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

[Hobie-wan]

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.

I'm too lazy to look up which one, but a PP game was released here as Qwirks for PC.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Ever play those mediocre Wii games The Monkey King: The Journey Begins and Saint?

Both are sequels to Cloud Master! Yes, the Master System game.

[Michi]

^ I knew that one!......I think I read about it here on these forums, but still.....I knew that!

[pierrot]

Both are sequels to Cloud Master! Yes, the Master System game.

Cloud Master is actually an arcade shooter, from Taito, that was originally called Chuka Taisen. There's also a version for the Famicom, MSX2 and updated versions for PCE and Wii.



I was going to save this, but since there was talk of re-skinned games: Alex Kidd in Hi-Tech World is actually a much better game called Anmitsu Hime, for the Mark III. Honestly, I don't know why Sega brought it over to begin with, but it looks really bizarre as an Alex Kidd game. After seeing Anmitsu Hime, I realized why, and also realized that it's a fairly good game. (Anmitsu Hime, that is.)

[BoneSnapDeez]

There are two different games called Ys IV that were released around the same time.

Ys IV: The Dawn of Ys for PC Engine CD, developed by Hudson Soft.
Ys IV: Mask of the Sun for Super Famicom, developed by Tonkin House.

Mask of the Sun was also remade by Taito for the PS2, the game is titled Ys IV: Mask of the Sun - A New Theory.

Up until about last year, Mask of the Sun had been considered canon. However, Ys: Memories of Celceta (out in Japan, soon to be released in the US) is now considered the "true" fourth installment in the story.

Also, both Ys V and Brandish 2 have "expert" versions. These are basically just hard modes, but they were released as entirely new cartridges.

[BoneSnapDeez]

A look at some old RPGs...

You probably know this but Chrono Trigger, Radical Dreamers, and Chrono Cross make up a loosely defined "trilogy."

Crystal Beans: From Dungeon Explorer is a port of Dungeon Explorer II. However, Dungeon Explorer on Sega CD is not a port of the TurboGrafx-16 game of the same name, it's completely different.

Warsong on Genesis is actually the first Langrisser game, and I believe the only one to be released in the US.

Dragon View is the sequel to Drakkhen.

E.V.O.: Search for Eden is a heavily reworked port of a PC98 game called 46 Okunen Monogatari: The Shinka Ron.

Paladin's Quest was called Lennus is Japan. There is a Japan-only Lennus II.

There are four completely different games called Shadowrun, all based on the same tabletop RPG (SNES, Genesis, Mega CD (Japan only), and Xbox 360/PC).

Super Ninja Boy was called Super Chinese World in Japan. Installments 2 and 3 followed for the Super Famicom, never to be released in the US.

Chunsoft's roguelike Mystery Dungeon series sometimes borrows characters from other series like Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, and Pokémon. Only the Shiren the Wanderer titles star original characters.

Getting super obscure now, but the Japan-only RPGs Dark Lord, Wizap!: Ankoku no Ou, and Dark Law: Meaning of Death make up a trilogy.

Finally, Wizardry is so big in Japan that there are tons of Wizardry Gaiden and other spin-off games. In fact, these titles outnumber the main series.

[ExedExes]

How about the connection between Street Fighter and Final Fight>

Yes. Final Fight was originally to be Street Fighter '89 before arcade operators had their way with Capcom.

I live for video game facts like this, keep it up guys.

I do too, and threads like these give me so much more to soak up. I love it. Not many may care where their games come from but thanks to the Internet we were playing so many re-skins, spinoffs, and sequels of games we've never seen before, and we never knew it!

[muhanad]

So much interesting stiff I didn't know. Keep it up guys!

[prfsnl_gmr]

Since the trivia I wrote originally was posted by another member, I will say this...

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)

...

Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari = River City Ransom

The character Jimmy Lee from Double Dragon is the main character in the game Target: Renegade:



and the Double Dragon theme plays when you fight the "Dragon Twins" in River City Ransom EX for the Gameboy Advance. (Unfortunately, I could not remember whether the characters names were also changed to "Billy" and "Jimmy" for that version of the game...Another member may be able to confirm this, however.)

[noiseredux]

Exed, you only scratched the surface. The Kunio-kun series is really really huge and really really awesome.