xenogears far better than Xenoblade (or Xenosaga, for that matter).

pspiddy wrote:I know reboots don't count (mentioned in the feedback thread) but do games like Onimusha count? It was originally a RE game. Jsut trying to find the parameters before I screw everything up as per usual.

By that token, I'd wonder if we could count Bayonetta as a spinoff of Devil May Cry (I don't think it started as a DMC, but it was made by the same folks and included improved versions of the same mechanics), and in that case, I liked Bayonetta better than any DMC game.

Onimusha and Bayonetta are really reaching. Assassin's Creed started as a Prince of Persia game, but no one considers it a spinoff series. So I say no to them. Persona sounds like it counts, but I'm pretty unfamiliar with that series and the one it spun off from.

I think you are trying too hard to sneak in your favorite games here maybe... haha. Like try one without mainline Persona games (Arena is fine) and no Final Fantasy XII just for the heck of it. I know I said Persona was fine, but just for variety's sake if you feel like doing another list, try to go without.

Xenoblade is related to Xenogears? Since when?

Prince of Persia (2008)-- I figure this should count? It's the only positive thing that could come of them not continuing with it.

Crash Team Racing-- I've never actually played through any other Crash games but I sure played the heck out of this one.

MGR: Revegeance-- Played through it twice now. All the benefits of the metal gear universe without having to psyche myself into stealth mode before I turn it on.

more to come???

1: Super Mario Kart

2: Donkey Kong Country

3: Castlevania SotN - Metroidvania

4: Star Wars KOTOR (1 or 2)

5: Super Puzzle Fighter II - If you haven't played this game , go grab a Saturn, preferably, or pop the PSone disc into your PS3 and prepare to hate whomever you play with. NOT recommended for play with people you share a bed with.

Super Puzzle Fighter II
The Typing of the Dead
Dr. Mario
Tetris Attack
Mario Kart: Double Dash

I'm just gonna think of some that I enjoy. The ranking is just the order I type them in.

Super Smash Bros.- Melee is one of my favorite games of all time. So hooray!

Mario Party- I have broken many a controller playing the original Mario Party. Whenever I get together with my buddies from high school we always sneak in a game of Mario Party.

Pokemon Snap- I really should try this game out on the Virtual console to see if it holds up, but I remember really loving this game back in the day. Such a cool idea. Almost as good of an idea of putting a full Pokemon game on a console. One can only hope...

Super Mario RPG- I would lose my shit if they made a Super Mario RPG2 with the return of Mallow and Geno. I know that's typical Nintendo rehashing stuff based on nostalgia... but I'm just saying. I'd buy it.

Kingdom Hearts- I was thinking if this is a spinoff or not... and besides Sora and his buds from the island... it's a spinoff of every other character.

I'd argue Kingdom Hearts as a Final Fantasy spinoff...kind of? I'm REALLY struggling with this. I never played FF Tactics in enough detail to warrant it. Was never a big cart racing fan so Mario Cart and CTR are out. Haven't owned any handhelds except the DS and a gameboy/gameboy color...so missed a lot of that. So my list will be shitty and not really favorite games just the only ones I can think of that I enjoyed.

1. Mario and Luigi RPGs for the DS

2. Metal Gear Solid VR Missions...yeah I went there. People call me a not "real" MGS fan. I own every game in the seires twice or three times and I bought this game WHEN IT CAME OUT. So screw all y'all.

3. Kingdom Hearts - I'm counting it

4. Typing of the Dead - just recently got it again for PC...fucking...so addictive.

5. Xenosaga...hear me out. I know originally they were all like "maybe it's a prequel" since Xenogears was all like "episode IV" or whatever at the end but they threw that out by the end of hte first game and it became a game with similar characters and themes but it's own...thing. Right?

I'd call KH a FF spinoff, as it uses a lot of FF assets and characters and it's made by the FF team. Xenosaga is also a legit Xenogears spinoff.

Persona 3/4- Shin Megami Tensei games are always great but I prefer Persona for their focus on story and characters.

Metal Gear Rising- A Metal Gear action game by Platinum is pretty much a dream come true. One of the best action games I've ever played.

Persona 4 Arena- spinoff of a spinoff.. and an awesome one. Who knew Persona could be a great fighting game too.

Paper Mario- fun and simple RPG mechanics and awesome goofy dialogue had me addicted to the first few games. Couldn't get into Sticker Star though :/

Pokemon Puzzle League- I don't remember or care if this was actually a good puzzle game, I just remember playing this game for hours, talking to my best friend on the phone about... Pokemon. Good times.

I never really thought of Kingdom Hearts or the Xeno games as spinoffs so I didn't include them in my list.