Survival horror then and now

[MegaDrive20XX]

what system was this game for?

Alone in the Dark was pretty big in its day. It was available at LEAST on PC-DOS, Amiga, and Commodore 64, maybe other computers.

Don't forget it was on 3DO as well

[PrototypeFC3S]

To this day I'm still scared when I play the original RE for the Playstation. I can only imagine what would happen to me if I played the new version on the Gamecube.

For me, the whole reason RE scares the crap out of me is because everything is all gritty (the graphics) and to me it seems to make things more real I suppose. That and the mansion was freakin huge with lots of little rooms, you'd kind of get closterphobic and when something was chasing you it made the whole situation seem 10x worse. I have yet to pick the game up again and start playing.

[Xantan the Foul]

Someone else said it on a different topic, but Pac-man, if described properly, can be called a survival horror.

You're all alone in an inescapable maze, 4 ghosts trying to kill you, the best you can do is temporarily stun them, and you only have 4, limited duration weapons against the horrors of this death maze.

Fear Pac-Man.

[Big Papa Husker]

Someone else said it on a different topic, but Pac-man, if described properly, can be called a survival horror.

You're all alone in an inescapable maze, 4 ghosts trying to kill you, the best you can do is temporarily stun them, and you only have 4, limited duration weapons against the horrors of this death maze.

Fear Pac-Man.

Wow, you are so right. With that logic you could say that Mario Bros was one too Speaking of that, they should make a survival horror starring Mario.. haha

[VACRMH]

Someone else said it on a different topic, but Pac-man, if described properly, can be called a survival horror.

You're all alone in an inescapable maze, 4 ghosts trying to kill you, the best you can do is temporarily stun them, and you only have 4, limited duration weapons against the horrors of this death maze.

Fear Pac-Man.

Wow, you are so right. With that logic you could say that Mario Bros was one too Speaking of that, they should make a survival horror starring Mario.. haha

How's about Luigi?

[Jorpho]

Another fan-translated Japanese game worth mentioning is Capcom's Sweet Home (Famicom), which has some very enthusiastic supporters. Very creepy, I'm told.

http://donut.parodius.com/?func=tran...es&gamekey=197
http://www.classicgaming.com/rotw/sweethome/

[Daria]

Excellent post

*sticky-fied*

I don't know if I'd personally categorize Halloween as a survival horror game. You make a good case for it but the whole style, where there are some puzzles to solve, a story in the background, and a feeling that YOU are there (not necessarily controlilng a video game character) kinda made survival horror a viable "new" genre.

When I think of the roots of this genre I think of Infogrames' 1992 game "Alone In the Dark". At that time it was quite unique, and I remember the first time I played Resident Evil I thought that AITD had to be their inspiration.

My 2 meseta.

When I think "survial horror" I definately think of the three points you mentioned. Puzzles, storyline, and immersion. However tension is really the quailty I would say that makes or breaks the genre. What's a horror film without suspense? If it's not scary it's not survival horror.

That said I think really one of the first games of the genre was Roberta Williams's "Mystery House". 12 years before Alone in the Dark. You had the puzzles (Which I've always thought of survival horror games as basically scary point and clicks, maybe that's just because I'm drawn to the Silent Hills and Clock Towers of the genre as opposed to the action oriented Resident Evils), it had the creepy mansion that housed the killer whom, if you werent careful could kill you. The game had you playing yourself, there's that undeniable feeling that you're in the game. The story wasn't real intricate, but it was there. Basic barebones "Clue" plotline. Killer's in the house, knocking off the guests go find him before he finds you.