Mega Man
This series defined the very concept of running a video game franchise into the ground over a decade ago. Back then, Capcom itself couldn't be bothered to publish Mega Man 6 for the NES - Nintendo had to. Hell, Capcom made five of them for the original green and gray Game Boy.
But these days, gamers have better sense than to really pay attention while these games are farted out. Once in a while, a real gem does surface: Mega Man Powered Up for the PSP or Mega Man ZX for the DS are two 2006 examples of games worth buying. On the other hand, are two solid portable games the best the series can do these days? Apparently so.
There have been six editions of Battle Network for the GBA since 2001, but without the labels, we bet you couldn't tell them apart. Probably what keeps this series from being higher on the list is twofold: Capcom had the sense not to make a half-assed Mega Man 9 (it's been ten years since Mega Man 8.) And the Mega Man X games - which were truly awful for awhile - were put to bed in 2004 with the surprisingly playable Mega Man X8.
Will Mega Man rise again? Probably not.
