"Pseudo-sequels", spin-offs, loosely-connected games, etc...

[pierrot]

Ninja Warriors (US SNES) is actually titled The Ninja Warriors Again in Japan, and is a sequel of sorts to the original Taito arcade game, The Ninja Warriors.

The original arcade game was one of Taito's multi-screen arcades, and has some fantastic backgrounds (seriously love the details in the backgrounds) which are mostly gone from the major home console ports. (One of the retro PC ports keeps a lot of the background detail in tact, but I can't remember if it was the Atari ST, Amstrad, or ZX Spectrum version.) At least the Sega CD port has faithful renditions of the soundtrack by Zuntata.

[Menegrothx]

Not sure if it really qualifies, but the Amiga version of Ducktales is a completely different game. It has naturally way better graphics and sound, but overall it's a weird mixture of different elements and not a particularly good game

[ExedExes]

Here's what an afternoon of research came up with -- if any of these were already mentioned I'll edit them out upon someone mentioning them. I see that BSD took care of the SaGa series, which was in this list I had ready, so I won't mention them again.

NES

The Black Bass 2 (Famicom) --- > The Black Bass (AKA Black Bass USA, NES)

Dragon Ball: Shenron no Nazo (Famicom) ---- > Dragon Power (NES, drops all Dragon Ball references)

Saiyuuki World 2 (sequel to Saiyuuki World which was the Famicom port of Wonder Boy In Monster Land) ---- > Whomp Em (NES)

Nekketsu Kunio-Kun Series (Famicom titles that made it to the NES):

Nekketsu Kouha Kunio Kun = Renegade
(NOTE: Target: Renegade was a European-developed sequel to Renegade having nothing to do with the Nekketsu series -- also appeared on NES in US)
Nekketsu Koukou Dodge Ball Bu = Super Dodge Ball
Nekketsu Koukou Dodgeball-bu Soccer-hen = Nintendo World Cup
Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari = River City Ransom
Bikkuri Nekketsu Shin Kiroku! Harukanaru Kin Medal = Crash N The Boys Street Challenge
IkeIke! Nekketsu Hockey-bu = Crash N The Boys Ice Challenge (Unreleased)

Game Boy

Puzzle Boy (GB-J) ---- > Kwirk (GB-US)
Puzzle Boy 2 (GB-J) --- > Amazing Tater (GB-US)

Mickey Mouse IV (GB-J) --- > The Real Ghostbusters (GB-US) --- > Garfield Labyrinth (GB-EU), all part of the Crazy Castle series (which had Roger Rabbit in Japan and Bugs Bunny in the US)

Finally, a BONUS game:

Puzzle Bobble 2 (NeoGeo JP) became Bust A Move Again, but it has different versions. Taito America released a version with overhauled graphics and no Bubble Bobble characters on their F3 Hardware -



This version of Bust A Move Again also appears on the PS2 port of Taito Legends 2.

Later on, SNK re-released the originally conceived Puzzle Bobble 2 as Bust A Move Again, but this time in its original Japanese presentation with the Bubble Bobble characters in 1999.



This version appears on the Xbox & PC ports of Taito Legends 2, and it was also ported as Bust A Move 2 on the PS1, Saturn and N64. Whew!

[BoneSnapDeez]

Don't know if you want to, but it would be cool if you kept adding to the list in the original post as these come up, Bonez.

Not a bad idea, though I can't think of a practical way to do that. For now I'll just keep the thread rollin'.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Not sure if it really qualifies, but the Amiga version of Ducktales is a completely different game. It has naturally way better graphics and sound, but overall it's a weird mixture of different elements and not a particularly good game

There were also two different Darkwing Duck games released around the same time. The TurboGrafx-16 one is completely different than the NES/GB Capcom release.

[Damm64]

Resident Evil 3 is more like a spin off than a sequel and Code Veronica is more of a sequel than a spin off.

[soul_hacker]

Sola to Robo is a spiritual successor to Tail Concerto, and I'm pretty sure there's another game in that series that never came to the US.

Then you got Sakura Wars/Taisen. So. Many. Spin-offs.

[BurningDoom]

How about the connection between Street Fighter and Final Fight?

Resident Evil 3 is more like a spin off than a sequel and Code Veronica is more of a sequel than a spin off.

They both seem like sequels, to me.

[HellHammer]

The Seiken Densetsu, or Mana, series.

First game was a Final Fantasy spin-off, then the series took off on its own.

Final Fantasy Adventure (Seiken Densetsu: Final Fantasy Gaiden in Japan, Mystic Quest in Europe - not to be confused with Final Fantasy Mystic Quest, of course)
Secret of Mana (Seiken Densetsu 2 in Japan)
Seiken Densetsu 3 (Japan-only *sniffle*)
Legend of Mana (Seiken Densetsu: Legend of Mana in Japan)
Sword of Mana (Shin'yaku Seiken Densetsu in Japan - remake of the first game)
Children of Mana (Seiken Densetsu DS: Children of Mana in Japan)
Dawn of Mana (Seiken Densetsu 4 in Japan)
Heroes of Mana (Seiken Densetsu: Heroes of Mana in Japan)

There are some Japan-only cell phones games too, but whatever.

Also, Square released the Western-developed Secret of Evermore for the SNES. Despite having a title similar to Secret of Mana, there is no relation in terms of plot, storyline, characters, etc. The gameplay is very much the same though - it's still debated whether this counts as a "spin-off" or not.

Came here to mention this series! I loved the GB version (as FF to me) and years later when a friend showed me SoM on SNES, I about lost my mind!

I read a while back that Nintendo hired the chief editor of Nintendo Power magazine at the time, to write the character dialogue for Secret of Evermore. I live for video game facts like this, keep it up guys.

Also, the GB game Wario Blast is just a normal Bomberman game in Japan. Much like what happened with Super Mario Bros. 2, Wario skin was slapped onto an existing game and sold to NA as Wario Blast.

[BoneSnapDeez]

The Puyo Puyo puzzle games feature characters form the Madou Monogatari RPG series.

Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine, Kirby's Avalanche, and Timon & Pumbaa's Bug Drop are all (Western) variations of Puyo Puyo with the original characters replaced with different ones.

On the even more obscure side, Tao's Adventure: Curse of the Demon Seal for the DS is a sequel to the roguelike Azure Dreams (PSX/GBC).