Activision may have started the trend with Skylanders, but Nintendo has evolved and expanded upon what the company started with Amiibo’s. Unlike Skylanders which are only usable with a single franchise, Amiibo’s are a multi-use figure which has the capability to be used across multiple games in many wonderful and in some cases exciting ways. Though the thing that really makes these interesting is the characters, Nintendo has fleshed out some of their most popular game characters into a usable figurine by relying on a specific brand. To date the company is still working on the Smash Brothers line, dabbled in the Mario series and also is working with the Animal Crossing series in both figures and cards. Though the thing with Nintendo is that they have so many amazing franchises which could be brought into the Amiibo name and many I would love to see.
Pokemon
In this particular series there are over seven hundred Pokemon currently available so while it would seem insane to suggest that Nintendo use this franchise for Amiibo’s it really isn’t. The interesting thing with the Pokemon franchise is the way it has varied into many different things over the years, two of the biggest ventures of the franchise being the wonderful games and the less then satisfying card game. The card game may not be so great but like Nintendo is doing with the Animal Crossing franchise so to could they use Pokemon in a similar manner, using this franchise as an Amiibo card franchise would be reasonably affordable and would allow for an entirely new spree of collectors to spring up, forget trying to catch then all, trying to collect them all will be a real struggle. In the case of figurines Nintendo could look into bringing a series of the most popular characters over to the figure market. The only thing that would need to be done then is a game that incorporates all the Pokemon perhaps a smaller spin off title would keep fans happy and Amiibo enthusiasts coming back for more.
Star Fox
After ten years finally the Star Fox team is getting back together for another journey to save the galaxy with Star Fox Zero. The good thing with this game is Nintendo is already planning Amiibo support in a non-forceful way, but what would serve this return better is an Amiibo line-up of the entire team along with a couple of supporting characters. Thanks to the Smash Brothers line-up Fox and Falco have already seen an Amiibo, but the rest of the team don’t have this same fortune. I would love to see Peppy Hare and Slippy Toad have an Amiibo and as a tie in to the game they would be great as collector’s items or as they should be a useful figure used for some great purpose in the game. The Amiibo may not be forceful in the game as we are told, but wouldn’t it be cool to see us get the ability to play as the supporting cast with the Star Fox line of Amiibo’s. Not to mention I would love to have an Amiibo of my favorite Star Fox character Slippy sitting on my shelf.
Metroid
There is a problem with many franchises on this list, none of these have a new game coming or at least one that really has the room for Amiibo functionality, but the big part of this list is in hope and that is what I want from Metroid. If I am being honest with myself about this franchise much of an Amiibo range for the franchise would consist of the many forms of Samus across the many journey’s as these are really the only ones that could have potential use in the game. Though from a standpoint of a character range for potential use there is still a decent cast of characters that could be used. Metroid Prime 3 Corruption introduced us to a wide cast of other bounty hunters, all of these characters whom would make for a great Amiibo range. Nintendo could call it the Metroid bounty hunter collection and even create a tie in game to the collection for the NX (assuming Amiibo’s are still compatible, I don’t see why not). Finding functionality for each character such as a boost in strength or some other ability if their Amiibo was tapped, it would make for an interesting range I am sure many fans would want to collect.
Kid Icarus
If Kid Icarus Uprising proved anything it was how great a character line-up the franchise had to offer, while I will be perfectly honest with myself outright that I doubt we will see another Kid Icarus game I can still dream. During our time with Uprising we got to meet a series of clever and enjoyable characters most of which who were the villains of the game. While right now we still have three characters from the universe that have seen Amiibo releases with Pit, Dark Pit as well as Palutena with special thanks to Smash Brothers, but it is the greater range that can be used to commemorate such a great but underutilized franchise. The franchise affords the rights for Amiibo’s of such amazing characters as Medusa as well as Hades and we can’t forget Viridi, the biggest problem with some of this is the fact that no new games are coming for the franchise so Amiibo’s seem pointless apart from a collectors standpoint, but maybe one day we will see some commemoration in this form for some amazing game.
Donkey Kong
If the years of Donkey Kong have proven anything it is how great an extensive library of characters the franchise has. From the likes of the title character, to Kiddy Kong, to Tiny Kong, to Funky Kong, and even to the menacing reptile himself King K. Rool, there are so many amazing characters that exist in this universe ripe for immortalization. The biggest problem with this particular franchise at the moment is that while we can bet that a new game is on the way in the future, we have no idea just when it will arrive or how exactly it will work with Amiibo’s. The other thing that goes against this is the fact that much of the franchises characters don’t really exist anymore, in fact we haven’t seen a good portion of the Kong family since Donkey Kong 64, but we should hold out hope. Perhaps an Amiibo range and a new game might reunite the now distant family and bring them together again. The biggest thing with Amiibo is how they are used and for this particular franchise I think Nintendo needs to take a Disney Infinity type approach to the franchise and make a greater game where the player can become the character they scan. Either way this would be a great range for Nintendo to use and I know for one I would jump at the chance to get that coveted King K.Rool Amiibo as well as the rest of the Kong family.
For Amiibo who knows what the future holds, for this product range mixed with Nintendo’s great lineup of classic franchises and characters there is no stopping what they can do. I just hope that we might one day at least see one or two of these franchises see a range.
