Awesome Sequels

[EverPhoenix]

how many games do you know with really good sequels? like, proper sequels. that are related. not exactly like the SB trilogy, where there are only very vague similarities. I wouldnt count the FF series either - unless you name FFX and FFX-2. and lets be honest... who is going to?

my vote for the best jump from one game to its sequel goes to Diablo.

Diablo 1 was good for its time, but Diablo 2 takes everything it was and makes it so much more amazing. There's a reason ive been coming back to this game in the last 8 or so years as much as i have.

[psychokind]

gothic 1 to gothic 2, stop (= following games were worse).
elderscrolls 1&2 to 3 (morrowind), stop.
AVP 1 to AVP 2 to AVP 3
SoM 2 to SoM 3, stop.
Siedler 1 to Siedler 2, stop.
NwN 1 to NwN 2
KotoR 1 to KotoR 2

these I can think of instantly

[Fazermint]

Diablo 3, when it comes out, will be so FRICKEN AWSUM

[Neph]

OddWorld has always been one of my favs,
the storyline might not have been that deep but, I donno, I just love the character design and all the strangeness about it

[SoulBlazerFan]

Can't believe no one mentioned Zelda or Mario games... LttP and OoT were amazing, as was SMB 3 and World.

Uhm... Resident Evil 2/4, Left 4 Dead 2, Guitar Hero 3 was probably the peak of the series before it began to get stale... and a host of others that I can't even think of right now.

[Fazermint]

SoulBlazerFan wrote:

Can't believe no one mentioned Zelda or Mario games... LttP and OoT were amazing, as was SMB 3 and World.

Indeed. The Wind Waker is my favorite Zelda game, Twilight Princess number 2. Had a great time playing those games

I don't have Super Mario Sunshine, but I might get it in the future. I've got Mario 64 but I didn't start playing it yet. Gotta play Illusion of Gaia now!

[Jason Tandro]

Halo 2 is superior in every way to Halo 1 (except the needler and pistol are shit... ). Much better storyline, music and gameplay.

Sonic 2 is my personal favorite game on the Sega Genesis.

Sonic Adventure 2 is the only 3D sonic game I can tolerate.

And completely out of left field, I thought Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage was pretty damn good, on par with the last game.

[Sgt.Pepper1983]

No matter how repetitive they got megaman games were always good until the battle network part of the series was made. Even after battle network I still liked megaman z, and megaman zx.

[tay120n64]

The year of 2010. You know. That year we just went through that was nothing but high quality AAA-sequels that were at best, jaw-droppingly amazing, and at worst had mixed reviews. (well, except for Kane & Lynch 2...)

Anyway, here is a list of sequels that were BETTER than their predecessor (which is listed in parenthesis):

Super Mario Bros. 3 (SMB2: The Lost Levels)
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (Super Mario World)
Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (Super Mario Land)
Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (DKC)
Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals (Lufia & the Fortress of Doom)
Kingdom Hearts II (Kingdom Hearts)
Gears of War 2 (Gears of War)
Mega Man 2 (Mega Man)
Halo 2 (Halo: Combat Evolved)
Guitar Hero 2 (Guitar Hero)
Grand Theft Auto III (GTA II)
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (CoD 3)
Bubble Bobble, Part 2 (Bubble Bobble)
Kirby's Dream Land 2 (Kirby's Dream Land)
Pokemon Stadium 2 (Pokemon Stadium)
Pokemon Gold/Silver (Pokemon Red/Blue)
Super Smash Bros. Melee (Super Smash Bros.)
Sonic Adventure 2 (Sonic Adventure)
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Sonic the Hedgehog)
Mario Kart 64 (Super Mario Kart)
Soul Calibur II (Soul Calibur)
Super Monkey Ball 2 (Super Monkey Ball)
New Super Mario Bros. Wii (New Super Mario Bros.)
Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Super Mario Galaxy)
Golden Sun: The Lost Age (Golden Sun)
Wario Ware: Touched!! (Wario Ware: Mega Microgame$$)
The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (TLoZ: Phantom Hourglass)
Mega Man: ZX Advent (Mega Man: ZX)
We Love Katamari (Katamari Damacy)
Loco Roco 2 (Loco Roco)
Ms. Pac-Man (Pac-Man)
Pac-Man Championship Edition DX (Pac-Man Championship Edition)
Geometry Wars 2 (Geometry wars: Retro Evolved)
Marvel vs. Capcom 2 (Marvel vs. Capcom)

That's all I can think of off hand. But I think you'll agree that EVERY one of these sequels is vastly superior to its predecessor.

[SoulBlazerFan]

No one thinks Halo 3 was better than Halo 2? Sure, they overloaded the weaponary on the maps, I mean, who needs two shotguns, two maulers, four spikers, two snipers, rockets, and a sword on the Pit? Then again, Grifball was incredibly awesome on H3, so that takes the cake for me.

Also, not sure if you'd consider it a sequel, but Halo 3: ODST was awesome. And lets not forget about Reach, while a prequel of sorts, blows the other games out of the water.

[tay120n64]

SoulBlazerFan wrote:

No one thinks Halo 3 was better than Halo 2? Sure, they overloaded the weaponary on the maps, I mean, who needs two shotguns, two maulers, four spikers, two snipers, rockets, and a sword on the Pit? Then again, Grifball was incredibly awesome on H3, so that takes the cake for me. Also, not sure if you'd consider it a sequel, but Halo 3: ODST was awesome. And lets not forget about Reach, while a prequel of sorts, blows the other games out of the water.

Halo 3 was so bad I lost interest in the franchise completely. The customization in multiplayer was astounding, but the campaign was crap. Also, while the barrier-for-entry in multiplayer was far more user-friendly than in Halo 2, it also gave the game less depth. It was trying to be Halo 1, and it failed miserably. I hear Reach is good, but at this point, I don't care anymore.

[EverPhoenix]

completely overlooked half of those games. and i didnt mention the mario or zelda games because they arent that closely linked to each other. its like a different game each time, but with the same characters and story. different world.

they are always awesome, but the improvements are only noticeable in switches between consoles. e.g. aLttP, OoT (my personal issues aside), twilight princess (look at it as a wii game ^_^)

and moving from ssb to ssbm is also probably one of the best upgrades ive ever seen. brawl kicked ass and all, but it wasnt as much of an improvement on ssbm as ssbm was on the original.

[Freedan]

I don't know if I'd say it was better, but Majora's Mask was an awesome sequel to OoT.

[tay120n64]

Freedan wrote:

I don't know if I'd say it was better, but Majora's Mask was an awesome sequel to OoT.

I WOULD.

@EP: I only mentioned the Mario/Zelda games that were direct follow-ups and not new entries.

Also, another:

Galaga (Galaxian)

[inferiare]

I liked FFX and FFX-2.

Anyway, Ar tonelico II was better than the first, with improved battle, more songs, more story, and it did what it was supposed to with advancing the story.