With games nowadays reaching their third & fourth installments or so in their respective series, it’s safe to say most have had their own spin-offs. Some are good and essential to the series and others are better left alone. Sometimes these games, whether good or bad, get mixed in together and because of that some people would rather not deal with them and just wait for the numbered games in the franchise to come out. That's not good and I believe that the lines between pin-off and stand-alone game should be made clear.
To me, a spin-off is when the gameplay itself has been reworked to make a brand new game which offers a different experience than what the franchise is used to. An example of this is “Super Mario”. Mario's done everything from sports, racing to partying. He's a regular jack-of-all-trades. His regular forte is either a side-scroller or an adventure game, but being pushed into these other games have left some pretty distasteful titles in his name. Then again some of the spin-offs have gone to make their own franchises like “Mario Kart” & “Mario Party” reaching the 7th & 8th installment already. Other famous properties have gone on to try and do this as well and a majority of flak from a game being dubbed a Spin -off comes from it. Games like “Sonic All-Stars Racing” and “Donkey Kong Konga Beat”. All of these have no relation to the main games but bring the series down in fans eyes.
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| Crisis Core was a necessary game but was received as just a spin-off |
Now there are some games that really shouldn't be classified as a spin-off. Take the “Kingdom Hearts” series. There are six games in the franchise but only two of them hold a number. The others are spread out among various handhelds. While some would call them unnecessary spin-offs, these games are a very integral part of franchise. For example, if players hadn't played “Chain of Memories” on the GameBoy Advanced then players would be lost on what happened between “Kingdom Hearts 1 & 2” and not understand how a majority of the plot points came about in the sequel. In short, they'd be lost as all hell and the same can be said about the recently released “Dream Drop Distance.” If fans don't play that then they're lost on what will happen in the next game.
Spin-offs can also serve as a way to tell part of the story that couldn't be put into the game due to time issues or development issues. “Final Fantasy VII” was a great game with a great story but one big plot-hole was who Cloud's mentor Zack was. He was only brought up in the game for a small portion but he was the person that Cloud had molded his life around. Several years after the original game had come out, Zack's story was finally revealed in the PSP's “Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core”. The game was labled as a spin-off but both the gameplay and the story made the game a stand-up title to be heard in the franchise. From the beginning, you knew what Zack's fate was but the story made you forget that and focus on what was happening at the moment. It’s these kinds of games that the title "Spin-Off" should not be applied to. These surpass that title and should not be brought down by it.
Games in which the story of the series are kept and added to should not be considered spin-offs. These need to be acknowledged as games that should be played and loved. Not as optional, random whims. Hopefully by now people will see the difference between the kart racing gaming and the heart wrenching story of a character.
