In the past there have been many games which players have quickly fallen in love with, much like films, the reception of games are key to whether or not they get sequels.  Unfortunately, also like films, many of the sequels are made just for the sake of making more money from a much-loved game, and ruining it for the fan entirely.  However, there are some sequels that have been as good, if not better, than the first.  Here is a list of favourite Sequel games by the folks of Gamer Laughs.

Jordi Steel – Telltale’s Walking Dead: Season 2

“When Telltale announced that they would be making an episodic game based on the Walking Dead franchise, everyone was in uproar.  Telltale had been the company to ruin franchises with their game adaptations. Award-winning movie titles such as Back to the Future and Jurassic Park where rubbish cash-ins that tried to milk the last drops from decade-old dead cows, and now they were going to ruin our beloved zombie-apocalypse Survival masterpiece.  Boy were we wrong.  Walking Dead Season 1 was an instant hit with both fans of the show, and people who preferred other shows like Breaking Bad (still haven’t finished it, DON’T LEAVE ME!!).  The emotional moments between characters, and tense moments of pure shock, horror and adrenaline-pumping fear, was enough to immerse almost anyone who played it.  We fell in love with murderer Lee Everett, wanted to protect young Clementine, and wanted to brodown with Kenny.  And when it came to the end, we struggled to sit through the ending credits without breaking down with tears in our eyes (or was it just me).  And then Telltale announced a sequel and we thought, well how can they beat the first one, surely it is impossible.  Again, wrong.  Season 2 was just as emotional, immersive and captivating, if not more, than the Season 1.  It didn’t feel like another rehash, it was special for its own reasons.  Where Season 1 was intense because we knew what this universe was like and that walkers could kill anyone at any time, and the idea of Surviving the walker onslaughts was immersive enough, Season 2 was intense because of the Human threat, and it thrusts the player Ito so many situations between Clementine and other people where you know both of these people are good hearted, but one of you will die in the end of this scenario.  It managed to once again leave us in the end with our eyes swelling, fearing that this was our last goodbye (Come on it can’t have just been me.  What kind of monster, would leave Kenny by himself).  Walking Dead Season 2 managed to keep us emotionally grasped, though maybe not emotionally stable, and did a good, maybe even better job, than the first one. BRING ON SEASON 3.”

Shaun Richardson – Baldur’s Gate 2

“Not only my favourite sequels, but also my favourite games of all time. It’s famous amongst RPG fans as one of the best games ever created, yet oddly enough I rarely see it on mainstream “Top Ten” lists. Not only did it carry on from the first game, it also let you import your character. Baldur’s Gate 1 was awesome in its day, but Black Isle Studios took everything from the first and improved on it tenfold. The story and world is immense with so much to do yet you never feel lost. I know Athkatla more than my own hometown. The guilds you could join, the decisions you could make and the depth of the new class system make this sequel one that is bolstered by the other games in the series, but can stand proudly alone. Want to be a Wild Mage with unpredictable power? You got it. Want to be an evil cleric, worshiper of Talos? Then keep that human skin and wear it as armour. I’ll never forget the feeling of running the Thieves Guild as my Assassin or becoming the Arch Druid, Protector of The Grove as my Shapeshifter, turning into a Greater Werewolf and tearing entire towns apart. The remastered version on the iPad makes it all the more greater with added areas and new characters. I miss the days of Forgotten Realms and D&D games, but thankfully the remastered versions brought it back into today’s generation. Long live those Black Isle/Obsidian writers and their perfect RPGs.”

Benny Gurov – Portal 2

“I’m a huge fan of the first portal game. There was an interesting story, challenging puzzles, interesting new game mechanic, and a hilariously sinister and murderous computer. It was simply very enjoyable. Then in came Portal 2 with brand new mechanics and harder puzzles to solve – not to mention a whole new community-based Steam Workshop, and it added new characters to keep the story going all the way into an over-the-top finale.  As far as I can tell, Portal 2 improved in every single aspect I could think of from its predecessor, and I don’t see many game sequels do this.”

Ben Magnet – Mega Man Legends 2

“I freaking loved that game. It took everything that was amazing about Legends and improved on it which is what a sequel should do. The story was better, the game world was freaking huge, there were more dungeons to explore, and the targeting system was tighter. My only real complaints about the game is that finding the gear for the drill arm weapon was a major pain my first time playing it and that they changed voice actors for Mega Man to which he sounds more like 12 year old girl trying to sound like a guy than a 15 year old. Other than that Mega Man Legends 2 is by far my favourite sequel, until Capcom gets off their ass and finally gives us Legends 3 like they were supposed to in 2011.”

Travis Cummings – Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

“What is left to say about Uncharted 2 that hasn’t already been said by every gaming outlet ever. Even after everything is all said and done, the amount of polish and detail that has gone into that game is still impressive and in some cases, better than a lot of modern games. It is a perfect sequel in every way. It has a better, more developed story than its predecessor, better gameplay and even better visuals. Some people like to give the game grief for its shooting mechanics but I would wholly disagree with that. While it’s not on the same level of a Max Payne it is still definitely above average. Top notch writing is also a big key to what made this sequel great, giving us some of the best one liners gaming has gotten since Duke Nukem. “Oh I’m Sorry do you have a plan to go along with that grenade?” “You brought a hooker to church?” are just a few examples. It also happened to be the first entry in the series to include multiplayer. The multiplayer was kind of a bare bones experience but offered a great deal of fun on top of an already amazing single player experience. All of this equates to one of the best sequels of last generation and one of the greatest games of all time.”

Rob Salvatore – Jak 3

“The last game in the trilogy was the best! I loved the addition of car battles and the variety of cars needed to complete a mission. The third game kept everything great about the first two games and added to it. Even the story stayed in cannon with the series. When I beat it I felt it ended perfectly leaving no loose ends. Though there was room for another sequel that I am still hoping on.”

Danial Aziz – Need For Speed Underground 2

“Underground 2 is by far my most beloved sequel. While the first Underground was a lot of fun, Underground 2 perfected the formula. This game still remains my favourite racing game of all time. This game provided everything I could have possibly wanted from a racing game, from interesting race types to unbelievable customization options, this game had it all. It was also an open world game and what a fantastic open world it was. The city of Bayview was beautifully designed and because of this, races felt interesting and never became tedious. The game also offered a large variety of race types which included Circuit, Sprint, Street X, Drift, Downhill Drift, Outrun, Drag and the Underground Racing League (U.R.L), all of which were great fun. This was a proper racing game, no hamsters or balls or hamsters in balls, no sir! It has been roughly a decade since its release and I haven’t loved another racing game as much as I do this one. While the more exuberant racer would prefer Burnout 3, Need for Speed Underground 2 is the one for me.”

Richard Dobson – TimeSplitters 2

“This has to be my favourite sequel of any game ever because it came at a time towards the end of the days where it was normal for friends to all be able to play on one console and the same screen, and we spent hundreds of hours doing so. Even the campaign was co-op so if there wasn’t a full party of 4 of us to run around the Chinese restaurant trying to avoid the zombies, we could still play together.  This game could honestly be the one game I would take on a desert island with me. The campaign was strong, but admittedly not as strong as Timesplitters: Future Perfect, but the multiplayer shone through for me. The maps were so varied including themes based on the Wild West, the aforementioned Chinese restaurant, and even through to a creepy hospital wing. They were all well thought out too with long corridors, open spaces and tight corners, all staples of FPS maps nowadays.  And if you ever got bored of those maps, there was a built-in map editor that even had lighting effects, which was a big deal in the days of the PS2. We used it to full advantage too, creating a map with nothing but corridors round the edge and a massive arena in the middle, put flashing red lights down the corridors, and stuck the Notre Dame Boss music playing over it. Add to this all the undead characters and it remains genuinely scary, but with the Virus game mode on, the most fun I’ve had on a multiplayer game.  Speaking of the characters, there was easily over 100 to unlock, something I still haven’t managed. Ranging from tiny monkeys (that were banned in our group because they were bastards to kill) to 6 foot tall creepy gingerbread men, there was something for everyone. They even all came with unique stats to add an extra element of skill to it all.  And if all that wasn’t enough, the campaign had 3 hidden game cartridges that if you find would unlock classic retro style games. My favourite of these was the Anaconda one that could be found on a shelf stacked full of watermelons in the Siberia mission (nobody question why watermelons were on a shelf in a dam in Siberia) and even that provided many hours of competition between friends.  Sadly, this game didn’t make an impact in what was fast becoming a saturated FPS market with Halo: Combat Evolved releasing the year before and Call of Duty following the year later. The reason given for this was because it was quirky and unusual and it was, but this made it all the better and a game I will never forget how much I enjoyed.”

There you have it, our favourite sequels. Did we mention any of your favourites? Let us know below.