10 FAILED Video Game Reboots

10 Failed Video Game Reboots

Welcome to MojoPlays and today we’re looking at 10 games that tried to modernize their series and failed spectacularly.

“Turok” (2008)

The Turok series on the N64 was a hit with both fans and critics alike. It was often compared to the benchmark console FPS, Goldeneye 007 at the time with its impressive graphics, level design, tight gameplay and innovative game mechanics. The 2008 reboot of the franchise left most of that behind and instead of continuing the mythological aspect of the original series, players took on the role of a generic soldier. The inventive weapons in the original were replaced by the standard assortment of modern warfare style gunplay and mechanics. When even the admittedly cool dinosaurs can’t save your shooter about fighting dinosaurs, this is a reboot that completely misses what made the original games so iconic.

“Saints Row” (2022)

The only real competitor to GTA’s crown, the Saints Row series went through numerous iterations and managed to split the fanbase with some fans preferring the more realistic take in Saints Row 2 and others leaning more towards the over-the-top nature of Saints Row the Third. But with their 2022 reboot, Volition attempted to find a balance between the two and managed to please no one. Not only was the game filled with a myriad of bugs and glitches, but most of the main characters were just unlikeable. It felt like the developer trying too hard to appeal to a new, younger generation as well as a story and world that most didn’t appeal to longtime fans of the series. While the game was mechanically competent, it just wasn’t fun which is the main draw of the Saints Row series and resulted in a reboot that completely lost its identity.

“SpyHunter: Nowhere to Run” (2006)

While the Spy Hunter series has certainly seen its share of reboots throughout the years, Nowhere to Run attempted to tap into the more cinematic and Hollywood style video games were heading towards but ended up in straight to DVD B-Movie territory instead. The Spy Hunter series made no secret about their James Bond inspirations, so naturally when it came time for a Hollywood style adaptation of the franchise, they got Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as their leading man. Letting players get out of the car and explore the world had become standard by this point but ended up being the worst aspect of an already disappointing entry in a beloved franchise. With bland and repetitive gameplay, even the surprisingly solid story and The Rock’s usual charm couldn’t save this spy from getting burned and the franchise has been mostly MIA ever since.

“Frogger: He’s Back!” (1997)

The simplicity of Frogger was most likely its biggest draw during the game’s initial release, where your only goal was to help the poor little froggy cross the road to the other side while surviving various obstacles. Proving that not every game’s formula needs an update, this is one road Frogger should have avoided entirely. While the game did feature some interesting and creative level designs, everything else about the game was lackluster, especially the game’s controls which actively fought against the player at every turn. They effectively made the game and its need for precision jumps nearly unplayable and unfairly increased the game’s overall difficulty. Why did the frog cross the road? To get away from its reboot.

“Dungeon Keeper” (2014)

The original 1997 Dungeon Keeper saw players building and managing their dungeons to keep the “hero” away from the treasures within. Even today Dungeon Keeper has a loyal fan base but because EA was involved, naturally the newest entry became an over-monetized mess even by mobile standards. Instead of the original’s strategic dungeon building gameplay, EA turned the title into a mobile tower defense game. This meant that players were forced to wait extortionist amounts of time or fork over real world cash for the game’s multiple in-game currencies necessary for building traps and generally playing the game at all. Naturally this didn’t go over well with fans of the series or critics and the game was rightfully lambasted for its greedy practices. Just because you’re the bad guy, doesn’t mean you have to be the BAD guy.

“Golden Axe: Beast Rider” (2008)

Yet another unneeded “update” to a classic franchise, the Golden Axe games were a staple of arcades and Sega Genesis’ everywhere and was one of the early pioneers in multiplayer gaming. The simple hack and slash gameplay made the game easy to pick up and play so naturally the series was a perfect fit for a gritty 3D single player reboot, right? The game attempted to appeal to an older audience with an oversexualized main character as well as buckets of blood and gore but forgot to include engaging gameplay or a meaningful story. While many other beat ‘em ups have successfully made the transition into 3D, Beast Rider somehow made Golden Axe’s simple and fun combat boring, and the game’s bland graphics and repetitive gameplay were made even worse by the game’s horrendous control design.

“Space Raiders” (2003)

Speaking of unnecessary reboots, Space Invaders has been an industry icon since it first debuted in 1978 and virtually nothing has needed to be updated or changed since its initial release. Why then did developer Taito feel the need to reboot or change up a formula that had been perfect for nearly 3 decades by that point is anyone's guess. Switching to a 3rd person perspective and putting players on ground level instead of their trusty ship, but maintaining the original game’s shooting mechanics and gameplay, somehow made the original’s tried-and-true gameplay feel repetitive. It’s a poor imitation of its predecessor, full of pointless cinematics, terrible graphics and drab lifeless environments. It’s no wonder they didn’t have the nerve to use the Space Invaders name.

“Bionic Commando” (2009)

There’s definitely an ongoing trend with these mid-2000s reboots and developers feeling the need to take established properties and give them a dark and mature overhaul. And while it has worked on occasion, this list has more than proved it doesn’t work for everything. Bionic Commando is probably the closest to a “decent” game on our list with its surprisingly solid graphics and swinging mechanics, but is held back by one major core component of its reboot: the story. This might not be a deal breaker for some, the bizarre story of Rad Spencer investigating the disappearance of his wife takes a major twist when he discovers she sacrificed herself to create his bionic arm. Even by video game standards, this one’s a bit of a stretch. Thankfully alongside the reboot, fans got a more traditional 2D Bionic Commando game that proved successful enough it even earned itself a sequel.

“Alone in the Dark” (2008)

The true granddaddy of survival horror, the impact of Alone in the Dark on the genre it helped to create cannot be understated, with the likes of Silent Hill and Resident Evil taking direct inspiration from it. While the 2008 reboot had good intentions, the title’s poor implementation of its new mechanics only aided in its fall into obscurity. Taking an episodic approach to the game’s poorly written and designed narrative didn’t do the game any favors and its focus on combat as set piece moments lost what made the series an icon to begin with. Moving Edward Carnby out of the mansion and into large cityscape environments didn’t lend itself to many scares either, completely undermining the core of the Alone in the Dark series. The fire effects remain impressive even today however as does the game’s inventory system.

“Bomberman: Act Zero” (2006)

As we keep constantly mentioning, everything in the mid-2000s needed to be dark and gritty no matter the source material. So seemingly for this reason alone, Hudson Soft decided to take the cute and cartoony Bomberman and give him a makeover to better reflect the dark times of the 2000s. Apparently. Even this could have probably been forgiven had the core gameplay remained the same, but along with the game’s decidedly more violent tone was a myriad of bizarre design decisions such as first person. Coupled with ugly and poorly designed environments and long load times, the game lost the soul of what made the Bomberman games so enjoyable. Thankfully the series returned to its roots and never looked back but we almost lost the entire Bomberman franchise to the dark timeline.


Which Video Game reboot do you think was the biggest failure? Let us know in the comments below!