I recently finished Bioshock 2.  It was wonderful, despite the fact that I didn't particularly enjoy the first Bioshock.  My enjoyment of the second game, however, has made me think that maybe I should revisit the original voyage through Rapture.  I'm skeptical, though, that the first game will be able to hold up against the second.  I sold the first game, along with my dying 360, and wasn't to broken up about being separated from it at the time.  Also, the improvements in gameplay were really significant for me, and I enjoyed the combat much more in the sequel.  With that said, I consider myself a collector of sorts when it comes to classic games.  But, I don't want a game sitting around my house that I will never pick up and play.  So, should I 're-up' on the original Bioshock, or should I just be content with the newer-- and in many ways better-- game?

I never considered 1 or 2 to be "great" FPS'. It was always the atmosphere, and character dialog that drew me into Rapture. I'm only about 1/4 into Bioshock 2, and so far the experience pales in comparison to the first. The moment, and especially the way in which I first discovered Rapture, was both haunting and gorgeous. I was on the edge of my seat for a large portion of the original. So far, with Bioshock 2, everything is going through the motions. I'm already in Rapture, doing the exact same things I did in the original, but without that new shiny feeling I got from the original. While there are improvements to the combat in 2, it more or less feels like more of the same, with a Drill. I suppose judging Bioshock 1 and 2 based solely on FPS mechanics, 2 is the better game, but the original trounces the sequel in most other aspects. 
 
Yes, get the original back.

It'll help with comprehension of the second BioShock, my friends got the second one and didn't understand most of what was going on, and I happen to have the first one lying around on my dresser, so I let them all borrow it and they all understood it afterwards. It's your decision either way though.

Re-Up? how much you need? $200 for Oz of Kush.....ohhhhh bioshock, ye you should do that

I am currently forcing myself through the 1st game to play the 2nd, you should have done the same.

Do it, the first is a damn gaming masterpiece.

I just finished getting everything in Bioshock 1. It's weird because when I got the game about 2 years ago, I played it and was extremely underwhelmed, well compared to what the reviews were giving it. Now I go back and I really see how the plasmid and tonic system is awesome, I felt like I was playing a really short First Person RPG.