Old Save Bonus: Difference between revisions

Related is the specific bonuses achieved from linking a handheld with a specific game to a console with another. This began with the N64 title ''Pokemon Stadium'', which has a special adapter for importing Game Boy save data. The Game Boy Advance system has a link cable for connecting to the Nintendo [[Game Cube]], the Nintendo DS uses its Slot-2 to connect to GBA games and can connect wirelessly to the Wii, and the Sony PSP uses a USB cable to connect to the [[PS 2]]. However, this can quickly enter [[One Game for The Price of Two]] territory.

 

{{examples}}

* Unlocking Japanese as an audio option for Theater Mode instead of the default English in ''[[Kingdom Hearts II (Video Game)|Kingdom Hearts II]]: [[No Export for You|Final Mix+]]'' requires having a finished ''[[Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories (Video Game)|Re: Chain of Memories]]'' save file on the memory card. Notably, ''Final Mix+'' added a few cutscenes not in the original edition of the game, which means that there is no English voiceover available for them. ''This'', in turn, means that these cutscenes ''are essentially muted'' until you get around to finishing the other game. Which, naturally, is [[Guide Dang It|entirely in Japanese]]. At least ''Re: Chain of Memories'' [[Embedded Precursor|comes with]] ''Final Mix +''...

* The ''[[Ratchet and Clank (Video Game)|Ratchet and Clank]]'' sequel ''[[Ratchet and Clank Going Commando|Going Commando]]'' rewards players of the previous game with the five returning weapons being sold for free if you have bought them in the first game beforehand. The third game, ''[[Ratchet and Clank Up Your Arsenal|Up Your Arsenal]]'', does it for the two previous games seperately, with price discounts from a ''[[Ratchet and Clank 2002 (Video Game)|Ratchet & Clank]]'' save and the five returning ''Going Commando'' weapons for free if you have upgraded them to Mega in that game. Justified: the player is told by the Gadgetron head after a certain quest of the first game that the player is entitled to the employee discount in two years time. The second game takes place in a different galaxy with a different main corporation you buy things from. The third game returns to the galaxy in the first game; these games are developed at a rate of one a year, so the third game was released almost exactly two years from the time the first game was... turns out the man's true to his words.

** The ''Future'' [[Story Arc]] does it too: While ''Quest for Booty'' doesn't get anything unlocked from ''[[Ratchet and Clank Future Tools of Destruction|Tools of Destruction]]'', ''[[Ratchet and Clank Future A Crack In Time|A Crack in Time]]'' gets seperate bonuses from both predecessors (Price discounts from ''Tools of Destruction'' and a wearable pirate hat for Ratchet from ''Quest for Booty'').

** You can find a few other easter eggs if you examine the mailboxes in Woodside Apartments, inspect the fencing on the roof of Brookhaven, and look around Heaven's Night.

* ''We Love Katamari'', the sequel to ''[[Katamari Damacy (Video Game)|Katamari Damacy]]'', can import the star data created in the previous game into the new cosmos map.

* On ''[[Mario Kart (Video Game)|Mario Kart]] Wii'', having a save game from ''[[Super Mario Galaxy (Video Game)|Super Mario Galaxy]]'' and then playing 50 races is the easier method for unlocking Rosalina as a playable character.

* ''[[F-Zero (Video Game)|F-Zero]] GX'' actually allows the sharing of data between itself and the [[Arcade Game]] ''F-Zero AX''. As AX machines are hard to find in the US (at the height of their popularity there were a grand total of 20 of them available to the English-speaking world) and few people read the back of the box, hardly anyone ever noticed. The AX version did contain a semi-exclusive cup, which could be unlocked in GX if you beat the courses in AX with a GC memory card inserted to the machine; but because of the rarity of the AX machines, the only way to unlock this AX cup that most players have access to is to beat every cup on [[Nintendo Hard|Master difficulty]].

* The original ''[[.hack (Franchise)|.hack]]'' [[.hack R 1 Games (Video Game)|series of games]] is a serial game, one game in four parts. You're really encouraged to finish the prior game before going on to the next game in the series, as the monsters are very strong for a first-level character. You keep ''all'' of your items, equipment, money, levels, etc. if you have a completed save from the prior game, as it is supposed to be taken as a single large game. Fortunately, if you do start your game fresh, you'll be started at a reasonable level (30 for part 2, 50 for part 3, 70 for part 4) with generic level-appropriate equipment, so you're not totally screwed for not having played the previous games, though certain things may be unavailable if not imported. The sequel, ''.hack//G.U.'', is a set of three games that works the same way.

** ''.hack//G.U.'' also names one character after your main character in the original games, if it finds a save file for one of them.

* Most [[Sports Game|EA Sports]] titles reward players for playing earlier versions of the game, specifically versions from the previous year.

** The College Football players you create in recent edition EA's ''NCAA Football'' series can have pro careers by being imported to your copy of corresponding editions of the ''Madden NFL'' series. If you also owned ''NFL Head Coach 09'', you could use its advanced play editor to import custom plays into ''Madden 09.''

** Having ''[[Yggdra Union]]'' in the GBA slot while playing ''[[Knights in The Nightmare]]'' gives you the opportunity to recruit Pamela at a random point later in the game, and the tutorial will have Yggdra as its guide instead of Maria, with arranged music from Yggdra Union in the background.

** In ''Monster Farm DS'', one method of unlocking monsters is by inserting a game - any GBA game - into the GBA slot, and some formula works out what monster to make, but is still played straight as there are two special monsters that can only be unlocked with this feature, with the required games being the two GBA games of the Monster Farm franchise. (That is, the Japanese versions of those games. "Monster Rancher" is the English name of the franchise, and the English versions of the game do NOT give the special monsters.)

* [[Halo Reach]] gives you extra money for [[Cosmetic Award|armor]] if you've made progress in ''Halo3'' & ''[[Halo 3 ODST|ODST]]'' beforehand.

* The [[Sega Dreamcast]] version of ''[[Shenmue]] II'' allowed players to transfer collected items over from the first game. Unfortunately, the American version was never released, so the few U.S. gamers who imported the European version could only exploit this feature by hacking the ''Shenmue I'' save file to add the flags indicating it is a European save file (though the game does play fair by giving Ryo a few collections by default to sell for cash).

* ''[[Shin Megami Tensei]]'s [[Digital Devil Saga]] 2'' had a ton of save bonuses if the player had completed the first game. Bonuses included improved starting stats, special abilities, anti-element rings (gained by defeating the Bonus Bosses in the first game), and even {{spoiler|getting Heat back into your party}}.

** In ''[[Raidou Kuzunoha VS King Abaddon]]'', you get some bonuses for having a completed save from ''[[Raidou Kuzunoha vs. the Soulless Army]]''.

** Predating all of these is [[Shin Megami Tensei If]]. Upon reaching the World of Sloth, having save data from other Atlus games would get the player a large number of bonuses; having all the correct saves can get the player 3 free points in strength, 5 in intelligence, and 10 in agility. While this may not sound like much on paper, in gameplay it's like getting 18 extra levels, leaving the player just shy of being able to max out every stat.

* The ''[[Suikoden]]'' series of videogames uses this trope liberally. By importing save data from the first game with all 108 stars recruited, a lengthy bonus scenario involving two of the previous game's main characters would be available in ''[[Suikoden II]]''. Likewise, data could be copied from ''[[Suikoden II]]'' to ''[[Suikoden III]]'' to unlock hidden plays (with further bonuses for copying a save from ''[[Suikoden II]]'' that had had its bonuses unlocked by the copying of data from the first ''Suikoden'' -- and in Japan, yet further bonuses for routing a [[Suikoden II]] save through the two Suikogaidens and then into ''[[Suikoden III]]'', but those games never came to the US), and between ''[[Suikoden IV]]'' and ''[[Suikoden Tactics]]'' to unlock two extra characters. Sadly, with the release of the fifth game in the series, this practice seems to have been discontinued.

* If you have a savefile from [[Dead or Alive]] 3 or Xtreme Beach Volleyball on your Xbox and play Story Mode as Ein, you unlock Hitomi in [[Dead or Alive]] Ultimate.

* ''[[Champions of Norrath]]'' characters can be imported into ''Champions: Return to Arms''.

* In the second ''[[Creatures]]'' game, an item called the Nornverter would allow you to import Creatures from the first game.

* Having save data of ''[[No More Heroes]]'' on your Wii gives Travis's room an aesthetic change in the sequel.

** ''[[Valkyria Chronicles II (Video Game)|Valkyria Chronicles II]]'' will allow you to unlock several bonus characters, including Isara Gunther {{spoiler|who died in the original game}} if you have save data from ''[[Valkyria Chronicles (Video Game)|Valkyria Chronicles]]'' moved over from your save there. She's an Armored Tech, and a good one too.

** Having save data from ''II'' will get you Anisette as a playable character in ''''[[Valkyria Chronicles III (Video Game)|Valkyria Chronicles III]]''.

* The Flash RPG series ''[[MARDEK]]'' allows the player to carry over stats and items from chapter to chapter (all chapters are separate games), along with several other variables that are carried over (conversations with NPC's, prior events being referenced in later installments, etc.)

* Starting with the first ''[[Crusader Kings]]'' game, Paradox Interactive began including features in its games that allowed you to port a save to the next game in the chronology, allowing the player to play a single game all the way from [[Crusader Kings|the High Middle Ages]] [[Europa Universalis|through the Renaissance, Enlightenment]], [[Victoria an Empire Under The Sun|the Pax Britannica, World War One]], [[Hearts of Iron|World War Two, and the Cold War and on up to (almost) the present day]].

* If, for some strange reason, you still have a ''Madden NFL 06'' save game on your memory card, a special Madden van will be unlocked when you start up ''[[Burnout]] Revenge'' on [[PS 2]].

* Having ''[[Resistance]] 2'' for the [[PS 3]] linked up with ''Resistance: Retribution'' for the PSP will allow for PSP Plus, giving the player an almost entirely different storyline and locations to access within the PSP game.

* ''[[Monster Rancher]] 2'' would generate certain special monsters by reading other [[Tecmo]] game discs, such as ''[[Dead or Alive (Video Game)|Dead or Alive]]''.

* ''[[Fossil Fighters]] Champions'' allows you to send over fossils from the first game. This makes certain vivosaurs much easier to obtain, as some 'saurs that are only available late-game can be gotten from the start in the original FF. There are also some fossils that can ''only'' be obtained in FF, as some vivosaurs only have head fossils in ''Champions.''<ref>Though fossil-set completion is far less important in ''Champions'' because it's no longer tied to skill learning, it's still the fastest way to level your 'saurs.</ref>

[[Category:Video Game Rewards]]

[[Category:Old Save Bonus]]