History Main / NotSoCheapImitation

* A Taiwanese bootleg of the ''Perfect Sessions'' BoxedSet for ''Anime/CowboyBebop'' exists that packages the series and [[Anime/CowboyBebopKnockinOnHeavensDoor 2001 movie]]-- which is not actually included in the legitimate set-- on three [=DVDs=] rather than the standard six. Apart from bitrate problems during particularly cluttered shots (e.g. the hyperspace sequences) and using a digipak instead of several keep cases in a box, the set is astonishingly close in quality to a legitimate product, to the point where it's commonly sold even on sites like Amazon as if it were genuine, with both buyers and sellers being none the wiser.
* Music/DavidBowie:
** A bootleg LP of ''Music/TheManWhoSoldTheWorld'' floated around in the mid 70's that almost perfectly replicated the packaging of the original US release, aside from the speech bubble on the back being slightly too low. The audio is noticeably poorer quality, being sourced from a legitimate LP dubbed to tape then back to vinyl, but the bootleg was convincing enough to appear in bargain bins in mainstream brick-and-mortar retailers.
** A number of other bootlegs exist for Bowie live shows and [[GreatestHitsAlbum singles compilations]] that put an almost professional level of quality into the audio and packaging. One particular bootleg of a 1972 show in Santa Monica (appropriately dubbed ''Santa Monica '72'') was so well-done that Creator/{{EMI}} eventually released it as a legitimate product in 2008, retitled ''Live Santa Monica '72''.
* ''The Dark Side of the Moo'' is a notable bootleg Music/PinkFloyd compilation released in 1982 while the band were on hiatus. The bootleg has earned considerable acclaim from mainstream critics and for a while was one of the most accessible ways to get a hold of certain poorly-distributed singles and the studio version of "Astronomy Domine" in the US (as it was not included on the American release of ''Music/ThePiperAtTheGatesOfDawn''). According to its anonymous creator, ''The Dark Side of the Moo'' was popular enough to continue selling well into the mid-1990's, long after vinyl as a medium went dormant pre-2007.
* The [=GamBoy=] [sic], also called the [[http://blog.12bit.club/?post=5 GB Boy Colour]] ([[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment "Game Boy ''Boy'' Colour"?]]), is an unauthorized replica of the UsefulNotes/GameBoyColor noted for being a surprisingly accurate imitation of the original. Despite the speaker only using one audio channel (instead of doing a mono mix of both channels), the screen being slightly-stretched, and the IR port not being functional, the GB Boy Colour actually has a working backlight-- something the legitimate GBC lacked. As such, many still consider it a good budget method of playing Game Boy and Game Boy Color games on "original" hardware without having to jump through hoops to make the screen visible in dim lighting (discounting the Game Boy SP, which did have a frontlight on early models and a backlight on later ones).
* Music/{{Prince}}'s untitled black album was a popular source of bootlegs since its planned 1987 release got cancelled. Because a number of LP and CD copies from the planned 1987 run still survive today, they've been a common source for sufficient-quality audio on these bootlegs, and the album having an all-black cover makes it easy to imitate the original packaging. Even after Creator/WarnerBrosRecords finally gave the black album an official release in 1994, high-quality bootlegs still circulate here and there.
* The ''Ultra Rare Trax'' series of [[Music/TheBeatles Beatles]] bootleg compilations became somewhat historically important specifically because of its quality, showing that remastering, when done right, could produce high-quality bootleg and official releases that could surpass the original LP copies.
* UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem bootlegs:
** The Dendy Jr. was a notable Taiwanese bootleg of the Famicom that became a sensation in Russia during the 1990's, when the country was still suffering from the fallout of the Soviet Union's dissolution and didn't have enough money to afford importing the genuine product. Despite the dubious nature of the games (illegally) released on it, the Dendy Jr. itself is considered one of the better and more faithful "Famiclones" on the bootleg market, especially by the standards of those made before Nintendo's patents on the Famicom expired.
** The expiration of the Famicom's patents allowed for a number of higher-quality Famiclones to glut the market, as the system's technical specs could now be legally replicated and utilized to create better-quality alternatives to the original hardware. Some of these better-quality post-patent Famiclones include the Analogue NT and the AVS, both of which are compatible with both NES and Famicom cartridges and peripherals and natively support high-definition HDMI output.

* ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' toys are subject to considerable bootlegging, and while most are rather inferior, with low-quality plastic and primitive construction, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRDZvQ5dEhE some toys]] are notably superior to even official merchandise of the same size (the toy in the video is a ''scaled down Masterpiece Megatron'', taking one of the most complicated, expensive, show-accurate renditions of the character and making it much more accessible).

* There has been some praise and high ratings over this unofficial plush toy of King Koopa from the [[WesternAnimation/TheSuperMarioBrosSuperShow old]] [[WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfSuperMarioBros3 Super]] [[WesternAnimation/SuperMarioWorld1991 Mario]] [[https://www.amazon.com/Altay-Yellow-Bowser-Stuffed-Travel/dp/B0841DXZHY cartoons]].

* ''VideoGame/InTheGroove'' is basically just a clone of ''VideoGame/DanceDanceRevolution'', but nonetheless found a lot of success within the American and European rhythm game communities (sadly, [[AmericansHateTingle no such luck in Japan]]) due to its higher skill ceiling that was then-unheard of in ''DDR'' and quality-of-life features. This may have [[GoneHorriblyRight worked against it]], as Konami (which produces ''DDR'' games) would later sue Roxor and acquire the rights to the game, [[ScrewedByTheLawyers ending it]].

[[folder:Asian Animation]]
* ''Animation/TheLegendOfLuckyPie'' is about an owl-boy going on adventures with his shape-shifting horse, similar to a certain [[WesternAnimation/AdventureTime American cartoon about a boy going on adventures with his shapeshifting dog]]. However, reception towards the series has been fairly positive. Even people who worked on ''Adventure Time'' liked it.
[[/folder]]

* Coca-Cola attempted to {{invoke}} this trope with the New Coke. During UsefulNotes/TheEighties, Pepsi was out-selling Coca-Cola, despite the former being introduced a decade later. In order to compete, the recipe for Coke was changed so that it would taste more like Pepsi, but that [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks was about as effective as you might think]]. By pure irony, Coca-Cola sales skyrocketed when they brought back the original recipe.

* Coca-Cola attempted to {{invoke} this trope with the New Coke. During UsefulNotes/TheEighties, Pepsi was out-selling Coca-Cola, despite the former being introduced a decade later. In order to compete, the recipe for Coke was changed so that it would taste more like Pepsi, but that [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks was about as effective as you might think]]. By pure irony, Coca-Cola sales skyrocketed when they brought back the original recipe.

* There has been some praise and high ratings over this unofficial plush toy of King Koopa from the [[WesternAnimation/TheSuperMarioBrosSuperShow old]] [[WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfSuperMarioBros3 Super]] [[WesternAnimation/SuperMarioWorld Mario]] [[https://www.amazon.com/Altay-Yellow-Bowser-Stuffed-Travel/dp/B0841DXZHY cartoons]].

* ''Literature/TheHungerGames'' was published in a period where Young Adult Romance novels were all the rage after being sparked by ''Literature/{{Twilight}}.'' However, ''The Hunger Games'' ended up being more acclaimed because of having better writing and characters, and ended up starting its own trend of young adult romances being within a Dystopian setting.

A SubTrope of FollowTheLeader. Compare FromClonesToGenre and DuelingWorks. Contrast TheyCopiedItSoItSucks. May involve DerivativeDifferentiation. For In-Universe examples, see EffectiveKnockoff. For when a parody gets more popular than the original, see ParodyDisplacement. It can sometimes cause cases of SeinfeldIsUnfunny. This is also the first step in FromClonesToGenre.

* ''Film/XMen1'' (made by 20th Century Fox) and ''Film/SpiderMan1'' (made by Sony Pictures) sparked the Comic Book Movie Boom of the 2000s. Marvel made [[StartMyOwn their own]] [[Creator/MarvelStudios film studio]] in response, but Fox and Sony naturally refused to sell the film rights to the X-Men and Spider-Man back to them. Despite this, Marvel went forward and established the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse, becoming a new success that not only far usurped the box office records set by the ''X-Men'' and ''Spider-Man'' movies, but fully cemented the Comic Book Movie as a new form of blockbuster and caused many film studios to attempt forming their own cinematic universes using any properties they had.
* Christopher Landon's recent output has boiled down to "A non horror movie, but as a slasher". ''Film/HappyDeathDay'' was the first film in this trend (based on Film/GroundhogDay), and in addition to being well received, was also a massive box office hit. After a sequel that was based on Film/BackToTheFuturePartII, he directed ''Film/{{Freaky}}'', a horror version of ''Film/FreakyFriday'', which received even better reviews.

* ''Series/{{Weeds}}'' is a dark comedy series about a recently widowed suburban mom who becomes a drug dealer to support her family. If this plot sounds familiar, it's because of ''Series/BreakingBad'', except it's about a cancer stricken suburban dad, and while more serious, does have its moments of dark humor. While ''Weeds'' is considered a decent show, ''Breaking Bad'' has been hailed as one of the greatest shows of all time, with a 9.5/10 score on Website/IMDb. Apparently, Vince Gilligan was unaware of ''Weeds'' when he pitched ''Breaking Bad'', and admitted that had he been aware of it, he wouldn't have pitched it in the first place.

* The combat system of ''VideoGame/{{Mother}}'' is heavily inspired on ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'', but its completely different atmosphere and tone aside from its completely unrelated story made it beloved as a totally different saga

* Ever since the 2016 open beta, ''VideoGame/{{Paladins}}'' has been accused by fans and the media alike to be a clone of the above-mentioned ''Overwatch'', despite the two games playing very differently to one another. What actually happened was that both games just happened to be in concurrent production with each other and were using media stereotypes found in all manner of fiction. The game has proven its staying power, however, being released for every console going (even getting a Switch port almost a year before ''Overwatch''), it's still fairly popular on PC, and it's one of the few games that can be considered TheRival towards ''Overwatch'', as other games, like ''VideoGame/{{Battleborn}}'' (which released ''far too early'' and got overshadowed by ''Overwatch''), and ''VideoGame/{{Lawbreakers}}'' (which failed to capture the same market) failed to do so, and the content drought caused by the delayed production of ''Overwatch 2'' only further closed the gap.

* ''VideoGame/GenshinImpact'': Early reviews of the game call it a clone of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'', but it has grown into its own beast through multiple story quests, events, and character hangouts.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Bluey}}'' was designed as an Australian replica of ''WesternAnimation/PeppaPig''. However, [[PeripheryDemographic it is very well-liked by people outside the primary target audience of preschoolers]] and many parents will admit to watching it without their kids present. It even made it onto the Rolling Stones 100 Best Sitcoms of All Time List, being the only show aimed at preschoolers to do so.

* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' has some notable similarities to ''Manga/HunterXHunter,'' mostly due to Masashi Kishimoto being friends with Yoshihiro Togashi. However, ''Naruto'' ended up being the more popular work (particularly in [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff America]]) for a multitude of reasons. One was that ''Naruto'' didn't suffer from the same frequent ScheduleSlip that plagued ''Hunter x Hunter.'' Another was because the first ''Hunter x Hunter'' anime from 1999 didn't reach American shores until nine years later, which was at the height of ''Naruto'''s popularity by then. The third possible reason was that the 1999 anime was CutShort due to [[OvertookTheManga overtaking the manga]] rather quickly, and it didn't get a more proper adaptation until 2011. This has been subverted as the 2011 Hunter x Hunter adaptation gained a lot of attention in the latter portion of The New '10s and is one of the most well known and highly praised Battle Shonen out there.
* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' was primarily influenced by ''Manga/{{Naruto}}''. However, many critics prefer ''My Hero Academia'' to ''Naruto'' for deconstructing the many cliches the latter [[ClicheStorm played straight]].
* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' was heavily influenced by ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'', especially in its early arcs. While ''[=JoJo=]'' was a niche series for a while, it [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff exploded in popularity worldwide]] with the start of the 2012 anime, whereas ''Fist of the North Star'' is at best a CultClassic outside Japan.

* ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} started as a ripoff of the ''ComicBook/TeenTitans'' character Deathstroke. In his [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness early appearances]], he was more of a standard mercenary character, with his only notable quirk being that he [[MotorMouth talked a lot]]. However, when he was later retooled into the [[NoFourthWall Fourth-Wall Shattering]] [[AxCrazy nutcase]] we all know today, he soon eclipsed Deathstroke in popularity.

* Sunshine Bakery introduced its chocolate sandwich cookie, Hydrox, several years before Nabisco's Oreos. However, mostly due to an unappetizing name and poor marketing, Hydrox was soon overtaken by Oreos in popularity and became so dominant, Hydrox were eventually viewed by the public as an inferior imitator.
* This trope led to the creation of New Coke. During UsefulNotes/TheEighties, Pepsi was out-selling Coca-Cola, despite the former being introduced a decade later. In order to compete, the recipe for Coke was changed so that it would taste more like Pepsi, but that [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks was about as effective as you might think]]. By pure irony, Coca-Cola sales skyrocketed when they brought back the original recipe.

* ''Film/XMen1'' (made by 20th Century Fox) and ''Film/SpiderMan1'' (made by Sony Pictures) sparked the Comic Book Movie Boom of the 2000s. However, after Marvel made [[StartMyOwn their own]] [[Creator/MarvelStudios film studio]], Fox and Sony refused to sell the film rights to the X-Men and Spider-Man back to them for the longest time, leading to the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse being started without them. However, the Marvel Cinematic Universe ended up being a huge success, usurping the box office records set by the X-Men and Spider-Man movies.

* Not long after the release of ''VideoGame/{{Fortnite}}'', the game released a free to play Battle Royale mode as a response to the popularity of ''VideoGame/PlayerunknownsBattlegrounds.'' However, not only did the Battle Royale mode boost downloads for ''Fortnite,'' it even surpassed ''PUBG'' in popularity, much to Blue Hole's dismay. Jim Sterling addressed the possible causes including ''Fortnite'' being free to play, lacking the bugs that affected ''PUBG'', and having a style that gave it more of an identity.

* ''VideoGame/DragonballFighterz'' follows the success of tag-team Fighting Games like the ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom'' series (and in particular, the third game, some of the mechanics of which are also used in DBFZ), but is also critically acclaimed, has 2+ million sales and is often deemed as a new contender against the MVC series, especially in the wake of the disappointments aimed at ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcomInfinite'''s problems.

* ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} started as a ripoff of the ''ComicBook/TeenTitans'' character Deathstroke. In his [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness early appearances]], he was more of a standard mercenary character. However, when he was later retooled into the [[NoFourthWall Fourth-Wall Shattering]] [[AxCrazy nutcase]] we all know today, he soon eclipsed Deathstroke in popularity.

* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' has some notable similarities to ''Manga/HunterXHunter,'' mostly due to Masashi Kishimoto being friends with Yoshihiro Togashi. However, ''Naruto'' ended up being the more popular work (particularly in [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff America]]) for a multitude of reasons. One was that ''Naruto'' didn't suffer from the same frequent ScheduleSlip that plagued ''Hunter x Hunter.'' Another was because the first ''Hunter x Hunter'' anime from 1999 didn't reach American shores until nine years later, which was at the height of ''Naruto'''s popularity by then. The third possible reason was that the 1999 anime was CutShort due to [[OvertookTheManga overtaking the manga]] rather quickly, and it didn't get a more proper adaptation until 2011. This has been subverted as the 2011 Hunter x Hunter adaptation gained a lot of attention in the latter portion of The New '10s and one of the most well known and highly praised Shonen out there.

* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' has some notable similarities to ''Manga/HunterXHunter,'' mostly due to Masashi Kishimoto being friends with Yoshihiro Togashi. However, ''Naruto'' ended up being the more popular work (particularly in [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff America]]) for a multitude of reasons. One was that ''Naruto'' didn't suffer from the same frequent ScheduleSlip that plagued ''Hunter x Hunter.'' Another was because the first ''Hunter x Hunter'' anime from 1999 didn't reach American shores until nine years later, which was at the height of ''Naruto'''s popularity by then. The third possible reason was that the 1999 anime was CutShort due to [[OvertookTheManga overtaking the manga]] rather quickly, and it didn't get a more proper adaptation until 2011. This has been subverted as the 2011 Hunter x Hunter adaptation gained a lot of attention in the later portion of [[The New '10s]] and one of the most well known and highly praised Shonen out there.

* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' has some notable similarities to ''Manga/HunterXHunter,'' mostly due to Masashi Kishimoto being friends with Yoshihiro Togashi. However, ''Naruto'' ended up being the more popular work (particularly in [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff America]]) for a multitude of reasons. One was that ''Naruto'' didn't suffer from the same frequent ScheduleSlip that plagued ''Hunter x Hunter.'' Another was because the first ''Hunter x Hunter'' anime from 1999 didn't reach American shores until nine years later, which was at the height of ''Naruto'''s popularity by then. The third possible reason was that the 1999 anime was CutShort due to [[OvertookTheManga overtaking the manga]] rather quickly, and it didn't get a more proper adaptation until 2011. This has been subverted in a way as the 2011 Hunter x Hunter adaptation gained a lot of attention in the later portion of [[The New 10's]] and is considered one of the most well known and high quality Shonen out there.

* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' has some notable similarities to ''Manga/HunterXHunter,'' mostly due to Masashi Kishimoto being friends with Yoshihiro Togashi. However, ''Naruto'' ended up being the more popular work (particularly in [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff America]]) for a multitude of reasons. One was that ''Naruto'' didn't suffer from the same frequent ScheduleSlip that plagued ''Hunter x Hunter.'' Another was because the first ''Hunter x Hunter'' anime from 1999 didn't reach American shores until nine years later, which was at the height of ''Naruto'''s popularity by then. The third possible reason was that the 1999 anime was CutShort due to [[OvertookTheManga overtaking the manga]] rather quickly, and it didn't get a more proper adaptation until 2011.

A SubTrope of FollowTheLeader. Compare FromClonesToGenre and DuelingWorks. Contrast TheyCopiedItSoItSucks. For In-Universe examples, see EffectiveKnockoff. For when a parody gets more popular than the original, see ParodyDisplacement. It can sometimes cause cases of SeinfeldIsUnfunny. This is also the first step in FromClonesToGenre.

* ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} started as a ripoff of ''ComicBook/TeenTitans'' character, ComicBook/{{Deathstroke}}. In his [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness early appearances]], he was more of a standard mercenary character. However, when he was later retooled into the [[NoFourthWall Fourth-Wall Shattering]] [[AxCrazy nutcase]] we all know today, he soon eclipsed Deathstroke in popularity.
* The ''ComicBook/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesMirage'' started off as parodies of the DarkerAndEdgier comics of the 80s, most notably ''ComicBook/{{Daredevil}},'' ''ComicBook/NewMutants,'' and ''ComicBook/{{Ronin}}.'' However, when the [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987 cartoon]] came out, the Ninja Turtles exploded into pop culture icons.

* ''VideoGame/MobileLegendsBangBang'' is pretty infamous as being a mobile-based ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'' clone, imitating plenty of character designs, game mechanics, and aesthetics, to the point that Riot Games sued Moonton ''thrice'' for copyright defamation (once in 2017 that ended with dismissal, a second in the following year alongside Creator/{{Tencent|Games}} in China that ended with settlement, and again in 2022 TBD). In spite of this and [[AmericansHateTingle animosity from western audiences]], ''Mobile Legends'' holds astonishingly strong legs in Southeast Asia, especially in the Phillipines. This is in large part due to cultural preferences towards mobile games (PC gaming is generally seen as too elaborate and resource-heavy)[[note]]Additionally, ''Mobile Legends'' in its earlier stages could be run with very low-spec phones, and Southeast Asians are noted to be not-so-well economically, so the game has a greater accessibility for players who couldn't afford high-spec phones, there's a lot of them in Southeast Asia.[[/note]], with ''Mobile Legends'' also smoothing and simplifying the gameplay to be less mechanically daunting than the notoriously dense and obtuse ''League''. Even after Riot finally realized that making an official mobile ''League'' port was viable and released ''Wild Rift'' internationally between 2020-2021, they were years late to the party, and ''Mobile Legends''' preexisting foothold in the region as ''the'' [[MultiplayerOnlineBattleArena MOBA]] of choice has allowed it to outperform its competition.

* ''VideoGame/MobileLegendsBangBang'' is pretty infamous as being a mobile-based ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'' clone, imitating plenty of character designs, game mechanics, and aesthetics, to the point that Riot Games sued Moonton ''thrice'' for copyright defamation (once in 2017 that ended with dismissal, a second in the following year alongside Creator/{{Tencent|Games}} in China that ended with settlement, and again in 2022 TBD). In spite of this and [[AmericansHateTingle animosity from western audiences]], ''Mobile Legends'' holds astonishingly strong legs in Southeast Asia, especially in the Phillipines. This is in large part due to cultural preferences towards mobile games (PC gaming is generally seen as too elaborate and resource-heavy), with ''Mobile Legends'' also smoothing and simplifying the gameplay to be less mechanically daunting than the notoriously dense and obtuse ''League''. Even after Riot finally realized that making an official mobile ''League'' port was viable and released ''Wild Rift'' internationally between 2020-2021, they were years late to the party, and ''Mobile Legends''' preexisting foothold in the region as ''the'' [[MultiplayerOnlineBattleArena MOBA]] of choice has allowed it to outperform its competition.

* ''VideoGame/MobileLegendsBangBang'' is pretty infamous as being a mobile-based ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'' clone, imitating plenty of character designs, game mechanics, and aesthetics, to the point that early on, Riot Games sued Moonton ''thrice'' for copyright defamation (once in 2017 that ended with dismissal, a second in the following year alongside Creator/{{Tencent|Games}} in China that ended with settlement, and again in 2022 TBD). In spite of this and [[AmericansHateTingle animosity from western audiences]], ''Mobile Legends'' holds astonishingly strong legs in Southeast Asia, especially in the Phillipines. This is in large part due to cultural preferences towards mobile games (PC gaming is generally seen as too elaborate and resource-heavy), with ''Mobile Legends'' also smoothing and simplifying the gameplay to be less mechanically daunting than the notoriously dense and obtuse ''League''. Even after Riot finally realized that making an official mobile ''League'' port was viable and released ''Wild Rift'' internationally between 2020-2021, they were years late to the party, and ''Mobile Legends''' preexisting foothold in the region as ''the'' [[MultiplayerOnlineBattleArena MOBA]] of choice has allowed it to outperform its competition.

* ''VideoGame/StoryOfSeasons'' itself is a peculiar case. It's often mistaken for a ''VideoGame/HarvestMoon'' ripoff or SpiritualSuccessor, but it really is the same development team as the original ''Harvest Moon'' games, Marvelous, continuing the series under a new name and publisher. To make things more confusing, the original publisher, Natsume, retained the rights to the ''Harvest Moon'' brand name and began producing [[VideoGame/HarvestMoonNatsume their own titles]] using the same name.

* A number of unauthorised Harley-Davidson crate motors and engine parts such as those from Alan Sputhe and S&S Cycle are of equal if not superior craftsmanship compared to the real deal, sometimes even improving on what Harley did especially with hot-rodded and those so-called "stroker" bikes with larger engine displacements than what Harley usually offers. One such engine part is a gear-driven cam assembly for the Twin Cam, whose chain-drive cam assembly is notorious for being an engineering failure due to the chain tensioners wearing out over time and fouling the oil pump.

* ''VideoGame/InTheGroove'' is basically just a clone of ''VideoGame/DanceDanceRevolution'', but nonetheless found a lot of success within the American and European rhythm game communities (sadly, [[AmericansHateTingle no such luck in Japan]]) due to its higher skill ceiling that was then-unheard of in ''DDR'' and quality-of-life features. This may have [[GoneHorriblyRight worked against it]], as Konami (which produces ''DDR'' games) would later sue Roxor and acquire the rights to the game, [[ScrewedByTheNetwork ending it]].

* ''VideoGame/MobileLegendsBangBang'' is pretty infamous as being a mobile-based ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'' clone, imitating plenty of character designs, game mechanics, and aesthetics, to the point that early on, Riot Games sued Moonton twice for copyright defamation (once in 2017, again in 2022). In spite of this and [[AmericansHateTingle animosity from western audiences]], ''Mobile Legends'' holds astonishingly strong legs in Southeast Asia, especially in the Phillipines. This is in large part due to cultural preferences towards mobile games (PC gaming is generally seen as too elaborate and resource-heavy), with ''Mobile Legends'' also smoothing and simplifying the gameplay to be less mechanically daunting than the notoriously dense and obtuse ''League''. Even after Riot finally realized that making an official mobile ''League'' port was viable and released ''Wild Rift'' internationally between 2020-2021, they were years late to the party, and ''Mobile Legends''' preexisting foothold in the region as ''the'' [[MultiplayerOnlineBattleArena MOBA]] of choice has allowed it to outperform its competition.

* ''VideoGame/MobileLegendsBangBang'' is pretty infamous as being a mobile-based ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'' clone, imitating plenty of character designs, game mechanics, and aesthetics, to the point that early on, Riot Games sued Moonton for copyright defamation (albeit ending in a quiet settlement). In spite of this and [[AmericansHateTingle animosity from western audiences]], ''Mobile Legends'' holds astonishingly strong legs in Southeast Asia, especially in the Phillipines. This is in large part due to cultural preferences towards mobile games (PC gaming is generally seen as too elaborate and resource-heavy), with ''Mobile Legends'' also smoothing and simplifying the gameplay to be less mechanically daunting than the notoriously dense and obtuse ''League''. Even after Riot finally realized that making an official mobile ''League'' port was viable and released ''Wild Rift'' internationally between 2020-2021, they were years late to the party, and ''Mobile Legends''' preexisting foothold in the region as ''the'' [[MultiplayerOnlineBattleArena MOBA]] of choice has allowed it to outperform its competition.

* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' has some notable similarities to ''Manga/HunterXHunter,'' mostly due to Masashi Kishimoto being friends with Yoshihiro Togashi. However, ''Naruto'' ended up being the more popular work (particularly in [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff America]]) for a multitude of reasons. One was that ''Naruto'' didn't suffer from the same frequent ScheduleSlip that plagued ''Hunter x Hunter.'' Another was because the first ''Hunter x Hunter'' anime from 1999 didn't reach American shores until nine years later, which was at the height of ''Naruto's'' popularity by then. The third possible reason was that the 1999 anime was CutShort due to [[OvertookTheManga overtaking the manga]] rather quickly, and it didn't get a more proper adaptation until 2011.

* Not long after the release of ''VideoGame/{{Fortnite}}'', the game released a free to play Battle Royale mode as a response to the popularity of ''VideoGame/PlayerunknownsBattlegrounds.'' However, not only did the Battle Royale mode boost downloads for ''Fortnite,'' it even surpassed ''PUBG'' in popularity, much to Blue Hole's dismay. Jim Sterling addressed the possible causes including ''Fortnite'' being free to play, lacking the bugs that affected ''PUBG,'' and having a style that gave it more of an identity.

* ''VideoGame/DragonballFighterz'' follows the success of tag-team Fighting Games like the ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom'' series (and in particular, the third game, some of the mechanics of which are also used in DBFZ), but is also critically acclaimed, has 2+ million sales and is often deemed as a new contender against the MVC series, especially in the wake of the disappointments aimed at ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcomInfinite's'' problems.
* DICE Studios created ''VideoGame/Battlefield1942'' in 2002, a well-received game featuring large-scale combat, the option to use vehicles and planes, and so on, all to capture command points to control the battlefield. The game was far from a flop, but then along came Pandemic Studios and Lucas Arts, who took the same concept, slapped a ''Franchise/StarWars'' skin on it, and named it ''Videogame/StarWarsBattlefront'', which completely eclipsed ''1942'' in popularity. DICE did go on to grow ''Battlefield'' into a shooter that rivaled ''Halo'' and ''Call Of Duty'' for several years as well. And when Electronic Arts acquired the Battlefront license, everything came full circle, as DICE were the studio chosen to develop ''VideoGame/StarWarsBattlefront2015'' and [[VideoGame/StarWarsBattlefrontII2017 its sequel]].

* ''Videogame/GuitarHero'' looks an awful lot like ''[[VideoGame/{{GITADORA}} GuitarFreaks]]'' before it, due to having the same core gameplay: Both games give the player a guitar controller and they must tilt the strum bar while holding down the corresponding fret buttons to hit notes that scroll vertically. But it soon became the catalyst for {{Rhythm Game}}s as a mainstream genre in the West, featuring a lot of nuances to make the game appeal to a wide range of Western fans such as popular licensed songs, vivid background animations and characters, and full-length songs. While ''[=GuitarFreaks=]'' is by no means a crappy game, it's clear that both games are designed for different audiences.

* ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' toys are subject to considerable bootlegging, and while most are rather inferior, with low-quality plastic and primitive construction, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRDZvQ5dEhE some toys]] are notably superior to even official merchandise of the same size (the toy in the video is a ''scaled down Masterpiege Megatron'', taking one of the most complicated, expensive, show-accurate renditions of the character and making it much more accessible).