In Saints Row 2 you'd be able to dual wield Katanas, ride a motorcycle while killing people with a katana or machete. The customization is weaker, the voice acting is weaker (Cursing someone out in Cholo Hispanic was great), the car modifications are weaker (hydraulics?), the cities are smaller and the guns aren't good.
Saints Row the Third and Saints Row IV added some cool missions but besides that the city seems empty and pointless. The police station was also there and all the missions were fun. There was pimps who organized to attack you, even though not an actual gang.
There was legit drive bys where you would have three homies and start blasting random gang members. There was also more hidden locations like the Pyramid underground, the secret Islands, the underground mall, etc. Every pedestrian was also unique and tons of commentary. You're just standing there watching a full blown war that you're not involved in. If your homies even got slightly touched by a pedestrian they'd beat the shit out of them, the cops would show up and then it'd be an ignorant shootout. In Saints Row 2 the pedestrians were awesome.
