History Main / ContestedSequel

* Similarly, ''[[{{Macross7}} Macross 7]]'' took the idea of a song being the key to saving the world and ran as far and as fast with it as possible. The result is going from a sad, desperate struggle for humanity's survival to a rockstar fighting space vampires with ThePowerOfRock.

* ''{{Aliens}}''. This sequel is undoubtedly the most popular film in the entire franchise and introduced the most elements on the titular aliens' biology, and it also worked as a very effective action-horror thrillride too. But many fans of the first film view JamesCameron's sequel as turning the lone [[FreudWasRight Freudian]] [[BodyHorror parasitic]] monster that slowly stalked and killed its prey ([[FateWorseThanDeath or]] [[TouchOfTheMonster worse]]) as in the carefully paced and claustrophobic Ridley Scott masterpiece to a bunch of [[{{Mooks}} mindless]] [[BugWar bugs]] which could easily get mowed down with plenty of gunfire in a big loud noisy explosion-fest.

** Unlike the first film, Final Destination 2's methods of killing off the players were at least plausible, especially compared to the killer shower head in the first movie. This alone reduced the cheesiness of an otherwise interesting concept in some viewer's minds.

* Due to the fickle nature of its respective fanbase, the ''StarTrek'' films have had to deal with this. Most fans tend to agree that ''StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan'' and ''StarTrekFirstContact'' are the best TOS and ''Next Generation'' films, respectively, but anything besides that (barring ''StarTrekVTheFinalFrontier'') tends to become this:

** JJ Abrams' [[{{Film/StarTrek}} Star Trek]] film is the highest-grossing in the franchise, and proved to be one of the few rebooted films that received critical and commercial acclaim by using time-travel to change the focus to an alternate-universe version of the original series crew. Yet, there still exists a segment of the fanbase that believes the film [[CanonDefilement destroyed the history of the franchise]] and irrevocably altered the plotlines of future films by having the crew [[EveryoneWentToSchoolTogether attend Starfleet Academy together]].

* There's considerable disagreement among ''HarryPotter'' fans about whether [[Film/{{HarryPotter}} the first two movies]]' faithfulness to the books is their greatest strength or their greatest weakness. People in the first camp are likely to view ''Prisoner of Azkaban'' as a horrific plot hole-filled mess, while people in the second camp are likely to see it as when the movies finally started to get it right.

* ''{{Fallout}} 2'' promised an immensely enlarged gameworld with tons of deep {{Side Quest}}s and [=NPCs=], and most fans agree that it delivered. ''Fallout 2'' is also loaded with excessively GenreSavvy characters, NoFourthWall humor and [[SchizoTech out of place elements]], not to mention even more red herrings and broken quests left over from unfinished parts of the game than the original ''Fallout''.

* The ''StreetFighter III'' series is a big hot point among many fans, particularly "old-schoolers" who are more familiar with the ''Street Fighter II'' and ''Alpha'' games, who claim that parries (the ability to counter an attack without being stuck in block stun) kill the flow of the game, while its fans say that parries are what make the game great. The fact that ''Street Fighter IV'' doesn't have parries may illustrate Capcom's take on all this.

* In the world of CommandAndConquer, C&C Tiberian Dawn is the only game that isn't a sequel, and is consequently the only game that isn't a ContestedSequel. Red Alert is contested for being nothing but a Tiberian Dawn remake (Gameplay wise, at least) C&C Tiberian Sun is contested for being too dark and Science Fiction-y, C&C Red Alert 2 is contested for being too damn cheesy (Oh, and the CanonDisContinuity) C+ C Generals is contested for being an InNameOnly spinoff, C&C Tiberum Wars is contested for its CanonDisContinuity and its striking resemblance to Generals, and finally, C&C Red Alert 3 is contested for cheesy-ness that reaches outright silly, CanonDisContinuity, and lots of other stuff. Suffice to say, epic FlameWars have erupted over which games are "good" and which games are "bad".

** And then there's a group who would argue it was a fairly solid attempt to hone down an RPG to it's basic elements in the way MassEffect2 did and gets unfairly maligned.

* ''TheElderScrolls IV: Oblivion'' may have been adored by critics and the general public, but is a contested sequel for fans of ''Morrowind''. Not only do many claim that it was [[ItsEasySoItSucks dumbed down]] for console users and casual players, but it took on a far more generic art style than the previous game. The expansion pack ''Shivering Isles'' fixes the latter, at least.

* ''MassEffect'''s most frequent complaints centered around the vehicle driving system and the cluttered inventory management system. Mass Effect 2 dropped the systems entirely, replacing inventory with a system of upgrades and vehicle driving with promised DLC. Dropping the inventory management and weapon skill stats, placing more emphasis on player skill then player level, and reducing the need of the pausing to deliver commands system tilted the game much more towards third-person action-adventure shooter from the RPG. [[YourMileageMayVary Needless to say, whether you enjoy the changes or think BioWare should have tried to keep more of the RPG elements depends almost entirely on which genre you prefer]].

* Go to a {{Sierra}} fan board and ask if ''Mask of Eternity'' is a KingsQuest game. Then ask them if it's a ''good'' game. Make sure to bring chocolate, marshmallows, and [[IncrediblyLamePun Graham crackers]] for the inevitable cookout.
* Supreme Commander 2 removed the epic scale maps and unit options in return for intimate battles and more detail, making it easy for casual gamers to fight short battles.
* The first three CrashBandicoot games and Crash Team Racing were made by Naughty Dog. Everything after that is [[BrokenBase hotly contested]]. Some say Crash Bash was still good, some say more or all of the games were good, and some only like the new games.

* ''TombRaider Legend'' was a reboot of the series by a different developer, with as much changes as that implies. Let's just leave it to the BrokenBase whether this is the point where it [[GrowingTheBeard grew the beard]] or [[JumpingTheShark jumped the shark]].

** [[TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask Majora's Mask]] is a hotly contested [[BrokenBase Base Breaker]]: it was not widely liked at the time of its release for [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks being too different]] from ''{{Ocarina of Time}}'' ([[DarkerAndEdgier and darker]]) but some fans consider it one of the best games in the series.

* AceAttorneyApolloJustice is this. The original trilogy was a well rounded and suitably epic story with great characters and we were sad to see them all go. Apollo wasn't a bad character, but the game was forced to include Phoenix so it didn't manage to devote itself to being either a separate entry in the same series or a quasi-sequel of the previous game.

* The critically acclaimed series, ''[[BatmanTheAnimatedSeries Batman: The Animated Series]]'', was followed up with a sequel series, ''The New Batman Adventures''. Airing on a new station, the creators and cast returned, for the most part, and the art got revamped for the sake of smoother animation and to match the style used for Superman: The Animated Series. But controversy was afoot, as the sleeker animation came at the cost of art design. All the characters got a redesign, either minor or major, and the end result was... mixed. Batman, Robin and Batgirl looked fine, but Joker, Two-Face, Croc and Riddler got over-simplified and lost their charm. The tone of the series is said to have suffered as well, with the focus widening to include Robin and Batgirl in most episodes. However, the series still produced some very memorable episodes, such as Over the Edge, Old Wounds and Mad Love.

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* The most recent edition of DungeonsAndDragons has this in spades. All previous editions built on the same basic structure created back in the 1970s, but 4th Edition rebuilt the game from the ground up. Half the fanbase loves it for its tightly defined ruleset, tactical depth, strong support for the DM, and ease of play. The other half hates it for its reliance on GameplayAndStorySegregation, its heavy focus on battlemat combat, the shoehorning of all classes into the same mechanical structure, and a lot of gratuitous changes to D&D lore.
[[/folder]]

<<|SubjectiveTropes|>>

** JJ Abrams' [[{{Film/StarTrek}} Star Trek]] film can be considered one thanks to CanonDefilement and [[{{retcon}} retcons]] everywhere, including the one that EveryoneWentToSchoolTogether, as well as the (arguable) dumbing down of the franchise to appeal to new fans.

** Similarly, ''Film/{{Spider-Man}} 3'' is either an awesome comic book movie, a horrible one or alternates between the two depending on the scene.

* Firestarter 2: Rekindled is a sequel to the 1984 movie {{Firestarter}}. The first movie was a decent portrayal of the {{Stephen King}} book it was based on. The sequel was made by people who didn't even pretend to have read the book (or seen the original movie, for that matter). This included having the {{Big Bad}} be the same in both movies even though [[spoiler: he was killed in the first one.]] On the other hand, Firestarter 2 has special effects that a movie made in the 80s could not.

* Firestarter 2: Rekindled is a sequel to the 1984 movie {{Firestarter}}. The first movie was a decent portrayal of the {{Stephen King}} book it was based on. The sequel was made by people who didn't even pretend to have read the book (or seen the original movie, for that matter). This included having the {{Big Bad}} be the same in both movies even though [[spoiler: he died in the first one.]]

* ''[[StarTrekIIITheSearchForSpock Star Trek III: The Search for Spock]]''. Successfully-executed thematic sequel to ''TheWrathOfKhan'', or massively disappointing follow-up to the same?
** From the even half, ''Nemesis''. Fair conclusion for ''Next Generation'' crew, or mediocre episode padded to two hours with [[DroppedABridgeOnHim tacked-on character death]] and inoffensive subplot resolution to imbue false significance?

* ''Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts''. Some believe that it's a fun resurrection of the franchise, some think it's a good game but not a Banjo-Kazooie game, and some say that it is {{RUINED FOREVER}}!

** ''Banjo-Tooie'' as well. While the gameplay was virtually unchanged from the original (aside from some new moves for Banjo and Kazooie), the worlds were about triple the size, and each was connected to other worlds in some way, thus necessitating some backtracking in order to get some of the Jiggies. While many fans loved and embraced these changes, other fans of the original preffered the smaller worlds and being able to get all of the Jiggies in one sitting.

* ''Apollo Justice: AceAttorney'', also known as ''Gyakuten Saiban 4'' or Ace Attorney 4. Points of contention include the [[ReplacementScrappy new protagonist]], the writing of the plot, the prosecutor [[ItsEasySoItSucks not being enough of a challenge]] or JerkAss to Apollo, and the convolutedness that is the 4th case.

* ''TheWindInTheWillows'', Kenneth Grahame's classic novel, had four sequels written by William Horwood: ''The Willows in Winter'', ''Toad Triumphant'', ''The Willows and Beyond'', and ''The Willows at Christmas''. According to ''The Wind in the Willows'' entry, [[CanonDiscontinuity they do not exist.]]

** Simlarly, ''Film/{{Spider-Man 3}}'' is either an awesome comic book movie, a horrible one or alternates between the two depending on the scene.

** Simlarly, ''SpiderMan 3'' is either an awesome comic book movie or a horrible one.

** And then there were the fans (ie. all of them) who just hated [[RealSongThemeTune the goddamn theme song.]]
* After taking a very long mid-season hiatus, ''{{Jericho}}'' changed quite dramatically. A lot of people who appreciated the tighter writing, bigger plots, higher level of awesomeness, and that the show finally had the huge aftermath and dark tone appropriate to a shitload of cities blowing up. A lot of other people who missed the heartwarmingness, characterization and humanity from the first half of the season.
* The new ''DoctorWho'' series after its revival in 2005 has had more than a little of this kind of thing going on. Although plenty of old-school fans made the transition from old to new quite well and appreciate both series, there's a sizable amount of old-school fans who just cannot get into the new stuff (usually because of the increased emphasis on character dynamics and romance than in the old series), and plenty of new series fans who are immediately put off by the old series (largely because of the dated special effects).

** Long before that, ''Temple of Doom'' was something of a contested sequel: a successful variation on the Indy concept, or just too dark and squicky to be enjoyable?

* The DanielCraig JamesBond movies - Either one loves the return to the roots, or one wants every old cliche back, though there are those who like the older films too.
** Although some criticize just the turning of the suave agent into a rough and brutal [[TheBourneSeries Bourne]]-like agent.

* ''TheWindInTheWillows'', Kenneth Grahame's classic novel, had four sequels written by William Horwood: ''The Willows in Winter'', ''Toad Triumphant'', ''The Willows and Beyond'', and ''The Willows at Christmas''. According to ''The Wind in the Willows'' entry, they do not exist.

* ''StarTrekEnterprise'' was done primarily because fans had complained about the stationary nature of ''[[StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Deep Space 9]]'' and the constant {{technobabble}} of ''[[StarTrekVoyager Voyager]]''. Setting it in an earlier time period allowed the scary nature of space travel to be more constant and the technology wasn't always the savior. There were fans who loved it from the start, fans who ''hated'' it from the start, and a third group who felt it had a hard time at first, but found its voice just before it was cancelled (with a further subdivision based on whether the [[GrowingTheBeard beard was grown]] in season 3 or 4).

* The second season of ''{{Gundam 00}}'' is considered to be worse than the first due to the fact that the series went from having sympathetic enemies defending their countries to shallow villains who just wanted to rule the world. The villains also tended to decay with Ribbons becoming a SmugSnake, and Graham and Billy becoming emotional wrecks who join the A-Laws for petty reasons.

* ''MobileSuitGundamSeeDestiny'' gets so much hate that it even effects how people now view ''MobileSuitGundamSeed''. The primary reason for the hatred was poor battles, the Earth Alliance being incompetent, and characters getting dumber as the series went on. Kira was supposed to be a stoic older warrior but often came off as simply not having a personality.

* ''MobileSuitGundamSEEDDestiny'' gets so much hate that it even effects how people now view ''MobileSuitGundamSEED". The primary reason for the hatred was poor battles, the Earth Alliance was incompetent, and character's getting dumber as the series went on. Kira was supposed to be a stoic older warrior but often came off as simply not having a personality.

* For the ''[[TheLegendOfZelda Zelda]]'' series, any console game that [[ToughActToFollow follows]] ''[[TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Ocarina of Time]]'' is immediately LoveItOrHateIt among fans and gamers. The standout examples are ''[[TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker Wind Waker]]'' and ''[[TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Twilight Princess]]'' which, respectively, departed from the formula and followed the formula, both to praise and criticism.

* ''MobileSuitGundamSEEDDestiny'' gets so much hate that it even effects how people now view ''MobileSuitGundamSEED". The primary reason for the hatred was poor battles, incompetent villains, and character's getting dumber as the series went on. Kira was supposed to be a stoic older warrior but often came off as simply not having a personality.

* The second season of ''{{Gundam 00}}''is considered to be worse than the first due to the fact that the series went from having sympathetic enemies defending their countries to shallow villains who just wanted to rule the world. The villains also tended to decay with Ribbons becoming a SmugSnake, and Graham and Billy becoming emotional wrecks who join the A-Laws for petty reasons.

* Five Words: ''MobileSuitGundamSEEDDestiny''.
* ''CodeGeass'' R2. Sunrise seems to be good at these.

* The second season of ''{{Gundam 00}}''.

*** The multiplayer, as well, especially online multiplayer. While it's great on its own, it had one crippling feature: in a three- or four-player battle, if only one player disconnects, ''[[WallBanger the entire match ends]]'', instead of cutting off the quitter and keeping the match going with the remaining players.

* ''[[RollerCoasterTycoon Roller Coaster Tycoon 3]]''. While many people enjoy Atari's reboot of the franchise, some "purist" fans believe that Atari ruined it. Some of which criticize it for having [[WallBanger full [=3D=] graphics.]]

* ''TheLegendOfZelda TwilightPrincess'' is [[LoveItOrHateIt highly controversial]] within the fanbase, considering it was meant to be a return to the ''[[TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Ocarina of Time]]'' formula. One half of the fanbase loves the game, saying that it is a return to the perfection that is Ocarina of Time and that the graphical style of the game is what should have been done in the first place with ''[[TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker Wind Waker]]'', while the other half of the fanbase decries it as a lazy rehash of the aforementioned game, saying that {{Nintendo}} should have came up with a more original idea and bashing the graphics, calling it [[RealIsBrown bland and unoriginal]]

* Arguably, ''MetalGearSolid4'' is a masterpiece of storytelling, a fitting conclusion to a great series and an irrefutable argument for video games as an artform. Except it's also three hours of shooting and hours upon hours of unnecessarily long cutscenes that really needed to be edited down.

** ''MetalGearSolid4'' is a masterpiece of storytelling, a fitting conclusion to a great series and an irrefutable argument for video games as an artform. Except it's also three hours of shooting and hours upon hours of unnecessarily long cutscenes that really needed to be edited down.
*** MetalGearSolid2 was partly to blame for MetalGearSolid4's long cutscenes as the game had to clean up the GainaxEnding left over from Metal Gear Solid 2, as Guns of the Patriots was a MindScrewdriver and FanService.
**** Except, MetalGearSolid2 didn't have a GainaxEnding just competent idiot villains that talked out of their asses. MetalGearSoild4, on the other hand, conflicts with the rest of the series to such a degree that it has people praising Big Boss as a good guy for [[MindRape abducting and brainwashing kids.]]

*** ''Fallout 3'' isn't even in the same genre as the previous Fallout X games, further making it a contested sequel.
**** {{Fallout 3}} might be closer in mechanics to {{Oblivion}} than to the original {{Fallout}}, but it's most definitely in the same genre: they're both {{RPG}}s
**** The debate over Fallout 3 is a bit like the old Reese's Peanutbutter Cup commercial: "You got your FPS in my RPG!" "You got your RPG in my FPS!" [[OnlySaneMan Who cares so long as it ]]''[[OnlySaneMan works]]''[[OnlySaneMan ?]]