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{{trope}}
{{quote|(talking about ''Superbabies: [[Baby Geniuses]] 2'') "Y'know, I want to write and direct the third installment of this franchise, and make it the best thing anyone has ever seen, just so I can force critics to say "My god, you have to see ''Baby Geniuses 3''!"
|Ash, The Shitty Movie Night Podcast}}
So you've read a book, watched a movie, or played a video game, and you're underwhelmed. Maybe the story was cliched and unoriginal, or it was difficult to follow. The characters lacked depth, and were little more than flat characters with a handful of personality traits and nothing more. If it was a video game, the gameplay maybe had some good ideas but they were handled poorly and the effort was wasted.
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See also [[More Popular Spinoff]], [[Sequel Displacement]].
{{examples}}
== Anime ==
* ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]'' (Toei series) was based on the manga, which is weird considered the series has suffered [[Adaptation Displacement]] from the second series onward. ''Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters'' is markedly better both in storyline plotting and production values, and while the voice acting is debatable (the first one had a lot of seiyuu greats), most of the casting choices are better fits.
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* ''[[MD Geist]]'' was a mediocre OVA from [[The Eighties]] given popularity in North America due to a widespread advertisement campaign by those who licensed it. This popularity managed to sway the director of the OVA to make a sequel after ten years; those ten years of experience are very evident.
* ''[[Birdy the Mighty]]: Decode'' is widely regarded as a vast improvement over the original four-episode OVA.
== Film ==
* ''[[Star Trek: The Motion Picture]]'' was dull, padded out with [[Leave the Camera Running]] scenes, and didn't really feel like ''[[Star Trek]]''. ''[[Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan|Star Trek II the Wrath of Khan]]'', however, is widely regarded as one of the franchise's finest moments.
** The general pattern is summed up by the phrase "[[Spaced|Even-numbered ''Trek'' films don't suck]]", as ''[[Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home|IV]]'' and ''[[Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country|VI]]'' are generally considered good or at least decent, while ''[[Star Trek III: The Search For Spock|III]]'' and especially ''[[Star Trek V: The Final Frontier|V]]'' are generally considered...well...not so great. Comparatively, most fans consider ''[[Star Trek Generations|Generations]]'' (the seventh) to be an okay sci-fi movie, while ''[[Star Trek: First Contact|First Contact]]'' (the eighth) is a solid action film. That said, ''[[Star Trek: Nemesis|Nemesis]]'' doesn't have many fans, and the 2009 film ''[[Star Trek (film)|Star Trek]]'' (which isn't so much as sequel as an [[Alternate Universe]] story) is mixed among Trekkies, but loved among general audiences.
*** More specifically, the films tend to alternate upward and downward trends in quality. Just look at the [http://i.imgur.com/fBoQy.png IMDB scores]. (Until ''Nemesis'', which only barely beats ''Insurrection'' and is far worse than the 2009 reboot.)
*** Also, ''III'' has more fans than the "even-numbered rule" would let on, and ''IV'' has more detractors.
* Many ''[[Indiana Jones]]'' fans consider the second film ''[[Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom|Temple of Doom]]'' to be a major letdown, for the needlessly darker tone and pointless gross out scenes. As such, the much more widely approved of ''[[Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade|The Last Crusade]]'' is considered a substantial improvement.
* [[Rob Zombie
** ''The Devil's Rejects'' is actually considered by horror aficionados to be one of the best horror films of [[Turn of the Millennium|the 2000s]]. Zombie's directorial turnaround was so sharp that he not only garnered a cult following but likely allowed him to make more horror films (like the "Halloween" remakes).
* ''[[Scary Movie]] 3'' was generally considered a great improvement on ''2'', with the [[Gross-Out Show|gross-out humor]] being replaced by more straightforward humor reminiscent of ''Airplane!'' and ''[[The Naked Gun]]''.
** Interesting mention of those movies, considering that [[Leslie Nielsen]], most famous for them, is also in ''Scary Movie 3''.
* ''[[The Pink Panther]]'' is widely regarded as a slightly above average '60s caper film, elevated by the presence of Capucine, [[David Niven]], and [[Peter Sellers]] in the (supporting) role of Chief Inspector Clouseau. Its sequel, ''A Shot in the Dark'', performs a bit of a genre shift (it's a [[Dolled-Up Installment]] that shifts the focus to Clouseau), and is widely regarded as one of the best comedies of that particular decade. It also introduced characters and elements that became series staples: manservant Cato and his karate attacks, former Chief Inspector Dreyfus and his being driven to madness by Clouseau, etc.
* The original ''[[Dungeons & Dragons (film)
* There is this German teen comedy called ''Knallharte Jungs'' (''More Ants in the Pants'' in the English dub) about a boy whose penis can talk. It was actually brilliant and hilariously funny. Now, this movie was actually a sequel to another movie called ''Harte Jungs'' (''Ants in the Pants'' in the English release) And my god, was that one lame!
* Although not as well-regarded as the original trilogy, critics generally gave much better reviews to ''[[Star Wars]] Episode III: [[Revenge of the Sith]]'' when it was released in comparison to the first two prequels.
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* While ''[[Frankenstein]]'' is widely remembered as a horror classic, most of what is associated with the monster comes from ''[[Bride of Frankenstein]]'', which is considered one of the best sequels in history.
* While the first two ''[[Puppet Master]]'' movies are fairly decent horror flicks, the third one, which actually goes into Andre Toulon's back story, is considered a classic.
* Amid the bad movies that were released in the ''[[A Nightmare on Elm Street]]'' franchise, ''A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors'' is actually considered to be a decent movie.
== Literature ==
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* The first ''[[The Culture|Culture]]'' novel, ''Consider Phlebas'', is a passable science fiction novel. The next, ''The Player of Games'', is the first in which the whole impact of what the Culture is like can be felt, and is usually the one recommended to read first.
** The key problem being that in ''Consider Phlebas'', the Culture are the antagonists, with the [[Anti-Hero|hero]] of the story being an enemy soldier, more or less, who is obviously none too fond of them. The criticisms he raises of [[Iain Banks]] society are a lot easier to understand and ponder on when you actually know more about just what the Culture ''is''.
* Arguably, [[Dan Brown]]'s ''[[The Lost Symbol]]'', sequel to ''[[The Da Vinci Code]]'' -- he breaks away from a lot of the cliches that had bogged down his earlier books (the formulaic opening sentence, the first good guy mentioned dying, a [[Token Romance]]) -- and spins a thriller that ends up not postulating a likely incorrect view of history, but one that hinges on the idea that wisdom lives inside us.
== Live-Action TV ==
* [[Battlestar Galactica (1978 TV series)|The original ''
* ''[[Blackadder|The Blackadder]]'' isn't bad, but it pales in comparison to the next three series. Interestingly enough, some of the improvements were a result of the original not being as good as hoped; the producers were given a much lower budget to work with, leading to the small cast and the use of just a few sets, rather than location shoots, which became two of the trademarks of the series. Also different was the Blackadder character, which changed slightly from series to series, but never went back to the idiot of the first series.
== Music ==
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* [[Tori Amos]]' original band, Y Kant Tori Read?, paled in comparison to her first solo album, ''Little Earthquakes''.
* [[Radiohead]] got a significantly more sophisticated sound with ''The Bends'', than they had in their debut.
** Similarly, Van Morrison,
* [[
* [[Black Sabbath]]'s first, eponymous album was decent, but ''Paranoid'' really knocked down all barriers and led to more heavy metal songs being played on the radio, including their own "Paranoid" and "Iron Man".
* [[Iron Maiden]] are a borderline example. Their first two albums were decent, featuring more glam-like lyrics. After ''Killers'', Paul di'Anno was replaced by [[Bruce Dickinson]]. Then ''The Number Of The Beast'' happened. The rest is metallic history.
* After the release of their first album, [[Talk Talk]] was dismissed as a cheap [[Duran Duran]] knock-off band. With each successive album, however, their sound matured and they ventured into more experimental territory, eventually dropping the New Wave genre completely and becoming an influential [[Post Rock]] vanguard, culminating with their final album, 1991's critically adored ''Laughing Stock''.
* Tchaikovsky only wrote three symphonies. They are numbered 4, 5, and 6. (For those who aren't classical music aficionados, his first three symphonies aren't nearly as good as the last three, and are almost never performed.)
* [[Pantera]] made albums prior to ''Cowboys From Hell''. [[Old Shame|Very, very bad albums.]]
* [[Nirvana]]'s ''Nevermind''. The band's first album ''Bleach'' is a muddy sounding and sporadically brilliant album (compare "Blew", "Negative Creep" and "About a Girl" with the less distinguished songs like "Big Cheese", "Swap Meet" and "Downer"). Few people at the time saw any reason why Nirvana were any more promising than other Seattle bands like Mudhoney, TAD, and Mother Love Bone.
** Ditto with [[The Smashing Pumpkins]]; their first album ''Gish'' was a weird mashup of pre-grunge, post-80s Hard rock. By comparison, ''Siamese Dream'' is considered on par with ''Nevermind'' when it comes to 90s alternative.
* Imagine if, tomorrow, [[
* The first two albums by [[Faith No More]], when it was in its original Chuck Mosely-headed incarnation, were uninspiring, if not utter crap. Then Mike Patton replaced Mosely and, starting with ''[[Crowning Music of Awesome|The Real Thing]]'', the band became one of the all-time greats.
* [[Kelly Clarkson]]'s first album ''Thankful'', made just off of her winning ''[[American Idol]]'', was a modest hit. Its success was credited to the popularity to the show more than to her. Her second album ''Breakaway'', featuring such hits as "Behind These Hazel Eyes", "Walk Away", "Since U Been Gone" and the title track, was ''huge'' and established her firmly as a pop star.
* [[Simple Minds]]' first album is... Well, let's just say that "Simple Minds play [[Three Chords and the Truth]]" is at best a ''flawed'' proposition. Had they not made ''[[Cult Classic|Reel to Real Cacophony]]'' but a year later, it's doubtful that any but the most devoted punk fan would have had the slightest recollection of them.
* The Slits. Though their early work was never ''officially'' released, an appearance in ''[[The Punk Rock Movie]]'', various high profile gigs supporting [[The Clash]] and [[The Sex Pistols]], and a Peel Session (which is more than many of their peers ever got around to doing) firmly established them as a shambolic but enthusiastic Punk band, most notable for being one of the very few all women line ups of the time. When they eventually recorded an ''official'' first album, 1979's Cut, they'd learned how to play their instruments and veered wildly off into Dub and Funk territories. It was a landmark release in Post-Punk history, but was such a radical shift in style and playing ability it prompted accusations of hiring session musicians and never actually playing on the record.
* Similar to the [[Radiohead]] and [[Van Morrison]] examples, [[Jethro Tull]] and [[Rush]] have parallel origins: Their first albums, ''This Was'' and ''Rush'' respectively, were basically just rip-offs of [[Cream]] and [[Led Zeppelin]], again, respectively, then their second albums, ''Stand Up'' and ''Fly By Night'' were considered improvements, their third albums ''Benefit'' and ''Caress of Steel'' received mixed reviews (though more so in the latter case), and their fourth albums, ''Aqualung'' and ''2112'' are considered their breakouts, establishing them as legends of [[Progressive Rock]].
* It's generally accepted that [[Blur]]'s debut ''Leisure'' has its moments, but is overall a rather patchy late-"baggy" era album. Without the benefit of hindsight, there's nothing to indicate that three years later they'd be one of Britain's biggest bands of the mid-90s with the iconic Britpop release ''Parklife''. (The change in direction- and improvement- started with ''Modern Life is Rubbish'', but that wasn't a major success on its first release).
== Tabletop Games ==
* Most of Matt Ward's 5th edition codexes are rather... divisive among
== Video Games ==
* The original ''[[Street Fighter (video game)|Street Fighter]]'' was a broken mess, with bad controls being the one huge problem that brought it down. By turning the [[Good Bad Bugs]] into gameplay features, removing the worst Bad Bad Bugs, and generally improving the controls, ''[[Street Fighter II]]'' is credited with [[Genre Popularizer|popularizing the one-on-one tournament fighter genre]] and becoming a phenomenon.
* Due to the ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' franchise and
** The ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'' prequel ''[[Crisis Core]]'', while repetitive, was considered a step above ''[[Dirge of Cerberus]]''. [[Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children]] got a far superior extended cut called ''Advent Children Complete.''
* The first ''[[Time Splitters]]'' was an average, plotless, mildly quirky fetch-quest game. The series really took off to its cult status at the second installment; a [[Rule of Fun|fun]], [[Rule of Cool|badass]], and most importantly ''[[Rule of Funny|HILARIOUS]]'' [[Spiritual Sequel]] ''and'' [[Affectionate Parody]] of the behemoth that was ''[[GoldenEye 007 (1997 video game)|GoldenEye]]'' in its day, courtesy of Rare veterans. Think of everything that made ''[[GoldenEye 007 (1997 video game)|GoldenEye]]'' good, turn it [[Up to Eleven]], add [[Everything's Better with Monkeys|monkeys]] [[Everything's Deader with Zombies|and zombies]] [[More Dakka|with shotguns]] and you're not even close to the [[Crazy Awesome|utter craziness]] this series embodies. '''''[[Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot|ZOMBIE MONKEYS.]]'''''
**
* It certainly happens in ''[[Dungeon Siege]]''. In the first game, the characters you could hire for your party were a bunch of one-dimensional mercenaries that came out of nowhere. In ''Dungeon Siege II'', the characters were given their own personalities, conversations
* ''[[Zone of the Enders]]'' sold well [[Just Here for Godzilla|mostly because]] it came with a demo for ''[[Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty]]''. The game itself was decent enough but suffered from repetitive battles, criminal shortness and [[Wangst|whiny]] and cliched characters, leading to a somewhat mixed reaction. As such, many people who liked the original concept were happy to see the sequel tighten up the controls, give you twice as many options in battle and include a long and interesting plot to follow. They were even more surprised to see whiny and annoying characters in the first game return in style, having [[Took a Level in Badass|leveled in Bad Ass]] in the intervening time between games.
* ''[[Bloody Roar]]'' was an obscure, poorly-balanced mess of a game, with overly simple but awkward controls, poor AI, and a wannabe [[SNK Boss]], thus the only appeal of the game was its relative simplicity and novelty, and possible pandering to furries ([[Stripperific|or Alice]]). ''Bloody Roar 2'', however, was an elegant masterpiece, fixing the system into something much less cumbersome and very easy to play, yet empathizing mind games and strategies, and allowing the player (or
* ''[[Dynasty Warriors]]'' 1 and 2 were bashed by reviews and many gamers alike, but from the 3rd game
** As a note, ''Dynasty Warriors 1'' is not part of the same series, which is why the Japanese series numbers are one less than the NA series numbers.
** The crossover series ''[[Warriors Orochi]]'' had a surprisingly improved third game. While it stays true to the ''Warriors'' formula of "kill as many bad guys as possible", it also added a level editor, cooperative and online play, a single overarching story arc in place of the usual faction-based approach, and a [[Loads and Loads of Characters|ginormous cast of characters]] from the series' history.<ref>
* Similarly, ''[[Soul Calibur]]'' was quite an improvement on ''Soul Blade/Soul Edge'' (most people think the series began with ''Soul Calibur'').
* Several [[Dating Sim]] series (such as ''X-Change'') start with a [[Porn Without Plot]] game with shallow characters that exist almost solely for the main character to have sex with and little interaction with the player (who's assumed to be too busy interacting with themselves) beyond them clicking to the next scene. Then a sequel adds things like actual plot, characters, branching stories, and the sorts of things that separate porn from a story that happens to involve sex. They also often get improved budgets allowing things like better art, more CG pics for scenes, and voice acting. In fact, ever so often a series gets so improved, they'll make a ''non''-hentai version, which have a habit of [[Adaptation Displacement|completely overshadowing the original]].
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* ''[[Neverwinter Nights]]'' had a rather tedious and unimaginative storyline. Then came the ''Shadows of Undrentide'' expansion, which was markedly better, and finally ''Hordes of the Underdark'', which completely blew the previous two away.
** ''[[Neverwinter Nights 2]]'' does it one better, with big improvements between the original game and the ''Mask of the Betrayer'' expansion. These include a greater emphasis on story, meaningful dialog, more unique and deeper party members (with the possibility to solo) and less focus on the engine's near unplayable combat.
** Unfortunately, ''Neverwinter Nights 2'' hasn't been around long enough{{when}} for the real gems to emerge from the modding community. ''Dark Waters'' (incidentally written by the same person who wrote the Shadowlords/Dreamcatcher/Demon arc for the first game) is pretty good, though, and its sea combat system was brilliantly scripted.
* ''[[Free Space|Conflict Freespace: The Great War]]'' was a fun space combat simulation game with a nice game engine and a solid storyline, but it wasn't outstanding in any field. The sequel, ''Freespace 2'', was darker, with a far more gripping and surprising storyline, vastly-improved combat, visuals that still impress today and a jaw-dropping and somewhat ambiguous ending that has provoked debate ever since. {{spoiler|It is also notable for being one of the few games where the player's character actually dies at the end, although forewarned, it is possible to avoid this and get a slightly different final cut scene}}. ''Freespace 2'' was such an awesome space combat game it killed the genre stone dead by making every other game in the genre redundant, and the few games in the genre to have come along since have not been as impressive. Fans are divided on whether a third game would be a good idea or not.
** How good is ''[[Free Space|Freespace 2]]''? The fan community has released several professional-quality campaigns, long since taken over operating the multiplayer component, made several total conversions (the most well-known turns ''Freespace 2'' into ''Babylon 5'': The Videogame,) and to top if off, they've been ''upgrading the engine'' non-stop since the source-code was released. On a decent computer, the source-code project makes the game look like it came out two or three years ago, when, in fact, it's over a decade old.
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* The original ''[[Super Robot Wars]]'' game on the Nintendo [[Game Boy]] was clunky, with minimal plot and a ''lot'' of [[Guide Dang It]] moments. Each game's taken steps since then, with its first sequel actually using the pilots and storylines from the series' in question, and producing Banpresto's first [[Original Generation]] batch, featuring Masaki Ando, Bian Zoldark, and Shu Shirakawa.
** Similarly, the first ''[[Super Robot Wars Original Generation]]'' was fairly clunky compared to the earlier SRW games on the [[Game Boy Advance]], with a pretty basic story and minimal animation and effects. It feels a lot like a side-project Banpresto wasn't ready to commit to (it was, after all, essentially a crossover ''without'' the crossing over). Compare to ''Original Generation 2'', which featured more plots and better animation and effects that nearly match the first ''[[Super Robot Wars Alpha|Alpha]]'' game on the [[PS 1]].
* ''[[Saints Row]]'' was your stereotypical [[Wide Open Sandbox]], released to faint praise for having a solid, fun game, but still being a shameless ''GTA'' clone. Only one thing really changed between its release and its sequel - ''GTA'' decided it wanted to be taken seriously, and we got ''GTA 4''. ''Saints Row 2'' went the other path - the main character became an over-the-top [[Heroic Comedic Sociopath]] and the game took [[Refuge in Audacity]]. Critics loved it, as did players.
** Even [[Caustic Critic|Yaht]][[Zero Punctuation|zee]] loved the sequel. He even called his review of it an "overly long wedding proposal".
* The original ''[[Star Control]]'' was a 2D space combat sim with hardly any story elements (at least not [[All There in the Manual|in the game.]]). ''[[Star Control]] 2'' kept the good parts (the space combat, aka Super Melee) and added a surprisingly complex and fun story mode.
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* If we were to follow the oddball retconning of ''Scramble'' into the ''[[Gradius]]'' series, that would count.
* The original ''[[MOTHER]]'', despite its interesting story and quirky take on the RPG genre, was a [[Forced Level Grinding|total grindfest]] with some insane [[Schizophrenic Difficulty|spikes in difficulty]] at times. (Mt. Itoi, anyone?) The second game, ''[[EarthBound]]'', fixed many of the problems the original had, such as removing the random encounters, easing difficulty, and taking itself much less seriously. It was by no means a bad game, but it had many flaws, like its blatant overuse of event flags (often requiring you to talk to a completely random character or do something unintuitive to get the plot moving), dreadful story pacing, and main characters who were flat as a pancake. In a rare instance of a Surprisingly Improved ''Third Installment'', ''[[Mother 3]]'' ironed out most of the problems of its predecessors. It balanced the difficulty, paced its story nicely, gave its characters fleshed-out personalities, and even brought out the dark edge the story really needed.
* The first ''[[Age of Empires (video game)
* By many accounts, the second ''[[Dark Cloud]]'' (''[[Dark Cloud|Dark Chronicle]]'' overseas) is an immense improvement over the original. One area is the fact that the weapon system was fixed. In both games, [[Breakable Weapons|weapons break if you use them too much without repairing them]]. In the second game you could fix broken weapons, but in the first they'd be gone forever. Several other things were fixed as well.
* ''[[Sonic Storybook Series|Sonic and the Secret Rings]]'' and ''[[Sonic Unleashed]]''. While people disagree about whether they are ''[[Sonic Adventure 2|Adventure 2]]'' or ''[[Sonic Heroes|Heroes]]'' quality (former being "better"), they generally agree that they surpass ''[[Shadow the Hedgehog]]'' and ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog (2006 video game)
** And then there's ''[[Sonic Colors]]'': the game managed to get all the way through its development cycle to its release without ([[Fan Dumb|most]]) people in the [[Unpleasable Fanbase]] raising a huge stink and calling [[Memetic Mutation|"SONIC CYCLE!"]] Unlike the previous games which included [[Scrappy Mechanic]]s (like [[No Sidepaths, No Exploration, No Freedom|automatically running forward]] or [[Unexpected Gameplay Change|the Werehog]]), no one is finding too much to complain about with ''Colors'', and generally agree that [[And the Fandom Rejoiced|it's finally broken Sonic through the]] [[Polygon Ceiling]]!
** ''[[Sonic Generations]]'', being basically a love letter to the best levels of Sonic games past, is also excellent fun.
* The first ''[[Fable]]'' game had an infamous amount of hype during development. When it was finally released in 2004, it received mostly positive reviews, but it ultimately failed to live up to it's hype, as others were disappointed by the lack of many promised features, a somewhat small, restrictive game world and other flaws. Along comes ''Fable II'' in 2008, with more refined gameplay, a larger, more detailed world with more quests, and deeper sandbox gameplay that implemented many promised features from ''Fable''. It received better reviews from all.
* The first ''[[The Elder Scrolls|
* ''[[Harvest Moon: Frantic Farming]]'' is a Surprisingly Improved Sequel to the confusing and disappointing earlier ''[[Harvest Moon]]'' [[Puzzle Game]], ''Puzzle de Harvest Moon''.
* ''[[Backyard Sports|Backyard Basketball]]'' on the [[PlayStation 2]] improved on everything ''Backyard Basketball'' on the PC, released two years earlier, had. There were no glitches, the game never freezes, there are NBA teams, and there are 9 more playable characters (while removing 1). There are even unlockable powerups!
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*** Thankfully, considering Desmond {{spoiler|has learned Ezio's Le Parkour skills and gained Altair's Eagle Vision through the bleeding effect}}, all signs point to the idea that Desmond will have [[Took a Level in Badass]] in the third game.
* Compare ''[[Fire Emblem]]: [[Fire Emblem Akaneia|Mystery of the Emblem]]'' to the original ''Dark Dragon''. While the latter was a good game that helped [[Trope Codifier|establish]] an entire [[Turn-Based Strategy|genre]] it was plagued with a terrible inventory system, staves didn't give EXP, and the graphics and story were rather bland. Then the former comes and fixes most of the gameplay flaws as well as much needed character and story development and wraps it up with a more streamlined version of ''Dark Dragon''.
* ''[[Red Steel]]'' was an ambitious shooter
* ''[[Dune II]]''. The original was a boring adventure game. The "sequel" (which had really nothing to do with the original) was one of the most important games of all time and the progenitor of the [[Real Time Strategy]] game.
* ''[[Just Cause (video game)|Just Cause]]'' was a [[Wide Open Sandbox]] game with a few nice ideas (like giving you a parachute you can use at almost any time) and some beautiful vistas, but had clumsy controls, kind of boring characters and was definitely not something you'd want to pay full price for. ''Just Cause 2'', however, vastly improves your ability to use the grappling hook in conjunction with the parachute, all but allowing you to ''fly'' around the landscape, and has tons of things for you to blow up whenever you want, making it a solid A-list title. It's worth noting that the first ''Just Cause'' was Avalanche Studios' first ever release, and they obviously spent a lot of time learning from their mistakes for the sequel.
* In America, the early parts of the ''[[Metal Gear]]'' series were a minor success, held back on the NES by its [[Blind Idiot Translation|extremely questionable translation]], bugs, and frustrating puzzles. It wasn't until ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]'', with its improved localization, that the series took off in the US.
* ''[[Söldner-X]]: Himmelssturmer'' was a serviceable [[Shoot
* ''[[Touhou]]'': In-between the standard danmaku games, which have been slowly improving, ZUN has done a bit of experimenting. The concepts he reuses tend to be much better the second time around:
** ''Phantasmagoria of Dim. Dream'' is, bluntly, terrible, suffering from cheating AI, little plot, ugly graphics, and boring battles. ''Phantasmagoria of Flower View'' still isn't great, but is at least reasonably passable. The AI cheats less blatantly, a fairly interesting story, it's fairly pretty, and you're actually dodging your opponent's patterns instead of stage enemies.
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* ''[[Lego Island]] 2'' is mostly a [[Contested Sequel]], but the most common opinion on it is that it was killed by [[Loads and Loads of Loading|long load times,]] dull and lifeless voice acting, poor animation, glitchy physics, low replay value, and [[Guide Dang It|poorly explained]] minigames. ''Lego Island Xtreme Stunts'' on the other hand fixes nearly all of these problems, mostly by adding far more replay value, shortening the load times, explaining the minigames better, and having far less glitches.
* ''[[Castlevania]]'' had this too in its [[Game Boy]] trilogy. ''The Adventure'' had unresponsive controls, [[Fake Difficulty]] in losing whip power after only ''one'' hit and extremely slow gameplay. Sub-weapons and such were absent, and hearts, normally used for subweapon power, restored energy. ''Belmont's Revenge'' rectified this in many ways, with only losing whip power if you die or get hit by the snake tower's fireballs. Christopher Belmont still moves slowly, but nowhere near as slow as his first adventure. The much more responsive controls, a non-linear level select format, like in ''[[Mega Man (video game)|Mega Man]]'', even better music and a password system were welcome additions. The sub-weapon system reappeared, albeit it's only limited to the Cross (or Axe) and the Holy Water, depending on which version you have in the game (Japanese version had the Cross, International versions had the Axe).
* ''[[Deus Ex]]'' fans, following the [[Contested Sequel|lukewarm reception]] to ''[[Deus Ex:
* The original ''[[Fallout]]'' was a solid, if slightly glitchy RPG whose primary claim to fame was being violent enough that Steve Jackson withdrew the GURPS license during development. ''[[Fallout 2]]'' is a classic, and defined the open world, dark humor, pervasive bugs, and surreal special encounters that would become hallmarks of the sequel.
** In a similar vein, ''
* Also from Black Isle, ''[[Baldur's Gate|Baldur's Gate 2]]'' took an already decent D&D experience and improved on everything, particularly the story, which was further improved and given a proper conclusion with its expansion, ''Throne of Bhaal''.
* ''Outpost'' was a turn-based colony management game that was well hyped before its release, but it turned out to just be [[Recycled in Space|Simcity IN SPACE!]] Not only that, it had several bugs, and was basically unfinished. ''[[Outpost 2]]'' on the other hand, took some of the key plot elements from the first, and made it into an enjoyably complex real time strategy game with a heavy focus on colony management. The story (which ignored the first in almost every conceivable fashion) was very detailed and interesting, becoming a tale told from the point of view of two factions, both trying to survive and avoid extinction. The inclusion of the story in the form of a novella, along with all the well-researched science (the game leans heavily towards hard science fiction), makes the game more enjoyable than one would expect from its predecessor.
* The first ''[[Arc the Lad]]'' is a fairly average SRPG: the battle system is fast-paced but flawed, while its characters are
* The original ''[[Warcraft]]'' was an unimaginative [[Real Time Strategy]] with two cosmetically-different sides and little backstory. This is justified because the people at Blizzard had a contract with [[Games Workshop]] on making a ''[[Warhammer Fantasy]]'' game. When the contract fell through, they decided to release the game anyway under a slightly-different name (that's why ''Warcraft'' has green orcs). Then came ''Warcraft II'', still with very similar sides (except for mage spells and archer enhancements) but a fairly well-developed backstory. Along with ''[[Dune]] II'', ''Warcraft II'' is considered to be one of the progenitors of the [[Real Time Strategy]] genre. ''Warcraft III'' has 4 ''very'' different sides and an even richer backstory, the success of which prompted Blizzard to make [[World of Warcraft|the most successful MMORPG in history]].
* ''[[Mario Party]] 9'' is this among many people. The series had a total off 10 parties before the 9th installment (8 of them going from the N64, to Gamecube, and the Wii while the other two were on the GBA and DS) and the most common complaint where how the games were more about luck than skill and how each game was just a rehash from the last game. The 9th installment changes up a ton of things to make the games a bit more fair by greatly reducing the amount of luck based events, scrapping the coins, stars, and items system for a mini-star system that allows players to collect them very frequently or lose them just as fast so games are more close, and the mechanic of all players moving on the board at once creates new strategies in turn order and what types of dice blocks you should use. Of course, people who grew up with the series [[They Changed It, Now It Sucks|may not like the new direction of the 9th party]].
== Webcomics ==
* The
* [[Platypus Comix]]'s "2008 Character Strike" series brought some comics that relied heavily on old material, as well as a simplistic ''[[Family Guy]]'' parody. These provided a few giggles, but not enough to hide the fact these ranked among the cheapest stories at the website. Then, the Head Executive decided to hire [[Spider-Man]] to replace the usual characters, resulting in "True Believers". Released a few weeks after Marvel's polarizing ''[[One More Day]]'', "True Believers" sent Spidey and Mary Jane Watson on a suspenseful, emotionally-driven adventure to prevent [[Joe Quesada|Joe]] [[No Celebrities Were Harmed|Quesadilla]] from forcefully ending their contented and iconic marriage. Peter Paltridge went on to declare this one of the two best comics he ever wrote.
== Western Animation ==
* The early proto-[[Bugs Bunny]] short "Elmer's Candid Camera" was a total disaster, suffering from poor characterization, mediocre gags and positively abysmal timing and pacing, and as such received such bashing from [[Chuck Jones]], the director of the short, in his autobiography. [[Tex Avery]] learned from Chuck's mistakes, and promptly remade the cartoon as the first real [[Bugs Bunny]] cartoon "[[A Wild Hare]]".
* ''[[My Little Pony:
* All of the ''[[Tom and Jerry]]'' movies from ''The Magic Ring''
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