History Main / ProlongedVideoGameSequel

* ''Videogame/{{Starcraft}}'': The two campaigns for each race in the original game and its expansion ''Brood War'' had ten missions each, witht he exception of the second Protoss and Terran campaigns, that had 8. The campaign of ''Videogame/StarcraftIIWingsOfLiberty'' is 29 missions long, eleven more missions than both Terran campaigns from vanilla and ''Brood War'' combined, while ''[[Videogame/StarcraftIIHeartOfTheSwarm Heart of the Swarm]]'' and ''[[Videogame/StarcraftIILegacyOfTheVoid Legacy of the Void]]'' have 20 missions each.

* ''VideoGame/{{Pikmin}}'': [[VideoGame/Pikmin1 The first game]] has players collect thirty ship parts on a thirty-day timer. Even inexperienced players can get multiple parts in one day, and the days are short enough that you can generally beat the whole game in one day if you put some effort into it. However, ''VideoGame/Pikmin2'' is significantly longer than the first game as there are 201 collectible treasures, new underground cavern levels, new game modes, new Pikmin types, and a new captain, Louie.

** ''VideoGame/MarioKartSuperCircuit'' has 40 tracks (20 new tracks, and 20 rearranged tracks from ''Super Mario Kart''), whereas ''Super'' itself, ''64'' and the later ''Double Dash!!'' have only 20, 16 and 16 respectively. ''VideoGame/MarioKartDS'' brought back the idea of NostalgiaLevel cups, this time including retro tracks from all of its predecessors, ramping the amount to 32 tracks. This has been a steady amount for the following games until ''VideoGame/MarioKart8'' (first by way of DownloadableContent and then with its ''Deluxe'' port on the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch) provided another major bump for a total of '''48''' tracks.
*** And now with the Deluxe port getting its own DLC, that number will eventually double again, totalling 96 courses.

** ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2'' is longer than its predecessor, having eight full zones compared to the original's six. ''VideoGame/Sonic3AndKnuckles'' takes this UpToEleven, with 11 main zones, all of which are MUCH bigger in size and scope than the previous games, and even had to be DividedForPublication due to its size.

* ''VideoGame/Portal2'' is about three times the length of ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}'', largely because it features a lot more game mechanics (gels, faith plates, excursion funnels, hard light bridges) than the original, as well as a lot more character interactions, and therefore features a lot more levels to give them room to breathe.

* ''VideoGame/Portal2'' is about three times the length of ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}'', largely because it features a lot more game mechanics (gels, faith plates, excursion funnels, hard light bridges) than the original, as well as a lot more character interactions, and therefore features a lot more levels to give them room to breathe.

* ''VideoGame/{{Pikmin}}'': The original has players collect thirty ship parts on a thirty-day timer. Even inexperienced players can get multiple parts in one day, and the days are short enough that you can generally beat the whole game in one day if you put some effort into it. However, ''VideoGame/Pikmin2'' is significantly longer than the first game as there are 201 collectible treasures, new underground cavern levels, new game modes, new Pikmin types, and a new captain, Louie.

* ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime2Echoes'': The game is noticeably bigger and longer than its predecessor, ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime'' (and is also longer than the succeeding ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime3Corruption''). Not only are the main regions of Aether larger and more maze-like than those of Tallon IV, but the majority of individual rooms and areas have each their own equivalent in Dark Aether, so you have to explore almost twice as much terrain as you did in the first adventure. The boss battles are much longer as well, and there's a larger amount of collectibles (114, when combining the total of 18 Keys used to open the temples of Dark Aether with the 96 standard pickups[[note]]the completion percentage is then filled with the obtainment of the Luminoth language translators[[/note]]) as well as more extensive catalogue of scannable log entries.

** The NES game, however, feature a whopping 10 opponents (plus 3 rematches, for a total of 13 fights) faced in three circuits, with a 14th challenger added for the Western versions serving as the final boss; depending on the version, it's either Mike Tyson or Mr. Dream. There's also a fourth circuit, accessible only by code, with the rather uninspired name "Another World Circuit." It doesn't contain any unique fights, but the fight order is different from the original World Circut, and losing to any opponent ''once'' triggers a GameOver.

* ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime'', like its 2-D predecessors, sees Samus fighting her way across a large planetary complex. [[VideoGame/MetroidPrime2Echoes The sequel]] takes the fight to not just another planet, but also its parallel DarkWorld. [[VideoGame/MetroidPrime3Corruption The third one]] ups the ante even further, sprawling across a lengthy prologue, three main planets (although they're smaller than in the previous games), a derelict spaceship, and the VeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon on yet another planet.

* Despite having one level less than ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie'', ''Banjo-Tooie'' is notoriously longer ([[SequelDifficultySpike and more difficult]]) due to the levels being much bigger (often approaching the gargantuan size of the ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong64'' levels), a higher number of minigames, bosses and puzzles, and the necessity of traveling between levels (literally, without going through the HubLevel). For a direct comparison, only the first game's ninth level (Click Clock Wood) can rival the complexity and diversity of the first four levels of the second game, and still lose to the likes of [[{{Prehistoria}} Terrydactyland]] and [[EternalEngine Grunty Industries]]. ''Nuts and Bolts'' is even larger as, despite having only five regular worlds, there a '''ton''' of content in them as well as in the HubLevel (there's now a total of 131 Jiggies instead to collect, for example); it's also be expected considering that it's a vehicle-focused game.

* The first five mainline ''VideoGame/EtrianOdyssey'' games have each six strata, while the ''Untold'' remakes of the first two games add one more for a total of seven. ''Nexus''? ''Fourteen'', as it not only has its own strata but also brings back many familiar ones.

* VideoGame/DoomEternal has the same amount of levels as it’s [[VideoGame/Doom2016 predecessor]] but ups the ante by having said levels be significantly bigger and having additional side challenges to complete. This is on top of having a hub in between levels. With the two part Ancient Gods DLC included (which Doom 2016 only had for its multiplayer), the game is 6 levels longer.

* The original ''VideoGame/{{Pikmin}}'' had players collect 30 ship parts on a 30-day timer. Even inexperienced players can get multiple parts in one day, and the days are short enough that you can generally beat the whole game in one day if you put some effort into it. However, ''Pikmin 2'' is significantly longer than the first game as there are 201 collectible treasures, new underground cavern levels, new game modes, new Pikmin types, and a new captain, Louie.
* The two campaigns for each race in the original ''Videogame/{{Starcraft}}'' and its expansion ''Brood War'' had ten missions each, witht he exception of the second Protoss and Terran campaigns, that had 8. The campaign of ''Videogame/StarcraftIIWingsOfLiberty'' is 29 missions long, eleven more missions than both Terran campaigns from vanilla and ''Brood War'' combined, while ''[[Videogame/StarcraftIIHeartOfTheSwarm Heart of the Swarm]]'' and ''[[Videogame/StarcraftIILegacyOfTheVoid Legacy of the Void]]'' have 20 missions each.

** ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2'' is longer than its predecessor, having eight full zones compared to the original's six. ''VideoGame/Sonic3AndKnuckles'' takes this UpToEleven, with 11 main zones, all of which are MUCH bigger in size and scope than the previous games.

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* ''VideoGame/DragonQuestBuilders'' was made up of 4 self contained chapters. ''VideoGame/DragonQuestBuilders'' has the four main chapters (which are significantly larger than in the ones found in the first game), and an ongoing plot on the main island in between them, and an extra mini chapter thrown in as well. All in all, the main story is around twice as long.

* ''VideoGame/theLegendOfHeroesTrailsInTheSky FC'' features a prologue, 4 chapters with the last being significantly longer, and several sidequests with collectables, recipes, and 8 playable characters. Realistically, the game can be completed in 45 to 60 hours. ''SC'', on the other hand, has a prologue, 9 chapters with 3 particularly long arcs among them, twice as many collectable books, a plethora of sidequests, 5 additional party members, a far longer and more in-depth plot, and significantly more challenging boss battles. The game can take anywhere from 60 to 90 hours to complete.

* The ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' franchise has a few examples:

** ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'': 82[[note]]Counting Echo Fighters and all three of Pokémon Trainer's Pokémon as separate characters[[/note]] ''and counting'' as of November 2019 (76 in the base game, 5 as DLC)

* ''VideoGame/MarioKartSuperCircuit'' has ten racing cups (five based on new tracks, and five featuring rearranged tracks from ''Super Mario Kart''), whereas ''Super'' itself, ''64'' and the later ''Double Dash!!'' have only 5, 4 and 5 respectively. ''VideoGame/MarioKartDS'' brought back the idea of NostalgiaLevel cups, this time including retro tracks from all of its predecessors, ramping the amount to eight cups. This has been a steady amount for the following games until ''VideoGame/MarioKart8'' (first by way of DownloadableContent and then with its ''Deluxe'' port on the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch) provided another major bump for a total of '''twelve''' cups plus a fifth difficulty level (200cc).

* The first ''VideoGame/ArcTheLad'''s main story takes about 10 hours to complete on average; ''Arc the Lad II'', however, can take up to ''five times'' as long at about 50 hours for the main story alone.
* The ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigi'' series. On average, [[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiSuperstarSaga the first two]] [[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiPartnersInTime installments]] could be completed in about twelve hours of gameplay each, [[SidetrackedByTheGoldSaucer not counting sidequests]], while [[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory the third]] was only slightly longer by about four hours or so. Meanwhile, [[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiDreamTeam the next]] [[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiPaperJam two]] could take up to thirty hours to be completed (again, without sidequests) on average.

* ''VideoGame/ArcTheLadII'' is over five times longer than the first game.