[Pom]

Day of the Tentacle is definitely a superior sequel, and Monkey Island II is possibly better than the first but I would have to replay them to be entirely sure.

Although Wikipedia says it’s a prequel, I’d also add Solomon’s Key 2/Fire ’n Ice.

EDIT: and of course Sim City 2000.

[Brooks]

I think Smash and sequels are also the only fighting games where the context actually suits the rules/mechanics insofar as vs fighters are basically my-puppet-vs-your-puppet and Smash just completely goes with that reality, I still find that approach really shrewd and approachable

[zombieman000]

Never played the first Elevator Action, only saw screenshots, but 2/Returns is such a sharp game that I'm sure it fits in here.

[Felix]

I don't think Super Metroid belongs in this discussion because it's already exemplary of a somewhat more specific and interesting phenomenon: the SNESification of Metroid -- which, while an exceptionally compelling and successful formula in its own right, does sacrifice a thing or two from its less inviting inception.

[Jigsaw]

thanks another god for finally making the obligatory, obvious sf2 mention


Also for all the talk about MGS, Metal Gear 2 was a pretty vast improvement on the original Metal Gear and a fantastic sequel in its own right.

[shrugtheironteacup]

_________________

[Talbain]

[boojiboy7]

[Felix]

the problem with naming Earthbound or SF2 (as opposed to Mother 3 or Third Strike, which both seems like fine choices) is that no one really cared about Mother or Street Fighter on anywhere near the same level so they might as well have been the first instalment in their respective series

(feel free to push back on this)

[another god]

K&L2. Nice.

I think the idea that the original game has to be more than a cultural blip is interesting, but I don't think that's in the OP nor is it obviously necessary. I also think that makes it harder to discuss interesting things like what makes SF and why was it so much more interesting in SF2. To me, all that matters is an idea in one game expanded in amazing ways in the next. Using that definition I wouldn't put most fightmans in because they smooth and stretch out rather than sharpen. E.g. CvS2 is obvious after CvS1. But SF2's SFness was tightened up so much it didn't appear very much like the first game at all.

SC2k is also a really good choice.

I think the SNESification of games is totally related. I don't think that the NES>SNES jump should be excluded here just because SNESification was obvious, though. Look at Final Fantasy 2a. That game was a total refinement of the story based FF. I can't think of an earlier console RPG with as interesting storytelling. Because it was FF2a, there are three games you can look at as being its predecessor, and I think its pretty much leaps and bounds over all three while retaining that FFness to it.

Last game. I think Rogue Squadron 2's insistence on being like a movie really worked to amp me up for the game. In hindsight it wasn't the greatest game, but it definitely made me feel a feeling by just being more Rogue Squadron. Goddamn. I wish Lair did that.
_________________
interdimensional

[another god]

Mega Man 2.
_________________
interdimensional

[Levi]

Dragon Quest II pulls my favorite-ish sequel trick: keeping a previous game's entire map as a small portion of the new game's world to generate a sense of scale and pathos via direct comparison of design vocabularies. Characteristically, the result feels slightly eerie and pathetic.

I'm also fascinated by the way successive Pitfall sequels agree that the cardinal element of that game is a layered or bi-part level design and then elaborate to very different outcomes. Edit: I mention "sequels" here because every Pitfall sequel is in a sense a Pitfall 2

There's probably also an interesting discussion in Wizardry IV's maintenance of surface-appearance mechanics from previous games while inverting the premise and discarding all the numbers under the hood.

Pac-Man 2.

[parker]

_________________

[BenoitRen]

[Kinto]

Man if any F-Zero should get the sequel cookie it's X, surely?

Hey Hey:

Dune 2.

[boojiboy7]

Castlevania 2 holds a special place for me in this, but that game is probably not what is being looked for here.

[Levi]

[tiburon]

NFL 2k5. a 'traditional' i.e. expansive/polished sequel (2k4 is technically not a sequel, although it certainly was the innovator to 2k5's polish)

3rd Strike, if you want to talk about a game that was a reaction and reimagining (that they later shied away from, sadly! would have liked to see where that evolutionary line went)

+1 vote for MGS2, it takes this dumb little Die Hard thing called MGS and takes a look at it, saying, "what are we making really". and does it in a very compelling way imo
agreed re: melee, super metroid, f-zero gx

[tiburon]

Age of Empires II
Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri (depending on what you consider sequel)
Dune II?
Command & Conquer Red Alert
Halo 2 multiplayer
_________________
stream - steam - tweets

[Talbain]

[Gironika]

[notbov]

reading the thread and things pop up:

-VO:OT
-Outrun 2
-Violent Storm is the best Final Fight 2, as opposed to the actual Final Fight 2

seeing Pac-Man 2 get named warms my heart. now that is a goddamn sequel
_________________

[CubaLibre]

[parker]

[1CC]

[Loki Laufeyson]

oh
there are two games called fire n ice
_________________

http://lunaticobscurity.blogspot.com/ - newest post: Snezhaja Koroleva (Arcade)
http://lunargarbagehell.blogspot.com/ - newest post: Batman: Digital Justice

[misadventurous]

[Victor]

I do not think it is the best but Baseball Stars 2 is a real solid sequel.

[Jigsaw]

How does the relative failure of success of SF1 affect how and to what extent SF2 improved on it as a game? You're saying it's such and improvement, so much more successful financially, design-wise and culturally that it somehow doesn't count?

[guest253]

wipeout 2097 (XL)
cause that's some streamlining (and much faster for it).

espgaluda II
cause it extends the lifesaving mechanism of the first game into an invitation to lure yourself into your own death traps.

tetris 2
cause nah just kidding

[Felix]

[MattCD42]

[This Machine Kills Fascis]

[ikuzobaba]

if i were forced to come up with a handful of favorite sequels on the spot, i'd have to go with crazy taxi 2, virtual-on oratorio tangram, and planet harriers.

crazy taxi 2, because the added "crazy hop" feature worked mostly well with the new vertically oriented nyc stage design. you can't forget the surprisingly enjoyable omake inclusion of the rooftops-with-textures-added sf map from 1 included in it's entirety. the crazy box missions were a blast as well, and also managed to use the new jump capability to its logical maximum.

voot is a like a numbered (even though it itself isn't) sega sequel in all the best ways possible. lovely and constant 60fps late 90s sega graphics, a level of nearly unmatched technical depth in its/any other genre, and the cherry-on-top ability to replicate arcade play at home with vastly improved twin stick options.

i only got to play planet harriers once, and in all honesty i don't really remember if i beat it or even how far i got, but i do know that i want to experience it more. the item shop after each stage, graphical prowess (for the time), and seeming fact that 1. sega will never give this the home love it deserves, and 2. it appears to be unemulatable despite a long-running effort to make it so.

yeah.
_________________

[guest253]

[scratchmonkey]

[Ronnoc]

whooooooaaaa

That's @glitch


If we're talking sports games NHL '94 is the only yearly sports game o ever get a remake.

I can't believe they remade a yearly sports game.

[scratchmonkey]

The old-school hockey videogame discussion usually comes down to NHLPA '93 vs. NHL '94.

I go with '93 just because the one-timer is too much of a Money Play.

[Tokyo Rude]

Ive be meaning to make a topic for years asking what are the still great sports games.

[lolipalooza]

[schroeder]