Twelve sequels we actually want

Some people say you can have too much of a good thing, but we say they can bugger right off. A cake is good, right? But are two cakes bad? No, they’re just more cake, and we like cake so we’ll take all we can get. Om nom nom.

In gaming terms, the only thing better than a great videogame is a great videogame that acts as the start of a great franchise. Final Fantasy, Burnout, Super Mario Bros… We love them not only because they’re great but also because of what they later gave us. The only problem with sequels is thattoo often weget the wrong ones. Did anyone really look forward to Bubsy 2? (Note: If you did, kill yourself) Does anyone actually have a shelf stacked with a complete collection of FIFA? (Note: If you do, kill yourself twice) Did you, in fact, rush out to pick up both Ty The Tasmanian Tiger sequels on launch day? (Note: Yep, you know what to do, but this time use fire and power tools)

But the real tragedy is that while many a sequel is as appetising as a herpes sandwich, the games we really want more of frequently get overlooked. Gaming’s dusty archives are filled with titles that scream out for a sequel but find their hopeless yelps echoing to a silent death in the empty darkness of the vaults. Some didn’t fulfill their full potential the first time round. Some have concepts just begging for a current gen retool. And others were just so damn tasty good that we could gorge ourselves on them all day until we puked, and then use the resulting extra stomach capacity to go back for more.

To put right this continuing miscarriage of gaming justice, we’ve compiled our list of games that absolutely, positively must have follow-ups announced in 2008. Developers and publishers, pay attention, for not only are we right about these, we will demand only a small slice of the profits and a nod of thanks in the credits when you get them off the ground.

David Houghton
Long-time GR+ writer Dave has been gaming with immense dedication ever since he failed dismally at some '80s arcade racer on a childhood day at the seaside (due to being too small to reach the controls without help). These days he's an enigmatic blend of beard-stroking narrative discussion and hard-hitting Psycho Crushers.