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Post by Discoalucard on Jul 27, 2014 0:29:04 GMT -5
Derboo and I have been working on this article on and off for more than a year, and we've finally got something that's mostly finished: www.hardcoregaming101.net/inventories/80sheroines.htmWe tried to dig up as many obscure examples as possible to show female characters taking the center in video games of the 80s. Of course we may have missed some, so if there are any that quality (please read the criteria in the article), let us know and we may add them. To be added: Dr. Udderbay from Xenophobe Meyna and Lyll from Legacy of the Wizard/Dragon Slayer IV Heroine from Titantic Mystery Hiromi Tengenji from Burning Force (1989) The Priest from Cadash (1989) Tyris Flare from Golden Axe |
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Post by Malev on Jul 27, 2014 0:54:17 GMT -5
I figure, going by the list given, that create-a-character or optional generic female recruits don't count either, like the distinctly drawn character classes in Dragon Quest 3.
Also, to clarify, Super Mario 3D World IS a mainline Mario platformer that prominently displays a playable Princess Peach, along with Princess Rosalina unlocked in levels after defeating Bowser. As for Super Princess Peach's issues, the biggest one isn't the "Vibe Sceptre" translation nor the "women weaponizing her emotions" subtext, but the whole "gotta dumb it down and spell out everything to make it easy mode for young girls" gameplay.
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Post by zerker on Jul 27, 2014 8:46:14 GMT -5
Although Maniac Mansion is included, I noticed that Zak Mckracken is not, even though 3/4 of the playable characters are female. Then again, the game does focus more on Zak, so I can understand if you exclude it on that criteria.
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Post by derboo on Jul 27, 2014 9:19:00 GMT -5
Yeah, that's the reason I would vote against it's inclusion - they rather seem like "sidekickes" rather than proper "heroines", whereas in Maniac Mansion all characters seem more on equal footing (even though Dave is mandatory, I think he is the only character who doesn't have a special ability and thus the least useful?)
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Post by zerker on Jul 27, 2014 9:46:01 GMT -5
I could make the same argument against Dragon Quest 2, though.
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Post by TheChosen on Jul 27, 2014 9:57:40 GMT -5
Yeah, that's the reason I would vote against it's inclusion - they rather seem like "sidekickes" rather than proper "heroines", whereas in Maniac Mansion all characters seem more on equal footing (even though Dave is mandatory, I think he is the only character who doesn't have a special ability and thus the least useful?) I remember Dave having some merits, cant remember exactly what, but the surfer bro Jeff's only skill is that he can fix the telephone, making him the least useful. |
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Post by r0ck3rz on Jul 27, 2014 21:12:13 GMT -5
I could make the same argument against Dragon Quest 2, though. Yeah, I can't imagine Nei from Phantasy Star 2 not counting by the same criteria, but then you'd have to add Amy, Anna, and Shir. Are we sure Ellinor is the only pilot of the '80's? Can't imagine the '90's getting any easier on this subject. Funny enough, once western development takes over, I could see it getting much easier.  To add something, the first Pocky and Rocky game is called Kiki KaiKai(arcade, and PC Engine port, not sure if anything else, 1986), and whatever his name is in Japan, Rocky isn't playable this first time around. |
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Post by Discoalucard on Jul 27, 2014 21:28:40 GMT -5
Oh! The girl from Legendary Wings too!
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Post by Dracula on a bike on Jul 27, 2014 23:46:39 GMT -5
How about one of the two player-nameable characters from Tombs & Treasure? (Note: according to here and here, the Famicom port was originally released in 1988.) |
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Post by Amelia on Jul 28, 2014 0:09:41 GMT -5
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Post by moran on Jul 28, 2014 7:28:18 GMT -5
Going against the adaptation stipulation, would there be exceptions for a game that doesn't portray characters from the franchise? Like in Friday the 13th, where there are 3 female characters that are not pulled from the movies and were created solely for for the game.
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Post by Allie on Jul 28, 2014 7:41:20 GMT -5
I could make the same argument against Dragon Quest 2, though. Yeah, I can't imagine Nei from Phantasy Star 2 not counting by the same criteria, but then you'd have to add Amy, Anna, and Shir. Are we sure Ellinor is the only pilot of the '80's? Can't imagine the '90's getting any easier on this subject. Funny enough, once western development takes over, I could see it getting much easier. To add something, the first Pocky and Rocky game is called Kiki KaiKai(arcade, and PC Engine port, not sure if anything else, 1986), and whatever his name is in Japan, Rocky isn't playable this first time around. His name was Manuke, and wasn't he actually the final boss of the first Kiki Kaikai? |
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Post by r0ck3rz on Jul 28, 2014 9:19:09 GMT -5
I think you may be right. I've never really gone through the games in that series. Just happened to be looking at in-game screen captures in MAME when I came by that one, as I saw the article.
I do have to wonder if a '90's version is happening. Between fighters, beat 'em ups, more shoot 'em up pilots, and just generally more leading roles, it'd certainly be a lot more time consuming to compile, and as many as I know, I still don't know what's on Japanese PC's and the like.
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Post by dskzero on Jul 28, 2014 9:32:10 GMT -5
The link at the end is broken!
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Post by Discoalucard on Jul 28, 2014 9:40:22 GMT -5
I do have to wonder if a '90's version is happening. Between fighters, beat 'em ups, more shoot 'em up pilots, and just generally more leading roles, it'd certainly be a lot more time consuming to compile, and as many as I know, I still don't know what's on Japanese PC's and the like. It took us about a year to compile this list as it were, a 90s list would be even crazier. We'd probably have to limit it to the 16-bit era. We debated about whether to call this "80s Heroines" or "8-bit heroines", because each designation would change up some of the entries (i.e. featuring Kaede from Shadow of the Ninja, but that was released in 1990) but we went with the former, mostly because there are less pedantic discussions about what constitutes 8-bit. There was a thread on NeoGAF recently about 8-bit JRPGs and half of the posts were arguing about whether the PC Engine counted. |
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