History FanonDiscontinuity / VideoGames

** While there isn't much continuity to the franchise, fans only count the first four side-scrolling beat-em-ups[[note]]those being ''VideoGame/DoubleDragonI'', ''VideoGame/DoubleDragonII'', ''Double Dragon 3'', and ''Super Double Dragon''[[/note]] (as well the GBA remake of the first one and usually ''[[VideoGame/DoubleDragonNeon Neon]]''). ''Double Dragon V: The Shadow Falls'', a fighting game based on the AnimatedAdaptation, was made without Technos Japan's involvement, and disliked by players for stiff controls and poor character designs. The UsefulNotes/NeoGeo fighting game is questionable, depending on whether or not one likes [[VideoGameMoviesSuck the movie]], since some of its characters come from that.

** [[VideoGame/TombRaider2013 The 2013 prequel]] started yet another new continuity with a new origin story for Lara, and resulted in yet another break in the fanbase.

* A good majority of ''VideoGame/FZero'' fans prefer to believe that ''Maximum Velocity'' never happened for one reason or another... despite existing in an AlternateTimeline where the [[NoodleIncident Big Accident]] doesn't seem to have happened and the F-Zero League never implemented the new rules/mechanics first seen in ''X'' [[ForWantOfANail as a result]]. ''GP Legend'' is no different... despite being [[AlternateContinuity a non-canon series]] to begin with. Nintendo seems to be on a similar wavelength with both series, as all the GBA games aren't even referenced in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl'' or ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU 3DS/Wii U]]''.

* ''VideoGame/Tekken4'' is regarded as a misstep among [[Franchise/{{Tekken}} the series]] in [[DoingInTheWizard its poor attempt]] to have [[DarkerAndEdgier a grittier feel]] and featuring fewer characters than ''[[DreamMatchGame Tag]]'' (which in-canon, might mean something, but in gameplay, simply makes it less fun). Many fans just go straight from ''Tekken Tag'' to ''VideoGame/Tekken5'', which [[WinBackTheCrowd did damage control]] by [[TheBusCameBack bringing back]] most of the missing characters from ''2'' and ''3'' in some fashion or another.

** ''The Answer'', the PlayableEpilogue in ''[[UpdatedRerelease Persona 3 FES]]'', [[BrokenBase is a bit contentious]] due to how OOC the cast is perceived to be by many players (most notably [[spoiler:Yukari causing the party to go at each other's throats because she wanted to risk bringing back Nyx to save the Protagonist]]), its difficulty, and [[ShaggyDogStory nothing the player does affecting the story]] (for example, [[spoiler:Chidori]] is still dead, despite whether or not you went through the conditions to bring her back).
** A fan Q&A segment on one episode of ''Persona Stalker Club'' established that [[spoiler:Chidori]] did indeed survive the events of ''P3'', as per the new story content added to ''FES'', with the necklace [[spoiler:Junpei]] wears in ''VideoGame/Persona4ArenaUltimax'' being a gift from her. There are fans who disregard this revelation, either because [[spoiler:Junpei]]'s words and actions during ''The Answer'' potentially contradict this statement or they simply think [[TrueArtIsAngsty it clashes with the game's dark tone and central theme of death]].

* Most fans of the ''VideoGame/{{Thief}}'' series don't like to acknowledge [[VideoGame/Thief2014 the 2014 game]]. Since the game was developed by a completely different company and fans feel that it's very bland compared to the deep world-building that the previous games had. Some purists go as far as to disregard ''[[VideoGame/ThiefDeadlyShadows Deadly Shadows]]'' as well because it wasn't made by Looking Glass and they feel it's not as good as the first two.

* Most fans of the ''VideoGame/{{Thief}}'' series don't like to acknowledge [[VideoGame/Thief2014 the 2014 game]]. Since the game was developed by a completely different company and fans feel that it's very bland compared to the deep world-building that the previous games had. Some purists go as far as to disregard ''[[VideoGame/ThiefDeadlyShadows]]''Deadly Shadows as well because it wasn't made by Looking Glass and they feel it's not as good as the first two.

* Most fans of the ''VideoGame/{{Thief}}'' series don't like to acknowledge [[VideoGame/Thief2014 the 2014 game]]. Since the game was developed by a completely different company and fans feel that it's very bland compared to the deep world-building that the previous games had.

** ''VideoGame/DoubleDragonIV'', released five years after ''Neon'' in 2017, is also contentious due a combination of SeinfeldIsUnfunny and {{Sequelitis}}, though some fans are more accepting of it, if only because several members of the development team were Technos Japan veterans who worked on the original games.

* For ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'' players, things that used to happen in previous versions but have been patched out became so iconic folks occasionally act like they're still an integral part of the game, or at least dwarven psychology. Dwarves, for example, now avoid fire instead of ignoring it, and booze simply boils away rather than exploding spectacularly when exposed to fire, but many players still fondly remember the days of "Being on fire sure makes me thirsty for a good beer-" '''*BOOM*''', and sometimes pretend dwarves still don't know what fire is. Same with elephants [[LetsPlay/{{Boatmurdered}} not quite being their dwarf-slaughtering past selves]] or carps now being just another fish instead of utter bloody terrors. All in good fun, of course, but it can confuse the occasional newcomer.

* The Appaloosa-developed ''VideoGame/{{Contra}}'' games ''Contra: Legacy of War'' and ''C: The Contra Adventure'' sat very badly with fans; even Konami themselves canceled plans to release them in Japan. The few ''Contra'' fans who actually pay attention to the series' storyline tend to ignore the retcons made to the timeline in ''Contra 4'', in which ''Operation C'' (originally a solo mission by Bill Rizer against a nameless nation who were cloning the aliens from the first two games) is now revised into a previous mission of "Mad Dog" and "Scorpion" (not Bill and Lance themselves, but the new characters from ''Contra 4'' who inherited their former American nicknames) against the alien Black Viper, which ignores the fact that ''Operation C'' was actually a single-player only game and that the stages were clearly set in artificial labs and lacked usual WombLevel seen at the end of other games.

* Even gamers who liked the original ''VideoGame/{{Bubsy}} the Bobcat'' games, as repetitive and derivative of other [[MascotWithAttitude mascot platformers]] as they were, disowned ''Bubsy 3D'' for the [=PlayStation=]. The major reasons for this abysmal reputation are spectacularly unfortunate timing and just how bad ''Bubsy 3D'' is as a platformer. The developers of Creator/{{Accolade}} decided to take the series in a 3D direction and started production of ''Bubsy 3D''... around the same time as Creator/{{Nintendo}} started to develop ''VideoGame/SuperMario64''. ''Bubsy 3D'' came out four months ''after'' the much better ''Super Mario 64'' had been released, and failed miserably at the genre even by the early standards of lesser 3D games. They also decided to take Bubsy's snarky commentary to a whole new level--which would have been fine, except that rather than hiring Creator/RobPaulsen again, they hired Creator/LaniMinella, who provided what may be the most annoying voice possible for the character (think [[Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog Omochao]], but with a Brooklyn accent; it's literally the same voice actress). It honestly made the older ''Bubsy'' games look absolutely brilliant in comparison.

* Many ''VideoGame/CrashBandicoot'' fans prefer to pretend that any games beyond ''VideoGame/CrashBandicoot3Warped''/''VideoGame/CrashTeamRacing'' doesn't exist due to differing developers post-Creator/NaughtyDog (although opinions are divided on ''VideoGame/CrashBash'' and ''VideoGame/CrashTwinsanity'' in this regard). Also, most fans of the Creator/NaughtyDog games (and fans of the series in general) want to pretend that ''VideoGame/CrashOfTheTitans'' and ''VideoGame/CrashMindOverMutant'' don't exist due to the numerous characterisation, design and gameplay changes. Creator/{{Activision}} themselves seem to have caught on, as 2020's ''VideoGame/CrashBandicoot4ItsAboutTime'' picks up right after ''Warped'' in an AlternateTimeline where the post-Naughty Dog games never happened.

* A good portion of the ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamSeries'' fanbase feels this way about the 2013 prequel ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamOrigins'' because it was [[BTeamSequel developed by Warner Bros. Games Montreal instead of Rocksteady Studios]], contained many [[GameBreakingBug Game-Breaking Bugs]] at launch (some of which still haven't been fixed), and [[ContinuitySnarl contradicted some of the established backstory from]] ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum'' and ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamCity''. Rocksteady Studios director Sefton Hill acknowledged that the game was canon in a 2014 interview and their 2015 sequel ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight'' contains several {{Continuity Nod}}s to ''Origins''. Despite this, some still refuse to acknowledge it as canon. It doesn't help that ''Arkham Origins'' was excluded from the CompilationRereleases ''Return to Arkham'' (Which included eighth gen re-releases of ''Asylum'' and ''City'', but not ''Origins''), along with the ''Arkham Collection'' (Which included the updated ''Asylum'' and ''City'' releases, along with ''Knight'', but no ''Origins''), leading ''Origins'' fans to believe that WB had gone back on their word and officially declared ''Origins'' CanonDiscontinuity.

* A good portion of the ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamSeries'' fanbase feels this way about the 2013 prequel ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamOrigins'' because it was [[BTeamSequel developed by Warner Bros. Games Montreal instead of Rocksteady Studios]], contained many [[GameBreakingBug Game-Breaking Bugs]] at launch (some of which still haven't been fixed), and [[ContinuitySnarl contradicted some of the established backstory from]] ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum'' and ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamCity''. Rocksteady Studios director Sefton Hill acknowledged that the game was canon in a 2014 interview and their 2015 sequel ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight'' contains several {{Continuity Nod}}s to ''Origins''. Despite this, some still refuse to acknowledge it as canon. It doesn't help that ''Arkham Origins'' was excluded from the CompilationRerelease titled ''Return to Arkham'', leading ''Origins'' fans to believe that WB had gone back on their word and officially declared ''Origins'' CanonDiscontinuity.

** Entire expansions, or key parts of expansions, have gone through periods of FanonDiscontinuity, some of which continue today. ''Cataclysm'', which overhauled all vanilla game content, remains controversial. Alliance players in particular reject large portions of it. The unpopular ''Warlords of Draenor'', which takes place on another planet, can be ignored completely. [[labelnote:*]]Opinions were similarly split on ''Mists of Pandaria'', which also takes place on a continent removed from the rest of the setting, but these days the expansion and story have more fan acceptance.[[/labelnote]] ''Battle for Azeroth'' has entire phases that have met the same fandom fate as ''Warlords,'' particularly the Nazjatar zone and storyline. Events surrounding Teldrassil during ''Battle'' are extremely controversial for both factions.

** There's a good number of people who like to pretend the third case of the second game[[note]]''Justice For All'''s Turnabout Big Top[[/note]] never happened. This didn't used to present many problems, as the only reference to the case back then was a poster in ''Trials & Tribulations'', but references to it managed to creep themselves into the ''[[VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigationsMilesEdgeworth Ace Attorney Investigations]]'' subseries. Fortunately, the [[Anime/AceAttorney anime adaptation]] made the case more bearable.

** Nintendo officially considers ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRun'' to be a "mainline" ''Super Mario'' game, even putting it alongside the other ''Mario'' platformers on the [[https://mario.nintendo.com/history/ franchise's website]]. However many fans prefer to see it as a spin-off instead of a main entry, due to its different approach to 2D Mario gameplay compared to other 2D ''Mario'' games and being on mobile devices as opposed to a Nintendo console. This even led to [[NoTrueScotsman issues]] when ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBrosWonder'' was announced, with many fans referring to the game as the next mainline 2D title after ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBrosU'', despite ''Run'' having released between them. Contributing to the confusion, Nintendo [[https://www.nintendo.com/whatsnew/nintendo-direct-june-2023-recap/ officially considers]], alongside some other fans, ''Wonder'' the first ''traditional'' 2D ''Super Mario Bros.'' game in more than 10 years while still acknowledging ''Run'' and the ''VideoGame/SuperMarioMaker'' series official status as mainline games.

** Many ''VideoGame/MarioKart'' fans refuse to acknowldge that ''VideoGame/MarioKartTour'' is part the main ''Mario Kart'' series and prefer to see it as a disconnected side game (similar to the ''VideoGame/MarioKartArcadeGP'' series and ''Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit'') despite Nintendo clearly considering it as such. The reasons for this include the game's infamous gacha mechanics and microtransactions, the fact that it doesn't have a proper set of cups and has players wait for certain tracks to be available and many players not being happy with Nintendo giving a mobile game more attention than a console game, with it being constantly updated with new karts and characters such as [[VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry the various Kongs]], [[VideoGame/SuperMarioOdyssey Pauline]], [[VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2 Birdo]], [[VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld Chargin' Chuck]], and [[VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld2YoshisIsland Kamek]], characters that fans have wanted for many years. The initial heat died down a bit with the announcement of the ''Booster Course Pass'' DLC for ''VideoGame/MarioKart8'' ''[[UpdatedReRelease Deluxe]]'' where ''Tour'''s exclusive tracks and most beforementioned characters were into a console game, but the fact remains that many fans still refuse to consider ''Tour'' as a mainline ''Mario Kart'' game. Like with ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRun'' a particular distinction also exists in that, while officially a mainline game, it's not a numbered entry like console games have been since ''VideoGame/MarioKart7''.

** Many ''VideoGame/MarioKart'' fans refuse to acknowldge that ''VideoGame/MarioKartTour'' is part the main ''Mario Kart'' series and prefer to see it as a disconnected side game (similar to the ''VideoGame/MarioKartArcadeGP'' series) despite Nintendo clearly considering it as such. The reasons for this include the game's infamous gacha mechanics and microtransactions, the fact that it doesn't have a proper set of tracks or cups and has players wait for certain tracks to be available, the lack of game modes as time trial or battle mode (which do show up actually, albeit in the form of challenges) and many players not being happy with Nintendo giving a mobile game more attention than a console game, with it being constantly updated with new karts and characters such as [[VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry the various Kongs]], [[VideoGame/DonkeyKong Pau]][[VideoGame/SuperMarioOdyssey line]], [[VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2 Birdo]], [[VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld Chargin' Chuck]], and [[VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld2YoshisIsland Kamek]], characters that the fanbase has been begging for for many years now. The heat died down a bit with the announcement of the ''Booster Course Pass'' DLC for ''VideoGame/MarioKart8'' ''[[UpdatedReRelease Deluxe]]'' and its inclusion of ''Tour'''s exclusive tracks into a console game, but the fact remains that many fans still refuse to consider ''Tour'' as a mainline ''Mario Kart'' game.

** ''The Answer'', the PlayableEpilogue in ''[[UpdatedRerelease Persona 3 FES]]'', [[BrokenBase is a bit contentious]] due how OOC the cast is perceived to be by many players (most notably [[spoiler:Yukari causing the party to go at each other's throats because she wanted to risk bringing back Nyx to save the Protagonist]]), its difficulty, and [[ShaggyDogStory nothing the player does affecting the story]] (for example, [[spoiler:Chidori]] is still dead, despite whether or not you went through the conditions to bring her back).

* ''VideoGame/StarcraftII'' is discontinued by many fans of the original game because of its important retcons, sometimes even overriding MemeticBadass statements and lines of ''Brood War'', and because of the not much plausible developments which happened between the two games. Among the most infamous contenders: everything that was done between Kerrigan and the Overmind and the Zerg origins, the [[spoiler:"redemption"]] of the Zerg, the complexities of the Protoss society being handwaved with black & white stances, Raynor turned out from [[spoiler:"I'm the man who is gonna kill you" (although there is a ContinuityNod with him remembering Fenix at some point)]], Mengsk suddenly rebuilding everything and even more in so few years despite he was left totally beaten and ruined by Kerrigan, the lackluster final battle against the BigBad, the excess of space magic and space gods, the whole thing of prophecies as plot devices.
** Some vocal minorities might also do this because the multiplayer, which is a core part of the community to the point of becoming one of the most played e-sports ever, is simplified in certain aspects compared to Brood War. For example, deathballs are now common and easily exploitable, and while some players think that you need skilled micromanagment and quick planning decisions to assemble effective ones (and neuter them) because of the focus on soft and hard counters, other consider them a cheap way of issuing orders to units all packed together.

** Nintendo officially considers ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRun'' to be a "mainline" ''Super Mario'' game, even putting it alongside the other ''Mario'' platformers on the franchise's website. However many fans prefer to see it as a spin-off instead of a main entry, due to its different approach to 2D Mario gameplay compared to other 2D Mario games and being on mobile devices as opposed to a Nintendo console. This has even led to [[NoTrueScotsman issues]] when ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBrosWonder'' was announced, with fans referring to the game as the next mainline 2D title after ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBrosU'', despite ''Run'' having released between them.

* ''VideoGame/StarcraftII'' is discontinued by many fans of the original game because of its important retcons, sometimes even overriding MemeticBadass statements and lines of ''Brood War'', and because of the not much plausible developments which happened between the two games. Among the most infamous contenders: everything that was done between Kerrigan and the Overmind and the Zerg origins, the [[spoiler:"redemption"]] of Zerg, the complexities of th Protoss society being handwaved with black & white stances, Raynor turned out from [[spoiler:"I'm the man who is gonna kill you" (although there is a ContinuityNod with him remembering Fenix at some point)]], Mengsk suddenly rebuilding everything and even more in so few years despite he was left totally beaten and ruined by Kerrigan, the lackluster final battle against the BigBad, the excess of space magic and space gods, the whole thing of prophecies as plot devices.

* ''VideoGame/StarcraftII'' is discontinued by many fans of the original game because of its important retcons, sometimes even overriding MemeticBadass statements and lines of ''Brood War'', and because of the not much plausible developments which happened between the two games. Among the most infamous contenders: everything that was done between Kerrigan and the Overmind, Raynor turned out from [[spoiler:"I'm the man who is gonna kill you" (although there is a ContinuityNod with him remembering Fenix at some point)]], Mengsk suddenly rebuilding everything and even more in so few years while he was left beaten and shadowed by Kerrigan.
** Some vocal minorities might also do this because the multiplayer, which has become a core part of the community to the point of becoming one of the most played e-sports ever, is simplified in certain aspects compared to Brood War. For example, deathballs are now common and easily exploitable, and while some players think that you need skilled micromanagment to assemble effective ones, other consider them a cheap way of issuing orders to units.

** Nintendo officially considers ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRun'' to be a "mainline" ''Super Mario'' game, even putting it alongside the other ''Mario'' platformers on the franchise's website. However many fans prefer to see it as a spin-off instead of a main entry, due to its different approach to 2D Mario gameplay compared to other 2D Mario games and being on mobile devices as opposed to a Nintendo console. This has even led to [[NoTrueScotsman issues]] on this site when ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBrosWonder'' was announced, with editors referring to the game as the next mainline 2D title after ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBrosU'', despite ''Run'' having released between them.

** Nintendo officially considers ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRun'' to be a "mainline" ''Super Mario'' game, even putting it alongside the other ''Mario'' platformers on the franchise's website. However many fans prefer to see it as a spin-off instead of a main entry, due to its different approach to 2D Mario gameplay compared to other 2D Mario games and being on mobile devices as opposed to a Nintendo console. This has even led to [[NoTrueScotman issues]] on this site when ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBrosWonder'' was announced, with editors referring to the game as the next mainline 2D title after ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBrosU'', despite ''Run'' having released between them.