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Post by neozeedeater on Oct 31, 2015 19:15:42 GMT -5
Yeah, the January 1986 release date I saw was probably wrong if reviews came that much later. After looking around again, I can't find anything definitive.
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Post by ommadawnyawn2 on Jan 30, 2016 16:55:07 GMT -5
Here's an attempt at a more complete list of games not in the VG Museum list. Not sure about some of the 1983 games though.
Run For It (AII/Atari 8-bit, 198X) Major Havoc (ARC, 1983) Mr. Do's Castle (ARC, 1983) Spelunker (Multi, 1983) Forbidden Forest (C64, 1983) Pharaoh's Curse (C64 etc, 1983) Pitfall II (Multi, 1984) Impossible Mission (C64, 1984) Below the Root (Multi, 1984) Brain Breaker (Sharp X1, 1985) Hero Of The Golden Talisman (C64 etc, 1985) Zorro (C64 etc, 1985) King's Valley (Multi, 1985) Starquake (Multi, 1985) Cauldron (C64, 1985) Castle Quest (BBC Micro, 1985) Dragon Slayer II: Xanadu (Multi, 1985) Fist II: The Legend Continues (C64 etc, 1986) - Beat 'em up Space Hunter (NES, 1986) Bouken Roman (MSX, 1986) The Sacred Armour of Antiriad/Rad Warrior (C64 etc, 1986) Cauldron II (C64, 1986) Dan Dare (C64 etc, 1986) Saboteur (C64 etc, 1986) Castle Excellent/Castlequest (MSX/NES, 1986) Death Wish III (C64, 1987) - Run 'n gun-ish Tengoku Yoitoko (Welcome to Heaven) (MSX, 1987) Dizzy: The Ultimate Cartoon Adventure (Multi, 1987) Getsu Fuuma Den (NES, 1987) The Treasure of Usas (MSX, 1987) Zeliard (PC etc, 1987) Saboteur 2 (C64 etc, 1987) The Scheme (PC-88, 1988) Draconus (C64/Spectrum, 1988) Death Stalker (Amstrad CPC, 1988) Treasure Island Dizzy (Multi, 1988) Impossible Mission II (Multi, 1988) King's Valley II (MSX, 1988) Project Firestart (C64, 1989) - Run 'n gun-ish Fantasy World Dizzy (Multi, 1989) Dizzy 3 and a half: Into Magicland and Magicland Dizzy (Multi, 1990) The Adventures of Rad Gravity (NES, 1990) Spellbound Dizzy (Multi, 1991) Dizzy: Prince of the Yolkfolk (Multi, 1991) Mission/Misja (Atari XL, 1991) Fantastic Dizzy/The Fantastic Adventures of Dizzy (Multi, 1991) Miecze Valdgira/Valdgir's Swords (Atari XL, 1991) Hans Kloss (Atari XL/C64, 1992) Crystal Kingdom Dizzy (Multi, 1992) Artefakt przodków/Ancestors' Artifact (Atari XL, 1992) Magia Kryształu/Magic of the Crystal (Atari XL, 1992) Uczeń czarnoksiężnika/Wizard's Apprentice (Atari 8-bit, 1992) Krucjata/Crusade (Atari 8-bit, 1993) Wonderland Dizzy (NES, 1993/2015) Miecze Valdgira II/Valdgir's Swords II (AMI/Atari XL, 1993) Link: The Faces of Evil (CD-i, 1993) Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon (CD-i, 1993)
Other non-linear games whose areas are broken up and/or connected by an overworld map (mostly Zelda II-likes): Air Fortress (NES, 1987)
Lord of the Sword (SMS, 1988) - Not sure about this one Kenseiden (SMS, 1988) SpellCaster (SMS, 1988) TMNT (NES, 1989) Ax Battler (GG, 1991) Exile (PCE CD/MD, 1991) Rent-a-Hero (MD, 1991) Star Wars (NES/SMS, 1991) The Addams Family (SNES/MD etc, 1992) Flashback (AMI/PC/MD etc, 1992) Kaeru no Tame ni Kane wa Naru (For the Frog the Bell Tolls) (GB, 1992) Blackthorne/Blackhawk (SNES etc, 1994) Alien 3 (SNES, 1993) Popful Mail (MCD, 1994) Dragon View (SNES, 1994) Holy Umbrella: Dondera´s Wild!! (SNES, 1995) Oddworld: Abe's Exodus (PS1/PC, 1997) Oddworld: Abe's Odyssey (PS1/PC, 1998) Wario Land II (GB/GBC, 1998)
I guess Mega Man 6 sort of fits into this second category since it both lets you replay levels and use new abilites to get to goodies in them (though it's not needed to progress) and has more fleshed out alternate paths within the levels. Maybe DuckTales 1-2 as well.
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sumez
Junior Member
Posts: 53
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Post by sumez on Feb 3, 2016 3:09:04 GMT -5
Mega Man 1 allowed that as well (basically because you could miss the all-important magnet beam). Wouldn't call any of them anything close to Metroidvanias though, they all feature heavily linear stages, even with the rare occasional path split, mostly seen in MM6.
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Post by ommadawnyawn2 on Feb 3, 2016 8:00:28 GMT -5
Right, yeah so maybe only MM6 then. The list got bigger since the VGM one includes stuff like MW4 and Montezuma's Revenge, with linear progression broken into levels, but maze-like levels. At least you unlock new areas of the town hub in the former.
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Post by phediuk on Aug 13, 2016 20:28:45 GMT -5
Hi guys, I noticed a few games that were missing from the list that are good examples of early "Metroidvania" type games.
Superman (Atari 2600, 1979) -- first side-view game to have an environment larger than one screen that can be freely explored in real time.
Aztec (Apple II, 1982) -- Rudimentary inventory system (you can acquire a gun, a knife, and dynamite) coupled with interconnected non-linear gameworld that you must backtrack out of makes this perhaps the first "true" Metroid-type game.
Bugaboo the Flea (ZX Spectrum 1983) -- very early multi-screen Spectrum game.
Hydrax (C64, 1983)
Scuba Dive (ZX Spectrum, 1983) -- Open-ended underwater exploration game where you have to find treasures and make it back to your boat alive. The ocean is a big maze full of twisty corridors and the like. It's like the ancient predecessor to Aquaria.
Journey to the Centre of the Earth (C64, 1984) -- Side-scroller (with true scrolling), huge maze, inventory system with usable items, including a gun and oxygen tanks to breathe underwater.
Quo Vadis (C64, 1984) -- Gigantic side-scrolling maze; by far the biggest game of this type at the time of its release, and for awhile after.
The Castle (MSX, et al., 1985) -- Immediate predecessor to Castle Excellent (aka Castlequest), plays exactly the same.
Doriath (C64, 1985) -- this one even has that specific "gain new abilities, then backtrack to previous areas to access new places" gameplay loop.
Phantom of the Asteroid (C64, 1985)
Thexder (PC-88, et al., 1985) -- Linear levels, but notable similarity to Metroid both in aesthetic and in gameplay; like Metroid, you constantly have to find hidden passages through breakable walls.
Arac (aka Spiderbot) (C64, 1986) -- You're a spider-droid in an open side-scrolling world, and you catch enemies to gain their powers, letting you access new areas, etc. It's like Mega Man meets Metroid before either of those games was a thing.
Rex (ZX Spectrum, 1988)
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Post by windfisch on Aug 15, 2016 16:28:33 GMT -5
One of my favorite early Metroid-esque titles: Todd's Adventures in slime World for the Atari Lynx (1990). It came out around the same time as Metroid II and to this day it remains a very unique and wonderful title. And it was probably one of the first of it's kind to include an automap (please feel free to correct me ), I find it especially impressive how organic, alive and strange the environment and it's inhabitants feel. EDIT: I Just found out that it actually it came out a whole year before Metroid II (according to Moby Games).
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Post by elektrolurch on Aug 16, 2016 9:19:47 GMT -5
One of my favorite early Metroid-esque titles: Todd's Adventures in slime World for the Atari Lynx (1990). It came out around the same time as Metroid II and to this day it remains a very unique and wonderful title. And it was probably one of the first of it's kind to include an automap (please feel free to correct me ), I find it especially impressive how organic, alive and strange the environment and it's inhabitants feel. EDIT: I Just found out that it actually it came out a whole year before Metroid II (according to Moby Games). Wow, I played the Sega MD/Genesis version and hated it. I don't know how different it is from the Lynx version though.
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Post by windfisch on Aug 16, 2016 13:29:20 GMT -5
One of my favorite early Metroid-esque titles: Todd's Adventures in slime World for the Atari Lynx (1990). Wow, I played the Sega MD/Genesis version and hated it. I don't know how different it is from the Lynx version though. They are basically the same in terms of level design and gameplay, but there are some important differences: The Mega Drive version has one advantage, namely more visible screen estate. Sadly otherwise it is a heavily downgraded port: Visually it is much less vibrant, lacking the variety and most of the cool special effects (like sprite scaling) from the original. On top of that it is suffering from more apparent slowdown. It also has some of the most annoying sound effects you have ever heard - which is why I can't enjoy this version. Interestingly there is also a Japan-only PC-Engine CD version, featuring Anime-style cutscenes and a jazzy J-Pop soundtrack, making is almost feel like a completely different game. It looks and sounds nicer than the MD port, but it's not as atmospheric as the Lynx original: EDIT: By the way: The sound quality in the video for the Lynx game does not do the actual hardware justice, there are also emulators like Mednafen, that have better sound emulation.
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Chezni
Junior Member
Posts: 90
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Post by Chezni on Aug 27, 2016 11:30:52 GMT -5
Other non-linear games whose areas are broken up and/or connected by an overworld map (mostly Zelda II-likes): Air Fortress (NES, 1987) Lord of the Sword (SMS, 1988) - Not sure about this one Kenseiden (SMS, 1988) SpellCaster (SMS, 1988) TMNT (NES, 1989) Ax Battler (GG, 1991) Exile (PCE CD/MD, 1991) Rent-a-Hero (MD, 1991) Star Wars (NES/SMS, 1991) The Addams Family (SNES/MD etc, 1992) Flashback (AMI/PC/MD etc, 1992) Kaeru no Tame ni Kane wa Naru (For the Frog the Bell Tolls) (GB, 1992) Blackthorne/Blackhawk (SNES etc, 1994) Alien 3 (SNES, 1993) Popful Mail (MCD, 1994) Dragon View (SNES, 1994) Holy Umbrella: Dondera´s Wild!! (SNES, 1995) Oddworld: Abe's Exodus (PS1/PC, 1997) Oddworld: Abe's Odyssey (PS1/PC, 1998) Wario Land II (GB/GBC, 1998) This list is missing the underrated NES title Battle of Olympus. The overworld map is really only used to provide a general sense of location, but there is one, and the overall gameplay is very much like Zelda II.
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Post by ommadawnyawn2 on Aug 27, 2016 16:07:59 GMT -5
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Chezni
Junior Member
Posts: 90
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Post by Chezni on Aug 27, 2016 16:35:36 GMT -5
I had to do a double-take on that list. They have the game listed as The Battle of Mount Olympus, released for the NES in 1990. But as far as I can tell the game is known only as The Battle of Olympus in all regions, and it was released in the years 1989, 1991 and 1993. I'm not too sure how they mixed-up the year of the game's release, but the title has apparently been confused with an actual historical battle that occurred around 190 BC. It is surely The Battle of Olympus that list is referring to though, as there aren't any similarly-titled games for the NES.
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Post by ommadawnyawn2 on Aug 27, 2016 17:03:04 GMT -5
I thought that was kinda weird too. I'm currently doing a "top games by genre" list (or rather one per decade) which will be as complete as possible.
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Post by novicola on Nov 26, 2016 3:43:29 GMT -5
Edit:apparently already mention in this very thread. D'oh.
Here's an interesting one for the C64, Quo Vadis (1984), by Steven T. Chapman and published by the notorious The Edge. I'm not sure which country it was developed in.
Aside from its unprecedented scope, its most notable aspect is its obtuse riddles which make it similar to the much later La-Mulana (and presumably the MSX games that inspired the latter).
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Post by condroid on Nov 26, 2016 10:01:09 GMT -5
IMO, 'Metroidvania' is one of the finest attempts at retconning gaming history. I can certainly understand how that term can be applied to Symphony of the Night and its 6 'sequels'; but looking at the games listed in this topic, I honestly wonder what a practical definition of this particular sub-genre of action-adventures would be like.
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Post by ommadawnyawn2 on Nov 26, 2016 11:43:09 GMT -5
Sidescrolling action adventure, or platform adventure do the job.
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