3D is not just all the rage. 3D is the foreseeable future. It almost makes sense, until you remember how pissed off you were when you read that the sequel to one of your favorite 2D games was in full 3D.
Classic franchises have been ruined by this change-over, all too common, both because the developers wanted sales and figured no one buys 2D games anymore, or because they simply wanted to "modernize" their franchise, forcing a style of game play to work in a 3D environment. Here, they are basically forcing a square peg into a round hole, or else completely changing the game play, alienating the core audience that supported their franchise in the first place.
I as many game players, remember that watershed moment of going to pick up the sequel of my favorite game and getting pissed off at realizing beautiful 2D rendered graphics had been replaced by overly used 3D polygons. Here is a partial list, and anyone who has similar memories should contribute.
Classic 2D franchises that should have stayed 2d:
Castlevania
Contra
Sonic the Hedgehog
Newer franchises that should have remained sprite-based:
Alundra -- Alundra 2 is an ugly wart on an otherwise great franchise (spiritual prequels include Dark Savior on the Saturn, Landstalker (and LadyStalker) on the Genesis, and later Dual Hearts on the PS2.
Gex -- The original was actually a fantastic platformer, although a little stale at times. Enter the Gecko and the others have aged very poorly and had a very short shelf life.
Out of This World - Fade to Black, anyone?
Rayman -- Fully took advantage of the PSX's (sorry, PS1 now) 2D capabilities to create a very successful game commercially and critically that was marketed as the zenith of 2D game creation with its fully animated, lush visuals. The subsequent Ray(men?) have exhibited none of this because they have deviated from the entire point of the character and series.
There it is, all formatted and spell-checked for the trolls and haters. Contributions (instead of spiteful remarks) welcome.