But that doesn’t mean there’s no other way they could be successful. There are plenty of franchises out there that we’d like to see branch out and try new things. In this feature, we’ll be listing fourteen video game franchises, and talk about different genres from the one they usually subscribe to that we think would actually work pretty well for them. We’re not going for completely off-rails combinations here – you won’t see us talking about a possible kart racing God of War game in here – and we’ll try to talk only about franchise-genre combinations that we think would actually make sense for the former.

So with that all out of the way, let’s get started.

POKEMON AS MMO

A Pokemon MMORPG is something that people have been dreaming about for years now, and multiple developments in recent months have only solidified the notion that that’s something that would actually work very well. For starters, Pokemon’s mainline games have refused to grow and evolve too much over the years, so at this point, most people are desperate for something fresh. More importantly though, we already have a perfect example of how good a Pokemon-style MMO would be in Crema’s Temtem. That’s not a game without its own issues by any means, but it does prove something we’ve all been shouting about at the top of our voices for some time- that a Pokemon template is actually very well suited to the MMO space.

MARIO

The most obvious choice there is. Mainline Mario games are, of course, platformers, but there’s just so much Nintendo has done with this series. From kart racing with Mario Kart to RPGs with Paper Mario and Mario and Luigi, to puzzle games with Dr. Mario, to part games with Mario Party, to sports titles with Mario Tennis, and so, so much more, Mario has tried its hand at an impossible number of things, and proved to be successful in most of its attempts.

Nintendo has announced the games it will be adding to the ever growing (albeit at a glacial pace) catalog of NES games that are made available to Nintendo Switch Online subscribers every month. You can see the announcement video below. This month’s games are a pair of cult classic NES titles that nonetheless have a vocal fan following each.

The first of these is Kid Icarus, the original game in the series that was developed as a sister title to Metroid. Kid Icarus got two sequels, both for handhelds, with Kid Icarus Uprising on the Nintendo 3DS, from Masahiro Sakurai, the creator of Super Smash Bros., a particular fan favorite.

Star Tropics was one of the rare western developed Nintendo games, a globe trotting adventure made in the style of the top down Legend of Zelda series. Stat Tropics hasn’t actually received much in the way of follow-ups barring one solitary sequel, but it’s still an interesting game that I think many fans will enjoy.

As NES games go, these are actually solid picks for the month. But still, personally, I can’t wait for those rumored SNES games to manifest already…

One more fighter has joined the cast of Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. Wii U/3DS – Palutena from Kid Icarus. We also receive a small tease of Dark Pit at the end, which could suggest his inclusion as well. Check it out above.

Palutena, unlike Pit, has access to some seriously over-powered moves including super-speed, the ability to reflect enemy’s projectiles right back at them and our favourite attacks, the Black Hole and Mega Laser. There are many things you don’t mess with in this world and we would think that both black holes and mega lasers are included.

Super Smash Bros. will release on the Nintendo 3DS on October 3rd with the Wii U version out in Q4 2014. Nintendo has already confirmed that Mii characters can be fighters in the game and Amiibos can also be used to bring new data into the experience. Let us know what you think in the comments.

Nintendo has released a rather long gameplay video of their upcoming game, Kid Icarus for the 3DS and it looks stunning.

We can’t wait to get our hands on the game.

3DS releases on Feb 24 in Japan and in March internatonally.

Kid Icarus will be releasing sometime this year.

There was also some confusion regarding just why something like Kid Icarus was chosen, when Nintendo could have gone down the safe route, and launched the new hardware with a Mario or a Zelda title. Well, now we know. Or at least, we have some clarity on the matter.

Speaking to 1Up, Nintendo’s Masahiro Sakurai, who’s heading up development of Kid Icarus Uprising on 3DS said he “deliberately choose a difficult genre” to tackle when Nintendo tasked him with making a launch game for the new handheld.

Expounding on his thoughts on the matter, Sakurai said: “I could have chosen a genre that was easy to develop, but I doubted Iwata wanted something everyone’s seen before, or something small, or something like Wii Party. In the end I deliberately choose a difficult genre, something I wouldn’t usually work with.”

However, the shooter genre isn’t exactly popular in Japan. When asked about the potential of a lukewarm reception by the audiences in his homeland, Sakurai was quick to defend his decision. “That’s frankly not a major genre in Japan… Although overseas there are piles of masterpieces in that field. You can’t argue that the marketplace for it [in Japan] is very healthy.”

He let us in on some more secrets about the title, which are actually quite interesting, now that I think about it. He reveals that Kid Icarus: Uprising started life as an all new IP, specifically built for the 3DS, before it was rebranded as Kid Icarus. “I wanted the game flow to involve traveling to enenemy territory in the air, then fighting bosses on the ground,” explained Sakurai.

“During that first conversation with Iwata, I asked him whether I had to stick with a Nintendo franchise for this project,” he explained. “When I presented my project to Nintendo, it was as a wholly original game, but in the end I suggested that we make it a Kid Icarus title instead.

“I’d have the goddess Palutena grant Pit the power of flight for five minutes at a time, and he’d fly into enemy strongholds and fight enemies on the ground afterwards. It sounded like a ton of fun, I thought, and I got the go-ahead pretty soon afterward.”

All this sounds very interesting. I wonder what compelled Nintendo to revive a character with almost no recognition, as opposed to branding this as a whole new IP altogether.

The game looks really good, and it feels good to see the old Donkey Kong Country games making a return in 3D, this time with co-op. Yeah baby, Diddky Kong and Donkey Kong can both eat bananas this time around, together. How cool is that? Super cool, I would say.

The game has us flail our hands like a fish on dry land several times- I fear motion controls might take a away a good deal of the core formula of the Donkey Kong Country series, but it’s Retro Studios who’re developing the game, and they have a great track record.

Reggie also gives Jimmy Fallon a chance to have a look at Kid Icarus on the 3DS, the latter going crazy upon seeing the 3D visuals, screaming ‘You’ve done it! You’ve done it!’ like a madman in Arkham. We suggest you take a look at the video yourselves.