Game sequels you never knew existed

Features

March 12, 2015

Sometimes even the most successful games get follow-ups that go amiss.

It may boil down to bad timing, a dodgy release platform, or even simply missing out on capturing a small piece of our limited attention span.

Whatever the reason, we feel that it’s only right for us to bring some of these forgotten works to light.

Here are some game sequels that you probably never knew existed.

Heart of the Alien

Sequel to: Another World

Another World is one of the most critically-acclaimed side-scrolling adventure games ever made.

Everyone loved it. Even my mom, and she hates everything, especially affection.

Created by Eric Chahi, the game was always meant to open and close the way it did (ending off in a thought-provoking, ambiguous way). Until Interplay was all like, “Hey, but money!”

Chahi was persuaded into making a follow-up – Heart of the Alien – which followed on directly from the ending of Another World, slapped the ending ambiguity in the face and said, “Here, have this way more depressing ending, instead”.

Those who played the game actually liked it, but Chahi said it doesn’t represent his vision of the world.

Luckily for him, it never really hit big on Sega CD, and no one really knows it exists.

The sequel kicks off at the 22 minute mark.

Dino Crisis 3

Sequel to: Dino Crisis 2

If you’ve been a long-time MyGaming reader, you’ll probably be aware of this sequel: we’ve pointed out previously that it is both horrible and something we wish to forget.

But let’s mention it one more time because maybe Capcom are reading, and they see how much we really, really want a proper sequel (or reboot) for this series.

Dino Crisis 3 sounds awesome on paper: mutated dinosaurs in space. But it is not.

In a world where Dead Space and Alien Isolation exist, space + scary things is a real winner. Chuck in some dinosaurs…I mean, how could it go wrong?

Watch below to find out why the Xbox game failed to grab the headlines.

Final Fantasy X-2.5

Sequel to: Final Fantasy X-2

Depending on how you played the game, Final Fantasy X-2 ends the story of Tidus and Yuna on a pretty settled note. Either the lovers end up happily reunited or Yuna moves on with life with some degree of closure.

Then Final Fantasy X-2.5 (and Final Fantasy X: Will) happened.

While it’s not a game – it’s a novel, and an audio story – it does continue Spira’s story beyond the events of Final Fantasy X-2, taking the game’s ‘happy couple’ conclusion as canon.

And it’s all pretty messed up.

It was written by Final Fantasy X’s scenario writer Kazushige Nojima and paints a rather confusing tale of what happens to Tidus and Yuna after they’re reunited. It’s death and unraveling the fabric of the universe kind of stuff.

The audio story then expands on that story even further, and ends off on a cliffhanger.

BattleChess 2: Chinese Chess

Sequel to: BattleChess

BattleChess was an awesome game. It showed me from an early age that I had a certain gleeful disposition towards violent content, which was in no way related to my aforementioned lack of affection from my mother.

Anyway, the game had a sequel. How does chess get a sequel? (Apparently that’s a thing)

Well, in the BattleChess sense, they went with a title based on xiangqi, commonly called “Chinese Chess”. Not sure if racist.

I have no idea how Chinese Chess works, or how it compares to western chess, but the game features more death animations, which is all I wanted.

For bonus points, there was another sequel – BattleChess 4000 – which took on a sci-fi vibe, and featured less-than-consensual interactions between monarchs.

Welltris

Sequel to: Tetris

Yes indeed, Tetris has a sequel.

You may be thinking, “No DUH, I’ve played Tetris II, Tetris 2000 and Bikini Babe Tetris MEGA XL a million times over” – but you’d be mistaken.

Those are not sequels, they’re just spinoffs and clones of the same concept, which suffers from Russia’s poor copyright handling.

Back in the real world, Tetris’ creator Alexey Pajitnov actually followed up the 1984 game with another gem in 1989: Welltris.

Welltris follows similar 2D falling block gameplay, but takes place in a 3D setting. Blocks ‘fall’ down the walls and settle on an 8×8 grid at the end off the “well” (geddit? WELLtris.)

See? Communism isn’t so bad.