Konami has made a lot of innovative franchises that have changed the way people play games, and we’re going to list the most famous ones.
With series like Suikoden, Silent Hill, and Metal Gear, Konami has had a huge impact on how the gaming industry as a whole has changed. Konami has been around for a long time, starting out as a business that rented out and fixed jukeboxes in 1969 and becoming a game-making company in the early 1980s. Since then, the company has made a lot of video games in many different genres and for many different platforms.
The company also created many new types of games, such as stealth, 2D run-and-gun, and metroidvania, which have since been used by both AAA and indie game developers. Konami has done a lot of great things and won a lot of awards thanks to its many IPs. We’re going to look at the most famous ones that have become such iconic phenomena.
Contra
At number ten on our list is the classic Contra series, which was one of Konami’s first video game series. Contra is a series of games that popularized the 2D side-scrolling run-and-gun shooting subgenre. It has gotten a lot of praise and a cult following. Contra has since sold a total of four million copies around the world. During its lifetime, it made about fourteen games. Contra games, especially the original Arcade and NES games, are notoriously hard.
Even though Contra is a run-and-gun shooter, many of its games play like deadly bullet hells. If an enemy object hits the character you’re controlling even once, you lose a life. Since you only get a certain number of lives in the original Contra game, many people have seen the infamous “game over” screen many times. The series is last on our list because it is hard for both new and experienced players. It is also not one of Konami’s most famous franchises.
Bloody Roar
Bloody Roar is one of the few fighting intellectual properties (IPs) that Konami has. The company bought it from Hudson Soft and now owns it. Bloody Roar has been around since 1997, but back then it was called Beastorizer. It is a unique fighting game in which the players are called Zoanthrope and can change into animals to fight. In their animal forms, the characters’ fighting styles change completely, giving each fighter more ways to play. This is something that most other fighting games haven’t done yet.
Bloody Roar, on the other hand, is a very short-lived series, even for a fighting game. This series only has five games, so it didn’t get as much attention or fame as big hits like Tekken, Street Fighter, and Dead or Alive. Bloody Roar is at number nine on our list because it isn’t very popular among people who like fighting games a lot.
Zone Of The Enders
Zone of the Enders is another short-lived show that comes in at a close eighth place on our list. This IP, which was made by Hideo Kojima, is interesting because it uses a lot of mechs called “Orbital Frames” and has fun space battles. Zone of the Enders is a popular series, even though it only has three main titles and an HD collection. In 2001, a 26-episode anime series was made based on the series.
The Zone of the Enders games take place in the year 2220, and the stories revolve around two Orbital Frames named Anubis and Jehuty. The games are a mix of hack-and-slash and third-person shooter mechanics with some RPG-style leveling. As Leo Steanbuck, it’s your job to fight against rogue Orbital Frames while completing missions in a certain way.
Ganbare Goemon
Ganbare Goemon is a fun and crazy series that hasn’t been loved as much in the west as it has in Japan, which is why it’s at number seven on this list. Even so, Ganbare Goemon is still a pretty popular Konami franchise in Japan. The series has not only digital games, but also board games and pachislot games.
Even though most Ganbare Goemon games have never been released outside of Japan, at least five of them have. Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon and Goemon’s Great Adventure, both for the Nintendo 64, are two of the most well-known ones. Unfortunately, this cute and fun little series hasn’t gotten any new books since 2011, when the last one came out.
Suikoden
The Suikoden series, which was Konami’s attempt to break into the RPG genre, comes in at number six. And what a crazy thing to try to do! The Suikoden series has only been around for a short time, but it has already given us five main games and six spinoffs. This makes it a good choice for our list.
What makes the Suikoden games stand out from other Japanese role-playing games is that they have a unique gameplay element that lets you recruit a huge group of fighters, which usually numbers well over a hundred. Since this franchise has gained a lot of fans over the years, the first two mainline games have been remastered in full HD.
Bomberman
Bomberman was made by Hudson Soft, which is no longer in business. It is now owned by Konami, which is why it is number five on our list. Since 1983, the Bomberman franchise has sold about ten million copies around the world, and the main character has been in more than sixty games. With so many games, spinoffs, and appearances under this little robot’s belt, it’s no surprise that the Bomberman franchise has made games in many different styles, including party games, action games, platformers, and even role-playing games.
White Bomber has also become a well-known face in gaming over the years, and he finally made his long-awaited debut in a Super Smash Bros. game, even if it was just as an assist trophy. With all of these things, it’s easy to see why this series is near the top of our list, even though it’s not an original Konami IP.
Silent Hill
Silent Hill, a series that gave us a lot of scary moments, creeps up to number four. Silent Hill is a horror game series that is on par with Resident Evil. It has seven to eight main titles and a lot of spinoffs for different platforms and mobile devices. The popularity of this intellectual property has also led to the making of several movies, and a third one is reportedly in the works.
Silent Hill is probably the second-best-selling horror video game franchise in the world. Unlike its main competitor, which is more of a survival horror game, Silent Hill is more of a psychological horror game. This series also gave us the always scary Pyramid Head, who has grown to be one of the scariest bad guys in fiction. Even though Silent Hill is on par with Resident Evil, it isn’t quite as good as some of Konami’s more popular and well-known IPs.
Castlevania
Konami’s best action-platformer is the Castlevania series, which comes in at number three. The Castlevania games are mostly about stopping Dracula’s evil plans. The main characters are Simon Belmont, Richter, and Alucard, and you control them as they try to stop Dracula. Like many of Konami’s other series, Castlevania has spawned many spinoffs, manga, novels, and even a successful anime series that you can watch on Netflix.
The Castlevania games take place mostly in Dracula’s castle, and the graphics are a 2D side-scrolling style similar to that of games like Metroid. The success and praise of this franchise over the years led to the creation of a subgenre called “metroidvania,” which is a combination of the names “Metroid” and “Castlevania” to describe this style of game.
Metal Gear
The Metal Gear franchise is known for being made by the legendary Hideo Kojima. It comes in a close second on our list. Metal Gear is one of the most well-known video game series of all time. It may have been the first game series to include stealth elements.
Solid Snake, the main character of the series, has also become a well-known character in the gaming world. He is now in the same group as Mario, Link, Pikachu, Pac-Man, and Sonic. Since Brawl, Snake has been a playable character in most Super Smash Bros. games. This is because he is easy to recognize. Even though it’s not clear if this IP will ever continue after the failure of Metal Gear Survive and Kojima’s departure, there’s no denying that Metal Gear has changed the way games are played and how cutscenes are made in a big way. The fact that it could end quickly, though, keeps it from being number one on our list.
Yu-Gi-Oh!
In our list of the best Konami games, the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise comes out on top as the best of all. Even though this IP started out as a shonen manga, it has since given rise to many card-based video games and a trading card game that many diehard fans around the world play.
The Yu-Gi-Oh! video games and trading card games are, without a doubt, some of the most popular and successful things that Konami has put on the market. Also, the trading card game is still the best-selling card game in the world, breaking several Guinness World Records. 8 Ball Pool is a popular franchise that has been turned into anime, spinoffs, competitive online games, and other products. It will always be a part of Konami and the global market as a whole.
