The first game in an acclaimed franchise is seen as the origin for the fandom and the one that fans hold most dear. Like movies, it’s not often that a sequel surpasses the original. Except if you’re talking about Home Alone 2: Lost In New York.

However, a good sequel does not go unnoticed. Super Smash Bros. Melee, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and Kingdom Hearts 2 have separated themselves from their series. They became so beloved that they have their own intense following. Conversely, a bad sequel can have the same effect. While they might not have a cult following, they become separated from the series. Fans refuse to acknowledge their existence. Others were criticized for their content such as Zelda 2: The Adventures of Link. This attempt didn’t live up to the magnitude of the first. Even still, some attempted to deviate from the original concept and game design. This is the case with Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures. They redid the game format and gave Pac-Man a backstory as well as a new look. Many changes are made to these games in the final moments that make or break the series.

These can be minor changes such as a removed setting or a revised weapon. Or they could be major changes such as a plot twist or a removed character. If implemented, they’d be literal game changers.

24 Assassin’s Creed 3 Was Supposed To Be About A Time-Travelling Desmond

Desmond’s story was supposed to take a much different turn. Desmond was supposed to become a time traveler. He would have been able to revisit his enemies without an animus. Therefore, Desmond could have been an all-powerful assassin. In contrast, they ultimately removed him off. The creative director of the game, Alex Hutchinson said that Desmond “needs to end” to break away from the old tropes of the first two games. Assassin’s Creed 3 is no longer solely about assassins and Templars but Desmond was holding them to that standard.

23 Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Removed A Huge Part Of The Map

GTA Vice City has a small map in comparison to the other games in the series. Originally, there was supposed to be another place called the Gator Keys. It was modeled after the Florida Keys. There was supposed to be a mission in which Tommy escorts Avery’s friend to the Gator Keys. The dialogue for the mission is available in the game files but that is all the information given. This implemented location and mission would’ve made the game larger and just added more to the map.

22 Halo 2 Was Supposed To Have Enemies That Removed Bodies From The Battlefield

Keelbugs were supposed to clean bodies from the battlefield. A conversation topic on forums is a body glitch. Players have experienced that when they get eliminated, their body becomes glitchy, bouncy, and will go through objects. The keelbugs were supposed to split bodies into pieces and promptly remove them from the screen. This would’ve fixed the glitch and made the process a little more interesting to watch. Furthermore, it would’ve made these scenes a little less intense.

21 God Of War II Removed An Epic Level (And Costume)

The Road to Sparta was a deleted level from the game. Soldiers were made to attack Kratos but there was also the addition of Cyclops. In the game, Cyclops Eyes are items that you obtain from damaging Cyclops by, well, removing its eyes. When you obtain 20 of these eyes, you can unlock the general Kratos costume. This level would’ve provided another way of obtaining this costume. Furthermore, war is shown in the background of the level which is a shout out to Sparta, Kratos’ home.

20 Resident Evil 2 Cut Its Most Intense Enemy

The Transforming Creature was originally supposed to be an enemy. The idea was that it was supposed to be a mutating female wearing a gown. The first draft was still relatively human with an extra eye and arms with mouths on them. The second draft was way less human with a body that had a lot of mouths. The creature went from a mutant to a monster. Its attack would be biting the arms off its victims. They kept the arms turning into mouths but just added a lot more mouths and tongues. This was removed possibly due to the gruesomeness but also excessiveness.

19 Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest Deleted Zombies (For Some Reason)

There was an unused zombie to be included in the game. The zombie was going to be an additional enemy. His ultimate purpose, while unknown, was to appear in the mansion. Simon, vampire hunter, goes throughout the game trying to remove a curse put on him by Dracula. There are 5 mansions that Simon must go through to find Dracula’s corpse and remove the curse. To make it to these mansions, Simon must go through towns where, at night, the citizens turn to zombies. Therefore, a zombie enemy in one of the mansions would’ve made for an exciting battle.

18 Kingdom Hearts 2 Was Forced To Delete Tarzan

In Kingdom Hearts 1, you entered the Deep Jungle and were attacked by Sabor before encountering Tarzan. For Kingdom Hearts 2, producers hoped to create a Tarzan universe once again but could not obtain the rights. There was no secret feud between Square Enix, those who are in charge of the Kingdom Hearts franchise. Rather, the rights for Tarzan were split between Disney and Edgar Rice Burroughs, who wrote the original Tarzan novels. Burroughs ultimately gained all of the rights and Disney was unable to move forward.

17 Pokémon Gold And Silver Deleted 'Mom' Mode From The Game

The Mom character is always nameless and appears only in the beginning of the narrative. However, the Mom character was given the chance to expand on her role and even have a name. Her role is that of a mother, to take care. She sends running shoes and can even help heal in other versions of the game. She would even save some of your money. It makes sense that this feature was ultimately cut as it would’ve been a little too personal. It is safer to have the overarching mom role without the personality attached.

16 Destiny 2's Whole DLC Debacle Was Caused Because They Removed Core Game Elements

Destiny 2, as a whole, was not well received. Fans were outraged that content was removed and made available by paid download. These expansions cost money even though the content that has to be paid for was advertised as being a part of the game. The game removed two endgame activities with prestige difficulty levels and made the power level cap as part of the paid download. This would have changed the game drastically as fans complained about not enough endgame activities. This ultimately might’ve increased sales if it were made available.

15 Uncharted 2 Deleted A Hilarious Romance

In the game, there is a scene where Chloe seduces Drake. The animators have a software where you can switch out characters. As a joke, they put Lazaravic in the place of Chloe. They decided to take the joke a step further and have the voice of Lazaravic, Graham McTavish, record himself saying Chloe’s lines. Therefore, they made a completed scene. While this was all a gag, it would not have taken much to put the scene into the game.

14 Super Mario Galaxy And The Deleted Superpowers...

Mario was originally intended to be able to have the same power-ups as he did in the first game. This means that he could have evolved into Ice Mario and Flying Mario. You can still access the Flying Mario files as they were cut late into production. The ice platforms are still available as well which is proof of Ice Mario’s temporary existence. This would’ve made Mario more versatile. If the code is updated, you can still collect Red Star and Ice Power.

13 Diablo II Removed Elemental Demons

A set of monsters that were cut were the Elemental Demons. They came in four different settings. These were fire, cold, lightning, and poison; one for each magical damage. Their mode of attack was to get close to the player and then self-destruct. This would cause the player elemental damage in either of the modes. These would have been fun inclusions considering how they looked. How much they showcased the element would have made a huge difference in the effectiveness of the monsters.

12 Devil May Cry 4 Removed Plot (And Shoved It In A Novel)

There was a novel based off the game titled Devil May Cry 4: Deadly Fortune released in 2009. The game was released January 31, 2008. The novel, aside from being what it was, showcased a lot of removed content. Most of this content is centered around Dante and his time in the dark below. There were also bosses he encountered based off the weapons he collected. Details are outlined in the novel. These lost scenes would have added more narrative depth to the game.

11 Star Fox 64 Deleted Its Most Useless Power-Up

Star Fox 64 was the second game in the Star Fox series. There was supposed to be a Star Fox 2 that was ultimately scrapped. There was a shield, called the Beta shield, that more or less made you invincible. You wouldn’t take damage or lose your wings. This shield was taken out of the game probably because it was too powerful. By including this shield in the game, it would’ve been too easy to get away with certain moves. There had to be more room for error.

10 Super Smash Bros. Melee Was Supposed To Have Balloon Fighter

Balloon Fighter was almost a character. This would have been interesting as Balloon Fighter would have been a floaty character like that of Jigglypuff and Princess Peach. The floating characters are simultaneously easier and harder to work with as they take longer to land but also take longer to fall. Pitting floaty and fast-falling characters against each other calls for some difficult match-ups. An example is Falco verses Jigglypuff. Introducing Balloon Fighter would have created a dual-purpose character. He could fly when needed but also fly when needed. Perhaps fighters could pop the balloons on his back, causing damage.

9 BioShock 2 Removed A Major Twist

Sofia Lamb was supposed to be a guide over the radio. She was supposed to navigate Subject Delta as he navigated Eleanor. Sofia was evidently meant to betray Subject Delta and end him when he met with her. In doing this, she would take Eleanor. This would’ve added another plot twist to the game as well as given more narration. This is a classic deception and brings about movie-like archetypes. Ultimately, Subject Delta became the protagonist and producers switched directions to avoid clichés and obvious turns.

8 Banjo-Tooie Has A Mysterious Unused Jinjo Hous

There is an unused Jinjo House that has the tag “SHOULDN’T BE HERE”. The walls are purple and brown and there is no exit. The Jinjo Village was a quiet neighborhood with 10 houses. Grunty’s sisters invaded and now monsters have taken over the area. The Jinjos are in hiding waiting for Banjo and Kazooie to tell them it’s okay to go home. This unused house would’ve been a nice addition to the game. It is unclear whether the tag is referring to its eventual removal from the game or whether it was a warning from whatever lurked inside.

7 Left 4 Dead 2 Scratched A Character (At Launch)

The Fallen Survivor was an animation that didn’t make it into the game, but made it into the DLC. DLC, as a reminder, is downloadable content. He is a survivor from the first outbreak who later becomes infected. His health is very high and he is hard to damage. Headshots are a near impossibility. He was removed due to glitch animation that would sometimes crash the game. This issue was eventually resolved.

6 Borderlands 2 Dropped Some Epic Loot

The weapons in Borderlands are categorized by being unique, legendary, or pearlescent. These distinctions are made by a color scale. Unique weapons are the more relaxed tones and are rare and strong. These colors are the blues, greens, and purples. Legendary weapons are more intense tones such as oranges and reds. Some of the stats were shown for unreleased weapons such as the Bigg Thumppr. The Big Thumppr seemed like a more powerful version of the Roid shield. First shown as a glitch, it was constructed by scavs.

5 Watch Dogs 2 Removed An Epic Plotline...

Tobias Frewer was supposed to be included as a character. His original position was as a Central Operating System pioneer. The Central Operating System controlled Chicago during the game. The Blume Corporation eventually fired him. He was convinced afterwards that Blume Corporation was going to try and end him. He became paranoid and on edge. His role in Watch Dogs 2 could have been that of a side plot, or his role could have been larger. Only his profile exists in the beta files.