# Best "fourth" in a series? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 17, 2009, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-fourth-in-a-series/486309 "2009-02-17T19:39:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![picker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/picker/32/13969_2.png) [@picker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picker)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-fourth-in-a-series/486309/21 "2009-02-17T23:22:14Z")
The Fourth Amendment (Unreasonable Search & Seizure) is pretty good. I’ve always been fond of Beryllium, too. ---
**Author:** ![Kiros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/439d5e/32.png) [@Kiros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiros)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-fourth-in-a-series/486309/22 "2009-02-18T00:09:51Z")
Civilization IV ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-fourth-in-a-series/486309/23 "2009-02-18T00:10:42Z")
I’m unclear as to exactly what the OP is looking for – a series where the fourth installment was the best of that series, a series where the fourth installment was good at all, or a fourth installment that is better than other fourth installments? I remember _King’s Quest IV: The Perils of Rosella_ fondly, but I don’t think it was the best game of the series. _Quest for Glory IV: Shadows of Darkness_ was in many ways the best _QfG_ game, except that it suffered from a number of serious bugs. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-fourth-in-a-series/486309/24 "2009-02-18T00:56:41Z")
A third vote for Super Mario World. (Alternatively, we could call Super Mario Bros. 3 the “fourth” in the sense that Lost Levels/the Japanese SMB2 lies between SMB1 and the American SMB2. But I prefer to think of things according to the American chronology I grew up with…) ---
**Author:** ![Commander\_Keen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e8c25b/32.png) [@Commander\_Keen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Commander_Keen)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-fourth-in-a-series/486309/25 "2009-02-18T01:54:59Z")
I’ll cast another vote for Super Mario World being the best Mario game (I was actually thinking of starting a SMB3 vs SMW debate one of these days…) ---
**Author:** ![willthekittensurvive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/91b2a8/32.png) [@willthekittensurvive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/willthekittensurvive)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-fourth-in-a-series/486309/26 "2009-02-18T11:34:36Z")
Call of Duty IV modern warfare , and I havent played Left1 to 3 but Left4(dead) is a great game ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-fourth-in-a-series/486309/27 "2009-02-18T11:54:26Z")
Medieval II: Total War is the 4th Total War game, and the best - at least for another two weeks. ---
**Author:** ![johnspartan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a183cd/32.png) [@johnspartan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnspartan)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-fourth-in-a-series/486309/28 "2009-02-18T14:16:19Z")
Rocky IV is stupid, but it’s a damned lot of fun if you’re in the right mood for it. The whole James Brown / Apollo vs. the Russian scene is so over the top, and the training montage in the snow is probably the 80sest training montage ever. Drago’s lines are pretty memorable too. Is it the best of the 4? Meh. I will say this — if you asked me to pick one to sit down and watch it would be that one. First 2 may have been better movies, but 4 might be the most entertaining. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-fourth-in-a-series/486309/29 "2009-02-18T14:21:35Z")
> [@mshar253](#): > > I just wanted to second Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. I would argue that the third book is the best. At the very least, it’s a close top three. > [@divemaster](#): > > Stephen King’s The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass is (IMO) the best of the series, and it’s not even all that close. Heh, I must be in the minority on my book opinions. \*\*The Drawing of the Three \*\*was a brilliant book, and can stand alone in the series, far better than the meandering W&G. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-fourth-in-a-series/486309/30 "2009-02-18T14:34:36Z")
Tabitha King’s fourth book [Pearl](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabitha_King) is a masterpiece. ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-fourth-in-a-series/486309/31 "2009-02-18T19:36:21Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#): > > Led Zeppelin IV. Nice one. For movie, I’m picking the 4th Star Wars. Not sure if that means Episode 1 or 4 but, either way, that’s the best movie I can think of. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-fourth-in-a-series/486309/32 "2009-02-18T20:07:05Z")
> [@willthekittensurvive](#): > > I havent played Left1 to 3 but Left4(dead) is a great game I didn’t care for Super Mario 61 through 63, but Super Mario 64 was a real breakthrough. [Perhaps someday Duke Nukem Forever will make this list…] ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-fourth-in-a-series/486309/33 "2009-02-18T22:36:46Z")
It’s actually not my favorite of the series, but I’m going with John Updike’s _Rabbit at Rest_. I love the Rabbit series and it it was cool that he would toss one out every 10 years and it would roughly follow his own aging process. ---
**Author:** ![Spiny\_Norman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Spiny\_Norman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiny_Norman)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-fourth-in-a-series/486309/34 "2009-02-18T23:16:03Z")
It’s of course arguable which of the 4 Blackadder seasons is the best, but **Blackadder goes Forth** is a serious contender. And it ends right. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-fourth-in-a-series/486309.md?page=1)