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6* [[Creator/DiscoveryFamily The Hub's]] ''VideoGame/AdventurePonies'' is an amusing little {{retraux}} Flash platformer that, while not amazingly good, was a fun way to kill an hour or two. ''Adventure Ponies 2: Wait! There's More?!'' wasn't as warmly received; besides the loss of the colorful backgrounds of the first game in favor of brown forests and caverns, the game is essentially a MissionPackSequel to the original game with different characters. Even looking past that, it's a lot buggier than its big brother (the game has been known to crash to a sprite sheet or debug menu on occasion).
7* ''VideoGame/AloneInTheDark'':
8** [[VideoGame/AloneInTheDark2 The second game]] is generally seen as one of the worst in the series, due to a combination of rushing it out to try and capitalize on the original's success (the director later acknowledged in an interview that they knew the game was buggy and unbalanced but weren't concerned about the quality) and [[ActionizedSequel attempting to cash in on the success]] of ''VideoGame/Wolfenstein3D''. The end result is it's essentially a shooter, but it made no attempt to change the base gameplay (you'll often end up getting shot at from offscreen, and in the unlikely event that you do manage to get an enemy in your view, good luck aiming at him) and ends up borderline unplayable. The entire "horror" thing is also completely absent, with it taking the little moments of silliness that were common in contemporary horror games and cranking them up to eleven until the game became a self-parody. It really says something when the most famous part of a "survival horror" game involves bludgeoning zombie dwarf cooks to death with a frying pan while wearing a Santa outfit. Fortunately, the third game reintroduced the adventure elements from the original and took itself a bit more seriously.
9** [[VideoGame/AloneInTheDark2008 The 2008 reboot]] received fairly mediocre reviews, but many suggested the game's main problems owed more to trying to do too much and being an ObviousBeta; the common line was "it has a lot of interesting ideas but they aren't well-realized." It was followed years down the line by ''Alone in The Dark: Illumination'', regarded as a fifteenth-rate ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'' knockoff with impressively broken combat and a metric load of bugs. The poor reception [[FranchiseKiller finally put the franchise to rest.]]
10* ''VideoGame/AnotherWorld'' wasn't intended to have a sequel, but Interplay, who brought the game to the U.S. (as ''Out of This World''), decided they really needed to produce one. The result was ''Heart of the Alien'', a mess of a game that only confirmed Eric Chahi's initial doubts.
11* ''[[VideoGame/ArcTheLad Arc the Lad: End of Darkness]]'' is widely considered inferior to ''VideoGame/ArcTheLadTwilightOfTheSpirits'' and is one of the worst-rated [=PS2=] [=RPGs=]. The game features a new, but slow and clunky, ActionRPG battle system, and most of its maps and character models are cut-pasted from its predecessor. The reception was so bad that no new game was announced until ''Arc The Lad R'', a mobile game, in 2018 (14 years later).
12* ''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 they were 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.
13* The ''VideoGame/ArmyMen'' franchise was initially insanely popular. Then somewhere the lackluster spin-offs and InNameOnly sequels slowly choked off sales until [=3DO=] finally went bankrupt in 2003. Even with the parent company dead, other companies are ''still'' trying to make cash off of the brand, the latest entries getting some of the worst reviews in shooting games; even a similar attempt at a game like it in ''The Mean Greens'' has, at best, received glowing reviews but [[AcclaimedFlop no lasting playerbase]].
14* The fourth game in the ''VideoGame/{{Avernum}}'' series switched from the antiquated engine and sketch-like, endearing graphics of the first three to something more powerful and more realistic, and hence got hit with TheyChangedItNowItSucks. Since the new engine was taken from ''VideoGame/{{Geneforge}}'', it also got hit with TheyCopiedItSoItSucks. And since the plot was quite similar to that of the third game, it was also subject to ItsTheSameNowItSucks. Then there were the complaints when the game was taken on its own merits...
15* ''VideoGame/BackyardSports'' started off as a decently enjoyable game series with clever characters and a good sense of humor. After Creator/{{Atari}}'s buy-out from Creator/HumongousEntertainment, the series began a noticeable drop in quality.
16* ''VideoGame/{{Battlefield}}'':
17** ''VideoGame/BattlefieldV''. Over time, many fans came to view it as weakest installment in the mainline games (''1942'', ''2142'', ''Vietnam'' and the 5 numbered titles) with much criticism aimed at its historically inaccurate aesthetic, botched launch and weak post-launch support. Upon release in November 2018, the game had game-breaking bugs, deviated from the realistic look of previous games, and lacked advertised features like the much-touted battle royale mode. While past ''Battlefield'' games improved with updates, ''[=BFV=]'' was riddled with problems throughout its lifecycle and whatever updates it received took too long to implement[[note]]Most glaringly, tank customization was advertised before release yet didn't appear in the base game until February 2020, more than ''15 months'' after launch.[[/note]]. Many fans have compared the game unfavorably to its predecessor ''VideoGame/Battlefield1'' as that game was released in a functioning state and improved over time whereas ''Battlefield V'' lingered in mediocrity for its entire lifespan. It's widely accepted as a very missed opportunity as DICE & EA took what was a highly anticipated game that was going back to the series' World War II roots, and instead created a buggy, controversial mess.
18** ''VideoGame/Battlefield2042'' has run into this too, with its launch being even worse than previous ''Battlefield'' games, suffering from tonal issues of soldiers cracking jokes and wearing silly outfits despite the bleak dystopian setting, lack of weapon variety, and having many controversial changes to the formula like the Specialist system replacing classes.
19* The arcade version of ''VideoGame/BeatmaniaIIDX [[NumberedSequels 9th Style]]'' didn't go so well with fans. The judgment timing windows are inconsistent from song to song; one song may be ridiculously easy to score on, another may feel very tight, another may be off, etc. In addition, ''9th Style'' took out the Effector, a staple of the series, and a GameBreakingBug sometimes causes the game to crash upon selecting "Quasar". ''VideoGame/DanceDanceRevolution X'' and ''X2'', especially the console versions, suffered from similar problems.
20* ''VideoGame/{{Blood}}'' 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.]]
21* ''VideoGame/BloodyRoar'' peaked early with ''Bloody Roar II'', and every game since that one hit a drop in quality that ended with ''Bloody Roar 4''. By then, the series had devolved into a mindless ButtonMashing game and was hard to take seriously.
22* ''VideoGame/{{Bubsy}}'' was never the most well-received franchise, but it ''really'' dropped the ball on the 1996 ''VideoGame/Bubsy3D'', 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.
23* ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'' got into this with its business model of new games getting released yearly, resulting in ten-plus games so far. It hit especially hard after the dev-team shakeup surrounding series creator Infinity Ward in the midst of ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyModernWarfare3''[='=]s development, as the first game fully developed by the "new" team, ''[[VideoGame/CallOfDutyGhosts Ghosts]]'', sold less than many of the previous ''Call of Duty'' games before it (quite noteworthy considering the series had annually broken sales records for several years in a row before then). Actual attempts to innovate have been made since, but some years' iterations still fall to this, particularly ''[[VideoGame/CallOfDutyInfiniteWarfare Infinite Warfare]]'', which was seen as ''too'' out-there for taking the series into pure ScienceFiction territory, on top of being saddled with the terrible luck of being released alongside a remaster of [[VideoGame/CallOfDuty4ModernWarfare one of the series' most-beloved entries]].
24* ''VideoGame/CallOfJuarezTheCartel'', riding off the successful ''VideoGame/CallOfJuarezBoundInBlood'', shifted the series from the Old West into a more modern setting and brought with it unresponsive controls, graphical glitches galore, and uninspired level design that [[{{Railroading}} penalizes you for going off track]]. Thankfully, the series was able to quickly get back on its feet with ''[[VideoGame/CallOfJuarezGunslinger Gunslinger]].''
25* ''VideoGame/ChibiRobo'' was a decent little Gamecube-original platformer-adventure game hybrid, known for its large open world and charming concept of being able to explore a house as a tiny robot. It sold satisfactorily, got good reviews, and developed a small but devoted fanbase. However, the franchise seemed to have an odd aversion to just making a newer installment, with most of the results being small-budget spinoffs that failed to impress. It all culminated in ''Chibi-Robo: Zip Lash'', which ditched the franchise's entire aesthetic and most of its gimmicks in favor of a depressingly bog-standard and mediocre 2D sidescroller, with the baffling gimmick of requiring the player to ''[[LuckBasedMission roll a roulette wheel]]'' to determine whether or not they could advance to the next stage after beating a level. Paradoxically, despite the massive overhaul, the producers essentially said that if the game failed, the franchise would probably never see another entry. [[FranchiseKiller It did]], receiving poor reviews, alienating what little fanbase the franchise had left, and having copies marked down to clearance levels.
26* 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 official revival quickly being QuietlyCancelled, and fan efforts such as ''VideoGame/ClayFighterInfiniteClayfare'' being ScrewedByTheLawyers.
27* ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerTiberianTwilight'' was such a step down [[FranchiseKiller it killed the franchise]], which has barely had releases ever since. The biggest problem was its dramatic departure from the traditional ''C&C'' experience, having removed many of the series' trademark gameplay elements for no discernible reason. Its infamous ending, intended to be the conclusion of the overall series, ultimately failed to answer many of the central questions that drove the main story, and as such is widely considered a tone-deaf entry that undermined the once-popular RTS series.
28* ''Contract J.A.C.K.'' was a MissionPackSequel to ''VideoGame/NoOneLivesForever 2'', created solely as a side project so that the artists and level designers at Creator/{{Monolith|Productions}} would have something to do while the programming team worked on the next iteration of their in-house game engine that would power the later and much better ''VideoGame/CondemnedCriminalOrigins'' and ''VideoGame/FirstEncounterAssaultRecon''. The end result shows it, in its lack of concentrated effort [[ObviousBeta or polish]]; as just one example, there are several pickups for an ammo type used by a gun that is never acquired in the game except by cheating - which resulted in the series getting canned.
29* Sony's former two [=PS1=]-era platformer franchises, ''VideoGame/CrashBandicoot'' and ''Franchise/SpyroTheDragon'', share a similar fate of both being franchises that started out with a solid [[VideoGame/CrashBandicoot1996 first]] [[VideoGame/SpyroTheDragon1998 game]], [[VideoGame/CrashBandicoot2CortexStrikesBack followed]] [[VideoGame/CrashBandicoot3Warped by]] [[VideoGame/Spyro2RiptosRage two]] [[VideoGame/SpyroYearOfTheDragon sequels]] that were [[EvenBetterSequel better than the first]], and then afterwards succumbing to FranchiseZombie territory after being mishandled by the same parent company (Universal Interactive Studios/Vivendi Games). Crash's first outing without Creator/NaughtyDog, ''[[VideoGame/CrashBandicootTheWrathOfCortex The Wrath of Cortex]]'', was considered to be [[SoOkayItsAverage average]] at best, but it was more playable compared to ''VideoGame/SpyroEnterTheDragonfly'', Spyro's first outing without Creator/InsomniacGames. An ObviousBeta that suffered from uninspired level design, LoadsAndLoadsOfLoading (they even had loading screens ''[[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment for the loading-screens!]]''), terrible graphics, terrible voice acting (which shows how much they cared, almost the entire voice cast didn't reprise their roles), and being so glitchy in the [=PS2=] version that achieving HundredPercentCompletion was near impossible.
30* Xaviant's ''The Culling'' was released in 2017 with a fairly solid early foothold in the nascent BattleRoyaleGame genre, but ''The Culling 2'' -- announced and released the following year -- turned out to be an extremely costly mistake. Its predecessor -- while generally well-received -- [[FranchiseOriginalSin faced early criticisms]] for [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks changing core mechanics too often to be a stable experience]], and the sequel only doubled-down on changing the gunplay, melee combat, aesthetic ([[FollowTheLeader making it appear more like its competitor]], ''VideoGame/PlayerUnknownsBattlegrounds''), and overall feel for the worse, with many reviews slamming it for [[ObviousBeta feeling outright unfinished]]. The sequel died an early death with little to no players to support it, forcing Xaviant to pull the game entirely from digital storefronts, instead refocusing efforts on its predecessor as a free-to-play title, but the bad will combined with the increasingly oversaturated BR market caused it to fold as well in 2019.
31* The ''VideoGame/DarkParables'' series of hidden object games have fallen victim to this, with ten games in the series. It's generally considered that the first four games in the series are the best, with original storytelling and gameplay. Starting with the fifth game, ''The Final Cinderella'', the reviews weren't as positive as the games began to repeat game mechanics, dropped in art quality, and shifting story focus; however, the next game, ''Jack and the Sky Kingdom'', was well received. It also hasn't helped the following installments that Blue Tea Games eventually sold the game series to another developer, Eipix; the eighth game, ''The Little Mermaid and the Purple Tide,'' was a collaboration between the two in order to transition the series to Eipix, and this is considered one of the weakest games in the series. The fandom is divided over the quality of the series as it progresses.
32* The ''VideoGame/DarkTales'' series has been experiencing this since its sixth game, with player opinion of the quality varying widely. The eighth game, ''The Tell-Tale Heart'', has unquestionably the worst reviews of any game in the series, thanks largely to the ending which does nothing to resolve the mystery.
33* ''VideoGame/DawnOfWar'' and its expansions are generally agreed to have suffered from this.
34** The original ''Dawn of War'' was quite liked. The combination of hard counters and the ability to customize individual units with various upgrades was hailed as a brilliant move, and though the balance was far from perfect (due to every race but one mostly comprising heavy infantry and thus being especially vulnerable to the Eldar race's focus on hard counters), it was a decent game.
35** Then came ''Winter Assault'', which was originally anticipated for its addition of the Imperial Guard and several units for the existing sides. And then it hit, and the fanbase raged. Fresh out of the gate, Chaos players were severely miffed that their Chaos Marines had ''all'' their heavy weapons ripped out in an attempt to streamline the tech trees, the hard counter system was gone, and special fury was caused by the fact that Terminators and Obliterators had been nerfed hilariously. Unit obsolescence was also a large problem here.
36** Following ''Winter Assault'', ''Dark Crusade'' promised fixes on several problems with the original game and ''Winter Assault'', and it was a very bold attempt after the failure of ''Winter Assault'', including an addition of a hard cap system, the return of some CSM heavy weapons, and several problems with Space Marines were fixed. Unfortunately, the game remained riddled with problems, and it introduced one of the most hated "fixes" in the series. Apparently having decided that firing on the move was overpowered, Relic introduced a flat accuracy penalty for firing on the move... of ''15%''. No Dreadnought ever saw a weapon upgrade again, as the assault cannon was not only functionally useless (and all other units intended to fire on the move became useless as well), it hindered the Dread's melee ability, and the Eldar Fleet of Foot ability became tantamount to godmode. This was an ability on practically all Eldar infantry that boosted their movement speed beyond everything in the game, and with the accuracy reduction, there was no reason at all not to use it. A plethora of other glitches also existed. Then, after a 7-month wait for a patch, it came. And not only did it leave many things unchanged, it nerfed practically everything but Eldar, the race that was even before the patch decried by numerous fans as overpowered. In addition to all this, the two new races introduced were also blatantly broken on release.
37** And then ''Soulstorm'' came out and balanced a great many things, thanks to Iron Lore. Unfortunately, it was not to be: THQ and Relic forced the addition of flying units, something the engine was never designed to accommodate, in the process cutting the addition of many greatly demanded units like Ork Wyrdboyz, the Leman Russ Demolisher, and the Wraithguard, for example. The game's voice acting and script were also greatly criticized. And then it happened. 19 hours after launch, a game-breaking glitch for the Sisters of Battle was found that effectively killed all multiplayer until after a ''9-month wait'' for a fix, and by that point, the game was well and truly dead. The game also suffered from multiple other glitches and bugs, and the Eldar remained blatantly overpowered.
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39** ''VideoGame/DawnOfWarIII'' is considered a serious step-down from its celebrated predecessor, downgrading to only three playable factions in the base game instead of the traditional four, and adopting a cartoonish, exaggerated art and gameplay style that drew plenty of {{Narm}} and [[FollowTheLeader unfavorable comparisons]] to ''VideoGame/StarCraft''. Few of the returning characters from previous games had their original voice actors, and the campaign's bare-bones plot and GenericDoomsdayVillain left a sour taste in a lot of mouths. The backlash and lack of sales that were generated by these factors caused Relic to announce ten months later that support was ending for ''DOW III'', and all planned content for the game was cancelled.
40* ''VideoGame/DeadOrAlive Xtreme Beach Volleyball'', a girls-only spinoff of the main ''DOA'' fighting games, offered a decent volleyball game to go with its heaping helping of {{fanservice}}. While ''Dead or Alive Xtreme 2'' boasted better character models and a few more minigames, much of its content was recycled from the first ''DOAX'', the volleyball was made worse through a fixed and unhelpful camera, and the new content wasn't compelling enough to justify its initial cost. The third game ''Dead or Alive Xtreme 3 Fortune/Venus'' (depending on its console) fared even worse as it took the meager plot out entirely, and simplified the gameplay further - for instance, the rather well-liked jet skiing was taken out, and one of its replacements was a simple button-input rock climbing minigame that defined low-effort.
41* The ''VideoGame/DestroyAllHumans'' franchise. It started off with a well-liked game set in the 1950s, followed this up with a decent game set in the 1960s, and then two games set in the 1970s, ''Big Willy Unleashed!'' and ''Path of the Furon'', that received such bad reviews (this was mostly due to them not only being rushed to release but suffering from many signs of ObviousBeta and {{Flanderization}} of the main characters) they [[FranchiseKiller shot the franchise down with a seeker missile]].
42* ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'':
43** ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry2'' is generally considered to be far inferior to [[VideoGame/DevilMayCry1 the first game]] with its lousy story, bland combat, and greatly lowered difficulty level.
44** ''VideoGame/DMCDevilMayCry'' is despised by fans due to its "Westernized" approach, overly simplified combat system, and Dante's new immature and unfunny characterization. The negative reaction to ''[=DmC=]'' led Capcom to shelve the reboot continuity altogether and eventually release [[VideoGame/DevilMayCry5 a new game]] [[UnReboot set in the original continuity]], to considerable acclaim.
45* ''VideoGame/DieHardVendetta'' actually has an InUniverse example with the "Galaxy Thief" trilogy, a movie series which Jack Frontier, TheDragon - a disgraced Hollywood actor-turned-terrorist - used to star in. The first ''Galaxy Thief'' was a success making Jack a star and leads to a sequel being greenlit, only for ''Galaxy Thief II'' to receive mediocre reviews despite making plenty of money; the studios' decision to replace Jack in ''Galaxy Thief III'' leads to Jack's StartOfDarkness and eventually [[spoiler:eventually attempting to commit a terrorist attack on Holmes Observatory at the premier of ''Galaxy Thief III'']].
46* ''VideoGame/DoubleDragon'':
47** The original game was a fairly innovative beat 'em up that introduced some of the conventions used in later games of the genre like two-player co-op and obtainable weapons, while the arcade version of ''Double Dragon II'' was mostly a MissionPackSequel with a fairly improved NES version. ''Double Dragon III'' on the other hand, featured crappier "realistic" graphics, replaced half of the original game's moves and weapons with ineffectual new ones, and added a gimmicky shopping system where you can purchase power-ups for your character (including a replacement character) [[BribingYourWayToVictory by inserting more tokens to the machine]]. There were a few more ''Double Dragon'' games after the third one, but the series never achieved the same level of popularity it once had with the first two games.
48** On home consoles, the NES edition of ''Double Dragon III'' is still seen as a very good game despite its [[NintendoHard absurdly high difficulty]]. The series didn't really go downhill until ''Super Double Dragon'', which was rushed out to store shelves as an ObviousBeta. Then came the dismal ''Double Dragon V'' which, despite being a numbered sequel, wasn't even by the original developers, threw out the beat 'em up formula and swapped it for lackluster one-on-one fighting.
49* ''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 outdated]] views on race and sex.
50* While the ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriors'' series has long been accused of CapcomSequelStagnation, even longtime defenders found it hard to say much good about 2018's ''Dynasty Warriors 9''. One of the biggest points of contention was the new open-world map design, which failed to add anything meaningful to gameplay but made it trivial to bypass enemy soldiers to take down the commanders. Combat was also stripped down and homogenized, with the combo system being completely altered to give every character a set of attacks that only differ aesthetically. Weapon diversity was similarly butchered, ostensibly in the name of realism; more cynical individuals posit that the actual reason was to sell DLC weapon packs later on.
51* ''VideoGame/EarnestEvans'' isn't so well regarded as ''VideoGame/ElViento'', in part due to poor gameplay and design and most infamously, poorly done graphics, especially on the titular hero, who is made up of multiple sprites put together to create the illusion of more fluid movement, but only succeeded in making Earnest look like a deranged marionette. The cutscenes in ''Earnest Evans'' are commonly poorly done, though they were removed completely from the American version, which tried to make it a sequel rather than a prequel to ''El Viento''. The Earnest Evans trilogy ended with the Japan-only title ''Annet Futatabi'', a ''VideoGame/GoldenAxe'' ripoff whose most outstanding points were cutscenes and copious FakeDifficulty.
52* ''VideoGame/EarthwormJim'' was a weird and well-received game. The second game was even better in nearly every aspect. Then the series changed developers, and anything resembling quality went out the window. Then Shiny Entertainment themselves [[CreatorKiller threw their own quality off their windows]] some time after dumping Jim.
53* ''VideoGame/EpicMickey'' was an [[SoOkayItsAverage average game]] at worst, suffering mostly from CameraScrew, janky controls, and [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot not living up to the (admittedly impressive) hype]]. ''Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two'' took all the problems the original had and left them unchanged (if anything, they got worse), and added co-op play with a broken AI, grating voices and song sections, and boring puzzles. The resulting game collapsed with a quarter of the original's sales and [[CreatorKiller took its developer with it.]]
54* The first two episodes of ''VideoGame/EyeOfTheBeholder'', while not revolutionary, were excellent dungeon crawlers and the second is recognized as an EvenBetterSequel. Then Westwood went on to work on ''VideoGame/LandsOfLore'', but SSI decided to make another sequel anyway. The result was a game that brought back many of the flaws of the original and amplified them, with absurd mazes and frustrating difficulty, and suffered from poor programming too.
55* ''VideoGame/Fallout76'': In what seems to be a trend for ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' spinoffs, the game is generally considered by gamers and critics to be the worst game in the series since Bethesda bought the franchise. Dated visuals, buggy gameplay, an outdated engine, the absence of a story and human [=NPCs=], and insipid and asinine gameplay all add up to a game that has been savaged by review outlets and fans alike. The result is a game that seemingly pleases no one. It's worth noting that many fans and critics agree that the idea of a multiplayer ''Fallout'' game is a great one, but its implementation leaves a lot to be desired.
56* While there's a lot of flame wars out there about whether and which ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' this applies to, there are two prominent examples largely agreed upon, however:
57** The first release of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' was universally considered to be subpar upon release. The reception for the game was so bad that many of the staff working on it were laid off, and Square Enix had to make the game free to play in order to keep fans around. Because of this, the game underwent [[AuthorsSavingThrow a complete overhaul]] in order to fix the many problems that were addressed by reviewers. It paid off, and ''Final Fantasy XIV'' became known as one of the best [=MMOs=] on the market.
58** While not a direct sequel, ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyAllTheBravest'' was poorly received by critics and fans alike due to its shallow gameplay and lack of story, consisting of little more than watching sprites fight sprites while being hounded by {{Freemium Timer}}s and predatory {{microtransaction}}s. The game scored an infamous 25/100 on Metacritic, the lowest of the franchise.
59* The first two ''VideoGame/FlatOut'' games were well-known for their destructible environments and ragdoll driver physics -- the most amusing parts being the mini-games that involved the player launching their driver out of his car into various targets and watching him flop around in pain. Five years separated the second and third games, and development was taken up by Team 6 Games (of ''European Street Racer'' infamy) while Bugbear Interactive worked on ''VideoGame/RidgeRacer: Unbounded''. Unfortunately, Team 6's ''[=FlatOut=]'' game looks ugly, is riddled with bugs, and none of the tracks are fun to navigate. That said, a fourth game has since come out and while it's not as good as the original two, it's at least an improvement over the third one.
60* When Activision took over the ''VideoGame/GuitarHero'' franchise from Red Octane, they released a ton of sequels in a very short time. While the quality of the sequels varies, the constant [[CapcomSequelStagnation stagnation between those games]] choked the life out of the genre for several years.
61* ''VideoGame/HarryPotter'': The first two games are seen as fun and enjoyable games that while not great, avert a lot of the issues that plague movie licensed games of the era. The third is also well-liked but not to quite to the extent of the first two. However, starting with the fourth, most people feel that Creator/ElectronicArts got lazy with the license and just started cranking out subpar releases that are more in line with the quality that you'd expect for licensed movie games. The 7th and 8th games, in particular, are more or less considered unplayable.
62* Surprisingly, the ''VideoGame/HatsuneMikuProjectDIVA'' series has managed to largely avert this despite the existence of ten main series games, two spinoff series with four games between them, two arcade installments, and two mobile game installments. The only real stumble the series has experienced was with the 10th main series title, ''Project DIVA X'', which is considered a significant downgrade to the highly-acclaimed ''F'' subseries due to recycling a lot of questionable design choices from the very first game that ''[[EvenBetterSequel 2nd]]'' fixed, such as a RandomlyDrops [[ScrappyMechanic acquisition system]], none of the short story videos that made the series iconic, and an incredibly small tracklist. In addition, it suffers from SequelDifficultyDrop and a "story" that was very hyped up in trailers but ultimately boils down to an ExcusePlot. Fortunately, ''Project Diva Future Tone'' came shortly afterwards, which is considered the best in the series due to its massive song list and difficulty.
63* ''VideoGame/TheHex'' has this as an InUniverse plot point. The game ''Super Weasel Kid'' was a platforming classic, regarded fondly by players and made by a young prodigy. The TotallyRadical sequel ''Super Weasel Kid: Radical Road'' recieved harsher criticism by people believing it not to be as good as the original. The final nail in the coffin was the third installment, ''Super Weasel Kid '09: Super Redux'', an ObviousBeta with missing textures and buggy enemies. This game wasn't made by the developer Lionel, but rather a game company he sold ''SWK'''s rights to. Fans disparaged it.
64-->'''Review:''' Worst Super Weasel Kid game ever. WTF [=GameFuna=]. WTF Lionel. [[SymbolSwearing ***.]]
65* ''VideoGame/{{Homeworld}}'' averted this, barely, with 'standalone expansion' ''Cataclysm'', despite it being a literal MissionPackSequel. It caught some flak for the dramatic shift in narrative tone and the new tech and ship designs were a bit hit-or-miss, but it did some pretty cool stuff with the existing graphics engine and generally came across like the development team at sub-contractee Barking Dog had at least ''played'' the original. ''Homeworld 2'' was a bit less fortunate, however; a lot of the original creative team had moved on in the interim, and Relic massively over-extended themselves trying to create game environments with 'megastructures' straight out of the best kind of SpaceOpera and generally go SerialEscalation, and much of the more awesome stuff failed to make the final cut. The end result was by no means ''bad'' -the graphics stand up quite well six years later and it's a ''lot'' more [[GameMod mod-friendly]] than the previous two- but the finished product had several minor but annoying bugs and balance issues and generally felt rushed. The gulf between Relic's original vision and the final release version didn't help.
66* For being such a guilty pleasure, ''VideoGame/HuniePop'' still had a rock-solid puzzle gameplay and a nice {{animesque}} visual style. When the pseudo-sequel ''VideoGame/HunieCamStudio'' came out, many disliked how it ditched all of its most popular features. The puzzle/DatingSim hybrid was substituted by a shallow and repetitive Tycoon-style management game, the animesque style replaced by a more cartoony "Western" style that clashed with the game's erotic themes and, while the offensive humor abounded and in some cases was turned [[ExaggeratedTrope Up to Eleven]], the actual explicit content was reduced to a minimum. The girls received little to no characterization outside of the fetishes they embody, unlike the previous game. And, all in all, ''HCS'' is really not that different from the browser and Facebook games it's meant to parody. Thankfully, [[VideoGame/HuniePop2 the actual sequel]] was much closer to the predecessor.
67* ''VideoGame/InitialDArcadeStage'' started to suffer from this after ''Ver. 3'', not necessarily because of game quality, but because the game changes way too much with each new game in a series where the player can transfer their personal data from one installment to the next, and as a result playing a new version is like relearning how to walk in an adult body.
68* While many that consider themselves a part of ''Franchise/TheKingOfFighters'' fandom will hotly debate which game is the best of them all, it is agreed upon that the following two are not up to snuff with the rest:
69** ''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 around 20 years, [[BuryYourArt erased virtually all traces of him and acted as though he never existed]].[[/labelnote]]
70** ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFightersXII'' had big shoes to fill, being the third DreamMatchGame of the series and [[ChristmasRushed having to be rushed to be released for the 15th anniversary of the franchise]], 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.
71* 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.
72* Nearly any ''VideoGame/{{Lemmings}}'' game after ''Lemmings 2: The Tribes'', as [[ToughActToFollow that set a bar so high]] that they felt more akin to boiled down versions of the latter rather than trying to innovate further.
73* ''VideoGame/LEGOIsland 2: The Brickster's Revenge'' is somewhere between this and ContestedSequel. It was beyond rushed to the shelves, and the final product a very extreme case of LoadsAndLoadsOfLoading, dull and lifeless voice acting, painfully linear gameplay, no replay factor, [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome a removal of a lot of characters]], [[GuideDangIt little explanation to anything]], and mediocre animation.
74* The ''Videogame/LegoAdaptationGame'' suffered from this on occasion, be it for installments like ''Videogame/LegoStarWars III: The Clone Wars'' or ''[[VideoGame/LegoTheLordOfTheRings LEGO The Hobbit]]'', that continued on already used franchise without enough novelty to make it worthy, or others like ''Videogame/LegoPiratesOfTheCaribbean'', which were using the exact same gameplay and simply applying it to different licensed themes, consisting of levels loosely based on scenes from the original work (with cutscenes that are just cheesy re-enactments with no dialogue) and some hanging out in a notable location from the respective franchise in between. Tellingly, the ones based on [[VideoGame/LegoBatman DC]] and [[VideoGame/LegoMarvelSuperHeroes Marvel]] fared better because while the characters were existing ones, the stories were wholly original.
75* ''VideoGame/MaddenNFL'' and similar sport game series are notorious for being continued every year, usually with next to no changes in gameplay or even graphics. The main difference is updated statistics and players. EA bought an exclusive license from NFL and, while they don't own the rights to football and football games, EA has the exclusive rights to a huge number of real teams, players, and stadiums, giving them a monopoly on mainstream football games.
76* ''VideoGame/{{Manhunt}}'' was a well-received game for its creepy tension, innovative use of sound, complex enemy AI, and [[{{Gorn}} wide variety of kill moves]]. ''Manhunt 2'' was a step back from that, with less intelligent enemies, less menace and tension, and a [[MindScrew confusing story]]. At least the gorn is still good -- or at least it was until Rockstar was forced to censor it to avoid an AO rating since none of the major console manufacturers allow AO-rated games on their systems.
77* ''VideoGame/MarioAndSonicAtTheOlympicGames'': Reception for the games that followed on the Wii releases has been increasingly negative. ''Sochi 2014'' was criticized for recycling the majority of ''Vancouver 2010'''s events and having a less engaging single-player, while ''Rio 2016'' was bashed for having the least amount of minigames out of all entries up to that point. Though ''Tokyo 2020'' fared a little better critically, it's still considered lackluster due to the bare-bones Story Mode and the lack of Dream Events.
78* The ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom'' series is widely agreed to have peaked at ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom2'', with ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom3'' and its ''[[UpdatedRerelease Ultimate]]'' edition, while praised for [[ShownTheirWork its fidelity to the comics]] and having a wide range of franchises represented as opposed to ''Franchise/StreetFighter'' and ''Franchise/XMen'' [[SpotlightStealingCrossover composing most of the roster]] as in ''2'', 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.
79* Opinion differs on whether ''VideoGame/MasterOfOrion'' or ''Master of Orion II'' is the better game, but almost no one thinks ''Master of Orion III'' is anything but unmitigated crap.
80* ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'''s ''Mata Nui Online Game'' is a rough around the edges, hastily made and not too challenging, but charming PointAndClickGame that many fans consider the franchise's best piece of media for its memorable characters, commendable writing, great world establishment, and fantastic atmosphere. ''Mata Nui Online Game II'' is a step up in technical terms, it looks more polished and the gameplay is a lot more involved, but has none of the original's story element and likable characters. Grinding is a massive chore, the bartering system is tedious, world-building is replaced with walls of {{exposition}} that read like religious mantra, and the ending is unfulfilling: you don't get to play the championship you trained hours for, because Franchise/{{Lego}} forced the developers to tie the game into their then-upcoming animated film. It is also unplayable without fan patches thanks to Lego losing some gamefiles. The ''Voya Nui Online Game'', a RolePlayingGame unrelated to the previous two in all but name and a few characters, is either an improvement for being more fun or even worse for being more tedious in its later parts and not being canon to the franchise's story.
81* ''VideoGame/MegaManX7'' is generally considered the worst mainline installment in not just the ''VideoGame/MegaManX'' series but the entire ''Franchise/MegaMan'' franchise due to its terrible gameplay in the 3D stages, awful English voice acting, and Axl being a whiny ReplacementScrappy to X who hogs the limelight. [[VideoGame/MegaManX8 The next game]] [[SurprisinglyImprovedSequel thankfully improved matters]] by removing most of the 3D stages (aside of two vehicle levels, ''X8'' was almost entirely TwoAndAHalfD) and making Axl more tolerable in terms of both [[DivergentCharacterEvolution gameplay]] and [[CharacterDevelopment personality]], but ''X7'' did significant damage to the series' sales and reputation -- there have been no new ''X'' games since 2006's ''[[VideoGame/MegaManMaverickHunterX Maverick Hunter X]]'' (save for ''[[VideoGame/MegaManXDiVE DiVE]]'', a CrisisCrossover of questionable canonicity, in 2020).
82* The UsefulNotes/{{NASCAR}} games from the same publisher (EA Sports) and developer (EA Tiburon) as ''Madden'' suffered a particularly bad case of this, with sales dropping off with each increasingly sub-mediocre entry. The series was eventually killed outright after having a particularly awful faceplant onto seventh generation consoles.
83* The first three games in Sony's ''NFL [=GameDay=]'' series (especially ''[=GameDay=] '98'') were highly innovative in both their realism and gameplay; one reviewer predicted that ''[=GameDay=]'' would displace EA's well-established ''Madden NFL'' franchise. In fact, the opposite occurred; ''Madden'' grew more sophisticated over time, while subsequent ''[=GameDay=]'' installments were criticized for having mediocre graphics and uninspired gameplay. Gamers evidently agreed as sales declined until Sony cancelled the series in 2005.
84* Some fans of the ''VideoGame/NeedForSpeed'' series argue the series got really bad after the third or so installment, especially when it started drifting into ''GTA'' territory.
85* ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights2'' is seen as an unspectacular WRPG. ''Mask of the Betrayer'', its expansion, is seen as one of the best-written games out there and usually gets compared favorably to ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment'' (it was made by many of the same people). The second expansion, ''Storm of Zehir'', ditched the story-driven aspects (possibly because of ''Mask'' being a ToughActToFollow) in favor of an open-world retro dungeon-crawler in the style of ''VideoGame/IcewindDale''. Though it's not considered ''bad'' by the standards of retro dungeon-crawlers, including one of the best applications of the skill system, it's nowhere near as well-regarded as its predecessors.
86* ''VideoGame/NiGHTSJourneyOfDreams'' is widely considered inferior to the [[VideoGame/NightsIntoDreams original]], partially due to being spearheaded by Takashi Iisuka, instead of Yuji Naka & Naoto Oshima, creators of the original title and partially due to averting the minimalist aspects of the first game along with gameplay changes.
87* ''VideoGame/NinjaGaiden III'' was a major departure from what made the first two Xbox/[=PS3=] entries memorable, stripping Ryu of most of his arsenal[[note]]only his sword, his bow and arrows, and one of his ninjutsu were carried over; the rest are available in the game's multiplayer mode via DLC packs[[/note]] and nerfing the previous games' [[NintendoHard punishing difficulty]] to the point that battles are no longer challenging ''or'' fun.
88* After the release of ''VideoGame/{{Painkiller}}'' and its expansion pack, developer People Can Fly moved on to greener pastures and the publisher hired a revolving door of developers to produce a slew of sequels, which were generally buggy and suffered from amateurish graphics and game design (one of them, ''Overdose'', started as a GameMod before [[AscendedFanfic being upgraded to a full-blown retail game]]). The last game in the series, ''Hell & Damnation'' fared slightly better due to being a remake of the first installment with some of the original developers on board, but even then it faced harsh criticism for its decision to withhold levels that were in the base game and make them paid DLC.
89* ''VideoGame/PerfectDark'' is considered one of the best Nintendo 64 games. Prequelitis ensued with ''Perfect Dark Zero'', you can essentially call it an InNameOnly prequel. The continuity of the first game is only glanced upon, Joanna is a spunky, [[{{Stripperiffic}} oddly-clad]] girl with red hair and a penchant for [[BondOneLiner one liners]]. The Carrington Institute makes an appearance... with Carrington himself having become 200% more Scottish, complete with a kilt, and Jonathan sounding and acting like he's 15. The aliens are non-existent and only hinted in one cutscene, the main antagonist being a company connected to [=dataDyne=] being run by a small stereotypical Chinese man. The gameplay? The game was developed by a different team (because the original developers left Rare), which speaks for itself; it plays more like ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar'' or ''VideoGame/GhostReconAdvancedWarfighter'' than a follow-up to the original ''Perfect Dark''.
90* ''[[VideoGame/PanelDePon Planet Puzzle League]]'' is generally disliked by longtime fans of the series for having slower, floatier mechanics than previous games, cutting out popular features from previous games such as 3D mode and four-player multiplayer while adding very little in return, and most notoriously almost completely removing the mascot characters, excising the story in the process, in favor of a bland, generic "techno" motif. The only trace of the franchise's roots is Lip's stage as an unlockable - and the Western releases didn't even get ''that'' much!
91* In spite of being the most story-driven of the ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyo'' series, ''[[VideoGame/PuyoPuyon Yon]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/PuyoPuyo7 7]]'' are often seen as this due to their usage of {{Scrappy Mechanic}}s.
92** For ''Yon'', the pacing was noticeably slowed down from ''Tsu'''s pacing, from the base gravity speed to the time it takes for Puyo to split when placed on uneven piles. It also attempted to introduce special abilities for each character, but it falls flat due to the lack of competitive balance and potential for dragging out matches. The issues are absent in the Pocket version, but the console's flaws are often brought to the forefront.
93** ''7'' attempted to bring a twist to the "Fever" mode introduced in the ''Fever'' games by introducing "Transformation", which would eventually be split and called "Giant Puyo Rush" and "Tiny Puyo Rush" in later installments. On paper, it does bring a fresh take on an already-established mode, but in practice, the balance is absolutely ''busted''. Giant mode in particular attempts to balance itself by having short chains caused by a smaller field and being lower on the chaining power curve, but with how easy it is to perform an All Clear, it's possible to cap out the timer, allowing the player to chain at leisure while sending copious amounts of garbage in bursts. Oh, and its chain is cumulative until it goes without popping Puyo for long enough, unlike Tiny mode which resets chain setups like standard Fever mode.
94* ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'':
95** The series was heading this way starting with [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil3Nemesis the third game]] which re-hashed [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil2 the second game]] only giving more emphasis on the Raccoon City outbreak. ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilCodeVeronica'' (the technical fourth game) hardly added anything new to the formula save some improved camera angles. The remake of the first game picked up some interest but that fell with ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilZero'' which coasted by on a gimmick that let you switch between the two characters. After a few side games (''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvilGunSurvivor Survivor]]'', ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvilGaiden Gaiden]]'', ''Dead Aim'', the ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvilOutbreak Outbreak]]'' games), the series did an overhaul with ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'' which was praised as one of the better games. Then [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil5 part five]] came and it was considered more of the same only with co-op added. The less said about ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilOperationRaccoonCity'' the better, though this was mitigated to a degree by ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilRevelations'', which was seen as a decent attempt to bring the series more in line with its SurvivalHorror roots.
96** ''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]]'', ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvil3Remake RE3]]'', and ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvil4Remake RE4]]'', ''[[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.
97* The general fate of the ''VideoGame/RollerCoasterTycoon'' series. ''[=RollerCoaster=] Tycoon 2'' is generally still well-regarded, but gets some accusations of being an unambitious MissionPackSequel with less creative scenarios. ''3'' switched developers to Frontier Developments, and while it was eventually VindicatedByHistory, it was a somewhat buggy ContestedSequel at launch and spawned many arguments. ''[=RollerCoaster=] Tycoon 3D'', released [[SequelGap eight years later]] as a 3DS exclusive, did ''not'' split fans, being viewed as excessively limited even taking the handheld's limitations into account and bogged down by constant tutorials. ''4'' is viewed as a straight-up bad game for being [[AllegedlyFreeGame "free"]], and as such being the perfect embodiment of all the things people hate about the freemium business model. Atari tried to WinBackTheCrowd with ''World'', but it flopped with unimpressive reviews due to being even buggier than ''3''. ''[=RollerCoaster Tycoon Touch=]'' was better received than ''4'' (not like that was hard), though still not viewed as much better than SoOkayItsAverage; it was followed up by the low-effort Switch/PC port ''[=RollerCoaster=] Tycoon Adventures'', which had an investment strategy handled so poorly and so bizarrely that some suspect it may have been part of a tax write-off scheme. Even these games' defenders have nothing nice to say about ''[=RollerCoaster=] Tycoon Story'', an InNameOnly mobile MatchThreeGame that was universally panned as a cheap cash grab and had fans clamoring for Atari to either sell the IP or put it out of its misery already.
98* The ''VideoGame/ShiningSeries'' really was ''the'' fantasy series in the Platform/SegaGenesis era topping off with an amazing if little-known [[VideoGame/ShiningForceIII three-part finale]] on the Platform/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 Platform/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.
99* ''Franchise/SilentHill'':
100** ''VideoGame/SilentHill1'' was good. ''VideoGame/SilentHill2'' and ''VideoGame/SilentHill3'' were better. ''VideoGame/SilentHill4'' was debatable. ''VideoGame/SilentHillOrigins'' and ''VideoGame/SilentHillHomecoming''... were really debatable. Some people think ''[[VideoGame/SilentHillDownpour Downpour]]'' helped the series get back on track, but it's still a major ContestedSequel.
101** ''VideoGame/SilentHills'' and the related demo, ''P.T.'', received mostly positive responses. Unfortunately, the game was cancelled and its demo removed from the PSN store, leaving the world to imagine WhatCouldHaveBeen.
102* ''VideoGame/SimCity'' already faultered with ''[=SimCity=] Societies'', which tried to put a new focus on social development but the community found it disappointingly easy and shallow, while its 3D engine was prone to grinding even hulking great [=PCs=] to a halt at higher zoom levels. And then ''Videogame/SimCity2013'' was an outright disaster, specially as upon launch the very controversial decision to make the game always online led to [[DemandOverload the servers becoming so overloaded]] that getting into the game was nearly impossible, and thus the game was effectively unplayable for anyone who bought it on day one. And that's not counting unpopular changes to the core mechanics (an expansive, sandbox single player game became an always on multiplayer game with heavy restrictions on the size of a city) and some ambitious ideas that wound up not working in the game itself (the inhabitants of the city having their own lives, the agent system that was supposed to handle resource distribution). Even if EA did their best to fix the bad first impression, including creating an offline single player, the fanbase eventually migrated to ''VideoGame/CitiesSkylines'', and along with ''Videogame/TheSims4'' coming out severely lacking content, [[CreatorKiller it spelled a death knell to Maxis]], [[FranchiseKiller as well as for the series]] aside from the mobile version ''[=SimCity BuildIt=]''.
103* ''VideoGame/SNKVsCapcom: Card Fighters DS'', despite its much wider variety of playable cards compared to its two Platform/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.
104* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'':
105** [[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 Platform/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).
106** The franchise eventually made its 3D leap (with questionable results) through the ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'' series on the Sega Dreamcast. While they are regarded as good games (particularly the sequel) they are widely considered to be a step down from the classics, due to various bugs and glitches, a poor camera, and the contentious alternate playstyles. From there, the series continued its first decline, with ''VideoGame/SonicHeroes'' being considered to be average, the ''VideoGame/ShadowTheHedgehog'' spinoff being mostly panned, and the series hitting its low point with ''[[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006 Sonic 2006]]'', a rushed, glitch-ridden mess that is near-universally despised by gamers and critics alike. The trend initially started to reverse with ''VideoGame/SonicUnleashed'', with the subsequent console versions of ''VideoGame/SonicColors'' and ''VideoGame/SonicGenerations'' being lauded by fans as the best 3D titles in the franchise; only for ''another'' decline to occur with ''VideoGame/SonicLostWorld'' seriously dividing reviewers and fans alike, the ''VideoGame/SonicBoom'' spinoff games being outright duds, and ''VideoGame/SonicForces'' considered an unremarkable disappointment. (With that said, the {{retraux}} side-game ''VideoGame/SonicMania'', developed by a different team, received widespread praise as the best ''Sonic'' game in years, indicating that there may still be some hope for the Blue Blur as of yet.)
107** ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog4'' compared to its direct predecessors (the aforementioned Genesis titles), upon which its two episodes are considered anything but worthy follow-ups. The main points of contention are the gameplay and controls being [[TheyChangedItSoItSucks virtually nothing like the original games]], while the game at the same time [[ItsTheSameNowItSucks heavily recycled content from its predecessors]] as opposed to bringing new material to the table.
108* 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 Platform/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]].
109* The ''VideoGame/SpiderManTheMovie'' games demonstrated much the same path as the movies: the first one is good, the second is ''awesome'', then things go a bit downhill. Fortunately, ''[[VideoGame/SpiderManWebOfShadows Web of Shadows]]'' was there to fix matters after the rather polarizing ''[[VideoGame/SpiderManFriendOrFoe Friend or Foe]]''.
110* Being a remake of a game that was a meta-commentary about video game narratives, a lot of the new content in ''[[VideoGame/TheStanleyParable The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe]]'' naturally centers around Sequelitis and sequels in general.
111* ''VideoGame/StarControl'' was a fun turn-based strategy game. ''Star Control 2'' was an epic action-adventure EvenBetterSequel. ''Star Control 3'', made by none of the people involved with the first two, is a game most fans [[FanonDisContinuity try to forget about]].
112* The general consensus of ''VideoGame/SteelBattalion: Heavy Armor'' is that while the original game's controller was bulky and gimmicky, at least it ''worked''. ''Heavy Armor's'' hybrid Kinect/traditional controller setup was meant to mimic this feeling without the use of as many buttons, but the implementation is sloppy and the game is barely playable as a result.
113* ''VideoGame/StreetFighterXTekken'', despite a lot of early excitement among the fighting game community, never caught on as well as Capcom's previous IntercontinuityCrossover games did (with the exception of ''Capcom Fighting Evolution'', which is perceived to be just as bad), mainly due to its slower pacing and gimmicky "Gem" system that granted temporary status buffs. The decision to lock most of ''[=SFxT=]'''s content behind a paywall (most infamously including a dozen fighters that were coded into the game discs at launch, but not officially added to the roster until months after the game's release) drew even heavier criticism, along with derisive jokes about future Capcom games shipping with disc-locked DLC.
114* ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'':
115** 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 and level tropes, along other additions). 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]]
116** The ''VideoGame/MarioParty'' series is filled to the brim with this trope. Every sequel has had a few new gimmicks and mini-games to stand out from the game before it, but eventually, the games started to rehash older mini-games/boards/gimmicks with a slight tweak to them. Fan-favorite Donkey Kong was quickly demoted to an NPC starting with the [[VideoGame/MarioParty5 fifth game]] and wouldn't return until the [[VideoGame/MarioParty10 tenth game]], with each entry having a wildly varying roster of characters. Since the party games kept being released on a near yearly basis, fans started to notice just how stale the series was getting, which may explain why ''VideoGame/MarioParty9'' came out nearly five years after ''[[VideoGame/MarioParty8 8]]'' and revamped the basics of the game. It was poorly received by the fanbase, viewed as neither interesting ''nor'' unique. That being said, even detractors preferred the Mario Party mode it introduced over ''[[VideoGame/MarioParty10 10]]'''s Bowser Mode being weighed ''heavily'' in Bowser's favor, to the point where it's almost impossible for the other players to win. The handheld titles, on the other hand, were largely exempt from the scorn the home console installments received, with ''VideoGame/MarioPartyDS'' generally being seen as legitimately good. However, it wouldn't be until ''VideoGame/SuperMarioParty'' was released on the Nintendo Switch that a ''Mario Party'' installment would be generally warmly received by the fanbase, and ''Mario Party Superstars'' was seen by and large as a true return to form.
117** The ''VideoGame/PaperMario'' games have this. [[VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor The second]] is usually considered superior to the original and is seen as the high point of the series. ''VideoGame/SuperPaperMario'' is generally agreed to be a step down in gameplay, but it's said to have the best story out of all the games. ''VideoGame/PaperMarioStickerStar'', however, is considered to be a complete step down in both [[ExcusePlot story]] and gameplay by revamping combat and making battles redundant. ''VideoGame/PaperMarioColorSplash'' and ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheOrigamiKing'' are [[BrokenBase polarizing]], but the general consensus is that they're at least much better than ''Sticker Star'', particularly the latter.
118** 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 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.
119** The ''VideoGame/MarioTennis'' subseries hit this trope with its Wii U installment, ''Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash'', getting significantly worse reviews than its predecessors for its abysmal lack of content. Many of its players have noted that, in some respects, it feels more like an open beta for the significantly more abundant in content and much better-received ''Mario Tennis Aces''.
120** Regarding the ''[[VideoGame/MariovsDonkeyKong Mario vs. Donkey Kong]]'' subseries, after the third game in the series, ''Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again!'' was released, a fourth game sequel was released in just a little over a year, ''Mini-Land Mayhem!'', afterwards three more sequels were released between the 3DS and Wii U in less than three years: ''Minis on the Move'', ''Tipping Stars'', and ''amiibo Challenge''. The majority of the time, these games are forgotten or ignored in terms of the subseries as a whole, and those that do have an opinion on this set of games usually consider those reactions to be [[SoOkayItsAverage pretty reasonable]] for ''Minis on the Move'' (which tried to be innovative) and the final game ''amiibo Challenge'' (which added many playable characters with different gimmicks), [[MissionPackSequel the others]] [[ItsTheSameNowItSucks not so much]] (which were mostly the same with only minor changes to the gameplay or slapping a new mini character, even reusing the Video Game Settings and plenty of musical tracks/leitmotifs outright).
121* ''VideoGame/SwordOfTheStars II'' got a lot of flak from the original's fans for dramatic shifts in the mechanics and unneeded extra complexity for no obvious good reason.
122* ''VideoGame/ThunderForce VI''. Released over 10 years after ''Thunder Force V'', it came to be a massive disappointment amongst fans. Very short game length (even by shmup standards), the lack of the "direct" control scheme from ''V'', bosses that are made [[BreatherBoss pathetically easy]] thanks to a certain ship's LimitBreak, excessive {{Internal Homage}}s, and stages that pale in comparison to the rest of the series; the last stage, for instance, looks like a cheap version of ''Thunder Force V'''s Stage 4.
123* ''VideoGame/TombRaiderII'' was generally considered almost equal or an EvenBetterSequel on release. By ''[[VideoGame/TombRaiderChronicles Chronicles]]'', the ''Franchise/TombRaider'' series had firmly fallen into this and ''[[VideoGame/TombRaiderTheAngelOfDarkness The Angel of Darkness]]'' was the last straw before the series began recovering by being moved from Core Design to Crystal Dynamics. The reason the franchise fell into the trope was due to the huge success of the first ''VideoGame/TombRaiderI''. Because the game sold so well, Eidos demanded that a new ''Tomb Raider'' should be made every year. This caused a big burnout with the developers and they killed off Lara at the end of ''VideoGame/TombRaiderTheLastRevelation'' [[TorchTheFranchiseAndRun in the hopes of ending the series and going to do something else]]. [[FranchiseZombie It didn't work.]]
124* The ''VideoGame/TonyHawksProSkater'' series started off as a unique concept to the industry and garnered hundreds of fans, with the [=PS2=] port of the third installment being one of the most critically-acclaimed games of its time. As the series progressed through the ''Underground'' titles, however, the changes became minimal and predictable, the over-the-top tone got stale really quickly and the series declined in overall quality, with the peripheral-based ''RIDE'' and ''SHRED'' installments getting intense lashings from critics and fans alike. It didn't help that EA's ''VideoGame/{{Skate}}'' had stolen the market from Activision, too. Like the hip-hop examples, they tried to rekindle interest with a ''Tony Hawk Pro Skater 5'', which was [[ObviousBeta very incomplete]] and slammed hard by fans and critics alike. It wasn't until the release of ''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2'', a remastered compilation of the first two games for eighth-generation consoles, that the franchise truly regained its magic.
125* ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' has an in-universe example. Alphys, the geeky royal scientist, spends a great deal of her social media posts ranting about how terrible ''Mew Mew Kissy Cutie 2'' (a parody of ''Tokyo Mew Mew à la Mode'') is compared to the original. One of the signs that things are very different in ''VideoGame/{{Deltarune}}'' is that she considers ''2'' to be a SurprisinglyImprovedSequel instead.
126* ''VideoGame/XCOMUFODefense'':
127** The game was a surprise hit, with its great atmosphere, fine management section, and superb tactical section. Microprose decided to ride the wave and, after less than a year, released ''VideoGame/XCOMTerrorFromTheDeep'': under a shiny package of new graphics and sound, [[MissionPackSequel the game was exactly the same]], only taking place underwater, with [[SequelDifficultySpike difficulty re-balanced for the worse]][[note]]due to complaints that the highest difficulty of the original was too easy -- this was because of a bug that made it impossible to play above the ''easiest'' difficulty, the game being [[NintendoHard so hard that no one could tell]][[/note]], and bugs that could block the tech tree, making the game unwinnable. ''Videogame/XCOMApocalypse'' was from the original developers but, sadly, it completely lacked atmosphere and, while trying to be more complex, it became cumbersome. ''X-COM: Interceptor'' (a mediocre ''VideoGame/WingCommander'' clone) and ''X-COM: Enforcer'' (a shallow ThirdPersonShooter) followed and were quickly and deservedly forgotten, while more interesting projects were cancelled thanks to [[ExecutiveMeddling the mismanagement of Microprose and Hasbro Interactive]].
128** Firaxis Games' remake, ''VideoGame/XCOMEnemyUnknown'' (note the lack of a hyphen), was well-received by critics and fans. However, the same can't be said for its own prequel, ''VideoGame/TheBureauXCOMDeclassified''.

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