The Mass Effect trilogy has finished, and it will undoubtedly leave a longing desire for fans to find a new series to fill that hole. Gaming trilogies aren’t an uncommon occurrence, but quality ones are. For every failed (Too Human) trilogy there is an uneventful boring one (Resistance) that didn’t make any impact.
So today, we present to you five trilogies that will never be overlooked and helped push the standards for the gaming industry.
5. Donkey Kong Country
Leave it to Rare to take a Nintendo icon and make him even more iconic. Before Rare took a hold of Donkey Kong, he was a Mario antagonist that threw barrel after barrel at the plumber until he conceded to the next level to do it all over again.
Donkey Kong Country is many things, but the reason why it makes the list is not only because of its high reviews, but for helping advance graphics for 3D platformers. So not only did Rare’s ambitious platforming series grab national attention for introducing the gaming audience to the world Donkey Kong inhabits when he isn’t battling Mario, but it was aided in advancing technology and giving the Super Nintendo a must-own video game.
4. God of War (Console Trilogy)
While we do acknowledge the handheld entries in the God of War universe, it’s the console trilogy that originally gained praise and attention from both critics and consumers. Violent and giving Quick Time Events a new meaning, God of War will go down in history as one of the forerunners of the past decade.
Introducing the world to Kratos, a Spartan who eventually is revealed to be a demigod, God of War is an intricately told story of deception, revenge, and redemption. From the convoluted secondary characters that are Greek gods to the nonstop vicious action, God of War set the bar high for mature action. Many publishers have seeked to create their own God of War (i.e. Electronic Arts’ Dante’s Inferno) to come to the conclusion that there cloning the popular Sony series is much harder in practice than in theory.
3. Mario & Luigi
An under-the-radar type of title, the Mario & Luigi role-playing series has quietly become one of the better RPG franchises in the past decade. As time passes, critics continue to give higher and higher marks for the series, with Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story receiving the best reviews thus far for a near-10-year-old series.
Debuting on the Game Boy Advanced and last seen on the Nintendo DS, Mario & Luigi is perhaps the best-reviewed Mario offshoot. On top of being received critically well, the series has introduced the world to fantastic characters such as Fawful and a young Toadsworth who sported an amazing mustache. If that isn’t enough, Mario & Luigi is, perhaps, one of the better titles to weave in humor to keep players laughing more often than not.
2. Mass Effect
Ambitious. Epic. Breathtaking. These are three of the several hundred glowing words that often describe any game of the Mass Effect trilogy. Nevermind the ending controversy — BioWare set out to create and finish a trilogy in one gaming console’s lifespan and they accomplished it in high fashion.
Combining a third-person shooter with a role-playing game, the trilogy has evolved from its onset only four years ago. When the original released in the fall of 2007, many questioned BioWare’s dedication to finishing what they set out to do. Now, fast forward four-and-half years later, and they have answered all their doubters in stunning fashion with another highly rated and potential Game of the Year contender. We can only imagine what BioWare has in store when they eventually revisit the Mass Effect universe in the future.
1. Metroid Prime
Mass Effect may be the most recent trilogy to receive universal love, but the trilogy that made an impact that is still feeling the aftershocks to this day after finishing only four years ago is Metroid Prime. The original Metroid Prime is one the highest-rated video games of all time according to review aggregators, and has made Retro Studios one of the premiere development studios in the industry.
While the series has been inactive since Retro Studios moved on to revive Donkey Kong County for the Wii and Mario Kart on the handhelds, the Metroid Prime series is still one of the most admired first-person shooters of all time. When gaming circles begin talking about the top echelon of FPSs that made the genre what it is today, Metroid Prime should and will be heard along the likes of Half-Life, DOOM, Quake, and even Halo.
