It's one of the toughest things to do in any medium: create a sequel worthy of the original work. When an original work is popular, profitable, or critically acclaimed enough, a sequel can quickly receive the green light. Rushing into a video game sequel, however, can be problematic as quality may suffer, whether it's in terms of story or gameplay.

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First impressions are important, but second impressions can dictate whether or not a franchise has a future. If sequels fail to take off, that can spell an early end for a franchise, before it even gets off the ground. Thankfully, some sequels mark the moment when a franchise has hit its stride.

10 Silent Hill 2 Doubles Down On The Scares And The Fog

Maria and James Sunderland in a foggy Silent Hill 2 location

The horror video game genre has a surprisingly good track record when it comes to second entries. Series ranging from Resident Evil to Dead Space have managed to produce worthy sequels. One of the best horror sequels, however, comes from the Silent Hill series.

Silent Hill 2 was released for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox in 2001, two years after the original Silent Hill was released on PlayStation. SH2's improvements to the camera and controls are complemented by gorgeous, yet unsettling graphics and a story that keeps players invested until the credits roll. To this day, SH2 is cited as one of the best games of all time, as well as one of the scariest.

9 Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Is Among The All-Time Great Video Games

Nathan Drake leaps from buildings escapes a helicopter in Uncharted 2: Among Thieves.

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune was one of the PlayStation 3's first worthwhile exclusives. Drake's Fortune served as a showcase for what the PS3 was capable whether it was Nathan Drake's pants actually getting wet in water or the cutscenes that were motion captured by the voice actors themselves. What critics and players did not expect was just how much further Naughty Dog would push the Uncharted series just two years later.

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Uncharted 2: Among Thieves improves on Drake's Fortune in every regard, whether it's the gorgeous visuals or the huge leap in the narrative stakes, building upon Uncharted's summer blockbuster feel. Among Thieves went on to receive a 96 Metacritic score placing it in exclusive company, and even managed to nab plenty of Game of the Year awards.

8 Assassin's Creed II Provided An Early Rennaissance For The Assassin's Creed Series

Ezio diving into the canals of Venice of Assassin's Creed II.

The original Assassin's Creed was one of the first major AAA multiplatform hits of the seventh generation of consoles. The concept of Desmond Miles exploring the Third Crusade via the Animus to train as a deadly assassin was an easy hook for players. Despite this, Assassin's Creed's gameplay was found to be too repetitive and underwhelming.

Ubisoft took much of that criticism to heart when producing Assassin's Creed II. ACII takes Miles and the players to Renaissance Italy to explore the life of Ezio Auditore da Firenze. ACII, and Ezio, became so popular that Ubisoft produced two direct sequels in what is now dubbed "The Ezio Trilogy." On top of that, Ezio also appears as a guest fighter in Soulcalibur V.

7 Pokémon Gold & Silver Was So Big It Practically Included The Original Game

Ho-oh and Lugia from the Pokemon Gold and Silver intro

Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue (or Green) are one of the most difficult acts that any video game sequel has had to follow. There's more to Pokémon than just the games: There's an anime series, movies, a trading card game, and an unfathomable amount of toys.

What Game Freak pulled off with Pokémon Gold and Pokémon Silver is nothing short of astounding. Gold and Silver didn't just add 100 new Pokémon and call it a day. They introduced new features such as Pokémon breeding, new quality of life improvements, such as the upgraded inventory system, and the entire Kanto region, playable after beating the Elite Four. Gold and Silver are as perfect a sequel as it gets.

6 Street Fighter II: The World Warrior, And Its Many Updates, Set The Stage For The Fighting Genre

Ryu takes on M Bison in Street Fighter II

When playing the original Street Fighter, it's tough to believe that it was followed up by one of the most iconic, genre-defining, and influential games ever created. That was the case when Street Fighter II: The World Warrior was released on arcades in 1991.

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Beyond introducing iconic characters such as Chun-Li and M. Bison, SFII also introduced the combo system - albeit accidentally. The combo system was initially an unintended bug that was left in due to the high level of execution required to pull it off. Capcom expanded this combo system in later SFII updates and later SF titles.

5 Batman: Arkham City Was The Hero The Superhero Genre Deserved

Batman fighting enemy grunts in Batman Arkham City

Superhero games have long been a mixed bag. For every Spider-Man 2, there are innumerable Superman 64s. It wasn't until Batman: Arkham Asylum in 2007 that players would enter the Golden Age of superhero games, with the Batman Arkham series becoming the poster child for how to adapt a popular IP.

How could Rocksteady Studios possibly top Arkham Asylum? By bringing Batman into the heart of Gotham itself. Batman: Arkham City takes the fundamental core of Arkham Asylum and places it in a vast open-world iteration of Gotham while introducing many of Batman's allies and rogues' gallery villains. In an incredible 2011 filled with excellent titles such as Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception and Portal 2, Arkham City stands alongside The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim as the highest-rated game of 2011 with a 96 Metacritic score.

4 Super Smash Bros. Melee Maintains Its Dedicated Community To This Day

Super Smash Bros Melee Characters

While some second entries later get surpassed by the third or fourth title in a series, Super Smash Bros. Melee spent nearly two decades as the premier competitive Super Smash Bros. title. While much of the current attention is on Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, there is still a strong, dedicated, community that's centered around Melee.

Melee refines the blueprint of the Super Smash Bros. by creating a more technical fighting game than its predecessor while also more than doubling the cast of characters. Melee is also notable for introducing the Fire Emblem series outside of Japan with the inclusion of Marth and Roy.

3 Borderlands 2 Proved There Ain't No Rest For The Borderlands Series

Handsome Jack standing tall while background chaos ensues in Borderlands 2

The original Borderlands was a fun romp. With its colorful cel-shaded graphics and hilarious, immature, humor, Borderlands left its bloody mark in the video game industry when it was released in 2009. One of Borderlands' central themes was "kill or be killed," and 2K Games provided players with an abundant arsenal of weapons and abilities to ensure that it is the player who is doing most of the killing.

2012's Borderlands 2 improved on an already strong foundation by adding even more weapons, more eccentric characters, and a much deeper story. B2 introduces Handsome Jack, a villain who was well-received by critics and fans alike for his diabolical, exuberant, and narcissistic nature.

2 Horizon Forbidden West Solidifies Horizon As One Of Sony's Best Exclusives

Aloy as she appears in Horizon Forbidden West

Horizon Zero Dawn captured the imagination of players with its apocalyptic setting filled with animalistic machines. Zero Dawn was so well-received that when the PlayStation 5 was initially revealed, its sequel in Horizon Forbidden West was seen by many as the console's most anticipated exclusive.

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Forbidden West would live up to that hype by expanding the world of Horizon both in size and in lore. Shortly after her victory over the rogue A.I., Hades, Horizon's outcast-turned-champion, Aloy, sets off west to seek a solution to a mysterious blight and an even more mysterious group of people. On her latest journey, Aloy comes equipped with new items such as the Shieldwing glider, which makes traversing the vast world even more exhilarating.

1 Halo 2 Turned A Console-Selling Game Into A Console-Selling Franchise

A red Spartan unleashes turret fire on their opponents in Halo 2 multiplayer

Few games truly warrant the title of "system seller" like Halo: Combat Evolved. The first Halo was the killer app for the original Xbox, and not only set the trajectory for Microsoft's venture into gaming but also first-person shooters and multiplayer gaming as a whole.

The first Halo's success resulted in Halo 2 becoming one of the most anticipated sequels ever made. Its release saw massive lines and frequent reports on the local news. Halo 2 was the hot item of 2004, and every bit of that attention was justified. Halo 2 not only provides a deeper story on the war against the Covenant but would usher in the console online multiplayer revolution that dominates the video game landscape to this day.

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