classic arcade game sequels

[Kid Ice]

Last night I MAME'd up a little Gaplus and Galaga 88, and I did what I always do when I play those games...escaped and booted up Galaga (*argument on this later).

Why do you think sequels to the classic arcade games tend to be so lacking? There was a thread a while back about console sequels, and the consensus seemed to be that the sequels were usually superior (especially the second game in a series).

I'll go ahead and list some classic arcade games and how the sequels turned out. Keep in mind the focus is on *arcade* sequels (not console sequels like Tempest 2K and SMB). And when I say "original is best" I'm leaning more toward general consensus than personal opinion...I know some would say "DK3>DK1!"

Space Invaders...original is best
Asteroids....the consensus seems to be the original is best
Missile Command...no sequel? Liberator?
Galaxian...no sequel? (*and if it's Galaga, why is there Galaga 3 instead of Galaxian 4?)
Tempest...no released arcade sequel
Defender...original is best (you could argue Robotron is better, but would you consider Robotron a true sequel?)
Pac Man...probably an exception to the rule as most would say Ms. is better
Donkey Kong...original is best
Mr. Do...original is best
Berzerk...original is best
Galaga....original is best
Gorf...no sequel?
Wizard of Wor...no sequel?
Tron...original is best
Phoenix...original is best
Star Wars...original is best
Spy Hunter...original is best
Joust...original is best
QBert...original is best
Centipede...I like Millipede a little better but I don't know what the consensus would be...I don't think Millipede was as popular as the original
Dig Dug...original is best
Frogger...no sequel?
Zaxxon...original is best

A few explanations that come to my mind:
-they were perfect the first time
-they're the archetypes..."improvement" does not apply
-the crash shitcanned all the good sequels that were coming
-the focus at that time was not on sequels, it was on novel experiences
-almost all of them are sequels to Space Invaders in a sense

Thoughts?

[DogP]

I wouldn't totally agree or disagree on this... it does seem that a lot of sequels totally suck, but in the ones you named here's my thoughts:

Space Invaders... I think Deluxe is better, although it's nearly the same game, just a few added things to make the game a little more exciting.
Defender...original is probably best, but Robotron isn't a sequel, Stargate is... but I've never liked either :P .
Berzerk... I think Frenzy is a better game... it's the same basic game, but it just has more depth to it, like how you can kill Evil Otto and shoot through the walls, and bounce your bullets off other walls, etc.
Star Wars... I find ESB to be a better game, although once again, they're very similar... they're all MUCH better than RotJ.
QBert...I wouldn't really say this had a sequel... FHMC was never released, and Qubes is a totally different game.
Centipede... I've always liked Centipede better, probably because it was a simpler game... I think if I had both, in the long run I'd enjoy Millipede more, since it has more depth.

A lot of this could be because I didn't grow up "in" the classic era, I just played a lot of classics when I was growing up (played arcades mostly in the late 80's to early 90's). It also seems to be that the games with sequels that feel very similar to the originals are better than those that tried to really break away and do something different (probably because the originals had the right feeling that made the game popular in the first place).

DogP

[Arcade Antics]

My two zenny:

Space Invaders...original is best - I think I'm in agreement here, but honestly, that's probably because I haven't played much of the sequels.

Asteroids - I love Asteroids, but in my book, Space Duel is a far superior sequel.

Defender - Gameplay-wise, I don't consider Robotron to be a true sequel, that honor goes to Stargate. Which, oddly enough, I find to be much better than the original. Or in other words, if given the choice to play only one of the two games, it would definitely be Stargate. :)

Pac Man - My personal favorite of the series is Super Pac-Man, but then we're back to whether or not it's really a sequel.

Donkey Kong - another tough one - the gameplay is so different among the three games.

Mr. Do - another series (and maybe the only one) where every game is pretty drastically different from the others. All around, I think Do Run Run! is the best of the lot, improving every aspect of the original game's play.

Berzerk - agree with DogP here, Frenzy is much better.

Galaga - Galaga is as much a sequel to Galaxian as any of the Mr. Do! games or the DK series, so... technically Galaga is a sequel to Galaxian, for purposes of the discussion I guess. ;) I prefer Gaplus - it's a lot tougher than Galaga and has more going on to keep me interested. Galaga is too easy and I get tired of it quickly.

Gorf...no sequel? - not unless Jaime Fenton is able to rescue her work on Ms. Gorf.

Tron - originally Discs of Tron was to be the fifth stage of the first Tron game. No room for it though, so it got its own machine. Toss up here, but overall I think I like the original the best.

Phoenix...original is best - agree. Pleiads is good, but I think the BG graphics are a little too muddy and confusing at times.

Star Wars...original is best - agree here, but I didn't play as much Empire as I would have liked. If I had, I might prefer that one.

Spy Hunter...original is best - TOTALLY agree here - the sequel is... weak.

Joust...original is best - no contest, definitely. The vertical screen on Joust 2 was a bad, bad, BAD idea.

QBert - I prefer Qubes. I'm also noticing a pattern here. :D

Centipede - Millipede is much better than the original in every way.

Dig Dug - the sequel is the better game, I think, but it's another one that's so different from the original that it might be unfair to compare them.

Zaxxon - I like Super Zaxxon's Super-groovy dragon, but that game is TOUGH. Edge: original.

[NE146]

I'll tell ya how it is.

Space Invaders. I can probably guarantee no one here's played more Space Invaders than I have since I was a full blown addict in 1978-ish or so at that age of 9. Anyway Space Invaders is great, but it's sequel Space Invaders Part 2 is just better.. more variety and easter egg tricks! (although there is one bug that bugs me). Space Invaders Deluxe is fine too.. but I prefer the original PART 2.

Asteroids: Yes. It is better than Asteroids 2

Missile Command: Original wins. It had a stand alone sequel supposedly, but I dont know about it. There is Missile Command 2 in the prototype "arcade classics". See pictures here: http://www.andysarcade.net/arcadeclassicsproto/


Galaxian...no sequel? (*and if it's Galaga, why is there Galaga 3 instead of Galaxian 4?)
It's Galaxian, Galaga, and then Gaplus. The reason why Gaplus was sometimes called "Galaga 3" was because no one was putting quarters into "Gaplus", so Namco sent out a letter and marquee to operators saying that if they changed the name, they'd get more revenue. There is a scan of this letter somewhere on the net.

Defender...original is best as you said. Too much stuff in Stargate :P Ever watch a good Defender player in free space? Holy crap! With no Inviso it's a MANS GAME 8-)

Robotron.. the pseudo sequel was Blaster. But come on. Robotron rules over all :D

Pac Man. MsPac is better

Donkey Kong. Yeah I can play more DK than DK jr.. and of course DK3 is a Galaxian type shooter

Mr. Do. Yep. Original

Berzerk. I kind of dig Frenzy.. but Berzerk is the real deal.

Galaga....This doesn't count.. it's a sequel to Galaxian of course.

Gorf... the game comprised of every other game had nowhere to go for a sequel :P

Phoenix. I don't know if I'd call Pleadies a sequel. Phoenix stands alone.

Star Wars. I never saw ESB outside of emulation. But come on.. Star Wars is the classic version :)

Spy Hunter. Oh god the sequel SUCKED.

Joust. Again no contest.. original.

QBert...original is best. Yeah.. I guess so

Centipede..I would definitely choose Millipede over Centipede. Sequel wins.

Dig Dug. Original of course. Although I kind of prefer the bootleg "Zig Zag"

Frogger. No sequel in the arcades. Home versions dont count.

Zaxxon. Zaxxon 2 is a known piece of shit. Original wins