Clones, ripoffs and copies that were better than what they're copying

[shopkins]

I guess the primary example would be Ms. Pacman. What started as unofficial hack was even better than the original and eventually became an official game. With all of the other copying going on in the video game industry I'm sure there are a lot of examples like that, where someone releases an unofficial but better take on an established game. What are some examples you can think of and why are they better?

[kupomogli]

Dante's Inferno. God of War
Guadia Quest Retro Game Challenge. Dragon Warrior
Front Mission Gun Hazard. Cybernator
Dragon Warrior Monsters. Pokemon
Parasite Eve 2. Resident Evil series
Chocobo Racing. Mario Kart series
Castlevania Symphony of the Night. Super Metroid(debatable of being a clone)

Also there's Castlevania. Before all the, although good and a few better than SotN, Symphony of the Night clones came to be, KCEK developed Circle of the Moon. They borrowed the SotN exploration type structure yet kept the difficulty and large amounts of platforming in the game similar to the older games. My favorite in this style.

Castlevania Circle of the Moon. Castlevania Symphony of the Night

[Black_Tiger]

I know that some of these original games are considered holy by many who are unable to concede that they could ever be bested in any way. If you're one of them, don't take this as a pwning list, just understand that in some ways some people would consider many aspects improved upon by these "tributes".


Legend of Zelda - Neutopia I & II
Gauntlet - Dungeon Explorer I & II (I don't consider it a "clone", but many people do)
Famicom Wars - Nectaris/Military Madness & Neo Nectaris
Fire Emblem - Shining Force I, II, CD, GGs & IIIs
Dragon Warrior - TM/FEOE Ziria
Thunder Force III - Gate of Thunder
Phantasy Star II - Neo Metal Fantasy
Final Fantasy IV - TM/FEOE Fuun Kabuki Den
World Court Tennis - Final Lap Twin


Metrovania/Castletroids were plentiful during the 8-bit era, so SOTN isn't so original the way that so many people make it out to be and neither is Super Metroid. But I think that in a topic like this, it shouldn't matter how original a cloned source is so much as that it seems likely that the source game was an inspiration.

Also there's Castlevania. Before all the, although good and a few better than SotN, Symphony of the Night clones came to be, KCEK developed Circle of the Moon. They borrowed the SotN exploration type structure yet kept the difficulty and large amounts of platforming in the game similar to the older games. My favorite in this style.

Castlevania Circle of the Moon. Castlevania Symphony of the Night

I completely agree.

[Compute]

I'll go with Ladybug. Although I can only put it near Pac Man, not necessarily better.

[Gavica]

[Gameguy]

Arkanoid was a pretty good Breakout clone, I still like the original but Arkanoid is pretty fun.

[diskoboy]

I'll go with Ladybug. Although I can only put it near Pac Man, not necessarily better.

I think the Pac-Man clone reached perfection with Exidy's Mouse Trap.

And Soul Calibur for the Dreamcast was better than the arcade version, which even in 1999, was still a pretty rare occurence. Oh, and the Japanese import of Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 for Dreamcast was also better than the arcade versions, thanks to online play.

[Ro-J]

I'll respect anyone who disagrees, but I consider Mr. Do! superior to Dig Dug. I find it a lot more satisfying to angle balls at my enemies while digging through the dirt than trying to pump them full of air. Also, apples beat rocks. Plus I like how the designers borrowed from Pac-Man a little bit to give the player two different ways to clear any stage.

[Mike_Hawk]

Super Contra X: Ripoff of Operation C for Gameboy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCu6CF16KGo

[kedawa]

Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo is basically just a beefed up Baku Baku Animals.

[squirrel_king]

Super Contra X: Ripoff of Operation C for Gameboy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCu6CF16KGo

oh Super Contra X is terrible. I have it on a 6 in 1 multicart somewhere. Not a patch on Operation C.

talking of Game Boy Konami games though, I kinda prefer Rainbow Prince to the real GB Twinbee. but maybe that's just me.

[j_factor]

Master of Darkness (a.k.a. Vampire) is totally a Castlevania rip-off, but I liked it a lot more.

[Rickstilwell1]

Galaxian is a better ripoff of Space Invaders. Galaga is a better ripoff of Galaxian.

[Famidrive-16]

Dragon Warrior Monsters. Pokemon

I'd almost agree, if DQM didn't have a stupid amount of grinding required. That was the DS version though, maybe the earlier ones were better.

In a similar vein, I think Earthbound is better than all the DQ games I've played, considering that Itoi was heavily inspired by the series.

[DigitalSpace]

Castlevania Symphony of the Night. Super Metroid

This is wrong.

[Cryomancer]

Lots of people consider ALL sandbox games to be GTA clones (remember when all FPS were doom clones?), so by that logic, Saints Row and even moreso Saints Row 2 are superior clones. Hell, you could call San Andreas a superior clone to GTA VC, etc.

[Sabz5150]

Mig-29 Soviet Fighter: Top Gun

[kedawa]

Does anyone consider Miss World '96 (Nude) better than Qix?

[Nesmaster]

Lots of people consider ALL sandbox games to be GTA clones (remember when all FPS were doom clones?), so by that logic, Saints Row and even moreso Saints Row 2 are superior clones. Hell, you could call San Andreas a superior clone to GTA VC, etc.

Yes. Because Rockstar forgot how to make a fun game and instead tried to make a stupid interactive movie with GTA IV.

Never do that again Housers. We want fun in V. Not a movie.

[Az]

One of the Street Fighter II pirates on Famicom is much, much better than the official SFII' for Sega Master System.