Top 10 Most Innovative Sequels

As you'll soon see in an article I'm working on, I'm a big supporter of sequels. So I'm going to list my top ten sequels that were innovative, popularizing new ideas in gaming.

Number 10: Spiderman 2
The only licensed game on the list, Spiderman 2 combined wide open sandbox gameplay with super powers and a significant vertical element. A licensed game being imitated is quite an accomplishment, even if it isn't as frequently as most of the games higher on the list.

Number 9: Super Mario Kart
It's debatable how much Super Mario Kart counts as a sequel, but it's part of an existing franchise and created a new sub-genre. Every cartoony, weapon filled racer owes something to Super Mario Kart.

Number 8: Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Ocarina of Time may have kept the gameplay of the 2D Zeldas mostly intact, and unlike most of the later games on this list, the predecessors were very popular around the world. However, OoT still added enough new features to qualify, the most important being the popularizing of locking on to enemies, which has become a staple of several genres. Far less imitated but still worth mentioning is the auto-jumping.

Number 7: Final Fantasy VII
While not that innovative in gameplay, Final Fantasy VII was what JRPGs would strive to be for generations to come, and made the genre popular outside of Japan. Also struck a blow for uncensored translations of Japanese games.

Number 6: Grand Theft Auto 3
I'll be honest, I don't actually like this game, but it certainly tried a lot and got copied a lot. A huge popularity booster for sandbox games and M rated games in general, and of course a huge controversy magnet.

Number 5: Metal Gear Solid
Metal Gear Solid pulled double innovation duty, both popularizing the stealth genre and showing that games with lots of full cutscenes (previously represented by those hated FMV games) could work. Not to mention being one of the first games with good voice acting.

Number 4: Wolfenstein 3D
Not the last game on this list that popularized an entire genre, Wolfenstein 3D may not have been as popular as Doom, but it's well known enough to make the list from a revolutionizing perspective. And it's the only FPS that can claim to have inspired an unlicensed Bible game, that has to count for something.

Number 3: Super Mario 64
What Super Mario Bros was to 2D gaming, Super Mario 64 was to 3D gaming. The flagship title for the analog stick and the defining game for full 3D freedom, SM64 shows that even with innovative prequels, a game can always introduce something new.

Number 2: Street Fighter II
When I was little, I didn't know the original Street Fighter existed and thought fighting games were just supposed to end with II. That should tell you just how overshadowing SFII was to its predecessor, and I'm sure I don't need to tell anyone what a huge impact it made on fighting games.

Number 1: Super Mario Bros
The best example of a sequel taking a genre and truly transforming it is unquestionably Super Mario Bros. Popularizing platformers and games with endings, SMB would be at least number 2 on a most innovative games list that wasn't confined to sequels. Among sequels, there's no question, Super Mario Bros is the most innovative and revolutionary.