With 36 seasons under its belt and no signs of slowing down, it's safe to say that The Challenge isn't just one of the most successful reality shows in MTV history, but is one of the most successful reality competitions in all television.
Over the course of its many seasons, The Challenge has evolved drastically, the show that it is today is barely recognizable in comparison to the Real World and Road Rules rivalry game that it used to be. The show typically takes on a specific format or style each season, and it's pretty common for the show to reuse successful formats for multiple seasons over. But, which formats are played out, and which do fans still want more of?
Played Out: The Inferno
The early seasons of The Challenges tended to have the loosest and least interesting formats, and while something like The Inferno might have worked back then, it's not something that would really translate well to the present series.
It would be nice to see another team challenge again, but The Inferno, which first began with a classic Real World vs. Road Rules format and then switched to Good Guys Vs. Bad Asses, isn't the kind of team format that the show should resurrect.
Want More Of: The Duel
The Duel is a Challenge format that hasn't been seen in over a decade, but it's still one of the best ideas that the show has come up with.
It really feels like the predecessor to Free Agents, and while players are still required to work together on most challenges, the independent aspect of the game makes it a lot more entertaining and really allows players to show their skills.
Played Out: The Gauntlet
Much like The Inferno, The Gauntlet is a format idea that's played out because it essentially isn't much of a format.
The first three Gauntlet seasons had the players fairly arbitrarily divvied up into two teams (in the first Gauntlet it was Real World vs. Road Rules, and in the second and third it was Vets vs. Rookies), and given what incredible format ideas the show has come up with since, this is one concept that doesn't need to be revisited.
Want More Of: Rivals
The first Rivals season in Challenge history was undeniably one of the best seasons of the entire series. And, while later seasons haven't really lived up to the first one, it's still one of the most interesting and fun formats of the show.
Some rivalries aren't nearly as legit as the others, but when The Challenge can come up with an entire cast of pairs who hate each other, it's pure entertainment.
Played Out: The Island
The Island was only a format for one season, but it's safe to say that its season was more than enough. Way back when Survivor became a smash hit, The Challenge decided that it would be a good idea to format a season in a very similar style, but the results were more than a little lacking.
Given the dullness of the actual gameplay as well as the horrendous behavior of the players, The Island is nearly universally considered to be one of the worst seasons in Challenge history.
Want More Of: Free Agents
It's going to be impossible to ever format a season of The Challenge where the players as a whole aren't influencing the success of one individual player in the game.
However, Free Agents is about as close as the show can get to forcing players to play a truly individual game, and it's awesome to see how contestants really do when they don't have their alliances to rely on.
Played Out: Battle Of The Exes
Much like Rivals, a true season of Battle of the Exes can be one of the best seasons of any Challenge.
However, while Challengers do have a habit of constantly dating and dumping each other, Battle of the Exes only really works when there are real couples who have had significant relationships and broken up. At this point, it's borderline impossible to come up with a good cast for this format.
Want More Of: Double Agents
The Challenge obviously consistently relies on pairing players together in order for them to compete. And while that format has allowed many players to shine, it's also hard not to notice that teams that consist of two contestants with wildly differing skill sets often winds up hamstringing some of the strongest players for an entire season.
But, the Double Agents format brilliantly works around that problem, and seeing players constantly switch pairs has been great.
Played Out: War of the Worlds
The concept of War of the Worlds isn't a terrible one, but it seems like it was created and designed simply so that The Challenge could incorporate a lot of reality TV stars from different countries into the show.
While making The Challenge into a series with an international cast is actually a really cool idea, it didn't really require multiple seasons revolving around these cast either, and there are better concepts for the show to tackle in the future.
Want More Of: All Stars
It only took nearly 40 seasons, but finally, The Challenge is coming out with a legitimateChallenge vets come back for the competition is super exciting.
It's fine that The Challenge is always expanding its talent pool by introducing new players from different shows, but fans desperately want to see more Challenge icons return too.
