When to Avoid Sequels

In general, let’s face it, in film, sequels generally suck. And in TV and gaming, that creative spark inevitably fades.
Usually, you can tell when a property is past its shelf life, but sometimes you can’t, so this guide will help you determine the best time to cut the cord.
It is particularly helpful when downloading en masse.
As a rule of thumb, recent remakes of long gone films are almost universally inferior. But there are exceptions.
I try to stay objective, but, of course, we all know that’s impossible. But generally, the cutoff points are mirrored in audience ratings, and I skew more to viewer than critic ratings, unless it was specifically review bombed by extremists for political reasons.
Default for most franchises: Stop at 1
Abbreviations: S= “Season” E= “Episode”

Film

Alien and Aliens. Stop there.
Batman – the only worthwhile entries are the Christopher Nolan entries, 2005’s Batman Begins, 2008’s Dark Knight, and 2012’s Dark Knight Returns
Bad Lieutenant – Watch both the Abe Ferarra’s original and Werner Herzog’s Port of Call New Orleans
Cloverfield, stop at 10 Cloverfield Lane
Ghostbusters – Stop at 2
Godfather – it goes without saying. Watch all 3.
Jurassic Park – Stop at 1
Kill Bill – Watch both. Obviously.
Marvel Cinematic Universe – they are all a fucking blur
Matrix – Everything after the first one is a waste of your fucking time
Planet of the Apes –
Early Series – 1968, ignore everything after
New series: Watch all. Newer fare being superior to most earlier is rare.
Robocop – Stop at 1 and fuck Frank Miller
Saw – Stop at 2. All 8 Saw Movies, Ranked

Star Wars – stop at Return of the Jedi, avoid everything else like the plague. You can make yourself like the prequels, and the later films, but you can also make yourself like eating shit sandwiches. If you’re bored, nibble on The Mandalorian
Starship Troopers – Stop at 1
Superman – 1978’s 1 and 1980’s 2. Nothing after.
Super Troopers – Stop at 1
Terminator – Stop at 4
The Exorcist – Skip 2
The Thing 1982 is superior to the original
Total Recall – Stop at 1
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory – Stop at 1
Wicker Man – Watch the remake for laughs. Similarly to Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, Nicolas Cage saves a remake.

TV

Archer Stop at S5 WIRED Binge-Watching Guide
Battlestar Galactica Stop at S3E2 – When good TV goes bad: how Battlestar Galactica became a holy mess

Black Mirror
Bandersnatch
Avoid the pilot. I avoided this excellent series for years after being completely turned off by the pilot. And it doesn’t matter, you won’t misss anything as each episode is standalone.
S1E3 “Entire History of You”
S2E1 “Be Right Back”
S2E4 “White Christmas”
S3E1 “Nosedive”
S3E3 “Shut up and Dance”
S3E4 “San Junipero”
S4E1 “USS Callister”
S4E5 “Metalhead”
S5E1 “Striking Vipers”

Family Guy – stop at S5

Game of Thrones – Watch to the end. Start drinking heavily when you hit the last few seasons.
Marvelous Miss Mazel – Stop at S1E5
Mr. Robot -S2 was a sophomore slump, but enduring it and watching up to the final S4 was worth it in my experience.
Rick and Morty – Stop at S3. Or S4. S5 they try way too hard.

Simpsons – This show started out brilliantly and has aged well. Stop at… well… it was such a long drawn-out fall. Cherry pick about 20 scattered gems for posterity, with heavy reliance one earlier shows.

SNL – see chart
The Killing – Stop at S1
The Office – Stop at end of S7
Westworld – Stop at S1

Games

Games are slightly more complicated, because you have the added dynamic of better technology. A game that is old enough is going to be very hard to justify playing due to clunkiness, wonkiness, running back through previous areas, and counterintuitive controls.
Very often sequels are better than the originals. Games can fall victim to microtransations, and a greedy, myopic publisher.
A lot of it boils down to actual gameplay.
If you don’t see a game here, and it has a Metacritic of 90+, I have probably looked at it, they are all good.

Age of Empires – play 2. Get the recent remastered version
Alice – Just play 1
Baldur’s Gate – Skip 1
Bejewelled – Play 3
Bully – Skip the remake
Call of Duty 2 and 4/Modern Warfare
Call of Juarez – Do not play the third installment, “Cartel” set in modern day. Others (1,2, & 4) are fine.
Civilization – Skip 1-3
Command & Conquer – Just play Red Alert 2
Crusader Kings – play 2
Crysis – Just play 1
Dead Space – Stop at 2
Deus Ex – Skip “The Fall” and “Invisible War”
Devil May Cry – Just play 3
Diablo – Stop at 2
DiRT – Skip 1
Duke Nukem – Just play the classic 3D and Manhattan Project
Elder Scrolls – Skip Daggerfall, play the rest
F1 – 2012 and 2017 are the best years
F.E.A.R. – Just play 1 & 2.
Fallout – Stop at New Vegas
Far Cry – Skip 2
Final Fantasy – Just play the remake of 7
Football games – ESPN2K5 is the gold standard
Forza Horizon – Play 3
Galactic Civilizations – Skip 1, go to 2 & 3
Gran Turismo – Play 3
Grand Theft Auto – Start with 3 and play through
GTR – Skip 1
Halo – 1 & 2
Just Cause – Skip 1
Mass Effect – Stop at 3
Medal of Honor – 1, Frontline, Underground, Allied Assault
Megaman – Play 2’s Remake
Metal Gear Solid – Just play 1, Twin Snakes, Sons of Liberty, Phantom Pain and Rising.
Need for Speed – Just play Hot Pursuit
Persona – Just play 4
Pillars of Eternity – Just play The White March Part II
Prince of Persia – Just play Sands of Time (Gamecube)
Resident Evil – Stop at 4. Look for Gamecube versions where available. Play all the recent remakes.
Sims – Just Sims 3, Sim City Deluxe. Do not buy all the extra crap. Pirate it if you have to. Fuck EA.
Sins of a Solar Empire – Go straight to Rebellion Remake
Star Wars Jedi – Just play 2
Suikoden – Just play 2
System Shock – Just play 2, make sure you apply all the patches!
The Wolf Among Us – Episode 5
Thief – Play up to Thief 3 Deadly Shadows
Titanfall – Skip 1
Tom Clancy – Rainbow Six and Splinter Cell – Chaos Theory
Tomb Raider – Just play Rise of the Tomb Raider and Tomb Raider 2013
Tony Hawk Pro Skater – Play only 3
Total War – Play Empire, Rome, Shogun 2
Twisted Metal – Just play 2 and Black
Ultimate Street Fighter – Just play 4
Uncharted – Skip 1
Warcraft 3 – Do not buy or play Reforged. Play the original.
Warhammer – Dark Crusade, Total War Warhammer 1 & 2, Space Marines
Witcher – Just play 3
Wolfenstein – Skip 3D (unless you are a masochist for history) and Youngblood
World in Conflict – Play Soviet Assault
World of Warcraft – Play these expansions: Classic, Burning Crusade, Wrath of the Lich King, Cataclysm, Mists of Pandaria, Warlords of Draenor, Legion
X-Com – Skip 1, and play 2 & UFO Defense
Zelda – Play Ocarina of Time, Breath of the Wild and Wind Waker