Favorite Games Ever (Besides Ninja Gaiden, Obviously)

[gunswordfist]

Pretty cool!

Speaking of which, I'm way excited for this: http://metroid2remake.blogspot.com/

I played the demo and it was almost Nintendo quality. Can't wait!

Sweet! I've been waiting for this game. Will play the demo.

[talonmalon333]

All those games, despite having remakes, should forever remain playable in their original design, if only for their place in video game history.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Let's talk about our favorite and least favorite sequels/prequels/spin-offs:

Games that completely top the original:
Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong-Quest
The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages/Seasons
TimeSplitters 2/Future Perfect
Sonic the Hedgehog 2/3 & Knuckles
Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening
Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos
Half-Life 2
Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast
Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy
Jedi Starfighter
WWF: No Mercy
SSX Tricky
NBA Street Vol. 2
DOOM 2
Power Stone 2
Soul Calibur 2
Dead or Alive 2
Street Fighter II/III/IV/Alpha (all)
Marvel vs. Capcom 2
Super Mario Bros. 2/3/World
Crash Bandicoot 2/Warped
Kirby Superstar
Streets of Rage 2/3
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time
Jet Set Radio Future
Star Fox 64 (The original is still great, though, no matter what the rest of you dummies want to believe)

*Note that I consider the 3D Zelda series separately from the 2D ones, hence why I don't mention OoT since it's the first 3D Zelda game
*Also note that I won't mention RE4 since I haven't actually played any of the original games to compare it to

Games that aren't as good, but still great in their own right:
Max Payne 2
F.E.A.R. 2
DOOM 3
BioShock 2
Ninja Gaiden 2 (X360)
Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword
Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom
Devil May Cry 4
Mega Man X 2
Halo: Reach
Marvel vs. Capcom 3
Sparkster
Sonic Adventure 2
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask/The Wind Waker

Disappointing Games:
Devil May Cry 2
Ninja Gaiden 3/Z
Halo 2 (mostly bias, here, as it's not a bad game)
Soul Calibur III
Most 3D Sonic games between Adventure 2 and Colors (but not including those two games, specifically)

[Foggle]

I disagree quite a lot on your placement of Half-Life 2 and Majora's Mask/Wind Waker, but I'm sure you know that by now.

Much like F.E.A.R. 2, Blood 2 and Condemned 2 are good games, but they don't live up to their predecessors in any way. The only truly amazing sequel Monolith ever made was No One Lives Forever 2, which is flawless. But Contract J.A.C.K. is fucking terrible.

Prequels are hard to do right, but I thought Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Drakengard 3 were both fantastic. Interesting how, despite taking place before the originals, they're both third games in their respective series, and were made nearly a decade after the original sequels, which are considered subpar. The same is true with Devil May Cry 3 as well, except for the waiting almost 10 years part.

While I don't exactly agree with this statement, many would say that of the three PS2 mascot platformer trilogies, Ratchet & Clank got progressively better with each installment, while Jak & Daxter and Sly Cooper got progressively worse.

The Saints Row series is interesting, because the second game surpassed the first one in every way, the third game was largely disappointing in most aspects (though still fun), and the fourth game was completely different despite looking suspiciously similar... while also being the best of the bunch.

I am perhaps the only person here who thinks this, but Banjo-Tooie is one of the greatest sequels of all time. Also, Tropical Freeze is easily the best Donkey Kong game ever.

Everyone seemed to think Thief (2014) and Hitman: Absolution would be great, but they turned out to be extremely disappointing. The exact inverse happened with Splinter Cell: Blacklist.

Mass Effect is the rare video game trilogy where the second game is generally seen as the best one. Speaking of sci-fi EA games, I feel the same way about Dead Space, though that isn't a particularly popular opinion.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I disagree quite a lot on your placement of Half-Life 2 and Majora's Mask/Wind Waker, but I'm sure you know that by now.

I can understand that, but in the case of MM I just find that its main gimmick really meshes with my preferred gameplay style (I just don't like the feeling of having to watch a time limit go by), and I love WW, but its pacing could be tighter, IMO. I also feel like it has become popular to say that OoT is weaker than the others since it came earlier, but I've replayed the game many times and it still has the strongest dungeon-design and best overall bosses, world, and gameplay, IMO, so I wouldn't consider those other two, as great as they are, to top it in every way, and by "not as good" I mean that I enjoy them both, but not as much as an overall package as OoT.

As for Half-Life 2, I've played and enjoyed the original, but I just find the sequel to be superior. It's just my personal opinion, so I don't know what else to say.

[Foggle]

I actually don't think either WW or MM is truly *better* than OoT, but I wouldn't say they weren't as good, either. OoT definitely has the best dungeon design and pacing of the three, though I do think WW has excellent pacing up until the Triforce hunt. I also think the dungeon design in that game is fairly underrated, despite not being spectacular.

I think the first Half-Life is better than its sequel until Xen, when it becomes far worse. HL2 is definitely more consistent overall, but I prefer the highs of the original game, myself.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

That's just a vague categorization term that I used. I don't mean that they were inferior products to the original, but rather that I just didn't find them to match it on the whole from my personal opinion.

As for HL, I actually didn't mind Xen that much. I found Ravenholm from HL2 to be worse, personally, but outside of that I found that HL2 felt like a more refined version of the first game outside of the vehicle segments (which I wasn't a fan of). I also just found the scenarios to be more memorable and challenging, whereas I surprisingly didn't run into too much difficulty in the first game until Xen. That may be because I played the second game first, but either way it just comes down to personal preference of level design and story progression since you certainly couldn't say that the games were too different in terms of combat mechanics outside of the Gravity Gun (which I honestly only used for puzzles and Head Crabs, anyways).

[gunswordfist]

Games that completely top the original:
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
NBA Street Vol. 2
DOOM 2
Streets of Rage 2
Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon (I'm cheating. I'm an adulterer.)

Games that aren't as good, but still great in their own right:
Max Payne 2
BioShock 2
Ninja Gaiden 2 (X360)
Devil May Cry 4
Marvel vs. Capcom 3
Halo 2 and 3
Sonic 3&Knuckles
Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening
Streets Of Rage 3

Disappointing Games:
Devil May Cry 2

I've played a lot of these games but I've either haven't beaten a sequel yet or I've never played the original, Street Fighter being a classic example. I do like Street Fight II, III and IV equally though. And everything else is just an unpopular opinion here.

[gunswordfist]

I didn't mind Xen either. I've yet to play 2 though.

[Foggle]

Ravenholm is a lot of fun if you use the gravity gun IMO. Xen's horrendous platforming and its inclusion of the worst boss designs ever made me hate it. Seriously, an alien with giant testicles that screeches constantly and a humongous flying aborted fetus that shoots lasers?

[gunswordfist]

You think Gigyas is a fetus, don't you?

[Foggle]

Giygas has a cool design. This piece of absolute garbage does not:



Godawful.

[gunswordfist]

*plays Earthbound to help repress the memory of the sight of that.*

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I hated the fact that Ravenholm basically forced you to use the Gravity Gun throughout most of it. That's what burned me out on using the weapon for most of the rest of the game.

As for Xen, aside from the design, I didn't find the boss to be frustratingly difficult or tedious or anything like that. Also, it's clearly meant to look repulsive.

[Foggle]

You're not forced to use the gravity gun in Ravenholm, it's just designed to be a fun testing ground for it. I've run the whole level with only the shotgun and magnum before.

The bosses are extremely easy in Xen, but they're still ugly. And not in the Resident Evil kind of way where they're disgusting because of talented artistry - they're just terrible designs.