Sequels. Everybody wants them. Everybody needs them. That has to be the case, right? We live in a society built on sequels in the entertainment business. You can even call returning seasons of a TV show, sequels. I think the big reason why is because we all need money. The goal in life is to get somewhere great and hope for the best and that can easily be applied to video games. You feel me? Just look at Assassin’s Creed. It had a good foundation, but wasn’t that great. Ubisoft saw potential though and they made a second, which blew everyone out of the water. It was so successful that it has since become a yearly franchise. Is that good, or is that bad? Well, I’ll tell you one thing. We don’t have enough time for my rants on the Assassin’s Creed franchise.
What I will say though, to tie everything back to my main topic point, is that there are sequels even mega fans don’t know about. Yes, even in Assassin’s Creed. There are other less successful franchises that get sequels to sort of do the ol’ Assassin’s Creed II one more time sort of thing and then perish after that. It’s sad and a lot of times these sequels are released on smaller platforms like portables, which a lot of gamers just ignore. The worst sequels are the ones we don’t even get in the West even though the games are supposed to be good in Japan. There are other varieties in here too so let’s get started already.
30 Boktai 3: Sabata’s Counterattack
It’s hard to believe that Konami made a Game Boy Advance game that had a solar panel on it. I guess it’s not that strange since Hideo Kojima had a hand in it. Despite the awkwardness of forcing players to go outside in the sun, Boktai was a moderately successful franchise. There was two games released in the West, but the third, Boktai 3: Sabata’s Counterattack, never came out of Japan. Thankfully there’s an English fan patch, which also emulates the sun. Neat!
29 Mega Man X: Command Mission
Fans might be aware that Mega Man has been in a RPG before via the Battle Network series on Game Boy Advance. They may not, however, remember the PS2 era Mega Man X spinoff, Command Mission. I had no idea it was even in development until I saw it at a Target. My brother then offered to buy it for my birthday. You could essentially liken it to Final Fantasy X’s turn based battle system. It was cool at the time, but I recently picked it up again and it’s a bit rusty.
28 The Legend Of Zelda: Ancient Stone Tablets
The Japanese Super Nintendo, or Super Famicom, had a special add-on accessory called the Satellaview. With it, gamers could download new games from their shop, which was way ahead of its time, but there was something else even crazier.
Is this A Link to the Past 2?
There were some games you could only play during designated time periods wherein Japan would hold an official broadcast right along with it. This Zelda side sequel had commentators, live music, and voice acting. It was never officially released in stores, but ROM hackers have uncovered a way to play it now.
27 Phantasy Star Online 2
Phantasy Star Online sure was an awesome GameCube game. I know it released on other systems, but that was the console I played the most on at my friend’s house. It sure would be nice if it got a sequel. What? It has and it launched way back in 2012? Yes dear readers, Sega released Phantasy Star Online 2 on PC, PS4, PS Vita, Switch, and mobile phones over the years. It even has an official English subtitles version, but only in Southeast Asia. That’s the really troubling part. What gives?
26 Secret Of Mana 2
In the West Final Fantasy Adventure was actually the first Mana game. In Japan the series is dubbed Seiken Densetsu, which basically translates to Legend of the Sacred Sword. Got all that? Okay so Secret of Mana was the first game that we received under the more classic title, which was the second. It also got a sequel, Seiken Densetsu 3, which for all intents and purposes is Secret of Mana 2, which is better than the first. Thankfully fans have patched it into English, but an official release would still be cool.
25 Valkyria Chronicles 3
Valkyria Chronicles 4 just released on PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Switch. Fans are more than likely excited, but might be a little confused as well. See we only got two games in the West.
Squad 422, move out!
While the second game was good, it had low sales in the West because it was a PSP game and we all know how that thing flew over here. So naturally, Sega didn’t think it was worth their time to port the third game over, also on PSP. Thankfully it has an English fan patch though and might be my favorite.
24 Excitebike: Bun Bun Mario Battle Stadium
I don’t know how this happened, but I acquired Excitebike on NES as a kid. Everyone had that game seemingly even though I didn’t think it was very good. Anyway did you know it got a sequel? Yes, sir, it was another Satellaview Super Famicom exclusive called Excitebike: Bun Bun Mario Battle Stadium. Instead of nameless racers, you raced around tracks as Mario and his pals. It’s actually pretty cool and received several episodes. It’s at least way better than the original.
23 Contra 4
When a company puts a number on a sequel you would think it means something special, right? Tons of games have yearly sequels with subtitles, but a number marks progression. It tells fans, hey, pay attention to this. That’s why it’s weird that Contra 4 was made for the DS. Hey, don’t get me wrong. I love that system, but to a hardcore crowd that grew up with Contra on consoles to then see it on a small portable may be disheartening for some. That said it’s really good!
22 F-Zero: Climax
If you need to learn one thing about Nintendo fans, if you’re an outsider that is loyal to PlayStation, Sony, or even PC, it’s that they are never satisfied. Oh, look, a new Metroid game. Wait, where’s F-Zero?
Time to Falcon Punch this series back into high gear.
It’s like they’re dogs with short attention spans. Anyway, poor F-Zero fanatics have been waiting since 2004’s F-Zero: GP Legend on GBA. I wonder if they knew there was a game after that? Yep, F-Zero: Climax came out in Japan that same year for GBA. Either way, it’s been awhile.
21 Parasite Eve 3
The 3rd Birthday is another tragic PSP game. It’s redundant to say a PSP game didn’t sell well here, but it goes further than that. Another reason why people may have ignored this is because the name doesn’t ring a bell. In actuality, this is the third Parasite Eve game. See, the first two games are based on a Japanese novel. In-between two and three, Square Enix lost the license so they needed to rebrand it in not just name, but style. It’s okay, but it really put a damper on the franchise name, or not.
20 Ōkamiden
I think Okami is a grossly underrated Capcom game that deserves a proper console sequel. I’m happy it’s been getting passed around via various HD remasters, but I require more. Well, before the remasters I got my wish only it wasn’t exactly what I had in mind. Ōkamiden released for the DS. It’s actually pretty good even though the controls are not great for the system and it also follows a lot of the first game’s beats. It’s more like Okami 1.5.
19 Resident Evil: Dead Aim
Resident Evil is a huge franchise, but even it has obscure sequels that you may not be aware of. The main games have been ported to heck and back, but what about some of the spinoffs?
I’m on a zombie boat!
Resident Evil: Dead Aim is a light gun shooter for the PS2. It’s not the first, or last to do this either. Anyway, the game takes place on a cruise ship that suddenly has a breakout of the T-Virus. At the very least it’s unique in setting, but pretty bad overall.
18 Zone Of The Enders: The Fist of Mars
Here’s a sequel that escaped even my hungry eyes. As a teenager, I loved Zone of the Enders: The Second Runner on PS2. I dreamed of a sequel, but it never came past vague teases. Little did I realize there was a GBA RPG called Zone of the Enders: The Fist of Mars and it actually came out in the West! I know, right? There’s probably a reason it got swept under the rug though. I checked it out for this piece and it’s very bare bones.
17 Front Mission 5: Scars Of The War
Front Mission has received a very lukewarm reception in the West. Not in terms of reviews, but the sales. There have been more games that the West has missed more so than it has received. I decided to go with the last mainline game Front Mission 5: Scars of the War for the PS2. There hasn’t been a numbered sequel, or even a console tactical RPG since 2005 so even Japan has felt the burn. Maybe if the upcoming reboot spinoff does well, Left Alive, we’ll get a new, proper entry.
16 Metal Gear Acid 2
Your first thought may be, “I didn’t even know there was a Metal Gear Acid 1 let alone a sequel.” That remark wouldn’t be unsound either as this was a PSP card RPG.
The Big Boss of cards.
I know those two genres shouldn’t work with the Metal Gear series, but it was actually pretty cool. The first one played it safe and sort of kept it more grounded like Splinter Cell, but this one cranked everything up to eleven.
15 Tales of Rebirth
Like Front Mission, the Tales of series has been handled poorly outside of Japan. Since the PS3 we’ve been getting every console entry, but it was a little harrier in the beginning. The one I’ve wanted most is Tales of Rebirth, which came out for the PS2 in 2004 and the PSP in 2008. There has been some effort to translate the PSP version, but it’s far from complete. I played little of it and even though I didn’t understand anything, the look and battle system wowed me.
14 Arm Wrestling
It’s time for another quick history lesson you may not be aware of. First of all, did you know that Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out is actually the fifth game in the series? It all began in the arcade and is a little complicated in terms of releases, but just know every game has been unique outside of its original platform. Another fun fact is that there was a totally different style of game right before the NES title called Arm Wrestling in the arcade. And yes, canonically it is related since it features some guest appearances.
13 Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem
Fire Emblem: Awakening broke new ground in the West after trying numerous times to succeed over here. Part of the reason is because it implemented a Casual mode that allowed characters to not perish in battle.
Fire Emblem dominates the roster in Super Smash Bros.
See the thing that’s unique about these games is the permadeath. They’re all really hard, but rewarding similar to that Dark Souls feeling. While this was indeed the first game to have it in the West, it’s not the first Casual mode. Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem on DS was the first.
12 Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII
There’s like over a hundred Final Fantasy games at this point. Even though it took a while for some to get localized in the West, most are now in English. There are some holdovers though. During the Final Fantasy VII rebirth phase, there was one project we never got and it’s the one I wanted most. Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII takes place before the game and is a turn-based RPG starring the Turks. It was made for mobile phones before smart devices so yeah; it’s pretty lost to time.
11 Pokémon Card GB2: Here Comes Team GR!
It’s hard to put into words exactly how big Pokémon was when it launched in the West in 1998. I was obsessed with everything related to it. While I collected the cards I never played with them, as it seemed too complicated. I did, however, play the card game on Game Boy and was just addicted to it as the main games. I always wanted a sequel, but little did I know there was one in Japan on Game Boy Color. I’ve since played through the fan-patched version and I was pleasantly surprised.
