Videogames that need to retire.

Does Frogger have a 401(k) plan? A reverse mortgage on his lily pad? How much has he paid into Social Security since his video game premiered more than 25 years ago?

Because, like it or not, the truck-dodging star of the classic arcade game needs to think about a long-delayed retirement. There have been nearly two Frogger-themed sequels per year since 2000 (including Frogger 2: Swampy's Revenge, Frogger Beyond and - no joke - a mobile phone game called Frogger Evolution), and the truth is, he lost a step a long time ago.

Don't listen to the politicians, anti-game activists and the bulk of mainstream media, which will have you believe that sex, violence and other controversies are the most important issues in the video game industry. The No. 1 problem plaguing games right now is the lack of creativity.

While a popular movie franchise such as "Die Hard" or "Raiders of the Lost Ark" might generate two or three sequels in a 25-year period, video game series such as Tom Clancy or Winning Eleven soccer have a more Sisyphusian schedule, with sequels that come out at least once per year.

Both of those franchises get a pass, because unlike many of their competitors, they've managed to maintain a level of quality. But too many games steadily get worse with each new installment, repeating the same stories and mining video game cliches, instead of embracing the pioneering spirit that was prevalent during the dawn of console gaming in the early 1980s and again in the mid-1990s. Meanwhile, game developers with good ideas are hindered from trying anything new. For every wonderful surprise, such as Portal or Nintendogs, we have to endure 20 bargain-bin fillers, such as Frogger's Journey: The Forgotten Relic.

Following are seven video game franchises that need to die. Many were great once and deserve an honorable death. For the record, though, Spyro the Dragon needed to be thrown into a wood chipper from day one.

Pac-Man: The government should have intervened after the 1982 record "Pac-Man Fever" came out, with a congressional mandate outlawing the continued overexposure of this gluttonous and jaundiced pop culture icon. Since the original arcade game and its follow-up Ms. Pac-Man were released in the early 1980s, there have been dozens of inferior Pac-Man sequels, most ranging from mediocre to atrocious. The biggest exception was the recent Pac-Man Championship Edition, developed for the Xbox Live Arcade by Pac-Man creator Toru Iwatani. Please let the franchise die on a positive note with Iwatani's game. Next to the makers of the "Highlander" film series, no one has milked so much out of so little as the publishers of Pac-Man.

Medal of Honor: The first two Medal of Honor World War II games were a revelation, invigorating the first-person shooter genre while proving that there was a real market for historical war games. But the quality fell dramatically after the first sequel, and even a halfway decent Medal of Honor game is considered a surprise. Meanwhile, the Brothers in Arms and Call of Duty series have produced better World War II action in the past several years. It's time for an honorable discharge.

Tony Hawk: Once the gold standard of extreme sports video games, the Tony Hawk series is like one of those new Charlie Brown holiday specials: They only serve as a reminder of how much better the old ones were. With one or two exceptions, these skating, snowboarding and other trick-based games are looking old. Tony Hawk is in desperate need of a quick death or a smart reinvention- could a motion-sensitive device such as the Wii Fit balance board be the answer?

Tomb Raider: Much has been made of the improvement of this series with the past two installments, but that isn't much of a testimony considering the franchise had decomposed five years ago. There are clearly no more interesting places for this series to go, and the longer it stays around, the bigger the chance we're going to have to endure another bad Angelina Jolie movie. Put Lara Croft's breasts in the Smithsonian and retire this franchise for good.

Manhunt: This isn't another attack on the Rockstar game's gratuitous violence, which actually seemed toned down in Manhunt 2 (even though the protests and histrionics were ramped up to ridiculous levels). Instead, put an end to this franchise because the Manhunt games just haven't been especially good - and are the weak link in Rockstar's stable of excellent games. A sequel to the excellent Bully or Rockstar Presents Table Tennis would be more welcome than a third Manhunt game.

Spyro the Dragon: Spyro is getting singled out because he's especially purple and annoying, but we could also add Crash Bandicoot, Frogger and Sonic the Hedgehog to the list. And all of those look like a Halo sequel compared with the licensed properties for products such as Bratz and movies such as "Alvin and the Chipmunks." Video games for children are repetitive and unimaginative, poorly written and prone to glitches, with just a few exceptions. Buy a copy of Katamari Damacy, Lego Star Wars or one of the better Nintendo DS titles and hope for a better future.

Super Mario Party Kart Smash Bros. Brawl: Since the Mario character was introduced in Donkey Kong in the 1980s, he's appeared in more than 100 video games - which is about 75 too many. When Nintendo's starts a non-Mario, non-Zelda, non-Star Fox series - such as Animal Crossing and the excellent Pikmin - the results are usually excellent, but too often the company falls back to its safety zone of another Mario game, whether he's the focus or just making a cameo appearance. We wouldn't ask Disney to euthanize Mickey Mouse, and Mario doesn't need to disappear either. But with the groundbreaking creative possibilities of Nintendo Wii and the Nintendo DS, how about just one Mario appearance per year and more energy spent on new characters?
Seven video game franchises that keep getting better

-- Burnout

-- Call of Duty

-- Grand Theft Auto

-- Guitar Hero

-- Half Life

-- Ratchet & Clank

-- Resident Evil