Back to the video game example, I find Earthworm Jim 2 much more fun and funnier all around, as frustrating as heck that last stage is (the one where you have to beat Psycrow in a footrace). Even the music seems better.
And, even though I already said it before, Super Mario 2 I LOVE. I can't even say more than the first, because I never quite liked it. It's a very historically important game, but it has so many issues they've thankfully fixed in SMB 3. Now when you're talking about the other SMB 2, the Japanese one... I actually HATE it even more. Even the easier, cleaned up, non-glitch ridden remake on All Stars. And what absolutely baffles me is the random hate SMB USA gets for not being the mission pack, glitch ridden sequel that exacerbates everything wrong with the first one. That old tale of "they thought it was too hard." Nope. My theories is that they didn't think it was that good. Sure, they could have fixed the glitches that stop springboards from working right, and dumbed the game play down a bit. But all and all, Japanese SMB 2 comes off as one of those challenge for challenge sake fan game hacks. American SMB 2 is fun. And then elements of that series got incorporated as early as the next game.