History Sequelitis / VideoGames

* The first game in the ''VideoGame/KunioKun'' series was localised for western audiences as ''Renegade'' and considered to be a fine BeatEmUp, enough so that Ocean Software made their own separate sequels to it. The first sequel, ''Target: Renegade'', combining the original game with cues from the then-nascent ''VideoGame/DoubleDragon'' franchise was also well received and considered a worthy sequel. The third game, ''Renegade III: The Final Chapter'', with its DenserAndWackier premise, cutting several features (including ''Target: Renegade'''s multiplayer), and low-quality graphics, received a very poor reception, was widely considered to be an InNameOnly entry in the series, and ended up prophetically being a FranchiseKiller -- no new ''Renegade'' games were released after it.

* The ''VideoGame/ShiningSeries'' really was ''the'' fantasy series in the UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis era topping off with an amazing if little-known [[VideoGame/ShiningForceIII three-part finale]] on the UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn. Attempts to branch off into the action-adventure genre have varied between mediocre-but-passable (''SF Neo'', ''SF EXA'', ''VideoGame/ShiningSoulII'') to forgettable (''VideoGame/ShiningTears'', the original ''Shining Soul''). Atlus and Sega did a competent job with the UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance [[VideoGameRemake Enhanced Remake]] of the first ''VideoGame/ShiningForce''. Fans have been waiting for years to see if a remake of ''Shining Force II'' will surface, but it's looking increasingly unlikely every day.

** [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog1 The]] [[VideoGame/SonictheHedgehog2 first]] [[VideoGame/Sonic3AndKnuckles four titles]] on the Sega Genesis (as well as [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehogCD the obscure installment]] for the Sega CD add-on) were highly praised at the time of their release, and are still largely considered the best titles in the series. The series was largely out of the limelight during the UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn era, with Sonic Team pursuing [[VideoGame/NiGHTSIntoDreams different]] [[VideoGame/BurningRangers projects]] and Sega making new ''Sonic'' games without them to little success (with the cancellation of ''VideoGame/SonicXTreme'', what would had been the VideoGame3DLeap for the series, being the most [[TroubledProduction notorious]] [[ExecutiveMeddling example]] of this).

* The ''VideoGame/{{Soul|Series}}'' series got hit with this pretty hard in TheNewTens. ''Soul Edge'' was a respectable 3D fighter, though it wound up being overshadowed by [[Franchise/{{Tekken}} its sister series]] and then [[SequelDisplacement displaced by its sequel]] ''Soulcalibur'', which became a major KillerApp for the UsefulNotes/SegaDreamcast. ''Soulcalibur II'' [[EvenBetterSequel continued to improve upon its predecessor's refinements]] and is considered one of the best fighting games of all time. The third and fourth ''Calibur'' games aren't bad, but couldn't match the standards set by ''II''. Then came ''VideoGame/SoulcaliburV'', which was full of balancing issues and a number of changes to the story that were met with a lot of derision from the fanbase. Major League Gaming, the crowd that ''V'' was meant to appeal to, rejected it outright. Then, the series shifted focus with ''Soulcalibur: Unbreakable Soul'' and ''Soulcalibur: Lost Swords'', which got even more backlash from the inclusion of {{microtransactions}} and online DRM, respectively. [[note]]The always-online DRM was seen as a particular sticking point since it was a single-player-only game.[[/note]] Couple that with all three of those titles coming out in a twelve-month period, and for a long time, the subsequent fall from grace had left the fate of the series up in the air. Subverted with ''VideoGame/SoulcaliburVI'', which fortunately managed to reverse the downwards spiral and [[WinBackTheCrowd won acclaim from critics and fans alike]].

* ''VideoGame/SNKVsCapcom: Card Fighters DS'', despite its much wider variety of playable cards compared to its two UsefulNotes/NeoGeo Color Pocket predecessors, is commonly perceived as having a weaker and more [[GameBreaker easy-to-break]] battle system. First-run English copies also contained an unavoidable GameBreakingBug that prevented completion of the NewGamePlus.

* ''VideoGame/{{Bubsy}}'' was never the most well-received franchise, but it ''really'' dropped the ball on the 1996 ''Bubsy 3D'', considered one of the worst games of all time. It was one of the first 3D platformers released... a few months after the much better-received ''VideoGame/SuperMario64''. ''Bubsy 3D'' caused the franchise to [[FranchiseKiller lay dead]] for 21 years, until it got revived in 2017.

** ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters2001'' was the point that the Striker system, the NESTS Chronicles' defining feature, finally reached rock-bottom, as the changes made to it ensured that zero-to-death combos, the aspect most criticized, were easier to perform. Aside from that, there was also common consensus that the soundtrack was of drastically lower quality than usual, and that's without mentioning [[OvershadowedByControversy the K9999 fiasco]].[[labelnote:Wait, what happened?]]K9999, a prevalent and plot-critical newcomer in ''2001'', was so much of a CaptainErsatz of Tetsuo Shima from ''Manga/{{AKIRA}}'' that SNK, for 20 years, [[BuryYourArt acted as though he never existed]].[[/labelnote]]
** ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFightersXII'' had big shoes to fill, being the third DreamMatchGame of the series, and practically everyone accepted that it completely and utterly failed to meet the standards that both ''[[VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters98 '98]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters2002 2002]]'' set, having a paltry roster that even [[VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters94 the very first installment]] outnumbered, no proper Arcade Mode (and there's no [[SNKBoss brutally hard boss]] either), and overall feeling more akin to [[ObviousBeta a glorified demo]] for ''[[VideoGame/TheKingOfFightersXIII XIII]]'' than an installment in its own right.

* The first ''VideoGame/ClayFighter'' was a modest success -- while it was terribly unbalanced, most were willing to look past that and appreciate the game for taking a comedic spin on the fighting game genre. Its sequel ''Judgement Clay'' wasn't approved as much, with its cast being far less varied in movesets, a dingier and uglier look, and lacking several features that the preceding entry had. Then came ''63⅓'', which, while improving on the gameplay area, still showed signs of [[ObviousBeta being unfinished]] that had to have ''[[UpdatedRerelease Sculptor's Cut]]'' to partially rectify, alongside bringing in annoyingly frequent voice acting and several [[EthnicScrappy Ethnic Scrappies]]. [[FranchiseKiller The series has been dormant since]], with any attempts of a revival quickly being QuietlyCancelled.

** A ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'' hack series, [[http://u9.getuploader.com/SIG Super Sig World]], has, as of 2023, ''thirty-nine'' installments, mostly released in a span of two or three months. They're considered terrible, with the best ones being merely average as the amount of reused content is kind of staggering. Just making a 70-level game every three months is perceived as overkill.

** A ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'' hack series, [[http://u9.getuploader.com/SIG Super Sig World]], has ''twenty-five'' installments in about two or three years. They're considered terrible, with the best ones being merely average as the amount of reused content is kind of staggering. Just making a 70-level game every three months is perceived as overkill.

* The ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom'' series is widely agreed to have peaked at ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom2'', with ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom3'' facing criticism over [[ScrappyMechanic X-Factor]] and [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks switch to 3D graphics]]. While ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcomInfinite'''s gameplay was applauded, it quickly became infamous for [[UnintentionalUncannyValley poor attempts at realistic graphics]], a ham-fisted story, a lacklustre roster missing a significant amount of series mainstays (especially on the Marvel side), and numerous instances of ExecutiveMeddling.

** ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil6'' received an overall mixed reception compared to previous installments, with most of the professional reviews being extremely polarized as really positive or really negative. This critical schism (and ''[=RE6=]'' falling short of Creator/{{Capcom}}'s sales expectations despite the game selling close to 5 million copies in less than a year[[note]]Capcom's projections were 7 million[[/note]]) led to the series RevisitingTheRoots for its next several installments (''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvilRevelations2 Revelations 2]]'', ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvil7Biohazard RE7]]'', remakes of ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvil2Remake RE2]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvil3Remake RE3]]'', ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvilVillage Village]]''), with ''7'', the remakes, and ''Village'' managing to WinBackTheCrowd -- though the ill-received ''VideoGame/UmbrellaCorps'' (another multiplayer-focused tactical shooter in the vein of ''ORC'') was also released during this period, and the third game's remake was seen in a less favorable light compared to the ones before and after.

** ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil6'' received an overall mixed reception compared to previous installments, with most of the professional reviews being extremely polarized as really positive or really negative. This critical schism (and ''[=RE6=]'' falling short of Creator/{{Capcom}}'s sales expectations despite the game selling close to 5 million copies in less than a year[[note]]Capcom's projections were 7 million[[/note]]) led to the series RevisitingTheRoots for its next several installments (''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvilRevelations2 Revelations 2]]'', ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvil7Biohazard RE7]]'', remakes of ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvil2Remake RE2]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvil3Remake RE3]]'', ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvilVillage Village]]''), with ''7'', the ''Resident Evil 2'' remake, and ''Village'' managing to WinBackTheCrowd -- though the ill-received ''VideoGame/UmbrellaCorps'' (another multiplayer-focused tactical shooter in the vein of ''ORC'') was also released during this period, and the third game's remake was seen in a less favorable light compared to its predecessor.

** The ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBros'' series. While they all received a generally great critical reception and were huge commercial successes for Nintendo, the sequels (particularly the latter two) have also fallen under criticism for [[ItsTheSameNowItSucks not bringing much to the table]]. The biggest point of contention are the games' static presentation, with the games reusing the same music and level tropes (as well as the same sequence order of level tropes), and all having a similar artstyle (though the fourth game, ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBrosU'', is generally credited to have at least significantly tweaked the aesthetics). The third game in particular, ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBros2'', is usually considered the weakest entry in the series, due to the only real major addition to the formula being a coin-collection gimmick.[[note]]Tellingly enough, an interview with the game's directors revealed the game's development team [[BTeamSequel was primarily composed of newcomers]], while veteran 2D Mario developers worked on ''New Super Mario Bros. U''.[[/note]]

* ''VideoGame/ArmyOfTwo: The Devil's Cartel''. The first two games didn't break much new ground in the ThirdPersonShooter genre but still garnered a fanbase by embracing the [[RatedMForManly macho "bro" culture]] for all their worth. ''Devil's Cartel'' strips away the few unique elements the other games ''did'' have[[note]]including demoting the wisecracking, bro-fisting duo of Salem and Rios to [[NonPlayerCharacter NPCs]] and replacing them with [[TheGenericGuy generically-named masked commandos "Alpha" and "Bravo"]][[/note]], robbing the series of its charm.

* Poor, poor ''VideoGame/{{Blood}}''. The first game in the series was a major cult hit and is still often considered the best shooter to ever run on the Build Engine. However, the second game hit major TroubledProduction woes and was given a mandate to be programmed in under a year--even the game's director told the publisher that the game was simply not finished and needed another month of time at the least. They shipped it anyway, [[ObviousBeta and it showed]], [[FranchiseKiller leaving the franchise strangled in the cradle.]]

* ''VideoGame/DukeNukemForever'', thanks to its long development that sought a worthy if not better follow-up to ''VideoGame/DukeNukem3D'', wound up falling short instead, as the gameplay was less fun in both the addition of clunky minigames and an attempt to incorporate mechanics from all shooters that came out in the decade as {{Vaporware}}, the humor didn't work as well with its [[UnintentionalPeriodPiece outdated references]], [[UnintentionallyUnsympathetic Duke felt more like a chauvinistic, sociopathic douchebag instead of a cool badass]], and the writing showcased [[ValuesDissonance very]] [[UnfortunateImplications outdated]] views on race and sex.

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