15 Video Game Sequels That Totally Defined Their Franchises

15. Jak II: Renegade

The now age-old GTA formula was such an industry shake-up that everyone from the most mature of titles all the way through to Jak and Daxter got thrown in the demographic-targeting blender. Naughty Dog themselves noted in their 30th Anniversary book that GTA III's impact was so huge it forced them to reevaluate where they were taking the Jak franchise, instead giving him a gun, an attitude and a whole world of space-age cars and villains to take on. Turns out it was the right gamble to take, with the team producing something truly spectacular, revolutionising the previous platformer-centric gameplay and expanding it into everything the franchise needed to garner wider recognition from multiple age groups. Jak himself suddenly had a revenge arc to get stuck into, Daxter was just as loveably quip-happy as always - and you even got a hoverboard to flip-trick your way around the city on when not in a low-gravity cruiser. Bliss.