Guest Post: Great Games with Questionable Sequels

Hi there! I’m currently in Wales somewhere, no doubt getting rained on heavily! So feel sorry for me! Today’s guest post is all about some great games which have had some not so great sequels.

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Great Games that get Questionable Sequels

It’s always great when your favourite game is getting a sequel. You check it out on the game forums, read articles in magazines, and check out web sites. But sometimes they don’t turn out the way you'd like. This is because of a new developer, gameplay structure, graphic style, or new art direction. Below are some of my favourite original titles and their questionable sequels.

Banjo & Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts

Banjo & Kazooie and Banjo & Tooie were two of many great Rare games on the Nintendo 64. It was comparable to Nintendo’s Super Mario 64. Some people even preferred it to Nintendo’s offering. The game had the same polish that Nintendo puts in its own games. The Banjo series is known for its great controls, graphics, fun atmosphere, and comical characters.

I was ecstatic when they announced that the Banjo series was to be revived for the Xbox 360. Microsoft had recently purchased Rare and had a game called Kameo: Elements of Power that I enjoyed. Much to my dismay, the game turned out to focus on building and driving vehicles instead of the platforming we were used to. This game would be the slow start of Rare not living up to its potential. All they have recently been doing is making Kinect games for Xbox 360. It’s a shame that the developer of diverse games such as the Donkey Kong Series, Jet Force Gemini, Perfect Dark, and Goldeneye have not returned to form. Rare’s golden years were with Nintendo and hopefully they can obtain some of that past magic.

Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)

Sonic Adventure was one of my favourite games for the Sega Dreamcast. When Sega announced a new Sonic the Hedgehog for the Xbox 360 and PS3 in 2005, I pre-ordered it at my local GameStop, thinking it was going to be great, but it’s a good thing I cancelled it. The game is known to be the worse Sonic ever. It has long loading times, bad voice acting and a ton of bugs. Thankfully Sonic Generations redeemed the series!

Yoshi's Story

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi Island is one of my favourite games of all time. I was ecstatic when they announced the sequel for the Nintendo 64. I knew that it might not be in the same art style as it was on the Super Nintendo. The Nintendo 64 was made for 3D graphic intensive games like Super Mario 64. I saw the art style of Yoshi’s Story and saw how different it was. The characters looked almost clay-like and it seemed that there was an emphasis on collecting fruits.  I finally got around to playing it and it felt like I was playing a kiddie version of the classic I enjoyed. The main part of the story was to restore the Super Happy Tree because Baby Bowser stole it. The music wasn't as good (except the cute theme song), the gameplay was too easy, and the graphic style changed (I miss sprites! Go back to it Nintendo). It also had shorter levels and none of the charm of the previous game, Yoshi’s Island.

Musashi: Samurai Legend

Square’s Brave Fencer Musashi was an awesome game. Not just because it came with the Final Fantasy 8 Demo. It had humour, great graphics and sound and was called at that time PlayStation’s Zelda for the year it came out. Then a sequel came out called Musashi: Samurai Legend. The graphic style was manga shaded style. It was cool, but that’s the only good thing about the game. It’s just a mindless hack and slash game with a bad camera. It’s your average game with the spirit of Musashi's past game to lure gamers in.

Mega Man X7

The Mega Man X series has always been about fun side scrolling action. Mega Man X 7’s foray into 3D was horrible. They should have slowly added 3D elements into the game instead of changing the formula so fast. The game featured bad camera angles, boring stage design and voice acting. There was a new character named Axl that didn’t bring much to the game. It’s amazing how much better Mega Man X 8 was. It’s like night and day!

Just a quick note: these games are still fun to play and you might like them more than I did. You can always find something you like in games even if they’re not perfect. I was just disappointed in these games based on how good the previous ones were. Thank you for reading!

Written by Cristian from Mansbros.com

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Thanks Cristian! So readers, do you agree with his thoughts? Are there any games you’ve played where the sequel just hasn’t lived up to the original? Let us know in a comment!