What are some examples of games that look good or at least interesting for a couple of levels and then fall apart completely?

Picrel doesn't even make a great first impression, but the first level conveyed a somewhat original and ambitious concept that then completely vanishes leaving only the core generic platformer jankiness for the rest of the game.

Yeah, but the only good version is the NES original

90% of shareware games once you get to the registered episodes.

I remember some anon saying the SNES Pocahontas game was like this. The first level was very artistic and had a great deal of interactivity for the player to use their skills and abilities. Just about every level past that is basic platforming.

>>11812865
This too. Playing the registered episodes of Monster Bash makes me glad I never bought it. I thought they would put some effort into the paid stuff, but it's generic and boring compared to the shareware episode in addition to reusing all the graphical data. There were exceptions, like Raptor Call of the Shadows, Duke Nukem 3D, and Epic Pinball, but they were the minority.

The 1993 Genesis version of Battletoads comes to mind. The first three levels got a very nice visual makeover, but from them on the overhaul was much more simplistic in general and sometimes almost limited to the color palette rather than getting redrawn graphics.

Considering it was a game that filtered an overwhelming number of players literally around that third level mark makes it much more glaring.

Still, the half-assedness was obvious from the get go as the first stages' enemies were redrawn but the Toads' themselves were just awkwardly resized with small color tweaks.

>>11813189
>SNES Pocahontas
I played the Genesis version but can confirm

>>11812547 (OP)
HACX after level 3.

The first level of Monster Party is by far the most interesting. It's the only one where the stage changes halfway through (although I've debated with myself if having all the other stages doing that would actually be better or just lessen the impact). It also looks the most interesting even ignoring the transition. Gives you a sense that you're really in some alien monster world whereas the other stages just look like tropey settings that could be anywhere. At least the bosses stay funny the whole way through. I guess they're the main attraction of the game anyway.

>>11812547 (OP)
I had this game as a kid but never got past the first level.

The Thing.
The first few levels involve exploring around the outpost in the arctic, dealing with extreme cold, things, and repairing equipment. Most importantly, they also have a lot of finding other survivors, establishing trust with them, and working as a group to accomplish objectives. After these few levels, you only encounter NPC's in the rest of the game to unlock a single door or w/e, then they turn into a thing. It's just a generic third person shooter game for most of it.
Then the more you play the first few levels, the more you realize that the blood tests don't actually work, since every NPC will turn into the thing for no reason at all. You can blood test a room full of people, have everyone come out clean, and immediately after have 1-2 people turn and start attacking. So there's never any point in using a blood test on anyone, unless it's on yourself to gain the trust of an NPC to get them to do something. No point in arming them or giving them any items either, it will just be a waste.
The game just feeds you a lie for the first few levels about what the game is, then dumps you into a generic third person shooter. When you try to enjoy that first part, then you find out it was all smoke and mirrors, and the NPCs are just things who haven't turned yet.