Video Games That Are Better Than Their Sequels

[Casati]

Many video games have had sequels either for the same console or for later consoles, but the sequels don't always turn out to be better games even if they have better graphics and/or sound. For instance, SNES Super Play Action Football has the 16-bit graphics, but I prefer the NES Play Action Football because it has better gameplay (passing and controls are easier makes it better even though it moves along at a snail's pace), presentation (NFL Players Association license, less blank screen time, less annoying cut scenes...), and even the sound is better in some regards. I also think the NES Super Tecmo Bowl compares favorably to its 16-bit sequels.

What other games were the best of their franchise even if they didn't necessarily have the best graphics or sound?

[Niku-Sama]

Lunar eternal blue.
Not as good as the story in silver star and supposedly not nearly as long either. I don't know because I never finished eternal blue

[JSoup]

Lunar eternal blue.
Not as good as the story in silver star and supposedly not nearly as long either. I don't know because I never finished eternal blue

The level of good depends heavily on how into the story of the first game you were. I remember loving the hell out of it when it was new, but finding that is didn't shine as bright as the first game years later. Silver Star Story is factually longer, but Eternal Blue feels longer due to how the game is paced.

[Niku-Sama]

Meh it's good, not chrono trigger good but still....

[bb_hood]

In my opinion, the first Contra is better than any contra game that came after.

[Casati]

In my opinion, the first Contra is better than any contra game that came after.

Why? Do you think it has the best gameplay or story line, or is it something else?

[retroman]

Donkey Kong is one that comes to mind.

[T]

I agree with you play action football views

[davidbrit2]

Super Monkey Ball. Everything since has had some combination of overcooked level designs, awful control, or watered-down difficulty. Surprisingly, the one for Vita comes closest to the original, but it still falls a bit short.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Valkyria Chronicles.

The PS3 game is amazing, system seller material.

Then Sega made a sequel on the PSP. Nevermind the drop in hardware capabilities, Valkyria Chronicles 2 is a mere echo of everything that made the first one so excellent. The characters are far less interesting, the gameplay more simplified, unnecessary, additional unit classes tacked on, and the story far, far worse.

Sega did eventually fix nearly everything with the third Valkyria Chronicles, but the damage Valkyria Chronicles 2 caused couldn't be undone and the vastly superior third game was never localized as a result.

I love both Valkyria Chronicles and Valkyria Chronicles 3, but 2 was such a misstep that it doomed the series.

I have hope there will be a Valkyria Chronicles release on Vita or PS4 someday, but it'll be an uphill battle from the damage VC2 caused.

[Casati]

I agree with you play action football views

Thank you. I'm not even sure the SNES version was play-tested. 1. throw pass, 2. consult on-screen diagram in futile attempt to verify that yellow dot (ball) is moving toward red dot and that red dot is in front of black dot for catch, 3. watch the ball sail into computer player's arms with only a second to react, 4. interception often leads to touchdown since the computer player runs faster.

The only sure way to score is to block punt attempts and run them into your end zone. Grinding out a dozen running plays is another possibility, but you have to replace your fatigued running backs every other play. The NES version has its annoyances too, such as the wimpy quarterbacks have to be replaced after two plays, but is overall better.

[wizardofwor1975]

In my opinion, the first Contra is better than any contra game that came after.

Interesting pick. GameFAQs agreed with you in their review of Super C. GameFAQs said, "The experience is very similar to the original Contra, but there is a bit more style-over-substance to it. It's better than Contra III for the SNES, but it doesn't quite match the flawless design of the original game."

http://www.gamefaqs.com/nes/563463-super-c/reviews/review-136987

[Rickstilwell1]

Vandal-Hearts. Having a better story in general is a plus. Also the fact you don't have that annoying aspect of enemies moving while you move so you don't keep missing your attacks completely like in Vandal-Hearts II. And Flames of Judgment while it plays nice and is a good entry into the last generation, it is not long enough and less interesting because you only get half as many characters to get to know.

[davidbrit2]

Interesting pick. GameFAQs agreed with you in their review of Super C. GameFAQs said, "The experience is very similar to the original Contra, but there is a bit more style-over-substance to it. It's better than Contra III for the SNES, but it doesn't quite match the flawless design of the original game."

http://www.gamefaqs.com/nes/563463-super-c/reviews/review-136987

I'm a bit partial to SuperC myself, but I love them both. Contra III doesn't really do much for me.

[8-Bit Archeology]

I personally loved Contra 3 Alien Wars. But the game I thought was better than it's sequel is, Kid Icarus for the NES. I believe both sequels for the gameboy and 3ds where only there to push the hardware.

Yeah I liked the 3ds game with all the new features, but it will never be as good as the NES original. And the gameboy title was ok but it was really just a shell of the NES game. Fun but not a whole hearted sequel.

[FrankSerpico]

I've always wanted to get ahold of Valkyria Chronicles. I'm both a huge SRPG fan and a huge Skies of Arcadia fan

[JSoup]

Generally speaking, if the dev team learned from the first game, the second game will be at least as good if not better. You can see this in, say, Final Fantasy 13, where each game has been better than the last mechanically.


Meh it's good, not chrono trigger good but still....

I feel that one of it's strongest points is not being anything like that crapburger Chrono Trigger, but, as the internet kids say, your mileage may vary.

[bb_hood]

Why? Do you think it has the best gameplay or story line, or is it something else?

The main reason I think the first Contra game is the best is because of the music and sound effects. The music is awesome, its fast paced and is totally badass. The music in the second contra is just not as good.
The graphics are awesome also. I think the sprites and backgrounds (in the first game) look alot cooler than in the second game. It has always puzzled me why the original Famicom version has animated backgrounds but the ntsc version of contra does not. In the first stage the palm trees move and in the snow field there is snow falling. Like why was this removed?

Also the top-down sections in the second game and contra III I find kinda boring. This is the main reason I dont play Super C more often because I hate the 2nd stage, i dont find it difficult just really boring.

[8-Bit Archeology]

There are some games where the sequel is bad mainly because, they put in all the stuff they couldnt fit in the first game. It's as if they said "no thats too much" or "this doesnt matxh the whole game style". So when they come up with lets say 30 ideas, then they realize simple is better. Then they release the game. And when/if the time comes to make the sequel they say "hey look at all these old notes, lets put all this in it. And you end up with a concept off of another concept.

The game that comes into mind mainly is extreme g for the n64. Why they ruined that game I dont know. It was great until the sequel happened. It became too fast, collision walls where a joke, the tracks got way out of hand and it just made track memorization a priority over having fun.

[Tron 2.0]

The main reason I think the first Contra game is the best is because of the music and sound effects. The music is awesome, its fast paced and is totally badass. The music in the second contra is just not as good.
The graphics are awesome also. I think the sprites and backgrounds (in the first game) look alot cooler than in the second game. It has always puzzled me why the original Famicom version has animated backgrounds but the ntsc version of contra does not. In the first stage the palm trees move and in the snow field there is snow falling. Like why was this removed?

Simply put the famicom contra uses the VRC2 chip while the nes version does not.

[Arkanoid_Katamari]

I don't wanna sound clichet, but Legend of Zelda is def a better game then Zelda II. And I'm not saying that cuz Zelda 2 is a different format, I actually think for a platformer is pretty good, but I just think in general, the first one is a better game.

Again, not trying to sound cliche, just speaking from my personal experience.

[Arkanoid_Katamari]

I thought Metal Gear Solid was better than 2 and 3. MGS 2 and 3 are both masterpieces, but to me MGS1 on the PS1 is the best of those games. Maybe it's just nostalgia, idk. I beat all 3 tho and 1 was still my fav. Even tho 3 added some amazing gameplay elements, and cut back on the long cut scenes that ppl complained about in Sons of Liberty.

No one cares about Metal Gear anymore anyway. Not like back then.

[Gameguy]

Nobody mentioned Tetris yet.

[Arkanoid_Katamari]

Nobody mentioned Tetris yet.

Very good point. Tetris > Tetris 2. Altho Tetris 2 is good, also. I haven't played every version of Tetris tho, but comparing the first 2, 1 is the better one.

Idk which came first Yoshi or Yoshi's Cookies, but I prefer Yoshi. So if Yoshi came out first, thats another one. Altho some ppl prefer Cookies.

[ZeroCool]

Yoshi came out first

[Edmond Dantes]

For most franchises I just don't see much point. But here are a few of my own picks.

Wave Race 64 > Wave Race Blue Storm. I just couldn't get into Blue Storm. The controls give me issues--I feel like either the riders struggle with turning or they turn too easily, never just right. That and the music and announcer chatter isn't as good as 64, in fact each rider has their own announcer, which means some riders I can actually control (like the australian guy) I prefer not to play as because I find their announcer annoying.

Moto Racer > Moto Racer 2. This one I just have a harder time defining, but the original Moto Racer feels like a really strong, well put together game, but somehow its sequel, while still fun, doesn't feel quite as "just right" despite having more features.

And since I'm mainly talking racers here, none of the future Mario Karts have ever felt as good as the original SNES one to me.

One more:

Marvel vs Capcom 1 > Marvel vs Capcom 2. 2 would be the clear superior if it weren't for two things: First, the ridiculous points/shopping method for unlocking characters and second, the music sucks. The first one doesn't have either of these issues.

[celerystalker]

I can think of a lot where I personally prefer an earlier title, though I can't say they're objectively superior. I prefer Zelda II over all of the later Zeldas. I think Super Metroid was the best of its kind. Final Fantasy III (VI) was my favorite. I agree about Contra being superior to all of its sequels.

Narrowing to first games in a series being the best:
Kid Icarus
Contra
Chrono Trigger
Ghosts 'n Goblins
Rastan
Double Dragon
Baseball Stars
Crazy Taxi
Power Stone

I think I'll stop there. This is the kind of thing that could go on for awhile the more I think about it.

[Niku-Sama]

Ghosts and goblins really better over super ghouls and ghosts?

[bb_hood]

Marvel vs Capcom 1 > Marvel vs Capcom 2. 2 would be the clear superior if it weren't for two things: First, the ridiculous points/shopping method for unlocking characters and second, the music sucks. The first one doesn't have either of these issues.

I would have to disagree with this, because I feel MvC2 is much better than the first, and ultimate marvel 3 is better than both.
The music in the 2nd game does suck, for the most part. There are a few tracks like the airship level which are good.
The shopping method is kinda annoying but it doesnt take too much playtime to unlock all the characters. It does take forever to unlock all the alternate colors though, and with the Japanese version you would have to take the VMU to the arcade machine and play there to get points to unlock stuff, so THAT is annoying but I assume that you could probably download a save file off the internet somewhere.
I will say that MvC2 is quite broken, and some characters are way more powerful than others. The first and 3rd marvel games are much more balanced in this regard.
Probably the biggest reason I think MvC2 is better than the first is because it has bb hood.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CI76VV4_ghg

Also regarding the music on the 2 games, most of the music tracks in the first are just remixed version of the character themes where the music tracks in the second game are original.
The music in the first is still better.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKOMPGztQZg&list=PLDA6B699BDBCC7012&index=25

[FieryReign]

Strider(Genesis port). Everything just came together perfectly. Sick graghics for the time, tight and fun gameplay, and some of the best music/sound on the Genesis. The only negative would be its length. I can still sit down, play this game and enjoy myself the whole way through to the end. The US Gold sequel was awful. The official Capcom sequel was ok but not as good as the original.

[Ruudos]

Act Raiser (SNES)
Batman (NES)
StarTropics (NES)

These games are better than their sequels.

[HardcoreOtaku]

Act Raiser (SNES)
That's a good answer.
The original ActRaiser was so epic. I was so hyped for the sequel when I saw the initial screen shots in gaming magazines the graphics looked amazing. When ActRaiser 2 did arrive it delivered on the graphics but the gameplay was so meh.

[Tanooki]

Ugh ActRaiser 2 I feel was the first of the really bad games I ever bought, and I even owned stuff like Ultaman which is actually some decent rubber monster 1on1 battling fun. They remove the sim city aspect, remove the save battery, and then break the platforming with the rotten double jump that glides then slides off platforms when you land. It has so many issues it should have just been aborted. I wish some indie develper would make a true actraiser 3 only just not in name so Enix doesnt eat them alive for it. It was something I designed on paper years ago but I am no coder or Id do it myself. Thats just how much I hate that sequel.

[bb_hood]

StarTropics (NES)

These games are better than their sequels.

Yeah, thats a good one too. StarTropics is such a great game. The second is not as good, the whole time travel theme isnt as cool as the tropical Island theme.

[Zap!]

The question should be reversed. Most of the time the original is best. But not as much as movies, where the original is better 90 percent of the time.

[HardcoreOtaku]

But not as much as movies, where the original is better 90 percent of the time.
Not sure I agree with that, just thinking off the top of my head loads of movies have better sequels.
Aliens, The Empire Strikes Back, Terminator 2, The Godfather Part II etc..

[Zap!]

Not sure I agree with that, just thinking off the top of my head loads of movies have better sequels.
Aliens, The Empire Strikes Back, Terminator 2, The Godfather Part II etc..

The last three I agree with. But you just named the only ones. Three movies in 100+ years of Hollywood certainly proves my point. :)

[Edmond Dantes]

Honestly the problem with two out of those four sequels dude named is that they can't really be taken as stand-alone, so its really not possible to say they're "better." You might as well call Two Towers better than Fellowship of the Ring--it doesn't float, because you don't understand one unless you've seen the other.

With Aliens or Terminator 2 they're fairly stand-alone, but I personally always thought Terminator 2 was kind of overrated. The action isn't that great and I could never get over the whiny-ass anti-intellectual philosophy. Seriously seeing two kids playing cops and robbers leads to a lecture about how mankind is inherently self destructive, grow the f*** up James Cameron.

....

Okay, back to video games.

Mega Man X > X2 or X3. This was kind of a hard call as they're all really good games, but back when I owned the whole trilogy I used to always come back to the first one the most. It just somehow feels special in a way the future installments don't. I wish I hadn't sold the latter two all the same, but oh well.

X4 tho is almost X1's equal, but then X5 and X6... suck. I never played X7 or X8.

Street Fighter II (and all its updates) > later Street Fighter games. This isn't objective on my part, just somehow I always found the later ones didn't "feel" right and had taken the characters and mythos in pretty uninteresting directions. I also personally think we didn't really need for Street Fighter and Final Fight to be in the same universe, even if it did make for one of the better episodes of the animated series. Besides, they really need to bring back Kevin Striker. (On a minor note I just personally don't care for the art stylings of the later games. Give me the SFII character sprites over the Alpha ones, or especially over the SF4 ones. Especially M.Bison. I never liked how he became so bulky, when originally he was kinda lean. I'm referring to the Dictator, not the boxer).

Oh and of course:

The SNES era Final Fantasy games > everything after, including FF7. The Playstation was the point where Square became pretentious and wanted to make movies instead of games. Yeah Final Fantasy VI had its silly or pretentious elements but it also had a sense of fun, and some seriously cool setpieces.

Also to the guy who hated Chrono Trigger--you're wrong, your friends are wrong, your f***ing pets are being wronged alive, game over, and I'm sure I mangled that quote. But no, seriously, it's cool ;) Just as long as nobody tries to argue that Cross is better. I might have to go on a Jihad if I hear that.

[JSoup]

Also to the guy who hated Chrono Trigger--you're wrong, your friends are wrong, your f***ing pets are being wronged alive, game over, and I'm sure I mangled that quote. But no, seriously, it's cool ;) Just as long as nobody tries to argue that Cross is better. I might have to go on a Jihad if I hear that.

I am too hard on Chrono Trigger, that's for sure. It's not a horrible game by any stretch, I just feel that it's similar to FF7 in that people overrate the hell out of it. Cross I don't remember much off. I enjoyed it enough to pick up the Japanese art book some many years ago when I found it for $10, but that could probably be chalked up to taking advantage of a good deal more than mild fanlove.

[Tanooki]

I'm hard on Chrono Trigger too, it's just not that great. Visuals, audio, sure total RPG SNES blowouts but the plot gets tiresome only second to the gameplay. I've never been able to tolerate it any further than the mountains with the floating rock/chain boss pretty much. I'm not saying it's bad at all, it's just overrated, the most overrated RPG on the system.

Also sometimes that second movie isn't as good (Temple of Doom) but the threequel blows out the original (Last Crusade.) But there are other second of the line that aren't sequential stories like Star Trek Wrath of Khan even if it rolls end to start to end...etc through #3 and 4, it stands alone unbound to the original and very good against the others. Debatable but Back to the Future 2 gets solid nods as being the nicest of those as well not that any of them are a slouch. I see MMX (ugh) series brought up, but MM2 many still feel of the old 8bit games is the best of the lot and far nicer than the original.

[JSoup]

I'm hard on Chrono Trigger too, it's just not that great. Visuals, audio, sure total RPG SNES blowouts but the plot gets tiresome only second to the gameplay. I've never been able to tolerate it any further than the mountains with the floating rock/chain boss pretty much. I'm not saying it's bad at all, it's just overrated, the most overrated RPG on the system.

I've gotten all the endings before on principle, but that was about it. Upon reviewing some of the content on Youtube, I can't recall what specifically put me off the game, but the OST just never clicked with me. I know it's not bad, I just don't care for it. Cross, on the other hand, has a few tracks that are rather nice, but nothing amazing.

[Tanooki]

I'm put off by the pacing, having to work up to those triple strikes, and primarily the multiple endings because when I play a game I want to finish it, not have to re-do it a half dozen times to see some small and really not all that worth it variance against the time involved. I ended up just watching all the endings on youtube to confirm how much of a time waster it was.

[bb_hood]

Personally I love Chrono Trigger, ive never played Chrono Chross though.
I think its one of the best 16-bit rpgs.
As for the multiple endings, you can always use the 'new game plus', then I think you can go fight Lavos anytime throught hte warp at the Millenial fair. So you dont really have to play through it entirely each time if you just want to see the ending.

[Edmond Dantes]

Indeed pretty much every ending is determined by WHEN exactly you fight Lavos in New Game+, and its hardly a case of "they're all just minor variances." I don't recall Chrono entering a secret developers room in the game's default ending, for instance...

That said, I can see how Chrono Trigger isn't for everyone. Much like Earthbound. But if you guys have copies of either you'd be willing to throw away out of sheer disgust, I'll pay shipping ;)

Okay, but getting back to the topic of the thread...

....

Ummm, actually I'm having trouble thinking of any. I remember thinking the first Aero the Acro-Bat was better than the second one but opinions seem mixed in that regard. Also the first Bubsy is easily better than the second one, even tho most would say they both suck (I'm not sure what all the hate of Bubsy is about. It's average at worst, nowhere near horrible).

[SpaceHarrier]

Vectorman
The sequel isn't bad, it just doesn't do it for me, for some reason.

Strider
Genesis Strider 2... ick (though Strider 2 on the Playstation was pretty cool, paradox!)

Blaster Master
Genesis strikes again!

[bb_hood]

Heres a few:
Legendary Axe for the Turbo Grafx - I always thought the first was much better than the second. I really like the first game.

Bubble Bobble - So this game has two sequels? Rainbow Islands the story of Bubble Bobble 2 and Bubble Bobble 2. I would say Bubble Bobble is better than Bubble Bobble 2 but maybe not better than Rainbow Islands. I like Rainbow Islands, its alot of fun once you get used to the controls. Parasol Stars is the story of Bubble Bobble III and thats an excellent game, I think much better than bubble bobble. We also have Bubble Symphony, which Im not a huge fan of. For a game with 'Symphony' in the name the music isnt all that great.

Maniac Mansion - I have never played day of the tentacle, but I would be surprised if it was better than the first. Got the 1st one on Nintendo for Christmas as a kid and loved it. Such an awesome game, where else can you nuke up a hamster burrito??

[JSoup]

Vectorman
The sequel isn't bad, it just doesn't do it for me, for some reason.

Uggg, why did you remind me of that?
Vectorman is a pretty neat game, plays great, has an amazing OST and is reasonably challenging.
Vectorman 2 has pretty much none of that. It's visually muddy, has an forced OST, has sticky controls and is prone to random difficulty spikes.

[Edmond Dantes]

Heres a few:
Legendary Axe for the Turbo Grafx - I always thought the first was much better than the second. I really like the first game.

The irony is that Legendary Axe II was originally an unrelated stand-alone game in Japan, they only called it Legendary Axe II for the North American release.

And yeah Bubble Bobble gets nuts with the sequel numbering. Not quite as nuts as Wonder Boy and Adventure Island though.

[Tanooki]

I actually have both Chrono Trigger and Earthbound, and while I'm not in love with either of them, I don't hate them either, and I don't dislike them enough to sell either. If all this predatory crap with games never went down in the last few years and games like those could still be had under their original retail prices I'd almost surely let them along with some others I have go on NES and SNES. The problem is that isn't reality and on rare occasion I like to turn them on and I won't pay $200-300 for these games ever as they're not worth it so I hold onto things just due to the money issue these days which is sad. :)


Another one I think on topic but entirely overlooked, it appears, but I have not played it out yet, that the sequel to the Magical Quest Starring Mickey Mouse, which is the Great Circus Mystery on SNES is the superior title. They took what worked on the original, bumped the difficulty up a bit, refined the audio and visuals slightly nicer, some even more solid stage design, and they added in Minnie Mouse to play too.

[Edmond Dantes]

Both the Magical Quest games are fun (actually there's three but I can only speak of the ones I've played) but I don't really see much difference between them.

[WelcomeToTheNextLevel]

Jak and Daxter. Jak 1 was this really good platformer with bright, colorful graphics and was easy to pick up and play. Jak 2 was too dark, depressing, and confusing - just didn't feel like a Jak and Daxter game.

[kupomogli]

I guess I'll add to this as well.

Agreed with Jak and Daxter as well as Vandal Hearts, I'll add some others.

Nightmare Creatures was better than Nightmare Creatures 2
Die Hard Trilogy was better than Die Hard Trilogy 2
Blood Omen The Legend of Kain was better than Blood Omen 2(a good game though.)
Bravely Default is better than Bravely Default 2 and Bravely Second
Lords of Shadow is better than Lords of Shadow Mirror of Fate and Lords of Shadow 2(although I'd actually rate all three equally, the first game is overall the most well received, I think they're all good.)
Phantasy Star Online is better than Phantasy Star Online Episode 3, Phantasy Star Universe, Phantasy Star Portable, and only because it's online only Phantasy Star Online 2.
The Legend of Zelda is not just better than Zelda 2, it's better than the entire series except Link's Awakening.
Ogre Battle The March of the Black Queen is the best in the Ogre Battle series
Tactics Ogre Let Us Cling Together, the original SNES or PS1 version is better than the GBA sequel and PSP remast.. remake, whatever it is they f'd it up, stupid level locked equipment and grinding classes out the a@# because they all start at level one, stupid.
Chocobo Racing. After watching that one video Tron 2.0 linked, this is well deserved.
Final Fantasy Tactics is better than FF Tactics Advance and FFTA2.
Grandia is better than Grandia 2, Xtreme, 3, and I'm assuming Parallel Trippers.
Legend of Legaia is better than Legaia 2
Suikoden is *gasp* better than the rest of the series. I know a lot of people like Suikoden 2 the best, Luca Blight is amazing, graphically it's better, harder game, and it is a great game, but the last third of the game has awful pacing.
Mega Man X. Mega Man X and Mega Man X4 are the two best in the series, it's debatable which is better, but Mega Man X4 is certainly the easier of the two with the worst last boss, but great Zero is to play is the reason it could be considered the better game. It's a worse game, but playable Vile makes Maverick Hunter X debatably better than the original.
Shadow Hearts is better than 2 and 3.
Darksiders 1 is better than 2, lol 3, and from what I've heard that top down one.
Demon's Souls is the best Souls, Bloodborne is better, it's not Souls.
Dragon Age Origins is better than the rest.
Mirror's Edge is better than... uhhh Mirror's Edge(PS4)

[Tron 2.0]

Blaster Master
Genesis strikes again!
Good thing when blaster master got it's remake with blaster master zero parts two and three turned out fine.