Sequels are what gamers of all walks look forward to after finishing an original. Why? Because we always want more of a good thing and we’ll do just about anything to get it – including tossing our hard earned dollars at a developer and publisher for a repeat experience even if it blots out the sun. But, while getting the same thing can be good, pending there’s been even a chunky slurry of improvements to the meaty whole of the gameplay sometimes we end up getting nothing more than a rotting carcass of disappointment. It may not necessarily be the sequels fault, occasionally the shoes are just too big for the next game to live up to the expectations of the fans – while it rarely is just a case that the game is another in a string of titles from a milked franchise waiting to die. It could be a whole slew of reasons. Nevertheless, the ten who made our list are without a doubt offenders who definitely couldn’t stand in the shadow of their predecessors without being found wanting.
10. Bomberman Act Zero: We know Bomberman and many of us grew up loving each and every experience we had bombing the hell out of anyone or thing that got in our way. But upon the release of the Xbox 360, something strange happened and it ended up bastardizing Bomberman as we had come to endear him. Someone up the chain decided it would be cool to make him more hip, with it and totally look like images that next-gen gamers could relate to. You know, you’re Master Chief futuristically-styled badass. But along the way, Bomberman also lost a lot of his soul – having it pillaged in the name of turning another buck or two so that younger generations of gamers could revile a character many had grown up with near and dear to their hearts.
9. Mechassault 2: Battlemechs or simply as ‘Mechs as commonly referred to by fans of the Battletech, Mechwarrior and later arriving Mechassault franchises all have a few things in common, all of which make them awesome beyond words. While many would agree there’s something horrifically beautiful about 70-ton war machines, armed to the teeth, battling it out amongst destroyed landscape – again this is a case where the originality of the predecessors were discarded for the sake of turning a quick rollover in somebody’s checking account. As the original Mechassault is still today considered an Xbox classic, it’s sequel not so much. In fact, the Korn and Papa Roach laden soundtrack game is all but forgotten when stood up next to its original. Not for lack of trying however, so much as trying to accomplish more than gamer’s cared to see. Mechassault 2 attempted to inject more of what made the original so incredible and simply ended up causing it to overdose when it collapsed on it’s extremely weak narrative. Nevertheless, Mechassault 2 still gives many hope that the beloved IP still has a place somewhere in the gaming future and we can only hope to further avoid the mess of MA2.
8. Perfect Dark: Zero: Everyone loves a good prequel, right? Especially if it comes before a cohesively narrative experience that proved to be one of the best selling games on the console it released on roughly a decade or so ago, right? Wrong. The problem with Perfect Dark: Zero is that it disregarded everything we had come to appreciate about Joanna Dark in favor of a plotline and characters we couldn’t have cared any less about if we tried. The original had guns, story, decent gameplay and best of all intergalactic espionage – not just international – but aliens and spies. That’s what made the original so much fun for N64 owners back in an era when the Playstation was setting itself up to dominate much of the global gaming market at the time. But PD: Zero just went and showed that a character we bonded with sometime early on in our gaming career could be altered to appeal to anyone the developers or publishers wanted her to, which ended up appealing to no one.
This feature top 10 list continues on the next page, please click Page 2 below to see the next few sequels that didn't do justice to their previous games.
