History Main / MissionPackSequel

-->-- '''[[WebAnimation/ZeroPunctuation Yahtzee Croshaw]],''' [[http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/1871-Super-Mario-Galaxy-2 in discussion of]] ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2.''

** The video game adaptation of ''Film/TheSumOfAllFears'' is another case, taking the ''Ghost Recon'' version of the engine to adapt another Creator/TomClancy book-turned-movie. Amusingly, the game starting you off in the shoes of the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team makes it pretty close to the original plan for the ''Rainbow Six'' game before the endorsement deal with Clancy.

* The ''VideoGame/RType'' games for the Japanese [[Platform/TurboGrafx16 PC Engine]] are a literal example of this trope. Hudson (the developers of the PCE port) was unable to port all of the arcade version's stages into one [=HuCard=] due to memory constraints, so they split the game into two halves. ''R-Type I'' contains the first half of the game, while ''R-Type II'' (not to be confused with the actual arcade sequel of the same name) has the later stages. However, when Hudson later made the American [=TurboGrafx16=] version, they released it on a larger [=HuCard=] capable of containing the entire game. The full game was also ported to the PC Engine Super CD as ''R-Type Complete'', with the addition of cutscenes and a Redbook audio soundtrack.

* While the first ''VideoGame/WingCommander'' ExpansionPack is exactly that on the PC, it was released as an expansion pack sequel on the Platform/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem due to ''Wing Commander'' not being worth a highly expensive pass-through cartridge (like ''Sonic & Knuckles'').

* ''VideoGame/RollerCoasterTycoon 2'', which has been nicknamed "1.5" by its critics. There's new ride types and new scenarios, as well as significant overhauls to the engine, but overall it still uses much of the same underlying code and assets as the first game. It goes to the extent that ''[=OpenRCT2=]'' (an open-source reconstruction) and ''[=RollerCoaster Tycoon Classic=]'' (an UpdatedRerelease) both run the first game's scenarios on the second game's engine. That said, the second game is much more beloved by fans of the series compared to the first. The third game went the complete opposite direction, [[ThirdIs3D starting with jumping to full 3D]], to generally mixed results.
* ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossingCityFolk'' receives some criticism for this when compared to ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossingWildWorld''; there aren't as many changes as there were going from the original to the DS, or from the Wii to the [=3DS=], or from the [=3DS=] to the Switch. The graphical style is largely the same, the soundtrack is identical, and you can even import your character from ''Wild World'' when creating a save file. The main differences are the addition of the city (which is where most of the previous games' travelling characters were moved), the return of real-world holidays from the first game, and additional villager interactions and dialogue.

* The [[VideoGame/{{X}} X-Universe]] has this with ''X3: Albion Prelude'' being essentially built from the same engine as the previous game, ''X3: Terran Conflict''. ''Albion Prelude'' requires an install of ''Terran Conflict'', and it adds very little new content aside from a new plot, a few new ships, and some interface and AI changes. ''X3 Reunion'' is somewhat of a mission-pack sequel to ''X2 The Threat''; while it has a [[SceneryPorn new graphics engine]], it changes relatively little in regards to gameplay.

* While all the ''VideoGame/AceCombat'' games do play rather similarly, the only true case of this is ''[[VideoGame/AceCombatZeroTheBelkanWar Zero]]'' to ''[[VideoGame/AceCombat5TheUnsungWar 5]]'', which is apparent to the point of sharing few maps for different missions. ''Zero'' does add more enemy aces and an Assault Record to keep track of them, as well as a few new planes and the return of multiple special weapons per plane (although at the cost of the sheer variety of planes from ''5'') alongside split-screen multiplayer from ''VideoGame/AceCombat04ShatteredSkies''. ''VideoGame/AceCombatInfinity'' is a similar case, reusing most assets from ''[[VideoGame/AceCombatAssaultHorizon Assault Horizon]]'' to create a new game which [[MythologyGag calls back to every previous game in the series]].

* ''VideoGame/TonyHawksUnderground 2 Remix'' for PSP is this to the original [=PS2=] game. It simply adds 4 more levels to the game - Kyoto, Santa Cruz, Atlanta, and Las Vegas. Kyoto and Santa Cruz would go on to be playable in ''Tony Hawk's American Wasteland'' for [=PS2=], and the other two are also available in the later US-only ''Collector's Edition''.
* A sequel to the arcade version of ''VideoGame/PunchOut'' was produced, titled ''Super Punch-Out!!'' like the later SNES game. The only differences between the two arcade games, besides the opponents you face and haircut of your character, is the addition of an extra button used for dodging attacks (which is required to avoid certain moves) and a more detailed display of top scores.
* The {{Platform/MSX}} versions of ''VideoGame/TrackAndField'' (also known as ''Hyper Olympic'') and ''Hyper Sports'' split the original arcade games into two and three installments, respectively, though with some extra events added. ''Hyper Sports'' can be considered an Event Pack Sequel in the first place, since not much is changed from the original ''Track & Field'' except for the types of events offered.

* The ''VideoGame/{{Splinter Cell|1}}'' sequel ''[[VideoGame/SplinterCellPandoraTomorrow Pandora Tomorrow]]'' fits the description as far as the single-player campaign is concerned, which is even shorter than the original. ''Pandora Tomorrow'' is the first ''VideoGame/SplinterCell'' game to feature multiplayer, but that's essentially a separate game in the same box. In fact, the game was actually meant to be an expansion for the first game, with ''[[VideoGame/SplinterCellChaosTheory Chaos Theory]]'' being the true "Splinter Cell 2", but then it was released as a separate game, and so NumberedSequels [[StoppedNumberingSequels went out the door]] to try and keep them from getting too confusing.
* ''VideoGame/Hitman2'' and ''VideoGame/Hitman3'' were originally intended to be expansion packs to ''VideoGame/Hitman2016'', which at that point had been structurally released as an EpisodicGame. The circumstances that resulted in this were actually very complicated; the intent was to simply patch in new episodes using ''2016'' as the base framework, but following the release of the first "season", developer Creator/IOInteractive [[ScrewedByTheNetwork was abruptly dropped by their publisher]], Creator/SquareEnix, due to the game [[AcclaimedFlop significantly underperforming]]. While IOI was miraculously able to retain ownership of the ''Hitman'' IP[[note]]The IP is essentially an exclusive license given to IOI from Square Enix, meaning that IOI are free to make games with the ''Hitman'' IP as they choose, but Square Enix still had some access to it, though to what degree is unknown[[/note]], and they managed to partner up with Creator/WarnerBrosInteractiveEntertainment for the production of ''2'' as an indie studio, IOI was put in tremendous financial difficulty and was almost completely broke by 2017 (according to staff, they had 4 months of savings to go off of before bankruptcy even after mass layoffs), so to recoup their budgets, ''2'' and ''3'' became one of the rare mission-pack sequel releases of TheNewTens done out of legitimate financial necessity. The good news is that because IOI retained all previous ''Hitman'' content, [[EmbeddedPrecursor each sequel was able to include all previous missions in the trilogy as free DLC]]; with the trilogy's completion in 2021, any newcomers can simply hop in with ''3'' as the only purposes the previous games serve are to get locations and items via the OldSaveBonus system, and are otherwise obsolete.

* ''VideoGame/{{Crusader}}: No Remorse'', a game of 15 missions and a surprisingly detailed storyline for a mid-90s shoot-em-up, was followed up with ''No Regret'', a game of 10 missions (though they were longer and more difficult), a few new weapons (and some weapons removed), a couple of new graphical touches, a couple of new enemies, a very straightforward plot (thought admittedly featuring live-action cinematics with improved CGI effects), a few of Origin's trademark awesome {{Feelies}}, some background information on the setting, and not much else. A mixup in the factory led to many copies of ''No Remorse'' being mislabelled on the CD as ''No Regret''.
* ''VideoGame/GhostReconAdvancedWarfighter2'', particularly the console version, is more or less the first ''GRAW'' with a new campaign and some gameplay tweaks.

* ''VideoGame/NintendoWars'':
** ''Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising'' is the same game as the first game, only adding one new unit, some new CO's, and a 2-tier power system. ''Advance Wars: Dual Strike'' does the same thing, adding even more new units and CO's while including dual-screen maps and the ability to use two CO's as tag partners.
** ''Game Boy Wars Turbo'' and ''Game Boy Wars 2'' are also this to ''Game Boy Wars'', although ''Game Boy Wars 2'' removes one of the two cheaper indirect units. Surprisingly, ''Game Boy Wars 3'' is based on ''VideoGame/{{Nectaris}}'' instead and has quite a few units, even without the promoted units added into the mix.

* In Japan, ''VideoGame/ShiningForceIII'' was released in three scenarios, each of which presents a different character's side of the story. America [[NoExportForYou only got the first scenario]].

* Downplayed with the sequels to ''VideoGame/SilentStorm'', both of which run on the original game's engine with a few enhancements. ''Silent Storm: Sentinels'' is a stand-alone expansion pack but feels like a cut-down version of the original. The addition of the post-mission gather button feels like it could've been done in a patch. The addition of a weight-based backpack system (to the already-existing size-based one), a monetary system for equipment, and weapon degradation only serve to annoy players. Unlike the original, '''S3''' has only one campaign (shorter too), and less options for the main character's voice (no Russian accent for a game made in Russia). However, many of the characters from the original game (both sides) are now available to be recruited. ''Hammer & Sickle'' takes place during the height of the UsefulNotes/ColdWar in the same setting. The game is more RPG in style than a tactical shooter, but the essentials are the same. However, ''H&S'' does not have {{Game Breaker}}s like [[PoweredArmor Panzerkleins]] or energy weapons. The ''Literature/NightWatchSeries'' and ''Day Watch'' games are also based on the same engine, but the use of magic and another dimension add a whole new gameplay element. While the game includes pistols, they are [[GunsAreUseless almost useless]] and cannot be targeted at body parts.
* ''VideoGame/AgeOfWonders 2'' is close to being this compared to the first game, retaining the same play style as ''Age of Wonders'' but with improved graphics. The next sequel, ''Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic'' is an even better example, being almost the same game, just with a new campaign and two new playable races. ''VideoGame/AgeOfWonders3'', however, is a total aversion, having very little in common with the other games in the series.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsA2'' reuses character assets and core mechanics from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsAdvance'', but most see it as a good thing for taking what worked in ''Advance'' and tweaking it for a better game.

* ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'' has several games that are expansion packs towards each other. ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto2'' reuses a lot of game mechanics and sounds from the first game while tweaking the gameplay, such as being able to take a few gunshots before dying. ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoViceCity'' is effectively an expansion pack to ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIII'' by having new weapons and a new setting while still retaining the old stuff, like specific cars (most which were changed to reflect how they could have looked in the 1980s) and general movement. ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas'' takes the expansion further by adding more vehicles, tweaking the core gameplay concept, and adding lots of new things, like character stats and customization. All of this, combined with ''Vice City'' and ''San Andreas'' being the first in the series to have concrete links to previous games, caused people to refer to these games as "the GTA III era". It wasn't until ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV'' that nothing but the concept of the game remained the same.
* ''VideoGame/SaintsRowIV'' provides a complicated case. It uses the exact same engine and world map as ''VideoGame/SaintsRowTheThird'', but adds in enough new gameplay content (most notably superpowers that completely change how you cruise around the map, and more powerful enemies and weapons) so as to flirt at the edges of being one of these, but avoid falling fully into the classification. A more traditional example comes from the jump from the original ''VideoGame/{{Saints Row|1}}'' to ''VideoGame/SaintsRow2'' - it's based on the same engine and world map, but other than some changed areas to reflect the TimeSkip, slightly more in-depth character customization (such as the ability to play as a woman), and the Boss no longer being a HeroicMime, they're effectively the same game with minor gameplay/graphical tweaks and a different set of missions.

* ''VideoGame/WiiFit Plus'' is near-identical to the original except for new exercises and "balance games". It even allows you to [[OldSaveBonus import your save data]] from the original. Really, you might as well just trade in the original game when you get it, because it's useless if you have Plus.

* The sequel to ''VideoGame/{{Silverball}}'' is ''Silverball Plus 2'', which re-releases the original game and includes two more DigitalPinballTables from ''VideoGame/EpicPinball''.

* ''VideoGame/IntoSpace'': The third game plays largely the same as the second game, with few changes to the overall gameplay. It's set apart mainly by a Christmas theme and a different game goal.
* Flash game ''Crush The Castle 2: Players Pack'' changes the levels that were in the previous game to ones generated by users.

* ''Film/NightAtTheMuseum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian''. Sure, everything is beefed up given it goes from the single building AMNH to a whole complex in the Smithsonian. But a lot is recycled from the original.
* ''Film/HomeAlone2LostInNewYork'' to the first movie. This time, Kevin is left alone in New York and sets up a bunch of traps to take out Harry and Marv.
* ''Film/TheHangoverPartII'' feels like part 2 of ''The Hangover'' part 1, except replace "Vegas" with "Bangkok", and is [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] by the cast with repeated utterances of "It happened again" and its variants.

* Sam Flynn goes through many of the same experiences in ''Film/TronLegacy'' that his father did in ''Film/{{Tron}}'', in the same order: getting digitized by the laser and imprisoned in the Game Grid, being forced to fight in gladiatorial combat, escaping from the light cycle arena through a hole in the wall, having an ally seriously injured (Ram dies, Quorra gets better), and boarding a solar sailer which is captured by the enemy carrier. Thirty-two years, a larger scale and a rather different aesthetic help disguise this and makes them feel more like a homage to the original rather than a direct rip-off, but the comparison remains a valid one.

* ''Franchise/StarWars: Film/TheForceAwakens'' is a revamp of [[Film/ANewHope the original movie]] (with elements of the two follow-ups), following a youngster on a desert world who finds a droid filled with classified information, leaves said planet on the ''Millennium Falcon'', and learns about the Force while also joining a paramilitary group against a totalitarian army which has a planet-destroying weapon.
* ''Film/TheMatrixResurrections'' follows several plot points from the first ''Film/TheMatrix'', to the point that it frequently cuts between its own footage and clips from the original film.

* This is the case for several ''VideoGame/MechWarrior'' games within a specific era -- each new series of sequels is drastically different in gameplay from the others.
** ''Mechwarrior 2'' is the original, while ''Ghost Bear's Legacy'' trades off the two-faction system for a single linear narrative with new missions, 'Mechs, and equipment, but effectively the same gameplay. ''Mercenaries'' is still the same gameplay-wise, but had more 'Mechs (again), a slightly more open world to play in, and an optional persistent inventory/asset management section.
** ''Mechwarrior 3'' is its own stand-alone game, and ''Pirate's Moon'' is just a playable standalone sequel featuring new 'Mechs and gear and a new mercenary campaign. It is also notable for averting NoCampaignForTheWicked and having a playable Pirate campaign, where you learn that yes, the pirates really are all violent thugs and psychopathic assholes.
** In ''Mechwarrior 4'' the original storyline focuses around the trials of Ian Dresari, while ''Black Knight'' plays off that campaign while, again, introducing more 'Mechs and gear. ''Mercenaries'' takes the same route of its predecessor in the 2 era, once again providing more 'Mechs and a more open world--the difference being that the persistent inventory and asset management portion of the game had since become standard for the ''4'' era.

* ''VideoGame/Sonic3AndKnuckles'' is actually a literal case of this: ''Sonic 3'' was originally intended to be one long game, but the developers, [[ChristmasRushed pressed for time]], released only the first half of the game as ''Sonic the Hedgehog 3'', and then released the rest as ''Sonic & Knuckles'' six months later. But since the new ''Sonic & Knuckles'' cartridge can be locked on with a ''Sonic 3'' cartridge, the two can be played together back-to-back as they were originally intended (and as a plus, joining ''Sonic & Knuckles'' with ''Sonic 2'' lets you play the latter game with Knuckles as a player character, while joining it with ''Sonic 1'' or other games lets you play a minigame based on the ''Sonic 3 & Knuckles'' special stages).

* ''VideoGame/Jak3Wastelander'' is very similar to ''VideoGame/JakIIRenegade'', and feels more like ''Jak II 2'' than a new sequel, primarily because the Haven City setting from ''II'' returns with a very large amount of time spent there in the familiar streets. This feeling is likely drawn from how vastly different ''Jak II'' is from its predecessor, ''VideoGame/JakAndDaxterThePrecursorLegacy''. However, it's ''still'' a huge game, with two giant open-world environments and the Light Jak powers and new gun mods added, not to mention the new storyline that continues from ''II'' like a "proper" sequel.
* Professional reviews often accused the ''Franchise/RatchetAndClank'' games of being these, even in the jump from [[VideoGame/RatchetAndClank2002 the original]] to [[VideoGame/RatchetAndClankGoingCommando its sequel]]. Though opinions vary on how accurate that assessment is, and considering [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks fan reaction]] when they [[VideoGame/RatchetDeadlocked broke the mold]] [[VideoGame/RatchetAndClankAll4One more than]] [[VideoGame/RatchetAndClankFullFrontalAssault usual]], it's safe to say that the fanbase prefers it that way.
* ''VideoGame/{{Contra}}'':
** The arcade version of ''Super Contra'' is a sufficiently different creature from the original game. However the NES version, titled ''Super C'', is essentially the first NES game with all new stages. The 3D stages are replaced with overhead ones, and the Fire Gun has been revamped: instead of shooting tiny fireballs that travel in a corkscrew pattern, it now fires large ones which split into four fragments when they hit an enemy.
** ''Operation C'' for the Game Boy also qualifies. The play mechanics are ported over from ''Super C'' and the graphic style is also similar to the NES games, but the stages and bosses are all new.
** ''Neo Contra'' is an overhead version of ''Contra: Shattered Soldier'', using the same three-weapons setup, only this time you can choose your weapon configuration and the third weapon now acts as an anti-air attack which takes out airborne enemies.
* ''VideoGame/JetSetWilly II: The Final Frontier'' isn't just "more of the same"--a lot of it ''is'' almost exactly the same! Essentially it's an expanded remake that includes ''all'' the original screens plus some new ones. Originally designed as an Platform/AmstradCPC port of the Platform/ZXSpectrum original, but making use of the extra memory, it was then ported ''back'' to the Spectrum.
* ''Championship Lode Runner'' is like ''VideoGame/LodeRunner'', but with more difficult levels. Creator/{{Irem}} adapted ''Lode Runner'' into four UsefulNotes/{{Arcade Game}}s which differ from each other in little else but levels, including a number of original levels which were brought to the Famicom Disk System as ''Super Lode Runner'' and ''Super Lode Runner II''.
* ''Bonk's Revenge'' and ''Bonk 3'' for the Platform/TurboGrafx16 are this to ''Bonk's Adventure''. ''Revenge'' even reuses a lot of the music from ''Adventure''.
* Hudson's ''VideoGame/AdventureIsland III'' is virtually copy-pasted from ''Adventure Island II'' in terms of graphics, music and play mechanics, with the only major changes being a new dinosaur buddy and a new weapon.
* ''VideoGame/{{Miner 2049er}} Volume II'' for the Platform/{{Atari 2600}} contains three stages from the original game that hadn't appeared in the 2600 version of ''Miner 2049er'', which also has only three stages out of the original ten.
%%ZCE * ''VideoGame/SpyroEnterTheDragonfly'' tries too hard to copy the feel of the games prior to it rather than create a new game.
* ''Cybernoid II: The Revenge'' gives the player a different-looking ship with a few new weapons, but otherwise plays exactly like the original ''Cybernoid''.
* ''VideoGame/RaymanLegends'' has new levels, an updated art engine, and a new type of character (who plays exactly the same as Rayman), but other than that Rayman's abilities haven't been altered at all. It even includes the vast majority of the levels from ''VideoGame/RaymanOrigins''!
* ''VideoGame/KidIcarusOfMythsAndMonsters'' has updated graphics, but the overall feel is the same as the original game. The main difference is the absence of RatchetScrolling, making the game a bit easier.
* ''[[VideoGame/{{Oddworld}} Abe's Exoddus]]'' is this to ''Abe's Oddysee'', featuring the same engine, graphical assets, and physics, but [[EvenBetterSequel improves upon its predecessor]] by being signficantly longer, possessing more involved storytelling in the cutscenes and exposition, bringing in desperately needed AntiFrustrationFeatures[[note]]Quicksaving anywhere, expanding the Gamespeak mechanic to allow better multitasking[[/note]], and bringing in more new puzzle mechanics. The reason for its similarity was that Exoddus wasn't originally supposed to be a true sequel. The developer's original vision of the ''Oddworld'' series was for five games with five different storylines, with each main game having a "bonus" game or two alongside it that would be this trope and not part of the proposed quintology; ''Exoddus'' just happened to be the only one of these bonus games that actually got made.
* ''VideoGame/DuckTales 2'' is effectively a mission pack to the first game, with the same core gameplay and graphics engine, but a new, more expansive set of locales to explore, new abilities for Scrooge, and upgradeable attacks.
* ''VideoGame/KirbysDreamCollection'' features a collection of New Challenge Stages that use the same engine and general design as the challenge stages found in the previous year's ''VideoGame/KirbysReturnToDreamLand''. The new stages do introduce some new ideas, including MultiMookMelee stages and boss races against Magolor.

* ''VideoGame/{{Homeworld}}: Cataclysm'' was apparently supposed to ''be'' an expansion pack to the original game, but ended up becoming a standalone release when the developers started making gameplay and graphics engine changes. The results are [[BrokenBase still controversial]]. Controversy in the plotline aside, the more sequel-like sequel ''Homeworld 2'' uses a control scheme much more similar to ''Cataclysm'''s than that of the first game.

* ''VideoGame/StarCraft'' is an exception, at least mechanically. Originally, it was built on the same engine as ''VideoGame/WarCraft 2'', which caused people to call it ''Warcraft [[RecycledInSpace IN SPACE]]''. It was massively overhauled with a new engine and art style, though it apparently still garnered a lot of "Warcraft in space" accusations, enough so that Blizzard [[SelfDeprecation poked fun at it]] in its expansion, ''Brood War'', with some of Artanis' StopPokingMe lines.
* ''VideoGame/StarCraftIIWingsOfLiberty'' was followed by two standalone games officially referred to as expansion packs, ''VideoGame/StarCraftIIHeartOfTheSwarm'' and ''VideoGame/StarCraftIILegacyOfTheVoid''. You don't need any of the three to play any of the others, each pack adds a 20+ hour campaign and many new units and maps, but they still use the graphics and engine of base [=StarCraft=] 2.

* Almost all of ''VideoGame/{{Patapon}}'' has been recycled into ''Patapon 2'', meaning about a third of ''Patapon 2'' would have the same content, but with additional mechanics and Zigotons swapped out in story mode.
* This is the case for damn near every RhythmGame ever, especially the ''BEMANI'' franchise.
** ''VideoGame/DanceDanceRevolution'' tried to subvert this with the ''Dance Dance Revolution Solo'' sub-series, which uses single-player cabinets with up-left and up-right arrows in addition to the four familiar ones. It didn't last beyond ''DDR 4th Mix PLUS'', though it made a comeback for ''DDR Konamix'', which uses the ''4th Mix'' engine despite being released in 2002, just before the release of the Japanese ''DDR MAX 2''.
** Additionally, ''DDR 3rd Mix'' adds the innovation of a tempo change, but it only occurs while there are no arrows on screen (in the song "Luv This Feeling"). ''DDR 4th Home''/''DDR 5th Arcade'' adds a tempo-freeze with the song "Healing Vision Angelic". ''DDRMAX'' adds a ton of new modifiers (most notably the speed modifiers), an Oni mode, and freeze arrows. The home versions also occasionally add new game play modes (such as the challenges in ''DDR 4th'', the mission modes in ''DDR Universe'', etc.).

* The ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' games. Every generation has had, at minimum, two alternate versions of one game that look and play exactly the same and, up until Gen V, a third UpdatedRerelease that ''also'' looks and plays exactly the same but with a slightly altered storyline. Gens III, IV, VI, VII, and VIII have also included [[VideoGameRemake remakes of past games]], though these aren't quite this trope, as they take place in vastly different locations and commonly feature Pokémon that are extremely hard to get in the other games of their generation.
** ''VideoGame/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2'' is a direct sequel to [[VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite the original games]] story-wise, though the ''gameplay'' is more or less unchanged with a few new features thrown in.
** For a long time, all the ''Pokémon'' games recycled the 8-bit sound effect cries for the creatures in the first and second generations, even once the games had advanced far enough in technology where such a thing wouldn't be needed, and the older cries tended to clash with the higher-quality newer cries. ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'' finally updated them, except for Pikachu's, which is instead replaced entirely with [[PokemonSpeak its voice]] from [[Anime/PokemonTheSeries the anime]]. ''VideoGame/PokemonLetsGoPikachuAndLetsGoEevee'' replaced Eevee's cry with its anime voice as well.
** ''VideoGame/PokemonStadium'' is a somewhat unique case -- the original game, [[NoExportForYou only released in Japan]], has less than a third of the first-generation Pokémon available. There were plans to add the others through a 64DD-based expansion disk, but after the 64DD bombed, Creator/GameFreak opted to just normally release a complete version of the game instead -- ''Stadium 2'' in Japan, localized elsewhere as simply ''Pokémon Stadium''. When it came time for another sequel adding the hundred or so extra mons from Gen II, the Japanese released was named ''Pokémon Stadium [[StoppedNumberingSequels Gold and Silver]]'' (the localization is [[MarketBasedTitle instead called]] ''Pokémon Stadium 2'', which makes perfect sense from a non-Japanese viewpoint but becomes confusing when you know about the original releases).
* ''VideoGame/MightAndMagic VI'''s engine was reused in ''Might & Magic VII'' and ''VIII''; if you know how to play one of those games, you know how to play all three. Might and Magic VI to VII is borderline[[note]]the environmental graphics (with some additions), UI design and core gameplay were the same, but between the change in graphical style for everything else, altered skill mastery system, addition of playable races and vastly altered spell list and spells themselves, it was rather more different to its prior than most other games on this page[[/note]], but VII to VIII is... not, having less fundamental gameplay changes and the same graphical style as VII.

* Creator/SpiderwebSoftware's games, like the ''VideoGame/{{Exile}}''[=/=]''VideoGame/{{Avernum}}'' series, ''VideoGame/{{Nethergate}}'', and the ''VideoGame/{{Geneforge}}'' series, present something of an odd case. The same engine and graphics are recycled for several games with few additions, but when Spiderweb does make a newer engine or better graphics, they are [[VideoGameRemake back-ported]] to all of Spiderweb's older games.
* The Infinity Engine games released by Bioware and Black Isle between 1997-2002 (''VideoGame/BaldursGate 1'' and ''2'', ''VideoGame/IcewindDale 1'' and ''2'',' and ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment''), all use the same engine and play style, with only cosmetic differences, graphic updates, and a few rules tweaks here and there. The games are compatible enough that there exist mods that package the entire ''Baldur's Gate'' saga in a single game, or to run ''Baldur's Gate II'' in the ''Icewind Dale II '' interface. Digging through the game files for ''BGII'' reveals that the entire framework for the Candlekeep prologue mission in ''[=BG1=]'' (including level scripts and dialogue from Gorion) is present (the level layout is reused for a flashback the player character has of Imoen), and many of the items and weapons from the first game are transplanted over with little to no change in their stats or descriptions. That said, ''[=BG2=]'' is a much bigger game than its predecessor, and it's likely that it was designed by using the first game as a template.
* ''VideoGame/DigimonWorldDawnDusk'' for the Nintendo DS, when compared to the first ''VideoGame/DigimonWorldDS''. Aside from changing up the numbers, adding new {{Mons}}, and creating new digivolution paths, it's the same game with almost the exact same graphics and everything. The same goes in turn for the [[NoExportForYou unexported]] sequel, ''Digimon Story: Lost Evolution'', to the point where practically no one has bothered to put out adequately translated information on what's going on because of the sameness.

* ''Chaos Strikes Back'' was originally intended to be an expansion disk for ''VideoGame/DungeonMaster'', but ended up being released as a standalone game, despite being billed as "Expansion Set #1" and misleading packaging saying it requires ''Dungeon Master'' (though starting from an [[OldSaveBonus old saved game]] is recommended).
* ''VideoGame/DragonsDogma: Dark Arisen'' was never marketed as a sequel, or really anything other than what it is: an expansion pack that is sold at full price. The justification is that it includes the original ''Dragon's Dogma'' as well. That said, fans who '''already owned''' the original game were more than a little ticked to discover that they would have to go out and buy it again for no other reason than because Capcom doesn't understand how DownloadableContent works.
* ''VideoGame/GoldenSunTheLostAge'' is a sequel expansion pack to the first game due to not being able to fit both games onto one Platform/GameBoyAdvance cartridge. The sequel reuses a lot of core mechanics such as the sound effects, NPC sprites, the battle mechanics, and list of skills. ''VideoGame/GoldenSunDarkDawn'', while using a new storyline, characters, and areas, the core aspect of the game is relatively untouched from the GBA games with many of the skills, equipment, and djinn being recycled.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2'' is a direct sequel to ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'', which reuses the majority of the areas and assets that appeared in the previous game. Even returning characters Wakka and Lulu appear unchanged, even though the former has gained some weight and the latter is pregnant. Other changes to the sequel include new areas and characters, a much more open structure to the overworld with a much bigger emphasis on sidequests, a new battle system and returning enemies that use the same assets being renamed, such as "Flan Blanco" instead of "Ice Flan".
%% * ''[[http://kotaku.com/5924569/forget-mystic-quest-this-is-the-worst-final-fantasy-game Final Fantasy IV: The After Years]]'' "is so derivative it should be taught during calculus. A more fitting title would be Final Fantasy IV: The Remix." Administrivia/WeblinksAreNotExamples

* ''VideoGame/PlayingWithFire'': Each subsequent installment runs on the same engine and has nearly identical graphics and gameplay. The main changes include some game modes and features.
* Besides the license involved, all the VideoGame/{{LEGO Adaptation Game}}s are mission pack sequels to each other. While they're all considered good, fun games, they remain similar enough (aside from some interface changes) that you could buy one based on which of the licenses you like best and not be missing out on anything.
* The ''VideoGame/NinjaGaiden'' trilogy for the NES were all developed on the same engine, although the sequels make some subtle changes to the original game system and each installment has at least one exclusive power-up (namely the somersault attack in the original, the red shadow clones in ''II,'' and the sword extension in ''III''). Oddly enough, ''III'' is the only game in the trilogy that doesn't have the pseudo isometric perspective used in the first two games.
* The ''Franchise/TombRaider'' series on the Platform/PlayStation uses the same game engine for five games, but each game has better graphics than the previous game and new mechanics, such as sprinting and monkey swinging. By ''[[VideoGame/TombRaiderTheLastRevelation The Last Revelation,]]'' the graphics hadn't improved a lot and the game mechanics remain generally unchanged, save for one or two new abilities. ''[[VideoGame/TombRaiderChronicles Chronicles]]'' recycles a lot of the textures and sound effects, along with the game mechanics from the last game.

* ''Cheetahmen II'' reuses a lot of elements from the original ''Cheetahmen'' on the ''VideoGame/Action52'' NES cartridge, including the catchy music, the numerous physics glitches, and the erroneous level numbering. In fact, the last two levels of ''Cheetahmen II'' (normally unreachable due to a GameBreakingBug) are copied wholesale from ''Cheetahmen''. And the prototypes of the never-released game use recycled ''Action 52'' cartridges, including the labels.
* ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaLegacyOfDarkness'' is the ''exact same game'' as ''VideoGame/Castlevania64'' except where you play as a different character with a different storyline (and an [[NintendoHard impossibly hard]] intro level featuring a cruel WakeUpCallBoss). For beating the game you unlock a side mission where a knight rescues some children, and the option to play Schneider's and Carrie's quests from the first game set in the new levels from ''Legacy of Darkness''. Cornell's story was originally going to be on the same cartridge as the main ''Castlevania 64'' story, but ExecutiveMeddling and time restrictions forced it to be separated.
* ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta 2}}'' plays damn near identically to the [[VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}} original game]], with some token changes and an entirely new cast of enemies [[spoiler:except for the levels taking place in the Witch Hunt, which brings back almost the entire slew of enemies from the original game]]. Most of the techniques and items Bayonetta can purchase are the same as the first game, and clearing the game even allows purchasing a costume that unlocks her original moveset. This even extends to the plot itself, which [[RecycledScript reuses many plot points and elements from the first game's story]].
* Two of the three ''Anime/BombermanJetters'' {{Recursive Adaptation}}s reuse engines from normal ''Bomberman'' games: the [[VideoGame/BombermanJetters GameCube game]] is a slower-paced ''VideoGame/BombermanGeneration'' without [[{{Mon}} Charabom battles]], while the Game Boy Advance ''Densetsu no Bomberman'' is a thinly-veiled rehash of ''VideoGame/BombermanTournament''. Averted with ''Bomberman Jetters: Game Collection'', which is a collection of mini-games combined with a ''Jetters''-centric take on the traditional ''Bomberman'' battle mode.

* The second ''VideoGame/StreetsOfRage'' game uses a completely different engine from the first one, but the third game uses the same engine as the second, only with a few new moves such as a dash.
* ''VideoGame/GoldenAxe II'' uses the same engine as the Platform/MegaDrive port of the first one. Aside from slightly faster combat and a SpinAttack that replaces the back attack, it's the same.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFight 2'' is essentially the SNES port of the first game with nation-themed stages (Hong Kong, France, Holland, England, Italy and Japan) and [[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute carbon-copy characters for Guy and Cody]]. It justifies itself by adding a 2-player co-op mode, a feature from the arcade version that was missing from the SNES port, as well as having a full 3-character roster in one cartridge (as opposed to having a second version with a character replaced, as was the case with ''Final Fight Guy''). It also brings back Rolento, the only boss character from the first game missing in the SNES port.

* The ''Film/TheFastAndTheFurious'' arcade game from Raw Thrills received one of these in the form of ''Fast and the Furious: DRIFT'', which adds some new Japan-themed tracks, improves the graphics, and adds in some new cars on top of some returning cars. The tracks from the original game all return, and gameplay is mostly the same.
* The various ''VideoGame/SanFranciscoRush'' arcade games are Mission Pack Sequels of the original; while the tracks and graphics have changed, the fundamental gameplay and emphasis on real-world physics does not. The home console versions add additional modes that don't involve racing around a track.
* The ''VideoGame/{{Cruisn}}'' series (''Cruis'n World, Cruis'n Exotica,'' and the SpiritualSequel ''California Speed'') is made of Mission Pack Sequels to the first game.
* ''VideoGame/RidgeRacer 2'' for the PSP is a very blatant example: It's ''exactly'' the same game as the first one, with a few additional tracks and a couple of (mostly irrelevant) playing modes. ''Nothing else'' is different. Yet it was sold at full price (and with no indication of this in the covers). Same for ''Ridge Racer Revolution'' on the original Platform/PlayStation, ableit to a somewhat lessser extent due to the first game's tracks being [[GuideDangIt locked behind the Link Cable mode]], which requires [[CrackIsCheaper two consoles, two copies of the game and two televisions in addition to said cable to access]].
* ''VideoGame/CrazyTaxi'''s various sequels are strictly alterations of the setting and characters, although they also introduce a jump button.

* ''Championship Sprint'' has different tracks from ''Super Sprint'', but otherwise plays the same way. It was produced to make more money, though not from ''Super Sprint'' owners; rather, it was sold as a conversion for existing two-player arcade cabinets (which explains why the option for a third player was removed).

* ''VideoGame/GranTurismo 2'' looks and plays the same as the first game, with the addition of a vastly expanded Simulation Mode, loads more cars, and real-world racing circuits. Likewise ''GT 6'' was often [[ItsTheSameNowItSucks criticized]] for being this to ''GT 5''.
* ''VideoGame/ForzaMotorsport 4'' was a retool of ''Forza 3'', with a few new cars and tracks(most of the returning tracks were ported over unchanged, including Silverstone despite having been overhauled in real life since the preceding game), a revised Career Mode, more balanced AI, and Kinect support. [[OldSaveBonus The player even has the option to import their cars and progress data from its predecessor]].
* ''VideoGame/{{Driver}} 2'' is more or less an MPS to the first game, with the only significant addition being the on-foot gameplay.
* ''[[VideoGame/StreetRod Street Rod 2]]'' plays identically to the first game, using a lot of the same graphics. Even the ending text for beating the game is the same! The sequel does mix it up slightly by introducing Aqueduct races, as well as Grudge Night drag race competitions.

* ''Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny'' for the Game Boy Advance is the Japanese-exclusive sequel to the western-released ''Mobile Suit Gundam SEED: Battle Assault''. Both games uses the same core engine with ''Destiny'' having a more expanded roster, altered UI elements, and added stages. To make it even more abundant, one of the unlockables in ''Destiny'' is the original ''SEED: Battle Assault'' in its full form, with some of the updated graphics from ''Destiny''.

* A common accusation thrown at ''VideoGame/BorderlandsThePreSequel'', which borrows more heavily from ''[[VideoGame/Borderlands2 2]]'' (most egregiously the entirety of the HUD and menus with only very minor tweaks) than ''2'' does from [[VideoGame/{{Borderlands}} the original]], but brings new movement mechanics, new playable characters with novel abilities, and a number of new enemies with new mechanics and behavior.

* ''VideoGame/{{Marathon}} Infinity''[='s=] single player mode, ''Blood Tides of Lh'owon'', is just ''Marathon 2: Durandal'' with more levels. As the title indicates, however, ''Infinity''[='s=] main features are really [[GameMod Anvil and Forge]]. ''Marathon 2'' is in turn this to the original game, starting life as the 20/10 Level Pack, which would have introduced 20 new single player levels, 10 new multiplayer maps, and the shotgun, but was released as a separate game due to how much it added.
* ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'', meet ''VideoGame/Left4Dead2''. New characters, new levels, new items, a few new enemy types, and about three times as many weapons, but the same gameplay. Valve eventually stated that [=L4D2=] ''was'' going to be DLC, but that the amount of work that went into it, including graphical upgrades, voice acting, new weapons, and more, merited a full release - although the console version retailed at 2/3rds the cost of a typical game because of it.

* ''VideoGame/CounterStrike: Condition Zero'' is effectively a standalone expansion to the first game. It features the exact same weapons and gameplay mechanics in multiplayer, but significantly upgrades the graphics and animations, while adding new maps, new models, AI bots, and a simple 6-7 hour single player mission set (13-14 hours with the free ''Deleted Scenes'' add-on). The single player campaign adds a few gadgets (e.g. blowtorch, radio, fiber optic camera, RC bombs), weapons (e.g. [=M72=] LAW, M60 GPMG), and enemy types aside from the standard rifle-toting bots (e.g. tanks, helicopters, terrorist snipers, elite terrorists, suicide bomber terrorists, machete terrorists) in an an attempt to mix up the gameplay, but these can't be used in multiplayer without modding.
* ''VideoGame/{{Sniper Elite|V2}}: [[VideoGame/ZombieArmyTrilogy Nazi Zombie Army]]'' follows the example of ''Left 4 Dead'' is this regard; the second game is essentially the same game as the first, albeit with 5 new levels and a couple new enemies. ''VideoGame/SniperEliteIII'' from ''V2'' is a lesser example, using the same engine (it's the only full game in the series to have the same system requirements on PC and the first to release on the same generation of consoles as its predecessor) and a lot of the same weapons and mechanics, but with an entirely new set of levels set in Africa of 1942 and other new or updated mechanics, such as ones to help make stealth actually viable for more than simply getting to a good position to loudly murder everyone from.

* ''VideoGame/BioShock2'':
** The engine and basic setting are the same, and it's more of a side-story than a full sequel to the [[VideoGame/BioShock1 original game]]. It was not made by the team who made the first game (they were busy making ''VideoGame/BioShockInfinite''), and includes a multiplayer mode. At the same time, it's more of a ''VideoGame/Halo2'' style of iterative sequel: the enemy types are the same, but the models, animations, stats, and A.I. coding are all entirely new. The weapons and plasmids are also similar to those in the original game, but are entirely new versions that behave somewhat differently instead of re-using the old assets.
** An interesting wrinkle comes from the nature of the player characters in single/multiplayer. Jack, protagonist of the first game, is a normal human, while Subject Delta of the sequel is a heavily enhanced Big Daddy who is many times stronger and tougher. As a result, all eight of Subject Delta's weapons are larger, heavier, and unique from the ones Jack used (even though there is some crossover with how they work, like Jack's crossbow and Delta's speargun). The catch is that Jack's weapons mostly carry over into the ''multiplayer,'' where players are normal humans fighting in the Rapture Civil War.
* ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonor: Underground'' is a mission pack prequel, using the same engine as the original with a few slight gameplay alterations.
* ''VideoGame/{{Unreal}}''
** ''VideoGame/UnrealTournament'' was originally going to be a second, multiplayer-focused expansion for ''VideoGame/{{Unreal|I}}''; however, with just how big it ended up becoming, the developers split it off into an entirely new game. However, it only runs on an updated version of the same engine rather than an entirely new one,[[note]]the ''Unreal Gold'' rerelease even ports the original game to the updated version of the engine from ''UT''[[/note]] and on top of this ''UT'' still has almost all of the original's assets included (only missing the maps and music - models, animations, textures, sounds and code for the original game's enemies, items, and weapons are all still there and fully usable if you put them in a map or spawn them with the console), which has led to mods recombining the two.
** ''VideoGame/UnrealTournament2004'' is another one, to ''[[VideoGame/UnrealTournament2003 UT2003]]'' and to a lesser extent its console counterpart ''VideoGame/UnrealChampionship'' - essentially the exact same game with more playable models, the addition of [[CarFu vehicles]], new weapons, new models for existing weapons, new maps, and new game modes, including the return of Assault mode. This was intentional as part of a short-lived effort to make the series a yearly release a la the ''VideoGame/MaddenNFL'' games, echoing its in-universe standing as the futuristic, {{blood|Sport}}y equivalent to the NFL, but nevertheless Epic quickly gave up on the idea, as they went on to consider ''[=UT2004=]'' to be what ''[=UT2003=]'' should have been and made what would have been [=UT2005=] [[VideoGame/UnrealChampionship2TheLiandriConflict much different]] - when ''[=UT2004=]'' came out, they even gave rebates for players who traded in ''2003'' for it, and for digital distribution over places like Platform/{{Steam}} and Platform/GOGDotCom at the end of the decade, ''2003'' was skipped over entirely because ''2004'' already has all of its content, including options and mutators to allow you to make the game look and play almost exactly like ''2003'' did.
* While ''VideoGame/{{Quake|I}}'' and ''VideoGame/QuakeII'' are very different games in terms of technology and story, they deserve an honorable mention because the expansion packs (two for each game) are actually labeled ''Mission Packs'' and offer additional single player campaigns in each one with some new weapons and enemies.

* ''VideoGame/RainbowSix'' did this often, with several of the games in the series looking and playing exactly like its immediate predecessor, just with new weapons, new missions, new operatives etc. ''Rogue Spear'' was the first as one of these to the original game, later followed by ''Black Arrow'' as an incremental update to the console version of ''VideoGame/RainbowSix3'', and so far finishing off with ''Vegas 2'', what is in essence a POVSequel to the first ''Vegas'' differing only in protagonist (a customizable FeaturelessProtagonist) and new maps and weapons. As proof that Administrivia/TropesAreNotBad, several of these mission-pack games are considered among the best games in the series, right next to similarly-praised unique entries like the PC version of ''Rainbow Six 3'' and ''[[VideoGame/RainbowSixSiege Siege]]''.
* The original ''VideoGame/GhostRecon'' and its expansions are essentially the original ''Rainbow Six'' in expansive outdoor environments and with more of a then-next-gen US military theme to the usable equipment; they're also honorable mentions because the expansions are explicitly labeled as "mission packs" on the boxes, and were released as standalone games for the consoles they came out on - somewhat uniquely even for this trope, the original game and its expansions are often referred to as a "trilogy" (which [[TrilogyCreep expanded into a quadrology]] if you count the [=PS2=]-exclusive third expansion, "Jungle Storm") despite the fact that they're all technically one game. It eventually split off and became its own unique series with the cover-based ThirdPersonShooter ''Advanced Warfighter''... until ''Rainbow Six'' [[HilariousInHindsight took cues from the console versions]] of ''Advanced Warfighter'' for the ''Vegas'' spinoffs, before they split off again into unique gameplay styles (''Ghost Recon'' focusing on third-person, cover-based shooters with emphasis on campaign co-op, stealth elements, and {{crossover}}s with the other "Creator/TomClancy's" games for ''Future Soldier'' and ''[[VideoGame/GhostReconWildlands Wildlands]]'', while ''Rainbow Six'' focused on competitive teamplay and [[HeroShooter emphasizing unique characters' roles]] while shifting back to its roots as a more realistic first-person shooter for ''Siege'').
* The video game adaptation of ''Film/TheSumOfAllFears'' is another case, taking the ''Ghost Recon'' version of the engine to adapt another Creator/TomClancy book-turned-movie. Amusingly, the game starting you off in the shoes of the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team makes it pretty close to the original plan for the ''Rainbow Six'' game before the endorsement deal with Clancy.
* ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'' is notorious for this. One of the biggest criticisms is that the multiplayer aspect doesn't change a whole lot between each installment, other than some new maps, new guns that fill all the same roles as the guns from the previous game, and reskinned characters. To add insult to injury, the DLC for ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare 2'' allows you to play maps from ''Call of Duty 4'' that look identical, but are running on the new engine. They ''have'' been trying to introduce new ideas to the multiplayer in later games ([[VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOps at least,]] the [[VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOpsII ones]] by [[VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOpsIII Treyarch]] and newcomer [[VideoGame/CallOfDutyAdvancedWarfare Sledgehammer]] have), but the graphics were still on about the same level they've been since ''Call of Duty 2'' until at least ''Black Ops II'' (7 years later, for context) - to the point that ''Modern Warfare 3'' even uses the exact same HUD layout as ''[=MW2=]'', with only updates to the text displayed over it for new game modes and weapons[[note]]plus [[PropRecycling reusing old assets at every chance they get]] - a German mortar model from ''[=CoD2=]'' found its way into every [=CoD=] between that game and ''Black Ops II'', plus the singleplayer mode of ''[=MW3=]'' reuses ''[=MW2=]'''s models for returning guns at nearly every chance[[/note]]. This really started to bite the series with ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyGhosts'', which on average scored and sold lower than ''Black Ops 2'' (breaking the trend of every ''[=CoD=]'' breaking the previous one's sales records), in part because it refused to adapt any of the changes ''[=BO2=]'' added and is seen by many as, in effect, ''Modern Warfare 4''.
* ''VideoGame/Crysis3'', unlike the jump from the first game to the second, has the HUD almost entirely unchanged. The nanosuit powers are the same too. In fact, a look at the game files shows that many of them are unchanged from ''VideoGame/Crysis2'', including the files for most weapons and enemies.
* ''VideoGame/FarCry3BloodDragon'' is a stand-alone expansion, and thus uses the same engine and gameplay mechanics as the main ''VideoGame/FarCry3'', but has a completely different story, set in an 80s retro-future {{cyberpunk}} {{dystopia}}.
* ''VideoGame/FarCry4'', in turn, is also essentially ''Far Cry 3'' in a new setting with additional content (i.e. some new guns and vehicles) and some balancing tweaks. The base engine and gameplay is the same down to the small details (only the upgrade system is noticeably different, with Ajay starting with several early abilities Jason had to unlock and not having nearly as many skills locked behind earlier ones), it has the exact same guns (albeit with many new ones, including borrowing one from ''Blood Dragon''), and the enemies are actually direct palette-swapped versions of the ones from ''Far Cry 3'', down to having the same A.I. coding, weapons, stats, and animations (although some enemies have been given new moves, e.g. machete fighters now having throwing knives and chargers throwing smoke grenades).
* ''VideoGame/FarCry5'' on its own makes much more extensive changes between ''Far Cry 4'' and itself than ''4'' did from ''3'', but in turn it has ''VideoGame/FarCryNewDawn'', which takes place in the exact same map 17 years after [[spoiler:a nuclear holocaust that happens in a SuddenDownerEnding]]. Aside from some new weapons and mechanics (including RPG-style scaling to make the enemies damage sponges) most of the game is essentially the same, with new characters largely replacing older companion characters.
* ''VideoGame/DeadIslandRiptide'' has the same engine and gameplay and is essentially the same game as the original ''VideoGame/DeadIsland'', with a new (shorter than the original) single player campaign. ''Riptide'' has a few minor additions, such as a 5th player character, a few new enemy types, and more weapons.
* ''VideoGame/PrimalCarnage Extinction'' has the exact same assets, game engine, and gameplay as the original game, making it functionally identical, but has more maps, more weapons, more playable dinosaur classes, and far more added skins and other cosmetic items, effectively replacing it as the "main" game.
* ''VideoGame/DoubleOhSevenLegends'' is essentially ''VideoGame/{{GoldenEye|2010}} Reloaded'' with new missions, a few new weapons, and some new mechanics involving weapon attachments in singleplayer, gadgets, and quick-time events. The [[AKA47 names]], models and animations for returning weapons are the same, the returning mechanics are the same (changed only to make "Classic" mode, where you have BodyArmorAsHitPoints instead of RegeneratingHealth, a toggle-able setting rather than exclusive to the HarderThanHard difficulty), even the basic premise of "classic [[Film/JamesBond Bond films]] reimagined with Creator/DanielCraig's Bond" is the same.

* ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}} 2'' is a rather unique and confusingly marketed specimen that also manages to be a straight ExpansionPack. ''2'' is an individual entity that features nearly identical gameplay as the first ''Overwatch'' and is marketed as such, with the major changes being the game going free-to-play, and an addition of new playable characters and maps (something that ''Overwatch'' supplies already due to its [[PerpetualBeta constantly updating]] nature). It was initially announced to also release with a fully-fledged story mode, but the game released with the story mode delayed, [[WhatCouldHaveBeen before being scrapped]] in favour of smaller mission-pack events, and then these were also cancelled after just one event. How this ended up in practice is that ''2'' was effectively a major content patch doubling as a platform relaunch to allow for engine upgrades and other future content, with all player data held from the previous game being automatically transferred over to ''2'', and the first game was then shut down, with ''2'' completely replacing it.
* 2023's ''[[VideoGame/CounterStrike Counter-Strike 2]]'' is marketed as both a sequel and an UpdatedRerelease of 2012's ''Counter-Strike: Global Offensive'', featuring almost identical gameplay sans updates to graphics, the game engine, and some other quality-of-life changes. It's released as its own entity and continually supported as its own platform, but owners of ''Global Offensive'' were able to upgrade to ''2'' for free and transfer all of their progress.

** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOracleGames'' are this to each other, and also to ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening'' to a lesser extent, using roughly the same engine with a few additions, including support for rooms bigger than the screen.[[note]]Which requires actual scrolling support like in ''A Link to the Past'', instead of the FlipScreenScrolling ''Link's Awakening'' was limited to.[[/note]]

** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTearsOfTheKingdom'': The team had so many more [=DLC=] ideas for ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild Breath of the Wild]]'' that the decision was ultimately made to create a full-blown sequel instead. It reuses the same overworld map from its predecessor, but it's considerably revamped and also included a playable underground layer as well as several islands in the sky.
** The first two [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaCDiGames The Legend of Zelda CD-i Games]], ''Link: The Faces of Evil'' and ''Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon'', share the same graphics, controls, gameplay and (poor) animation with the most notable difference being the playable character. At least the third Platform/PhilipsCDi game, ''Zelda's Adventure'', is different.

* ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}} 2'' is a rather unique and confusingly marketed specimen that also manages to be a straight ExpansionPack. ''2'' is an individual entity that features nearly identical gameplay as the first ''Overwatch'' and is marketed as such, with the major changes being the game going free-to-play, and an addition of new playable characters and maps (something that ''Overwatch'' supplies already due to its [[PerpetualBeta constantly updating]] nature). It was initially announced to also release with a fully-fledged story mode, but the game released with the story mode delayed, [[WhatCouldHaveBeen before being scrapped]] in favour of smaller mission-pack events, and then these were also cancelled after just one event. How this ended up in practice is that ''2'' was effectively a major content patch doubling as a platform relaunch to allow for engine upgrades and other future content, with all player data held from the previous game being automatically transferred over to ''2''.

* ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}} 2'' is a rather unique and confusingly marketed specimen that also manages to be a straight ExpansionPack. ''2'' is an individual entity that features nearly identical gameplay as the first ''Overwatch'' and is marketed as such, with the major changes being the game going free-to-play, an addition of new playable characters and maps (something that ''Overwatch'' supplies already due to its [[PerpetualBeta constantly updating]] nature), and perhaps biggest of all, a focus on bigger [=PvE=] (originally promising a much larger story campaign, but due to production issues, this was downsized to more periodic mission-based events). How this ended up in practice is that ''2'' was effectively a major content patch doubling as a platform relaunch to allow for engine upgrades and other future content, with all player data held from the previous game being automatically transferred over to ''2''.

** Downplayed with ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DWorld'. In terms of gameplay, presentation, level design, and part of the soundtrack, the game is one to ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DLand''. However, it makes a major effort to showcase many new features to stand out (more characters to play as, new powerups, different mainland setting, more bosses, the addition of Captain Toad stages and Mystery House gauntlets, etc.).

** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBrosTheLostLevels'' was conceived when Miyamoto and his team were working on the arcade version of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1'' and redesigning the stages to make the difficulty more suitable for arcade play. They decided to create a new version of the game that only expert players could clear, which is why the original Famicom Disk version was released with the tag line "For Super Players". This is half of the reason (unusually high level of difficulty was the other) why Nintendo of America chose to skip this one and [[DolledUpInstallment localize an unrelated game]], ''VideoGame/DokiDokiPanic'', as the American version of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2'', which turned out to be a better investment in retrospect.
** While not as blatant as the previous example, all ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBros'' games barring [[VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBros1 the first one]] and to a lesser extent ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBrosWii'' (due to various new platforming obstacles not possible on DS or previous consoles and four player simultaneous multiplayer in all its levels for the first time in addition to a fairly large VS mode), are Mission Pack Sequels, more so with the core gameplay of the handheld entries being more similar to each other than to their home console counterparts, and vice versa. ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBros2'' notably reuses ''all'' of the VideoGameSettings and ''almost all'' of its assets and [[RecycledSoundtrack soundtrack]] from ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBrosWii''. ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBrosU'' would also reuse various graphical and musical assets from ''Wii'', although to a significantly lesser extent. In the case of ''VideoGame/NewSuperLuigiU'', it's justified for being conceived as DLC for ''U''; it reuses the same textures and elements and places all of its levels in the same spots as its predecessor, but the levels are rebuilt from the ground up to be much more difficult. ''Luigi U'' would be released as its own stand-alone game, and later included from the start in its brother game's reprints during the Wii U's final period, as well as in the Switch port.
** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2'' was originally intended to be an expansion of the original ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'' titled ''Super Mario Galaxy 1.5'', but over time, new ideas were implemented and the release date was pushed back so more content could be made. It is still often seen as being this to the original because, although most of the level design is not recycled and there are some new power-ups and new ways to progress, the core physics engine and Mario's basic move controls were left untouched, thus becoming the first direct sequel to another 3D ''Mario'' game.
** ''VideoGame/YoshisIslandDS'' at times feels like a commercially published ROM hack of [[VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld2YoshisIsland the first game]], due to a few levels that feel like they took the basic structure of the original levels and bosses and merely tweaked them a bit. However, similar to ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DWorld'' and ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DLand'', the addition of new babies to use -each with new different abilities- level features, and additional minigames and Time Trial modes make it feel like a different game from its predecessor.
** ''VideoGame/YoshisNewIsland'' is criticized for, among other things, feeling much more like a ROM hack of the original game than ''DS'' does, albeit with 3D graphics and none of the things ''DS'' introduced that made it different.

* ''VideoGame/CoffeeTalk Episode 2: Hibiscus and Butterfly'' adds two new characters, two new ingredients, 25 new recipes, and new story threads, while the gameplay remains the same. This is because it was originally going to be DLC, but it became so big, the devs decided to make it a full-fledged sequel instead.

** All of the ''VideoGame/MegaManClassic'' NES games, and half of the ''VideoGame/MegaManX'' games, as well[[note]]specifically, Mega Man X2 and X3 are this to the first one, and so are VideoGame/MegaManX5 and VideoGame/MegaManX6 to VideoGame/MegaManX4[[/note]]. The gameplay is so similar across each series that players have created {{speedrun}}s of ''VideoGame/MegaManX1'' and ''VideoGame/MegaManX2'' and ''VideoGame/MegaMan3'', ''VideoGame/MegaMan4'', ''VideoGame/MegaMan5'', and ''VideoGame/MegaMan6'' by running several [[UsefulNotes/{{Emulation}} emulators]] on the same controller input.

* ''Total Eclipse II: The Sphinx Jinx'' has a very similar premise to its predecessor and recycles not only its revision of the [[UsefulNotes/GameEngine Freescape engine]], but also most of its graphics and sounds. This is another sequel that might have been an ExpansionPack if not for technological limitations: ''Total Eclipse II'' was developed only for then-obsolete 8-bit computers and was only sold as part of a LimitedSpecialCollectorsUltimateEdition of ''Total Eclipse''.

* ''[[VideoGame/KidIcarus Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters]]'' has updated graphics, but the overall feel is the same as the original game. The main difference is the absence of RatchetScrolling, making the game a bit easier.

* The ''Franchise/TombRaider'' series on the UsefulNotes/PlayStation uses the same game engine for five games, but each game has better graphics than the previous game and new mechanics, such as sprinting and monkey swinging. By ''[[VideoGame/TombRaiderTheLastRevelation The Last Revelation,]]'' the graphics hadn't improved a lot and the game mechanics remain generally unchanged, save for one or two new abilities. ''[[VideoGame/TombRaiderChronicles Chronicles]]'' recycles a lot of the textures and sound effects, along with the game mechanics from the last game.
* ''VideoGame/BlasterMaster: Enemy Below'' for the UsefulNotes/GameBoyColor looks and sounds almost ''exactly'' like the NES original, to the point that it could be confused for an UpdatedRerelease. However, it tells an entirely new story ([[ExcusePlot sort of]]) with different maps, weapons, and bosses.

** The UsefulNotes/{{Satellaview}} games ''VideoGame/BSTheLegendOfZelda'' and ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaAncientStoneTablets'' re-use just enough from their source material that they can be considered {{enhanced|Remake}} {{Reformulated Game}}s which act as respectively a Third Quest for the original ''VideOGame/TheLegendOfZeldaI'' and a Second Quest for ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast A Link to the Past]]''.

** The first two [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaCDiGames The Legend of Zelda CD-i Games]], ''Link: The Faces of Evil'' and ''Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon'', share the same graphics, controls, gameplay and (poor) animation with the most notable difference being the playable character. At least the third UsefulNotes/PhilipsCDi game, ''Zelda's Adventure'', is different.

* ''VideoGame/GoldenAxe II'' uses the same engine as the UsefulNotes/MegaDrive port of the first one. Aside from slightly faster combat and a SpinAttack that replaces the back attack, it's the same.

* ''VideoGame/RidgeRacer 2'' for the PSP is a very blatant example: It's ''exactly'' the same game as the first one, with a few additional tracks and a couple of (mostly irrelevant) playing modes. ''Nothing else'' is different. Yet it was sold at full price (and with no indication of this in the covers). Same for ''Ridge Racer Revolution'' on the original UsefulNotes/PlayStation, ableit to a somewhat lessser extent due to the first game's tracks being [[GuideDangIt locked behind the Link Cable mode]], which requires [[CrackIsCheaper two consoles, two copies of the game and two televisions in addition to said cable to access]].

* ''BS F-Zero Grand Prix'' and ''BS F-Zero Grand Prix 2'' for the UsefulNotes/{{Satellaview}} both use the same engine as the original ''VideoGame/FZero1990''. The tracks are numbered successors to the originals and play like bonus levels from a level editor.

** ''VideoGame/UnrealTournament2004'' is another one, to ''[[VideoGame/UnrealTournament2003 UT2003]]'' and to a lesser extent its console counterpart ''VideoGame/UnrealChampionship'' - essentially the exact same game with more playable models, the addition of [[CarFu vehicles]], new weapons, new models for existing weapons, new maps, and new game modes, including the return of Assault mode. This was intentional as part of a short-lived effort to make the series a yearly release a la the ''VideoGame/MaddenNFL'' games, echoing its in-universe standing as the futuristic, {{blood|Sport}}y equivalent to the NFL, but nevertheless Epic quickly gave up on the idea, as they went on to consider ''[=UT2004=]'' to be what ''[=UT2003=]'' should have been and made what would have been [=UT2005=] [[VideoGame/UnrealChampionship2TheLiandriConflict much different]] - when ''[=UT2004=]'' came out, they even gave rebates for players who traded in ''2003'' for it, and for digital distribution over places like UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} and Website/GOGDotCom at the end of the decade, ''2003'' was skipped over entirely because ''2004'' already has all of its content, including options and mutators to allow you to make the game look and play almost exactly like ''2003'' did.

* The ''VideoGame/ArmoredCore'' games are notorious for doing this. Every game with a number at the end of it is a brand new game, but every game with some kind of WordSaladTitle is just a mission-pack sequel built on the most recent numbered game's engine with a few minor additions or subtractions. This is how From Software managed to put out one ''Armored Core'' a year for a decade. When they moved on to the Usefulnotes/PlayStation3 and UsefulNotes/{{Xbox 360}}, they began putting more effort into individual games, hence why there is only one mission-pack sequel to ''VideoGame/ArmoredCore4'' and it took three years to go from it to ''VideoGame/ArmoredCoreV'', and then ''11'' to go from ''ACV'' to ''VideoGame/{{Armored Core VI|FiresOfRubicon}}''.

* ''VideoGame/JetSetWilly II: The Final Frontier'' isn't just "more of the same"--a lot of it ''is'' almost exactly the same! Essentially it's an expanded remake that includes ''all'' the original screens plus some new ones. Originally designed as an UsefulNotes/AmstradCPC port of the UsefulNotes/ZXSpectrum original, but making use of the extra memory, it was then ported ''back'' to the Spectrum.

* ''Bonk's Revenge'' and ''Bonk 3'' for the UsefulNotes/TurboGrafx16 are this to ''Bonk's Adventure''. ''Revenge'' even reuses a lot of the music from ''Adventure''.

* ''VideoGame/{{Miner 2049er}} Volume II'' for the UsefulNotes/{{Atari 2600}} contains three stages from the original game that hadn't appeared in the 2600 version of ''Miner 2049er'', which also has only three stages out of the original ten.

** ''VideoGame/NazoPuyo'' and ''Nazo Puyo 2'' for the UsefulNotes/GameGear are essentially the Game Gear port of ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyo1992'' minus Scenario and Endless Modes. The only major distinctions between the two ''Nazo Puyo'' games are their title screens, music, and Continue options. (The first uses passwords while the second has battery-backed storage.) The third GG Nazo Puyo game, ''Arle no Roux'', averts this by adding light RPG mechanics.

* ''VideoGame/TimeCrisis: Project Titan'' is a UsefulNotes/PlayStation-exclusive mission pack sequel to the first game. Similarly, ''VideoGame/TimeCrisis3'' reuses the code base and engine of ''VideoGame/TimeCrisis2'', with the only new addition to gameplay being the selectable weapons.

** ''Lego Rock Band'' and ''Music/TheBeatles: Rock Band'' fall into this too, though the Beatles version is very thematically different (if gameplay identical, although it does add three-part vocal harmonies). ''Rock Band Unplugged'' and the UsefulNotes/NintendoDS version of ''Lego Rock Band'' are not considered one, being {{Spiritual Successor}}s to ''Amplitude'' instead.

** The DS remakes of the "Zenithian Trilogy" also share an engine, which has a graphical style similar to the UsefulNotes/PlayStation version of ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVII'' (and thus the remake of ''IV'' on the same system), only with fewer 3D elements. ''DQIV'' has "chapters" focusing on the characters that make up your eventual party, ''[[VideoGame/DragonQuestV DQV]]'' includes the ability to recruit monsters, and the main selling point of ''[[VideoGame/DragonQuestVI DQVI]]'' is the job system.

* ''VideoGame/GoldenSunTheLostAge'' is a sequel expansion pack to the first game due to not being able to fit both games onto one UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance cartridge. The sequel reuses a lot of core mechanics such as the sound effects, NPC sprites, the battle mechanics, and list of skills. ''VideoGame/GoldenSunDarkDawn'', while using a new storyline, characters, and areas, the core aspect of the game is relatively untouched from the GBA games with many of the skills, equipment, and djinn being recycled.

* The ''VideoGame/RType'' games for the Japanese [[UsefulNotes/TurboGrafx16 PC Engine]] are a literal example of this trope. Hudson (the developers of the PCE port) was unable to port all of the arcade version's stages into one [=HuCard=] due to memory constraints, so they split the game into two halves. ''R-Type I'' contains the first half of the game, while ''R-Type II'' (not to be confused with the actual arcade sequel of the same name) has the later stages. However, when Hudson later made the American [=TurboGrafx16=] version, they released it on a larger [=HuCard=] capable of containing the entire game. The full game was also ported to the PC Engine Super CD as ''R-Type Complete'', with the addition of cutscenes and a Redbook audio soundtrack.

* While the first ''VideoGame/WingCommander'' ExpansionPack is exactly that on the PC, it was released as an expansion pack sequel on the UsefulNotes/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem due to ''Wing Commander'' not being worth a highly expensive pass-through cartridge (like ''Sonic & Knuckles'').

** Further, ''Descent Maximum'' for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation is ''Descent II'' with all-new, albeit half-heartedly designed, levels.

* The {{UsefulNotes/MSX}} versions of ''VideoGame/TrackAndField'' (also known as ''Hyper Olympic'') and ''Hyper Sports'' split the original arcade games into two and three installments, respectively, though with some extra events added. ''Hyper Sports'' can be considered an Event Pack Sequel in the first place, since not much is changed from the original ''Track & Field'' except for the types of events offered.

* ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' is a borderline example. It uses the engine, user interface, and nearly all assets from ''VideoGame/Fallout3'', but the world and quests are completely new (such as the presence of strong Western elements with less post-apocalyptic elements), as are most of the weapons and enemies, while adding in content from the defunct ''VideoGame/FalloutVanBuren'' project while also adding references and continuity to ''Fallout 2''. Overall, it constitutes well over 100 hours of content. Additionally, new mechanics are included such as iron sights aiming, the companion wheel, skill checks, crafting, cooking, melee special moves, and weapon modifications. There have also been mods combining the two games, most notably ''A Tale of Two Wastelands.''

* ''BS F-Zero Grand Prix'' and ''BS F-Zero Grand Prix 2'' for the UsefulNotes/{{Satellaview}} both use the same engine as the original ''VideoGame/FZero''. The tracks are numbered successors to the originals and play like bonus levels from a level editor.

* ''VideoGame/TalesOfXillia2'' is a borderline example. To its credit, it does introduce three new playable characters (although it's believed that two of these were originally going to be playable in the first game too, but couldn't be due to time constraints). However, the sheer extent to which it relies on recycled content is astounding. There are almost no new places to discover, and it has an {{excuse plot}} that allows it to get away with making the player repeatedly visit the same areas several times and requiring little plot/character development. Furthermore, there is a debt system where after every major plot event, the player must grind for money to make a large debt payment before they are allowed to progress through the main game any further (clearly to [[{{Padding}} pad out]] play time). Another thing worth mentioning is that the game has essentially no true side-quests like the first game (and most [=JRPGs=] in general) - instead, you simply get a lazy job board containing the most basic fetch-quest requests.

* ''VideoGame/Sonic3AndKnuckles'' is actually a literal case of this: ''Sonic 3'' was originally intended to be one long game, but the developers, [[ChristmasRushed pressed for time]], released only the first few levels of the game as ''Sonic the Hedgehog 3'', and then released the rest as ''Sonic & Knuckles'' six months later. But since the new ''Sonic & Knuckles'' cartridge can be locked on with a ''Sonic 3'' cartridge, the two can be played together back-to-back as they were originally intended (and as a plus, joining ''Sonic & Knuckles'' with ''Sonic 2'' lets you play the latter game with Knuckles as a player character, too).

** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTearsOfTheKingdom'' is a variation similar to ''Super Mario Galaxy 2''. The team had so many more [=DLC=] ideas for ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild Breath of the Wild]]'' that the decision was ultimately made to create a full-blown sequel instead.

** ''VideoGame/DoomII: Hell on Earth'' is a good example of this trope being done right. The game engine is identical, it plays the same and there's only one new weapon (Super Shotgun), one new boss (Icon of Sin), four new enemies (Mancubus, Arch-vile, Revenant, Arachnotron), and three new sub-variants of existing enemies (a tougher zombieman with a faster-firing gun, a PaletteSwap of the Baron of Hell with half the health, and a modified and recolored Cacodemon which shoots Lost Souls at you), adding to the original game's eight normal monsters and two bosses; even most of its under-the-hood changes were backported to the original game with a patch released a month before ''Doom II'' came out. The main attraction is the 32 new levels featuring sublime design. A big part of the sequel's existence was to get a ''Doom'' game out on a retail release, when the original was purely {{Shareware}}. The game even received its own ''actual'' mission-pack expansion (Master Levels, a collection of 21 levels developed by external people under contract with the assets of the game), released one year later.

* ''VideoGame/BioShock2'' can be said to be one, as the engine and basic setting are the same, and it's more of a side-story than a full sequel to the [[VideoGame/BioShock1 original game]]. It was not made by the team who made the first game (they were busy making ''VideoGame/BioShockInfinite''), and includes a multiplayer mode. At the same time, it's more of a ''VideoGame/Halo2'' style of iterative sequel: the enemy types are the same, but the models, animations, stats, and A.I. coding are all entirely new. The weapons and plasmids are also similar to those in the original game, but are entirely new versions that behave somewhat differently instead of re-using the old assets.

* ''{{VideoGame/Crysis 3}}'', unlike the jump from the first game to the second, has the HUD almost entirely unchanged. The nanosuit powers are the same too. In fact, a look at the game files shows that many of them are unchanged from ''VideoGame/Crysis2'', including the files for most weapons and enemies.

* ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}'' reuses the basic engine framework, battle system (with some minor changes), and a ''lot'' of graphical and audio assets from [[VideoGame/Persona3 its predecessor]]. Digging through game files shows it's built right on top of ''Persona 3'', in a way akin to a GameMod.

* ''VideoGame/{{Descent}} II'' is essentially ''Descent'' with new weapons and robots. It uses the same game engine, and plays much like the original. Granted, doubling the number of weapons and items in the game and adding a higher resolution and CD audio is pretty big jump for one year (1995 to 1996). It also turns the brutal NintendoHard difficulty of the original down to a more reasonable level.

* Most officially licensed sports games, such as the ''VideoGame/MaddenNFL'', ''VideoGame/NCAAFootball'', and other related franchises that release a new installment each year, with the only differences being extremely minor tweaks and roster updates. You can skip every nine out of ten or so ''Madden'' games if you don't want to sort through all of the mission-pack sequels.
** If you want to count professional wrestling games as sports games, then the long-running WWE-licensed ''[=SmackDown!=]/[=SmackDown!=] vs. RAW'' series would most certainly count. Each year brings a new iteration of the series, and while they do add a couple of new features and wrestlers into each game, they inevitably remove a couple more for reasons good or bad. Then there's the fact that the gameplay's been the same since the very first game (which came out on the original [=PlayStation=] in 2000), even with tweaks and changes over the years, and the series has been recycling animations since the very first game (with several animations in the most recent iterations '''still coming from the very first game''').

** ''VideoGame/TonyHawksUnderground 2 Remix'' for PSP is this to the original [=PS2=] game. It simply adds 4 more levels to the game - Kyoto, Santa Cruz, Atlanta, and Las Vegas. Kyoto and Santa Cruz would go on to be playable in ''Tony Hawk's American Wasteland'' for [=PS2=], and the other two are also available in the later US-only ''Collector's Edition''.

* The third ''VideoGame/SyphonFilter'' game, despite having you play as a variety of characters, is nothing new. Every character is just a skin, and handles exactly the same as Gabe, to the point of being the same height -- even the big black guy and the small Asian girl.
** The second game is also a mission pack sequel. Logan and Xing control exactly the same; the only new things to the engine are a few additional weapons.

** In spite of its acclaim, ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'' actually fits this trope. Even with the dual Terminators, a lot of the film still recycles plot points, elements, and lines of dialogue from the original.
** Even more so was ''Film/Terminator3RiseOfTheMachines'', which gave the T-1000 a DistaffCounterpart but otherwise had the same basic TerminatorTwosome plot.

* ''VideoGame/FarCry5'' on its own makes much more extensive changes between ''Far Cry 4'' and itself than ''4'' did from ''3'', but in turn it has ''VideoGame/FarCryNewDawn'', which takes place in the exact same map 17 years after [[spoiler:a nuclear holocaust that happens in a SuddenDownerTwist]]. Aside from some new weapons and mechanics (including RPG-style scaling to make the enemies damage sponges) most of the game is essentially the same, with new characters largely replacing older companion characters.

* ''VideoGame/DoubleOhSevenLegends'' is essentially ''VideoGame/{{GoldenEye|Wii}} Reloaded'' with new missions, a few new weapons, and some new mechanics involving weapon attachments in singleplayer, gadgets, and quick-time events. The [[AKA47 names]], models and animations for returning weapons are the same, the returning mechanics are the same (changed only to make "Classic" mode, where you have BodyArmorAsHitPoints instead of RegeneratingHealth, a toggle-able setting rather than exclusive to a HarderThanHard difficulty), even the basic premise of "classic [[Film/JamesBond Bond films]] reimagined with Creator/DanielCraig's Bond" is the same.

** While not as blatant as the previous example, all ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBros'' games barring [[VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBros1 the first one]] and to a lesser extent ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBrosWii'' (due to various new platforming obstacles not possible on DS or previous consoles and four player simultaneous multiplayer in all its levels for the first time in addition to a fairly large VS mode), are Mission Pack Sequels, more so with the core gameplay of the handheld entries being more similar to each other than to their home console counterparts, and vice versa. ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBros2'' notably reuses ''all'' of the VideoGameSettings and ''almost all'' of its assets and [[RecycledSoundtrack soundtrack]] from ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBrosWii''. ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBrosU'' would also reuse various graphical and musical assets from ''Wii'', although to a significantly lesser extent. In the case of ''VideoGame/NewSuperLuigiU'', it's justified for being conceived as DLC for ''U''; it reuses the same textures and elements and places all of its levels in the same spots as its predecessor, but the levels are rebuilt from the ground up to be much more difficult, and Luigi's controls differ from Mario's as in ''The Lost Levels'', ''Super Mario Bros. 2'' and the ''Galaxy'' games. ''Luigi U'' would be released as its own stand-alone game, and later included from the start in its brother game's reprints during the Wii U's final period, as well as in the Switch port.

** While not as blatant as the previous example, all ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBros'' games barring [[VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBros1 the first one]] and to a lesser extent ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBrosWii'' (due to various new platforming obstacles not possible on DS or previous consoles and four player simultaneous multiplayer in all its levels for the first time in addition to a fairly large VS mode), are Mission Pack Sequels, more so with the handheld entries being more similar to each other than to their home console counterparts, and vice versa. In the case of ''VideoGame/NewSuperLuigiU'', it's justified for being conceived as a DLC for ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBrosU'' and later a stand-alone game; it reuses the same textures and elements and places all of its levels in the same spots as its predecessor, but the levels are rebuilt from the ground up to be much more difficult, and Luigi's controls differ from Mario's as in ''The Lost Levels'', ''Super Mario Bros. 2'' and the ''Galaxy'' games. ''Luigi U'' would be later included from the start in its brother game's reprints during the Wii U's final period, as well as in the Switch port.

** For a long time, all the ''Pokémon'' games recycled the 8-bit sound effect cries for the creatures in the first and second generations, even once the games had advanced far enough in technology where such a thing wouldn't be needed, and the older cries tended to clash with the higher-quality newer cries. ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'' finally updated them, except for Pikachu's, which is instead replaced entirely with [[PokemonSpeak its voice]] from [[Anime/{{Pokemon}} the anime]]. ''VideoGame/PokemonLetsGoPikachuAndLetsGoEevee'' replaced Eevee's cry with its anime voice as well.

* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout|1}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 2}}'' are built on almost exactly the same engine, and share all but a tiny number of assets. Then again, if you're playing ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' for the interface, you're doing it wrong. ''Fallout 2'' makes up for it by being ''much'' longer and more involved than ''Fallout 1''; it's ''five times'' the length.
* ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' is a borderline example. It uses the engine, user interface, and nearly all assets from ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'', but the world and quests are completely new (such as the presence of strong Western elements with less post-apocalyptic elements), as are most of the weapons and enemies, while adding in content from the defunct ''VideoGame/FalloutVanBuren'' project while also adding references and continuity to ''Fallout 2''. Overall, it constitutes well over 100 hours of content. Additionally, new mechanics are included such as iron sights aiming, the companion wheel, skill checks, crafting, cooking, melee special moves, and weapon modifications. There have also been mods combining the two games, most notably ''A Tale Of Two Wastelands.''

* ''VideoGame/SpyroEnterTheDragonfly'' tries too hard to copy the feel of the games prior to it rather than create a new game. This, combined with its ObviousBeta status, means the game didn't fare well with almost anyone.