Gamega says TF6 is No.1 of the most disappointing sequels

[fireleo4]

Last Issue of the japanese Gamega Magazine had a Top10 of Japans Most disappointing sequels.
They voted TF6 as #1. Okay, TF6 was no Gradius V, but it could have been worse. I still like the game, even if it was above average. Interesting at least, that japanese gamers had much higher hopes for the Thunderforce Sequel.

1. Thunder Force VI (PS2, Sega)
2. Final Fantasy VIII (PS, Square Enix)
3. Seiken Densetsu 4 (PS2, Square Enix)
4. Gyakuten Saiban 4 (Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney) (NDS, Capcom)
5. Rogue Galaxy (PS2, Level 5)
6. Mario Sunshine (GC, Nintendo)
7. Unlimited Saga (PS2, Square Enix)
8. Devil May Cry 2 (PS2, Capcom)
9. Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings (NDS, Square Enix)
10.Blood of Bahamuth (NDS, Square Enix)

source: gamefront.de

[Solarus]

FFVIII 2nd most dissapointing ever? :S

DMC2 is only #8?

[Raizen1984]

Why do people still read magazines?

[fireleo4]

DMC2 is only #8?

That piece of crap deserved to be no.1

[Solarus]

DMC2 is only #8?

That piece of crap deserved to be no.1

Exactly. I prefer to forget that it even exists.

[Rob]

5. Rogue Galaxy (PS2, Level 5)

How is this a sequel?

[neist]

DMC2 is only #8?

That piece of crap deserved to be no.1

Exactly. I prefer to forget that it even exists.

I don't know.. have you ever played Seiken Densetsu 4? I'm extremely forgiving on bad games and I couldn't play more than a few hours of it.

[Ganelon]

5. Rogue Galaxy (PS2, Level 5)

How is this a sequel?

Or Blood of Bahamut for that matter...

[ZOM]

Suikoden 3 needs to be in that list... >_>

[EPS21]

Why do people still read magazines?

Take a break from staring at a screen all day perhaps?

[DANMAKUMAN]

oh my...! any possibility of thunder force vii( a good one i hope)? because vi is very short, music like raystorm(yes, i know tamayo work in thhis one)

[Thunder Force]

Okay, TF6 was no Gradius V, but it could have been worse. I still like the game, even if it was above average.

Accurate.

Interesting at least, that japanese gamers had much higher hopes for the Thunderforce Sequel.

I think pretty much everyone had crazy high expectations for TFVI. Was always going to be a tricky sequel, since some fans loved TFV a lot while others hated it. TFVI is also one of those games that looks better in screenshots than in motion. Those first batch of Famitsu screens really showcased the game well, perhaps too well. Unfortunately, the final boss design probably hurts ultimate impressions despite the rest of the game being faithful to the franchise.

[MathU]

Super Mario Sunshine gets way more flak than it deserves. Sure it was definitely disappointing, but it's not like it was a bad game, and there are far worse offenders.

At least one Mega Man game should be mentioned, and R-Type Final is also a good candidate.

[louisg]

Crazy Taxi 2 =(

[bucklemyshoe]

Seiken Densetsu 4

This game really broke my heart

it destroyed the magic of the mana series I loved.

[Davey]

Crazy Taxi 2 =(

Crazy Taxi 2 wasn't terrible, but it didn't suck me in nearly as much as the original. I haven't played it in years, but I remember not liking the NYC maps (too boxy, too reliant on jump shortcuts) and the jumping took out a lot of the twitch factor. I wonder how it would have turned out had it been an arcade game and not just a console game...

[Jack Burton]

How bout Actraiser 2. No sim mode, and your character walks slow as hell. I loved part 1. I couldn't believe how much they screwed up part 2.

Honorable mention. Ys 3 for turbo duo. After Books 1+2 for turbo cd, this was definitely a letdown.

[Elixir]

MGS2, Alundra 2, Kingdom Hearts 2, Toejam and Earl III, etc and so on.

[Cuilan]

Replace FFVIII with FFVII and the list is more or less spot on.

[Jockel]

MGS 2 AND 3
Loved the first one (and especially the remake on the Cube) to death, but the 2nd one got Raiden-raped and the 3rd one has a camera that destroys the game.

[Gespenst]

Driver: Parallel Lines


1942: Joint Strike
Time Crisis: Project Titan
etc...

At least one Mega Man game should be mentioned

Mega Man 9?
that looks very sucks

[Jet Black]

MGS 2 AND 3
3rd one has a camera that destroys the game.

Play the Subsistence Version with the new camera und you got the best MGS ever!

[Dragoforce]

Needs more DDP 2.

Super Mario Sunshine is a great game btw, only Mario game that I stand playing more than five minutes.

[StoofooEsq]

Oh wow. As much as I could verbally firebomb TF6, it shouldn't be any amount of places above DMC2 on that list. It shouldn't be on the list, period. Not sure why Final Fantasy VIII is so high up there, either.

Thunder Force 6 signaled the return of a much-loved shooter franchise after more than a decade, so of course nostalgia-fueled expectations were running very high. That contributed to the disappointment felt when the game didn't quite turn out to be the grand comeback that people were hoping for. But for all it's worth, Sega could have done far worse with the game.

Devil May Cry ushered in a type of 3D action that had never been seen before, while establishing a standard that its followers would be measured to. It was stylish, fun, glowed with personality, and best of all, challenged the player to improve their skills. An instant classic. The sequel dickslapped away much of what made the first game interesting, unique, or even fun. One of the few games that I would refer to as "soulless".

So while Thunder Force 6 may have been disappointing, it was nowhere near the expectation-murdering scale of disappointment that Devil May Cry 2 carried as a sequel in a just newly created IP. At least TF6 stuck to what the series was made of.

TL;DR: All lists suck.

[Enhasa]

The word sequel is probably lost in translation, and "next game by such and such developer" counts. Blood of Bahamut is supposedly a vague Bahamut Lagoon successor FWIW. Rogue Galaxy was a new IP, and Japanese love Level-5 because of DQ8-9 and whatnot, although I've never come close to even remotely liking anything they've ever done so I can't say for sure. Also, these choices aren't necessarily disappointing compared to the direct previous game. People must have been comparing SD4 to SD3, because there was a steady downward slide in Mana games since SD3, going on for a long time. Same with Unlimited Saga and Saga games since RS3 for the SFC.


I love making stupid lists. Here's my personal top10. This isn't a list of worst or biggest dropoff sequels; to be disappointing, it had to be surprising. I pretty much got what I expected out of Fallout 3, One Must Fall: Battlegrounds, X-Wing vs TIE Fighter, Lufia: The Ruins of Lore, Tactics Ogre: Knight of Lodis, Advance Guardian Heroes, Parappa the Rapper 2, Odin Sphere, Nights: Journey of Dreams, etc. Not counting The Granstream Saga as part of the Soul Blazer "trilogy" or else that would be pretty high. I can't pick a particular Mega Man game because the slide in each series was gradual and didn't happen overnight. Stuff like FF7 should probably be on this list but I'm not heartless enough to do it, and I don't really want people to respond to individual choices instead of the topic at hand to begin with.

1) Star Ocean 4: Not outright bad, just kinda sucked, but 1-3 are all in my top10 of all games so... well, at least each new installment is quite different from the rest and tries new things, unlike a certain Tales series. Each installment has become less groundbreaking and more mainstream though. Not a good sign for 5. Still a long ways to go before becoming as bad as most RPGs at least.
2) All New World of Lemmings: Lemmings, Oh No More Lemmings, Lemmings 2... this. Bonus points for the series never fully recovering.
3) Devil May Cry 2: A popular selection.
4) Every Extend Extra Extreme: Boggles the mind that this update/sequel could be so terrible.
5) Equinox: This game is just so atrocious, but equinox is the opposite of solstice so I suppose it makes sense.
6) Alundra 2: Like most people, I like to pretend this game never existed. You hear about Alundra, not Alundra 1.
7) Actraiser 2: Ditto. To be honest though, this game isn't nearly as bad as say, Alundra 2.
8) Annet Again: Almost unfair to include this because of genre-hopping.
9) Shock Troopers 2: WRUGH
10) Descent 3: Not a bad game at all, but not what I wanted, but this really shouldn't have been surprising in retrospect. I think this one had a different developer as well. I guess I know what I'm getting out of Bethesda, but I'll give a chance to anyone unknown. Still wish anyone at Interplay knew anything about how to run a business.


Maybe I could come up with some better examples if I wanted, but this thread is painful enough already.

[Rob]

Rogue Galaxy was a new IP, and Japanese love Level-5 because of DQ8...

This is why I bought it. Unbelievably bad game, so they are right. Since the thread is completely off-topic, I'm sure Legendary Axe 2 deserves a mention.

[Strider77]

whatever the newest TF game is the series is going to be the one hated on.. it use to 5 and now everyone has shut up about it and now hate on 6.

people are expecting these sequels sometimes to come packed with a time machines to return them to their youth. it's not going to happen, no rose tinted glasses came packed with TF6.

i still find it amusing to watch how the mob leaves one game and runs to the next as far as the TF series goes.

[Rob]

This is simple: five isn't very good, six is just worse. As people have said, it can still be enjoyed. It's just safe to the point of being a remake and like most remakes it is inferior to the original material. TF5 at least introduced better options/overweapons and had some original stages.

people are expecting these sequels sometimes to come packed with a time machines to return them to their youth.

This is exactly why it failed: they were trying to do this.

[evil_ash_xero]

I remember back in the olden days right after I got FF VI(III). I was so impressed with it. Then came VII, and although I didn't like it as much as VI, I was floored. VIII was SO small in scope, and short, and had a sucky ass battle system, that I was really disappointed. It wasn't the worst game or anything, but it followed up two masterpieces, and it was just sorta there.

[BrianC]

Double Dragon III arcade was very disappointing, especially with its buy in system for special moves.