tim333
07-08-2005, 07:10 PM
I'm playing Toejam and Earl 2 right now and having a great time - it's definitely one of the better platformers on the Genesis. Playing TJ&E 2 got me to thinking about the expectations involved with sequels, and how it can hurt how a game is received.
I've seen a fair amount of antipathy expressed toward TJ&E 2. Most don't go so far as to call it bad, but I've seen "mediocre" and "uninspired" tossed around a lot. Personally, I find it to be a game with a lot of personality and a crazy amount of secrets and paths to find. I think that comparisons to the original harm people's perceptions of Panic on Funkatron; sure, it's not as good as the infinitely replayable original, and we'd all rather have seen the direct sequel that Greg Johnson says they'd abandoned, but taken on its own terms it's a really fun game.
I think that another example is Sparkster: Rocket Knight Adventures II. I'd heard a lot of negative things about it before I finally tracked down a copy, but I enjoyed it a lot more than I'd expected; in fact, I think it made several improvements over the original (the rocket pack is much easier to use and more well-implemented). I missed the shooter portions from the first one, but aside from that I think Sparkster is able to stand beside RKA as another Genesis gem.
I don't mean to say that anyone's opinion of these games is invalid, but I do think that some of the negative assessments of these and other sequels come from disappointment that these games don't do the same things as the originals, when they should really be judged on their own. Any thoughts on this?
I've seen a fair amount of antipathy expressed toward TJ&E 2. Most don't go so far as to call it bad, but I've seen "mediocre" and "uninspired" tossed around a lot. Personally, I find it to be a game with a lot of personality and a crazy amount of secrets and paths to find. I think that comparisons to the original harm people's perceptions of Panic on Funkatron; sure, it's not as good as the infinitely replayable original, and we'd all rather have seen the direct sequel that Greg Johnson says they'd abandoned, but taken on its own terms it's a really fun game.
I think that another example is Sparkster: Rocket Knight Adventures II. I'd heard a lot of negative things about it before I finally tracked down a copy, but I enjoyed it a lot more than I'd expected; in fact, I think it made several improvements over the original (the rocket pack is much easier to use and more well-implemented). I missed the shooter portions from the first one, but aside from that I think Sparkster is able to stand beside RKA as another Genesis gem.
I don't mean to say that anyone's opinion of these games is invalid, but I do think that some of the negative assessments of these and other sequels come from disappointment that these games don't do the same things as the originals, when they should really be judged on their own. Any thoughts on this?