Image via Complex Original
Sequels.
The industry is loaded with them. Many times, sequels don't expand upon an original title all that much. Most of them just add a few new costumes here, a bit more levels there, a couple more abilities here, and voila! Instant sequel.
But, there are certain other sequels that not only improve upon their original titles, they evolve them, making them entirely better experiences. Unfortunately, there aren't many that do. However, these ten do. And anybody who has played the original game in the series can attest to that.
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Town & Country II: Thrilla's Surfari
Year of release: 1992
Besides the strange assortment of characters from the first Town & Country Surf Designs game, known affectionately as "Da Boys" (that would be Joe Cool, Tiki Man, Kool Kat, and Thrilla Gorilla), you probably wouldn't even know that Thrilla's Surfari is a sequel at all.
The two games couldn't be any more different. The first game is more like a series of skateboarding and surfing minigames, while its sequel is a full-fledged action game, with skateboards, surfboards, and sea creatures. It's a strange game full of downhill shredding and tough jumps, but it's a classic NES title, and one that expands heavily on its predecessor.
Streets of Rage 2
Year of release: 1992
Final Fight = Super Nintendo, Streets of Rage = Sega Genesis.
Streets of Rage 2 was a far superior game than its predecessor. Ditching the clunkiness of the first game and adding a bit more versatility (Skate was much better than his older brother, Adam), Streets of Rage 2 had faster gameplay, better music, and brighter graphics. Plus, it had life bars for all of the bad guys.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Year of release: 1992
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 added quite a few details that made it better than the first game. One added detail was making less feel like more. While the first game had three stages for every zone, the sequel mostly only had two. This made the levels feel a great deal more tolerable, especially if they weren't one of your favorites. Add Tails and the killer spin dash technique, and you had a game that not only felt fresher, but genuinely was. Every last stage is more vibrant and more enjoyable than the last, and it even added a two player mode.
Mortal Kombat II
Year of release: 1993
While the first Mortal Kombat pretty much changed the entire video game industry, the truth is, it was too limited. There weren't enough characters, there was only one fatality per character, and it just felt like it needed something more to compete with Street Fighter II.
Well, its sequel was such a colossal update, that some considered it even better than Street Fighter II. MK II is often considered the greatest game in the series for a reason. The story was beefier, the new characters were amazing and welcome: Baraka! Kung Lao! Jax! And it was just a much bigger experience in general. Plus, it gave us arguably the greatest fatality in the series history—Liu Kang's dragon transformation. When we all saw that, the only words that came out of our mouths were "Ohhh, shit."
Street Fighter II: The World Warrior
Year of release: 1991
The question isn't whether Street Fighter II is better than the first Street Fighter (sometimes commonly referred to as Fighting Street which is a title that doesn't make any sense).
It's whether Street Fighter II is close enough to the first game to even be considered a sequel at all rather than a completely different game entirely. Well, the fact that the original game had both Ryu and Ken in it and that many of the characters reappeared in SF Alpha, it must be a sequel, right? Well, your guess is as good as mine, because Street Fighter II is such a VAST improvement over the original that most people don't even know there was an original.
SF II was that massive. Featuring eight controllable characters rather than just two, SF II was just brimming with personality and charm. It was also fully playable. The first game barely even worked at all, as moves would only sometimes occur when you performed them. SF II was the game that made Street Fighter a household name, and for that, we should all be thankful.
Mass Effect 2
Year of release: 2010
Commander Shepard returned in probably the best game in the entire series with Mass Effect 2, which carried over work from the first game if you completed it. The stakes were raised in the sequel, where even side missions seemed to matter and hold weight.
If we were to compare the Mass Effect series to Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy, Mass Effect 2 would be The Dark Knight, i.e., the masterpiece in the series, and Mass Effect 3 would be The Dark Knight Rises, i.e., a disappointing title that kind of put a damper on the series.
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
Year of release: 2001
Metal Gear Solid pretty much introduced the stealth genre to PlayStation owners.
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty toyed with our expectations and gave us something totally new and intriguing that further expanded the MGS universe. Plus, the fact that the enemies could work together to come after you added a more nail-biting experience not found in the first game. It was the sequel we didn't know we wanted until we got it, and it blew our minds.
Halo 2
Year of release: 2004
One thing alone made Halo 2 a massive improvement over its predecessor: XBox Live.
While the first Halo was a blast to play locally, it was the second game that truly made the world of Halo feel that much larger and more special. On-line skirmishes even went quickly, as the matchmaking feature paired similar skillsets and ranks.
In that way, THIS was the game that truly made multiplayer on the console seem like a reality, changing the first-person genre forever. Too bad the story added so little to the overall canon. It's a middle game that FEELS like a middle game. All the focus went into the multiplayer, and it shows.
Half-Life 2
Year of release: 2004
This game had everything its predecessor had—great exploring, excellent storytelling, and a cool protagonist. But it added one feature that will forever be remembered as the game's calling card—the gravity gun. You wouldn't think one single weapon could be a game changer, but it was, and it improved the series dramatically. Like Portal, Half-Life has always been the thinking man's first-person shooter and the gravity gun added legitimacy to that, as it was used for both puzzle solving and combat. Really, it felt like the world of City 17 was left to your imagination, and you could do anything you wanted with it. Now if only the third title would ever come out.
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Year of release: 2009
The first Uncharted game was a landmark PS3 title. It introduced us to Nathan Drake, after all. But Among Thieves blows it so far out the water, it's unfair to even compare the two games.
From its dramatic opening of waking up on a derailed train, to its stirring ending, Among Thieves is just one major set piece after another, and they all work. It also added multi-player to the mix, which changed the whole dynamic and way of looking at the budding series. In many ways, the original Uncharted was an homage to Tomb Raider. But after Uncharted 2, the Tomb Raider reboot made it pretty obvious where it was getting its inspiration from.