Numbered Sequels: Difference between revisions

Parodies take this to extremes with [[Ridiculous Future Sequelisation]].

 

 

Contrast [[Oddly-Named Sequel 2: Electric Boogaloo]], [[Recycled Title]], [[Trope 2000]] and [[Super Title 64 Advance]].

* ''[[King Kong]] Lives'' was released as ''King Kong 2'' in several countries.

* The [[Harry Potter (film)|two movies]] based on the last ''[[Harry Potter]]'' book are titled ''[[Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows]]: Part 1'' and ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2''. The choice of Arabic numerals over Roman numerals is odd, as these films are the epic finale to the whole series and also decidedly lack any kind of futuristic bent.

* ''[[Men in Black (film)|Men in Black]]'' has two sequel, but the first uses Roman numbers (''Men In Black II'', stylized ''MIIB'') and the latter Arabic ones (''Men In Black 3'', stylized ''MIB³'').

 

*** ''[[Final Fantasy X-2]]'' may have started a trend within the franchise since ''[[Final Fantasy XIII]]'' is getting a direct sequel named ''Final Fantasy XIII-2''.

** There also exist Final Fantasy Legend II and III for the original Game Boy, although the Japanese versions were a separate series named [[SaGa]] and only branded Final Fantasy for international releases.

* Similarly, the ''[[Unreal Tournament]]'' series also had its share. The original was called simply ''Unreal Tournament'', the sequel was ''Unreal Tournament 2003'' (to sound like other sports titles such as ''Madden 2004'' - they wanted to emphasize the 'bloody sporting competition' aspect). The sequel/re-tool of that was ''[[Unreal Tournament 2004]]''. The next game was originally ''Unreal Tournament 2007'', but now it's just ''[[Unreal Tournament 3|Unreal Tournament III]]''. Apparently, even the developers didn't think 2004 was that different from 2003.

** The 200X games were both based on the Unreal Engine 2. UT 3 uses an entirely new engine (The Unreal Engine 3, naturally), and is therefore the third generation of the series.

* Mostly avoided by ''[[Mario Kart]]'', which instead went for the [[Super Title 64 Advance]] format (though the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo GameCube installments were examples of <nowiki>[[Oddly Named Sequel 2: Electric Boogaloo]]</nowiki>). For the 3DS installment, however, it will be released as ''Mario Kart 7''.

** But technically its the 9th installment in the series, guess the arcade don't count huh?

* The ''[[Contra]]'' series only had two numbered sequels. ''Contra III: The Alien Wars'' for the SNES, which directly followed the original arcade and NES games, ''Contra'' and ''Super Contra'' (aka ''Super C''), although ''Contra III'' was just the [[Market-Based Title]] for the American version (the Japanese version was titled ''Contra Spirits''). The second numbered sequel was ''Contra 4'' for the Nintendo DS, although it was released more than a decade later after other ''Contra'' sequels were made. The "4" on its title has less to do with its release order and more to do with its setting (taking place after ''Contra III'', but before ''Contra: Shattered Soldier'')..

* The Anno series started with ''Anno 1602'', then 1503 (yes, exactly like that), then 1701 and finally (as of now) 1404. The only pattern in this sequal numbering is that the numbers add up to 9.

* ''[[Initial D Arcade Stage]]'' used "Initial D Arcade Stage ver. ''n''" for the first three releases; the fourth game onwards drops the "ver," signifying an overhaul in the game's mechanics.

* ''[[Bubble Bobble]]'': [[Oddly-Named Sequel 2: Electric Boogaloo|Oddly named]] [[Non-Linear Sequel|Non Linear]] [[Numbered Sequel]]s: First there was "Rainbow Islands: The Story of Bubble Bobble II", and "Parasol Stars: The Story of Bubble Bobble 3". Then a "Bubble Bobble '''Part''' 2" comes out for NES and Game Boy, and then "Bubble Symphony" aka "Bubble Bobble II" comes out, and "Bubble Memories: The Story of Bubble Bobble III". This makes three second-installments and two third-installments.

* The first ''Metal Gear Solid'' game is actually the third ''[[Metal Gear]]'' game, following ''Metal Gear'' and ''Metal Gear 2'' on the MSX2, but uses the word "Solid" as a substitute for the number "3". The subsequent sequels kept the word "Solid" as part of the title and began a new line of numbered sequels (''MGS2'', ''MGS3'', and ''MGS4''). ''Portable Ops'', despite being part of the ''MGS'' canon, is not counted as part of the numbered series due to the fact its on a portable platform. Ironically, Kojima's original intention for ''MGS2'' was to call it ''MGS III'' just to confuse people about the numbering.

* ''Street Fighter II'', the sequel to ''[[Street Fighter]]'', had its own sub-series of pseudo-sequels, none of which were named in anyway that reflected their release order. On the other hand, the original ''Street Fighter III'' was followed by ''2nd Impact'' and ''3rd Strike'', and before that there was the ''Street Fighter Alpha'' prequel series, which had its own pair of sequels (''Alpha 2'' and ''Alpha 3''), as well as the ''EX'' series (''EX 2'' and ''EX 3''). Then there's ''Street Fighter 2010'', an obscure NES platformer that has nothing do with the rest of the series and is named after the year its supposed to take place.

* The sequels to ''[[Sakura Wars]]'' are ''[[Sakura Wars]] 2'', ''3'', ''4''... and ''V''.

* The ''[[Frasnchise/Sonic The Hedgehog|Sonic The Hedgehog]]'' series has become very cluttered with sequel numbers. The games for the [[Sega Genesis]] include ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog (video game)|Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' (also called ''Sonic 1''), ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog 2]]'', ''Sonic the Hedgehog 3'' and ''Sonic & Knuckles'', [[One Game for the Price of Two|the two halves]] of [[Sonic 3 and Knuckles|one game]]. Three console generations later, a fourth game was added to the series, called [[Sonic the Hedgehog 4]].

** Numerous other games in the franchise have their own sequels, some more straightforward than others:

*** ''[[Sonic Drift]]'' 1 & 2

* id Software likes to do this with their ''[[Doom]]'' and ''[[Quake]]'' games, but their ''[[Wolfenstein (2009 video game)|Wolfenstein]]'' titles avoid this.

* The ''[[Jumper (video game)|Jumper]]'' series, consisting of ''Jumper'', ''Jumper Two'' and ''Jumper Three''.<ref>and ''[[Video Game Remake|Jumper Redux]]''</ref>

* The three Compile-developed sequels to ''[[Puyo Puyo]]'' have puns on numbers. ''Tsū'', the Japanese word for expert, also sounds like the English word two; ''SUN'', when pronounced in English, sounds like the Japanese word for three; and the "yon" in ''Puyo Puyo~n'' means four.

* Namco [[Four Is Death|really, really didn't want to make a fourth game]] in the ''[[Ace Combat]]'' series. When they had to, it was only under condition that its number was padded to ''[[Ace Combat 04 Shattered Skies]]''. They finally [[Stopped Numbering Sequels|gave it up]] after ''[[Ace Combat 6 Fires of Liberation]]''.