Dream developers for flagging franchises

Reason for the change: Final Fight has been away too long (in a decent form anyway), and playing Guy and Cody again in Super Street Fighter IV has made us miss the original game's punch-happy, bonkers excess. The 3D updatein last generation's Final Fight Streetwisestank likea dead tramp's posthumous gas expulsion, and was pretty damn humourless with it.

So we need Platinum. Between Madworld and Bayonetta, the Japanese video game super group has all bases covered as far as Final Fight goes. Stunning 3D combat mechanics? Oh yes. A flair for extravagant characters you can really feel for? Yes indeed. The knowledge of how to make gritty brutality absolutely bloody hilarious? Yes, with a side-order of F*CK YES! C'mon Capcom, Bayonetta was far better than your last Devil May Cry. Do the deal.

Modern Warfare

Reason for the change: Check the headlines. Infinity Ward is currently losing talent like a haemophiliac blood donor loses the red stuff. And even before that started, Modern Warfare 2's campaign had turned out to a bit of a bombastic mess in comparison to its predecessor's. CoD 4 was all about breathlessly told first-person narrative, gameplay-driven storytelling, razor-sharp pacing and amazing set-pieces. Valve pioneered that shit with the Half-Life series and still does it better than anyone else today.

Tomb Raider

Reason for the change:Tomb Raider: Underworld was not a bad game at all. In fact it was pretty great. But it sold precisely bugger all. What's the best chance for an acrobatic platformer full of clever spatial puzzling andpixel-perfect stunts to grab the world's attention again? Easy. Be made by the team behind more successful and much-loved acrobatic platformer full of clever spatial puzzling andpixel-perfect stunts. Ubisoft Montreal, your Prince of Persia games are amazing (we'll ignore the last one). Make Lara popular again. You know you can.

David Houghton
Long-time GR+ writer Dave has been gaming with immense dedication ever since he failed dismally at some '80s arcade racer on a childhood day at the seaside (due to being too small to reach the controls without help). These days he's an enigmatic blend of beard-stroking narrative discussion and hard-hitting Psycho Crushers.