List of Games Which Launched a Genre

[Nz17]

What are those games that started a genre, which defined the framework for which all others of its type followed? What about sub-genres, such as side-scrolling 2D platformers instead of platformers?

The first one I could think of was Rouge-likes being started by Rogue, obviously enough. ;)

[zakthedodo]

Wolfenstien 3D.

I've seen earlier game incorporate the 3D perceptive here and there but as far as I know, it's the 1st to use it for the entire game.
At least the most known.

[sloan]

Kart racers: Super Mario Kart on SNES

[Mr Mort]

I'd say Space Invaders definitely fits the bill.

[sixwayshot]

Wolfenstien 3D.

I've seen earlier game incorporate the 3D perceptive here and there but as far as I know, it's the 1st to use it for the entire game.
At least the most known.

MIDI Maze, Elite and The Colony had 3D visuals as the basis for the entire game before Wolfenstein 3D. That's not to say that it isn't significant. It's more of a game that helped make the idea stick, rather than outright pioneered it.

[Gameguy]

King's Quest was the first true graphic adventure. Maniac Mansion was the first point-and-click graphic adventure.

[Graham Mitchell]

Donkey kong surely has to be one of the first platformers.

Pac-man also initiated the maze chase genre.

[GREEN00]

Survival Horror: Arguably started with Sweet Home, then later Alone in the Dark, however (Biohazard) Resident Evil was the game to popularize the genre.


Fighting: Popularized by Street Fighter II, however there are many fighting games which predate SF2,

http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/fighters/fighters.htm


Over the shoulder 3rd person shooter: Popularized by Resident Evil 4, and not long afterwards Gears of War layed the cover shooter template that many games would follow (this is not to suggest over the shoulder or cover systems originated with either game).


Cinematic military FPS: Popularized by Call of Duty 4


JRPG aka Console RPG: Dragon Quest

[JakeM]

Rogue spawned Rogue-Likes.

Stealth action would be Metal Gear

[ccovell]

Over the shoulder 3rd person shooter: Popularized by Resident Evil 4

Popularized by Cabal or Xybots, surely?

[Nz17]

Stealth action would be Tenchu: Stealth Assassins.

[CastlevaniaDude]

Stealth action would be Tenchu: Stealth Assassins.

I'd argue that the NES Metal Gear and maybe some others trump this by a decade.

[thom_m]

I'd say Marble Madness not only started a genre, but is practically a genre on its own...

[SparTonberry]

I'd argue that the NES Metal Gear and maybe some others trump this by a decade.

Yes, MSX Metal Gear was released in 1987, predating even the PS0 (aka the SNES-CD). :)

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Katamari Damacy launched the uh..... roll things up into a ball to make make objects such as stars and planets genre.

[sloan]

I'd say Marble Madness not only started a genre, but is practically a genre on its own...

Same can probably be said of the classic, Qix. Nothing quite like it before or since.

Also, didn't Tetris begin the whole tumbling puzzle genre?

[BeaglePuss]

Same can probably be said of the classic, Qix. Nothing quite like it before or since.

Also, didn't Tetris begin the whole tumbling puzzle genre?

There are numerous Qix-like games. Gals Panic being the first to come to mind.

[GamerTheGreek]

Beagle how does it compare to qix. Better worse?

[BeaglePuss]

Beagle how does it compare to qix. Better worse?

It's Qix with naked chicks, so better I guess. They made numerous sequels for it as well, but the idea stays the same: The more you clear the board, the more boobies you get to see.

[Gameguy]

Stealth action would be Tenchu: Stealth Assassins.

I'd argue that the NES Metal Gear and maybe some others trump this by a decade.
The original Castle Wolfenstein from 1981 is an early stealth action game, I'm not sure if it's the first one but it's at least one of the first. A big part of the game is hiding from your enemies and avoiding detection, you can even steal a uniform to fool some of the guards.

[parallaxscroll]

Nekketsu Koha Kunio-kun aka Renegade in the U.S. by Technos Japan, 1986.

[Daltone]

The original Castle Wolfenstein from 1981 is an early stealth action game, I'm not sure if it's the first one but it's at least one of the first. A big part of the game is hiding from your enemies and avoiding detection, you can even steal a uniform to fool some of the guards.

I'd go with the above. And it has digitised speech and destructible environments. It's a top game.

[Tanooki]

SimCity an ActRaiser come to mind. City sim and sim&action game combo.

[Nz17]

I should have said that Tenchu: Stealth Assassins started the polygonal 3D stealth action genre, though that is awfully specific.

[tom]

I'd argue that the NES Metal Gear and maybe some others trump this by a decade.

Stealth action? Swordquest series on Atari VCS (stealth shoes)
and as mentioned Castle Wolfenstein (Apple ][)

[tom]

Wolfenstien 3D.

I've seen earlier game incorporate the 3D perceptive here and there but as far as I know, it's the 1st to use it for the entire game.
At least the most known.

Star Raiders (A8) .... Also an official killer-app

Alternate Reality (A8)
Alternate Reality had a raycasting engine equaling that of Wolfenstein 3D which came seven years later

[tom]

Survival Horror: Arguably started with Sweet Home, then later Alone in the Dark, however (Biohazard) Resident Evil was the game to popularize the genre.
Fighting: Popularized by Street Fighter II, however there are many fighting games which predate SF2,



Survival Horror:
Haunted House on Atari VCS (1981)
or
Haunted House (Magnavox Odyssey 1972)

Some first genres on Magnavox Odyssey (sports, driving, war game, shooting, puzzle, space game, educational)


Fighting: popularized by International Karate (A8, C64) and Karateka (A8)

[tom]

Anyways, most genres started in the arcades, be it platform (Jump Bug, Space Panic), sports (driving, tennis, football, etc), fighting, shooting, puzzle, (check out KLOV)
and they (some) were converted /adapted to early home consoles like the Atari VCS or home computers like Apple ][ or A8.

Also check out Plato on Wikipedia, some genres started on Plato during the 70s

[tom]

Forgot a couple more 3D games: Wayout (1982)
http://www.atarimania.com/8bit/screens/wayout_3.gif

and Capture the Flag (1983)
http://www.atarimania.com/8bit/screens/capture_the_flag_sirius_2.gif
both on Atari 8bit.
Capture the Flag is also split screen 2 player.

Not a 3D game, but Nautilus (1982) on A8 first split screen game featuring 'both players move at the same time' action.

Another genre, god game: Utopia on Intellivision

[RP2A03]

As far as I know, Blaster was the first 3D space shooter.

[bigbacon]

almost sounds like the question should have been what game launched the genre into the mainstream.

[Nz17]

almost sounds like the question should have been what game launched the genre into the mainstream.

No as that is not the query we're seeking to answer. We're looking for the first entry in any genre - the fact that some of these were very popular or very good games doesn't change the answer to which was first in its category.

[Atarileaf]

Artillery Strategy Games - I'm a big fan of Team 17's Worms series, which I believe started with a couple of old DOS PC games like Scorched Earth and Gorilla. The Atari 2600 also had Artillery Duel and to a certain extent, Human Cannonball used the same type of mechanics since you had to adjust the height and power of your cannon and take the wind into consideration.

Are there earlier examples then the ones I mentioned?

[M.Buster2184]

I'm sure someone will know the answer to this, but what was the first RPG? Dragon Warrior? I can't think of anything earlier.

[Daltone]

I'm sure someone will know the answer to this, but what was the first RPG? Dragon Warrior? I can't think of anything earlier.

Dragonstomper (1982) on the 2600 is the one that I always hear cited as the first ever crpg, but Rogue was 1980 (arguably a diff genre, but there you go)

There's also Dungeon from 75/76 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeon_(video_game)) - mostly text with some graphical maps.

EDIT: I've been trying to think which game it was that first did away with the convention of having health pickups. I get as far as Call of Duty 2 and can't think of anything else. Obviously there's been stuff like Sleepwalker (where the main character is impervious to harm), but I'm thinking more of regaining health by effectively doing nothing for a few seconds (I'm not sure hitting "rest" in an RPG counts, or Halo's shield, as there are still health pickups in those games).

[tom]

I'm sure someone will know the answer to this, but what was the first RPG? Dragon Warrior? I can't think of anything earlier.

PLATO:

Pedit5, circa 1974, likely the first graphical dungeon computer game.

dnd, 1974–1975, a dungeon crawl game that included the first video game boss.

Avatar, circa 1978, a 2.5-D graphical Multi-User Dungeon (MUD), a precursor to EverQuest.



A year later Richard Garriott (him of Ultima series) created Akalabeth: World of Doom for the Apple ][.
Ultima 1 came in 1981.
Dragon Quest (Dragon Warrior) came in 1986, long after Sir-Tech, Origin, SSI created many RPGs.


.

[gwaine]

I believe Herzog Zwei was the first real time strategy game...could be wrong.

[parallaxscroll]

I believe Herzog Zwei was the first real time strategy game...could be wrong.



Ah, Herzog Zwei: 1989 in Japan, early 1990 in the U.S. Yeah, basicly that was the first real time strategy game of any consequence.

Although the first game, Herzog, came out in 1988 on MSX (as well as NEC PC-88 and Sharp X1), it wasn't available worldwide. Also there are probably a few other games (can't think of their names) that *some* might argue were the first RTS games, but they would've been extremely primitive and of little significance. Westwood Studios was inspired by Herzog Zwei when they made Dune II, first released in 1992 for MS DOS, then in 1993 for Amiga and Genesis/MD. Then later, they created Command & Conquer.


BTW, there's a little freeware homebrew game inspiried by Herzog Zwei called Rapid Aerial Deployment released about 10 years ago.
Then of course, there's the much more recent and highly ambitious AirMech for Google Chrome. It's a true reamke.

[Atarileaf]

I believe Herzog Zwei was the first real time strategy game...could be wrong.

I don't know if it's the "earliest" but there were a couple of great RTS PC games that Broderbund released around 1984 called "The Ancient Art of War" named after the famous Sun Tzu. There were a couple of sequels - Ancient Art of War at Sea and Ancient Art of War in the Skies.

The first is still one of my absolute favorite PC games of all time. The video below is not mine.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdgwPOf2BCA