Franchises

Gaming's most successful franchise, spanning platformers, kart racers, RPGs, and sports games. Mario debuted in Donkey Kong (1981) and has appeared in over 200 games across every Nintendo platform.

Nintendo's action-adventure series defined the genre's vocabulary: item-gated progression, dungeon structure, and overworld exploration. Ocarina of Time extended this language to three dimensions with equally enduring results.

Square's RPG series named after its creator's last attempt before leaving the industry. From an 8-bit Famicom RPG to the most commercially successful JRPG franchise, each numbered entry has reinvented itself.

Sega's answer to Mario: a speed-focused platformer built around momentum, attitude, and a character designed to embody the Genesis's identity as the cool alternative to Nintendo.

Capcom's blue robot action franchise defined precision platforming on the NES: defeat Robot Masters, acquire their weapons, conquer Dr. Wily's fortress. Eleven numbered entries and dozens of spin-offs over four decades.

Konami's gothic action franchise spanning the linear whip-and-sub-weapon NES originals through Symphony of the Night's Metroidvania revolution. The series gave its name to an entire genre of exploration-based action games.

Capcom's fighting game franchise created the competitive fighting game genre with Street Fighter II (1991). The six-button layout, special move inputs, and character roster became the template for every fighting game that followed.

Midway's digitised fighting game franchise defined controversy in gaming: its Fatality finishing moves triggered congressional hearings and directly caused the creation of the ESRB age rating system in 1994.

The highest-grossing media franchise in history. Satoshi Tajiri's insect-collecting childhood became a game about capturing, training, and trading pocket monsters — and a cultural phenomenon that has never fully diminished.

Nintendo's original arcade franchise introduced Mario (as Jumpman) and spawned the Donkey Kong Country SNES trilogy, one of the best-selling series of the 16-bit era. The franchise spans platformers, puzzle games, and racing titles.

The highest-grossing arcade game of all time. Toru Iwatani's maze game sold over 400,000 cabinets, generated $2.5 billion in quarters by 1990, and made the yellow dot-eating character the most recognised video game icon before Mario.

Konami's run-and-gun franchise defined two-player co-operative action on the NES. The Konami Code giving 30 lives made it the first game whose cheat code spread virally through playground word of mouth.

Nintendo's atmospheric sci-fi action-adventure defined the exploration-based platformer that bears half its name. Samus Aran — revealed at the first game's end to be a woman — became gaming's first prominent female protagonist.

HAL Laboratory's pink puffball franchise is Nintendo's most accessible series — designed initially for players who found other Nintendo games too difficult. Kirby's copy ability, which absorbs enemy powers on contact, makes him simultaneously charming and mechanically deep.

Richard Garriott's Ultima series invented the open-world RPG with ethical stakes, NPC schedules, and player-driven narrative. Ultima IV's virtue system — where the goal was to embody moral principles rather than defeat a villain — was the most radical design departure in RPG history.

Sierra On-Line's flagship adventure game series defined the graphical adventure game genre, pioneering animated characters in a three-dimensional space before adventure games had established visual conventions.

Japan's most beloved RPG franchise, designed by Yuji Horii with Akira Toriyama's character art and Koichi Sugiyama's orchestral music. Dragon Quest III's 1988 launch required police crowd management at Japanese game stores.

Capcom's survival horror franchise defined the genre's vocabulary — fixed camera angles, resource management, tank controls, and safe rooms. Resident Evil 4's over-the-shoulder camera reinvented the series and the third-person action genre simultaneously.