watkinzez Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 It's a bit depressing when all that can be heard from a sequel's reception is disappointment; for whatever reason, it didn't live up to its name. Could be hype, nostalgia, or perhaps it just plain sucked. But there are the times when a game, film etc truly tops its predecessor. What sequels do you think deserve such a claim? (Of note, I only intend immediate sequels to be of discussion- saying FF7 is better than FF1 isn't a surprising conclusion, nor a very fair one. Even something like FF7> FF6 isn't really applicable- they only share a name and little else, not including battle system or RPG structure. Having an opinion that Majora's Mask bested Ocarina of Time is a fairer claim- immediate games in the series, same characters (or at least a different view of them), familiar dungeon/town formula. Not to mention it is the correct opinion ) Some of my favoured sequels- -Pikmin 2- pretty much eliminated the flaws that were present in the original and worked on the strengths. Much longer quest, removal of time limit, creative dungeons and bosses and a rather cool multiplayer mode. -Burnout 3- and I thought 2 was a leap in quality. This one really excelled both technically (some of the best sound design I've heard in a game) and design wise. The only thing that disappointed me was the direction taken in Crash mode, but I'm willing to forgive that. -Majora's Mask- as mentioned before, I've come to realise this being the perfect follow up to Ocarina. Instead of just going the 'bigger, better' route, it made an experience all its own. And some others.. -Resident Evil 4 -Spiderman 2 (films as well) Oh, and even though I haven't played Shenmue, it would have to be a pretty amazing game to best its sequel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FiremanJoe Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 Pikmin 2 seconded. I can't wait to see what Miyamoto's got up his sleeve for the future of this series. RE4 is one of my favourite games, but it wouldn't be fair for me to judge it against it's predecessors as I've only played bits of REmake and RE2. Super Mario Land 3: Wario Land - Great game, but a little short by today's standards. Loved it way more than SML1 and 2. I won't even comment on the Zelda series, as WW is the only game I've completed. I trust your opinion though, watkinz =P If we're talking movies, the Harry Potter ones keep getting better, but is that saying much? =P Albums... Hybrid's latest, I Choose Noise was better than their previous, Hybrid Present YK4. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Falling Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 Well, if Lord of the Rings movies count as sequels, then I'd say Two Towers was better than the first. But maybe you should count all movies as one story? In terms of epicness though, I do believe that the second movie topped the first. As for games: Baten Kaitos: Origins (though be it a prequel) is in some ways better than the first Baten Kaitos game. It sure as heck wasn't bad, which is something you usually expect from sequels. To be honest I can't name many more. I either haven't played enough games or sequels really just were a dissapointment. Just wanted to name these two things though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cerrax Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 SoulCalibur III really hooked me unlike any of the previous "Soul_" games. Lots of new content (gameplay and characters/items) and extremely high-quality work on all artistic fronts. Even though I miss alot of things from Morrowind that Oblivion lacks, they're minute and every important aspect of the Elder Scrolls series has been greatly improved by Oblivion. I know Final Fantasy games don't count, but I really think FFX really nailed turn-based battles so well that Ihave yet to see a system so easy and so engaging. As far as pure shit games that slightly lifted out of the toilet, for what its worth Path of Neo fixed a lot of the crap that made Enter The Matrix so horribly utterly unplayable. It still sucks major donkey dingle though. I think its a no-brainer that Vampire Hunter D:Bloodlust pwns its predecessor in every way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Czar Diego Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 The Jak and Daxter series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sega. Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 I have to disagree with the Soul Calibur comment, the original SC is the clear front runner in that series, the additions only seem to serve to weaken it slightly, and im not sure why. 3rd Strike is definately a better sequel to the past SF3's, and with most fighting series, some sequaels are better, and some worse. Quite often, if the sequel actually makes an effort to build on the original, it is on some level better. But the most common type of sequel, which is put the same game into some poorer level design, doesnt usually work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rexy Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 The Jak and Daxter series. Seconded. Jak II didn't go down the "bigger and had more stuff" route, but instead re-invented the series to the state it is today. I would also mention Crash 2/3 but I don't want to sound like a PlayStation fangirl. Nevertheless, they improved so much on the forumulae by use of the free-roaming warp room route, re-establishing the way it could even be played by move/crate additions, and in the case of the third title adding time trials - I think that was one of the first adventure games that even utilised that concept. (Great, now I'm going to sound like I'm serenading Naughty Dog. Oh well...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ab56 v2 aka Ash Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 I enjoyed Seiken Densetsu 3 much more than Secret of Mana. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirChadlyOC Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 On NES, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game was leaps and bounds better than its predecessor. For more information, go . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cecilff2 Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 I liked Streets of Rage 2 more than 1. Someone mentioned SML3: Wario Land, and I'll agree there. Way way better than 1 and 2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadow Wolf Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 Need for Speed Underground 2. Also, every Metroid game is better than the first one. Especially Super Metroid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emanon Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 Seeing as no one's said it yet, I'll just go ahead and officially say that The Empire Strikes Back is probably the greatest sequel to anything ever. As far as video games... Oblivion is an obvious choice. Also, Halo 2 far and away outdoes the game play of Halo: Combat Evolved. The story left something to be desired though. An ending, for example. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Back_Lit Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 For me MM was an improvement from OoT. MM isn't the classic Zelda story, its something new and different, which is probably the BEST improvement from OoT. So to me MM is the better of the two. I think the Castlevania series just keeps getting better with time, the 2D games anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wipomatic Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 Monkey Island 2 was better than 1 but it was better than 3 or 4 too, so I guess too many sequels can ruin it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RealFolkBlues Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 Seeing as no one's said it yet, I'll just go ahead and officially say that The Empire Strikes Back is probably the greatest sequel to anything ever. I was wondering why that hadn't already been said. When you take the prequels into account, the original trilogy really is laughably better. Back_Lit brought up Castlevania, and I actually really like Curse of Darkness. It's a huge improvement over the other 3D Castlevanias. Yoshi's Island. 'Nuff said. Twilight Princess rocks my socks. Austin Powers. Gulf War 2. BTW, isn't this a favorites thread? Pretty novel one, but still... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ab56 v2 aka Ash Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 No, because a favorite requires a "best". This thread asks for a "better". Each Mario Party game is better than the ones before it. Mega Man X3 was better than 1 and 2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penfold Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 Mega Man X3 was better than 1 and 2. Hell yeah. No one said how much better Super Mario Bros 3 was to the original Super Mario Bros yet, so I'll go ahead and throw that out there. Seems like there should be a lot more, just can't think of any others at the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sinewav Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 I'm gunna have to disagree with you on some of these. I really liked OoT a lot better than MM, and Halo 2 absolutely sucked. Max Payne had an excellent sequel... the gameplay was almost exactly the same, but the storyline was unique and definately went down an uncharted path as far as most games go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Decoy Octopus Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 No one said how much better Super Mario Bros 3 was to the original Super Mario Bros yet, so I'll go ahead and throw that out there. Hmm... I suppose SMB3 is better... but it seems weird to say. It's like the difference between perfection and perfection+1. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penfold Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 Hmm... I suppose SMB3 is better... but it seems weird to say. It's like the difference between perfection and perfection+1. lol, yeah it felt like an odd comparison for some reason . Oh, and Megaman 3 is better than the first 2. I'd personally say Megaman 4 was better than 3, just because of the charged shot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chickenwarlord Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 Monkey Island 2 was better than 1 but it was better than 3 or 4 too, so I guess too many sequels can ruin it. In my opinion, the pinnacle of the series was the third one (possibly due to the addition of spot on voice talent). The fourth one was definitely a letdown and can possibly be labeled what happens when there are too many chefs in the kitchen. Let's just hope that Gilbert gets the go ahead to script #5 when it comes out. How about Gabriel Knight or Broken Sword? Both excellent adventures with great sequels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ffej Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 Excite Truck is better then Excite Bike, but I'm not sure that counts. Link's Awakening was the direct sequel to A Link to the Past, and it was ages better in design, fun, and especially translation. How about some sequels that fell short? Like the GBA/DS Castlevanias after Symphony of the Night. Or Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire after Red, Blue, Yellow, Gold, Silver, and Crystal. The monster design is just continuing downhill ever since Ken Sugimori stopped designing them himself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katsurugi Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 Actually, in the video game industry, it's usually the case where the sequel is better than the original... very unlike the movie industry. Usually, the creators know what works and builds upon that. However, this can work both ways. The creator can also make a sequel that requires some sort of "jump" that the fans may not appreciate. But the "jump" can be good if it weeds out all of the bad from the previous game and makes the sequel even better. Consider Super Mario Bros. 2 (USA), this game was totally unlike the previous game. It was not a bad game, but I believe it to be a bad sequel since it carries the name of Super Mario. I'll throw out... original Street Fighter and Street Fighter II. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bahamut Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 Mega Man X3 was better than 1 and 2. Pass me that joint you're smoking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arek the Absolute Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 lul How did I figure Baha was going to say that. Lufia two is far better than lufia one. Best example I can think of where a dev team took a game and completely 100% made it better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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