History Main / SequelDifficultySpike

* ''Lethal Enforcers II: Gunfighters'' is much tougher than the original ''VideoGame/LethalEnforcers''.

* after Uwe Hohn managed to throw the javelin ''SLIGHTLY OVER ONE HUNDRED METERS TO THE POINT THAT IT EVEN REACHED THE PLAYER RESTING AREA"[[note: fortunately nobody was hurt]] in 1984, the instrument of the javelin was changed to be heavier, and nobody managed to even reach one hundred meters ever since.

[[folder:Misc]]
* A rare non-video game example: ''Series/TheAmazingRace'' American version. On average, the first couple legs are learning-curve legs that feature relatively easy tasks. [[note]]This also makes it easier on the editors so they can show teams completing the tasks; as a task that takes awhile to complete or is difficult makes it harder to show the racers in the early parts of the game when they have ten teams[[/note]]. Later on, the tasks start to get harder, though not always at the same rate.

* This happened with ''Series/LEGOMasters'''s American edition, wherein the tasks became much ''much'' more complex with every season. The challenges in Season 2 were much more difficult than the first season, requiring things such as a LEGO hat (that had to stay on while you walked) and LEGO puppets to perform. Meanwhile the previews for the third season depicted categories such as having to actually make a racecar, a treehouse with no support bricks.
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** ''Sonic 2'' for the UsefulNotes/GameGear. Oftentimes, you have to perform blind leaps, and there are several sections where timing must be nothing short of absolutely impeccable. Sometimes you're faced with ''both'' at the same time.

** Their equivalent UsefulNotes/{{NES}} ports. The latter (renamed ''Super C'' in North America) thankfully drops the upgrade system, but still has more brutal game design than its predecessor; the first game, while very hard, can be mastered through rote memorization thanks to enemies and hazards mainly sticking to patterns, whereas the sequel throws in tons of sudden, randomized and fast-moving dangers that test your reflexes much more stringently than they do your memory. Also, the famous 30-life code from the first game has been replaced by a measly 10-life code (Japanese versions kept 30-life codes), meaning even if you ''cheat'' it's still harder.

* Papyrus' ''NASCAR Racing 4'' over ''NASCAR Racing 3'' due to the ''VideoGame/GrandPrixLegends''-based UsefulNotes/GameEngine.

* ''VideoGame/TombRaiderII'' has a difficulty spike noticeable within the first level. The first level in the [[VideoGame/TombRaiderI first game]] was very tame and the only traps it had were flying darts that caused minimal damage, and only bats (which take a single shot to kill), wolves, and a bear to face (and the bear was optional). The first level in the sequel has rolling boulders, spiked walls closing in on you, huge rolling bladed wheels, timed jumps, and pits of spikes, and has you fighting spiders, birds, tigers, and ''two ''Tyrannosaurus rex''es'' (though again, the dinos are optional). The traps and obstacles only ramp up from there, though they are a bit more manageable as health packs and ammunition are far more plentiful in this game as they are often dropped by human enemies. ''VideoGame/TombRaiderIII'' takes the difficulty to even greater heights by [[WhoForgotTheLights making the game dark]], forcing you to use leap of faith at times, placing enemies around corners so they can ambush you, and forcing you to blindly run with awkward camera angles as you try to avoid boulders or other traps. The [=PlayStation=] version of the first one makes the difficulty more apparent by having SaveGameLimits via save crystals while the PC version lets players save anywhere. In the Crystal Dynamics series, ''VideoGame/TombRaiderAnniversary'' is quite a bit harder than ''VideoGame/TombRaiderLegend''.

* ''VideoGame/SilentHill3'' is more oppressive than ''VideoGame/SilentHill2'' in practically every way, as it drops the (relatively) more relaxing outdoor segments in favor of immediately throwing you into claustrophobic mazes filled with enemies, where it's very easy to get knocked to the floor and swarmed relentlessly. A large portion of the game is spent going straight from one grotesque labyrinth to the next with barely any time to take a breather. It's also the first in the series to have an abundance of instant-death traps, many of which are barely telegraphed, along with death pits. Then you have the DynamicDifficulty that affects items - hoarding resources will mean there's much less to find later, and it can be quite fickle at times as well.

* ''Truxton'' (also known as ''Tatsujin'') was already hard by Creator/[[Toaplan]] standards, but its sequel ''Tatsujin Ou'' is notorious for being downright cruel, even more so than ''VideoGame/FireShark''. The enemies are faster and more aggressive, they come up in every direction to blindside the player, including from ''behind'', and to make matters worse, once you die, not only do you go back to a checkpoint, but you also lose all of your power-ups, making certain parts impossible to beat with a weak ship. According to Japanese sources, it took players ''a month'' to beat the game with one credit and ''a year'' to beat the second loop. It was so difficult that the overseas version ''Truxton II'' had its difficulty toned down by making the player's weapons stronger and reducing the amount of enemy bullets.

* ''Truxton'' (also known as ''Tatsujin'') was already hard by Toaplan standards, but its sequel ''Tatsujin Ou'' is notorious for being downright cruel. The enemies are faster and more aggressive, they come up in every direction to blindside the player, including from ''behind'', and to make matters worse, once you die, not only do you go back to a checkpoint, but you also lose all of your power-ups, making certain parts impossible to beat with a weak ship. It was so difficult that the overseas version ''Truxton II'' had its difficulty toned down by making the player's weapons stronger and reducing the amount of enemy bullets.

* ''VideoGame/FZero GX''. In difficulty terms, this game makes the previous console entries look like a cakewalk.

** ''Hard Corps'' and ''Shattered Soldier'' are the hardest ones in the series. The former was actually given a health bar [[DifficultyByRegion in the Japanese version]].

** That wasn't the only thing; the fact that battles could now take place on land or at sea meant that ''no place on Earth was safe'', and that meant considerably more territory to patrol. Enemy subs could be shot down over land or sea, meaning that every shot-down sub that wasn't [[NoKillLikeOverkill instantly annihilated by your]] {{BFG}}s becomes a tactical fight. Add in weapons that only work in select circumstances (such as the powerful [[MoreDakka hydrojet cannon]] only working underwater), painfully restrictive ammunition limits, many enemies that can now attack freely in all three dimensions, and large, sprawling maps with lots of dead ends, closets, and tiny corridors...it's not hard to see why Terror From the Deep aptly deserves its name.

** ''VideoGame/HerobrinesMansion'' is already a decently challenging map, pitting you against armies of durable mobs and having bosses with special abilities, but the bosses generally aren't incredibly challenging, with Herobrine and [[spoiler:the Wither]] both being [[AntiClimaxBoss anticlimactic]]. Its successor, ''Wrath of the Fallen'', is mixed — the regular enemies are generally easier to deal with, but the bosses are much longer and more complex to fight, and will generally result in much more deaths than before. The final boss gauntlet is also ''much'' more challenging than the one in ''Herobrine's Mansion'', consisting of a brutal MultiMookMelee against some of the nastiest monsters around, like Ghasts and Zombie Pigmen, while you destroy crystals and fight Withers.
** ''VideoGame/Diversity2'''s Adventure branch is a step up from the easy and simplistic one in the first ''Diversity'', having some fairly challenging puzzles and parkour. The Dropper branch is harder to cheese and much larger in scale, and just landing at the bottom isn't enough now — you also need to find the single bit of SoftWater at the bottom, or suffer from BarelyMissedCushion and die. Similarly, the Survival branch demands more in the way of exploration and combat, and although you can find some unique loot items, they are nothing compared to the [[GameBreaker game-destroying]] ones available in the first map if you know where to look. Finally, the Boss Battle branch goes from an [[AntiClimaxBoss underwhelming fight]] against a single Wither in a cage to [[spoiler:a giant Wither which [[BackgroundBoss attacks you from the background]]]], with tricky attacks to dodge.

* Certain [[VideoGame/MinecraftAdventureMaps adventure maps]] for ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' got harder with each installment.
** ''Herobrine's Mansion'' is already a decently challenging map, pitting you against armies of durable mobs and having bosses with special abilities, but the bosses generally aren't incredibly challenging, with Herobrine and [[spoiler:the Wither]] both being [[AntiClimaxBoss anticlimactic]]. Its successor, ''Wrath of the Fallen'', is mixed — the regular enemies are generally easier to deal with, but the bosses are much longer and more complex to fight, and will generally result in much more deaths than before. The final boss gauntlet is also ''much'' more challenging than the one in ''Herobrine's Mansion'', consisting of a brutal MultiMookMelee against some of the nastiest monsters around, like Ghasts and Zombie Pigmen, while you destroy crystals and fight Withers.
** ''Diversity 2'''s Adventure branch is a step up from the easy and simplistic one in the first ''Diversity'', having some fairly challenging puzzles and parkour. The Dropper branch is harder to cheese and much larger in scale, and just landing at the bottom isn't enough now — you also need to find the single bit of SoftWater at the bottom, or suffer from BarelyMissedCushion and die. Similarly, the Survival branch demands more in the way of exploration and combat, and although you can find some unique loot items, they are nothing compared to the [[GameBreaker game-destroying]] ones available in the first map if you know where to look. Finally, the Boss Battle branch goes from an [[AntiClimaxBoss underwhelming fight]] against a single Wither in a cage to [[spoiler:a giant Wither which [[BackgroundBoss attacks you from the background]]]], with tricky attacks to dodge.