MAMEWorld Forums - The Loony Bin - Re: when the technologically superior sequel is clearly inferior.

> i don't think there's a better example of this than prehistoric isle 1/2.
>
> the sequel has cgi-prerendered flash & bang for days, pseudo 1st-person sequences,
> clearly bigger sprites, roars, civilian rescues, much more varied enemies & patterns,
> etc. it's over 30 times the size of the original (1.7MB vs 66MB).
>
> but, the 8-way orbital option mechanic of the original is just somehow more engaging
> and enjoyable all the way through. the original is clearly bested by the sequel in
> every regard other than gameplay, and i think that helps prove the longstanding claim
> that gameplay > else.
>
> any other good examples of this?
>
> xoxo

There are hundreds of examples of this across arcade and home systems.

Sequels often lose many of the more unique aspects of the original games, often because those elements were considered the ones that were more difficult to understand or because they required more careful balancing than just 'content, content, content'. In many cases you also get what seems to be change for the sake of change. A lot of the most lasting memories of games we have are of the bits that stood out, sometimes these were the most frustrating bits, or bits that required additional learning, however there seems to be a lot of demand to smooth such parts out.

I'd say every sequel to Strider falls into this category, for all the flashy PSX era graphics 'Strider 2' was just unenjoyable and bland.

For your example, I'm not even sure I'd consider the CGI art of the sequel to be better, it just seems lazy, visually the game loses something even before you consider the gameplay.