History Sandbox / EarlyInstallmentWeirdnessVideoGamesSplitCleanup

* ''VideoGame/YsIIIWanderersFromYs'': The intro of the Platform/Turbografx16 version and a cutscene from the Platform/Playstation2 version shows Genos as a pure human. Starting with the remake, he has been established as a member of the Eldeen.

** The first Marvel fighting game from Capcom, ''VideoGame/XMenChildrenOfTheAtom'', had a much slower and deliberate pace, and generally played more like ''Street Fighter'' than later entries. While things like chain combos were still there, they were far more subdued, and the game itself lacked the sheer craziness of its successors. The ManaMeter was also completely different, and aerial characters like ComicBook/{{Storm}} and ComicBook/{{Magneto}} could still block while flying.

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* ''VideoGame/{{Bomberman}}'': Before the NES installments, the first game was a fairly primitive single-player MazeGame where both the clearly non-robotic player character and the enemies could move right through bombs. There weren't any multiplayer options in the ''Bomberman'' games until the UsefulNotes/TurboGrafx16 version. The games were also very slow paced and lacked a lot of power-ups like the rollerblades or bomb kicking. It wasn't until the Super NES era that the series found its place.

** ''Finest Hour'' is another example in itself in the way the series handled console releases. At the very beginning of the franchise, it was a PC series first and foremost, so the original game and its expansion came only on PC, while ''Finest Hour'', a console release, was a third-party spinoff. Starting with UsefulNotes/{{the seventh generation|OfConsoleVideoGames}}, things shifted as the original developers made an actual sequel for the UsefulNotes/Xbox360 as well as PC, with the third-party spinoff for it, ''Big Red One'', instead being shunted off to [[UsefulNotes/TheSixthGenerationOfConsoleVideoGames previous-gen consoles]]; the series would continue in this manner, with mainline releases on PC and current-gen consoles and the spinoffs on previous-gen ones until ''[[VideoGame/CallOfDutyWorldAtWar World at War]]'', though it did briefly come back with ''[[VideoGame/CallOfDutyGhosts Ghosts]]'', ''[[VideoGame/CallOfDutyAdvancedWarfare Advanced Warfare]]'' and ''Black Ops III'' releasing on both seventh- and [[UsefulNotes/TheEighthGenerationOfConsoleVideoGames eighth-gen]] consoles, with ''[=BO3=]'' coming closest to the old model (the full game on PC and eight-gen consoles, while seventh-gen ones could only fit the multiplayer and [[VideoGame/CallOfDutyZombies Zombies]]).

** The first ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare'' is noticeably different from its later two installments. Most obviously, it was sold under the title ''VideoGame/{{Call of Duty 4|ModernWarfare}}'', which was later [[ArtifactTitle mostly phased out]] due to [[ExecutiveMeddling the franchise's split between Treyarch, Infinity Ward, and later Sledgehammer]]. Its campaign switches between little more than [[{{Ruritania}} the Russian countryside]] and [[{{Qurac}} a hostile, unnamed Islamic country]] (the latter of which you stop playing in as little as a third of the way through the game), as opposed to the more varied settings of the series' later two installments; there was also only one set of missions in a recognizably-specific real-world location (and that one being set in the real-world GhostTown that is UsefulNotes/{{Chernobyl}}), as opposed to the more varied environments of the later two, where every other mission takes place in Washington, D.C. or Rio de Janeiro or Paris. This, combined with the second and third installments' heavy use of RuleOfCool, is why some of the first installment's gritty realism feels lost in its sequels. It also featured an unlockable "Arcade Mode" to add a score counter over the whole game when replaying it and campaign cheats unlocked for collecting the intelligence, which were nowhere to be found in later installments save for the remastered version of ''[=MW2=]'''s campaign. The game's multiplayer experience is also heavily modified in its sequels. The first installment featured three fixed killstreaks ([[EnemyScan UAV]], [[DeathFromAbove airstrike, and helicopter]]), equippable night vision goggles, several pre-set voice messages, and an equipment/perk system that was heavily reworked in sequels. The first-tier perks were all for extra equipment such as an RPG, claymore mines or extra ammo, for instance, and you were forced to go without one if you attached a grenade launcher or, strangely, an underbarrel grip to your weapon. The system for attachments was also slightly different: a maximum of one attachment at a time for any weapon, with the only options being two types of sights (an unmagnified red dot or an ACOG), a suppressor, a foregrip or a grenade launcher, some weapon types were noticeably restricted in what was available (like sniper rifles ''only'' getting the ACOG and foregrips being restricted to shotguns and machine guns), and there were several attachments that were only used in the campaign, like an [=EOTech=]-style holographic sight (which was coded as the singleplayer counterpart of the ACOG) and a red dot scope that shows up on every [=G36C=] in the campaign and a couple of M4s. The AK-47 was the first alternate assault rifle available upon unlocking the ability to create your own classes - the next two ''Modern Warfare'' games made it the final unlock (here that honor goes to the [[BlingBlingBang Golden Desert Eagle]] - on that subject, golden camos are restricted to one weapon per category rather than being unlockable for every weapon). The PC version also had some noticeable differences from the console versions - there was no Prestige system, it used [=PunkBuster=] as its anti-cheat system (making things difficult to set up properly when Even Balance eventually dropped official support for the game), and all of the post-release content console players had to purchase as DLC was made available for free in patches for the PC version, including a Christmas-themed variation of one map that the consoles never got except when [[HolidayMode it actually was Christmas]]. By ''[[VideoGame/CallOfDutyModernWarfare2 Modern Warfare 2]]'' the publisher and developers realized the implications of selling the games over UsefulNotes/{{Steam}}, and were able to implement Prestiging, use Valve's anti-cheat system, and sell DLC map packs.

** ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry3DantesAwakening'' is the first game in the franchise with [[StanceSystem Styles]], but the system works differently here than in later titles. In ''Devil May Cry 3'', only one Style can be used during a mission and new skills are acquired through levels and grinding for {{experience points}}. In ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry4'' and ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry5'', Styles can be switched during missions, and skills can be bought before missions or at Divinity Statues. The UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch version adds Style Switching, which works similarly to ''Devil May Cry 4'' and ''Devil May Cry 5'', but keeps the original level grinding system.

** The console ports have some noticeable differences from the PC games in part because, while the UsefulNotes/AtariJaguar port was compiled directly from the v1.2 codebase by Creator/IdSoftware themselves, all other ports - including those of ''Doom II'' - were third-party affairs simply borrowing the Jaguar port's code, with the ports of ''Doom II'' simply adding the new maps and enemies of ''Doom II'' to the ''Doom 1'' v1.2 code rather than recompiling anything. This leaves several mechanics noticeably dated, since none of the console ports of either game were released until more than a month after ''Doom II'' came out on PC, such as Lost Souls still counting towards the player's kill percentage (changed with the release of ''Doom II'' and the concurrent v1.666 for the first game to account for the Pain Elemental attacking by [[MookMaker spawning Lost Souls]]).

** [[VideoGame/SuperRobotWars1 The first game]] (on the UsefulNotes/GameBoy) features an incredibly simple plot (unlike the greatly complex and interwoven stories of later games), only features the "Holy Trinity" of ''Anime/MazingerZ'', ''Manga/GetterRobo'', and ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}''; all robots are intelligent beings (not largely non-sentient constructs piloted by humans), and health is in the double digits (while later games give robots thousands of [=HP=]). If it weren't for the title, you'd never know it was part of the series.

** ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIII'' has several oddities in comparison to the sequels:
*** Compared to the more DenserAndWackier sequels, the third game is relatively more down to earth and gritty in the art style and the story missions. Most of the humor comes from the radio stations, with their over-the-top guests and advertisements. ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV'' would return to the gritty style and story while ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV'' shifted the tone to the middle of gritty and wacky.
*** Unlike the other games, the third game had no purchasable property, thus no extra ways to make money or saving the game. Extra safe houses are only unlocked as you progress in the story and there are only a total of three, one in each island.
*** The third game [[MoneyForNothing throws money at the player]] like candy. Money awarded at the end of missions is absurdly high (the very first mission awards you $1500 just for picking up one of Luigi's girls from the hospital and dropping her off at a club two blocks away) and you can even get money by simply ramming into other cars; conversely, though, everything else is ten times more expensive than in future games (e.g. a Pay 'n Spray visit takes $1000 rather than the $100 of later games). The only things that you could blow money on were weapons and ammo, which weren't too hard to acquire anyway. The sequels would tone down costs and rewards to more reasonable levels and would give players a lot more things to spend their money on.
*** Weapon variety was very limited, as there were only eleven weapons in total in the game and you could carry all of them at once, including two assault rifles, two heavy weapons, and two types of grenades. Later games would give more variety of guns (''Vice City'' having at least two of every category) while also limiting you to one weapon in any given category (e.g. you can't have both the flamethrower and rocket launcher at the same time). ''GTAV'' would bring over the weapon wheel from ''Red Dead Redemption'', allowing players to carry every weapon they can find.
*** The player character is a mute and has no personality to them beyond whatever the player envisions them to be. He wouldn't even be given a ''name'' until his later appearance in ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas''. The sequels would make their player characters more fleshed out and had them speaking. A consequence of this is that he is one of only two protagonists from the "3D era" who gets messages via pager rather than a cell phone[[note]]Though being a mute doesn't stop the player character in ''Grand Theft Auto Online'' from using a phone[[/note]] (the other, Victor from ''[[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoViceCityStories Vice City Stories]]'', is simply because a pager fits its time period better).
*** The streets were mostly straight with right angles for turns and there were only a few areas that had actual curves in the roads, all which were likely due to the game still building upon from the second game which also had a box-like environment for its streets. Later games would have more natural roads.
*** The player character could not change clothes. Aside from the prison jumpsuit the player has at the start of the game, they will spend the entire game in a black leather jacket and green pants. ''Vice City'' would give the player a few more outfits to choose from, but full clothing customization wouldn't come until ''San Andreas''.
*** Planes and helicopters aren't available to use in the third game. While the Dodo technically is a plane that can fly, its controls are so bad that you'd be lucky to stay in the air for more than a few seconds.
*** There's also no motorcycles. The game was intended to have them, but the devs couldn't get them to work right and decided to scrap them rather than delay the game or release it in an unfinished state. Motorcycles would return in ''Vice City'', pedal bikes would debut in ''San Andreas''.
*** So no planes, no bikes, but there's still plenty of cars, right? Well... no. There's only 56 different cars (which in fairness was still more available cars than any video game out at the time not called ''VideoGame/GranTurismo''), by comparison ''Grand Theft Auto Online'' has more than 722.
*** The game has [[TheArtifact several holdovers from the 2D games]] that don't mesh with how this one is designed, including that random carnage will give you money from nowhere and that one of the camera options is an overhead view reminiscent of the previous games, which are noticeably missing from ''[[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoViceCity Vice City]]'' onward.
*** Also missing from ''III'' was the in-game map in the pause menu, which forced you to use the map included with the game manual if you wanted to navigate the streets well. A full in-game map was included starting with ''Vice City''. An in-game map for ''III'' would only appear on the Android/[=iOS=] version, released 10 years after the original was released.
*** Compared to later games, Liberty City isn't on a completely isolated island - Shoreside Vale is called as such because it really is shoreside, its northern boundary going into a hillside that stretches out to be visible to the north of every other part of the city. This is in large part because of the lack of easily-flown aircraft; later games allow more easy air travel, and so had to set their games on islands with nothing but ocean surrounding them in every direction to discourage trying to fly out of bounds.
*** Speaking of islands, in both ''GTAIII'' and ''Vice City'' the player can't swim, so any time you go into water you drown and die. Like a lot of things in this series that we now take for granted swimming was introduced (and even used in a couple missions) in ''San Andreas''.

!! Others
* The original UsefulNotes/GameBoy started out with just a light gray edition in 1989. Then came the Play It Loud! series in 1995, in which it was released in five more colors (along with white in Japan and blue in Europe), and that sets the standard for all subsequent handhelds by Nintendo (starting with the Game Boy Pocket in '97) to be released in all different colors upon launch.
* Early UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS and UsefulNotes/WiiU games came with full-fledged physical manuals. Eventually these were watered down into single paper pamphlets and eventually even that was just replaced with a generic paper telling you how to view the digital manual. Some games still come with manuals however they're very rare and mostly limited to indie games.
* Early UsefulNotes/Atari2600 games used game select and difficulty switches to select game parameters rather than menus due to the low amount of memory and cartridge storage. Games released later in the system lifespan did use menus as cartridge storage increased and the switches were less frequently used. Early models also had the difficulty switches up front, known to fans as "six-switchers." Later models moved the switches to the back, known as "fours-switchers," even though both models [[NonIndicativeName had six switches]]. The game reset switch also starts games.
* One of the earliest games for UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS, ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DLand'', had two "modes" of stereoscopic 3D that could be freely swapped between: one where the graphics "pop out" of the screen, and one where they "sink into" the screen. Because of how disorienting the former effect is, no future game included this feature, and the vast majority went with the "sink in" style.
* [=PlayStation=] line:
** In North America, the first year or so of UsefulNotes/PlayStation titles were packaged in oversized longboxes (similar to the elongated cases used for the Sega CD and US/EU UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn games), which had multiple variants. These would eventually be replaced by the more economical jewel case, with many of the popular longbox games being reprinted in this format.
** Early UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 games also came in generic DVD cases in America instead of the cases with a memory card holder or [=PlayStation=] logo embossed inside. Many early games were also still being released on [=CDs=] (easily identifiable by their blue backs) until DVD became the dominant format for the system.
** UsefulNotes/PlayStation3 games up to 2009 came in packaging similar to the [=PS1=] with the "Film/SpiderMan1"-style logo on the side of the box and a [=PlayStation=] logo on the label of the disc. When the [=PS3=] undergone a rebrand in 2009 to coincide with the then-newly released Slim model, the logo was changed to the more familiar [=PS2=]-style [=PS3=] logo akin to the UsefulNotes/PlayStation4 and UsefulNotes/PlayStation5 logos, and the game packaging was changed accordingly, with it more resembling the packaging for [=PS4=] games.

* ''VideoGame/TheGetaway1'' could be considered Early-Installment Weirdness for the 3D Open-World Crime Sandbox genre as a whole, which was still in its infancy back in 2002 - while ''[[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIII GTA III]]'' was released the previous year, it had yet to fully exert its influence. It exists in a very distinct grey area between ''GTA'' and earlier open-world driving games like ''{{VideoGame/Driver}}'' - the story is a series of missions [[NoSidepathsNoExplorationNoFreedom performed in a strict linear order]], and said missions alternate between driving and shooting with only minor variations. Furthermore, the action takes place in a real city instead of a NoCommunitiesWereHarmed counterpart, it averts {{Fauxrrari}} by using real vehicles (which even get name-dropped by the police), [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain and the villains throw racial slurs left and right]] - something that even early ''GTA'' tended to avoid; there are experimental features like RegeneratingHealth and the total absence of a HUD [[DiegeticInterface (instead, your health is measured by how bad the wounds on your body are, and you're directed around the map by your car's indicators)]]. Most glaringly, however, there's no free roam, at least not at first - you have to unlock it by beating the story. For this reason it only really qualifies as a 'Sandbox' by the loosest possible definition, and it's often classified instead as an Action-Adventure game in light of this - regardless, it still serves as a snapshot in the transition period between simple open-world driving games and modern crime sandboxes, not really fitting neatly into either genre.
* The first game in the ''VideoGame/HenryStickminSeries'', ''Breaking the Bank'', is noticeably different from later games in the series. While the series is known for StoryBranching with multiple endings and hilarious fails, ''Breaking the Bank'' only gives you one choice (of how to break into the bank) and only one of the options leads into the game's sole ending. The animation is also much more stiff and primitive when compared to later games in the series. It isn't until the second game, ''Escaping the Prison'', where many of the things which make the series what it is can be seen. The CompilationRerelease completely reanimates ''Breaking the Bank'', and frames it as being a prologue, making ''Escaping the Prison'' the canonical first game in the series.
** Before ''Breaking the Bank'' was the prototype ''Crossing the Gap''. Unlike all of the other entries, there was no right answer -- it was just a stick figure attempting and failing to cross a gap while using various means. It would be brought back as a MythologyGag in the ''Completing the Mission'' episode with an actual correct choice.
* ''Franchise/YuGiOh'':
** Most video games in the franchise are based on the Duel Monsters anime or the manga and focus on the card game rules, making ''VideoGame/YuGiOhMonsterCapsuleBreedAndBattle'''s Toei anime and Capsule Monsters basis stand out.
** The first "true" ''Yu-Gi-Oh!'' game, ''Duel Monsters'' for the Game Boy, preceded the actual card game. Consequently, it is ''very'' strange to play it in light of what came later, and many of its idiosyncrasies carried over into future titles. Trap Cards do not exist and Spell Cards are much less common, you can only play one card per turn, only one obtainable monster possesses an effect (Petit Moth), attack point gains are percentage-based rather than static values and go by "levels", Levels, Tributes, and Rituals aren't a thing at all, Fusions are accomplished without Polymerization, Burn cards are vastly more powerful (Tremendous Fire did ''5000'' damage), and a monster left in Attack Position ''must'' attack. Also, instead of opponents having preset Decks, their decks were semi-randomized.
** In general, early ''Yu-Gi-Oh'' games tended to bear little resemblance to the card game, and often had their own interpretations of rules from the manga or anime. ''VideoGame/YuGiOhDarkDuelStories'' had an ElementalRockPaperScissors system that carried into several later games, as well as Deck Cost and Duelist Level placing an artificial cap on the power of your deck. In ''VideoGame/YuGiOhTheSacredCards'', all Effect Monsters barring Petit Moth are Flip Monsters, and Fusions do not exist. It wasn't until ''The Eternal Duelist's Soul'' that they started to actually try to recreate the game's rules.
** Since the games came out contemporaneously with the manga and anime, quite a bit of lore and characterization established in them is unusual in light of what would come later. Siamun Muran is a major recurring figure and mentor character in many games who [[AdaptationalEarlyAppearance shows up as early as Duelist Kingdom]], when in the series he's a relatively minor character who doesn't show up until the very last arc, and it doesn't seem like the writers were aware he's a preincarnation of Yugi's grandfather. Ishizu's personality in ''Forbidden Memories'' and ''Duel Monsters II'' casts her as a menacing villain, when in the series, she's depicted as one of the most moral characters around, suggesting the writers were working off Takahashi's early concepts.
** The ban list didn't exist in the earliest video games with cards being Limited or Semi-Limited and when the ban list was instituted, many cards weren't banned like they are today.
** The aforementioned first game and ''Dark Duel Stories'' had Tea appearing after a duel and giving you cards for beating the opponent. Later games had you selecting from different booster packs.
** Many games were outright ''weird'' in the early days such as most games having opponents in tiers and you had to beat each opponent in a tier a certain amount of times to move on and ''VideoGame/YuGiOhTheFalseboundKingdom'' being an [=RPG=].
* ''VideoGame/{{Shadowverse}}'' might have taken this trend from another Creator/{{Cygames}} title ''VideoGame/GranblueFantasy'': All chapters from the ''Morning Star'' arc will always put the character against enemies popping out of nowhere, even in the midst of dialogue. This causes even the shortest conversations to be interrupted by monster attacks. By the second half of the arc, we get to know more of the original characters' backstories as they are trapped in the dream world. The second arc named ''Guild Wars'' actually has a better plot, leaves equal opportunities for introducing new characters as well as expanding the CharacterDevelopment of the originals. Some chapters are no longer interrupted by unnecessary monster attacks. That being said, the ''Guild Wars'' chapters of each leader are actually longer than their ''Morning Star'' chapters.
* ''VideoGame/BloonsTowerDefense 4'' introduces camo bloons. However, in this game, the camo bloon is a specific type of bloon, rather than a property that any bloon can have. Additionally, camo bloons can be affected by collateral or splash damage from any tower, while in other games, they completely ignore attacks from towers that don't have camo detection.
* ''VideoGame/{{LISA}}'': ''LISA: The First'', the original installment of the series, functions very similarly to ''VideoGame/YumeNikki'', in that the only true "objective" of the game is to simply explore surreal locations, rather than being a side-scrolling RPG like its successors. It's also the only game in the series to not take place in post-apocalyptic Olathe.
* The ''VideoGame/MakeMyVideo'' series officially began life with ''Power Factory Featuring C+C Music Factory'', even though the introductory video still flashes the "Make My Video" branding on the Creator/DigitalPictures logo. It's also the only entry to have any sort of fantastic plot, with the player presented as physically working in a factory to make videos rather than just make the videos to impress random people.
* Playing ''VideoGame/Progressbar95'' v0.21 and other early versions can feel surreal. Segments are shorter, windows look different, there's only a "Like game" button when it comes to social media integration, and perhaps the weirdest of all, progress isn't given in increments of 5%.
* In the first ''Virtua Tennis'' game, KING (as well as his doubles teammate MASTER) looked like a regular modern asian tennis player and a bearded black tennis coach, respectively. From the second game onwards, King (as well as Queen and Duke, depending on the game) would start looking like stereotypical old British players.
* In the first ''Uncle Albert'' game, ''VideoGame/UncleAlbertsMagicalAlbum'':
** The various pages in the game do not follow any theme, unlike in the later games.
** The English title logo is pale yellow with a black outline rather than black with a white outline like for the original French version. The other English translated games have their logo titles in black and white, just like the French covers.