OP's Note: Noticed after drafting this there is a post-your-favorite-forgotten-franchise thread around but hopefully the EA-centricity of this can make it stand on its own merit. I've been fascinated by EA's dusty IP vault ever since they killed off basically every Origin series so this is a pet interest of mine.
Canary a day can go by that there isn't a thread pining for revivals or old EA games. If you're in the 25-35 range, you grew up in a universe where games like Ultima, Road Rash, and more recently SSX were basically the Star Wars of their day. Hugely successful franchises both critically and commercially, many of which seemed to vanish out of thin air.
A reprisal:
Road Rash Series (incl. Skitchin')
Famous For: Being literally the most bad-ass racing game ever. Great graphics and the mix of violence and comedy was really novel, especially when combined with the unparalleled quality that was the hallmark of EA games.
Highlight: Road Rash II. Also Skitchin', which I find to be a criminally forgotten title.
Lowlight: Road Rash 3D and 64, the 3D efforts that appear to have killed the series.
Chances of Revival: For Skitchin', nil until big bulky rollerblades with brakes on the back come back into fashion. For Road Rash, you'd think high as there have been various rumors about Criterion working on a new game, but they've started to reach the point of absurdity.
Do You Remember the Time?: You ran over a mile to the finish because you didn't want to be busted by a cop, only to find out you needed to be on your bike to finish? Well, I do.
SSX Series
Famous For: Being an extreme sports fighting/racing game that was actually cool in spite of its trying very hard to be cool. Also for giving one of the best feelings of speed to this day and being far and away the best PS2 launch title. Actually shares a lot with Road Rash in terms of being a fast race where you can attack people from time to time, but the SSX mechanics were incredibly well tuned.
Highlight: 3 if you like one mountain, Tricky if you like many different mountains. An eternal debate.
Lowlight: Blur apparently, though it's hard to call that a total lowlight and the game has its devoted fans. Not really a total stinker in the SSX family apart from the N-Gage Out of Bounds.
Chances of Revival: Much like the game, extreme. You would think. The game appears absolutely built for HD and yet we don't have a proper HD entry. Another rumor-mill favorite where you start to think that the only reason the rumors exist is because everyone wants them to be true.
Do You Remember the Time?: You caught your first big air in SSX and landed going downhill at what felt like a kajillion real mph.
Mutant League Series
Famous For: Being Monster Sports! And done using the Madden and NHL engines so the gameplay was actually quality unlike Jerry Glanville's Pigskin Footbrawl and its ilk. You could bribe refs and kill players, and it was all done in that funny cartoony style that was EA's trademark at the time.
Highlight: Football and hockey were both great. Holes in the ice!
Lowlight: Being promised Mutant League Basketball on the back of the Mutant League Hockey manual.
Chances of Revival: Close to nilch. Apparently there was quite a push internally at EA some time ago to bring the series back, but I'm sure all those people have been laid off by now unfortunately.
Do You Remember the Time?: You won a game because the other team had too many dead players.
Ultima Series
Famous For: Being the best RPG series ever, by far.
Highlight: For some Ultima V or VI, where they really fine-tuned the formula, but for me VII where they introduced a huge open world where it felt like you could do anything you wanted and there were interesting stories to follow at every turn. It was GTA before GTA!
Lowlight: Ultima VIII or IX. After the promise of VII, VIII was basically rushed out the door to cash in. IX Garriott did the best he could with but it was completely Game Over by that time.
Chances of Revival: None. The IP has been completely plundered and Garriott is out.
Do You Remember the Time?: You first ransacked someone's house in Ultima VII, and the Guardian called you out on your behavior.
Very Honorable Mentions:
-Wing Commander Series: Origin. Sigh.
-Strike Series (Desert Strike, Jungle Strike, etc.): AAA action-gaming before it existed.
-SimCity Series: Would merit its own megathread.
-Populous Series: First* God Game.
-System Shock Series: Added. But Bioshock just improves upon System Shock -- better graphics and story and more streamlined gameplay. J/k I've barely played Bioshock but pretend I started gaming on the 360 and said that earnestly for maximum enjoyment.
Oddball and awesome single games back when EA used to make those:
-Will Harvey's Zany Golf
-Haunting Starring Polterguy
-General Chaos
