Franchise Reboot: Bucky O'Hare

It seems to be popular in the entertainment world today to reboot franchises. Movies and video games are constantly being restarted or rebranded into something new and fresh. Sometimes it’s a hit, but sometimes we get reboots that nobody really asked for… *Cough cough*(Ghostbusters)… But as far as video games go, some reboots are a little overdue if you ask me. Games of the past are always tough to revive, but the franchises themselves could have potential to succeed in today’s market. I have a few of these game franchises in mind that I would like to see rebooted. Here’s the first one.

Bucky O’Hare Arcade Game (1992)

Bucky O’Hare was a comic book hero from the 1980’s, so this isn’t exactly a video game franchise. Bucky is apart of a universe where there is a giant animal war against the Toad Empire (I hate frogs myself, so this is actually a war I would have an interest in). My first encounter with Bucky O’Hare was probably sometime in the mid 90’s at a Chuck E. Cheese in Clearwater, FL. The arcade standee was a blast to play. 4-player co-op/beat ‘em up style games were a staple among any arcade or game room. Ninja Turtles, Simpsons, Aliens, Sunset Riders, and of course, Bucky O’Hare. My older brother Greg got to play as Bucky whenever we got on this cabinet. I had my choice of his sidekicks, who were all very cool in their own way. I would mostly choose Blinky, Bucky’s one-eyed, android companion.

It was a fun game as a kid, but what I like about the franchise is the science-fiction behind it. It almost feels like an odd “Rick and Morty” alternate reality where animals can walk, talk, and even wage a galactic war against each other. Since the beat ‘em up style game is a thing of the past (sort of), I think it would be cool to see an action/adventure, or even a first-person shooter style game featuring Bucky and his crew. A wild universe where sci-fi weapons and vehicles are available to players would be fun to explore. Players could enhance the characters and weapons as you fight through masses of Toad army forces on multiple planets. There’s plenty of potential here for a great franchise reboot. Will it happen? We can only hope.

For some serious nostalgia, click the YouTube link below to see some game play action from the arcade game.

[youtube=://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6z20jl6-Zz0&w=640&h=480]

Written by Andrew Silvers

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