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[CashPrizes]

Haven't read replies yet, but I hope Witcher 2 is on there. Game is leaps and bounds better then Witcher 1.
Streets of Rage 2
Street Fighter 2
Seiken Densetsu 2
Panzer Dragoon 2
Virtua Fighter 2
Twisted Metal 2
Dark Forces 2 (Jedi Knight)
Warcraft 2
Diablo II
Mega Man 2
Left 4 Dead 2
I haven't played Assassins Creed 2 but it like is universally lauded as much better then 1
People saying MGS2 is better then 1 are wrong and evil. Same with people who prefer ME1 to ME2.

Also Uncharted 2 is way way better then 1. Maybe not as much as Witcher 2 and Mass Effect 2, but close.

 

[cartman414]

It's like going from Terminator 1 to Terminator 2. Doesn't make T1 a bad movie, just makes T2 that much better.


And to go perfectly with my example, I personally like T1 better than T2, but I understand why everyone loves T2 more.

T2 was a buddy cop flick in disguise. T1 was a GOAT sci-fi horror flick.

 

[CashPrizes]

ME2 fucking sucked. I loved 1 and dropped 2 halfway thru. Changed a coherent consequential classic space narrative with an episodic soap opera and a ridiculous final villain. And one of the worst cases of knee high wall syndrome.

You definitely can't cite the "ridiculous final villain" as one of your only 2 negatives if, as you claim, you never beat the game and actually witnessed it. Maybe in the moment the final boss would have filled you with dread and determination to conquer it!?

 

[Digital-Aftertaste]

Surprised no one mentioned Space Marines 2.

 

[Gp1]

Doom 64 to Doom 2016.

Doom 64 to Doom 3. Doom 3 has all it's flaws but from the technological stand point it's def. what we expect from a generational leap.

Warcraft 2 to Warcraft 3.

Soul Edge PSOne to Soul Calibur Dreamcast

 

[Seider]

Renegade to Target Renegade

Turrican to Turrican 2

Speedball to Speedball 2

 

[dotnotbot]

Rayman 1 to 2

 

[GymWolf]

Unchy1 to unchy2, but the gunplay didn't made the same jump than going from me1 to me2.

 

[Donald mac Ronald]

Surprised no one mentioned Space Marines 2.

Maybe I should have sent some criteria. There's like 10 years gap and 2 gens of consoles in leap.

 

[Chiggs]

Mass Effect 2 ends with a boss fight so laughable it made me reconsider the worth of the entire journey that came before it.

Don't get me wrong, the opening 10 hours of Mass Effect 2 are some of the best that gaming has to offer from an RPG-perspective, but it didn't stick the landing.

A giant Reaper robot? Yeeesh.

 

[playXray]

I like ME1 much more than ME2

I actually thought that's what this thread was going to be about when I first saw the title - ME2 is still an amazing game, but it simplified a lot of what I loved about ME.

My answer was going to be Deus Ex -> Deus Ex Invisible War, but if we're talking improved sequel then I guess Street Fighter -> Street Fighter 2 has to be the answer. People have mentioned things like Half-Life and Red Dead Redemption, but those are still amazing games, whereas the OG Street Fighter is actually not a good game at all (IMO). The jump from that to one of the best (and most influential) fighting games of all time is incredible.

 

[Three]

Has anybody mentioned Killzone to Killzone 2 yet?

 

[Filben]

Max Payne 1 and 2. While the general setting, tone and story differences comes to personal taste, 2 improved on everything else: much improved physics, much improved geometry and textures, improved bullet time feature, improved enemy AI and aim, improved voice overs for side characters (which were dubbed by guys from Remedy in MP1).

 

[Trilobit]

Super Mario World to Mario 64

Pretty much any series that went from 2d to 3d was a jump but you can argue quality I suppose.

I'd also say SMB1 to SMB3 (considering how SMB2 is more of a reskin of a completely different game and The Lost Levels was never released worldwide). The jump in quality and graphics on the same console was insane.

 

[Loope]

I like ME1 much more than ME2

Me too. the only areas better in ME2 (imo) are the graphics and combat. The story is more interesting in ME, the locations etc.

 

[SABRE220]

I liked mass effect 2 but felt mass effect was superior as a sci fi rpg. The lore, atmosphere,writing and world building was superior in 1 but its game play was improved upon in 2 no doubt.

I'm also surprised people giving rdr1 to 2 as an example...I felt 1 was the better game and if there is a supposed leap its nowhere near massive as 1 was a legendary game in itself. 2 felt terrible to play, so damn sluggish and felt like a bloated slog midway. I appreciate the details they put in but rdr1 was just the perfect length, great pacing, amazing details, great writing and most importantly felt fun as hell to play.

 

[ShadowNate]

Heretic to Heretic 2
Myst to Riven
System Shock to System Shock 2

 

[nkarafo]

Doom 64 to Doom 2016.

Doom 64 to Doom 3. Doom 3 has all it's flaws but from the technological stand point it's def. what we expect from a generational leap.

I rather replay DOOM 64 than either of these "sequels".

 

[Loope]

Witcher 1 to Witcher 2 was big.

 

[Davevil]

Super Mario 1-2 to Super Mario 3 on NES ...it looks like the third one was made on a different hardware

 

[nkarafo]

A lot of users seem to confuse the gap in quality between sequels with simple generational/technological leaps.

MGS1 to MGS2 is only a generational leap. But both games are equally good. Some would even argue the first one is a better game.
Street Fighter 1 to 2 is a gap in quality between a pretty bad game and a sequel that not only was better, it revolutionized fighting games.

Pretty sure the topic is about the later example.

 

[nkarafo]

Super Mario 1-2 to Super Mario 3 on NES ...it looks like the third one was made on a different hardware

To be fair, SMB1 runs on vanilla hardware while SMB3 uses extra mappers.

But it's a legit example and one of the bigger jumps in quality in a sequel.

I don't count SMB2 as a sequel to SMB1 so for me it's SMB1 to SMB3.

 

[zapper]

dark cloud --> dark cloud 2

 

[Aurelius]

The Witcher 1/2 to The Witcher 3.

 

[Big Baller]

Let me drop the GOAT

 

[JimmyRustler]

I like ME1 much more than ME2

Same here. Both are great games but I wouldn’t say 2 improved so much over 1. Both had different strengths and weaknesses.

 

[IAmRei]

Played the original trilogy on pc like 10 years ago.

Recently started playing the legendary edition on console.

Jesus mass effect 1 is bad from a gameplay perspective.
It's like the Devs had an idea for an RPG but just threw aload of shit together to see if it worked. It mostly did to a degree. It was a functional game, held together by duct tape. Wasn't balanced at all; AI is all over the place. Randomly just charging or hiding in cover.
Mako lol.
Terrible loot system. Just the same names for guns but with a number next to them.
Powers seemed clunky to use, I purposely made sure my main class was one that mainly uses guns (infiltrator).
Voice bug in nearly every dialogue scene. Audio always playing delayed after their mouths start moving.

Choice system and roleplaying all worked good.

Now enter mass effect 2. Bioware saw they had a hit on their hands and created a good world with good lore. They just needed to nail the gameplay, and they did I spades. Everything about this game Is a huge improvement. Lots of unnecessary skill points for the sake of them were removed and made the characters feel abit more unique and different.

Is it perfect? No but jump in gameplay, quality and polish is huge. Actually playing a class with powers is fun and works. Vanguard for example, Charging and using shotgun.

By first play through 10 years was full renegade. I'm doing paragon this time and boy it's not nearly as fun.

while i agree with ME2, but ME1 is also my favorite, mako is one of the best feature in rpg since ffix chocobo digging for me. the game might not the best, but still, they lay the foundation for the next.

 

[nkarafo]

Let me drop the GOAT

Graphics: GX > X
Controls: X > GX
Difficulty curve: X > GX
Music: X > GX

Yeah, other than graphics everything else was a downgrade IMO.

 

[CliffBronger]

Fallout 2 to Fallout 3

I can't think of a bigger jump than that, although they are 10 years apart.

Ultima 8 to Ultima 9 was also massive as they also switched from 2d to 3d but the gap was 5 years.

 

[RaduN]

Not just in sheer graphical fidelity but in gameplay design, narrative, cutscenes, voice acting. Everything is quite literally a generational leap.

The definition of a leap ^

 

[Wildebeest]

Mass Effect 2 was less compromised by Microsoft forcing them to dumb their game down for the modern audience. At that point, they just knew what they were doing and made a big dumb game for big dummies from the start.

 

[RaduN]

I thought MGS1 had a better narrative and overall a more enjoyable 'game', although the gameplay design was certainly improved in the sequel.

MGS3 however is such a huge improvement over MGS2.

That's all subjective.

In terms of direction, graphics, cinematography, design, mechanics it is, objectively, an absolutelly gargantuan leap.

MGS3 is certainly different than 2, with different aims, in some ways an evolution, in some, regression, but it is most certainly "not* a leap.

 

[MMaRsu]

I dunno, man. I wouldn't call it a jump. To me, it feels like they've changed focus. Mass Effect 1 was BioWare's Star Trek RPG, whereas Mass Effect 2 was BioWare's Gears of War 2. Now, don't misunderstand, I think both games are great, but Mass Effect 2 clearly went the "let's make it a squad-based action game with dialog" route. But it was a pretty successful execution of that idea.

But I kinda wish they'd leaned harder into the "Star Treky" direction.

Exactly. I love ME2, but it was turned into a shooter with RPG elements.

ME1 was an RPG with shooter elements.

Mass Effect 2 was less compromised by Microsoft forcing them to dumb their game down for the modern audience. At that point, they just knew what they were doing and made a big dumb game for big dummies from the start.

MS had nothing to do with it.

 

[SweetTooth]

RDR to RDR2
GTA2 to GTA3
MK to MKII
CoD3 to CoD4
MGS2 to MGS3

I disagree with this.

 

[Wildebeest]

MS had nothing to do with it.

So you are saying the dumbing down and compromised design of ME1 was a purely internal process and Microsoft gave them no notes?

 

[nkarafo]

Big Baller

I get from your reaction that you disagree and i get it, some of the stuff like music is a matter of taste.

But i would like to argue about the controls. I don't think the downgrade in this aspect is a matter of taste. Let me explain:

In F-Zero X the "attack" buttons are the same shoulder buttons you use for leaning (so you can always have full control while also being able to attack at any moment) and to use the attack you just double tap them, depending on the direction. The attack is a small sudden jump that hits the opponents and either sends them out of course or smash them on walls. The way F-Zero X does this just feels right and is very satisfying when you pull it off. Plus, because it's on the same buttons as the leaning ability, you never have to take your index fingers away from them. So you can use the attack while also trying to maneuver your ship into tight corners.

And not only that, this small jump attack can also be used to clear tight corners without losing speed. It was my favorite method of doing it.

But in GX they threw all that out of the window. Not only there is no jump attack left/right, now there is this lame shield attack you can only do using a separate button. Not only this doesn't feel as good, you also have to move your finger away from a more important function, which... isn't great. I doubt most players even use that ability because of that, i know i don't.

This isn't really Sega's fault though, it's mostly the Gamecube controller's fault that is uses analog triggers instead of tap buttons for shoulders. So "double tapping" like in X wouldn't work. But that doesn't mean the game doesn't suffer from that exclusion.

That was my main issue with GX. I just didn't have as much fun controlling it. Combined with it's weird difficulty spikes (X had a much smoother difficulty transition) it made it frustrating to play. I still beat it in Master mode but i was more frustrated in the end while in X i was more exhilarated.

 

[Big Baller]

Graphics: GX > X
Controls: X > GX
Difficulty curve: X > GX
Music: X > GX

Yeah, other than graphics everything else was a downgrade IMO.

All I remember is that I never beat X but I did GX except for the time trials. I just enjoyed it waaaaaaaaaaay more. Sure it had some frustratring moments in Story mode but GP? Nah.

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

Super Mario Land 2

Yeah. This one felt more like a 2 generations’ leap, yet it was on the same system.

Metal Slug 2 is also leaps and bounds above the original.

 

[archangelmorph]

Played the original trilogy on pc like 10 years ago.

Recently started playing the legendary edition on console.

Jesus mass effect 1 is bad from a gameplay perspective.
It's like the Devs had an idea for an RPG but just threw aload of shit together to see if it worked. It mostly did to a degree. It was a functional game, held together by duct tape. Wasn't balanced at all; AI is all over the place. Randomly just charging or hiding in cover.
Mako lol.
Terrible loot system. Just the same names for guns but with a number next to them.
Powers seemed clunky to use, I purposely made sure my main class was one that mainly uses guns (infiltrator).
Voice bug in nearly every dialogue scene. Audio always playing delayed after their mouths start moving.

Choice system and roleplaying all worked good.

Now enter mass effect 2. Bioware saw they had a hit on their hands and created a good world with good lore. They just needed to nail the gameplay, and they did I spades. Everything about this game Is a huge improvement. Lots of unnecessary skill points for the sake of them were removed and made the characters feel abit more unique and different.

Is it perfect? No but jump in gameplay, quality and polish is huge. Actually playing a class with powers is fun and works. Vanguard for example, Charging and using shotgun.

By first play through 10 years was full renegade. I'm doing paragon this time and boy it's not nearly as fun.

When you say "jump in quality" between ME 1 & 2... you mean like this right...?

 

[RetroAV]

 

[darth.shrimp]

Seiken Densetsu 2 (Secret of Mana) to Seiken Densetsu 3
Risk of Rain to Risk of Rain 2
Tiberian Dawn to Tiberian Sun
Age of Wonders 1 to 2 to Shadow Magic
D&D: Tower of Doom to Shadows over Mystara
Total Annihilation to Supreme Commander

 

[nkarafo]

All I remember is that I never beat X but I did GX except for the time trials. I just enjoyed it waaaaaaaaaaay more. Sure it had some frustratring moments in Story mode but GP? Nah.

I beat both in Master/all cups, beat the master story mode in GX. and also many staff ghosts.

But in X i did way more staff ghosts and also beat all the master cups with all ships. Yes, all 30 of them. Only because i had so much more fun with it.

In GX it felt more like work, like something i had to do for completion sake. So i only used a couple of ships and beat a handfull of Staff Ghosts before i tapped out. And the only reason were the controls really.

 

[atyourservice]

Max Payne 2 to Max Payne 3

 

[SHA]

Halo
Gears
Duke Nukem
Doom
Fallout
The Elder Scrolls
The Sims.

 

[nkarafo]

Metal Slug 2 is also leaps and bounds above the original.

Interesting.

I didn't think it was that much better. Pretty similar overall with some more variation in enemies and the best sprite animated explosion in videogames.

But the slowdowns on original hardware drag it back.

The Mario Land 1 vs 2 was a much bigger leap in both gameplay and graphics.

 

[MMaRsu]

So you are saying the dumbing down and compromised design of ME1 was a purely internal process and Microsoft gave them no notes?

Im saying the fact they turned it into a third person action shooter with rpg elements has everything to do with wanting to appeal to the masses.

And it obviously worked.

 

[Mephisto40]

Final Fantasy 6 to Final Fantasy 7 was much more of a technical leap

 

[MMaRsu]

Max Payne 2 to Max Payne 3

You mean a downgrade in everything except the shooting itself..

 

[Honey Bunny]

You definitely can't cite the "ridiculous final villain" as one of your only 2 negatives if, as you claim, you never beat the game and actually witnessed it. Maybe in the moment the final boss would have filled you with dread and determination to conquer it!?

I picked it up again 6 months later. What filled me with dread were the brain-dead games outlets giving it all the GOTY awards. Oh yeh how about those green aliens tending to the giant terminator? Completely inconsequential. A really bad case of middle of the trilogy syndrome.

 

[violence]

Suicide Squad to Arkham Knight