...it's like TV Tropes, but LINKED DATA!
Surprisingly Improved Sequel
- 1573 statements
- 301 feature instances
- 36 referencing feature instances
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | type |
FeatureClass | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | label |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | page |
SurprisinglyImprovedSequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | comment |
So you've read a book, watched a movie, or played a video game, and you're underwhelmed. Maybe the story was clichéd and unoriginal, or it was difficult to follow. The characters were little more than a handful of personality traits. If it was a video game, the gameplay maybe had some good ideas, but they were handled poorly and the effort was wasted. The book, film, or game may even have been pretty good. It's just that after reading it, you try out the Sequel and you're completely blown away. It's much better. The story is more original, the pacing was fixed, the characters who seemed so flat before are now more fleshed out and interesting in their own right. If it's a video game, the gameplay has been much improved and everything comes together more tightly. You weren't expecting the next product to be this good, but it seems the creator(s) did indeed learn from their mistakes. You're rightly impressed. There are several reasons for the surprisingly good sequel: Franchises with more regular production cycles can help studios retain talent and acquire financial backing more easily. It can also allow the production team more time to hone the stylistic aspects of their works. In fact, many authors and directors claim that some of their first work in a series was a near miss and they didn't really hit stride until the sequel. Franchises which plan things beforehand are particularly able to take advantage of this because they're less likely to get caught in in the sort of death spiral an open ended series can fall into. Note this can still apply if the original is utterly terrible and the follow-up is merely So Okay, It's Average — the improvement is still very much there, even if the end result isn't as notable. The opposite of Sequelitis in many cases, though sometimes a great sequel can produce a bad third or fourth installment, which would make it the opposite of Sophomore Slump. One rule espoused by some fans of comic-book style movies is that the sequels will have a chance to be better films overall, due to not having to get the origin out of the way. Growing the Beard is similar, but it deals with a television series that becomes remarkably better once it finds its stride. See also More Popular Spin-Off, Sequel Displacement and Remade and Improved. This is about the sequels to products that either sucked or were just average to begin with, but somehow magically improved a lot in the next installment. This is not about products that were already very good but got better. If the original was excellent to begin with rather than mediocre, then it's an Even Better Sequel. Naturally, examples will be subjective. A No Recent Examples rule applies to this trope. Examples shouldn't be added until six months after the sequel is released, to avoid any knee-jerk reactions. |
|
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | fetched |
2024-04-04T21:09:06Z | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | parsed |
2024-04-04T21:09:06Z | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | processingComment |
Dropped link to AdvanceWars: Not an Item - UNKNOWN | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | processingComment |
Dropped link to AlterBridge: Not an Item - IGNORE | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | processingComment |
Dropped link to AlternateTimeline: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | processingComment |
Dropped link to Bjork: Not an Item - IGNORE | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | processingComment |
Dropped link to Blur: Not an Item - IGNORE | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | processingComment |
Dropped link to BrokenBase: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | processingComment |
Dropped link to Castlevania: Not an Item - CAT | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | processingComment |
Dropped link to ContestedSequel: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | processingComment |
Dropped link to CreatorsPest: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | processingComment |
Dropped link to DavidBowie: Not an Item - IGNORE | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | processingComment |
Dropped link to EltonJohn: Not an Item - IGNORE | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | processingComment |
Dropped link to Eminem: Not an Item - IGNORE | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | processingComment |
Dropped link to Eurythmics: Not an Item - IGNORE | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | processingComment |
Dropped link to ExcusePlot: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | processingComment |
Dropped link to FanWork: Not an Item - CAT | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | processingComment |
Dropped link to FryderykChopin: Not an Item - IGNORE | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | processingComment |
Dropped link to GlamRock: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | processingComment |
Dropped link to Hellraiser: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | processingComment |
Dropped link to KatyPerry: Not an Item - IGNORE | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | processingComment |
Dropped link to KellyClarkson: Not an Item - IGNORE | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | processingComment |
Dropped link to Kesha: Not an Item - IGNORE | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | processingComment |
Dropped link to MerchandiseDriven: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | processingComment |
Dropped link to MonsterHigh: Not an Item - UNKNOWN | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | processingComment |
Dropped link to MotleyCrue: Not an Item - IGNORE | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | processingComment |
Dropped link to NewKidsOnTheBlock: Not an Item - IGNORE | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | processingComment |
Dropped link to NewOrder: Not an Item - IGNORE | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | processingComment |
Dropped link to Nirvana: Not an Item - IGNORE | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | processingComment |
Dropped link to ObviousBeta: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | processingComment |
Dropped link to PeripheryDemographic: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | processingComment |
Dropped link to PyotrIlyichTchaikovsky: Not an Item - IGNORE | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | processingComment |
Dropped link to REM: Not an Item - IGNORE | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | processingComment |
Dropped link to Radiohead: Not an Item - IGNORE | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | processingComment |
Dropped link to RecordOfAgarestWar: Not an Item - UNKNOWN | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | processingComment |
Dropped link to RevisitingTheRoots: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | processingComment |
Dropped link to RobZombie: Not an Item - IGNORE | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | processingComment |
Dropped link to ScaryMovie3: Not an Item - UNKNOWN | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | processingComment |
Dropped link to ScottWalker: Not an Item - IGNORE | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | processingComment |
Dropped link to SergeiRachmaninoff: Not an Item - IGNORE | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | processingComment |
Dropped link to ShaniaTwain: Not an Item - IGNORE | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | processingComment |
Dropped link to SimpleMinds: Not an Item - IGNORE | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | processingComment |
Dropped link to Slint: Not an Item - IGNORE | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | processingComment |
Dropped link to StarWars: Not an Item - CAT | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | processingComment |
Dropped link to Supertramp: Not an Item - IGNORE | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | processingComment |
Dropped link to TalkTalk: Not an Item - IGNORE | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | processingComment |
Dropped link to TearsForFears: Not an Item - IGNORE | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | processingComment |
Dropped link to TeenIdol: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | processingComment |
Dropped link to TheClash: Not an Item - IGNORE | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | processingComment |
Dropped link to TheComputerIsACheatingBastard: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | processingComment |
Dropped link to TheImmortalHulk: Not an Item - UNKNOWN | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | processingComment |
Dropped link to TheMoodyBlues: Not an Item - IGNORE | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | processingComment |
Dropped link to TheSmashingPumpkins: Not an Item - IGNORE | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | processingComment |
Dropped link to ToriAmos: Not an Item - IGNORE | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | processingComment |
Dropped link to VindicatedByHistory: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | processingComment |
Dropped link to Wilco: Not an Item - IGNORE | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | processingComment |
Dropped link to WolfgangAmadeusMozart: Not an Item - IGNORE | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | processingComment |
Dropped link to villaindecay: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | processingUnknown |
TheImmortalHulk | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | processingUnknown |
ScaryMovie3 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | processingUnknown |
AdvanceWars | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | processingUnknown |
RecordOfAgarestWar | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | processingUnknown |
MonsterHigh | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel | isPartOf |
DBTropes | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_109b4a22 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_109b4a22 | comment |
Predators was considered much better than the Alien vs. Predator films and received better reviews overall than Predator 2, though there are some fans who feel Predator 2 is the superior sequel. The franchise then had a much bigger case with Prey (2022), which after the oft-despised The Predator ended up getting near unanimous praise (the critic score on Rotten Tomatoes is 92%, even better than the original movie). | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_109b4a22 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_109b4a22 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Predators | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_109b4a22 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_110f2435 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_110f2435 | comment |
National Lampoon's European Vacation is considered a poor follow up to the original National Lampoon's Vacation, being nothing more than a rehash of that film with a Setting Update. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation on the other hand is held as a vast improvement for keeping the vacation theme without recycling the first film's plot as well as nailing the stress of the Christmas season/family gatherings in the same way the original did for family vacations/road trips. Not only has the film eclipsed European Vacation in the public eye, but it's also now considered a classic Christmas film. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_110f2435 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_110f2435 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| National Lampoon's European Vacation | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_110f2435 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_12ab1d9d | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_12ab1d9d | comment |
The first Arc the Lad is a fairly average SRPG: The battle system is fast-paced but flawed, while its characters are likeable but severely underdeveloped; and to top it off, the game is criminally short. The sequel, on the other hand, has a much more detailed (and darker) plot, more characters with more interplay amongst themselves, a relatively revised battle system and a longer campaign. As for the first, fans usually recommend it on the grounds of "well, it's the first in the series, and the second one is a direct sequel." | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_12ab1d9d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_12ab1d9d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Arc the Lad (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_12ab1d9d | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_142657fa | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_142657fa | comment |
Thunder Force III was a huge improvement over its rather average predecessor Thunder Force II, they got rid of the annoying overhead scrolling stages (which were all that the obscure first Thunder Force game had to offer), improved the graphics and music, and made the gameplay a lot better. Thunder Force IV and Thunder Force V continued on the tradition of awesomeness and were the peak of the franchise. Unfortunately, Sequelitis took effect after that. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_142657fa | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_142657fa | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Thunder Force (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_142657fa | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_143f82e6 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_143f82e6 | comment |
SnowRunner is a driving simulation game, and a sequel to Mudrunner. While the original game was well-liked by its' fans, the sequel takes the core gameplay and fleshes it out significantly with new features such as more varying tasks, terrain types and map interactivity. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_143f82e6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_143f82e6 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| SnowRunner (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_143f82e6 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_1510822e | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_1510822e | comment |
GoldenEye was more warmly received than Licence to Kill, although the latter has been somewhat Vindicated by History since. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_1510822e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_1510822e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| GoldenEye | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_1510822e | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_15a26aad | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_15a26aad | comment |
The Elder Scrolls: 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 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! 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 bugs and glitches galore). And then Morrowind happened, picking all the good bits of Daggerfall and multiplying them ten-folds. It also included Wide-Open Sandbox that filled the world with dozens of things to do and places to walk to, rather than just making it huge, while excellent mod support allowed the somewhat dodgy game to survive for years thanks to modders support and secure Bethesda's position in the industry. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_15a26aad | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_15a26aad | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Elder Scrolls: Arena (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_15a26aad | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_18f2e742 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_18f2e742 | comment |
The Fred Made-for-TV Movie trilogy is considered to be not very good, but people think that each succeeding movie is better than the preceding one. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_18f2e742 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_18f2e742 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Fred (Web Video) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_18f2e742 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_1ab9ad1d | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_1ab9ad1d | comment |
The original Killzone was a heavily hyped PS2 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". | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_1ab9ad1d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_1ab9ad1d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Killzone (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_1ab9ad1d | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_1bdeba5a | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_1bdeba5a | comment |
X-Men: Rick Remender's Uncanny X-Force run is this to every X-Force run before it. Previous runs (with the exception of Peter Milligan's, which was deliberately In Name Only) tend to be criticized as poor attempts to be edgy and relevant, often seen as embodiments of everything wrong with The Dark Age of Comic Books. In contrast, Remender's run is praised for its intelligent writing and Deconstruction of the '90s Anti-Hero concept. It's now regarded not just as the best X-Force comic, but as one of the greatest X-Men comics ever. X-Men (2019) aka X-Men: The Krakoan Age is this for not only All-New X-Men but the last few decades of X-Men comics as well. After an inordinate amount of Writing by the Seat of Your Pants, Too Bleak, Stopped Caring, Lost in Medias Res and the Reset Button getting smashed constantly by Status Quo Is God. Jonathan Hickman decided to flip the script entirely and bring every single mutant together under one roof and delve into what that means for the universe and the Children of the Atom — with the result that the X-Men are now top sellers again having been more popular than they have been in decades. |
|
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_1bdeba5a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_1bdeba5a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| X-Men (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_1bdeba5a | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_1cd53230 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_1cd53230 | comment |
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. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_1cd53230 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_1cd53230 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Puppet Master | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_1cd53230 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_1e43c8e7 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_1e43c8e7 | comment |
Styx: Master of Shadows wasn't really a bad game, but it was a generally janky and rather unpolished one with a lot of flaws. Styx: Shards of Darkness took everything that didn't work in Master of Shadows and either changed it for the better, or removed it completely. The levels are much bigger, but not divided into four parts, so there's little to no Padding; the second half of the game isn't the first half backwards; the cutscenes and animation looks much better and less stiff/uncanny; the tone is much more fun and darkly-comical instead of being straight and humourless; and numerous quality-of-life changes and improvements to the way the character handles have been made. Even reviewers who didn't love the game still acknowledge that it's at least better than Master of Shadows. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_1e43c8e7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_1e43c8e7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Styx: Master of Shadows (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_1e43c8e7 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_1ed5c0a9 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_1ed5c0a9 | comment |
After Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald was deemed a downgrade, critics were more acceptive of Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, praising the more streamlined script and Mads Mikkelsen taking over as Grindelwald. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_1ed5c0a9 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_1ed5c0a9 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_1ed5c0a9 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_1f30cee7 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_1f30cee7 | comment |
My Teacher Is an Alien is a decent standalone science fiction story. The three sequels, however, are an epic, philosophical, and surprisingly deep look at the human condition through the eyes of extraterrestrials. When people praise the series, it is almost always the sequels they are talking about, with the original being more like a pilot episode that sets up the characters. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_1f30cee7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_1f30cee7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| My Teacher Is an Alien | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_1f30cee7 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_1f68d6c3 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_1f68d6c3 | comment |
Gundam Build Divers Re:RISE is the sequel to Gundam Build Divers, the latter which was considered neither amazing nor outright horrible. Re:Rise brings in not just Character Development for Hiroto and his team, but also cranks ups the stakes, tone and more to new heights, while also addressing some issues left unanswered by its predecessor. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_1f68d6c3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_1f68d6c3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Gundam Build Divers Re:RISE | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_1f68d6c3 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_1f8f3255 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_1f8f3255 | comment |
Then there is the fan game Koumajou Densetsu — where the second game has received massive improvements over the first as well as added really well-done voice acting. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_1f8f3255 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_1f8f3255 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Koumajou Densetsu (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_1f8f3255 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_210767ac | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_210767ac | comment |
Crusader Kings: The original game, while it had its fans, was definitely a flawed game, with a Troubled Production and quite a lot of bugs. Crusader Kings II, on the other hand, has received by far the smoothest launch of any Paradox Interactive game to date, and received almost universal acclaim from the fans. Expansions like Sword of Islam, Legacy of Rome and The Old Gods have only served to make it even better. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_210767ac | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_210767ac | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Crusader Kings (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_210767ac | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_21938c93 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_21938c93 | comment |
Avengers: Age of Ultron, while not an awful movie, is considered the weakest of the Avenger films and pales in popularity and box office compared to The Avengers (2012). However, the most direct sequel prior to Avengers: Infinity War, the Cap-centred Captain America: Civil War was widely praised by both critics and audiences as one of the best entries in the MCU back then, to the point many consider it the proper second Avengers movie (if not Avengers 2.5). | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_21938c93 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_21938c93 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Avengers: Age of Ultron | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_21938c93 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_22147342 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_22147342 | comment |
Season 5 of Arrow was considered a major improvement and Win Back the Crowd moment of the show by fans and critics after its divisive season three and four. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_22147342 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_22147342 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Arrow | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_22147342 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_2268b84d | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_2268b84d | comment |
Shrek the Third, while not seen as terrible, is nonetheless regarded as one of the ogre's weaker outings and got a Rotten 41% on Rotten Tomatoes. This was because of the perceived over-reliance on pop-culture references, Shrek going through Badass Decay, and just not being as clever as its critically-acclaimed predecessors. Shrek Forever After, while not without its detractors and also still seen as somewhat paling in comparision to the first two films, is generally seen as an improvement due to a better-received villain in Rumplestiltskin, making a genuine attempt at doing something new with the franchise, and Continuity Porn. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_2268b84d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_2268b84d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Shrek the Third | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_2268b84d | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_23b65ea6 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_23b65ea6 | comment |
Zone of the Enders sold well 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 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 leveled in badass in the intervening time between games. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_23b65ea6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_23b65ea6 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Zone of the Enders (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_23b65ea6 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_259fee1a | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_259fee1a | comment |
Wes Craven's New Nightmare is considered a marked improvement on the 4th, 5th and 6th installments (regarded as a second nosedive after part 3) and some even think its as good as the original. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_259fee1a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_259fee1a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Wes Craven's New Nightmare | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_259fee1a | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_261c8d3f | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_261c8d3f | comment |
The first pinball machine themed on The Simpsons, made by Data East and sharing the same name as the show, is widely considered a competent but unremarkable table, with simplistic rules that have nothing to do with the show, a tendency to lose the ball even when playing well, and a sparse sound package with minimalistic quotes or clips taken from the show. 13 years later, Stern released The Simpsons Pinball Party, with a complex set of rules deeply integrated with the show, more things to do on the machine with nothing aimed at the drain, and extensive voice work from the actors recorded just for the machine. The Simpsons Pinball Party is considered by pinball fans to be one of Stern's greatest pinball machines, if not one of the greatest pinball machines ever made. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_261c8d3f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_261c8d3f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Simpsons | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_261c8d3f | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_283badac | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_283badac | comment |
By many accounts, the second 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, 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. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_283badac | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_283badac | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Dark Cloud (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_283badac | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_297c4318 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_297c4318 | comment |
Go! Princess Pretty Cure has been this for the post-HeartCatch Pretty Cure! era of Pretty Cure series in terms of story, ratings and sales as all three have been consistently better than its two predecessors, Doki Doki! PreCure and HappinessCharge Pretty Cure!, the former being accused of focusing too much on its lead while the latter suffered from a Romantic Plot Tumor. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_297c4318 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_297c4318 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Go! Princess Pretty Cure | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_297c4318 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_29b689d1 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_29b689d1 | comment |
The first game in the Momodora series, while made as a tribute to games like Mega Man and Cave Story, had some annoying issues that kept it from being a great game. Even rein, the sole dev of the game, agrees because it was his first game project. Then came along Momodora 2, which fixed most of the issues 1 had and adds an Metroidvania aspect to the game. The two other games, Momodora 3 and Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight, are considered to be even better than 2. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_29b689d1 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_29b689d1 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Momodora (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_29b689d1 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_2a8729e0 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_2a8729e0 | comment |
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 (or Alice). Bloody Roar 2, however, was an excellent improvement, fixing the system into something much less cumbersome and easy to play. The Story mode was introduced, alongside the game's back story improving tenfold, and the AI was also dramatically improved. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_2a8729e0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_2a8729e0 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Bloody Roar (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_2a8729e0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_2b9db098 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_2b9db098 | comment |
The first season of the Uma Musume anime, made while the game was deep in Development Hell, was widely seen as a So Okay, It's Average mobile game advertisement, with most criticism focused on its bland protagonists and story that couldn't seem to figure out if it was a goofy parody of sports anime or a silly but straight example of the same. The second season, released after the game, aligned itself firmly with the latter tone by getting rid of most of the tongue-in-cheek elements, resulting in many reviewers praising the depth that the characters and dramatic arcs gained. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_2b9db098 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_2b9db098 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Uma Musume (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_2b9db098 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_2c3cd890 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_2c3cd890 | comment |
Touhou Yumejikuu ~ Phantasmagoria of Dim. Dream is, bluntly, terrible, suffering from cheating AI, little plot, ugly graphics, and boring battles. Touhou Kaeidzuka ~ 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. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_2c3cd890 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_2c3cd890 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Touhou Yumejikuu ~ Phantasmagoria of Dim. Dream (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_2c3cd890 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_2d2d17de | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_2d2d17de | comment |
Power Rangers Turbo divided fans a lot. Both the movie and TV season were based on a comedic Sentai and were themed after cars, which was considered a downgrade compared to the more mystical and animalistic themes of seasons past. That season also had a number of Replacement Scrappy characters for those viewers had come to love in previous seasons. Zordon and Alpha were changed out for Dimetria, who only spoke to the Rangers in questions for the first half while being a boring Zordon-expy in the second half, and Alpha 6, who talked almost exclusively using "hip slang." Rita, Zedd, and the Machine Empire were also changed out for Divatox, who constantly whined and was not very threatening at all. But the biggest change was changing out all the Rangers (Rocky in the movie, the others halfway through the season) with brand new people, only two of which had any build up. To make matters worse, the new cast almost immediately slotted into the roles of the old Rangers, as if they had been a part of the show the entire time. However, its successor season, Power Rangers in Space, drove the franchise to new heights. The story became fully serial. All of the Rangers had heavy character development. The villains were (save for one returning villain from Turbo) great. The addition of a spaceship and the Battilizer were genuinely cool. And the season finale had a massive invasion involving every ally and villain from across the franchise at that point. Virtually every season thereafter would always becompared to In Space from then on. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_2d2d17de | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_2d2d17de | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Power Rangers Turbo | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_2d2d17de | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_2db91728 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_2db91728 | comment |
Devil May Cry 2 was widely considered a disappointment. Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening managed to Win Back the Crowd by being closer to the original game in tone and gameplay. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_2db91728 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_2db91728 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Devil May Cry 2 (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_2db91728 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_2ff171f9 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_2ff171f9 | comment |
Rick Remender's Uncanny X-Force run is this to every X-Force run before it. Previous runs (with the exception of Peter Milligan's, which was deliberately In Name Only) tend to be criticized as poor attempts to be edgy and relevant, often seen as embodiments of everything wrong with The Dark Age of Comic Books. In contrast, Remender's run is praised for its intelligent writing and Deconstruction of the '90s Anti-Hero concept. It's now regarded not just as the best X-Force comic, but as one of the greatest X-Men comics ever. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_2ff171f9 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_2ff171f9 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Uncanny X-Force (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_2ff171f9 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_2ffcbd43 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_2ffcbd43 | comment |
Compare Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem to the original Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light. While the latter was a good game that helped establish an entire genre it was plagued with a terrible inventory system, staves didn't give EXP, and some classes couldn't promote despite their promoted versions existing (Armor knight/general and Hunter/horseman for example). 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 Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_2ffcbd43 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_2ffcbd43 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| FireEmblem | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_2ffcbd43 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_303695fd | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_303695fd | comment |
Even as far back as the mid-1980s, Faith No More showed an amazingly promising, interesting and unique sound brought down by inconsistent songwriting, lack of direction, and a "singer" by the name of Chuck Mosley who was little more than a Wesley Willis-esque novelty act that could only take the material so far. With The Real Thing the band's sound and vision became much more cohesive and realized, and they jackpotted on a replacement you might have heard a few glowing things about (and who brought in his luggage the eclectic influences of his previous band). Oh and there's also the thing where it had a hit song and sold a lot of copies. And then came the next album... | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_303695fd | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_303695fd | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Faith No More (Music) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_303695fd | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_309d7300 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_309d7300 | comment |
Sonic and the Secret Rings and Sonic Unleashed. While the games still suffered from significant flaws (with Secret Rings having a lousy motion control scheme and Unleashed having the Werehog brawler levels), they were generally agreed that they weren't as bad as the widely-panned Shadow the Hedgehog and Sonic '06. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_309d7300 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_309d7300 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Sonic and the Secret Rings (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_309d7300 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_31d9267d | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_31d9267d | comment |
Popular opinion is that The Purge came down with a bad case of They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot. Instead of the titular event, where all crime, including murder, is legal for one night a year, being the primary focus of the film, it was instead relegated to being a Framing Device for an otherwise So Okay, It's Average home invasion flick; as a result, it was largely panned by critics and moviegoers alike. Its sequel, The Purge: Anarchy, addressed the issue head-on by throwing the spotlight onto the Purge itself, telling stories from both perspectives (those reveling in the anarchy, and those trying to stay alive) and going much deeper into the causes and consequences of the event. General consensus is that the sequel was what the original film should have been. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_31d9267d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_31d9267d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Purge | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_31d9267d | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_32164868 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_32164868 | comment |
The New 52 is generally regarded as a well-meaning but ultimately failed attempt to revamp The DCU. The initiative was plagued by poor planning, ill-conceived attempts to be Darker and Edgier, and a general sense of being directionless. Sales plummeted. Than DC Rebirth happened. Not only did nearly every book that suffered under The New 52 recover spectacularly, but sales skyrocketed and many feel that Rebirth has brought DC into a new golden age. However, it was replaced in 2018 by DC Universe, which depending on who you ask, either keeps it up or trips and falls into Sequelitis. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_32164868 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_32164868 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| TheNew52 | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_32164868 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_332e25e8 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_332e25e8 | comment |
Venom (2018) did not win reviewers over, with the most charitable deeming it So Bad, It's Good. Venom: Let There Be Carnage was better received for going on a Denser and Wackier route that enhanced the comedic elements which were considered the best part of the first. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_332e25e8 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_332e25e8 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Venom (2018) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_332e25e8 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3565350a | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3565350a | comment |
While Final Fantasy Tactics Advance wasn't a bad game overall, it was met with a mixed reception by the fans due to the overall tone being Lighter and Softer compared to Final Fantasy Tactics; Tactics was about war and betrayal while Advance deals with a group of adolescents that use escapism to avoid life's problems while the main protagonist tries to get them to face reality. The overall difficulty was also broken beyond recognition thanks to many of a Game-Breaker (stealing abilities without having to learn them the normal way and making attacks so accurate that instant death skills made battles a joke, for example). The law system was widely hated due to how restrictive it made battles, even with the ability to manipulate said laws. Final Fantasy Tactics A2 addresses all of the problems of the previous game and deals them out in a nice package; the story is treated as just an adventure to have a good time on with some darker themes mixed in, the Game Breakers were nerfed (while some do still exist, they aren't as easy to abuse as they were before), and the law system was simplified and made less punishing for those who break the rules. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3565350a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3565350a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Final Fantasy Tactics Advance (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3565350a | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_369e7a11 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_369e7a11 | comment |
The Rocky series has a well-known trajectory: the first installment is a classic, the second is a worthy, if perhaps unnecessary, successor, and the three that follow are various degrees of bad. The final installment, Rocky Balboa, may not have set the world on fire, but succeeds in recapturing the heart and underdog spirit of the first two. While not a direct sequel, Creed has been extremely well-received as the best since the original. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_369e7a11 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_369e7a11 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Rocky (Franchise) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_369e7a11 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_390e5c71 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_390e5c71 | comment |
The Sword of Shannara has some rough patches and comparisons (justified or not) to The Lord of the Rings abound. The later books found more solid footing. Brooks has stated that The Elfstones of Shannara (the second book) needed a lot of editorial work, but it's his favourite as a result. In fact, when the TV series finally got off the ground, Elfstones was the first book adapted as Sword is considered far too similar to LOTR to even attempt. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_390e5c71 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_390e5c71 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Shannara | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_390e5c71 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_392a827a | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_392a827a | comment |
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard marked the return of the Resident Evil series' horror roots, right after Resident Evil 6 went too far with the over-the-top action. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_392a827a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_392a827a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_392a827a | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_39446804 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_39446804 | comment |
The first four Harvest Moon (Natsume) gamesnote When Marvelous switched localisation duties to XSEED, Natsume still had the rights to the Harvest Moon name, prompting them to make a new series under the old title; Marvelous' version became Story of Seasons garnered mixed-to-negative reception from critics and fans. The Winds of Anthos is considered by many to be a step up over the previous entries, with its transition into a Wide-Open Sandbox being met with approval. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_39446804 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_39446804 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Harvest Moon (Natsume) (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_39446804 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3a215de9 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3a215de9 | comment |
LEGO Island 2 is mostly a Contested Sequel, but the most common opinion on it is that it was killed by long load times, dull and lifeless voice acting, poor animation, glitchy physics, low replay value, and poorly explained mini-games. 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 fewer glitches. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3a215de9 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3a215de9 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| LEGO Island (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3a215de9 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3a467f3f | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3a467f3f | comment |
As far as side games go, the little-respected Gun Survivor series was mostly known for being insubstantial fluff among its first three installments (Survivor, Survivor 2, and the non-RE Dino Stalker), but then the fourth and final one, Dead Aim, was praised as surprisingly playable and fun. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3a467f3f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3a467f3f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Resident Evil: Gun Survivor (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3a467f3f | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3aab82a | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3aab82a | comment |
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) some beautiful vistas, and a gargantuan open world to explore, but had clumsy controls, kind of boring characters, the world was fairly bland and repetitive, and it 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, literally thousands of collectibles, and a much more interesting and varied world, 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. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3aab82a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3aab82a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Just Cause (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3aab82a | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3aeb1c75 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3aeb1c75 | comment |
Games based on Dragon Ball: Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku for the Game Boy Advance was, for lack of a more inventive word, terrible. The combat controls are stiff, the plot is impenetrable to all but the most seasoned DBZ fans, and the game is way too short (beatable in about 6-8 hours, ending after Goku's battle with Frieza). Its sequel, Legacy of Goku II, corrected almost all of these flaws, as well as giving the player the ability to control characters other than Goku. And then, the relatively few flaws and lack of depth found in Legacy of Goku II were completely gone in Buu's Fury, which added an expanded range of special moves, such RPG basics as equipment and shops, and the ability to block. Dragon Ball Z: Budokai was generally considered a playable-if-nothing-special fighting game that captured some of the essences of the series, but also was criticized for the blocky graphics, simplistic combat, and tedious method for unlocking extras. Budokai 2 did improve several things (namely the graphics), but it wasn't until Budokai 3 where Dimps truly started to step things up. Budokai 3 was not only a much better DBZ game than its predecessors, but it was quite popular with gamers in general, due to vastly improved fighting mechanics, more individualized physical combos for each character, greater variety in special moves (which you could do on the fly), gorgeous cel-shaded graphics, unlocking extras being made much easier and much less tedious, a single-player campaign titled Dragon Universe that gave the game near-infinite replay value, the inclusion of Beam Struggles and the actual ability to fly into or from the air, and a roster that not only spans throughout the entirety of the main DBZ story, but also from the original Dragon Ball, the Broly and Cooler movies, and some of GT as well. Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi had a creative enough idea for a fighting engine, but it didn't really work that well; Camera Screw was a recurring problem and the whole thing felt a bit unwieldy. The second game tightened up the fighting mechanics a lot, expanded the roster, restored the popular Dragon Universe campaign-style, and added more options... and then the third, after tightening them up a little more, proceeded to make basically every character ever associated with the series playable, while adding in a big pile of quirky "recreate the series" elements. It's a close race between those two games and Budokai 3 for the title of "best Dragon Ball game." Ultimate Tenkaichi and Battle of Z had good ideas (faithful recreation of the anime's aesthetics and custom characters in the former, four-on-four team combat in the latter) that were poorly executed. While made by a different developer, Dimps's Dragon Ball Xenoverse is a marked improvement over those games, with improved combat, a new story that puts a twist on the DBZ mythos, and expanded character customization. It's also an improvement over Dragon Ball Online, of which this game has many similarities to. |
|
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3aeb1c75 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3aeb1c75 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Dragon Ball (Franchise) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3aeb1c75 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3b8b374 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3b8b374 | comment |
Even the most staunch defenders of the franchise will find it difficult to deny that the very first Just Dance was practically the epitome of Shovelware, with barebones gameplay and extremely dodgy motion detection. Then the sequel came around and fixed all of the flaws of the original while adding in a boatload of new features (most notably DLC and Duet dances). Each sequel from then on has generally been regarded as an improvement over the previous installment. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3b8b374 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3b8b374 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Just Dance (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3b8b374 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3bbe0ff2 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3bbe0ff2 | comment |
Scanners III: The Takeover pretty much hit rock bottom with the Sequelitis, running mostly on camp, with a Dull Surprise lead and a nonsensical plot. Surprise then that the Scanner Cop spin-off about a cop with Psychic Powers has a much more grounded plot with a relatable and sympathetic lead and genuinely terrifying villains. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3bbe0ff2 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3bbe0ff2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Scanners III: The Takeover | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3bbe0ff2 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3c3aec97 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3c3aec97 | comment |
Paradise PD is a Creator-Driven Successor of Brickleberry, using similar characters, style and comedy. Even the latter's fans often mention that despite Paradise PD not being great, it is still much better than its predecessor, with better jokes, characters that are much more likable and a few better songs in the soundtrack. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3c3aec97 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3c3aec97 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Paradise PD | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3c3aec97 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3c69e536 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3c69e536 | comment |
While the first Sonic the Hedgehog (2020) was for the most part generally well received, there are those that felt that the movie follows too much on the typical formula of the generic everyman bonding with a CGI character, so the sequel Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022) goes to the opposite direction and stay more true to the core aspect of the lore of Sonic, as well as adding in more characters in the franchise aside from Sonic and Dr. Robotnik. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3c69e536 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3c69e536 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Sonic the Hedgehog (2020) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3c69e536 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3cf15492 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3cf15492 | comment |
MechWarrior 1 for PC in 1989 was underwhelming at best. It was a polygon-based mech combat simulator, but calling it 'primitive' would've been somewhat generous. Mech models barely resembled their parent designs, gameplay was a slog, and the non-combat elements were underdeveloped or absent. Mechwarrior 2, on the other hand, blew all expectations out of the water with impressive graphics (especially for 1995), much better sound, actual music playing during missions, voice samples, more complex and interesting missions, two full campaigns, a kill-the-bots free play mode, multiplayer, and the much-beloved Mechlab where players could Min Max 'Mechs to their heart's delight. There was a reason it became a Killer App for PC in the early Pentium era. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3cf15492 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3cf15492 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| MechWarrior (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3cf15492 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3d44c7ed | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3d44c7ed | comment |
The first Age of Empires game, while stood out, was released to generally lukewarm reviews. The second game was released with critical acclaim and is considered one of the greatest RTS games ever, with its legacy still enduring after more than two decades. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3d44c7ed | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3d44c7ed | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Age of Empires I (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3d44c7ed | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3efd7240 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3efd7240 | comment |
X-Men (2019) aka X-Men: The Krakoan Age is this for not only All-New X-Men but the last few decades of X-Men comics as well. After an inordinate amount of Writing by the Seat of Your Pants, Too Bleak, Stopped Caring, Lost in Medias Res and the Reset Button getting smashed constantly by Status Quo Is God. Jonathan Hickman decided to flip the script entirely and bring every single mutant together under one roof and delve into what that means for the universe and the Children of the Atom — with the result that the X-Men are now top sellers again having been more popular than they have been in decades. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3efd7240 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3efd7240 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| X-Men (2019) (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3efd7240 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3f209005 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3f209005 | comment |
The fangame Mega Man: A Day in the Limelight had a really clever idea (take Mega Man 2 and let you play as the Robot Masters from the first game), but it wasn't well-executed at all; the Robot Masters were either too similar or too weak, the level design was either barely-changed from the first game or just incredibly tedious, and the design was overall shoddy. A Day in the Limelight 2 (Robot Masters from 2, levels from 3) fixed all these problems, making the Robot Masters all distinct and playable in their own right, allowing you to switch between them, and heavily reworking the levels to accommodate their abilities or just add some polish. It's generally seen as having delivered on the promise of the original, and in some ways even improved on Mega Man 3. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3f209005 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3f209005 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Mega Man: A Day in the Limelight (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3f209005 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3f6951a | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3f6951a | comment |
Morgan Spurlock's documentary series 30 Days can be considered this to Spurlock's earlier documentary Super Size Me. Like Super Size Me, each episode explored a social or political issue via a 30-day experiment with a different lifestyle, but it lacked the former film's Anvilicious nature and questionable scientific methods, since it was about honestly examining people's reactions to dabbling in different ways of life. It helped that most episodes featured a volunteer participant living out the experiment (rather than Spurlock himself), meaning that it came off as much less preachy than many people perceived Super Size Me to be. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3f6951a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3f6951a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Super Size Me | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3f6951a | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3f8d7fd3 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3f8d7fd3 | comment |
The first Norm of the North film was critically ravaged (with the first film briefly getting a 0% critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes before getting bumped up to a marginally less pathetic 6%) and the sequel, Keys to the Kingdom, was considered even worse for their over-reliance on Toilet Humor, poor animation, and for the lemmings, who are viewed as obnoxious rip-offs of the Minions (who are divisive characters to begin with). King-Sized Adventure, while still bad, has a better audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes (33%, as opposed to the first and second films respectively earning 22% and 20%)note The second and third films do not have critic ratings on Rotten Tomatoes and was given a slightly less negative review by Media Hunter. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3f8d7fd3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3f8d7fd3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Norm of the North | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_3f8d7fd3 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_407b3bd3 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_407b3bd3 | comment |
Van Morrison's first album, Blowin' Your Mind, was a compilation of earlier singles, including the Black Sheep Hit "Brown-Eyed Girl", and was disowned by Morrison. His second album, Astral Weeks, is usually regarded as his best. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_407b3bd3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_407b3bd3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Van Morrison (Music) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_407b3bd3 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_4088fa38 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_4088fa38 | comment |
Apparently, Stratos 4 falls under this trope, what with Advance having a better, more sensible plot that the original. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_4088fa38 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_4088fa38 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Stratos 4 | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_4088fa38 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_40b716af | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_40b716af | comment |
Assassin's Creed had really good Le Parkour gameplay and the beginnings of an interesting Ancient Conspiracy story, but was burdened with boring characters and levels, padding, and repetitive side quests and assassinations. Assassin's Creed II had a likable main character, levels that were memorable, and missions that were actually fun. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_40b716af | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_40b716af | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Assassin's Creed (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_40b716af | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_412f0390 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_412f0390 | comment |
The Evil Dead (1981), while absolutely being a fairly decent no-budget horror movie, is vastly superceded by the all-time classic Evil Dead 2. There was certainly no lack of talent in the original, but having 10 times the budget for the sequel definitely shows. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_412f0390 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_412f0390 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Evil Dead (1981) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_412f0390 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_41b0198a | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_41b0198a | comment |
The first two books of The Dresden Files, Storm Front and Fool Moon, are considered to be okay, if nothing special. Depending on who you ask, either Book 3 or Book 4 are where the books begin to get far better. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_41b0198a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_41b0198a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Dresden Files | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_41b0198a | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_4329184f | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_4329184f | comment |
Later in the series, Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops was a competently made game that showed great potential with its army building mechanics. However, the controls suffered on the PSP, the story (despite a great villain) felt more like a side-story, and the army building mechanic showed potential, but didn't quite live up to it with a lack of variety and frustrating issues. Then came Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. Under Kojima's direction (unlike Portable Ops), Peace Walker's controls were more refined, its story felt more connected to the overall picture (particularly with Big Boss' Character Development) and the potential that Portable Ops showed with its army building mechanics were thoroughly lived up to, with an entire, constantly-growing, base of operations, a variety of options that expanded over the course of the entire game, and with the frustrating features simplified or removed. All that along with being the biggest Metal Gear game ever made at the time, meant it blew Portable Ops away. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_4329184f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_4329184f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_4329184f | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_4368c61c | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_4368c61c | comment |
The Score (1996) by The Fugees was a bestseller which met with more critical acclaim than their poorly received debut album "Blunted On Reality" (1994). Even the band themselves saw this record as a failure, because of all the Executive Meddling. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_4368c61c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_4368c61c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Score (Music) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_4368c61c | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_43abaff4 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_43abaff4 | comment |
The Exorcist is considered a classic horror film, its sequel Exorcist II: The Heretic is considered a classic example of Sequelitis. The Exorcist III, while not as good as the first, is definitely agreed to be much better than its immediate predecessor. This can be seen in the Rotten Tomatoes score with the first getting a Certifed Fresh 83%, the second a really low 10% and the third a barely Rotten 59%. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_43abaff4 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_43abaff4 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Exorcist | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_43abaff4 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_44127c7c | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_44127c7c | comment |
Power Rangers: Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers suffered a lot in Seasons 1 and 2 with stagnant characterization, lack of plot, and a LOT of filler. Season 3, however, had a continuing plot all the way through and a significant amount of setup for Power Rangers Zeo, which itself improved even more with greater characterization for the non-Tommy Rangers and numerous status quo changes. Power Rangers Turbo divided fans a lot. Both the movie and TV season were based on a comedic Sentai and were themed after cars, which was considered a downgrade compared to the more mystical and animalistic themes of seasons past. That season also had a number of Replacement Scrappy characters for those viewers had come to love in previous seasons. Zordon and Alpha were changed out for Dimetria, who only spoke to the Rangers in questions for the first half while being a boring Zordon-expy in the second half, and Alpha 6, who talked almost exclusively using "hip slang." Rita, Zedd, and the Machine Empire were also changed out for Divatox, who constantly whined and was not very threatening at all. But the biggest change was changing out all the Rangers (Rocky in the movie, the others halfway through the season) with brand new people, only two of which had any build up. To make matters worse, the new cast almost immediately slotted into the roles of the old Rangers, as if they had been a part of the show the entire time. However, its successor season, Power Rangers in Space, drove the franchise to new heights. The story became fully serial. All of the Rangers had heavy character development. The villains were (save for one returning villain from Turbo) great. The addition of a spaceship and the Battilizer were genuinely cool. And the season finale had a massive invasion involving every ally and villain from across the franchise at that point. Virtually every season thereafter would always becompared to In Space from then on. While nowhere near as bad as other seasons Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue was considered So Okay, It's Average, a stumble after the well-received In Space and Lost Galaxy seasons previous. Then Power Rangers Time Force aired and it became one of the most well-loved seasons in the franchise. The cast was well-loved and had relationships unique from other seasons. The villains were back to US-exclusive ones and were loved. The story and plot had a lot of great twists and turns thanks to the time travel concept and changing the future. Power Rangers Wild Force and Power Rangers Ninja Storm had their fanbases, but they had a large hatedom after the lauded Time Force. Wild Force had shaky acting (even for Power Rangers) and a contentious arc involving Animus, while Ninja Storm was hated for its non-threatening villains and an emphasis on comedy. Power Rangers: Dino Thunder brought back Tommy Oliver from Mighty Morphin to be the team's mentor, the show had a much better balance between action and comedy, and the core Rangers had excellent chemistry with each other, allowing for natural character development. There were also a lot of celebratory and fan-favorite episodes, one of which celebrated the entire franchise up to that point, another poked fun at how wacky the source material Sentai can get, and another had Tommy face his first three powersets during a mental test. After the divisive Power Rangers Mystic Force, which seemed to focus more on the side characters and the Red Ranger instead of the rest of the team, and the loathed Power Rangers Operation Overdrive, which is often considered the worst season of the show, Power Rangers Jungle Fury was considered a return to form and Power Rangers RPM was considered one of the best seasons of the show to this day. Once Saban regained the license, they hit the ground flopping instead of running, with the mediocre Power Rangers Samurai that tended to hinge too closely to the original Sentai without accounting for cultural settings of Japan vs. America as well as a late season shakeup that was completely botched. Then, they made Power Rangers Megaforce which was supposed to be a big celebration of the franchise but resulted in two different Sentai smushed together and practically every wrong decision regarding the anniversary aspect being made. Saban then brought back one of the showrunners from the old days for Power Rangers Dino Charge. Dino Charge had a heavy emphasis on plot and characterization, an entertaining original villain, lots of original fight scenes, and a setting that, despite its dinosaur theme, wasn't slavish with trying to copy Mighty Morphin. Sadly, that existed only for its first half. The second half of Dino Charge stumbled heavily, with an emphasis on filler and a truly bewirldering season finale. Power Rangers Ninja Steel was seen as So OK, It's Average to a tee, offering nothing truly good or truly bad, being almost entirely forgettable. Once Hasbro brought the franchise, their first series Power Rangers Beast Morphers was warmly welcomed by fans. The cast had great chemistry, the development was great, there were some natural callbacks to previous seasons, and the second half involved crossovers with RPM, Dino Charge, Mighty Morphin, and even Space Sheriff Gavan, with fans calling the season a better celebrating than Super Megaforce was. |
|
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_44127c7c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_44127c7c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Power Rangers (Franchise) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_44127c7c | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_49a88442 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_49a88442 | comment |
The original 1.0 release of Final Fantasy XIV had horrendously unoptimized graphics note They looked nice, but unless you had a high-end PC, your framerates would suffer gravely, unintuitive controls and user interface, and a grind to rival that of the worst free-to-play MMO. So abysmal was its failure that it nearly tanked Square Enix, got the lead developer fired, and was deemed a lost cause by the new lead developer. The relaunch and continuation of the game's narrative, subtitled A Realm Reborn, was practically a different game altogether, and was better in nearly every way imaginable: graphics that looked good and ran well on even a mid-tier PC, and controls so streamlined that it is possible to play even on a gamepad, helped to ensure the game would not only bring Square back from the brink but become a fixture of the MMO scene for years to come. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_49a88442 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_49a88442 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Final Fantasy XIV (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_49a88442 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_49aa2aa4 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_49aa2aa4 | comment |
Ace Combat. The localization of Electrosphere had its entire plot surgically removed. Shattered Skies fared better, and had a better plot to begin with, but its strength was in the delivery. The Unsung War brought everything together with sympathetic characters, a clever plot, and the astounding, epic presentation the series is known for, which continued on to The Belkan War, except bigger. Fires of Liberation, however, took a step back with a textbook, straightforward plot, and a cast consisting of only supporting characters, none of whom get much individual screen time or, indeed, even matter until the very end. But then came Skies Unknown, which is considered a return to form for the franchise. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_49aa2aa4 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_49aa2aa4 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ace Combat (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_49aa2aa4 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_4b790c7a | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_4b790c7a | comment |
After Iron Man 2 was Sequelitis for the first Iron Man, Iron Man 3 is considered this by critics featuring a fully scripted screenplay (the previous movies had been loosely scripted and improvised) and a more focused plot with more effective villains and a better personal character arc for Tony. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_4b790c7a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_4b790c7a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Iron Man 2 | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_4b790c7a | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_4b9e2831 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_4b9e2831 | comment |
Zigzagged with the Universal Soldier franchise; the first movie is generally considered okay but not great, and the first few sequels are generally considered pretty bad. But Universal Soldier: Regeneration and Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning are generally considered to be excellent action films. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_4b9e2831 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_4b9e2831 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Universal Soldier | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_4b9e2831 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_4be3aedd | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_4be3aedd | comment |
Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers suffered a lot in Seasons 1 and 2 with stagnant characterization, lack of plot, and a LOT of filler. Season 3, however, had a continuing plot all the way through and a significant amount of setup for Power Rangers Zeo, which itself improved even more with greater characterization for the non-Tommy Rangers and numerous status quo changes. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_4be3aedd | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_4be3aedd | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_4be3aedd | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_4da1cda9 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_4da1cda9 | comment |
Touhou Bunkachou ~ Shoot the Bullet was mostly made for the sake of having a game to go with the fan books release, and it shows. The game is fairly short, has a lot of very similar patterns (Spinning! Streaming! Spinning while streaming!), mostly fairly ugly patterns, an unpolished UI, and is really hard, even by Touhou standards. Double Spoiler ~ Touhou Bunkachou is longer, has more variety, fixed most of STB's annoying issues, and is reasonably clearable by the average Touhou player. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_4da1cda9 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_4da1cda9 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Touhou Bunkachou ~ Shoot the Bullet (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_4da1cda9 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_4dccc4bc | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_4dccc4bc | comment |
Thor: The Dark World is usually cited as one of the weakest entries in the entire MCU. The follow-up, Thor: Ragnarok, received absolute rave reviews from critics, and is currently one of the best reviewed films in the entire canon. Furthermore, Ragnarok also seemed to fixed the major problems that have plagued the Thor movies like how the films spend too much time on Earth and that Thor himself comes off as an Invincible Hero. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_4dccc4bc | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_4dccc4bc | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Thor: The Dark World | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_4dccc4bc | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_4ea7d98a | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_4ea7d98a | comment |
The Boogeyman (1980) sequels are generally viewed as a step up from the entirely mediocre original. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_4ea7d98a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_4ea7d98a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Boogeyman (1980) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_4ea7d98a | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_4f46b380 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_4f46b380 | comment |
In a prequel example, X-Men: First Class saved the X-Men franchise after the disappointing critical and commercial response to X-Men Origins: Wolverine. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_4f46b380 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_4f46b380 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| X-Men: First Class | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_4f46b380 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_5292166b | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_5292166b | comment |
Hellraiser: Revelations was the absolute low point of the franchise. An Ashcan Copy made on a shoestring budget to retain the rights to the franchise. The installment was even publicly disowned by Clive Barker. The follow-up, Hellraiser: Judgement was naturally a huge step up. With a bigger budget, Promoted Fanboy Gary J. Tunnicliffe behind the camera and Pinhead returning to his moral authority over evil personality, it was received quite warmly. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_5292166b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_5292166b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Hellraiser: Revelations | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_5292166b | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_53581584 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_53581584 | comment |
The Shall We Date? game Destiny Ninja 2 has proved to be far more popular and enduring than the original (now-discontinued) Destiny Ninja game, due in large part to its more kickass female protagonist and more diverse and interesting cast of guys. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_53581584 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_53581584 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Shall We Date? (Visual Novel) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_53581584 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_536a5cc9 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_536a5cc9 | comment |
Sonic Colors managed to be the first Sonic game to actually avoid incorporating (blatantly) gimmicky mechanics into the game, and was praised as the first solid Sonic game in years (and for those who aren't fans of the pre-Unleashed 3D titles, the first 3D Sonic game to make a successful Video Game 3D Leap and be genuinely good). | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_536a5cc9 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_536a5cc9 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Sonic Colors (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_536a5cc9 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_5425ce75 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_5425ce75 | comment |
The first two Grand Theft Auto games were mild successes that garnered mixed reviews due to somewhat dodgy gameplay and older style graphics. The only real reason why they attracted much attention was because of the controversy that they caused — which had been largely whipped by the developers for exactly this reason. With the jump to 3D in Grand Theft Auto III, the game garnered near-universal acclaim, kicked up a firestorm of controversy and changed the entire industry with its Wide-Open Sandbox gameplay. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_5425ce75 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_5425ce75 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Grand Theft Auto (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_5425ce75 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_547137ef | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_547137ef | comment |
W'z is the sequel to Hand Shakers, an anime largely considered one of the worst ever made and is even downright unwatchable in some cases (the CGI-heavy shots and wild camera movements have been reported to give some viewers motion sickness and headaches), but it managed to clear the very low bar set by it. While it still suffers from many of the same mistakes its predecessor also committed, the fact that it reined in the crazy camera movements and the technology behind its production to make itself watchable was a surprise improvement to viewers. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_547137ef | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_547137ef | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| W'z | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_547137ef | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_55323a68 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_55323a68 | comment |
Madonna (1983) was So Okay, It's Average. For a debut it's not bad, but it received mostly mixed reviews at the time. The follow-up, Like a Virgin (1984), changed Madonna into a superstar. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_55323a68 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_55323a68 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Madonna (Album) (Music) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_55323a68 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_55abaff3 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_55abaff3 | comment |
Cinderella II: Dreams Come True consists merely of three blandly written, poorly animated episodes of an unaired Cinderella TV show. Cinderella III: A Twist in Time boasts a more exciting storyline and animation that sometimes looks as good as that of the first movie, and even makes Cinderella and Prince Charming take a level in badass so they would earn their happy ending instead of make animals and servants do all the hard work. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_55abaff3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_55abaff3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Cinderella II: Dreams Come True | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_55abaff3 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_565b68d5 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_565b68d5 | comment |
Hitman: Codename 47 featured a good concept but had very twitchy AI, a buggy disguise system, and no ability to save during missions; Silent Assassin added the ability to save as well making improvements on the shortfalls of the original, as did each installment afterward. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_565b68d5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_565b68d5 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Hitman: Codename 47 (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_565b68d5 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_56edb129 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_56edb129 | comment |
This has happened twice in the A Nightmare on Elm Street film series, interestingly both with movies that involved series creator Wes Craven more actively. Dream Warriors is considered a markable improvement over Freddy's Revenge, which while not completely bad and having been Vindicated by History to a degree, deviated too much from the first film's plot. Wes Craven's New Nightmare is considered a marked improvement on the 4th, 5th and 6th installments (regarded as a second nosedive after part 3) and some even think its as good as the original. Freddy vs. Jason is (surprisingly enough) generally considered to be one of the better films in either franchise and a vast improvement over both Jason X and Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare. |
|
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_56edb129 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_56edb129 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| A Nightmare on Elm Street (Franchise) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_56edb129 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_57ad0c07 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_57ad0c07 | comment |
Resident Evil: Resident Evil 7: Biohazard marked the return of the Resident Evil series' horror roots, right after Resident Evil 6 went too far with the over-the-top action. As far as side games go, the little-respected Gun Survivor series was mostly known for being insubstantial fluff among its first three installments (Survivor, Survivor 2, and the non-RE Dino Stalker), but then the fourth and final one, Dead Aim, was praised as surprisingly playable and fun. |
|
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_57ad0c07 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_57ad0c07 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Resident Evil (Franchise) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_57ad0c07 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_58852035 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_58852035 | comment |
The first Sengoku game on the Neo Geo is a sub-par brawler with some cheap enemies, stiff controls, and power-ups that are likely to transform you into a worthless character. The sequel is an improvement, but not by much, and still bears several of the major problems the original game had. It wouldn't be until Sengoku 3 that the series came into its own with multiple unique playable characters, refined combat, and an improved stylized art style. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_58852035 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_58852035 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Sengoku (SNK) (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_58852035 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_59151283 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_59151283 | comment |
Metal Gear: Metal Gear Ac!d was ambitious, but very unrefined, with potentially broken gameplay. Metal Gear Ac!d 2 sharpened the graphics, tidied up the engine, made the story more coherent, and added a lot of depth and spontaneity to the gameplay. AC!D 2 also played to the fans of the first by bringing back what many would acknowledge as the first game's best moment - as the final boss of that game comes back (and, in a masterful bit of foreshadowing, you run on top of it without noticing unless you really paid attention), only tightened and with a potentially nasty time limit to make it harder. Later in the series, Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops was a competently made game that showed great potential with its army building mechanics. However, the controls suffered on the PSP, the story (despite a great villain) felt more like a side-story, and the army building mechanic showed potential, but didn't quite live up to it with a lack of variety and frustrating issues. Then came Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. Under Kojima's direction (unlike Portable Ops), Peace Walker's controls were more refined, its story felt more connected to the overall picture (particularly with Big Boss' Character Development) and the potential that Portable Ops showed with its army building mechanics were thoroughly lived up to, with an entire, constantly-growing, base of operations, a variety of options that expanded over the course of the entire game, and with the frustrating features simplified or removed. All that along with being the biggest Metal Gear game ever made at the time, meant it blew Portable Ops away. |
|
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_59151283 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_59151283 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Metal Gear (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_59151283 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_591aa39f | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_591aa39f | comment |
After the pinnacle of the Metal Slug series with Metal Slug 3, the series suffered from SNK's bankruptcy and transformation into SNK Playmore. While the gameplay didn't suffer too badly, 4 ended up with recycled backgrounds and Tarma and Eri getting replaced with two new characters, and 5 was rushed out the door before it was finished, resulting in a game devoid of a story and most of the series' personality (especially egregious with the Final Boss, who's a giant winged, a silhouetted demon who comes right out of nowhere with no foreshadowing or explanation) and a lot more linear than previous games. Not only was Metal Slug 6 released in full and with no recycled backgrounds, but it gave every character unique perks (like Fio starting every life with a heavy machine gun and getting more ammo from pickups, and Tarma having several vehicle-related perks) and includes Ralf and Clark from Ikari Warriors as playable characters. 6 is considered by many to be the proper revival of the series. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_591aa39f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_591aa39f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Metal Slug (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_591aa39f | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_5a79ecef | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_5a79ecef | comment |
While My Little Pony: A New Generation didn't receive many professional reviews due to its low-profile Netflix launch, those it did get were generally much stronger than those of My Little Pony: The Movie (2017), highlighting a stronger narrative, improved pacing, better focus on character, higher-quality animation and comparative friendliness to those outside the fanbase. A New Generation also boasts higher audience scores than the 2017 film on both Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_5a79ecef | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_5a79ecef | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| My Little Pony: A New Generation | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_5a79ecef | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_5ada53ed | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_5ada53ed | comment |
Every ill-received James Bond has a better follow-up (many times involving an actor change). The exemplar for the series would have to be The Spy Who Loved Me. The Man with the Golden Gun is considered one of the weakest, if not the weakest entry in the entire series, in terms of box office gross, fan reactions, and critical reception. The Spy Who Loved Me, on the other hand, was a great commercial success and a hit with both fans and critics. It's almost guaranteed to land on any "Top 10 Bond Films" list worth its salt, and some Bond fans consider it better than Goldfinger. For Your Eyes Only, by virtue of being more "down to Earth" (quite literally) than Moonraker (which is regularly considered entertaining but too "outlandish" with its space plot). The Living Daylights with Timothy Dalton was better received than the final film of Roger Moore, A View to a Kill and is still considered better. GoldenEye was more warmly received than Licence to Kill, although the latter has been somewhat Vindicated by History since. It happened again with the so so-received Quantum of Solace, which suffered from the writers strike of 2007-08. Quantum was subsequently ignored by Skyfall, which many fans consider to be nearly as good as or even better than Casino Royale. Of course, Casino Royale (considered the best Bond film of the 2000s) was itself a follow-up to the panned Die Another Day. Spectre is generally considered So OK, It's Average. No Time to Die is considered a better film, even breaking the "curse" of underwhelming final installments for Bond actors who've had a run with multiple films. |
|
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_5ada53ed | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_5ada53ed | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| James Bond | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_5ada53ed | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_5af3cc90 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_5af3cc90 | comment |
Curse of Chucky managed to successfully bring the series back to horror after the overly silly Seed of Chucky. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_5af3cc90 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_5af3cc90 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Curse of Chucky | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_5af3cc90 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_5bd0554b | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_5bd0554b | comment |
The original Warcraft was an unimaginative Real-Time Strategy with two cosmetically different sides, slow, clunky and unbalanced gameplay, muddy graphics and little backstory. Then came Warcraft II, still with very similar sides (except for mage spells and archer enhancements) but much smoother, more-polished, better-balanced and vastly expanded gameplay, cleaner, more detailed graphics, one of the greatest RTS soundtracks ever recorded, and 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 the most successful MMORPG in history. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_5bd0554b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_5bd0554b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Warcraft (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_5bd0554b | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_5df49516 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_5df49516 | comment |
The Pink Panther (1963) 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. Regrettably, they didn't know when to quit when they were ahead. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_5df49516 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_5df49516 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Pink Panther (1963) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_5df49516 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_5ed0217f | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_5ed0217f | comment |
Paper Mario: Color Splash, while not without its own flaws, was considered to be an improvement over the poorly received previous installment Paper Mario: Sticker Star and fixed a number of (albeit not all of) Sticker Star's problems. It's far from being considered better than the first three games, however. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_5ed0217f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_5ed0217f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Paper Mario: Color Splash (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_5ed0217f | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_5fe76d21 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_5fe76d21 | comment |
Many Venom comics are criticised for being everything wrong with The '90s, with a thoroughly unlikable protagonist steeped in edginess, with directionless plots. The 2011 series, starring Flash Thompson as Venom, is the first to be critically and commercially successful, and is praised for its mature writing and depiction of Thompson as a complex veteran and alcoholic, with an addiction to his role as Venom. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_5fe76d21 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_5fe76d21 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Venom (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_5fe76d21 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_5ff059fa | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_5ff059fa | comment |
Reviews for The Wolverine seem to be placing it as one to X-Men Origins: Wolverine. It can also be considered one to X-Men: The Last Stand, since The Wolverine takes place after Logan was forced to kill Jean Grey. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_5ff059fa | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_5ff059fa | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Wolverine | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_5ff059fa | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_60039f7d | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_60039f7d | comment |
Dissidia Final Fantasy (2015) was a tepidly-received sequel to the original Dissidia Final Fantasy and its direct sequel Duodecim as it was an arcade game ported to home consoles. Instead of a dedicated story mode, it had a limited number of cutscenes unlocked using the ingame battle currency, and its gameplay was criticized as too focused on player-vs-player online play, with single-player mode quickly becoming repetitive and character customization too limited. 2017's Dissidia Final Fantasy: Opera Omnia, despite being a gachapon spinoff, became much more popular by revamping the Brave - Hit Points battle system into a turn-based model and reintegrating the story mode into gameplay progression with a continuation of the Dissidia plotline and cutscenes highlighting many characters in the series, even ones from older or more obscure titles. Although it still has points of contention (not least being a gachapon game), it's still going strong while the game it was meant to promote stopped updating in 2020. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_60039f7d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_60039f7d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Dissidia Final Fantasy (2015) (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_60039f7d | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_60697b93 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_60697b93 | comment |
Escape from the Planet of the Apes had the issue of continuing from a massive Downer Ending of the divisive and at times reviled Beneath the Planet of the Apes that seemed like a narrative dead end. Thus it took a different route, sending talking apes to the human world instead of the other way around, and also took a more character-driven approach which led to it being considered the best of the original four sequels. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_60697b93 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_60697b93 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Escape from the Planet of the Apes | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_60697b93 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_617e92c0 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_617e92c0 | comment |
Advanced Variable Geo is a clean remake of a PC-98 eroge that was little more than a waitress porn knockoff of Street Fighter II. The cast of characters was expanded and the storyline fleshed out to compensate for the toned-down sexual content. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_617e92c0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_617e92c0 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Advanced Variable Geo (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_617e92c0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_62e5f9f3 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_62e5f9f3 | comment |
Bad Boys for Life puts more focus on the characters given after 17 years the actors are now playing 50-something cops, and has a less frantic approach than its predecessor, and was very well-received as a result - it even outscored the other two on Rotten Tomatoes! | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_62e5f9f3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_62e5f9f3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Bad Boys for Life | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_62e5f9f3 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_6365ff2d | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_6365ff2d | comment |
While the original Dragon Quest scores points for innovation, it's aged terribly compared to the first installments of Final Fantasy and Phantasy Star. Dragon Quest II fares worse since it can't even play the innovation card. Dragon Quest III on the other hand takes the basic job class system and expands on upon it. It also most likely contains the Ur-Example of the Monster Arena and building a new town. The Game Boy Color remake is even better, adding a new job class, a Bonus Dungeon, a redone localization, and a whole lot more. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_6365ff2d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_6365ff2d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Dragon Quest (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_6365ff2d | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_6370c951 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_6370c951 | comment |
The Apocalypse franchise is largely known for its piggybacking off the success of its creators' previous series Left Behind. While the first film is basically a rip-off of those, the three sequels' focus on supernatural elements (and C-list talents' performances) make them rather entertaining. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_6370c951 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_6370c951 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Apocalypse | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_6370c951 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_65d07453 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_65d07453 | comment |
Whilst Captain America: The First Avenger had a fairly positive reception and definitely defied the notion that Captain America is a hero who's too obsolete for our era, it was never regarded as the best film of Phase 1. Its sequel, however, had an even better response and was widely described as the best entry in either Phase 2 or the entire MCU up to that point (and perhaps still to this day). | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_65d07453 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_65d07453 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Captain America: The First Avenger | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_65d07453 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_662d5d1f | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_662d5d1f | comment |
The general consensus for Watch_Dogs 2 is that it's surprisingly much better than the mediocre first game in the series. It has a more likable cast of characters, improved controls (especially while driving vehicles), new ways of solving hacking puzzles, and it doesn't take itself so seriously. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_662d5d1f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_662d5d1f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Watch_Dogs 2 (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_662d5d1f | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_68c8e9ad | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_68c8e9ad | comment |
Super Robot Wars: The original 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. 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 Alpha game on the PS1. On the localization front for Super Robot Wars X, at any rate. While X is not the first SRW to get an English option but not an official release in most Anglophone territories, previous efforts at putting an English option in could best be described as "serviceable". The team Namco Bandai assembled for X, however, was made up of a number of long-time SRW fans, and it really shows; as much as the actual plotting can be kind of bad (as noted above), the quality of the English script is considered a high-water mark for the entire franchise and contributed heavily to X becoming an underground success and growing the English SRW fanbase and bringing lapsed fans back in. |
|
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_68c8e9ad | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_68c8e9ad | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Super Robot Wars (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_68c8e9ad | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_69aaa9cb | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_69aaa9cb | comment |
After Angel of Darkness and the last game or two before that (along with the second movie) many considered the Tomb Raider franchise beyond saving, especially after its developer, Core Design, was stripped from the rights to the title. But a change to another developer brought the series back again with Legend which went on to be the fastest selling (note, not highest selling) game in the series so far and got high critical acclaim. Depending on your feelings about many of the changes in Legend this can also extend to Anniversary and/or Underworld. The 2013 reboot also won back those who felt Underworld failed to deliver. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_69aaa9cb | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_69aaa9cb | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| TombRaiderAngelOfDarkness | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_69aaa9cb | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_69bc0bf6 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_69bc0bf6 | comment |
The original Shining Force, while still a fun Strategy RPG, was riddled with exploitable bugs and poor class balance while having too gradual a difficulty curve. Later entries have not only fixed these problems but also introduced new concepts, such as summoning and weapon skill levels, to add to the variety of the gameplay. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_69bc0bf6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_69bc0bf6 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Shining Force (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_69bc0bf6 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_69d15cc0 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_69d15cc0 | comment |
Marvel Cinematic Universe: After Iron Man 2 was Sequelitis for the first Iron Man, Iron Man 3 is considered this by critics featuring a fully scripted screenplay (the previous movies had been loosely scripted and improvised) and a more focused plot with more effective villains and a better personal character arc for Tony. Whilst Captain America: The First Avenger had a fairly positive reception and definitely defied the notion that Captain America is a hero who's too obsolete for our era, it was never regarded as the best film of Phase 1. Its sequel, however, had an even better response and was widely described as the best entry in either Phase 2 or the entire MCU up to that point (and perhaps still to this day). Thor: The Dark World is usually cited as one of the weakest entries in the entire MCU. The follow-up, Thor: Ragnarok, received absolute rave reviews from critics, and is currently one of the best reviewed films in the entire canon. Furthermore, Ragnarok also seemed to fixed the major problems that have plagued the Thor movies like how the films spend too much time on Earth and that Thor himself comes off as an Invincible Hero. Avengers: Age of Ultron, while not an awful movie, is considered the weakest of the Avenger films and pales in popularity and box office compared to The Avengers (2012). However, the most direct sequel prior to Avengers: Infinity War, the Cap-centred Captain America: Civil War was widely praised by both critics and audiences as one of the best entries in the MCU back then, to the point many consider it the proper second Avengers movie (if not Avengers 2.5). |
|
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_69d15cc0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_69d15cc0 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Marvel Cinematic Universe (Franchise) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_69d15cc0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_69fa7496 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_69fa7496 | comment |
Disney Ducks Comic Universe: Carl Barks created Scrooge McDuck and introduced the character in Christmas on Bear Mountain (December 1947). But this version of Scrooge was little more than a geriatric misanthrope who wanted to play a cruel joke on his nephews, and the story was a Christmas comedy with plenty of misunderstandings between the characters involved. When Barks decided to turn Scrooge into a recurring character, he wrote the sequel story The Old Castle's Secret (June 1948) with Scrooge in a co-protagonist role. It was a horror-mystery story set in Scrooge's ancestral castle in Scotland. It featured a redesigned Scrooge who was healthier, more physically fit, and carried a handgun. He was also a bit smarter and braver than the previous depiction on him. The story was considered far more memorable than Christmas on Bear Mountain, and established Scrooge as an interesting character in his own right. By 1952, Scrooge was popular enough to get his own comic book series from Dell Comics. Several Disney writers have since written sequels and prequels to The Old Castle's Secret, while few have bothered with revisiting plot points from Christmas on Bear Mountain. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_69fa7496 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_69fa7496 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Disney Ducks Comic Universe (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_69fa7496 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_6a307d4 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_6a307d4 | comment |
The original Titanfall was an online-focused shooter that, although it did feature some interesting and unique mechanics, was deemed by many to be a merely OK shooter with some significant issues. Its sequel was much better received, earning high scores from players and critics alike for its short-but-sweet single-player campaign, compelling multiplayer, regular updates, and, to the relief of many, its player-friendly business model. Despite not selling well, the game still has a decent-sized player-base. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_6a307d4 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_6a307d4 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Titanfall (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_6a307d4 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_6a8b86ee | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_6a8b86ee | comment |
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi had a creative enough idea for a fighting engine, but it didn't really work that well; Camera Screw was a recurring problem and the whole thing felt a bit unwieldy. The second game tightened up the fighting mechanics a lot, expanded the roster, restored the popular Dragon Universe campaign-style, and added more options... and then the third, after tightening them up a little more, proceeded to make basically every character ever associated with the series playable, while adding in a big pile of quirky "recreate the series" elements. It's a close race between those two games and Budokai 3 for the title of "best Dragon Ball game." | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_6a8b86ee | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_6a8b86ee | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_6a8b86ee | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_6a8ce345 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_6a8ce345 | comment |
The comics based on Avatar: The Last Airbender. Beginning with the So Okay, It's Average The Promise, the subsequent volumes are each generally regarded as improvements on the arcs which preceded them, up through North and South, the author's final story before departing the series. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_6a8ce345 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_6a8ce345 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Avatar: The Last Airbender (Franchise) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_6a8ce345 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_6c2c4bf3 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_6c2c4bf3 | comment |
X-Men Film Series In a prequel example, X-Men: First Class saved the X-Men franchise after the disappointing critical and commercial response to X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Reviews for The Wolverine seem to be placing it as one to X-Men Origins: Wolverine. It can also be considered one to X-Men: The Last Stand, since The Wolverine takes place after Logan was forced to kill Jean Grey. Logan ups the ante from The Wolverine and is considered one of the best (if not the best) X-Men movies ever. X-Men: Days of Future Past is not only seen as a massive improvement on Last Stand by critics and fans alike, but it even goes the extra mile by erasing the previous movie's controversial plot elements from the film canon via Cosmic Retcon. |
|
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_6c2c4bf3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_6c2c4bf3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| X-Men Film Series | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_6c2c4bf3 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_6c47db4e | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_6c47db4e | comment |
Dynasty Warriors 1 and 2 were bashed by reviews and many gamers alike, but from the third game onwards, the line was well-received for a while. After a while the series ended up being mocked by reviewers (but still maintains a base of hardcore fans) because it remains a similar game in every incarnation. It's also agreed that Dynasty Warriors 7 was a vast improvement over the previous installment (which was certainly a step back from the other games). | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_6c47db4e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_6c47db4e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Dynasty Warriors (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_6c47db4e | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_6d9c346e | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_6d9c346e | comment |
The original There Is No Game, while a fun experience, was only a few minutes long, provided you knew what you were doing. Its sequel, There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension, however, drastically increases the playtime of the game to a few hours and has a much deeper story than its predecessor, including Game reminiscing about its lost companion, GiGi, due to the Creator removing them from Game's code... which also consequentially spawned Mr. Glitch, who seeks to wreck havoc in the real world. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_6d9c346e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_6d9c346e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| There Is No Game (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_6d9c346e | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_6f0062e | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_6f0062e | comment |
Harvest Moon: Frantic Farming is a Surprisingly Improved Sequel to the confusing and disappointing earlier Harvest Moon Puzzle Game, Puzzle de Harvest Moon. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_6f0062e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_6f0062e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Harvest Moon: Frantic Farming (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_6f0062e | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_73b74949 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_73b74949 | comment |
Borderlands was relatively well received and had fun gameplay, but the storyline was non-existent note unless you read the box on the left side of the screen where you accepted missions, but this wasn't voiced and you weren't told that it's anything but filler, the characters weren't all that developed, and it tended towards Real Is Brown. Borderlands 2 addressed basically all the weaknesses; the storyline was much more complex, the characters (both the PC and NPCs) were much more developed, and the settings were far more varied. In general, the production values were ratcheted up in every way, though at the same time the second game also marked an increase in meme and pop culture humor that drove a wedge into the fanbase. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_73b74949 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_73b74949 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Borderlands (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_73b74949 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_74149a97 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_74149a97 | comment |
While the film adaptation of Red Dragon is no The Silence of the Lambs, the majority of critics and audience members alike agree that it's a definite improvement over the film version of Hannibal, especially where Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter is concerned. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_74149a97 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_74149a97 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Dragon | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_74149a97 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_754e924a | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_754e924a | comment |
Transformers: Energon is commonly regarded as one of the worst series in the franchise for its lazy plot, flat characters whose development is continuously nullified, amateurish CGI work and a horrendous American version with a nonsensical script and enormous plot holes. Transformers: Cybertron is mostly seen as So Okay, It's Average, but it's an improvement in all areas: the characters are more memorable, the CGI's much more polished (if still not stellar), the story has pacing problems but at least doesn't run out of steam halfway through, and the dub had a lot of effort put into it. And it's fun.note Cybertron was originally released as a sequel to Energon only outside of Japan, although it was actually conceptualized as such even there. However, Japanese fiction has later abandoned this idea and now regards Cybertron as a real sequel to Energon. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_754e924a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_754e924a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Transformers: Energon | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_754e924a | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_76feae04 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_76feae04 | comment |
After the divisive Power Rangers Mystic Force, which seemed to focus more on the side characters and the Red Ranger instead of the rest of the team, and the loathed Power Rangers Operation Overdrive, which is often considered the worst season of the show, Power Rangers Jungle Fury was considered a return to form and Power Rangers RPM was considered one of the best seasons of the show to this day. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_76feae04 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_76feae04 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Power Rangers Mystic Force | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_76feae04 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_77582c7b | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_77582c7b | comment |
X-Men: Days of Future Past is not only seen as a massive improvement on Last Stand by critics and fans alike, but it even goes the extra mile by erasing the previous movie's controversial plot elements from the film canon via Cosmic Retcon. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_77582c7b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_77582c7b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| X-Men: Days of Future Past | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_77582c7b | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_78640f76 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_78640f76 | comment |
Highlander: The Search for Vengeance is widely considered to be the best thing related to the Highlander franchise released since Highlander: The Series, following a very poorly received spinoff of said series (Highlander: The Raven), a very poorly received film, and and a poorly-received Western animated series. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_78640f76 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_78640f76 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Highlander: The Search for Vengeance | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_78640f76 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_78d4f24 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_78d4f24 | comment |
Mega Man Star Force's second game was hard to take even for the people who liked the first one, but the third game made up for it in incredibly unexpected ways, to a degree that some consider it the best in the entirety of the Battle Network/Star Force continuity. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_78d4f24 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_78d4f24 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Mega Man Star Force (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_78d4f24 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7a7d900b | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7a7d900b | comment |
Transformers: ★Headmasters was usually regarded as a complete slog - despite being a much-prized G1 continuation, it suffered from terribly bland characters, a repetitive structure, and the pacing of a drugged tortoise. It was followed by Transformers: Super-God Masterforce, which was much better-crafted and more ambitious, but suffered from a barely coherent narrative and being a Henshin Hero series with few actual Transformers. The third in the series, though, is Transformers Victory, which struck a balance between the craft of Masterforce and the approachability of Headmasters, resulting in a decently-paced and entertaining romp with beautiful animation and a likable cast, laying a lot of the groundwork for the Brave Series in the process. It seems third time's the charm. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7a7d900b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7a7d900b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Transformers: ★Headmasters | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7a7d900b | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7a816d8d | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7a816d8d | comment |
Muv-Luv Extra plays with this by initially pretending to be an average-to-bad eroge, but on its second half it changes the setting and becomes a sci-fi war drama. Its Oddly Named Sequel is widely considered one of the best eroge stories ever. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7a816d8d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7a816d8d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Muv-Luv Extra (Visual Novel) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7a816d8d | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7ab10627 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7ab10627 | comment |
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, however, is widely regarded as one of the franchise's finest moments. Everyone agrees that the rest of the films vary in quality between the two; this gave rise to the Star Trek Movie Curse, which posits that the even-numbered films in the series are the better ones. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7ab10627 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7ab10627 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Star Trek: The Motion Picture | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7ab10627 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7ac43256 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7ac43256 | comment |
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 Alpha game on the PS1. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7ac43256 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7ac43256 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Super Robot Wars: Original Generation (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7ac43256 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7b429ebc | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7b429ebc | comment |
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 IV. Saints Row 2 went the other way—the main character became an over-the-top Heroic Comedic Sociopath and the game took Refuge in Audacity. Critics loved it, as did players. Then The Third pushed it even further. Although some people bash it for being outright strange, a lot of players enjoyed it for the pure insanity and strangeness they gave you to play around with in an open world, in a more stark contrast to GTA which is serious in nature. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7b429ebc | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7b429ebc | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Saints Row (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7b429ebc | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7b7ddcf3 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7b7ddcf3 | comment |
Phineas and Ferb: Mission Marvel got a mixed reaction from fans, while the next hour-long special, Phineas and Ferb: Star Wars, was much better received. Watching them, one gets the impression that the creators didn't really know what to do with the Marvel properties but are big Star Wars fans, given the number of in-jokes and Easter Eggs that the latter included. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7b7ddcf3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7b7ddcf3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Phineas and Ferb: Mission Marvel | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7b7ddcf3 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7c0316cf | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7c0316cf | comment |
Jewelpet (2009) was regarded as a So Okay, It's Average little girls' anime. Jewelpet Twinkle☆, the 2nd season, was praised for its likable characters and interesting (and surprisingly dark) plot. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7c0316cf | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7c0316cf | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Jewelpet (2009) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7c0316cf | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7cea4fb2 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7cea4fb2 | comment |
Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) did not earn critic approval, with reviewers finding that for all the Sequel Escalation it did not deliver regarding tone, plot, and characters. Godzilla vs. Kong, by contrast, is the best-reviewed movie of the MonsterVerse, earning high remarks for delivering fun Kaiju battles along with a less convoluted script. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7cea4fb2 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7cea4fb2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7cea4fb2 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7dad8347 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7dad8347 | comment |
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. FreeSpace 2 was such an awesome space-combat game it killed the genre stone dead by making every other game in the genre redundant... a problem that was exacerbated by it being an Acclaimed Flop. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7dad8347 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7dad8347 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| FreeSpace (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7dad8347 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7e05f763 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7e05f763 | comment |
Volumes 1 and 2 of Uncanny Avengers suffered from controversy and uneven writing. The third volume saw a change in the creative team and managed to fix nearly every problem people had with the first two. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7e05f763 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7e05f763 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Uncanny Avengers (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7e05f763 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7e07557b | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7e07557b | comment |
Outpost was a turn-based colony management game that was well-hyped before its release, but it turned out to just be Simcity IN SPACE! Not only that, but it also 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. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7e07557b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7e07557b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Outpost (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7e07557b | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7e31a540 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7e31a540 | comment |
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai was generally considered a playable-if-nothing-special fighting game that captured some of the essences of the series, but also was criticized for the blocky graphics, simplistic combat, and tedious method for unlocking extras. Budokai 2 did improve several things (namely the graphics), but it wasn't until Budokai 3 where Dimps truly started to step things up. Budokai 3 was not only a much better DBZ game than its predecessors, but it was quite popular with gamers in general, due to vastly improved fighting mechanics, more individualized physical combos for each character, greater variety in special moves (which you could do on the fly), gorgeous cel-shaded graphics, unlocking extras being made much easier and much less tedious, a single-player campaign titled Dragon Universe that gave the game near-infinite replay value, the inclusion of Beam Struggles and the actual ability to fly into or from the air, and a roster that not only spans throughout the entirety of the main DBZ story, but also from the original Dragon Ball, the Broly and Cooler movies, and some of GT as well. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7e31a540 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7e31a540 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Dragon Ball Z: Budokai (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7e31a540 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7eac0647 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7eac0647 | comment |
Smurfs: The Lost Village isn't considered a great movie or anything, but its Truer to the Text approach means it's viewed as a far better attempt to translate the little blue people to the big screen than the two live-action movies and their rather sad and stale efforts to update the franchise for a new audience. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7eac0647 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7eac0647 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Smurfs: The Lost Village | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7eac0647 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7ef2733e | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7ef2733e | comment |
Dementium: The Ward, although enjoyable, had a number of flaws. The most known one being that when you die, you go ALL the way back to the beginning of the chapter. Dementium II had numerous improvements, like an omnipresent minimap, the ability to crouch and jump, the ability to save up health-restoring items, more fluid controls, and more balanced and varied levels. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7ef2733e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7ef2733e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Dementium: The Ward (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_7ef2733e | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_80b6a441 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_80b6a441 | comment |
Motor Toon Grand Prix had a lot of promise for a Mascot Racer, such as the incorporation of realistic driving elements like working suspensions and slipstream, but it was brought down by a lack of content and a wonky physics engine. The sequel made the physics a lot better and added plenty of new content such as tracks, secret characters, and mini-games, all while improving the graphics. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_80b6a441 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_80b6a441 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Motor Toon Grand Prix (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_80b6a441 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_81692f99 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_81692f99 | comment |
Star Trek: 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, however, is widely regarded as one of the franchise's finest moments. Everyone agrees that the rest of the films vary in quality between the two; this gave rise to the Star Trek Movie Curse, which posits that the even-numbered films in the series are the better ones. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier was an unmitigated disaster and is usually (alongside Into Darkness as seen below) seen as the worst Trek film ever made, with a poor plot, appalling special effects and a focus on Kirk (and to a lesser extent the big three) that reduced most of the cast little more than extras. Three years later Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country was seen as both a massive return to form and a fitting send off for the original cast as they were (for the most part) retiring from the franchise at that point. Also continued in The Next Generation films. Star Trek: Generations was in general badly received by fans and critics. Its sequel Star Trek: First Contact is generally viewed as a vast improvement, being widely considered as by far the best Next Generation film and by some as one of the best Star Trek films. Sadly Star Trek: Insurrection and especially Star Trek: Nemesis saw the series decline rapidly in quality with the latter essentially a remake of Wrath of Khan. As a result the TNG film series ended and most of the TNG cast would not be involved in Trek again until Star Trek: Picard nearly twenty years later. Meanwhile Star Trek (2009) saw the franchise revived after the failed later TNG films and the collapse and cancellation of Star Trek: Enterprise. And now the Kelvin Timeline has its own case. Star Trek Into Darkness is considered a very "meh" film due to the director getting ready to jump ship to the franchise he really wanted to direct, a weak rehash of one of the best villains, and a muddled plot. The sequel, Star Trek Beyond, is hailed as the best of the Kelvin Timeline series and the first time Trek has managed to make a great Away Mission Film. |
|
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_81692f99 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_81692f99 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Star Trek (Franchise) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_81692f99 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_841dfd9b | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_841dfd9b | comment |
The Showa Era Gamera films are largely seen as goofy and cheaply made, essentially being the poor man's version of Godzilla, and heavily criticized for their focus on unlikeable child characters. At best they are seen as So Bad, It's Good and unsurprisingly, most of them have featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000. The Heisei Era on the other hand is highly lauded for its consistently darker tone, better stories, and excellent special effects that make for some truly awesome monster battle scenes. They are often seen by fans as some of the best kaiju movies ever. This is specifically applied to Gamera: Super Monster, a temporary Franchise Killer widely considered the worst Gamera film and one of the worst kaiju films period, being followed 15 years later by Gamera: Guardian of the Universe, the first film of the acclaimed Heisei trilogy. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_841dfd9b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_841dfd9b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Gamera | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_841dfd9b | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_86d9455 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_86d9455 | comment |
The Nut Job was torn apart by critics, with chief complaints being that there was nobody to root for, since the heroes were all either Jerkasses or idiots. The second film, while not considered much better, got a slightly less vitriolic reaction for being less cynical, making the heroes more likable, and improving the comedy. Ironically, it ended up becoming a Box Office Bomb, despite the first film performing reasonably well. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_86d9455 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_86d9455 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Nut Job | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_86d9455 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_882f1fdb | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_882f1fdb | comment |
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". | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_882f1fdb | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_882f1fdb | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Bugs Bunny | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_882f1fdb | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_88fce462 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_88fce462 | comment |
The King of Fighters: The King of Fighters '94 was a very good game with awesome music, but The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard and the controls are tough to get used to. '95 had some improvements, but the A.I. is even worse. The King of Fighters '96 is widely considered the point where everything really took off. KOF 2001 is not well-regarded, being the point at which the Striker feature became outright broken, having rather low-quality music by the series' standards and its newcomers (especially K9999, which got on SNK's own shitlist for his unoriginality) being mostly on the "miss" side of the hit-or-miss reception starting from '99. Then we got KOF 2002, which got the gameplay back to basics, brought back many fan-favorites (such as Rugal), and is overall much better-regarded. Its Updated Re-release Unlimited Match is even more well-received for bringing back a few who missed out on the vanilla version (and K9999's More Popular Replacement Nameless), having some very high-quality tracks both new and remixed, and its 2020 PC Polished Port having incredibly sophisticated online. KOF XIII made up for KOF XII's deficiencies in a major way, keeping the high-definition visuals and bringing back some of the fan-favorite characters that were left out of XII, as well as a tutorial mode and a story mode that chronicles the final events of the Tales of Ash Saga. |
|
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_88fce462 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_88fce462 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The King of Fighters (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_88fce462 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_89aabbdb | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_89aabbdb | comment |
Jigsaw — the series' comeback in 2017 after laying fallow for seven years — while critics still weren't particularly receptive, was well-liked by fans for largely being a no-frills, consistent return to form after the widely-panned Saw 3D seemingly ended up things on a tacky, ludicrously ridiculous sour note. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_89aabbdb | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_89aabbdb | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Jigsaw | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_89aabbdb | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_8bd3842a | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_8bd3842a | comment |
Hitman: Hitman: Codename 47 featured a good concept but had very twitchy AI, a buggy disguise system, and no ability to save during missions; Silent Assassin added the ability to save as well making improvements on the shortfalls of the original, as did each installment afterward. Hitman: Absolution was met with a polarising response to audience and critics; it did genuinely improve upon mechanics, but the linear gameplay and the broken Instinct meter really left a bad taste in players' mouths. The sequel to it; Hitman (2016), was seen as a the series getting back to form, with wide open sandboxes, much more freeform gameplay, and the story is much less prominent. |
|
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_8bd3842a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_8bd3842a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Hitman (Franchise) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_8bd3842a | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_8da3aa83 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_8da3aa83 | comment |
Planes. The original has a 25% on Rotten Tomatoes, and was generally lambasted as a worse, more obviously Merchandise-Driven Cliché Storm than Cars. The sequel Planes: Fire & Rescue got a 44% on Rotten Tomatoes and is generally considered much better - more interesting plot and characters, good music, etc. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_8da3aa83 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_8da3aa83 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Planes | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_8da3aa83 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_8e077a1 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_8e077a1 | comment |
The second half of Dino Charge stumbled heavily, with an emphasis on filler and a truly bewirldering season finale. Power Rangers Ninja Steel was seen as So OK, It's Average to a tee, offering nothing truly good or truly bad, being almost entirely forgettable. Once Hasbro brought the franchise, their first series Power Rangers Beast Morphers was warmly welcomed by fans. The cast had great chemistry, the development was great, there were some natural callbacks to previous seasons, and the second half involved crossovers with RPM, Dino Charge, Mighty Morphin, and even Space Sheriff Gavan, with fans calling the season a better celebrating than Super Megaforce was. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_8e077a1 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_8e077a1 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Power Rangers Ninja Steel | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_8e077a1 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_8fbf53e0 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_8fbf53e0 | comment |
Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives is considered by many to be a step up over the previous installment in the series, Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning, which had the poorly-received copycat killer -angle to it. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_8fbf53e0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_8fbf53e0 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_8fbf53e0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_9047554f | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_9047554f | comment |
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 sub-weapon 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, 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 in the non-Japanese versions) and the Holy Water. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_9047554f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_9047554f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Castlevania: The Adventure (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_9047554f | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_9322493f | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_9322493f | comment |
Kamen Rider Zi-O is this to previously Kamen Rider anniversary series Kamen Rider Decade. Decade was heavily criticized for using alternate versions played by different actors of the Riders it was paying tribute towards and having a plot that was incredibly incoherent and borderline nonexistant at times. Zi-O has... a coherent plot and brings back actual characters from each of the previous Rider series. Even if it's not without its own share of problems, it's definitely an improvement. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_9322493f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_9322493f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Kamen Rider Zi-O | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_9322493f | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_93939352 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_93939352 | comment |
Spectre is generally considered So OK, It's Average. No Time to Die is considered a better film, even breaking the "curse" of underwhelming final installments for Bond actors who've had a run with multiple films. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_93939352 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_93939352 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Spectre | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_93939352 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_93fc1d2b | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_93fc1d2b | comment |
Paper Mario: Paper Mario: Color Splash, while not without its own flaws, was considered to be an improvement over the poorly received previous installment Paper Mario: Sticker Star and fixed a number of (albeit not all of) Sticker Star's problems. It's far from being considered better than the first three games, however. Paper Mario: The Origami King would go on to be even better received than both the hated Sticker Star and Contested Sequel Color Splash, due to the game being regarded as having finally found an identity for the post-Super Paper Mario games with more intuitive, practical, and (most importantly) fun Puzzle Boss gameplay, doing away with the gimmicky Things that made most battles a pushover, many more interesting and likable characters, and a more compelling story than the fairly thin plots of the previous two games. |
|
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_93fc1d2b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_93fc1d2b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Paper Mario (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_93fc1d2b | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_93fdfb22 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_93fdfb22 | comment |
The original 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 truly bad bugs, and generally improving the controls, Street Fighter II is credited with popularizing the one-on-one tournament fighter genre and becoming a phenomenon. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_93fdfb22 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_93fdfb22 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Street Fighter (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_93fdfb22 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_94d1f08e | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_94d1f08e | comment |
Trolls is more of a divisive film rather than a straight-up bad one, with detractors pointing to the soundtrack consisting of modern pop music, the emphasis on overly cutesy imagery, stupid amount of celebrity voices and having a somewhat generic story as the film's biggest weaknesses. The 2020 sequel, Trolls World Tour, is unanimously considered a better film due to focusing heavily on world exploration, having a solid message regarding cultural appropriation, more genres of music, and the cutesy tone being dialed back to an extent. Also helped by the fact that their online revenue surpassed its own budget within 3 weeks, when it took the first film 5 months. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_94d1f08e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_94d1f08e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Trolls | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_94d1f08e | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_961b37e0 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_961b37e0 | comment |
The DC Extended Universe has seen its up and downs, though people agree that for every time the series tumbles, it comes back stronger than before. After the lukewarm Man of Steel and the critically trashed Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad (2016), Wonder Woman (2017) was welcomed as a breath of fresh air, being regarded as a far superior movie than any of its predecessors. On Rotten Tomatoes, it is the first in the franchise to attain a Fresh rating. Justice League (2017) is a Contested Sequel and seen as a letdown after the awesomeness that is Wonder Woman. It's also a bomb domestically, only barely making even by factoring overseas gross, putting doubt on the franchise' ability to continue. Then came Aquaman (2018), which was able to Win Back the Crowd massively; while not exactly a critical darling, everyone agreed that it improved on Justice League. The biggest news, however, was it becoming the highest-grossing film in the franchise, thanks to a very strong performance in China. Zack Snyder's Justice League shockingly became the Zack Snyder film with the best reviews and audience scores in the whole setting (especially compared to Batman v Superman) in addition to being now considered the superior Justice League film. Suicide Squad (2016) offers two cases, which instead of the tonal clash caused by Executive Meddling went all-in to a whimsical approach and thus were better received for it, first Harley Quinn's next outing, Birds of Prey (2020), and then the not-quite-sequel The Suicide Squad. |
|
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_961b37e0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_961b37e0 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| DC Extended Universe (Franchise) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_961b37e0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_96b22204 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_96b22204 | comment |
Söldner-X: Himmelssturmer was a serviceable side-scrolling shoot-em-up with excellent visuals, but was mainly held back by its sluggishness and brevity. Its sequel, Söldner-X 2: Final Prototype improves on both of these aspects while adding more playable ships and weapons, a revamped power-up and combo system (no more power-down items), and assorted challenges and an expansion pack to keep the game fresh even after completion. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_96b22204 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_96b22204 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Söldner-X (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_96b22204 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_9814dae8 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_9814dae8 | comment |
The Annabelle series has always been considered the weaker half of The Conjuring Universe, with the first film not being well-received by both critics and the audience. However, its sequel, Annabelle: Creation, while still not reaching up to The Conjuring level, is considered a better movie. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_9814dae8 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_9814dae8 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Annabelle | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_9814dae8 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_985ad25d | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_985ad25d | comment |
Dragon Ball Super while still very popular having revived the series after decades of being dormant nevertheless caused a massive Broken Base and was frequently criticised for lesser quality animation, hit-and-miss humour, Flanderization of characters’ worst traits (especially Goku and Chi-Chi), underutilisation of a lot of the cast and regurgitation of well-trodden ideas like Time Travel and Tournament Arcs. Super's two follow up films Dragon Ball Super: Broly and Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero are much more unanimous positively received thanks to vastly superior animation and fights (especially in Broly), better characterisation, funnier jokes, more stakes and in Super Hero’s case genuinely giving characters other than Goku and Vegeta a chance to shine. This also applies to Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection 'F' which is oft-considered one of the weakest films with Broly and Super Hero being a top to bottom improvement. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_985ad25d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_985ad25d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Dragon Ball Super | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_985ad25d | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_98744614 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_98744614 | comment |
Although Brave was a financial success and did well with critics and fans, many generally regard it to be one of Pixar's weakest films and So Okay, It's Average at best. The 2022 sequel novel, Bravely on the other hand, despite being a novel written without Pixar's direct involvement, is regarded by fans to be a marked improvement over the film due to the book having a less predictable plot, better pacing, and a more consistent tone compared to the films, while also giving the characters (especially Merida) more depth and development. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_98744614 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_98744614 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Brave | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_98744614 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_987ae286 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_987ae286 | comment |
Cars isn't considered a bad film per se, but some people still view it as Pixar's weakest film due to its rather generic story and becoming somewhat of a Cash-Cow Franchise. Then came Cars 2, which served as a sore spot in Pixar's filmography due to how much it detracted from the original, and ended up becoming their lowest-rated film to date.note Admittedly, reviews were more mixed than outright negative, but no Pixar film had ever received a film rating as low as 39%. In noticeable contrast to the two previous films, Cars 3 got a much better reception for returning to the original aspects of the first film, having a more original story, and focusing heavily on Character Development. Some even went as far as to say it's better than the original. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_987ae286 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_987ae286 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Cars | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_987ae286 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_98caee1b | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_98caee1b | comment |
Bombshell was an unimpressive and mediocre shooter that was remembered for its remarkably bad trailer. Its prequel, Ion Fury, is considerably better-regarded, ditching the top-down look in favor of being a Retraux Genre Throwback to Build Engine shooters, and doing an excellent job of it. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_98caee1b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_98caee1b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Bombshell (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_98caee1b | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_9923f896 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_9923f896 | comment |
Psycho Cop was an incredibly generic and forgettable slasher film, while the sequel (the uncut version, that is) was amusingly zany and over-the-top, and benefited greatly Robert R. Shafer's much improved acting (in the previous film, he somehow combined Large Ham with Dull Surprise). | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_9923f896 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_9923f896 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Psycho Cop | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_9923f896 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_9b1333a5 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_9b1333a5 | comment |
The original Top Gun for the NES was very slow-paced and boring, lacked dogfights, was extremely hard to land the plane (made famous thanks to The Angry Video Game Nerd), and difficult refueling scenes. The sequel, titled Top Gun: The Second Mission, however, was much more action-packed and fast-paced, has a much easier landing, no refueling scenes, and dogfight sequences. Not only that, but the game also gave you the ability to perform barrel rolls to dodge missiles. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_9b1333a5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_9b1333a5 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Top Gun | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_9b1333a5 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_9b7791da | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_9b7791da | comment |
Two Worlds II fixed everything in the first game while retaining the What Could Have Been elements, including an innovative spell system. The first game suffered from numerous glitches, missing animations, and extremely cheesy dialogue, and its Xbox 360 port was a disaster, which turned a buggy but playable game into a trainwreck. The second game is mostly remembered for its HUGE amount of content and a variety of multiplayer modes. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_9b7791da | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_9b7791da | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Two Worlds (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_9b7791da | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_9c3dc2a2 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_9c3dc2a2 | comment |
Phantasy Star Universe did a lot of things well, including a fully-featured single-player campaign, and an expansive character creation system. Unfortunately, it also stumbled in many respects: the gameplay was criticized for being stale and boring, the single-player campaign had a fairly laughable story, and the international localizations were missing content from the Japanese version. It would not be until the move to the Playstation Portable, with Phantasy Star Portable, that the series Growing the Beard: what the series lost in online multiplayer, it made up for in improved narratives and fine-tuned mechanics which would serve as inspiration for Phantasy Star Online 2. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_9c3dc2a2 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_9c3dc2a2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Phantasy Star Universe (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_9c3dc2a2 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_9c8609bd | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_9c8609bd | comment |
The first Frogger game from Hasbro, Frogger: He's Back!, received a mixed-to-negative response from critics due to the game's high level of difficulty, which can largely be chalked up to the gameplay being an awkward mix of the original arcade game's rules (three lives, One-Hit-Point Wonder, no checkpoints) imposed onto a puzzle platformer (the frogs the player has to collect are scattered in maze-like levels, filled with all sorts of deadly hazards). Also owing to the difficulty was the game's realistic Jump Physics controls and occasional bouts of Event-Obscuring Camera. The sequel Frogger 2: Swampy's Revenge, developed by Blitz Games (the first game was made by SCE Cambridge), retooled the gameplay into a more conventional platformer (the maze-like levels are now streamlined into a linear direction so players no longer have to search for the frogs) and toned down the game's difficulty (the frogs now act as checkpoints, and lives are easier to obtain). The game also had better controls, a better camera, and added collectible coins, which unlocked more characters and multiplayer modes. The result was Frogger 2 being much more positively received by reviewers. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_9c8609bd | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_9c8609bd | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Frogger (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_9c8609bd | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_9f997b2b | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_9f997b2b | comment |
It happened again with the so so-received Quantum of Solace, which suffered from the writers strike of 2007-08. Quantum was subsequently ignored by Skyfall, which many fans consider to be nearly as good as or even better than Casino Royale. Of course, Casino Royale (considered the best Bond film of the 2000s) was itself a follow-up to the panned Die Another Day. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_9f997b2b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_9f997b2b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Quantum of Solace | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_9f997b2b | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a0500a06 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a0500a06 | comment |
The original game was criticized for a lack of online multiplayer, the scant amount of Nicktoons represented (Rugrats, Hey Arnold!, SpongeBob SquarePants, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012), which somehow results in only 12 playable characters), no voice acting whatsoever, and uninspired gameplay. The sequel, Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2: Grand Prix, while still not getting spectacularly high marks from critics and retaining some of the original game's flaws such as no voice acting, is still considered a massive improvement over the first game. Among the improvements in NKR2GP are online multiplayer, new modes, and a good deal more playable characters from 12 Nicktoonsnote The aforementioned four, as well as The Loud House, The Ren & Stimpy Show, Rocko's Modern Life, Catdog, Danny Phantom, Avatar: The Last Airbender, and The Legend of Korra and JoJo Siwa, plus many others through the Pit Crew mechanic. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a0500a06 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a0500a06 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Rugrats | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a0500a06 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a17cdf73 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a17cdf73 | comment |
The Onechanbara series was known for cheap not so good or mediocre games that were like a weird cross between Devil May Cry and Dynasty Warriors until Z: Kagura came out and became more DMC-like/Bayonetta-esque. While not perfect, it had two new characters, better level design (previous games were full of padding in stages), bosses that put up a fight, and an enemy variety other than just zombies. Z2: Chaos took it even further with four playable characters that you could switch on the fly at any time and new power-ups that were useful. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a17cdf73 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a17cdf73 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Onechanbara (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a17cdf73 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a2569abc | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a2569abc | comment |
Nickelodeon Kart Racers: The original game was criticized for a lack of online multiplayer, the scant amount of Nicktoons represented (Rugrats, Hey Arnold!, SpongeBob SquarePants, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012), which somehow results in only 12 playable characters), no voice acting whatsoever, and uninspired gameplay. The sequel, Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2: Grand Prix, while still not getting spectacularly high marks from critics and retaining some of the original game's flaws such as no voice acting, is still considered a massive improvement over the first game. Among the improvements in NKR2GP are online multiplayer, new modes, and a good deal more playable characters from 12 Nicktoonsnote The aforementioned four, as well as The Loud House, The Ren & Stimpy Show, Rocko's Modern Life, Catdog, Danny Phantom, Avatar: The Last Airbender, and The Legend of Korra and JoJo Siwa, plus many others through the Pit Crew mechanic. Slime Speedway improves on Grand Prix in every conceivable way, with more characters and tracks, an expanded kart/bike customization system, far more content across the board and full voice acting for the entire cast. |
|
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a2569abc | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a2569abc | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Nickelodeon Kart Racers (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a2569abc | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a385baad | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a385baad | comment |
Astonishia Story was an RPG originally made for PCs in the mid-1990s and remained exclusively a Korean property until 2006, when the game was remade for the PSP and distributed worldwide. The port hadn't aged well at all, and the lackluster localization effort by Ubisoft didn't help. Three years later, Astonishia Story 2 (titled Crimson Gem Saga in non-Asian countries) was released to a much warmer reception, with tighter character development, a retooled battle and skill system that emphasizes combination attacks, much less Forced Level-Grinding, and a better translation by the team at Atlus. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a385baad | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a385baad | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Astonishia Story (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a385baad | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a4274674 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a4274674 | comment |
After the lukewarm Man of Steel and the critically trashed Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad (2016), Wonder Woman (2017) was welcomed as a breath of fresh air, being regarded as a far superior movie than any of its predecessors. On Rotten Tomatoes, it is the first in the franchise to attain a Fresh rating. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a4274674 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a4274674 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Man of Steel | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a4274674 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a4517559 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a4517559 | comment |
2 is, according to Word of God, better than its predecessor Craz'd! And it shows with the more polished gameplay and aesthetics, the latter of which feel more cohesive and charming despite still being erratic. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a4517559 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a4517559 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| 2 (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a4517559 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a5fec434 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a5fec434 | comment |
Among the Twisted Metal games, Twisted Metal III, Twisted Metal 4, and Twisted Metal: Small Brawl are generally considered the weakest. Twisted Metal: Black is seen as better than both III and 4 and is hailed as one of, if not the best game in the series, while Twisted Metal: Head-On is seen as a major improvement from Small Brawl. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a5fec434 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a5fec434 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Twisted Metal (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a5fec434 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a61ca024 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a61ca024 | comment |
While nowhere near as bad as other seasons Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue was considered So Okay, It's Average, a stumble after the well-received In Space and Lost Galaxy seasons previous. Then Power Rangers Time Force aired and it became one of the most well-loved seasons in the franchise. The cast was well-loved and had relationships unique from other seasons. The villains were back to US-exclusive ones and were loved. The story and plot had a lot of great twists and turns thanks to the time travel concept and changing the future. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a61ca024 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a61ca024 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a61ca024 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a6543322 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a6543322 | comment |
Touhou Project: 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: Touhou Yumejikuu ~ Phantasmagoria of Dim. Dream is, bluntly, terrible, suffering from cheating AI, little plot, ugly graphics, and boring battles. Touhou Kaeidzuka ~ 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. Touhou Bunkachou ~ Shoot the Bullet was mostly made for the sake of having a game to go with the fan books release, and it shows. The game is fairly short, has a lot of very similar patterns (Spinning! Streaming! Spinning while streaming!), mostly fairly ugly patterns, an unpolished UI, and is really hard, even by Touhou standards. Double Spoiler ~ Touhou Bunkachou is longer, has more variety, fixed most of STB's annoying issues, and is reasonably clearable by the average Touhou player. Then there is the fan game Koumajou Densetsu — where the second game has received massive improvements over the first as well as added really well-done voice acting. |
|
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a6543322 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a6543322 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Touhou Project (Franchise) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a6543322 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a670a7dc | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a670a7dc | comment |
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 ginormous cast of characters from the series' history.note A total of 132 characters from both sides as of Dynasty Warriors 7 and Samurai Warriors 3, along with guest appearances from other famous Tecmo and Koei games such as Ninja Gaiden, Dead or Alive, and Bladestorm The Hundred Years War. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a670a7dc | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a670a7dc | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Warriors Orochi (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a670a7dc | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a725fd30 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a725fd30 | comment |
For Your Eyes Only, by virtue of being more "down to Earth" (quite literally) than Moonraker (which is regularly considered entertaining but too "outlandish" with its space plot). | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a725fd30 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a725fd30 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| For Your Eyes Only | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a725fd30 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a77af82e | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a77af82e | comment |
Yu-Gi-Oh! Forbidden Memories is usually seen as basically unplayable, with monotonous mechanics, a ridiculous amount of Level Grinding, and positively obnoxious difficulty, though it sold well due to being the only console Yu-Gi-Oh! game at the time. Its sorta-sequel, Yu-Gi-Oh! The Duelists of the Roses, cranked down the difficulty quite a bit, reworked the Level Grinding to be actually satisfying and sensible, and completely overhauled the gameplay to add actual strategy besides "play the strongest monster and hope you can make a fusion." | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a77af82e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a77af82e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Yu-Gi-Oh! Forbidden Memories (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a77af82e | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a790ad9e | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a790ad9e | comment |
While all of Wave's games based on Tomorrow's Joe are fairly obscure, the Super Famicom one is seen as the best one of them all; not only cutting out the Filler beat-em-up sections of Legend of Success Joe and having much better graphics and sound than the first installment, simply Success Joe, but also, after the previous two did not, having the manga's famous ending. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a790ad9e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a790ad9e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Tomorrow's Joe (Manga) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a790ad9e | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a7bb27f5 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a7bb27f5 | comment |
Mega Man II on the Game Boy was developed by a different team than the well-received Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge, and it showed in its low difficulty, subpar stage design, and cacophonous music that sounded nothing like the NES games' original tunes. Mega Man III saw the return of the developers from Dr. Wily's Revenge, and the improvements over II were apparent from the get-go with improved stage design, a return of the series's challenging difficulty, and faithfully recreated music from the NES games. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a7bb27f5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a7bb27f5 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Mega Man II (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a7bb27f5 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a7ff76a4 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a7ff76a4 | comment |
Freddy vs. Jason is (surprisingly enough) generally considered to be one of the better films in either franchise and a vast improvement over both Jason X and Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a7ff76a4 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a7ff76a4 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Freddy vs. Jason | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a7ff76a4 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a81325d3 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a81325d3 | comment |
Final Fantasy: Due to the Final Fantasy franchise and its Broken Base, Final Fantasy XIII received a lot of venom for fans for its linearity. Then came Final Fantasy XIII-2, a game that not only doesn't feel like a narrow corridor, but has side-quests more evenly spread throughout the adventure as opposed to collected in one specific portion of the game, like the original had. Final Fantasy All the Bravest is usually regarded as the absolute nadir of the entire franchise, and a microcosm of everything terrible about mobile gaming in general. By comparison, Final Fantasy Record Keeper, its Spiritual Successor, is generally seen as a pretty solid mobile game. The original 1.0 release of Final Fantasy XIV had horrendously unoptimized graphics note They looked nice, but unless you had a high-end PC, your framerates would suffer gravely, unintuitive controls and user interface, and a grind to rival that of the worst free-to-play MMO. So abysmal was its failure that it nearly tanked Square Enix, got the lead developer fired, and was deemed a lost cause by the new lead developer. The relaunch and continuation of the game's narrative, subtitled A Realm Reborn, was practically a different game altogether, and was better in nearly every way imaginable: graphics that looked good and ran well on even a mid-tier PC, and controls so streamlined that it is possible to play even on a gamepad, helped to ensure the game would not only bring Square back from the brink but become a fixture of the MMO scene for years to come. While Final Fantasy Tactics Advance wasn't a bad game overall, it was met with a mixed reception by the fans due to the overall tone being Lighter and Softer compared to Final Fantasy Tactics; Tactics was about war and betrayal while Advance deals with a group of adolescents that use escapism to avoid life's problems while the main protagonist tries to get them to face reality. The overall difficulty was also broken beyond recognition thanks to many of a Game-Breaker (stealing abilities without having to learn them the normal way and making attacks so accurate that instant death skills made battles a joke, for example). The law system was widely hated due to how restrictive it made battles, even with the ability to manipulate said laws. Final Fantasy Tactics A2 addresses all of the problems of the previous game and deals them out in a nice package; the story is treated as just an adventure to have a good time on with some darker themes mixed in, the Game Breakers were nerfed (while some do still exist, they aren't as easy to abuse as they were before), and the law system was simplified and made less punishing for those who break the rules. Dissidia Final Fantasy (2015) was a tepidly-received sequel to the original Dissidia Final Fantasy and its direct sequel Duodecim as it was an arcade game ported to home consoles. Instead of a dedicated story mode, it had a limited number of cutscenes unlocked using the ingame battle currency, and its gameplay was criticized as too focused on player-vs-player online play, with single-player mode quickly becoming repetitive and character customization too limited. 2017's Dissidia Final Fantasy: Opera Omnia, despite being a gachapon spinoff, became much more popular by revamping the Brave - Hit Points battle system into a turn-based model and reintegrating the story mode into gameplay progression with a continuation of the Dissidia plotline and cutscenes highlighting many characters in the series, even ones from older or more obscure titles. Although it still has points of contention (not least being a gachapon game), it's still going strong while the game it was meant to promote stopped updating in 2020. |
|
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a81325d3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a81325d3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Final Fantasy (Franchise) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a81325d3 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a825da3e | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a825da3e | comment |
Magic: The Gathering: The original Kamigawa sets from 2004-05 weren't well received, due in large part to having unintuitive game mechanics and weak cards, although the block would later become Vindicated by History for its feaudal Japan-styled setting and some cards becoming useful in formats such as Modern and Legacy. Still, Wizards understandably wrote the plane of Kamigawa off as a failure, to the point that, when the time came to revisit it years later, they briefly considered simply creating a new Japanese-themed plane to replace it note Which had been done before, with Innistrad replacing Ulgrotha as the Gothic Horror plane, and Eldraine replacing Lorwyn/Shadowmoor as the Grimm Fairytale plane. Instead, they took advantage of the fact that the Kamigawa block was set over 1200 years prior to the current point in the game's timeline to reimagine it as a technologically advanced plane, which more directly paralleled modern Japan and which shamelessly aped common Anime, Manga and Tokusatsu tropes, while honoring the past sets with saga enchantments depicting major events from that block, and the plane's new theme would be a confict between tradition and progress. The pitch was good enough that the team felt it was worth the risk, and the resulting set, Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, was a smash success and quickly deemed one of Magic's best ever sets, in the process giving hope to revisiting planes also previously deemed unsalvagable. The fact that the set's story contains one of the game's biggest Wham Episodes note The Phyrexians successfully compleating a planeswalker, something not even Yawgmoth managed to do was just icing on the cake. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a825da3e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a825da3e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Magic: The Gathering (Tabletop Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_a825da3e | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ab67d84 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ab67d84 | comment |
The 'sillies' that run alongside Ctrl+Alt+Del have fewer panels (so the punchline comes at the end), stylized art (a complete lack of B^U), and a steadily rotating roster of secondary characters including the Grim Reaper. On the other hand, they don't have a set schedule. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ab67d84 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ab67d84 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ctrl+Alt+Del (Webcomic) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ab67d84 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_abb58ae1 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_abb58ae1 | comment |
Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly was an Obvious Beta that was Christmas Rushed and only had seven levels and very strange design decisions because of it. The following game; Spyro: A Hero's Tail was a vast improvement, adding in new breaths that had actual use, and was more in line with the quality set by the original Insomniac developed trilogy of games. Many even consider it a case of being Vindicated by History, especially given the franchises' later games. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_abb58ae1 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_abb58ae1 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_abb58ae1 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ae259c31 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ae259c31 | comment |
The exemplar for the series would have to be The Spy Who Loved Me. The Man with the Golden Gun is considered one of the weakest, if not the weakest entry in the entire series, in terms of box office gross, fan reactions, and critical reception. The Spy Who Loved Me, on the other hand, was a great commercial success and a hit with both fans and critics. It's almost guaranteed to land on any "Top 10 Bond Films" list worth its salt, and some Bond fans consider it better than Goldfinger. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ae259c31 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ae259c31 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Spy Who Loved Me | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ae259c31 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_af05542c | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_af05542c | comment |
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. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_af05542c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_af05542c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Wangan Midnight (Manga) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_af05542c | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_af1ca933 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_af1ca933 | comment |
Stuntman was a PS2 title that featured realistic handling physics and an interesting twist on the driving genre, but ultimately received meager popularity due to its punishing difficulty. Stuntman: Ignition, released as a console-generation-bridging title (PS2, PS3, and 360) featured a completely overhauled game system that kept the games difficulty nearly-intact but made it much fairer for the player. Didn't hurt that it was also a much better looking game. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_af1ca933 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_af1ca933 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Stuntman (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_af1ca933 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_afa87e53 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_afa87e53 | comment |
Backyard Basketball on the PS2 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! | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_afa87e53 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_afa87e53 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Backyard Sports (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_afa87e53 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_afeeacf6 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_afeeacf6 | comment |
The jump from prequels to sequels was also found as this, with The Force Awakens having higher critical and audience scores than Revenge of the Sith. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_afeeacf6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_afeeacf6 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Force Awakens | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_afeeacf6 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b044a55a | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b044a55a | comment |
Lufia & The Fortress of Doom was a bog-standard RPG. Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals added puzzles, a more compelling storyline, one of the first randomized bonus dungeons, fun-to-use and not-too-rare random drops that give you special abilities... and created one of the best SNES-era RPGs. Had the developers not run out of budget or time for a couple of towers late in the game (the only puzzle-free dungeons), it would be perfection. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b044a55a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b044a55a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Lufia & The Fortress of Doom (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b044a55a | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b0544c4b | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b0544c4b | comment |
On the localization front for Super Robot Wars X, at any rate. While X is not the first SRW to get an English option but not an official release in most Anglophone territories, previous efforts at putting an English option in could best be described as "serviceable". The team Namco Bandai assembled for X, however, was made up of a number of long-time SRW fans, and it really shows; as much as the actual plotting can be kind of bad (as noted above), the quality of the English script is considered a high-water mark for the entire franchise and contributed heavily to X becoming an underground success and growing the English SRW fanbase and bringing lapsed fans back in. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b0544c4b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b0544c4b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Super Robot Wars X (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b0544c4b | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b0ff5776 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b0ff5776 | comment |
Young Sheldon: Reception for this show is miles more positive than The Big Bang Theory. Due to the differences in formatting and jokes (dramedy angle, plots based on family, single-camera Mockumentary style), it's seen as more accessible to viewers that either have never heard of Big Bang (thus making it easier to get into) or don't care for it and its comedy style. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b0ff5776 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b0ff5776 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Young Sheldon | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b0ff5776 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b105906e | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b105906e | comment |
Child's Play: Bride of Chucky is viewed as a much better film than the two previous films, with its Horror Comedy approach being highlighted. Curse of Chucky managed to successfully bring the series back to horror after the overly silly Seed of Chucky. |
|
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b105906e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b105906e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Child's Play (Franchise) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b105906e | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b11626d | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b11626d | comment |
Paper Mario: The Origami King would go on to be even better received than both the hated Sticker Star and Contested Sequel Color Splash, due to the game being regarded as having finally found an identity for the post-Super Paper Mario games with more intuitive, practical, and (most importantly) fun Puzzle Boss gameplay, doing away with the gimmicky Things that made most battles a pushover, many more interesting and likable characters, and a more compelling story than the fairly thin plots of the previous two games. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b11626d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b11626d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Paper Mario: The Origami King (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b11626d | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b13bdc84 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b13bdc84 | comment |
While Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice does have its detractors and isn't considered a great game, many journalists and fans are in agreement that it's certainly a step up from the previous two Sonic Boom games, Shattered Crystal and especially Rise of Lyric. It helps that Sega delayed the game from its intended holiday 2015 release to nearly a year later to give the developers more time to work on it and ensure it doesn't suffer the same fate as its predecessors. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b13bdc84 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b13bdc84 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Sonic Boom (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b13bdc84 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b323ef4 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b323ef4 | comment |
Hitman: Absolution was met with a polarising response to audience and critics; it did genuinely improve upon mechanics, but the linear gameplay and the broken Instinct meter really left a bad taste in players' mouths. The sequel to it; Hitman (2016), was seen as a the series getting back to form, with wide open sandboxes, much more freeform gameplay, and the story is much less prominent. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b323ef4 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b323ef4 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Hitman: Absolution (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b323ef4 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b3705009 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b3705009 | comment |
Saw X defied all expectations by not just being well-received by audiences (especially after the tepid response to the previous installment, Spiral), it also finally earned broader respect from critics, netting an 80% critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes, making it the first "Fresh" film in the franchise, a title that evaded even the first film (widely recognized as "the genuinely good one" up until that point). Points of praise include making the story an early interquel — conveniently sidestepping the franchise's later Kudzu Plot and giving an opportunity for the beloved Tobin Bell a return to the spotlight as the series Villain Protagonist — as well as stronger character focus and a surprisingly poignant script, balancing out the terrifying traps with sincere character drama and heart. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b3705009 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b3705009 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Saw X | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b3705009 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b37304ba | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b37304ba | comment |
The Heroes of Olympus: The first book The Lost Hero was considered rather lackluster, with flat protagonists in Piper and Jason, a by-the-book quest, Strangled by the Red String romance and excluding characters from the previous series. However the second book Son of Neptune introduces the badass Roman Camp, brings back the universally-beloved Percy as a narrator and better-developed new characters (Hazel, Frank, Reyna, Octavian). The third and fourth book fall into Even Better Sequel. As all the books are a Sequel Series to Percy Jackson and the Olympians, the improvements saved the overall series from Sequelitis. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b37304ba | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b37304ba | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Heroes of Olympus | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b37304ba | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b4967d43 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b4967d43 | comment |
Sonic the Hedgehog: Sonic and the Secret Rings and Sonic Unleashed. While the games still suffered from significant flaws (with Secret Rings having a lousy motion control scheme and Unleashed having the Werehog brawler levels), they were generally agreed that they weren't as bad as the widely-panned Shadow the Hedgehog and Sonic '06. Sonic Colors managed to be the first Sonic game to actually avoid incorporating (blatantly) gimmicky mechanics into the game, and was praised as the first solid Sonic game in years (and for those who aren't fans of the pre-Unleashed 3D titles, the first 3D Sonic game to make a successful Video Game 3D Leap and be genuinely good). While Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice does have its detractors and isn't considered a great game, many journalists and fans are in agreement that it's certainly a step up from the previous two Sonic Boom games, Shattered Crystal and especially Rise of Lyric. It helps that Sega delayed the game from its intended holiday 2015 release to nearly a year later to give the developers more time to work on it and ensure it doesn't suffer the same fate as its predecessors. Sega's first attempt at Revisiting the Roots with Sonic the Hedgehog 4 was heavily panned by the fanbase of the original games as an awful successor to what is still considered the series' best games; and while it wasn't received with as much vitriol from reviewers at the time of release, they later agreed in retrospect that the game was a misfire. Like the Skyfall example above, Sonic 4 was subsequently ignored by Sonic Mania, which was not only praised as a proper sequel to the original games by both critics and fans but garnered wide acclaim as the series' first truly exceptional entry in decades. Sonic Mania was also the first Sonic game on consoles released after the aforementioned Rise of Lyric, which is considered a top contender alongside Sonic 2006 as the worst Sonic game in the series. The general consensus on Sonic Frontiers is that while the game isn’t perfect and has its weak spots, it is considered a step in the right direction for the series after the polarizing reception towards the last two main games by Sonic Team, Sonic Lost World and Sonic Forces, owning mainly to its improved writing and more in-depth “open zone� gameplay. As far as fan games go: the original Sonic Robo Blast was considered a great fan game for its time, being ambitious in its scope, albeit stymied by the primitive Game Maker programs it was made on. By comparison, Sonic Robo Blast 2 is several major steps up, being a standalone total conversion Game Mod of DOOM that fans and critics alike claim actually surpasses Sega's official games. |
|
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b4967d43 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b4967d43 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Sonic the Hedgehog (Franchise) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b4967d43 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b5761a42 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b5761a42 | comment |
Final Destination 4 was the first Final Destination disliked by fans and reviewers alike. Final Destination 5 managed to Win Back the Crowd, being called the best since the original (it even has the highest scores of the franchise on both Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic). | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b5761a42 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b5761a42 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Final Destination 4 | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b5761a42 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b5dbc020 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b5dbc020 | comment |
NES Remix is a decent Minigame Game that had a somewhat undercooked selection of classic NES games—genuine classics like Super Mario Bros. and Donkey Kong feature prominently, while Nintendo's early sports titles (Baseball, Tennis, Golf, etc.) are included almost as an afterthought. However, the game was successful enough to spawn a sequel in NES Remix 2, which features a higher-quality selection of games (including Kirby's Adventure, Super Mario Bros. 2 and Super Mario Bros. 3), more creative remix stages, and the ability to view replays of other players' best times. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b5dbc020 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b5dbc020 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| NES Remix (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b5dbc020 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b7db5642 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b7db5642 | comment |
Stranger Things Season 4 is considered a vast improvement over the second and third seasons which suffered from some meandering Seasonal Rot and Character Derailment. Season 4 by comparison introduced compelling new characters, a spectacular villain who was retroactively there all along and managed to give greater depth to a lot of the characters particularly Max with her scene with the Big Bad in episode 4 being considered the absolute high point of not only the season but by far one of the greatest moments in the series as a whole. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b7db5642 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b7db5642 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Stranger Things | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b7db5642 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b80b5c0d | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b80b5c0d | comment |
The general consensus on Sonic Frontiers is that while the game isn’t perfect and has its weak spots, it is considered a step in the right direction for the series after the polarizing reception towards the last two main games by Sonic Team, Sonic Lost World and Sonic Forces, owning mainly to its improved writing and more in-depth “open zone� gameplay. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b80b5c0d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b80b5c0d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Sonic Frontiers (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b80b5c0d | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b90e2576 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b90e2576 | comment |
In the case of Hunky Dory, it came on the heels of an unsympathetically produced, cheesy first pop album, an oft-overlooked second folk rock album, and a third that, while a decent example of early Heavy Metal, is not really seen as the best representation of what Bowie was capable of. Hunky Dory, meanwhile, is typically regarded as the first truly excellent Bowie album, demonstrating the man's songwriting prowess in a way previous efforts couldn't express. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b90e2576 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b90e2576 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| David Bowie (1967) (Music) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_b90e2576 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ba3d2f37 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ba3d2f37 | comment |
Logan ups the ante from The Wolverine and is considered one of the best (if not the best) X-Men movies ever. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ba3d2f37 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ba3d2f37 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Logan | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ba3d2f37 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ba6a3880 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ba6a3880 | comment |
The horror film Ouija was universally panned by critics. The prequel Ouija: Origin of Evil, however, received far warmer reviews, holding an 82% on Rotten Tomatoes compared to the original's 6%. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ba6a3880 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ba6a3880 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Ouija | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ba6a3880 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ba99b122 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ba99b122 | comment |
Saw VI was regarded by fans and critics alike as a huge improvement over the two previous two sequels, and generally regarded as a worthy successor to the original trilogy. Whereas IV and V were criticized for being reliant on perfunctory, increasingly convoluted lore, VI featured a story that had some level of prescience, character arcs, and clever twists on top of creatively gory traps. Unfortunately, it ended up becoming the series' resident Acclaimed Flop (likely due to moviegoers having been burned twice by prior films), convincing Lionsgate that the next film ought to be the last. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ba99b122 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ba99b122 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Saw VI | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ba99b122 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_bb58cad8 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_bb58cad8 | comment |
Justice League (2017) is a Contested Sequel and seen as a letdown after the awesomeness that is Wonder Woman. It's also a bomb domestically, only barely making even by factoring overseas gross, putting doubt on the franchise' ability to continue. Then came Aquaman (2018), which was able to Win Back the Crowd massively; while not exactly a critical darling, everyone agreed that it improved on Justice League. The biggest news, however, was it becoming the highest-grossing film in the franchise, thanks to a very strong performance in China. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_bb58cad8 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_bb58cad8 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Justice League (2017) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_bb58cad8 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_bbe42b2 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_bbe42b2 | comment |
She-Ra: Princess of Power is considered to be much better both story and characterization-wise than He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (1983). It also featured subtly improved animation and character art. Unfortunately, it didn't last as long due to its toy line not selling well. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_bbe42b2 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_bbe42b2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| She-Ra: Princess of Power | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_bbe42b2 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_bc848d30 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_bc848d30 | comment |
The general consensus is that SpongeBob SquarePants suffered from Seasonal Rot sometime between the first and second movies, starting with either Season 4, 5 or 6, depending on who you ask. But starting with Season 9 (especially the second half), the series redeemed itself, toning down the overly mean-spirited humor of those seasons, and largely reverting the characters to their pre-Flanderized selves. Some fans consider Seasons 9B and 10, in particular, to rival the first three seasons in quality. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_bc848d30 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_bc848d30 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| SpongeBob SquarePants | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_bc848d30 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_bcadd7cb | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_bcadd7cb | comment |
Most of Matt Ward's 5th edition codexes are rather divisive among Warhammer 40,000 fans. The Space Marines codex has some divisive fluff. The Blood Angels Codex has several Game-Breaker elements, while the Grey Knights codex has both. The reaction to the news that Ward would be writing the 5th Edition Necrons codex was... less than stellar. But when the codex was released, it turned out that Necrons Codex was mechanically well balanced, and while it did introduce several massive retcons to the existing Necrons fluff, most fans agree that those changes were long overdue and rescued Necrons from being a Generic Doomsday Villain. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_bcadd7cb | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_bcadd7cb | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Warhammer 40,000 (Tabletop Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_bcadd7cb | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_be01a670 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_be01a670 | comment |
Gameplay-wise, the original SOUND VOLTEX is pretty neat for its time, with its use of analog knobs to bring something new to "falling notes" Rhythm Games as well as sound effects that give the impression of mixing the track in a live set. However, its tracklist mostly comprises remixes of existing BEMANI songs of questionable quality (let's put it this way: LamazeP of "PoPiPo" fame personally apologized for his remix of "Second Heaven"), So Bad, It's Good Vocaloid songs, and a handful of Touhou Project arranges. Sound Voltex II -infinite infection- is when the series started to pick up, introducing a lot of new songs at launch that were much better received, many of which are originals, helping to give the series a better sense of identity. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_be01a670 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_be01a670 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| SOUND VOLTEX (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_be01a670 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_bec45ea2 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_bec45ea2 | comment |
Fallen Enchantress, the second game in the Elemental series, was a deliberate attempt by Stardock to fix the numerous problems that plagued its predecessor, Elemental — War of Magic — namely the busted A.I. opponents (who could do nothing but attack) and the mountains of other bugs. It still lacks an online multiplayer component, but the overall reception to Fallen Enchantress has been much better than War of Magic. It was done again with Fallen Enchantress: Legendary Heroes, which added new stories and factions. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_bec45ea2 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_bec45ea2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Elemental — War of Magic (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_bec45ea2 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_bf471bbe | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_bf471bbe | comment |
While Men in Black II is widely considered a mediocre rehash of the original, Men in Black 3 has been surprisingly well-received. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_bf471bbe | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_bf471bbe | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Men in Black II | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_bf471bbe | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_bfd0feb | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_bfd0feb | comment |
The original Fighter's History was an average fighting game, only really known to most people for the fact it got its creators sued by Capcom for being so thoroughly derivative of Street Fighter II and the resulting ruling over whether gameplay mechanics were copyrightable. Its Neo Geo sequel Fighter's History Dynamite was considered an improvement for its overhauled fighting system that allowed for more creative and elaborate combos, toning down the cheating habits of the A.I. opponent and being a generally smoother and better-playing game, enough to earn it a cult following still playing it in tournaments as of 2019. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_bfd0feb | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_bfd0feb | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Fighter's History (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_bfd0feb | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c137e301 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c137e301 | comment |
Power Rangers Wild Force and Power Rangers Ninja Storm had their fanbases, but they had a large hatedom after the lauded Time Force. Wild Force had shaky acting (even for Power Rangers) and a contentious arc involving Animus, while Ninja Storm was hated for its non-threatening villains and an emphasis on comedy. Power Rangers: Dino Thunder brought back Tommy Oliver from Mighty Morphin to be the team's mentor, the show had a much better balance between action and comedy, and the core Rangers had excellent chemistry with each other, allowing for natural character development. There were also a lot of celebratory and fan-favorite episodes, one of which celebrated the entire franchise up to that point, another poked fun at how wacky the source material Sentai can get, and another had Tommy face his first three powersets during a mental test. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c137e301 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c137e301 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Power Rangers Wild Force | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c137e301 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c1d0f909 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c1d0f909 | comment |
Suicide Squad (2016) offers two cases, which instead of the tonal clash caused by Executive Meddling went all-in to a whimsical approach and thus were better received for it, first Harley Quinn's next outing, Birds of Prey (2020), and then the not-quite-sequel The Suicide Squad. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c1d0f909 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c1d0f909 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Suicide Squad (2016) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c1d0f909 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c25cfc1d | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c25cfc1d | comment |
The first GG Aleste is not too shabby, but it feels relatively barebones and the stages seem to drag on, and the Final Boss is a pushover; you get the impression that the developers were being overly cautious about the Game Gear's hardware. You can set the difficulty to Special to make enemies release "revenge bullets" upon defeat, but it feels like artificial difficulty that doesn't really flesh out the game. GG Aleste II: Lance Bird is significantly beefed up, featuring a faster pace and more intense firefights with enemy waves and bosses, reducing the amount of time that the player is doing nothing besides hold down the 1 button. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c25cfc1d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c25cfc1d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Aleste (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c25cfc1d | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c32a966f | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c32a966f | comment |
My Little Pony: Equestria Girls was extremely polarizing when it was released, both among its target demographic and the bronies, due to its rather bland High School AU story and uninteresting Academic Alpha Bitch villain. The sequel film, My Little Pony: Equestria Girls – Rainbow Rocks, is considered superior in every way, especially in terms of the soundtrack and how its plot managed to transform said Academic Alpha Bitch, one of the franchise's weakest villains, into a lovable, sympathetic protagonist. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c32a966f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c32a966f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| My Little Pony: Equestria Girls | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c32a966f | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c4282b71 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c4282b71 | comment |
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic is an unbelievable improvement from the previous generations of My Little Pony, especially the third one. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c4282b71 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c4282b71 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c4282b71 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c4628463 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c4628463 | comment |
The Fast and the Furious starts out in typical Sequelitis fashion. The first one wasn't particularly well received, and the following entries got progressively disdainful critical receptions (54 -> 36 -> 38 -> 28 on Rotten Tomatoes). Then Fast Five was released and was generally considered by critics to be a solid heist flick. Fast & Furious 6 didn't get as much critical acclaim but is still considered a worthy sequel to its predecessor. Furious 7 became the most critically well-received and the highest-grossing of the series, which can partially be attested to the film acting as a touching send-off to Paul Walker and his character Brian O'Conner (as Walker Died During Production in an unrelated car accident). | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c4628463 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c4628463 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Fast and the Furious (Franchise) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c4628463 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c59c548e | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c59c548e | comment |
Killswitch Engage's first titular album mostly went unnoticed. Their second album Alive or Just Breathing, however, achieved cult success. Then front man Jesse Leech was replaced with baritone singer Howard Jones, and the rest was history. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c59c548e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c59c548e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Killswitch Engage (Music) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c59c548e | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c5f50eb4 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c5f50eb4 | comment |
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. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c5f50eb4 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c5f50eb4 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Contra (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c5f50eb4 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c63088d7 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c63088d7 | comment |
The Gundam Vs Series went through Sequelitis (AEUG vs Titans and Gundam vs Zeta Gundam, which were little more than Fed vs Zeon with new machines) before swinging back around into this trope's territory with the Alliance vs ZAFT games (which refined the game engine by speeding things up, making melee more viable, and adding in new tricks like boost dashing and shield defense) and the Gundam vs Gundam games (which continued the refinements while bringing in mecha from the Gundam franchise's 30-year history rather than focusing on just a single show at a time). | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c63088d7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c63088d7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Gundam Vs Series (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c63088d7 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c6e646e5 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c6e646e5 | comment |
Darius Gaiden is widely regarded as a massive improvement over Darius II. It ditches the Awesome, but Impractical multi-screen layout in favor of a single-monitor setup, making it much more palatable for players and more economic for arcade operators. Power-down penalties have been made more lenient, so that the player won't be rendered helpless just from one death in the last few zones, and the player gets much more powerful weapons to play with, not only being able to get the wave shot as early as the second zone but also being able to upgrade to an extremely powerful mixed wave shot by the end of the game. The graphics and level variety have been greatly improved, boasting some of the best 2D visual effects of the game's time and an excellent selection of challenging, but fair bosses. It also introduces a Smart Bomb mechanic into the series, giving the player an out against difficult-to-dodge attacks in addition to the series-standard Deflector Shields. The end result is a package that not only saved Darius from a reputation of questionable design decisions, but one of the most critically-acclaimed side-scrolling shmups of The '90s. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c6e646e5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c6e646e5 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Darius (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c6e646e5 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c72021c5 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c72021c5 | comment |
Deus Ex fans, following the lukewarm reception to Deus Ex: Invisible War, were rightfully skeptical that Human Revolution could live up to the original, with the long time frame and the closure of Ion Storm with a new development team taking over. It's an almost unanimous opinion that the original game will never be matched, but many agree that Human Revolution is the worthy followup that Invisible War wasn't. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c72021c5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c72021c5 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Deus Ex (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c72021c5 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c86d70b5 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c86d70b5 | comment |
The general consensus is that after the disappointments that were the second and third installments of the Jurassic Park franchise, Jurassic World is an effective action flick that manages to recover most of the original's spirit. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c86d70b5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c86d70b5 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Lost World: Jurassic Park | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c86d70b5 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c8ce20c7 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c8ce20c7 | comment |
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 on 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 Quesadilla from forcefully ending their contented and iconic marriage. Peter Paltridge went on to declare this one of the best comics he ever wrote. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c8ce20c7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c8ce20c7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| PlatypusComix | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c8ce20c7 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c903ec58 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c903ec58 | comment |
Bride of Chucky is viewed as a much better film than the two previous films, with its Horror Comedy approach being highlighted. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c903ec58 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c903ec58 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Bride of Chucky | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c903ec58 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c97b59d9 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c97b59d9 | comment |
Secret Wars (2015) is generally considered this. The original Secret Wars (1984) though iconic and full of great moments is still largely an excuse for a load of Marvel heroes and villains to fight and in a greater sense to sell toys. Secret Wars II is only really known for characterising the Beyonder and giving him a human form (a guy with a mullet in a white suit). The 2015 Secret Wars has vastly improved writing and is a big Win Back the Crowd particularly for The Fantastic Four and undos Doctor Doom’s years of Villain Decay. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c97b59d9 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c97b59d9 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Secret Wars (2015) (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_c97b59d9 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ca8aa2a6 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ca8aa2a6 | comment |
God's Not Dead is well-known for cringiness: Its atheist and Muslim characters are jerkass straw men, it portrays Christians as an oppressed minority in the US, it makes poor arguments for their faith, and are known to have so many sub-plots it's hard to keep track of what's happening. While it was a box office disappointment, God's Not Dead: A Light in Darkness is largely considered to be an improvement: It doesn't have straw men, it lets non-Christians present their arguments and even keep their opinions on faith, it calls out the victim complex the previous movies had, it doesn't admonish Christians for having crises of faith, and it acknowledges that the church has indeed a rather dark history of wrongdoings. It is also better-written overall because it doesn't have a great number of mostly-irrelevant subplots. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ca8aa2a6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ca8aa2a6 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| God's Not Dead | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ca8aa2a6 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_caf4d4b4 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_caf4d4b4 | comment |
G.I. Joe: Retaliation featured better actors, no cheap gimmicks, the costumes of Cobra Commander and Snake Eyes were impressive, the effects were really good, which made it seem like more of an effort to be a G.I. Joe movie this time around than the previous effort. Still, both box office and critical reaction were the same, leading to a reboot. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_caf4d4b4 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_caf4d4b4 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| G.I. Joe: Retaliation | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_caf4d4b4 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_cb9125e0 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_cb9125e0 | comment |
Metal Gear Ac!d was ambitious, but very unrefined, with potentially broken gameplay. Metal Gear Ac!d 2 sharpened the graphics, tidied up the engine, made the story more coherent, and added a lot of depth and spontaneity to the gameplay. AC!D 2 also played to the fans of the first by bringing back what many would acknowledge as the first game's best moment - as the final boss of that game comes back (and, in a masterful bit of foreshadowing, you run on top of it without noticing unless you really paid attention), only tightened and with a potentially nasty time limit to make it harder. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_cb9125e0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_cb9125e0 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Metal Gear Ac!d (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_cb9125e0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_cd93cf5f | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_cd93cf5f | comment |
Birdy the Mighty: Decode is widely regarded as a vast improvement over the original four-episode OVA. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_cd93cf5f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_cd93cf5f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Birdy the Mighty (Manga) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_cd93cf5f | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_cdd994cc | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_cdd994cc | comment |
Phantasy Star III was an ambitious sequel in terms of its narrative scope, but is by-and-large considered a major downgrade from Phantasy Star II when it came to gameplay, and the game's setting seemed completely divorced from the mythos built up over the previous games (at least at first). Phantasy Star IV, conversely, is a direct continuation from II, both in narrative and in gameplay, with the game's battle mechanics expanding upon those from II while the story, played out in manga-style cutscenes, build up to an amazing climax. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_cdd994cc | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_cdd994cc | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Phantasy Star III (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_cdd994cc | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ce9201c | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ce9201c | comment |
Naked, the eighth and final Talking Heads album, is seen as this, coming after the much-despised True Stories (itself the only Talking Heads album to near-consistently receive middling to negative reviews). | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ce9201c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ce9201c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Naked (Music) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ce9201c | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d0dce607 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d0dce607 | comment |
Bumblebee received stronger critical reviews than every other film in the Transformers film franchise by a wide margin - in fact, it's better reviewed than the last four put together. This was especially impressive coming off of Transformers: The Last Knight, which was seen as exceptionally bad even by prior standards, and given that it had a budget of less than half of its predecessor. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d0dce607 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d0dce607 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Bumblebee | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d0dce607 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d267a8dc | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d267a8dc | comment |
The first Super Smash Flash was made in four months, and it shows by being practically unplayable by modern standards — with only five moves per character, atrocious hit detection making almost every move a One-Hit Kill, numerous Game Breaking Bugs, unfunctional items, only being able to support two players and having the camera always follow Player 1, and a pithy stage roster of eight stages. Super Smash Flash 2, on the other hand, greatly improves on the flaws of its predecessor; with its high quality graphics, more balanced gameplay, and fidelity to its source material, it has been widely acclaimed as one of, if not the best Super Smash Bros. Fan Game. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d267a8dc | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d267a8dc | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Super Smash Flash (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d267a8dc | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d28f8264 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d28f8264 | comment |
There's nothing particularly bad about the first three albums by Queen — at their worst, they're So Okay, It's Average — but their fourth album, A Night at the Opera is regarded as one of the best albums they ever produced and widely seen as one of the best albums of The '70s. (Rolling Stone ranked it at #231 in their top 500 albums.) Their later album The Works was also a great improvement on its predecessor — although this has more to do with the fact that the predecessor in question, 1982's Hot Space, barring the David Bowie collaboration "Under Pressure", is a point of contention within the fandom and among critics. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d28f8264 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d28f8264 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Queen (Band) (Music) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d28f8264 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d3836a29 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d3836a29 | comment |
MD Geist was a mediocre OVA from The '80s 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. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d3836a29 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d3836a29 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| MD Geist | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d3836a29 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d43be22a | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d43be22a | comment |
Halloween has two cases, both of whom also made sure to disregard whatever happened in the other sequels, the 20th anniversary Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later (only took the first two movies as canon) and the 40th Halloween (2018) (only took the first). | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d43be22a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d43be22a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Halloween (Franchise) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d43be22a | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d4c6d336 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d4c6d336 | comment |
Blinx was a decent 3D Platformer that was heavily criticized because of it's insane difficulty and janky gameplay mechanics. Blinx 2: Masters of Time and Space heavily dials back the difficulty and fixes most of the issues with the gameplay, and is generally better received as a result. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d4c6d336 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d4c6d336 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Blinx (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d4c6d336 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d4d31eeb | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d4d31eeb | comment |
While it's a little muddy as to what exactly DJMAX Respect is a sequel to (SUPERBEAT XONiCnote the last game that can be loosely defined as a DJMAX game; unique take but it features a lot of wonky, outdated mechanics like only one difficulty per button mode, a scoring system that punishes anything short of an All Combo, and different songs being available on different stages, DJMAX RAYnote the last game to carry the DJMAX name; decent gameplay but notoriously unoptimized and known for tons of Microtransactions, DJMAX Portable 3note the last game to use traditional DJMAX gameplay; interesting new remix modes but removal of most traditional button modes, lots of grinding for unlocks, limited songlist, and horrendously draining on the PSP's battery), many agree that it surpasses all of them in quality, due to the expansive songlist that continues to grow thanks to DLC updates and the return and refinement of traditional DJMAX Portable gameplay (4-, 5-, 6-, and 8-button modes, and scoring that is now more focused on accuracy than building a huge combo). It also shows that good Rhythm Games can exist on traditional consoles without needing expensive peripherals that are only used for specific games to be enjoyable (although it hasn't stopped makers of arcade-style controllers from designing Respect-specific controllers anyway, for those who still wanna go the extra mile). | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d4d31eeb | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d4d31eeb | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| DJMAX (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d4d31eeb | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d5467013 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d5467013 | comment |
Knack was a divisive game when it launched with the PlayStation 4, seen largely as a mediocre showcase for the new console and an inferior successor to Mark Cerny's previous work with the Crash Bandicoot series. Despite the odds, it sold well enough to warrant a sequel four years later. Knack II smoothed out the previous game's difficulty and made it more forgiving, and gave Knack greater variety in combat options, resulting in a more enjoyable experience overall. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d5467013 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d5467013 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Knack (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d5467013 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d578ee98 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d578ee98 | comment |
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier was an unmitigated disaster and is usually (alongside Into Darkness as seen below) seen as the worst Trek film ever made, with a poor plot, appalling special effects and a focus on Kirk (and to a lesser extent the big three) that reduced most of the cast little more than extras. Three years later Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country was seen as both a massive return to form and a fitting send off for the original cast as they were (for the most part) retiring from the franchise at that point. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d578ee98 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d578ee98 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Star Trek V: The Final Frontier | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d578ee98 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d58a258b | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d58a258b | comment |
While the original MÚSECA is a decent game, it suffers from some needlessly complex mechanics pertaining to Graficas that are not easily understood, especially by players in US arcades as many of them don't speak Japanese well. MÚSECA 1 + 1/2 rectifies this by making Grafica mechanics more simple (you only need to worry about one stat and one of five elements, and their unlocked effects if any don't affect your score or mess with the interface), making it easier to unlock Grafica (instead of a sequence of objectives or a random pull, just find the Grafica in the Mission mode list and use Graficas with high enough attack power to complete the mission), and finally, making Grafica completely optional (there's a "simple" mode where you just play songs for a score like in other music games, charts are unlocked simply by purchasing them from the song list, and even if you decide to use a Grafica all it does is decorate the interface and gain EXP for leveling up). | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d58a258b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d58a258b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| MÚSECA (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d58a258b | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d5c33582 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d5c33582 | comment |
Pokémon the Series: XY is considered by many fans in the West to be amongst the best yet, while the preceding Pokémon the Series: Black & White isn’t held in as high regard. Ironically, the reverse opinion is held in Japan among the general viewership, with XY suffering an even worse decline in ratings than Best Wishes did. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d5c33582 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d5c33582 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Pokémon the Series: XY | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d5c33582 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d5ddd6c1 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d5ddd6c1 | comment |
Pokémon: The Series: The movies are usually seen as shallow Merchandise-Driven children's movies, and although the first two movies have their fans, they didn't fare well at all with critics (though this may be due in large part to 4Kids Entertainment's adult-alienating English dubs; the Japanese are considered a lot better, with the first movie in particular being well-received in its homeland). Pokémon 3, however, is dark, more personal, better animated, and spends a lot of time developing its antagonist, who goes in far more of a Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds direction than the previous fairly bland villains. Among the subsequent sequels, Pokémon Heroes, Pokémon: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew, Pokémon: Zoroark: Master of Illusions and Pokémon: Kyurem vs. The Sword of Justice are fan-favorites for their good plot and character development. Pokémon the Series: XY is considered by many fans in the West to be amongst the best yet, while the preceding Pokémon the Series: Black & White isn’t held in as high regard. Ironically, the reverse opinion is held in Japan among the general viewership, with XY suffering an even worse decline in ratings than Best Wishes did. |
|
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d5ddd6c1 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d5ddd6c1 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Pokémon: The Series | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d5ddd6c1 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d7289929 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d7289929 | comment |
Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters was criticized during its publication for its slow pacing, unpleasant artwork, overly cynical tone, lack of focus or momentum, shallow and mean-spirited social commentary, and excessive pop culture references that became dated within months. Its sequels, Godzilla: Ongoing and Godzilla: Rulers of Earth surprised fans by fixing all the problems present in the first series, and most readers now skip Kingdom entirely due to how little it contributes to the overall storyline. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d7289929 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d7289929 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d7289929 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d758ed0c | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d758ed0c | comment |
The first TimeSplitters was an average, plotless, mildly quirky Fetch Quest game. The series really took off to its cult status at the second installment; a fun, badass, and most importantly HILARIOUS Spiritual Successor and Affectionate Parody of the behemoth that was GoldenEye in its day, courtesy of Rare veterans. Think of everything that made GoldenEye good, add monkeys and zombies with guns, and you're not even close to the utter craziness this series embodies. Then, the third game has a much stronger, inter-connected storyline that culminated in the reveal of the series villain. Whilst not quite as fast-paced and insane as the previous entry and with a 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 one's personal preferences (most fans do consider them both great games however). | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d758ed0c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d758ed0c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| TimeSplitters (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d758ed0c | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d99d1004 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d99d1004 | comment |
Yooka-Laylee was mostly positively received, but, while not without its fans, suffered from obvious issues with polish and was criticized for feeling like a rehash of the Banjo-Kazooie games. Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair not only starts carving out its own niche for the series by going in a side-scroller direction similar to Donkey Kong Country, but also substantially improves on the controls, level design and all-around polish, earning near-unanimously positive critical acclaim upon release. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d99d1004 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d99d1004 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Yooka-Laylee (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d99d1004 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d9af8733 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d9af8733 | comment |
Dream Warriors is considered a markable improvement over Freddy's Revenge, which while not completely bad and having been Vindicated by History to a degree, deviated too much from the first film's plot. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d9af8733 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d9af8733 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d9af8733 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d9f38557 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d9f38557 | comment |
Similarly, Venom (Donny Cates) follows up Mike Costa's run, generally considered to be So Okay, It's Average, and also uses Eddie Brock rather than Flash Thompson, who had only recently died. Not only that, but it was also worried the series would be too much of a tie-in to the film. Instead, the run so far is considered one of, if not the best Venom series (to the point that it is joked that this run is better than DC's Watchmen). | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d9f38557 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d9f38557 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Venom (Donny Cates) (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_d9f38557 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_da73059 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_da73059 | comment |
The Living Daylights with Timothy Dalton was better received than the final film of Roger Moore, A View to a Kill and is still considered better. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_da73059 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_da73059 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Living Daylights | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_da73059 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_da973332 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_da973332 | comment |
The Angry Birds Movie is more divisive than straight-up bad, ranking at a Rotten 43% on Rotten Tomatoes (though as far as video game movies go, that might as well be a compliment). The 2019 sequel, on the other hand, is widely considered an improvement over the former thanks to improving the relationship between the pigs and the birds and generally improved humor. Its Fresh 73% Tomatometer rating currently makes the sequel the most critically successful video game movie in film history. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_da973332 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_da973332 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Angry Birds Movie | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_da973332 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_dab32bc | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_dab32bc | comment |
The very first game in the series, while certainly decent, was riddled with sketchy controls and Fake Difficulty aplenty, making it an ultimately forgettable experience. Naturally, sales more or less floundered, to the point that Capcom demanded that the dev team make the sequel in their spare time, as they didn't think it worth the investiture otherwise. When said sequel finally released, it fixed nearly all of the problems with its predecessor, featuring tighter controls, much more polished level design, a far more memorable cast of Robot Masters, and one of the best soundtracks on the NES. Mega Man 2 is to this day considered to be one of the best games in the NES library, cementing the Blue Bomber as a gaming icon on par with Mario and Sonic. Even today, 2 serves as the benchmark against which all future installments in the Classic series are measured. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_dab32bc | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_dab32bc | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Mega Man (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_dab32bc | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_dab32e3 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_dab32e3 | comment |
Mega Man X had a nearly universally despised seventh game (an unusual instance in the extremely divided fanbase that Mega Man has); but the eighth game is considered a vast improvement. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_dab32e3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_dab32e3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Mega Man X (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_dab32e3 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_db96ded4 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_db96ded4 | comment |
Book Three: Change of The Legend of Korra is considered to be a major improvement by fans and critics from the fan-polarizing Book Two: Spirits. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_db96ded4 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_db96ded4 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Legend of Korra | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_db96ded4 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_dcc7107a | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_dcc7107a | comment |
The original Dungeons & Dragons (2000) adaptation was mind-bogglingly awful (albeit hilariously so). The sequel, Dungeons & Dragons: Wrath of the Dragon God was more faithful to the source material and is generally considered So Okay, It's Average. The reboot film Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves on the other hand was a box-office smash and massively critical acclaimed (91% on Rotten Tomatoes) for being Truer to the Text and having good humour and heart. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_dcc7107a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_dcc7107a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Dungeons & Dragons (2000) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_dcc7107a | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_dd23ba0e | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_dd23ba0e | comment |
Final Fantasy All the Bravest is usually regarded as the absolute nadir of the entire franchise, and a microcosm of everything terrible about mobile gaming in general. By comparison, Final Fantasy Record Keeper, its Spiritual Successor, is generally seen as a pretty solid mobile game. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_dd23ba0e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_dd23ba0e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Final Fantasy: All the Bravest (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_dd23ba0e | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e15a3879 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e15a3879 | comment |
Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time isn't considered a bad game, but it's viewed as bit of a step down from its predecessor, with criticism aimed towards the more linear gameplay, sluggish pacing, and not really utilizing its premise all that much. In contrast, Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story has a far more engaging story, balanced difficulty, and expanded gameplay. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e15a3879 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e15a3879 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e15a3879 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e199d649 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e199d649 | comment |
Eragon is often mocked for being A New Hope in fantasy medieval times. Eldest and Brisingr start getting a little bit more original, though depending on who you ask they may not actually be all that much better. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e199d649 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e199d649 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Inheritance Cycle | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e199d649 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e19d973b | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e19d973b | comment |
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. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e19d973b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e19d973b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Initial D Arcade Stage (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e19d973b | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e26905cd | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e26905cd | comment |
The first Tekken was not a particularly remarkable game, and was seen as a Virtua Fighter clone, featuring blocky graphics, cheap music, and boss characters who were direct clones, as well as not many special moves. The home versions did not have any extra modes apart from Versus and Options modes. Tekken 2 addressed all the issues and added a lot more cool characters and many modes. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e26905cd | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e26905cd | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Tekken | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e26905cd | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e3763059 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e3763059 | comment |
The original Hyperdimension Neptunia had an interesting concept — the whole series is a metaphor for the Console Wars — but was critically panned for its awkward pace, Schizophrenic Difficulty, and frustrating game mechanics, including the inability to sell old equipment or even use items during battle as in most RPGs. Idea Factory and Compile Heart took these criticisms to heart with Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2, reworking the game almost from the ground up with a new battle system, Item Crafting, and better implementations of some of the systems used in the first game (such as quests and the "Shares" system). While still not a critical hit, some reviewers who hated the first game were pleased with the improvements in mk2, saying that mk2 actually came close to being a "good" or even "great" game. The first game was also given a pseudo-Updated Re-release (technically both the original and the remake take place in separate universes) with gameplay based on Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory that is widely considered to be the superior version. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e3763059 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e3763059 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Hyperdimension Neptunia (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e3763059 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e3b75023 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e3b75023 | comment |
Vampire Hunter D was basically another cheesy 80's Gorntasic OVA/movie with a terrible dub. Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, on the other hand, is far more serious, the story and aesthetics are much improved, and the art and animation are vastly better. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e3b75023 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e3b75023 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Vampire Hunter D | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e3b75023 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e3e0dcec | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e3e0dcec | comment |
Mighty Gunvolt (a Retraux game released alongside Azure Striker Gunvolt as a crossover between it and the then-still-in-development Mighty No. 9) was an interesting curiosity, but also easy to play through and fully finish in an hour or so. The sequel, Mighty Gunvolt Burst, makes better use of its Gunvolt/Mighty No. 9/Gal*Gun crossover potential by featuring more playable characters from all three series (via DLC) with their own unique play styles, as well as offering numerous attack configurations for each character. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e3e0dcec | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e3e0dcec | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Mighty Gunvolt (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e3e0dcec | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e4014525 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e4014525 | comment |
Red Dead Revolver was a regular game at best. Red Dead Redemption is basically Revolver plus the GTA formula, with next generation graphics and a much richer plot. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e4014525 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e4014525 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Dead Revolver (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e4014525 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e45d5fac | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e45d5fac | comment |
As for 1. Outside, it was the first to be unanimously regarded as a strong album since Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) 15 years prior; 1983's Let's Dance is generally seen as a good pop-rock album, but is by no means considered his best, Tonight and the original version of Never Let Me Down are more often than not seen as dull and overproduced, the two albums with Tin Machine were outright despised in their time (though have since become Vindicated by History), Black Tie White Noise was and still is hugely divisive in terms of its quality, and The Buddha of Suburbia was so badly overlooked that it was outright taken out of print until 2007. Knowing that, the sheer amount of acclaim and recognition that 1. Outside got blindsided the music scene, who had generally felt until then that Bowie had lost his touch as an artist. While his next two albums would also be fairly divisive, it's generally agreed upon that 1. Outside (if not Black Tie White Noise) was the point where Bowie finally got back on his feet and came out swinging. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e45d5fac | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e45d5fac | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) (Music) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e45d5fac | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e4d580cc | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e4d580cc | comment |
The first Mission Impossible movie was pilloried for its convoluted, incoherent plot, and many fans from the original series cried foul at Jim Phelps from the original TV show being the villain. The second movie was criticized, particularly for those who liked the first, for relying more on action than the plot - with the former being too over-the-top and the latter too generic. Despite this rough start, the series soldiered on, breaking away from the failings of the first two installments to great critical and audience acclaim starting with the third. Every movie afterwards is considered an Even Better Sequel than its predecessor, culminating with the sixth, which is considered one of, if not, the greatest action movie of The New '10s. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e4d580cc | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e4d580cc | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Mission: Impossible (1996) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e4d580cc | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e5da461b | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e5da461b | comment |
For all the praise NieR gets for its story, cast, and interesting gameplay ideas, most people agree the actual gameplay is serviceable at best and outright obnoxious at worst. NieR: Automata improved on almost all regards in the gameplay department thanks to the involvement of PlatinumGames and maintains the fantastic narrative and cast that the first game was known for, making it Yoko Taro's most critically acclaimed work to date by a wide margin, such that the remake of the original NieR borrowed heavily from the gameplay of Automata to its emmense benefit. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e5da461b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e5da461b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| NieR | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e5da461b | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e60954ea | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e60954ea | comment |
While the earlier Armored Core games had their own fandom, the games had really problematic graphics, confusing storylines, and really, really laggy controls. It wasn't until Master of Arena that the arena system even came in, and until the 3 series that the graphics and controls received good reviews. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e60954ea | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e60954ea | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Armored Core (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e60954ea | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e6267766 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e6267766 | comment |
Star Wars Legends: The original Jedi Academy Trilogy by Kevin J. Anderson (1994) is generally rated as middling schlock among Legends fans, having generic and weak villains and an infamous case of an Easily Forgiven Karma Houdini. I, Jedi (1998), Michael Stackpole's P.O.V. Sequel to the trilogy starring Corran Horn, is consistently rated as one of the best single novels in the entire Legends continuity. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e6267766 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e6267766 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Star Wars Legends (Franchise) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e6267766 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e68decb8 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e68decb8 | comment |
The original Star Control was a 2D space combat sim with hardly any story elements (at least not in the game.). Star Control II kept the good parts (the space combat, aka Super Melee) and added a surprisingly complex and fun story mode. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e68decb8 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e68decb8 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Star Control (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e68decb8 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e863cc41 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e863cc41 | comment |
Mega Man Battle Network had shades of Obvious Beta as Capcom was still experimenting with fine-tuning the battle system. The second game refined many mechanics on top of better writing, such that it, with the third game, would be fondly remembered as the best of the Battle Network series. The fifth game is this to the fourth by virtue of actually having a plot, while the sixth game does this to the fifth with even better writing and mechanics. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e863cc41 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e863cc41 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Mega Man Battle Network (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e863cc41 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e89f120b | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e89f120b | comment |
Mobile Suit Gundam did not have a pleasant entry to the world of 3D PS2 gaming. Journey to Jaburo was aimed fully at the fanboys with loads of FMV and well-done audio, but horrible in-game graphics and controls combined with lackluster melee combat ruined the game even for many fans of the series, and worried fans were concerned that the series would be abandoned or left as schlock. Federation vs Zeon managed to make a surprisingly good VirtualOn knockoff with a worthwhile campaign mode and decent replay value. Zeonic Front actually made an enjoyable squad-based tactics game with actually memorable original characters and strategy, and Encounters in Space was likewise playable even for those that weren't already into the series. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e89f120b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e89f120b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Mobile Suit Gundam | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_e89f120b | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ec245c2e | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ec245c2e | comment |
Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku for the Game Boy Advance was, for lack of a more inventive word, terrible. The combat controls are stiff, the plot is impenetrable to all but the most seasoned DBZ fans, and the game is way too short (beatable in about 6-8 hours, ending after Goku's battle with Frieza). Its sequel, Legacy of Goku II, corrected almost all of these flaws, as well as giving the player the ability to control characters other than Goku. And then, the relatively few flaws and lack of depth found in Legacy of Goku II were completely gone in Buu's Fury, which added an expanded range of special moves, such RPG basics as equipment and shops, and the ability to block. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ec245c2e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ec245c2e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ec245c2e | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ec9965ca | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ec9965ca | comment |
The first 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 hero of the story being an enemy soldier, more or less, who is obviously none too fond of them. The criticisms he raises of this society are a lot easier to understand and ponder on when you actually know more about just what the Culture is. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ec9965ca | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ec9965ca | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Culture | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ec9965ca | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ed12a8e7 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ed12a8e7 | comment |
Collin Raye's first two albums were relatively safe, unremarkable mainstream country of the early 1990s; while most of the singles were fairly successful on the charts, none had a lasting impact other than "Love, Me". But his third album, Extremes, won critical acclaim and commercial success thanks to better-written, career-defining songs such as "That's My Story", "My Kind of Girl", and especially "Little Rock", all of which shaped the sound he would carry for the rest of The '90s. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ed12a8e7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ed12a8e7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Collin Raye (Music) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ed12a8e7 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ef4c300f | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ef4c300f | comment |
After the terrible reception ending of Assassin's Creed III received, along complains about boring setting and bland characters, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag decided to go in completely different direction. Since the only thing that didn't caught any flak in III were the ship sections, Black Flag is build entirely around that. And what could be better than delivering a pirate game that takes a step back from the increasingly convoluted Ancient Conspiracy and focuses on engaging gameplay and spoofing just how silly the whole Assassins vs. Templars plot became during the last few add-ons. The game is so refreshing some players even consider it was a missed opportunity for Ubisoft to launch a new franchise, dedicated to piracy. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ef4c300f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ef4c300f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Assassin's Creed III (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ef4c300f | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ef8bd4a5 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ef8bd4a5 | comment |
Mega Man: The very first game in the series, while certainly decent, was riddled with sketchy controls and Fake Difficulty aplenty, making it an ultimately forgettable experience. Naturally, sales more or less floundered, to the point that Capcom demanded that the dev team make the sequel in their spare time, as they didn't think it worth the investiture otherwise. When said sequel finally released, it fixed nearly all of the problems with its predecessor, featuring tighter controls, much more polished level design, a far more memorable cast of Robot Masters, and one of the best soundtracks on the NES. Mega Man 2 is to this day considered to be one of the best games in the NES library, cementing the Blue Bomber as a gaming icon on par with Mario and Sonic. Even today, 2 serves as the benchmark against which all future installments in the Classic series are measured. Mega Man II on the Game Boy was developed by a different team than the well-received Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge, and it showed in its low difficulty, subpar stage design, and cacophonous music that sounded nothing like the NES games' original tunes. Mega Man III saw the return of the developers from Dr. Wily's Revenge, and the improvements over II were apparent from the get-go with improved stage design, a return of the series's challenging difficulty, and faithfully recreated music from the NES games. Mega Man X had a nearly universally despised seventh game (an unusual instance in the extremely divided fanbase that Mega Man has); but the eighth game is considered a vast improvement. Mega Man Battle Network had shades of Obvious Beta as Capcom was still experimenting with fine-tuning the battle system. The second game refined many mechanics on top of better writing, such that it, with the third game, would be fondly remembered as the best of the Battle Network series. The fifth game is this to the fourth by virtue of actually having a plot, while the sixth game does this to the fifth with even better writing and mechanics. Mega Man Star Force's second game was hard to take even for the people who liked the first one, but the third game made up for it in incredibly unexpected ways, to a degree that some consider it the best in the entirety of the Battle Network/Star Force continuity. |
|
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ef8bd4a5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ef8bd4a5 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Mega Man (Franchise) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ef8bd4a5 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ef9ba9b4 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ef9ba9b4 | comment |
Critics generally gave much better reviews to Episode III: Revenge of the Sith when it was released in comparison to the first two prequels, and even fans who loathe the prequels sometimes regard it as "the least bad". | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ef9ba9b4 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ef9ba9b4 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Revenge of the Sith | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ef9ba9b4 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_efccb9da | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_efccb9da | comment |
Season 5 of Voltron: Legendary Defender is considered to be a major improvement over the filler-heavy season 4, due to revisiting storylines such as Operation Kuron, Pidge's search for her father, Keith's Galra lineage, and Haggar's memories. Lance and Hunk being de-flanderized was also well-received. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_efccb9da | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_efccb9da | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Voltron: Legendary Defender | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_efccb9da | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_f06707a7 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_f06707a7 | comment |
The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant has a first book that is very hard to get through. The rest of the series is much, much better. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_f06707a7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_f06707a7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_f06707a7 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_f3d889f7 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_f3d889f7 | comment |
Zack Snyder's Justice League shockingly became the Zack Snyder film with the best reviews and audience scores in the whole setting (especially compared to Batman v Superman) in addition to being now considered the superior Justice League film. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_f3d889f7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_f3d889f7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Zack Snyder's Justice League | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_f3d889f7 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_f3f08cd | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_f3f08cd | comment |
Red Steel was an ambitious shooter/swordplay launch title for the Wii marred by bad swordplay controls and an overall rushed presentation. With the implementation of the Wii MotionPlus allowing for more precise controls, Red Steel 2 is being hailed as what its predecessor should have been and even being regarded as one of the best-looking Wii games. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_f3f08cd | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_f3f08cd | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Red Steel (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_f3f08cd | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_f4980914 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_f4980914 | comment |
The Matrix Resurrections was considered by many reviewers an improvement over the two Contested Sequels of 18 years prior (especially Revolutions). | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_f4980914 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_f4980914 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Matrix Resurrections | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_f4980914 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_f6e2c23d | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_f6e2c23d | comment |
EarthBound Beginnings (Known as Mother in Japan): Despite its interesting story and quirky take on the RPG genre, was a total grindfest due to having a lack of direction with its gameplay, on top of some insane spikes in difficulty at times (such as in Mt. Itoi). Its sequel, EarthBound, fixed many of the problems the original had; Random Encounters were replaced with Pre-existing Encounters, making it so that they can be more easily avoidable, the difficulty was eased up, the gameplay was more straightforward, and the story overall took itself much less seriously (for the most part). | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_f6e2c23d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_f6e2c23d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| EarthBound Beginnings (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_f6e2c23d | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_f7d93e4a | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_f7d93e4a | comment |
Assassin's Creed: Assassin's Creed had really good Le Parkour gameplay and the beginnings of an interesting Ancient Conspiracy story, but was burdened with boring characters and levels, padding, and repetitive side quests and assassinations. Assassin's Creed II had a likable main character, levels that were memorable, and missions that were actually fun. After the terrible reception ending of Assassin's Creed III received, along complains about boring setting and bland characters, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag decided to go in completely different direction. Since the only thing that didn't caught any flak in III were the ship sections, Black Flag is build entirely around that. And what could be better than delivering a pirate game that takes a step back from the increasingly convoluted Ancient Conspiracy and focuses on engaging gameplay and spoofing just how silly the whole Assassins vs. Templars plot became during the last few add-ons. The game is so refreshing some players even consider it was a missed opportunity for Ubisoft to launch a new franchise, dedicated to piracy. |
|
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_f7d93e4a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_f7d93e4a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Assassin's Creed (Franchise) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_f7d93e4a | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_f7ee873b | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_f7ee873b | comment |
Luminous Arc for the DS was a Cliché Storm of an SRPG with a particularly Narmish voice acting in every. Single. Chapter. The next game, Luminous Arc 2 moves the story to another world with a better plot, vastly improved voice acting, and a more streamlined user interface. The fact that they added a fast forward button, as well as bringing in Multiple Endings (which are further expanded in Luminous Arc 3) helps a lot. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_f7ee873b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_f7ee873b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Luminous Arc (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_f7ee873b | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_f91d0d38 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_f91d0d38 | comment |
WWE Video Games have generally ranged from average to positive reviews, but it reached a nadir with WWE 2K20, which — as a result of the abrupt departure of longtime development studio Yuke and their heavily-expedited replacement with Visual Concepts — turned out to be an infamously buggy and unpolished mess. The critical thrashing and record-low sales left little to be excited about for the future of WWE games, especially when it was announced that Visual Concepts would be sitting out 2K21 in order to focus on the following year. However, they made on their promise, and 2K22 was released to vastly improved reception, addressing most major criticisms of the previous entry, including technical stability, graphic fidelity, and overall flow of the gameplay, giving the franchise a much-welcomed second wind. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_f91d0d38 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_f91d0d38 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| WWE Video Games (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_f91d0d38 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_f980cee9 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_f980cee9 | comment |
The Rod Allbright Alien Adventures books follow the same pattern. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_f980cee9 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_f980cee9 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Rod Allbright Alien Adventures | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_f980cee9 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_f98c4eca | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_f98c4eca | comment |
Minions: The Rise of Gru had better reviews than both Minions and Despicable Me 3, by focusing more on Gru as opposed to an overreliance on the Minions themselves, and toning down the Toilet Humour. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_f98c4eca | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_f98c4eca | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Minions: The Rise of Gru | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_f98c4eca | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_fa77d43c | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_fa77d43c | comment |
After the mostly negative reception to Terminator Salvation and Terminator Genisys, Terminator: Dark Fate earned positive reviews and was considered a general improvement to the Terminator franchise. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_fa77d43c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_fa77d43c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Terminator Salvation | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_fa77d43c | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_fb873b86 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_fb873b86 | comment |
Saw has never been particularly known for being a critical darling, but has managed to get this reputation anyway from fans a handful of times: Saw VI was regarded by fans and critics alike as a huge improvement over the two previous two sequels, and generally regarded as a worthy successor to the original trilogy. Whereas IV and V were criticized for being reliant on perfunctory, increasingly convoluted lore, VI featured a story that had some level of prescience, character arcs, and clever twists on top of creatively gory traps. Unfortunately, it ended up becoming the series' resident Acclaimed Flop (likely due to moviegoers having been burned twice by prior films), convincing Lionsgate that the next film ought to be the last. Jigsaw — the series' comeback in 2017 after laying fallow for seven years — while critics still weren't particularly receptive, was well-liked by fans for largely being a no-frills, consistent return to form after the widely-panned Saw 3D seemingly ended up things on a tacky, ludicrously ridiculous sour note. Saw X defied all expectations by not just being well-received by audiences (especially after the tepid response to the previous installment, Spiral), it also finally earned broader respect from critics, netting an 80% critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes, making it the first "Fresh" film in the franchise, a title that evaded even the first film (widely recognized as "the genuinely good one" up until that point). Points of praise include making the story an early interquel — conveniently sidestepping the franchise's later Kudzu Plot and giving an opportunity for the beloved Tobin Bell a return to the spotlight as the series Villain Protagonist — as well as stronger character focus and a surprisingly poignant script, balancing out the terrifying traps with sincere character drama and heart. |
|
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_fb873b86 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_fb873b86 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Saw (Franchise) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_fb873b86 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_fd49a48d | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_fd49a48d | comment |
The first Final Fight was what it was. Final Fight 2 was a Mission-Pack Sequel with somewhat more well-worked graphics, Suspiciously Similar Substitutes for Guy and Cody, even more of an Excuse Plot than the originalnote suddenly Mad Gear is an international gang, and one would think that they'd do more than ferry mooks around countries to inconvenience the heroes looking for Guy's in-laws, like invest the money that would take into actually effective defenses and repetitive BGM. Final Fight 3, on the other hand, massively expands upon the combat formula, with running and Dash Attacks, an elaborate grappling system, the ability to perform Limit Breaks, and divergent routes adding replayability. The problem is that the revamped combat made the game so much easier, many fans didn't like it, and it came out very late into the SNES's useful life. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_fd49a48d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_fd49a48d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Final Fight (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_fd49a48d | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_fdaa370e | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_fdaa370e | comment |
Ultimate Tenkaichi and Battle of Z had good ideas (faithful recreation of the anime's aesthetics and custom characters in the former, four-on-four team combat in the latter) that were poorly executed. While made by a different developer, Dimps's Dragon Ball Xenoverse is a marked improvement over those games, with improved combat, a new story that puts a twist on the DBZ mythos, and expanded character customization. It's also an improvement over Dragon Ball Online, of which this game has many similarities to. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_fdaa370e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_fdaa370e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_fdaa370e | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_fdc30f10 | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_fdc30f10 | comment |
Robot Arena 2, while not a well-known game was a massive improvement over the original game. The sequel had much more customization options in regard to the chassis and weapons you could use, better AI, and an actual physics engine. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_fdc30f10 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_fdc30f10 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Robot Arena (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_fdc30f10 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ff9ab17f | type |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ff9ab17f | comment |
Also continued in The Next Generation films. Star Trek: Generations was in general badly received by fans and critics. Its sequel Star Trek: First Contact is generally viewed as a vast improvement, being widely considered as by far the best Next Generation film and by some as one of the best Star Trek films. Sadly Star Trek: Insurrection and especially Star Trek: Nemesis saw the series decline rapidly in quality with the latter essentially a remake of Wrath of Khan. As a result the TNG film series ended and most of the TNG cast would not be involved in Trek again until Star Trek: Picard nearly twenty years later. Meanwhile Star Trek (2009) saw the franchise revived after the failed later TNG films and the collapse and cancellation of Star Trek: Enterprise. | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ff9ab17f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ff9ab17f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Star Trek: The Next Generation | hasFeature |
Surprisingly Improved Sequel / int_ff9ab17f |
The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.
Copyright of DBTropes.org wrapper 2009-2013 DFKI Knowledge Management. Imprint. - Thanks to Bakken&Baeck for hosting. Contact.
Copyright of data TVTropes.org contributors under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.
Copyright of data TVTropes.org contributors under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.