For ME, the game not necessarily being the best but respective to the previous released games in it's own series...

Elder Scrolls IV
GTA: Vice City
Warcraft III
Diablo II
Mario Party 3
Command & Conquer: Red Alert
Killzone 2
Medal Gear Solid 4
Everquest II

Ok.

1. Street fighter II>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Street Fighter

2. Streets of Rage 2>>>>>>>>>>> Streets of Rage

3. Sonic 2>>>>>>>>>>>>> Sonic

4. Resident Evil 2>>>>>>>>>>>> Resident Eil

5. Need For Speed: Hot pursuit 2>>>>>>>>>>> EVERY Need for Speed before it (and after it too)

What was so much better about Streets of Rage 2?

Hey now! Stop harrassing ronster and making those sly personal digs!

OT: Uncharted 2 baby!

Resident Evil 4. Took the series in a whole new direction and as a result became one of the best games of all time.

Sadly, RE5 screwed that up.

What was better????????????????????????

More playable characters.

Tonnes more moves per character.

Far better graphics.

Music for me in SOR 2 is simply the best from the 16 bit era.

Streets of Rage 2 is the best in the series, almost every Streets of Rage fan (and reviewer for that matter) agrees.

Well, 1 more character and I didn't really think the graphics were much better.

I can't remember the music though, I will definitely check that out.

BTW, I'm not arguing it's not better, but I just didn't see a big leap is all.

I know your not argueing, your giving your honest opinion.

But for me just the SHEER amount of moves available to the characters in SOR 2 when compared to SOR 1 is what  makes it a superior sequel.

Remember, everyones special in SOR 1 was to call the police car so it could fire the rocket launcher.

In SOR 2 every character had not only 1 but 2 special moves...... Axels flaming fist and 8 hit uppercut flurry, Blaze had her flash kick and Super fireball, Max had his shoulder charge and Spinnig clasped hands & Skate had his breakdance and corkscrew.

In raw numbers, it's the Sims 2 I'm pretty sure of that...

In terms of quality (or at least, likeable to us male core gamers) it's hard to say really. Lot of good ones already mentioned, Majora's Mask, MGS3, SMB3...

All awesome. I'd personally pick any Zelda-sequal. I know that for richer or poorer, I'd always be first in line to buy a new Zelda.

Wow, there are almost too many to choose from!

Street Fighter 2
Majora's Mask
Smash Bros Melee
Sonic 2

But my own personal choice would probably be Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn, not because it's the best one on the list, but because it does everything a straight up sequel should do. It follows on from its original and complements it perfectly in both story-line and gameplay. I believe that's a big part of what a perfect sequel should do, so it gets my vote as the best!