Sequels are nothing new. If anything it is what has kept the industry going. I don't know a true gamer who doesn't look forward to new installments of Super Mario, The Legend of Zelda, and the like. The problem here develops when you get what is called IP Rot. Too much of a good thing.
A good example is the Street Fighter franchise. Street Fighter II was an epic battle of good versus evil. Become the World Warrior. The problem was that there was EleventyBillion (11tybillion) versions. In fighting games, that can be expected, as they are meant for arcades. Home consoles? A new Street Fighter game appeared every time a midget was accused of raping reindeer.
For full price you could get a sped up version of the game. Full Price. For that amount of cash you could purchase some speed, and coke. Snort the coke off a strippers ass and Get that very same midget to perform a reindeer show while playing the original Street Fighter II. With all that you ingested you'd get the same amount of "speed".
Now. There is the opposite. Sitting on an IP for years. When you finally get it out there, you run the risk of people not caring. Please notice the development hell that Duke Nukem Forever went through. Of my beloved Ninja Gaiden series.
It is a rough balance to maintain. Some prefer to retcon the whole thing and start over. This can be seen in cases where Jumping the Shark is involved, quite a bit. Other times, there has been too many sequels. Too much time between installments. The list goes on. The most recent example is the new Mortal Kombat. Retells the story of the first tournament, while making new ground. Including characters from later games, and also adding new ones.
It is a hard balance. If you are going to release a reboot or a sequel of belove d property way down the road, you have a hard task ahead of you. You must create a game that caters to long time fans, and appeals to new audiences. Bring game mechanics from and oldschool 8-Bit game into the forefront of today's best technology.
Can it be done? Yes. Does it have a high probability of f***ing up? You bet your ass. Example: I was a big fan of the original Bionic Commando. When I heard they were making a sequel, I pissed myself with excitement, much to my wife's dismay. Then, they remade the original and released it before the new one hit. Good plan. Renewed interest. The remake was spot on badass! Rearmed is one of the best remakes ever!
Then I got the sequel. His dreadlocks were hokey, but overall, the game was pretty good! It was very difficult at points. Lots of deaths, but unlimited lives from checkpoints. Pretty good amount of checkpoints too.
One thing I noticed was people bitching. "Wahhhhhh! Cheap deaths! Wahhh he can't swim!" Let me educate you, Junior. If you had a bitchin' giant metal bionic arm, and huge metal boots to help support the weight and impact of it, you would sink too! I got myself out of more that a few would be watery graves by firing my bionic arm at random. Sometimes you get lucky, sometimes you don't.
Ultimately if the story is pretty decent, and the game isn't broken anywhere you may have a hit on your hands. It is hard to walk that fine line, and most of the time you will get nitpickers bitching over the number of pubic hair the hero has, but the majority will enjoy it.
Windwaker is a great example of this. While people bitched about the art direction, others were well within it's epic story!
It is that fine line. Thin. Unseen, but carries the hopes and wishes of millions. Take a chance create and play something great!
Michael Smalley entertains himself by writing articles that range from thought provoking to downright rants. You can read other articles on his site The Axalon.
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