PlayStation: Jak & Daxter, Sly Cooper, Medievil ... those forgotten licenses that deserve to come back

Game news PlayStation: Jak & Daxter, Sly Cooper, Medievil … those forgotten licenses that deserve to come back

Published on 11/13/2021 8:25 AM

In addition to God of War, Horizon or Ratchet & Clank, many other licenses made the PlayStation brand’s heyday. Today is the time to pay homage to the names left behind, who may one day return from the dead without warning. Here are the forgotten licenses of PlayStation that we think deserve a new episode or more.

JAK & DAXTER

Developed by the famous Naughty Dog studio, Jak & Daxter is the adventure platform license the team worked on prior to developing the first Uncharted and which made it famous alongside Crash Bandicoot. The name speaks for itself: the player embodies Jak, a person with yellow hair and long ears, supported by Daxter, a kind of hybrid of otter and weasel. In the three episodes of the main series, the tandem must face a thousand and one dangers, especially those related to Eco Noir, a substance that corrupts anyone who comes into contact with it. Jak & Daxter is also known for its funny and serious storytelling, but also for its gameplay, although Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier will tarnish that reputation. The license has expired since 2009. A fourth opus has for its part been deleted.

SLY COOPER

Like Jak & Daxter, Sly Cooper is one of the licenses that marked the heyday of the PS2, and was also created by another well-known PlayStation studio: Sucker Punch (InFamous, Ghost of Tsushima). Always in a very animal cast, we control a burglar raccoon and his animal buddies

. The series mixes platform, action and infiltration, all with cel-shading – 3D technology to create a cartoon aspect – pleasing to the eye and effective scenarios that obviously focus on the thefts to be carried out. After an opus four on both PS Vita and PS3 in 2013, which was also very well received by critics, Sly Cooper has given no more news as it faces an increasingly popular Ratchet & Clank. According to current rumors, the license could return, but not necessarily at Sucker Punch.

MIDDLE AGE

So yeah, Medievil made its “big” comeback in 2019 thanks to a Crash Bandicoot N Sane Trilogy-style remake with nice new graphics and old-fashioned gameplay. But can’t you expect more from one of the most original and catchy licenses of the PS1? As a reminder Medievil shows Sir Daniel Fortesque, a so-called war hero whose reputation was based on a duck. Everyone believes that he defeated the wizard Zarok while the warrior died at the first arrow. But when the magician appears again, Daniel uses his happy resurrection to defeat him once and for all. Medievil 2 takes place 500 years later, when an industrialist seizes Zarok’s Grimoire to make his darkest drawings. And the rest? We do not know. Maybe one day a second remake or something else will come out.

SIPHON FILTER

In a completely different genre, Siphon Filter is also one of those PlayStation licenses that we would like to see again one day. Back then developed by Eidetic 989 Studios (now Sony Bend Studio, team behind Days Gone), It’s a mix of action stealth with a third person camera. In the first opus, the character Gabriel Logan and Lian Xing have to arrest a terrorist named Erich Rhoemer on behalf of the US government. The sequel picks up where the events of the first episode left off, and in the third chapter, Gabe’s team is accused of treason. The last two games, Dark Mirror and Logan’s Shadow, form their own little story. With one exception, Siphon Filter received good press. The series has not given any news since 2007 on PS2.

MONKEY ESCAPE

When it comes to the cult license on PlayStation, Ape Escape is hard to beat. the very first title to require the use of the PS1 DualShock, with an extremely bizarre tone and unique gameplay. At the time of the first part, in 1999, the left stick allowed his character to move and the left stick allowed him to use various devices, such as the butterfly net, to catch monkeys. All in a pleasant and colorful platform game. The series has seen a few episodes and spin-offs, with titles sometimes only being released in Japan. We can specifically quote Ape Escape Move, which is reserved for the PS3’s PS Move. After this opus, in 2011, the saga gave no more news. And that’s not on the right track as his team, Japan Studio, has been disbanded.

PARAPPA THE RAPPER

Almost as quirky as Ape Escape, but maybe even more, PaRappa the Rapper is a rhythm game in which you have to follow the crazy rhymes of PaRappa, a paper dog who loves rap. Unlike o ther games of the genre, it is not the notes that have to be followed, but many words that add to the originality of the game, both in terms of its universe and its mechanics. In the two previously published episodes, the player faces several “masters”, each with their own rhythm and melody. In 2017, the founding work was remastered on PlayStation 4 with HD graphics. While the concept still works today, the lack of content was pretty disappointing. It would therefore take a third game to honor this cult license.

ERASE

If it is the F-Zero license on Nintendo that acts as the champion in terms of crazy speed racing, it is on PlayStation Wipeout, developed by SCE Studio Liverpool (formerly “Psygnosis”), which is part of the European subsidiary of Interactive Entertainment from Sony. Heard because the company unfortunately closed in 2012. The original team’s final episode was therefore Wipeout 2048 on PS Vita. The Wipeout Omega Collection, which was released six years later for PlayStation 4 – compatible with the PSVR – was produced by Epos Game Studios. The principle, you know it: rush at full speed in a futuristic universe to try to achieve victory. A new console episode is reportedly being developed by the team behind Destruction AllStars. A mobile work, Wipeout Rush, will be out next year. We hope for a nice surprise.

We end up with another game with vehicles, but they are more about shooting each other. Twisted Metal is like giving guns to the riders in Destruction Derby: you have to get started, destroy your opponents with everything that gets in your way. Like Wipeout, the series ended abruptly in 2012, during the PS Vita / PlayStation 3 era: To mark the occasion, the developers of Eat Sleep Play made a license reboot, with – as usual – a big focus on multiplayer clashes . with online modes for up to four players on the same screen and 16 online. We can especially mention the faction mode in which each team has to destroy a huge statue floating in the air. Again, several rumors speak of a brand new episode. So we keep our fingers crossed.

Via the PlayStation 5