Summary
When it comes to TV shows and movies, spin-offs are often very divisive, as most of them aren’t great. Occasionally, you get a classic like Better Call Saul, but a lot of the time, they come off as cash grabs. Video game spin-offs are a bit different. While you’re able to’t say they’re universally beloved, they have a better track record than TV show spin-offs.
Over the years, plenty of gaming spin-offs have matched or bettered the rest of the series' games. They often feel very different from the original titles due to their unique brand of gameplay or by featuring a completely different set of characters. Of course, some series do this better than others. Here are the ones that do it the best.
8Halo
Halo 3: ODST, Halo: Reach, Halo Wars Series, And More
Both ODST and Reach can be considered spin-offs to theHaloseries, as they don’t revolve around Master Chief. That said, they do share some similarities to the main instalments, as they’re both exceptional first-person shooters.
The Halo Wars games are very different, though, as they’re real-time strategy titles. It turns out the series works quite well as an RTS, as both games are great. The twin shooter games, Halo: Spartan Assault and Halo: Spartan Strike, aren’t quite as great. Overall, though, Halo has some fantastic spin-offs, even if none of them are better than the main series' best games.
7Like A Dragon
Judgment Series, Like A Dragon: Ishin!, Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name, And More
In recent years, the quality of Like A Dragon’s spin-off games has increased significantly. The Judgment spin-off series deserves a lot of credit for this. Both of those games are really fun brawlers like most Like A Dragon games, except they revolve around Private Detective Yagami. Having a Detective in the lead role instead of a member or friend of the Yakuza allows for different but equally compelling storylines.
Along with the amazing Judgment titles, the series also boasts Like A Dragon: Ishin and Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name, which are both brilliant titles. The latter even plays an important role in the mainline story.
6Final Fantasy
Final Fantasy Tactics Series, Dissidia Final Fantasy Series, World Of Final Fantasy And More
Final Fantasy has been around for many years, as the first game was released in Japan in 1987. Since then, many games in the series have been released, so it’s only natural that there have been some spin-offs. Considering the consistency of the series, it’s also no surprise thatseveral of those spin-offs are wonderful.
The Final Fantasy Tactics games stand out in particular. They provide some really fun tactical RPG goodness. There’s also the World of Final Fantasy, which is like a Final Fantasy version of Pokemon. It’s a neat idea that is well-executed. There’s also Crisis Core, Type-0, and Theatrhythm Final Fantasy, which are all decent games that feel very distinct from one another.
5Mega Man
Mega Man X Series, Mega Man Zero Series, Mega Man Battle Network Series, And More
Several of the most popular games in the Mega Man series are spin-offs. The Mega Man X titles are among the most notable examples, as several entries are classics. They aren’t completely different from the main Mega Man games, but they offer slightly different gameplay and feature a different protagonist called X.
A similar thing could be said of the Mega Man Zero games, except their protagonist is named Zero. Thankfully, the hero of the Mega Man Battle Network games isn’t called Battle Network. It’s also very distinct from the other Mega Man spin-offs because it’s a series of tactical RPGs instead of run-and-gun side scrollers. This change in genre works surprisingly well.
4SimCity
The Sims Series, Sid Meier’s SimGolf, The Urbz: Sims in the City, And More
These days, SimCity isn’t seen as a huge series. So, this is one of the rare cases where the spin-off series becomes more significant than the original because one of SimCity’s spin-offs is The Sims. The social simulation series is hugely popular and has been for many years. It seems creating people and controlling their lives is more appealing than running an entire city.
It helps that The Sims' games are incredibly well-made and contain all sorts of options for both Sims and their houses. The later games, in particular, areamazing sandbox experiencesthat allow you to build whatever life you want for your created people. There have also been various other SimCity spin-offs of varying degrees of quality, but none have had the same impact as The Sims.
3Persona
Persona 5 Tactica, Persona 4: Dancing All Night, Persona 4 Arena, And More
It’s easy to forget that Persona is a spin-off of Megami Tensei. Over the years, it has established itself as one of gaming’s best RPG series—at least, the main games are RPGs. The series has plenty of spin-offs that dip into other genres.
There have been Persona fighting games, a tactical RPG, a dungeon crawler, and even some rhythm games. All of them offer vastly different experiences to the main titles. However, some of them maintain the series' reputation of having eye-catching art styles, interesting characters, and fun core gameplay.
2Resident Evil
Resident Evil: Revelations Series, Resident Evil Outbreak Series, Resident Evil Chronicles Series, And More
Not every Resident Evil spin-off is a slum dunk, as several are very underwhelming, but there are a few that are very good. Both Revelations games, for instance, are fantastic and do a great job of mixing action with horror. They also offer decent stories, and the second one includes fan favorites that don’t always get screen time.
The Outbreak series is a unique set of RE games that focus on clever, cooperative play. The Chronicles games are dissimilar, too, as they’re on-rail shooters. All these series are brilliant in their own ways and add a lot to the Resident Evil universe.
1Super Mario
Mario Kart Series, Mario Party Series, Smash Bros. Series, And More
Super Mario itself is sort of a spin-off series, as Mario featured as Jumpman in the Donkey Kong games. Whether that quite counts is debatable. What isn’t debatable is that the Mario series has some of the most impressive spin-offs ever.
In fact, several of the biggest gaming series going today are spin-offs to Super Mario, such as Mario Kart and Smash Bros. So, the most popular karting games and platform fighters are spin-offs of Super Mario. There’s also Mario Party, Luigi’s Mansion, Paper Mario, Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, WarioWare, and more. The list ofgreat Mario spin-off gamesfeels endless, showing how versatile the characters in the series are. It also shows how creative Nintendo is.
