History Main / RecycledTitle

* ''MortalKombat'': The first game in 1992 and the ninth game (counting ''MK vs. DC Universe'') in 2011.

** Borderline example: every ''FireEmblem'' game released in Japan had a subtitle, but the first six games [[NoExportForYou never had international releases]]. When ''[[FireEmblemElibe Fire Emblem: The Sword of Flame]]'' (the seventh game in the series and the second one for the GBA) got an English release, it dropped the subtitle and was simply released as ''Fire Emblem''.

* ''TwistedMetal'': 1995 [=PlayStation=] original and the 2011 [=PS3=] sequel to ''TwistedMetalBlack''.

* [[ElectronicArts EA]] done this with ''MedalOfHonor''. The first on the {{Playstation}} in 1999 and then in 2010 on the {{Xbox 360}}, PS3 and {{PC}}.

* The 2010 version of TheKarateKid, which features Kung Fu as its martial art, not Karate. Presumably "The Kung Fu Kid" sounded too silly.

* [[ElectronicArts EA]] done this with MedalOfHonor. The first on the {{Playstation}} in 1999 and then in 2010 on the {{Xbox 360}}, PS3 and {{PC}}.

* The next TombRaider is called...Tomb Raider.

* [[Film/SherlockHolmes Sherlock Holmes]]

** In Europe, the early console games in the ''Contra'' series were released as ''Probotector'', replacing the original human heroes with robotic counterparts. Three games in the series were simply titled ''Probotector'': the NES original (based on the first ''Contra''), the Game Boy version (based on ''Operation C''), and the Mega Drive version (based on ''Contra: Hard Corps''). Also, ''Probotector II: Return of the Evil Forces'' for the NES (based on ''Super C''), is a different game from ''Probotector 2'' for the Game Boy, which was actually a port of the SNES game ''Super Probotector: Alien Rebels'' (based on ''Contra III: The Alien Wars'').

* ''Operation C'', the GameBoy sequel to the NES ''{{Contra}}'' games, was simply titled ''Contra'' in Japan. However, the title is spelled in katakana[[hottip:*:コントラ]] instead of the three kanji characters used in the arcade and console installments to phonetically spell out "Contra" in Japanese.[[hottip:*:魂斗羅]] The retitling of the American version has less to do with distinguishing the Game Boy game from the arcade and NES original and more to do with the fact that Konami was trying to distance the series from the Iran-Contra scandal it was named after once the full ramifications of the affair became evident (the NES version of ''Super Contra'' was retitled ''Super C'' in the US, even though the arcade version's title was originally left unchanged).

* ''Operation C'', the GameBoy sequel to the NES ''{{Contra}}'' games, was originally released simply as ''Contra'' in Japan. However, the title is spelled in katakana[[hottip:*:コントラ]] instead of the three kanji characters used in the arcade and console installments to phonetically spell out "Contra" in Japanese.[[hottip:*:魂斗羅]] The retitling of the American version has less to do with distinguishing the Game Boy game with the arcade and NES original and more to do with the fact that Konami was trying to distance the series from the Iran-Contra scandal it was named after once the full ramifications of the affair became evident (the NES version of ''Super Contra'' was retitled ''Super C'' in the US, even though the arcade version's title was left unchanged).
** In Europe, the early console games in the ''Contra'' series were released as ''Probotector'', replacing the original human heroes with robotic counterparts. Three games in the series were simply titled ''Probotector'': the NES original (based on the first ''Contra''), the Game Boy version (based on ''Operation C''), and the Mega Drive version (based on ''Contra: Hard Corps''). Likewise, ''Probotector II: Return of the Evil Forces'' for the NES (based on ''Super C''), is a different game from ''Probotector 2'' for the Game Boy, which was actually a port of the SNES game ''Super Probotector: Alien Rebels'' (based on ''Contra III: The Alien Wars'').

* The upcoming ''DevilMayCry'' reboot by Ninja Theory is currently titled simply ''DMC''. (Insert obvious Run-DMC joke here.)

* ''Operation C'', the GameBoy sequel to the NES ''{{Contra}}'' games, was originally released simply as ''Contra'' in Japan, but the title was spelled in katakana instead of the three kanji characters used in the Japanese arcade and Famicom versions. The name change for the American version has less to do with distinguishing the Game Boy installment from the original and more to do with the fact that Konami of America was trying to distance the series from the Iran-Contra scandal after they realized full ramifications of the scandal (the NES version of ''Super Contra'' was retitled ''Super C'' as well).

* ''Operation C'', the GameBoy sequel to the NES ''{{Contra}}'' games, was originally released simply as ''Contra'' in Japan, but the title was spelled in katakana (the Japanese alphabet used to transcribe foreign words) instead of the three kanji characters used in the Japanese arcade and Famicom versions. The name change for the American version has less to do with Konami wanting to distinguish the Game Boy installment with the original and more to do with the fact that Konami of America was trying to distance the series from the Iran-Contra scandal after they realized full ramifications of the scandal (the NES version of ''Super Contra'' was retitled ''Super C'' as well).

** In Japan, the games known overseas as ''Castlevania'', ''Vampire Killer'', ''Haunted Castle'', ''Super Castlevania IV'' are all titled ''Akumajō Dracula'', as was the Sharp X68000 game later ported to the [=PS1=] as ''Castlevania Chronicles''. Later games added subtitles.

** The 2002 version of ''Revenge of Shinobi'' for the GBA has nothing to do with the 1989 Genesis game.

* ''NinjaGaiden'' - Arcade and NES in 1988, then on Xbox in 2004. Both had sequels called ''Ninja Gaiden 2'', though the NES one was spelled with a roman numeral ''II'' and had a subtitle (''The Dark Sword of Chaos'')

* ''{{Castlevania}}'' - first on NES in 1987, then on N64 in 1999. The latter tends to be called ''Castlevania 64'', to the extent that many people assume that's the actual title. Also, the European release of ''Castlevania: Lament of Innocence'' from 2003 had the subtitle dropped, leaving it as a third game just called ''Castlevania''.

** In Japan, the games known overseas as ''Castlevania'', ''Vampire Killer'', ''Haunted Castle'', ''Super Castlevania IV'' are all titled ''Akumajō Dracula'', as was the Sharp X68000 game later remade as ''Castlevania Chronicles''. Later games added subtitles.

* TwistedMetal is doing this, even though the 2011 game is actually a sequel to TwistedMetalBlack.

** And that's not counting the SNES and Capcom arcade versions, which are both titled ''Alien vs. Predator'' as well.

** In addition, there were two Samurai Shodown games for ''NeoGeo Pocket'': ''Samurai Shodown!'' and ''Samurai Shodown! 2'', both spelled with exclamation marks.
* ''PunchOut'' has had ''three'' games called ''Punch-Out!!'' First is the original arcade game, second is the more famous NES game, and third is the new Wii game.
** ''Punch Out'' also has two games called ''Super Punch Out'': the arcade sequel and the SNES sequel to the NES version.

** And that's not counting the SNES and arcade games, which are also titled ''Alien vs. Predator''.

This doesn't cover remakes, where the new work is explicitly a new version of the previous work. Re-imaginings, such as when a video game is released with significantly different versions on consoles and handhelds at the same time and with the same title, are borderline.

** In Japan, the games known overseas as ''Castlevania'', ''Vampire Killer'', ''Haunted Castle'' and ''Super Castlevania IV'' are all titled ''Akumajō Dracula''. Later games added subtitles.

->''You know what future historians will say about us, right? "There were two very different games within the same 20-year period both called ''Wolfenstein'', and the second one was not strictly speaking a remake of the first. On this we conclude that the people of the early 21st century were '''taking the piss'''."''
-->--Ben ''[[ZeroPunctuation 'Yahtzee']]'' Croshaw, on ''{{Wolfenstein}}'' and [[http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/916-Wolfenstein its use of this trope]].

* ''MegaMan'' - the second through fifth NES games in the series were titled MegaMan 2-5, as were the four Game Boy sequels. Fans tend to use Roman numerals to refer to the Game Boy installments. This doesn't apply to the first Game Boy game in the series though, which was titled ''Mega Man in Dr Wily's Revenge''. This was averted completely in Japan, where the Game Boy games were titled ''Rockman World'' instead of merely ''Rockman''.