Genres You Miss

[Nz17]

The march of time knows no fondness and discards the old as well as the new. The old die and are replaced by the young but some of the old grow quite long in the tooth before the end of their day. Yet each successive gen. inherits traits from the previous ones. And sometimes the descendants change so much from their precursors that they grow to be unrecognizable without scrutiny. Meanwhile other lines die out. And that brings us to our subject.

Which game genres are dead or severely under-served compared to their heyday and you miss them? Which are your favorites that were absorbed into other genres? And what genres are you glad are dead and buried in the graveyard of time?

[buzz_n64]

Miss the beat 'em ups like Double Dragon, Streets of Rage, Final Fight. Fighters like Street Fighter II took them over in the arcades, and it seemed so much more limited to me. Fight 2-10 guys at a time and progress through an area, to fighting one guy at a time in a confined area.

The one genre I'm glad is gone, is FMV, full motion video, it was crap even when it was new.

[Aussie2B]

Shmups that aren't flooded with lolis and/or bullets, especially ones with interactive environments (that is, there's terrain to dodge or you'll smash yourself).

2D platformers and 3D platformers that have legitimate platforming (rather than adventure games or general action games with shooting and crap passing themselves off as platformers).

RPGs that can be beaten, fully (including all the optional stuff), in 25 or fewer hours.

[Berserker]

It would've been great to see Zelda II-like games throughout the various console generations. Also, text-parsing graphical adventure games.

[Tupin]

Point and click adventure games. Those who did it well in the past are gone, and the whole trend of developers moving towards consoles made them harder to pull off as a mainstream genre.

[Leo_A]

Space shooters (Extinct) and rally racers (Nearly extinct).

[SteveSpeeze]

The march of time knows no fondness and discards the old as well as the new. The old die and are replaced by the young but some of the old grow quite long in the tooth before the end of their day. Yet each successive gen. inherits traits from the previous ones. And sometimes the descendants change so much from their precursors that they grow to be unrecognizable without scrutiny. Meanwhile other lines die out. And that brings us to our subject.

Which game genres are dead or severely under-served compared to their heyday and you miss them? Which are your favorites that were absorbed into other genres? And what genres are you glad are dead and buried in the graveyard of time?

Waiting for the game store to get little if no new released turboduo cds for sale.

I just wish that somebody else other than nintendo , microsoft or sony would surface with a new game system that is better than thiers.

[SpaceFlea]

Top-down Run'n Guns like Mercs and Ikari Warriors!!!

[Parodius Duh!]

Top-down Run'n Guns like Mercs and Ikari Warriors!!!

I 2nd this. Would love to see a new Shock Troopers, Ikari Warriors, or even Commando.

[treismac]

Miss the beat 'em ups like Double Dragon, Streets of Rage, Final Fight. Fighters like Street Fighter II took them over in the arcades, and it seemed so much more limited to me. Fight 2-10 guys at a time and progress through an area, to fighting one guy at a time in a confined area.

I miss the old school beat 'em ups of old too, however, I wouldn't trade my Street Fighter or Tekken for them. Ever. The depth of play is the difference between a mud puddle and the ocean. Contrast the the replay of Street Fighter vs. Final Fight. There is no way two buddies would play Final Fight an entire night. With all this said, I do wish some good beat 'em ups would appear on consoles again. Supposedly River City Ransom 2 is coming to (or has arrived in Japan already on) the Wii. I figure this will either be really awesome or a huge let down. *Fingers crossed*


The one genre I'm glad is gone, is FMV, full motion video, it was crap even when it was new.

They are a funny footnote in video game history, though.

[treismac]

Point and click adventure games. Those who did it well in the past are gone, and the whole trend of developers moving towards consoles made them harder to pull off as a mainstream genre.

Speaking of which, how were the new Monkey Island series released a little while back?

[treismac]

I 2nd this. Would love to see a new Shock Troopers, Ikari Warriors, or even Commando.

I have love for top down shooters but I strongly prefer the side scrolling shooters. In both Super C and Contra III, I always sigh when I have to go into overhead mode. Though, to be fair, Konami didn't make the best over the head shooters, did they? Capcom did a much better job with Commando, Gunsmoke, and Bionic Commando's extra stages.

[treismac]

I kinda miss the single, non-scrolling screen games like Joust, Frogger, Mario Bros, etc. Anyone have an idea what was the last one of these to hit a system? I'd wager Capcom's Super Buster Bros was among if not the last.

[Rob2600]

2D arcade-style sports games. I'd much rather play Double Dribble, NBA Jam, Blades of Steel, Bases Loaded, Baseball Stars, Legends of the Diamond, Ken Griffey Jr., Track & Field, etc. than most sports simulations today.

[Icarus Moonsight]

Specific: I'd like to see Castlevania 5 before too much longer.
General: Less games guilty of handholding and training wheel crap. A return of simple elements arranged to be brutally difficult.

[old man]

vertical scrolling shooters that fit my TV.

[Rickstilwell1]

I have love for top down shooters but I strongly prefer the side scrolling shooters. In both Super C and Contra III, I always sigh when I have to go into overhead mode. Though, to be fair, Konami didn't make the best over the head shooters, did they? Capcom did a much better job with Commando, Gunsmoke, and Bionic Commando's extra stages.

I think we haven't seen a game like this since Loaded and Re-Loaded on Playstation.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

I think we haven't seen a game like this since Loaded and Re-Loaded on Playstation.

Dead Nation is relatively close. Free for Playstation Plus members this month!

It's certainly in the genre of top-down shooter/crawler with areas of Smash TV type swarming/blasting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-syxOHFqN0k

[treismac]

I have love for top down shooters but I strongly prefer the side scrolling shooters.

Damn!!! @_@ I completely forgot about Kiki Kaikai and Pocky and Rocky 1 & 2!!! Those are brilliant top down (non-traditional) shooters!! I suppose my love for both sub-genres is equal, with this new evidence coming to light.

[TurboGenesis]

I think we haven't seen a game like this since Loaded and Re-Loaded on Playstation.

Neo Contra?
That was on PlayStation 2…

[kupomogli]

I don't know what genre it'd be called, but games like Cabal, Wild Guns, and SD Great Battle 5.

[Baloo]

2D Platformers, Shmups that don't all look and play the same in the "bullet hell" style, and beat-em-ups are all genres that died a quick death once the PS2 Generation rolled around.


2D arcade-style sports games. I'd much rather play Double Dribble, NBA Jam, Blades of Steel, Bases Loaded, Baseball Stars, Legends of the Diamond, Ken Griffey Jr., Track & Field, etc. than most sports simulations today.

Man, this right here! Some of my most played games are actually the awesome arcade sports games. NBA Jam and Blades of Steel make my Top Ten all time list for sure, they're just so fun. Some more great arcade Sports games:

Neo Turf Masters
World Series Baseball II
Joe Montana Football (Master System and Genesis)

I really miss that genre, because Sports Games these days are fucking garbage.

[djshok]

Actual RPGs.

Everything these days is RPG element heavy but nothing is an actual RPG anymore. I want an interesting storyline, turn based battles, leveling based on experience, towns, shops, equipment, etc... You never see that anymore.

[PentiumMMX]

Racing Adventure games.

Granted, of all the ones I've played, Diddy Kong Racing and Crash Team Racing where the only ones that got it right, so this hybrid genre was sadly doomed from the start.

[Tupin]

Racing Adventure games.

Granted, of all the ones I've played, Diddy Kong Racing and Crash Team Racing where the only ones that got it right, so this hybrid genre was sadly doomed from the start.
Were there any others? I cannot for the life of me think of any other examples.

[Tron 2.0]

Beat'em ups there was time they were every where.

Shoot'em ups,yeah they continue to be pump out in japan but the problem being the u.s get's so little of them being a handful released here.Not to mention i never see any u.s developers give a try at it these days.

[sheath]

I miss action games. Almost everything today is some derivative of story based games like Adventure games or RPGs. I miss being able to pop a quarter in, or a cart in, hit start and start playing. I miss not needing a tutorial because the level designs were so exquisite that the game itself taught me how to play better and prepared me for the greater battles.

Most of all I miss Action games, Beat-em ups, and shooters that were quick and easy to pick up and play, but took dozens of hours to complete much less master.

[Edmond Dantes]

To be honest, none of them.

Since I don't play modern consoles very often I'm not really aware of what's gone and what's not, so to me it's like all the old genres are still around. Or, to put it another way: How can I say I miss Fighting Games when I just finished playing one?

[skaar]

Hentai RPGs with cyborgs, mainly.

[Haoie]

Anything without online multiplayer!

[treismac]

To be honest, none of them.

Since I don't play modern consoles very often I'm not really aware of what's gone and what's not, so to me it's like all the old genres are still around. Or, to put it another way: How can I say I miss Fighting Games when I just finished playing one?

:bday: Here's to you, sir!!! :bday:

One of my fantasies is that games by major third party companies as well as indie developers will be produced for the 8-16-bit consoles again. To commemorate this relaunch, companies like Nintendo would rerelease their systems combined with current technology so that the systems could access the internet and download games, content, allow online play, etc. Imagine being able to download new suits for Super Mario Bros. 3 or to play new levels in Bionic Commando!!! In a way, Capcom did this with Mega Man, but they stopped short of manufacturing actual cartridges. Also, if some of the games were neo-retro (ala Bit Trip Runner) that too would be incredible.

Eh. I'm going to sleep because my dreams are probably the only place this would ever happen.

[mobiusclimber]

Actual RPGs.

Everything these days is RPG element heavy but nothing is an actual RPG anymore. I want an interesting storyline, turn based battles, leveling based on experience, towns, shops, equipment, etc... You never see that anymore.

THIS x 100000000!!!! RPGs where the graphics weren't the point of playing, you wanted to find out what happens next.

I'll throw this one out there: survival horror. Seems like the classic series have all gone the action route and thus are neither "survival" (limited inventory, run more than fight) nor "horror" (actually feeling fear as opposed to just run and gun adrenaline rush).

[Amon_Re]

Well, the reason why I stopped following the game scene was the rise for 3D FPS's. I still blame ID Software for that.

I miss the days of yore where you could play fun games such as Wonderboy in Monsterland, Gyruss and all those classics that have been forgotten by time (and the 32bit generation).

While some 3D games are indeed awesome, I still prefer the simple games. Oh, and I do miss those classic RPG games...

[crazyjackcsa]

You can still find an example or two of most of the genres mentioned. But for the most part I miss Space shooters like Colony wars, Strat RPGS like Shining Force, and platformers.

[calthaer]

I actually kind of miss text adventures, or the Sierra-type of graphical adventures. But it's not just that I miss adventures: I miss being able to really enjoy those adventure games. I just couldn't really have as much fun with that beat-your-head-against-our-puzzles-until-you-luck-upon-our-bizarre-solution gameplay today like I could in the days of yore, when I had long summer days to sit down and work those things out.

A lot of these genres being mentioned - I'm not really sure whether I miss the games or whether I miss the youth during which I found such enjoyment in said games, when games of that genre were The Cat's Meow.

[SonicBoom]

Something we do get occasionally but i used to love is 2D Shooters like Contra, Predator, And Robo Cop VS Terminator.
Anyone?

[skaar]

A lot of these genres being mentioned - I'm not really sure whether I miss the games or whether I miss the youth during which I found such enjoyment in said games, when games of that genre were The Cat's Meow.

A lot of my favourite Sierra game memories were really just from dicking around within the game. I think I spent days wandering in KQIII before I figured out even vaguely what I was supposed to do. I'd just explore the mansion and try to mess with EVERYTHING. And the wording was really the fun part - you'd try to figure out what was in the room based on descriptions and words mentioned in other descriptions.

KQIII taught me what mutton is.

[Johnny_Rock]

Not a completely dead genre but I miss the "Arena style" fighting games like Powerstone, Digimon Rumble Arena, Kung Fu Chaos, etc. Now it's pretty much just Smash Bros., the last non-Nintendo one I can think of is that Shonen Jump crossover game.

[thegamezmaster]

Well, the reason why I stopped following the game scene was the rise for 3D FPS's. I still blame ID Software for that.

I miss the days of yore where you could play fun games such as Wonderboy in Monsterland, Gyruss and all those classics that have been forgotten by time (and the 32bit generation).

While some 3D games are indeed awesome, I still prefer the simple games. Oh, and I do miss those classic RPG games...

I second this. The old school games were just fun to play.

[kedawa]

I miss rail shooters, like Space Harrier, Panzer Dragoon, or Omega Boost.
I'm not sure what genre they belong to, but I miss games like Shadow Squadron and Colony Wars.

[Sundowner]

I miss point and click games and good 2d platformers. I never play any of the new systems so I'm glad i'm not missing out on much.

[Nz17]

Racing Adventure games. Granted, of all the ones I've played, Diddy Kong Racing and Crash Team Racing where the only ones that got it right, so this hybrid genre was sadly doomed from the start.

What about the Sonic Riders series? I believe those would count as racing adventures. Ooh - and R4: Ridge Racer Type 4.

[Nz17]

I miss rail shooters, like Space Harrier, Panzer Dragoon, or Omega Boost.

If you have an XBOX 360 or a computer with a graphics card with 128 or more mebibytes of video RAM, try Aces of the Galaxy (http://store.steampowered.com/app/10120/). It reminds me of Star Fox.


I'm not sure what genre they belong to, but I miss games like Shadow Squadron and Colony Wars.

Combat space simulators - and I miss them too. :(

[Edmond Dantes]

A lot of these genres being mentioned - I'm not really sure whether I miss the games or whether I miss the youth during which I found such enjoyment in said games, when games of that genre were The Cat's Meow.

I don't really miss the genres themselves as I miss the days of finding a new game that actually intrigued me. To be honest "genres" really don't matter so much as the games themselves. I mean, not all point n click adventures were good, just a few good games happened to be point n' click adventures.

That's the problem I have with games that attempt to appeal to the old school crowd--they often try so hard to imitate a retro style that they come off as shallow posers and totally forget what we actually liked about those old games. Just look at Mega Man 9 and 10 and their imitating the box art style of Mega Man 1... totally forgetting that said box art is infamous for being BAD.

[BydoEmpire]

Turn-based strategy games. I like Dune 2 and the original C&C, but I haven't been a big RTS fan since and that's all that's out there for strategy games nowadays (Advance Wars being one of the rare exceptions). I like to take my time to think. SSIs library was amazing. The corollary to that being computer RPGs with turn based combat. JRPGs often have good strategic combat, but I like the open, more 'serious' style of the CPRGs from the late 80s and early 90s.

Simulators - I probably wouldn't play one now due to time constraints, but back in the late 80s and early 90s, there were so many awesome simulators. 688 Attack Sub, Apache, the Falcon series, Chuck Yeager, Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe. As much as I like arcade games, I do miss actual sims. Those were actually "mature" games, not blood, boobs and swearing.

[Griking]

Turn based RPGs. Games like the Eleder Scrolls and the new Fallouts are fun but I still enjoy turn based games like the old Wizardrys and Bard's Tales.

[Clownzilla]

I miss Koei strategy games like they made in the 16bit generation. I have NEVER been able to find a game like "Aerobiz Supersonic" or "Liberty Or Death".

[Skullkid]

I miss Arcades and Arcade style games. I hate that before XBLA, Arcade had become a dirty word.

[danny_galaga]

I for one lament the passing of the Kancho genre, of which Boong-ga boong-ga was the only example...

[Beefy Hits]

I don't know what genre it'd be called, but games like Cabal, Wild Guns, and SD Great Battle 5.

Those were great games. I call em behind the back shooters.

Blood Brothers Dynamite Duke from Fabtek was another type, as was Punisher on the NES.

I really miss Beat Em Ups too. Loved Alien Vs Predator, Final Fight, Streets of Rage 2, Metamorphic Force.

[Einzelherz]

Good installments of the Mana series. Why can't there be a modern Seiken Densetsu 3? Or hell, even a Four Swords that has a tiny bit more depth.

[Edmond Dantes]

Good installments of the Mana series. Why can't there be a modern Seiken Densetsu 3? Or hell, even a Four Swords that has a tiny bit more depth.

I read somewhere that they changed the direction of the Mana series because they felt its original action-RPG style was too similar to Kingdom Hearts.

Its not like I don't know where they're coming from. When I played KH I thought "this is like Secret of Mana... except its in 3D... and it sucks."

[kupomogli]

I miss Koei strategy games like they made in the 16bit generation. I have NEVER been able to find a game like "Aerobiz Supersonic" or "Liberty Or Death".

I miss Koei strategy games period. The last Romance of the Three Kingdoms game that was released was RotK 11 in 2007 and Nobunaga's Ambition Iron Triangle in 2009. Both were released 2006 in Japan though.

There's Bladestorm the 100 Year War, and while that is slightly strategy, you just join the correct group and then lead that group into a Dynasty Warriors esque attack combo until the other group dies. The same thing happened to Kessen 3. So I don't call those games strategy.

I'd mostly enjoy to see another Kessen as long as it's like Kessen or Kessen 2. Or maybe a next gen Romance of the Three Kingdoms which include battles similar to the Kessen style.

Other people have already mentioned them, but RPGs. The genre is here, but what I mean is good console JRPGs. The PSP and DS have a lot of great RPGs, but the consoles you could probably count how many good RPGs there are on a single hand and still have a few fingers left over.

[Bighab]

I really want to see a true "Force" game from the Shining Force series. Or how about a Shining Force 3 scene 1,2,3 updated/translated pack? Give me another game in the Ogre Battle series with the same style of selecting different characters in various formations. I'd like to see Digital comics/Adventure games like Snatcher and The Space Adventure. I Love the old school Koei games too. Genghis Khan, Uncharted Waters could use some next gen updates. Cockpit view space shooters like Wing Commander/Colony Wars.

[Einzelherz]

I read somewhere that they changed the direction of the Mana series because they felt its original action-RPG style was too similar to Kingdom Hearts.

Its not like I don't know where they're coming from. When I played KH I thought "this is like Secret of Mana... except its in 3D... and it sucks."

I suppose that's true, KH's gameplay is very similar. I didn't think it sucked, but it suffers from the new generation problem of thinking it's partially a movie.

edit: 3d platforming hurts it too, imo.

[Kirbysuperstar]

A proper horizontal shooter, like R-Type, Gradius and Thunder Force. Every shooter now is some goth-loli bullet-hell shitfest like Touhou and I friggin' hate it.

[Edmond Dantes]

I suppose that's true, KH's gameplay is very similar. I didn't think it sucked, but it suffers from the new generation problem of thinking it's partially a movie.

edit: 3d platforming hurts it too, imo.

My main problem with KH was:

A) the enemies were repetitive as hell. It seemed like the entire game was "go to a different screen, and fight the same skinny dudes, same fat dudes who take like a million hits to kill, and the same little wizard things that look like Orko from the old He-Man cartoons. What's that, you're in Agrobah now? Well, same damn enemies, only now they're wearing pseudo-Arabian garb and may have a new attack or two."

B) the absolutely lazy usage of the Disney characters. I'm not sure how to explain it, but basically it feels like they don't even need to be there, and they don't really feel like Disney's characters--they feel like Squaresoft background characters who happen to be dressed up as Disney characters for whatever reason. And the various worlds you travel to are just generic locations that are dressed up to give them a tenuous connection to some movie. The whole thing just comes off like they weren't even trying.

Seriously, I almost think "The Heartless" are a metaphor for the game's development.

[substantial_snake]

I really miss the top down and isometric shooter generas like Smash TV and the Strike Series. I always tended to get sucked into those games the most, just playing them for hours on end getting a high score or trying to complete X objective. Dead Nation was a great modern take that one of the most fun games I've played with a buddy in recent memory. The game was gorgeous too once you stopped shooting zombies and noticed all the little details. I would love a modern downloadable take on Desert Strike in the same style.

I also miss 2D but visually appealing RPGs that straddled that fine line in the SNES days of having just enough gameplay and story with Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger being the two ideals IMO. Pier Solar was pretty awesome and I'm hopeful that as homebrew commercially released community for older systems grows we can see more games like this over time.

[8bitgamer]

Climbing (Donkey Kong, etc.)
Maze (Pac-Man et al)
Slide-and-Shoot (a now-seldom used term for Space Invaders type games)

[SonicBoom]

Climbing (Donkey Kong, etc.)
Maze (Pac-Man et al)
Slide-and-Shoot (a now-seldom used term for Space Invaders type games)
Pretty good, I Agree. I Miss games like Contra, Termanator vs Robocop. Spent hours on 2D shooters.