One could argue that the second game was an improvement over the first due to a genre shift, but DW3 was literally just DW2 with a massive graphics overhaul, additional characters, new movesets for pre-existing characters, items, weapon levels, new stages....
DW2 while still fun, is super barebones. Whereas DW3 is literally DW2, but stuffed to the brim with content and it introduced a whole bunch of mechanics that became mainstays within the series.
I mean, even the character models(aside from a few exceptions) and music are the same.
Never played any DW before 4, but I'd say 5 after 4 and 8 after 7 also count. ---
Official Teetotaller of PotD Dovie'andi se tovya sagain!