History Main / EvenBetterSequel

** Not really a sequal, but the Spanish-language version of the 1931 ''Dracula'' is widely considered a better film by those who've watched them both. It was filmed concurrently by Universal's night shift, using the same sets, by a director who got to watch the previous day's English-language footage and make changes to scenes that didn't work so well.

* The {{Pokémon}} anime has managed this with both sequel series (under Japan's definition of the word.) The first two years of the first series are still well remembered but then came Johto, where it took Ash three years to earn eight badges, resulting in a lot of formulaic filler. (Though the third Johto dub season, "Master Quest" could also count for this trope.) ''Advance Generation'' threw in a new plotline to keep things moving, didn't allow Hoenn to outstay its welcome and generally made the filler a little more interesting. ''Diamond and Pearl'' then featured stronger character development, put more thought into training and, while more time was spent in Sinnoh than Johto, extra random mini-arcs were added in to keep things interesting. The treatment of the regional villains, the biggest complaint of the Hoenn era, was also far better.

** ''BirthBySleep'' has been called by some reviewers the best game since the original. It returns the platforming elements that the first game had, retains the flashy and fun battle system from the sequel but ramps up the difficulty, and the story is a throwback to the first game and for it is much simpler compared to the KudzuPlot that the overarcing story of the series has become.

* [[YourMileageMayVary Depending]] [[UnpleasableFanbase on]] [[BrokenBase who]] [[FanDumb you]] [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks ask]], Fallout 3's changing of the series from isometric, turn-based to first-person shooting gameplay was a much needed, massive improvement.

* [[YourMileageMayVary Depending]] [[UnpleasableFanbase on]] [[BrokenBase who]] you ask, Fallout 3's changing of the series from isometric, turn-based to first-person shooting gameplay was a much needed, massive improvement.

* In terms of ''gameplay'' (YourMileageMayVary [[KudzuPlot in story]]), KingdomHeartsII is considered an improvement over the original KingdomHearts.

* ''SinAndPunishment'' is a great rail shooter, only marred by the analog stick controls (although the game is designed around it). ''SinAndPunishment2'' takes full advantage of the Wii's pointer functionality for more refined controls, succeeds in being significantly longer and more epic without resorting to FakeLongevity (an impressive feat considering the genre of the game), and boasts smoother visuals and framerate.

* ''{{Street Fighter}}'' and ''{{Mortal Kombat}}'' both have this. The original ''Street Fighter'' was a somewhat popular, if RIDICULOUSLY hard fighter that was a nice change from Karate Champ. SF2 came out, and pretty much launched the fighting game craze of the 90's and has been the inspiration for pretty much every fighter made since. For MK, the first one was popular [[Fatality (for obvious reasons)]] but the second game introduced the series signature dark tone, and is widely considered to be the best 16 bit MK game, and possibly the best of the series.

* ''MegaMan'' was a revolutionary combination of solid graphics, gameplay and soundtrack, widely regarded as a great game. ''Mega Man 2'' improves on every aspect of the original, removes the unnecessary point system, garnering it universal praise typically referring to it as at the very least "better than the original." Mega Man 2, 20+ years and four generations of console gaming after its release, remains securely entrenched as the best-selling installment of the Mega Man Classic series.

* ''SonicTheHedgehog'' was a fun platformer for the Genesis that featured the novel concept of rolling into a ball and smashing into enemies at high speeds. Unfortunately, the game required you to accelerate for lengthy periods before you were allowed to do this, and many of the levels were standard platforming affairs, not the rollercoaster-in-the-sky designs the series later became known for. [[SonicTheHedgehog2 The sequel]] added Sonic's best friend Tails, more varied bosses and enemies, better music, multiplayer, streamlined level design, and Sonic's trademark Spindash ability.
** Don't forget [[SuperMode Super Sonic.]]

*** Let's not forget [[OneGameForThePriceOfTwo Sonic & Knuckles]], which acted as the "Director's Cut" of Sonic III when attached, and which introduced the one-game-only [[strike: Super Saiyan 2 Sonic]] Hyper Sonic. Some fans consider this the pinnacle of Sonic's career, even more than Sonic III by itself.

* ''Mega Man'' was a revolutionary combination of solid graphics, gameplay and soundtrack, widely regarded as a great game. ''Mega Man 2'' improves on every aspect of the original, removes the unnecessary point system, garnering it universal praise typically referring to it as at the very least "better than the original." Mega Man 2, 20+ years and four generations of console gaming after its release, remains securely entrenched as the best-selling installment of the Mega Man Classic series.

* ''{{Persona3}}'' was an excellent, intelligent game combining tried and true RPG devices with an intriguing social simulation system. ''{{Persona4}}'' greatly improved the battle system, provided even better artwork, smoothed out the pacing and writing, and generally provided a more cohesive gaming experience.

* {{SuperSmashBros}} was awesome...but [[SuperSmashBrosMelee Melee]] was a HUGE HIT! And not just better than the first: It was the Nintendo Gamecube's BEST Selling Game! Finding someone who actually hates that game is like trying to find a microscopic needle in a country-sized haystack. Plenty of fans also find [[SuperSmashBrosBrawl Brawl]] even better than Melee, and not just the fans. Critics gave Brawl a very positive review, recieving a 93% score on Megacritic, and 92.7% on Game Rankings. Brawl was ranked "Fighting Game of the Year" of 2008 by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. As of March 2010, it has sold a total of 9.48 million copies worldwide, and is the eighth best-selling Wii game. And [[CrowningMusicOfAwesome the music score]] for the game was highly praised as well. Despite all this though, the game was not immune to some backlash...[[UnpleasableFanbase fans]] [[YourMileageMayVary will]] [[InternetBacklash be]] [[BrokenBase fans...]]

It's possible that in the musical world, EvenBetterSequel is the rule rather the exception, considering that an artist's first album (though still good) may have been recorded when they were still trying to figure out their style. Also common in video games, where the sequel is often built on the technological and fictional foundation of the first, significantly reducing the time needed to come up with or adapt new technology or build the game's world, and allowing the developers to focus on enhancing the things that worked and prune the things that didn't. Sequals in any medium may also benefit from the higher budget and greater creative freedom that are afforded to a proven franchise, provided the beancounters have the good sense to refrain from ExecutiveMeddling.

** However, the two works weren't necessarily written in order, or even by the same person. It could be that TheIliad is an inferior prequel.

* Joanna Newsom's first album, ''The Milk-Eyed Mender'', was a cute folky affair that garnered a largely positive reaction. Her ''second'' album, ''Ys'', knocked everyone's socks off and is generally considered one of the best (if [[MindScrew strangest]]) albums of 2006.

* ''SilentHill'' is a legendary exercise in pants-wetting and an excellent example of what happens when even the ''creators themselves'' find the MindScrew impenetrable. ''SilentHill 2'' however vastly improved the clunky combat controls, reduced the number of useless side characters while making the remaining ones interesting (with the [[TheScrappy exception]] of [[BrattyHalfPint Laura]]), altered the monster designs from "merely" terrifying to utterly bizarre and [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic incredibly]] [[FreudWasRight symbolic]], possesses some wonderfully [[SoundtrackDissonance dissonant]] music, and contains a truly awesome plot with an equally so twist. ''SilentHill 3'' further improved the combat controls while returning the monster variations and numbers to the level of the first game, ''completely'' removed all useless side characters, kept the symbolism while increasing the RuleOfScary by at least a magnitude (screaming decapitated mannequin, anyone?), and contains plenty of music that is horrifiyng regardless of context. Unfortunately, while not necessarily terrible, none of the subsequent games are improvements.