It has been years since it was assumed that a video game cannot exist on its own. If it is successful, there will obviously be a sequel a couple of years later that leads to a saga from which a franchise is launched, which, hopefully, takes over the world and makes all the kids want to buy t-shirts and toys. But, what happens when the second part is not as good and everyone forgets about its existence? Let’s take a look at those games that were made, but no one remembers anymore. The sequels you didn’t know existed of some of the most famous titles in history. A stroll through the delightful, delightful failure.
6-Parasite Eve 3
Square Enix made history with the first two installments of Parasite Eve, a late millennium classic for PlayStation in which Aya Brea had only six days to stop Eve, a woman who was about to end the world with spontaneous combustion. It had a film adaptation, several mangas, and its first sequel was a huge hit. However, Square eventually lost the license for the title and let eleven years pass until the long-awaited third part.
The 3rd Birthday was only a sequel to Parasite Eve because it shared the protagonist, but the gameplay (now a third-person shooter) and the story didn’t resemble what we knew. It’s true that it was just a game for PSP, but it was disappointing for the vast majority of the saga’s fans. So much so that since 2010 they haven’t dared to bring Aya back to life. Although in the midst of the revival fever, who knows, hey, the future is yet to be written…
5-Tetris 2
Yes, yes, I know what you’re thinking: there are hundreds of versions of Tetris, why should I care about a direct sequel? Well, first of all, because there are two games titled Tetris 2. One was released directly for ZX Spectrum -in which, as a curiosity, the first ten levels were made completely drunk- and the other was produced by Nintendo for its consoles at the time (NES, SNES, Game Boy). And, of course, the Big N made the mistake not only of changing too much but of turning the game into a clone of Dr. Mario. In other words, a clone of an adaptation.
Now, instead of making lines disappear with blocks, what you had to do was connect blocks of the same color to remove the pieces that were already on the screen. For whatever reason, Tetris 2 never succeeded and Nintendo has swept it under the rug despite it being an absolute sales success in 1994. And rightly so: it’s an act of the wildest audacity.
4-Pac-Man 2
The idea of Pac-man was quite clear: a round figure with a mouth that eats pills through a maze and kills ghosts. Enough to make sequels like Ms. Pac-man or Super Pac-man, which gradually built the franchise. But in 1994, Namco decided to go all out with the first truly official sequel: Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures. And what did it have in common with the original game? Absolutely nothing.
Pac-man 2 was a graphic adventure point and click (yes, just as it sounds) in which our protagonist had to solve different missions assigned by other characters. The game drew from the 80s animated series and Pac-Land with the idea of making its own spin-off, but perhaps its biggest mistake was putting a “2” on it and making people believe it was going to continue the classic gameplay. The result is a disaster in which you didn’t even control Pac-man, but rather solved puzzles to change his attitude and make him do things. A disaster well forgotten by time.
3-The Legend Of Zelda: Ancient Stone Tablets
Not even the most die-hard Zelda fans remember this sequel, exclusive to Satellaview—a kind of satellite modem for Super Nintendo—where the protagonist wasn’t even Link, but the avatar that players had created, a sort of primordial Mii. Divided into four episodes, it was a sequel to A Link To The Past that could only be played for one hour on specific days and featured voices, narrators, and even a live soundtrack.
Ancient Stone Tablets takes place six years after the death of Ganon, who returns once again and can only be vanquished using the player’s strength. A curiosity that was believed lost in time and a group of hackers has managed to recover, albeit without music or live commentators. A curiosity lost in time that we will probably never see officially re-released by Nintendo. A shame.
2-Arm Wrestling
Did you know that the Punch-Out!! saga goes far beyond that game with Mike Tyson for NES? In fact, that was the fifth part of the saga, which started in 1984 for Japanese arcade machines and even had time to pass through the Game & Watch. Its fourth installment, in particular, set aside boxing to focus on… Arm wrestling!
Arm Wrestling was released in American arcades in 1985 and was about defeating five opponents in the noble art of arm wrestling. If you won twenty rounds, you became the king of arm wrestling and the game started again at a more difficult level. However, if you’re not seeing Arm Wrestling sequels for Switch right now, it’s because success, what is called success, it didn’t have much. For whatever reason.
1-Uncharted: Fight for the Treasure
It is well known that Uncharted had a prequel for PSP, Golden Abyss, which was liked (although not overwhelmingly). What is less known is that it also had another sequel, Fight for Fortune, in which the gameplay changed from being a 3D action game… to a card game. Literally. As if it were the Pokémon TCG or Magic, the player collected different cards and fought against enemies using moves to deplete their health.
Obviously, this spin-off was not created by Naughty Dog, but by Bend Studios, who also made Golden Abyss. It was not a success, mainly because, at its core, it was a very obvious cash grab, but it lasted until 2019 with the open online multiplayer. What’s more! It even received two DLCs with cards based on Uncharted 2 and Uncharted 3. Who said Nathan Drake didn’t have a thousand lives to live?
