It is vital that any video game series looking for success defines its identity clearly and concisely. Players need to know what they’re getting when they pick up a Mario or Zelda game. However, this often means that a series is restricted to one genre of games, lest it alienate its audience. This is where spin-offs come in.
Spin-offs allow game developers to try out new and interesting visual styles and game mechanics, without changing their main series too much. Often, they are only given a series’ name as a marketing tactic to attract fans. These games are not to be discounted however, because companies like Nintendo, have actually produced some extremely high quality spin-offs for its various franchises over the years.
Xenoblade Chronicles
With the release and success of Xenoblade Chronicles 3, MonolithSoft’s RPG series has continued its streak of successes since the critical acclaim that the original Xenoblade Chronicles received. Despite seeming iconic now though, the series is actually quite young, and hasn’t seen much opportunity for spin-off titles.
While some may not consider it a spin-off, Xenoblade Chronicles X is a title outside the somewhat linked canon of the other XBC titles, which also makes many big changes to the way that the series plays. It takes the open world exploration of the series to heights that haven’t been attempted again since, and its current absence from the Switch library is a massive missed opportunity.
Donkey Kong
Donkey Kong is a rather strange franchise. The original Donkey Kong saw the first appearance of Mario, but the plumber soon grew to outshine his simian rival. Now DK is seen as a spin-off series to Mario itself, and has struggled to find its identity over the years.
Most people know the series for Donkey Kong: Country and its sequels, but it’s hard to state what the series’ main identity is. Despite this, there have been some full-blown spin-offs, like Diddy Kong Racing and Mario vs Donkey Kong. The series does also have stranger entries like the Donkey Konga games that are more of a mixed bag, but, overall, the spin-off offerings from the big ape lean mostly positive.
Fire Emblem
While it’s a big name these days, Fire Emblem has actually been quite niche for most of its lifespan. Before Super Smash Bros Melee introduced Marth and Roy to the west, the series wasn’t even available in english. Even after that, it took Fire Emblem: Awakening for the series to finally find its footing in Nintendo’s catalog.
As such, there haven’t been too many FE spin-offs. Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE crossed the series over with Shin Megami Tensei, creating a pretty good, if tedious RPG. The series also managed to be successfully adapted for the mobile market with FE: Heroes. FE: Warriors, however, is the best spin-off the series has seen, managing to evolve the scale of the series’ battles.
The Legend of Zelda
Despite being one of Nintendo’s heavy hitters, The Legend of Zelda has actually had a rather mixed history, especially early on. While the original Legend of Zelda is still universally loved today, its sequel, Zelda 2, has since become the dark horse of the series, and there is no shortage of criticism for titles like Skyward Sword and Twilight Princess.
On the spin-off front, the series also had a bad start with the now infamous Zelda CD-I games. These titles were failures in everything from gameplay to story and sales, and seem to have somewhat scared Nintendo off Zelda spin-offs for some time. With the release of Hyrule Warriors on the Wii U however, Zelda spin-offs have seen a massive improvement. HW still accounts for most of the series' great spin-offs, but titles like Cadence of Hyrule and Four Swords show that Zelda is a series still ripe for crossovers and spin-offs.
Pokemon
While not owned entirely by Nintendo, the Pokemon series has a long and storied history with the company, particularly in the video game market. Pokemon Red and Blue could be considered partially responsible for the original gameboy’s success, and every Pokemon game since has helped Nintendo sell consoles in the millions. With such importance in and out of video games, it should come as no surprise to learn that Pokemon has no shortage of spin-off titles
There are occasional forgettable titles like Pokemon Dash, but the Mystery Dungeon, Snap and Stadium series are what people think about when discussing Pokemon spin-offs, and are all iconic in their own right. Pokemon seems to have somewhat slowed down with its spin-offs recently, but many fans are still begging for new entries for Pokken Tournament and Pokemon Legends, proving that demand is in no short supply.
Kirby
It can often be heard within discussions of the Kirby series, that there has never been a bad Kirby game. It’s hard to deny this when the series continually delivers light, breezy adventures with a hidden challenge for experienced players and tons of content. Especially in recent years though, the series has been pumping out spin-off after spin-off without ever dropping the ball.
There are some old Kirby classics like Kirby’s Dream Course and Kirby Air Ride that still hold up today, but in the 3DS and Switch eras, games like Kirby Fighters, Kirby Battle Royale and the newly released Kirby’s Dream Buffet have proven that the pink puffball can take on new gameplay styles whenever he wants without seeing a massive drop in quality.
Mario
The original Super Mario on the NES helped stake Nintendo’s claim on the video game market, and ever since, Mario games have been an integral part of Nintendo’s success. Considering the series’ long history and massive popularity, it’s received almost too many spin-offs to even name. While the list includes some stinkers, there are so many spin-offs in total that they are far outpaced by the good ones.
Some of these spin-offs like Mario Kart and the various Mario sports games could even be counted as new series of their own. Mario has spanned almost every genre gaming has to offer, and has even headlines crossovers with Sonic and The Rabbids, each time creating something memorable and profitable in their own right.