CHANGING LANES

Key sequels that strayed from their originals

PITFALL II: LOST CAVERNS

While thematically still revolving around Pitfall Harry’s outdoor hijinks, David Crane adopted a radically different structure for this sequel. Out went the linear platforming of the original, in came a mazelike subterranean domain you could easily become lost in, ending up as prey for its roving scorpions, poisonous toads and feral geese.

SPEEDBALL 2: BRUTAL DELUXE

The original Speedball was hard to improve upon, so the Bitmap Brothers focused on expanding its rudimentary managerial aspect. Training your own players is the more cost-effective option, but by far the most memorable and irresistible one is to oust those cookie-cutter jocks to make room for the battle-scarred punks that are available as free agents.

ZELDA II: THE ADVENTURE OF LINK

It’s a side-scrolling Zelda game, do we really need to say more? The green tunic and pointy hat are still there, but virtually everything else in The Adventure Of Link, from the tacked-on RPG elements to the traditional platforming sections, feels alien to the series. Side-on segments would return in Link’s Awakening for the Game Boy.

BARBARIAN II: THE DUNGEON OF DRAX

In a similar change of direction to Fist II, while the original Barbarian was a typical one-on-one fighter (albeit with swords instead of fists), its sequel turned into an action adventure game. A good thing, too, as the genre’s relative creative freedom allowed for the kind of delightful brutality hitherto unseen on 8-bit machines.

CAULDRON II: THE PUMPKIN STRIKES BACK

It’s not as if flying around on a broom was easy in Cauldron, but the successor reached unprecedented levels of unwieldiness, handing you control of a malicious pumpkin that unfailingly bounces off any solid surface that it touches as it tries to navigate the cramped interior of a witch’s castle.