How the heck is Other M supposed to detract from earlier games in the series? If anything, it made me like the rest of the series more. I do agree that the reason for Samus' "fragility" is poorly explained in the game itself, but it's extremely easy to justify otherwise (also the game made me feel nostalgic for certain Discovery Kids franchises, but I guess it isn't supposed to have "teen drama" dialogue). Funnily enough, the last few video games I played through all featured strong, unflinching female characters (such as Sheik, Ayla, Ada Wong, and Sarah Kerrigan, in addition to FFVI's troubled female cast).
The only real example I can think of here is that if Brawl didn't exist, Melee would be a god-tier game for me. As is, Brawl easily beats the heart out of Melee in the one area most important for a fighting game (playable character cast), and falls spectacularly short almost everywhere else.
Reverse example: If Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask didn't exist, I'd probably like Twilight Princess a lot more.
Anomaly: Somehow the two Super Mario Galaxy games don't dilute each others' appeal to me all that much.
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Currently Playing - StarCraft: Brood War