Movie sequels are often ‘number two’ in more ways than just their place in numerical order. Video game sequels, however, are very much the opposite.
Quality sequels in video gaming are almost expected. To a point where second entries are far more likely to take flak for not improving enough over their predecessor than being outright rubbish by comparison.
But sometimes, a second title does more than merely improve upon a game enough to sate gaming press and public alike. Sometimes a sequel ends up completely outshining its parent game. Sometimes that follow-up moves the brand so far up the pecking order that the original title loses some or even all of its relevance outside of spawning such a sophomore effort.
Here are five such sequels and a debatable one to argue over in the comments…
Street Fighter II
Possibly the most forgotten of franchise originals is 1987’s Street Fighter. An arcade hit that saw ports to a respectable number of the systems of its day, Street Fighter would have been remembered as a pioneer in versus fighters in its own right if not for the monstrous success and decades-long influence of its sequel.
For instance, Street Fighter introduced the six-button combat control system that remains a standard to this day. It introduced relatively complex control inputs that performed special attacks. Both revolutionary for their genre and the stuff of which enduring legacies are made.
But Street Fighter II heralded a golden age for the entire arcade scene. Moreover, Turbo, Championship, New Challenger and Super & Hyper SFII Editions all poured out under the Street Fighter II banner serving as sequels to the King of Sequels.
SFII saw ports to every system that could run it (as well as several that could not). Street Fighter II also launched a host of imitators that propelled the genre to widespread popularity, both in the home and in the arcade.
Street Fighter II transcended video gaming in a way that games rarely did in those days and spawned a film. While that movie carries the Street Fighter name alone, its cast and theme are based on Street Fighter II and its many expansions, versions and editions.
Halo 2
Halo: Combat Evolved was a competent launch title for a new system in search of an identity. Despite the wafer-thin nature of Master Chief’s personality, it was enough to turn a few to the green side of Microsoft.
Those intrigued enough to try Halo: Combat Evolved found the skeleton of something great – in terms of both campaign and a multiplayer ultimately limited by its lack of online compatibility.
Halo: CE, after all, pre-dated Xbox Live 1.0 by almost one year. Its 16-player deathmatches could only be assembled via LAN parties so few got to experience the true potential of the nascent Halo multiplayer experience.
Halo 2 expanded the campaign, refined those multiplayer options into a modern playlist and took them online. It was Xbox Live 1.0’s killer app and by extension a killer app for console multiplayer just as it was about to take off.
The back of the Halo 2 box says that ‘Earth Will Never Be the Same’ and they were right. The ascendance of online console multiplayer was kicked along more by this one sequel than any other game.
From a sheer gameplay perspective, Halo 2‘s weapon dual-wielding elevated the most basic of mechanics. Bungie were forced to balance many core parts of the game to make it suitable for online play. For instance the burst-fire ‘Battle Rifle’ replaced the assault rifle. In addition, the Energy Sword entered players’ hands for the first time in Halo 2, creating an online MP icon in the process.
Age of Empires II
Even at the time, reviews marvelled at the progress made during the two years between Age of Empires and its follow-up. The step up between the two was huge in terms of visuals, controls, interface and sound design.
Age of Empires was a follower, basing itself on previous efforts in the genre while Age of Empires II was a leader, establishing conventions in its class rather than aping them. The absence of now-staples like unit arrangement, functional pathfinding, idle villager and ‘town bell’ buttons made Age of Empires plain obsolete as soon as AoE II hit shelves.
Your nostalgia may argue with this one but a quick lash of Age of Empires: Definitive Edition on Xbox Game Pass for PC will confirm this for you absolutely.
We are genuinely sorry if you weep when you realise how clunky it is. How it lacks any depth compared to any RTS made around or since its 1997 release. How unbalanced it still is, even with the Definitive Edition remix. Or how unbelievably bad the AI is, even with DE fixes.
On the other hand Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings remains a masterpiece that stands the test of time. Something observable through a continuing multiplayer resurgence that began in the late 2010s with the buzz drummed up with the release of Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition releases. 2013’s HD Edition still has a sizeable community.
Gran Turismo 2
It may seem like a cruel entry to this list but Gran Turismo 2 was a generational leap above that first game in the series. Gran Turismo was influential and a commercial smash but compared to what followed, it was a little rough and very barebones.
The expansive sequel arrived just 18 months later riding on a wave of esteem built from Gran Turismo‘s success. Gran Turismo 2 simply blew the first game away, leaving GT1 feeling almost incomplete when going back to it.
The menus looks plain, almost ‘demo-y’. The first game’s choice of a dozen tracks, while a step above your average 1997 non-F1 racer, seems laughable today. Its roster of 140 cars seems quaint.
Gran Turismo 2 comes with over twice as many courses on which to race over 600 vehicles. While there is some repetition and some bloat, the ‘true’ number of cars is still 450+ while its line-up of 27 tracks delivers enough just variety to enjoy exploring that huge potential garage.
In hindsight, the short development cycle for the follow-up and the huge leap in polish, content and overall quality suggest that a quite a bit of 2 was content not ready for the first game.
Resident Evil 2
Like Gran Turismo 2‘s massive expansion of a set of solid themes, mechanics and game loops, RE2 is built on a successful first entry. And just like GT2, it seemed to deliver on all of the promise held by its parent title.
Resident Evil may have popularised the survival-horror genre and pioneered many of its longest-lasting conventions but Resident Evil 2 improved practically every single aspect.
The expanded scale of Resident Evil 2 and its environments delivered incredible variety across a single playthrough. The two main character playthroughs were also far more divergent than in the first game. The swollen budget afforded to RE2 is visible across its visuals, voice-acting, soundtrack and FMV.
Unlockable content like two more New Game experiences gave RE2 a longevity not often seen outside of RPGs back in those days. Content like this may seem unthinkable now – stuff like ‘The 4th Survivor’ and ‘The Tofu Survivor’ would certainly be costly DLC.
Dreamcast, GameCube, Windows and even Nintendo 64 saw direct ports of Resident Evil 2.
The presence of the game on two ‘next-gen’ systems with only minor upgrades show how technically accomplished and ‘complete’ the Resi 2 package really was. While the huge effort put into bringing the two-CD title intact to a single 64MB cartridge on N64 shows just how valuable RE2 was back in its day.
BONUS ARGUABLE ENTRY: Red Dead Redemption
Many people have no idea that Red Dead Redemption is a second entry. This alone should be enough to demonstrate the gulf in quality and esteem between 2004’s Red Dead Revolver and its 2010’s Red Dead Redemption.
Red Dead Revolver released for PS2 and Xbox to little fanfare. It garnered limited acclaim with the gaming press at the time, despite Rockstar’s Midas touch at the time, only to gain an ‘underrated‘ or ‘must-play‘ status amongst gaming hipsters and misguided contrarians in the years since Red Dead Redemption‘s glorious release.
I played Red Dead Revolver at release and enjoyed it. But not enough to have not completely forgotten about it until the name Red Dead rang a bell a half-decade or so later.
Red Dead Redemption‘s quality and legacy are not up for debate. Nor is its status as a ‘number 2’. We’ve placed it in its own ‘debatable’ bonus category because it’s not a true sequel by any measurement other than being ‘the second one’.
Beyond the absence of story and character crossover, the gameplay style is not comparable. With Redemption taking on an open-world template and knocking it out of the park versus its predecessor’s linear action type.
In terms of tone, Revolver plays the fool often and takes itself lightly, echoing Rockstar‘s output of that particular time. By 2010, Rockstar had moved on from the slapstick of GTA 3D and Bully. The perhaps-too-gritty Grand Theft Auto IV was more their style by then and Red Read Redemption is definitely that same vein.
Your Pick…
Those are our pick of five best ‘number two’s in video games history. Are there any you feel we missed or are there any on the list that didn’t blow you away in the fashion that we suggested? Are we being disrespectful to any of the ‘first’ titles on the list? Should Read Dead Redemption have counted straight-up? Let us know in the comments below…
