Surprisingly Improved Sequel: Difference between revisions

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== Live-Action TV ==

* The original ''[[Battlestar Galactica Classic]]'' was pure 70s sci-fi cheese, if a fun show nonetheless. The [[~~Sci Fi Channel~~]] [[Battlestar Galactica Reimagined|remake]], however, took the concept, scraped off the cheese, and made it [[Darker and Edgier]] with a great deal of success. The resulting show was considered a surprising improvement over the original series and garnered a large following.

* The original ''[[Battlestar Galactica Classic]]'' was pure 70s sci-fi cheese, if a fun show nonetheless. The [[Syfy]] [[Battlestar Galactica Reimagined|remake]], however, took the concept, scraped off the cheese, and made it [[Darker and Edgier]] with a great deal of success. The resulting show was considered a surprising improvement over the original series and garnered a large following.

* ''[[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.

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** Whilst the second game's campaign consisted of mostly [[Stand Alone Episode|stand-alone missions]], the sequel's has a much stronger, inter-connected storyline that culminated in the reveal of the [[Big Bad|series villain]]. Whilst not quite as fast-paced and [[Crazy Awesome|insane]] as the previous entry and with arguably weaker multi-player, the faults of both games balance each other out and they're often considered on par with each other, with which is better depending largely on [[Broken Base|one's personal preferences]] (most fans do consider them both great games however).

* 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 amongst each other, and even their own side quests.

* ''[[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.

* ''[[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 Cpu) to easily counter fools who would try to button mash, the balance was much better (though still far from perfect..), Story mode was introduced, and the game's story improved tenfold, the AI was dramatically improved, the low levels still being fairly easy and welcoming to new players (you could button mash most of the opponents on setting 1 and 2, though if you tried it on the final boss you would be horribly beaten down) and the hard levels capable of challenging an experienced and intelligent player, and the Final Boss was extremely hard and clever, yet he was still balanced for VS play, and fought fairly (no reading your buttons, or moving at impossible speeds, or moves that take off half your life in one hit, though he could combo you painfully). Sadly the game only managed a small yet strong fanbase, possibly due to the first game, and the lack of a budget. The later games fell into [[Adaptation Decay]]; 3 and Primal Fury/Extreme are still fun, but 4 managed to kill the entire franchise.

* ''[[Dynasty Warriors]]'' 1 and 2 were bashed by reviews and many gamers alike, but from the 3rd game onwards, the line was well received for a while. Recently, it's become mocked by reviewers (but still maintains a base of hardcore fans) [[It's the Same, Now It Sucks|because it remains a similar game in every incarnation]].

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* Think about this one for a second: the original NES ''[[Bomberman]]'' didn't have ''multiplayer''. Considering the multiplayer is often considered the backbone of the franchise's popularity...

* ''50 Cent Bulletproof'' was trashed for all the bugs and bad gameplay (the PSP version was by a different developer and fared slightly better). ''[[Fifty Cent Blood on the Sand|50 Cent: Blood on the Sand]]'' is getting above average scores due to great control based on established conventions, and a story that's praised as hilariously [[So Bad It's Good]].

* The original ''[[Killzone]]'' was a heavily hyped [[~~Play Station~~ 2]] shooter that ended up falling quite short of expectations, though it wasn't bad at all, just mediocre. ''Killzone 2'', on the other hand, has been well received by both critics and gamers, and "lived up to the hype".

* The original ''[[Killzone]]'' was a heavily hyped [[PlayStation 2]] shooter that ended up falling quite short of expectations, though it wasn't bad at all, just mediocre. ''Killzone 2'', on the other hand, has been well received by both critics and gamers, and "lived up to the hype".

* The first two ''[[Wangan Midnight]]'' arcade games were basically just ''[[Tokyo Xtreme Racer]]'' with ''Wangan Midnight'' characters and stage-based gameplay, with few players remembering or thoroughly enjoying them. ''Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune'', on the other hand, gave ''[[Initial D Arcade Stage]]'' a run for its money.

** For that matter, the first ''[[Initial D Arcade Stage]]'' had a poorly done multiplayer mode which, among other problems, required the second player to insert his/her coin(s) within 9 seconds of the first player, and had no incentive whatsoever to play a head-to-head battle over just playing Time Attack mode. ''Initial D Arcade Stage Ver.2'' significantly improved the multiplayer mode.

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* The first ''[[The Elder Scrolls|ElderScrolls]]'' game, ''[[The Elder Scrolls: Arena|Arena]]'', wasn't bad for its time, featuring things like day/night cycles, seasons (with changing weather), holidays, and an advanced lighting engine, but despite having a rather large world, there wasn't anything particularly interesting to see or do, with a fairly generic setting and a clichéd plot (evil chancellor usurps emperor, have to collect 8 magic staff pieces to beat him). Then along came [[The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall|Daggerfall]], which expanded the world (both in size and in richness) by several orders of magnitude, and added tons of things to do (dozens of factions to join! Vampirism! Lycanthropy! [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|Real estate!]]), one of the most detailed character creators seen in a CRPG, and a well-written plot with twists and political intrigue galore (as well as [[Obvious Beta|bugs and glitches galore]]).

* ''[[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 [[~~Play Station~~ 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!

* ''[[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!

* ''[[Contra]] 4'' came after four consecutive installments that sat poorly with fans of the series (two lame PS1 releases and two so-so PS2 releases) and whipped the series back into what it should be.

* ''[[Mega Man X]]'' had a nearly universally despised seventh game (an unusual instance in the extremely [[Broken Base|divided fanbase]] that ''Mega Man'' has); but the eighth game is considered a vast improvement.