Tuesday, July 2, 2013
This was really a case of taking a great game and keeping it close enough to the same, but slightly tweaking things to improve them. I found that the character customization was much better in 2, with all of the various skins being really cool (and most were hilarious references that I appreciated.) But more than that, the story was way better in Borderlands 2. I absolutely loved Handsome Jack and thought his voice actor was impressive and hilarious. The only thing that I think was better in Borderlands 1 was the DLC. Borderlands 2 kind of skimped on the DLC a little bit, but it wasn’t terrible.
Portal 2
In this case, I think the sequel was bound to out-do the original. The original was super original, but very brief. This game expanded upon the original in a glorious way. It introduced new (hilarious) character like Wheatley and Cave Johnson. It added repulsion and propulsion gels, which made the puzzles even harder to crack. And then there was the co-op. How can you go wrong with a puzzle game by adding co-op? That feature alone made this game leaps and bounds better than the original. That being said, I still play the original Portal all the time. That should tell you how much I love them both.
Half-life 2
This is one of the rare cases where I played the sequel first. There is so much to love about Half-life 2 that I assumed that the original Half-life would be just as good (if not better.) Sadly, I think that I ruined Half-life for myself by starting with the superior of the two. Half-life 2 just seems far more vast in every way. The world seems much bigger, and the atmosphere is always changing. I distinctly remember playing through the zombified graveyard and crapping my pants all the way through. Maybe it speaks more about the time lapse between games, but I think that Half-life 2 just had everything going for it. The story was better, the mechanics were awesome, and the characters were fun.
Arkham City
After making the awesomeness that was Arkham Asylum, it seemed like Arkham City was just the obvious next step. They took their free roam to a whole new level with this game. While Arkham Asylum had the illusion of free roam, I wouldn’t say that it really had it. It definitely didn’t have it to the same extent as Arkham City. Whereas Arkham Asylum was all about the villains making certain small parts of the asylum their own, this saw huge expanses of city dedicated to each of our favorite villains. And then we had the extra side missions to include the lesser villains who weren’t in the main storyline (like Deadshot and Mad Hatter.) Overall, I love both games, but I think that Arkham City benefited from having a more expansive universe, a better storyline, and more side missions.
Super Mario Bros 3
I don’t even know where to start on this one. How isn’t this game better than the original? It improved everything. It took out the linearity of the game by introducing a map where you can choose your way (though all paths lead to the same place.) It also added some new (and awesome) powerups. Most important of these, though, was the raccoon suit, which gave Mario the ability to fly. How effing cool is that?! And I don’t mean just that gliding shit that we see in the newer Mario games. No, if you could fill up his P-Meter enough, you could take off from the ground. Yea, I would definitely say this improved upon the original. Leaps and bounds.
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2
Does anyone even remember playing the first Tony Hawk Pro Skater? Seriously, I keep trying to remember what it was like and just keep describing the awesomeness that was Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2. Maybe this is just the nostalgia value coming in, but I think that THPS2 had better maps, better controls, and an excellent soundtrack. I tried going back and playing THPS1 recently and I just can’t. It isn’t THPS2, and that makes it unacceptable.
Metal Gear Solid 3
This is a really close one, but I have to say I prefer MGS3 over MGS1. While MGS1 has a better story, I think that MGS3 has greatly improved a lot of other aspects. The gameplay is probably the biggest difference here. They hugely improved all of the controls and gameplay to make it feel almost like a different game. Then there is the atmosphere. Maybe it’s just me, but I loved all of the jungle play that was in MGS3. I also enjoyed all of the backstory we got into some previously introduced characters that showed them in a bit of a different light. But, like I said, these two are very close for me, so maybe tomorrow I will feel differently.
Resident Evil 4
I feel like this one is just cheating. Resident Evil 4 came out nearly 10 years after Resident Evil, so it had plenty of time to get things right. The gameplay was much better, the story was excellent, and the atmosphere was genuinely scary. I remember the first time I played it on my GameCube and nearly crapping my pants. You know it’s a quality game when it genuinely scares you. And, yes, the girl did get kind of irritating at times. It’s like, shit, I’m trying to save you, stop yelling at me! It doesn’t help.
Call of Duty 2
This game is phenomenal. I could, quite literally, go on for hours about how much I love CoD 2. The graphics were excellent (and are still pretty damn good to this day) and the atmosphere was spot on. I remember back in high school, when we had to write a research paper, I decided to write about the historical accuracy of WWII video games. And holy shit was this game so accurate. I think that really adds to the quality of the game, knowing that they did their research and made it fun to play too! Too bad this franchise has been garbage ever since...but that’s a story for a different day.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Let’s start out with the obvious addition that made this game great: Tails. No, we couldn’t play as Tails yet...but it introduced the iconic sidekick! But let’s get to what really made this game good. It added a lot of cool features, like the ability to actually pick up your rings after you get hit. Couple that with the cool new features, like riding mine carts, etc through a level, and the awesomeness that was Chemical Plant Zone, and you have a phenomenal follow up to an already awesome game.
Doom 2
The first one was called Ultimate Doom, and it was okay. The maps were pretty simple, there were four episodes of eight levels each (plus some secret levels), and the monsters were sort of scary. They hadn’t really gotten down the true atmosphere and monster surprise technique. Doom 2 excelled in these categories, and it is my favorite of these games. This game is thirty-two levels of pants-filling madness. The maps are great, and they really use the monsters to their full potential, and its just the right level of difficulty. The final boss (literally called “The Final Boss”) is a bit of a let down, but the level is intense. The double-barrel shotgun makes its first appearance in Doom 2, and they added the no-clipping mode cheat. Although, this game is so good, no cheats are necessary. So yeah, Doom 2: miles better than the original.
Honorable Mentions:
Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past (I love this game, and it was the third Zelda game, but wasn’t really tied to the first, so I think it would be cheating to put it in the actual list.)
God of War II (I haven’t played it, but I was told I needed to include this)
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (Once again, I haven’t played it)
Street Fighter II
Mortal Kombat II
I think MGS2 is probably the best videogame sequel of all time just for having the balls to subvert player expectations and deconstruct the fanboyism and manipulative marketing hype that dominate the video games market.
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