game sequels that have nothing in common?

[Soviet Conscript]

many sequels are continuations of the previous game or as in the case of certain series like Final Fantasy have many stong elements in common like Cid, chocobos, spell names ect... for example but what about games that seem to just use the title only as a means to make money?

the question stems from Grandia, i have played the first one and my friend has played the second. after talking about them it appears the games have not much of anything in common like except mana eggs (not includeing standard RPG elements). perhaps this question is premature and i should play the second to see for myself but what do the grandia games have in common? or is the name just used to generate sales? what do you guys think about games that use the title of a previous game and promote itself as a sequel but have nothing at all to do with the previous game? doesn't have to be limited to RPG's either.

[Melf]

Legendary Axe 2 was a game that they essentially just slapped the label on. It has nothing to do with the first game. Heck, you don't even use an axe for most of it!

[Jumpman Jr.]

Well, the most obvious answer would be Super Mario Bros. 2 :)

[starsoldier1]

Super Mario Bros 2 and the Legendary Axe II are good choices but another one that comes to mind for me was Actraiser 2. That game took out those fun town creation modes from the original and the action scenes just feature slow and hard to control moron instead of the agile warrior from before.

[7th lutz]

Phantasy Star 3. If it wasn't the story of darkforce near the end of the game going into your ship after destroying the other ships, you have no clue that there is a connection between Phantasy Star 2 and 3. The thing with dark force leaving the exploding planet is flowed with the ships because Darkforce was the ship that Humans were on along with Mother Brain in Phantasy Star 2 after Palma blew up.

[roushimsx]

Gun Frontier and Metal Black.

Hell, if it weren't for the introduction screen saying, "Gun Frontier II", you'd never even remotely associate the games together. One is a western steampunk vertical scrolling shmup and the other is a horizontal sci fi shmup with totally different game mechanics.

[klausien]

The most obvious is Zelda & Zelda II. Sea Change.

ActRaiser 2 is the biggest offender. Pretty, but impossibly hard due to bad design. Amazing considering how truly incredible the original is (It is in my personal Top 5)

Another good example is ToeJam & Earl 2. A sequel that is again nicer looking, but lacks the hook of the original.

On a lesser note, if you look at Burnout and then play Burnout 3 or Burnout Revenge, the difference is amazing. Yes, there was an evolution occurring, but the increase in graphic detail and solidifying of unique play mechanics takes it in a totally different direction.

[kentuckyfried]

Alex Kidd is a series where all but two games are different, play-wise.

[lkermel]

Spriggan and Spriggan Mark 2 for the PC Engine CDRom share very little in common...

[GarrettCRW]

Zillion 2 springs immediately to mind.

[Garry Silljo]

D2, completely disregards the story in the first game and feels completely different play wise as well. You can also consider Enemy Zero, though it wasnt titled a sequal, it uses the same cast as D2, with again a totally unrelated story.

[djbeatmongrel]

mobile light force and mobile light force 2 :P

(Note: i know they are not even the same game, just imported with a craptastic name change for each)

[Soviet Conscript]

The most obvious is Zelda & Zelda II

yhea, way diffrent style but you still played the same character, the enemies and many other characters were the same. i could fall into the middle of that game and still be able to figure out it was a zelda game.

besides the story line at the end i think phantasy star 3 still had some characters from the previous games, Wren i beleive? and i think the spells used the same wierd names.

[Haoie]

Alundra and Alundra 2 spring directly into mind.

2 sucked pretty hard, because of its differences from the original. Also it was a pretty crappy game anyway.

[dubiouscubanx]

Would TMNT II: The Arcade Game for NES constitute as a sequel? If so, then I think it's totally different than the first TMNT for the NES.

[GarrettCRW]

Alundra and Alundra 2 spring directly into mind.

2 sucked pretty hard, because of its differences from the original. Also it was a pretty crappy game anyway.

Working Designs not bringing the sequel to the States might have had something to do with its crappiness.

[Daria]

Alundra and Alundra 2 spring directly into mind.

2 sucked pretty hard, because of its differences from the original. Also it was a pretty crappy game anyway.

Working Designs not bringing the sequel to the States might have had something to do with its crappiness.

May have also stemmed from the fact that an entirely different company developed it.

[rbudrick]

Well, for movies, there's Highlander 2. It is considered by the folks that run the series to be banished from Highlander lore. Like it didn't exist.

-Rob

[rbudrick]

Stupid double post.

[Soviet Conscript]

Well, for movies, there's Highlander 2. It is considered by the folks that run the series to be banished from Highlander lore. Like it didn't exist.


yhea, my manager is a big Highlander fan and he hates the 2nd one. but like i said with Zelda and PS3 they still had alot in common (same world, common characters, ect)

Alundra and alundra 2...i can't think of anything similar in those, except that the main character what a elf looking guy

[Retsudo]

I say Tekken Tag because it's a spinoff and it doesnt follow on with the storyline.

[50TBRD]

Well, for movies, there's Highlander 2. It is considered by the folks that run the series to be banished from Highlander lore. Like it didn't exist.

-Rob

The Renegade Version takes out all of the stupid stuff about them coming from another planet.

[Satac]

Dune and Dune 2

[Cantaloup]

Gauntlet: The Third Encounter for the Lynx. General gameplay was similar to Gauntlet, but it was basically some other game with the Gauntlet name slapped on it.

[Cmtz]

All Final Fantasy games

[idrougge]

Puzzle arcade games from Namco: Dig Dug and Dig Dug 2.
Puzzle arcade games from Tecmo: Solomon's Key and Fire 'n Ice.

Both keep their protagonist, but change perspectives, making the games entirely different.

Xenon 1 and Xenon 2 are also very dissimilar.

[Soviet Conscript]

All Final Fantasy games

like i said in the post, final fantasy games have a ton in common besides the typical RPG cliche's. characters like CID and chocobo's, the summons/espers/guardians or whatever you want to call them keep reappearing, moogles, spells. when i play a FF game there are alot of things that scream "i'm a FF game" because they are unique things or features that have appeared in the other games

lots off good examples but i'm talking about game sequels that have absolutly nothing in common, not counting cliches
and regular items, for example most RPG's are going to have swords.

as i pointed out Grandia...from what my friend tells me the only thing the three games have in common is the mana egg item and he tells me it has a diffrent effect anyways.

[rbudrick]

How about the Wonder Boy series?

-Rob

[mailman187666]

I agree with wonderboy, the first one is basically Adventure Island, but Wonderboy in Monster world for the genesis is basically an action/rpg. I prefer the genesis version any day of the week. This is kinda off topic but the Halloween movies. Part 3 had nothing to do with anything in the halloween series. Micheal Myers wasn't even in the damn movie...that was horrible, freakin' horrible.

[Soviet Conscript]

This is kinda off topic but the Halloween movies. Part 3 had nothing to do with anything in the halloween series. Micheal Myers wasn't even in the damn movie...that was horrible, freakin' horrible.

agreed, but the part with the mask that melts the kids face and all the snakes and bugs and crap crawls out...that was seriously freaky.

[Daria]

Micheal Myers wasn't even in the damn movie...that was horrible, freakin' horrible.

That's not entirely true. There's a point when they're at a bar and playing on the tv is a preview for a Halloween movie. LOL

But yeah that movie was awful.

[7th lutz]

Super Adventure Island 2

It has more action rpg elements then the nes ones have.

All wonderboy games except for first Wonderboy have rpg elements or zelda type game elements.

West one wanted the Wonderboy Series to be different then the adventure island series.

Rainbow Islands: Story of Bobble bubble 2. is different then the first one.

[j_factor]

I agree with wonderboy, the first one is basically Adventure Island

Wonderboy isn't "basically" Adventure Island; the first Adventure Island actually is a port of Wonderboy with the names changed and modified sprites.

[bangtango]

I understand the settings are different in the various Castlevania games but I'd like to see Simon Belmont appear in more of the games. There are enough prequels or side stories that just don't hold my interest.

[Beefy Hits]

Renegade and Target: Renegade for the NES.

[NeoZeedeater]

All wonderboy games except for first Wonderboy have rpg elements or zelda type game elements.
You're forgetting the arcade/MD/Duo platform/shooter Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair. ;)

[bangtango]

Doesn't count, I guess, but the NES version of Ninja Gaiden had nothing to do with the original arcade version.

So what?

Well, the Atari Lynx received a port of Ninja Gaiden, the arcade version. When they received a port of NGIII, that one was based on the NES version. Just seems funny since the NES series wasn't really based on the arcade title, so the fact that the Lynx gets an arcade version and an NES version just seems weird. Couple that with the fact that NGII never showed up on that handheld. For someone owning a Lynx that never played the NES games (not likely, I know), it would have caused some slight confusion since their versions of 1 and 3 did not tie in and 2 was totally missing from the Lynx library.

Far as I know, that is how it went. Correct me if I am mistaken.

[alec006]

Simply a mistake Red Faction 2, Compair it to Red Faction 1,1 is much better,2 has nothing to do with 1!

[Captain N The Game Master]

As far as story line goes, Silent Hill 2 & 4 have nothing to do with the rest of the series (1 & 3). Aside from the title, setting, and gameplay elements, they were both seperate games.