Top 10 Lists: The Top 10 Franchises With Only Two Games

Sometimes, you get a really good series of games that just flops from existence way too soon. There has been many a case of this, whether the series either had entered a development hell, the company merged with someone else or disappeared, and the like. Here, we cover 10 game franchises that only managed two games in their entire series.
First off, as you would expect reading this, the franchise must have only two major games. Those with an episodic style, such as Half-Life, are out of this list. However, those with any remakes or extra content as a new game are included in the list, as remakes are not completely original.
With that out of the way, let's begin.
#10: State of Emergency Series
This series was a beat-em-up style game released in 2002 and 2003. It had a mixed reception, but sold well enough to gain a sequel in 2006.
The first game's plot is about the American Trade Organization declaring a State of Emergency, in which the area goes into a panic. The player (based off of 5 characters in the game) joins an underground gang in order to shut the Organization down. It was praised for its frantic and violent gameplay, but was criticized for its bland levels and camera issues. In Washington, it was especially panned because of how similar it was to the 1999 Seattle World Trade Organization protests.
The second game, State of Emergency 2, was released in 2006. This one was panned by critics for not being original and also lacked quality, taking the fun out of the game in the process.
What Happened? During the development of State of Emergency 2, their developer VIS Interactive went insolvent. The game was later developed by DC Studios to finish it.
#9: Kane & Lynch Series
This third-person shooter was released in November 2007 and was released on PS3, Xbox 360, and the PC. It involved two former hitmen escaping from death row and confronting their former clients. The game had mixed reviews overall, and was also the subject of controversy resulting in the firing of Jeff Gerstmann, a GameSpot reviewer who gave this game a negative review.
The game starts by Kane travelling to death row after being convicted of manslaughter, while Lynch lets on that there will be a breakout soon. The truck they are in later crashes and the two are taken to a construction site and are contronted by a group of criminals called "The 7". They accuse Kane of stealing money from them, and had taken his wife and daughter hostage. He is then given three weeks to find the money or they will be killed. Despite the GameSpot controversy and mixed reviews, it sold well enough to warrant a sequel.
Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days was released in 2010, and the player mostly controlled Lynch as opposed to Kane in the first game. After Lynch starts a new life in Shanghai, he hears of a plan to smuggle guns to Africa, and Lynch calls Kane to help him out in return for a split in the deal. The money would not only help them retire, but it would also benefit Kane's daughter, who survived the events of the first game. Once again, it received mixed reviews, but still sold well regardless.
What Happened? Their developer, IO Interactive, decided to put all of its efforts into its Hitman franchise, which effectively cancelled any attempts at a third game in the process.
#8: de Blob Series
de Blob is a platform puzzle series created by Blue Tongue Entertainment and published by THQ. The game revolved around splattering color all over the city to release the area from its black-and-white prison. Splatoon is very similar to this game.
The first game was released on iOS in July 2008, and was later released on the Wii in September. The game involves Chroma City being invaded by the INKT Corporation and turning the city into a grey wasteland. Blob sees the city being taken over, and joins a resistance group called "Colour Underground" to take back the city from INKT. It received favorable reviews, and was considered one of the best third-party Wii titles in a long time.
The second game was released in February 2011 and went across all seventh generation platforms. This one was odd, as the DS version had a different story that took place before its console counterparts.
In the DS version, the game's antagonist, Dr. Von Blot, experiments with numerous creatures to make a new mutated ink and it's up to Blob to stop him.
The console versions take place after the DS version of de Blob 2, where Prisma City is taken by the INKT Corporation after a general election was rigged. Once again, Blob has to recolor the city and take it back from INKT. Like the first game, this game has favorable reviews across all platforms.
What Happened? Very soon after de Blob 2 was released, Blue Tongue Entertainment, its developer, was closed down by their parent company THQ. A little over a year after that, THQ went bankrupt and most of its assets were sold to Nordic Games.
#7: Zool Series
This series was an action platformer that made its first appearance on the Amiga computer in 1992, and was later ported onto numerous consoles. It relied on smooth and fast-moving gameplay, and was intended as a rival to Sonic the Hedgehog, a character most other companies at the time tried to surpass.
The game is focused around Zool, a gremlin "Ninja of the Nth Dimension" who is forced to land on Earth and gain the ninja ranking by passing through seven lands to get it. The game also had a large amount of minigames, giving the game quite a bit of variety in the process. The original Amiga version was critically acclaimed, and had a notably high difficulty.
A year later, Zool 2 came out on the Amiga and was released to its CD32 counterpart, DOS, and the ill-fated Atari Jaguar. It was similar to the first game, but had more cartoonish graphics. This time, the game could alternate between two players, and both characters had subtle differences that resulted in different paths in the same level. Like its predecessor, it was highly praised.
What Happened? The ending of Zool 2 had a hit of a possible further sequel; however, Gremlin Graphics was absorbed into Infogrames in 1999, ending the series before there was ever a major chance.
#6: Vectorman Series
Vectorman was a solid run-and-gun game with action-platforming mixed in that appeared very late in the Sega Genesis's lifetime (late 1995). The game had a smooth, computer-generated field, with pre-rendered 3D graphics, something Sega was attempting to master with the heavily aging console.
The plot of this game took place in 2049, when the Earth became so badly polluted with toxic radiation that the human race decided to go colonize in space, while leaving mechanical "orbots" to clean the planet up. Cue the two main characters: Vectorman, a toxic sludge barge pilot who sends nuclear waste to the sun, and Raster, an orbot who watches the Earth through a planetwide network. Raster is attached to a nuclear missile by sheer accident, resulting the in the creation of Warhead, a dictator planning to execute the human race upon their return to Earth. Vectorman must go through the game in order to stop him.
Vectorman 2 was a North America-only release that was released in November 1996. This one's plot involved the planet being overrun by giant mutant insects led by the Black Widow Queen. Vectorman's sludge barge ship gets blown to pieces at the start of the game, and has to destroy the insects and defeat the Queen.
Over time, the series disappeared, and was later added to several compilation games and the Wii Virtual Console.
What Happened? Vectorman's developer, BlueSky Software, shut down in 2001. However, there were attempts to make a third game for the PS2 in 2003, but was soon cancelled. It would have been like it's predecessors, an action-platformer, but in a fully 3D world. Vectorman would also have a more tinny and robotic voice.
#5: Fear Effect Series
This series had a large amount of potential, yet is now in purgatory. The Fear Effect series was developed by Kronos Entertainment and was published by Eidos Interactive. It was an action-adventure game, and was a well-known series on the original PlayStation.
The first game was released in February and August of 2000, and the plot involved a Hong Kong Triad boss's daughter suddenly vanishing, and three mercenaries from different locations come together to find the girl. What begins as a simple find-and-snatch turns into a journey through Hell, because the girl's father got his power because of a pact he made with demons long ago. It all becomes a ridiculous fiasco after this. The game had very positive reviews and is considered a must-have for the PlayStation on a semi-regular basis.
The sequel, Retro Helix was released in 2001, and took place a year before the first game. It returned the three main characters, as well as adding a fourth character, and they soon become entangled in a sinister plot that extends far beyond politics, espionage, and even personal survival. This game also gained positive reviews.
What Happened? A third game, Fear Effect Inferno, was supposed to be released on the PS2, but the game slowly lost progress and was eventually cancelled in 2003. Kronos also tried to sell the franchise to different companies, but no one bought it.
#4: MediEvil Series
This game was an action adventure game with some RPG elements mixed into it. The game was released in late 1998 after 3 years of development time. It was originally thought of as an arcade-style shooter for consoles like the Sega Saturn and the PC, but Sony later bought SCE Cambridge Studio and made the game a PlayStation-exclusive instead. MediEvil is heavily influenced by Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas, hence the Halloween-themed visuals appearing for the series.
The game takes place in the kingdom of Gallowmere in 1286, a hundred years after the prologue of the game. In the prologue, Sir Daniel Fortesque leads an army to defeat the sorcerer Zorak, but is felled by the first arrow attacks. 100 years later, Zarok returns to take over Gallowmere with a huge array of undead armies, but resurrects Fortesque in the process. Fortesque uses this opportunity to save the kingdom once again from Zarok while also attaining retribution as a true hero. This game would be remastered as MediEvil: Resurrection in 2005.
The second game was released in April 2000, and takes place 500 years after the first game, set in the Victorian period. More specifically, the Victorian Gothic revival. Here, Lord Palethorn finds Zarok's spellbook and cast its spell to raise the undead. Again, Fortesque is resurrected in the process, and with the help of a few new allies, he attempts to stop Lord Palethorn.
Both games were positively received, but they both suffered mainly from control issues and bad camera angles.
What Happened? The MediEvil franchise could have the power to continue on; however, Sony never gave the series a green light to continue, despite the franchise having a large fanbase.
#3: Alundra Series
Even though this is a spiritual sequel to Landstalker for the Sega Genesis, which in itself has a series of three games, this game still managed to make its own series with just two games, both of which heavily contrast each other.
Alundra was released in 1997 and had unanimous critical acclaim, making it one of the highest-rated PS1 titles in that year. It was similar to The Legend of Zelda, but the game had many innovative ideas, such as dream walking, as well as a very dark story that gets more twisted as the game went on. It dealt with death, depression, fate, religion, and even the very essence of existence (mostly death and religion).
The sequel, Alundra 2, was released in 2000, and heavily contrasted the first game. It featured 3D maps, had a more light-hearted storyline, and had an entirely different cast of characters. As a result of the game being a stand-alone sequel, the game had lower review scores, but they were still positive.
What Happened? Matrix Software has the power to continue the series, but it's most likely that the difference between the two Alundra games gave the reason not to make another one.
#2: Jet Set Radio Series
Both this franchise and the #1 spot have no reason why there shouldn't be a new one. This series got press attention by using cel-shaded graphics. While that is something that became commonplace later on, cel-shading was completely original when this game was released in 2000.
In this game, you controlled a group of rollerblading rudies called the GGs and tag every spot in the sections of Tokyo-to, while escaping or taking down riot police in the process. You competed with other rival gangs while getting new members to join your own gang. Eventually, the Rokkaku conglomerate takes over sections of the town and it's up to you to stop them. The game was highly acclaimed, and had a port on the Gameboy Advance as well as an HD port on multiple modern consoles. Japan later had an update to the original, De La Jet Set Radio, in 2001 due to bugs in the original game.
The second game, Jet Set Radio Future, was released in 2002 to the Xbox. This time, the Rokkaku conglomerate has taken over the entire city of Tokyo-to and their leader is their mayor. Rokkaku oppresses the people by taking away their freedom of speech and expression, and the GGs once again have to "bury Tokyo in graffiti" while dealing with other gangs and the Rokkaku Police. This game was also highly received by critics.
What Happened? During the early stages of the Nintendo Wii, the company Kuju Entertainment made a concept for a Jet Set Radio game for the Wii, but Sega turned it down, saying that weren't interested in making a new one. To this day, there is no mention of any pending sequels to this series.
#1: Baten Kaitos Series
Here's another franchise that had no reason to end so quickly. Although this series had lower critic scores than #2, this series was more in-depth and took longer to finish each game.
The first game, Baten Kaito: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean, took place over a set of 5 floating islands, where humans have grown wings and have lived in the sky for untold generations. The two main characters get caught up in a power struggle with the Alfard Empire, as their emperor is looking for 5 cards known as the "End Magnus". The two are to find the End Magnus before the Empire does so. The game was very well-received by critics.
The second game, Baten Kaitos Origins, was released in 2006, very late into the GameCube's lifespan. This one took place 20 years before the first game's events. Here, the main character and his group are sent to assassinate an emperor, but said emperor is killed by a different party and the protagonist is blamed for it. The overall theme of this game is based off of magic versus machines. This game also had positive reviews, but were slightly lower than the first game.
What Happened? The series producer, Hirohide Sugiura, had indicated that the development team were working on different games, but mentioned that the world of Baten Kaitos would not end. He also mentioned that "There is a possibility that we could start to develop the title if certain circumstances and conditions are met." Since then, there's been a number of petitions for a third game.
Here are just a couple honorable mentions before this is wrapped up. Most on here actually did not have only two games, resulting in them being dropped out.
Mega Man Legends Series - This one actually has three games in its series, with The Misadventures of Tron Bonne being a part of that series.
Baldur's Gate Series - This one branched into two parts, with one being the original Baldur's Gate games and the other being Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance.
Chrono Series - Again, three games because of Radical Dreamers, which is a Japanese-exclusive.
Portal Series - As of press time, there is two, however, there is a game called The Lab, which is based off of Portal and was released on April 5, 2016.
Dark Cloud Series
Obviously, I may have missed quite a few franchises with only two games, so if it isn't on here, I may not have heard of it or its because of a mental block at the time of writing the conclusion.
There's been a lot of franchises that failed to gain any success; some had it bad, while some just fell apart over time. However, if it manages to leave a very good mark in gaming history, there will always be those who enjoy these franchises despite being cut off sooner than they really should have.