Will you play a sequel without its prequel?

[Grey Acumen]

Have you ever waited to play a game that is the 2nd or 3rd or 4th in the franchise until after you've played the preceding games?

For instance, would you play Half Life 2 before playing Half Life 1? What about God of War? Metal Gear Solid?

What about Pikmin or Super Mario Bros?

Are there any games that you feel are unnecessary to do this for? I personally feel that Theif: Deadly Shadows did an excellent job of alluding to the previous games without feeling like you HAVE to have played them in order to understand what's gong on, but I still am interested to see what actually happened in them.

Are there any games that you feel only the last game or games in the series should be played? I personally love Super Smash Bros Brawl, but find Melee to have comparatively poor character balance, and the original Super Smash Bros to not have the game mechanics that made Melee and Brawl really shine.

 

EDIT: As a continuation of this point, what games do you feel SHOULD be played in order to get the full effect and enjoyment out of them?