Other notable Action Adventure and ARPG games (80s-90s)?

[ommadawnyawn2]

Edit: 
worldsunraveled.weebly.com/

Category lists:
TD & Isometric (+tilted view): worldsunraveled.weebly.com/list-format-td--iso.html
FP & TP: worldsunraveled.weebly.com/list-format-fp--tp.html
Side view (for the most part): platformadventure.weebly.com/list-format.html


Hey everybody. This project is meant as a quick reference guide to retro Action Adventure & ARPG games.

It covers 70s-90s games and divides them into three categories based on the (main) perspective used. Each entry lists some relevant info and links to a playthrough vid, a review and my own mini review, though obviously it's still a work in progress.

Let's define AA the same way as metroidvania/platform adventure minus the platforming and ability gating requirements. ARPG is basically the same with added leveling systems, but can also include "full fledged" RPGs with real-time combat.


Looking for games I might've missed besides sidescrolling/side view ones (unless they're hybrids between side view and top down or isometric). Not looking for linear and level-based games (see Tomb Raider for example), though I've listed some as outliers. 

Also let me know if you want some piece of info to be added for a certain game, or perhaps your review.

[jorpho]

It seems hopeless to try to nail down a definite scope here. Like, how does Mole Mania qualify as either of those?

[ommadawnyawn2]

Jun 24, 2020 20:42:10 GMT -5 jorpho said:

It seems hopeless to try to nail down a definite scope here. Like, how does Mole Mania qualify as either of those?

Ok? I'm gonna have to look at Mole Mania again, I remember it being either non-linear or letting you move back and forth between areas at least.



I'm gonna separate the FP and TP view games later on.



Other than that and the one potential mistake in Mole Mania I don't see what your issue is.

[shelverton]

I don’t see Simon’s Quest, or any other Castlevania games either, but maybe they don’t qualify?

EDIT: Sorry, i saw the rule of no sidescrollers just now...

[ommadawnyawn2]

Yeah, I started this as a complementary list for non-metroidvania/platform adventure games in the genres.

Well I went through gamefaqs' lists and have asked elsewhere too so the base list should be pretty much done now. Maybe there are some PC or Amiga games, or some adult japanese PC games I've missed. 

If someone wants to plug a particular game for some standout feature(s) it has then go ahead though.

[shelverton]

Did you include Monkey Hero? Perhaps I missed it but it’s a 1999 Zelda clone on the PS1: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monkey_Hero

It’s not a very good one though.

[zerker]

Anyone else getting a 404 on the original link now?

[windfisch]

Yes, seems to be down atm.

I'm not quite sure what the main purpose of this list is? Is it supposed to be as complete as possible or just about some notable games? And what are your base criteria?

In case you're going for complete, I was thinking of some games that would probably fit the list, based on what was already included (before it went down):

• Altered Space (Game Boy) - isometric, similar to Solstice or Monster Max
• Chimera (multiplatform, from ZX Spectrum to Watara Supervision) - another isometric adventure (light on "action", though)
  
• Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (Lynx)
  
• Electrocop (Lynx) - at one point this was intended as an Impossible Mission sequel, but it's not a platformer and more Xybots-like, not sure if it qualifies
  
• Gauntlet: The Third Encounter (Lynx)
  

[ommadawnyawn2]

I made some changes and split the list into two pages:
platformadventure.weebly.com/top-down--isometric-games.html
platformadventure.weebly.com/first-person--tp-view-games.html

windfisch : It was initially meant as a complementary list for the Platform Adventure/Metroidvania list, but it got so big that I might as well turn it into its own thing.

That site is meant as a quick reference guide to the early(ish) history of the MV genre. It's basically complete but I make a rough ranking based on quality (imo) and how well they fit into the MV genre. 

For this I'd like to avoid the worst games. 

[windfisch]

I see. In that case strike some of the games mentioned by me: Chimera is pretty bad and Electrocop is rather rough gameplay-wise and works best as a tech demo (it could be seen as a 3D pioneer, though). Bill and Ted is kinda okay, the same goes for Gauntlet: the Third Encounter. Altered Space is probably one you'd want to add - I haven't played much, but it seems pretty well made. Oh, I see, it's already there.

[ommadawnyawn2]

Altered Space and Electrocop are considered poor, but I added them anyway. I'm not sure I'd consider some of them AA though as they seem level-based and linear without ability gating.

It's annoying how Monkey Hero and various others aren't listed as AA or ARPG on gamefaqs, that site has a lot of faulty entries in terms of genre.

[condroid]

Here are some old computer games I remember that might fit your criteria. I stopped at 1984 because after that it gets too complicated unless you narrow down the scope somewhat. Also, there might be additional platforms that these games were released on.

1980:
House of Usher (Apple,Atari)
StarQuest: Rescue at Rigel (various)

1981:
Alien Hell (Atari)
StarQuest: Star Warrior (various)

1982:
Black Crystal (Spectrum,C64)
Caverns of Freitag (Apple)
Shamus (various)

1983:
Android 2 (various)
E.T.Phone Home (Atari)
Shultz's Treasure (DOS)
Haunted House (c64)
Cuthbert Enters the Tombs of Doom (C64)
Grand Larceny (C64)
Quest for Quintana Roo (2600,Coleco,Atari,C64)
Robbers of the Lost Tomb (C64)
Spirit of the Stones (C64)
Star Trader (C64,Spectrum)
Zombies (Atari,C64)

1984:
New York City (Atari,C64)
Countdown to Shutdown (C64)
Sundog: Frozen Legacy (Apple,ST)
Maxwell Manor (Atari,C64)
Spy vs. Spy (various)
Gemstone Warrior (various)
Pyjamarama (various)
Sword of Kadash (various) 1984/85?

Jun 26, 2020 4:30:31 GMT -5 ommadawnyawn2 said:

It's annoying how Monkey Hero and various others aren't listed as AA or ARPG on gamefaqs, that site has a lot of faulty entries in terms of genre.

If I was doing the research for this topic, I would probably stick to mobygames or system-specific sites like atarimania,lemon64,etc. They all allow you to search by genre or even viewpoint in some cases.

"combined action gameplay with an open-world adventure environment", "It was the first on-foot shooter, the first on-foot multi-directional shooter, introduced human combat, was the first open-world video game, and the first action/adventure video game. It was also the first tactical shooter, with elements of real-time strategy/tactics." - Codex Gamicus

This quote blew my mind. Who writes nonsense like that?

[windfisch]

ommadawnyawn2

Sure, I can easily see why some of the games I mentioned could be considered not part of either genre. Here are some of my thoughts on them:

• Electrocop is indeed poorly executed, but pretty interesting conceptually. It certainly leans towards the "Action" side of things. The "Adventure" comes with all the little things it adds: The methodical pacing, weapons that can be acquired through exploration and also will break when taking enough hits (even the standard weapon), the maze-like structure with multiple exits (which can loop back to previous floors), some vaguely puzzle-like dealing with hazardous or slippery floor-tiles, "hacking" computer terminals. Taken on their own neither feature would quite cut it for me, but in combination they kinda do.
  
• All I can tell about Altered Space is that it certainly looks and sounds pretty good and that the controls work pretty well for a Solstice-like. I have seen some people praise it, fwiw
• Bill and Ted is stage-based, but the stages themselves are fairly big and open, feature numerous NPCs and challenges, like fetch quests and such.
  
• Gauntlet The Third Encounter, was mentioned, because other Gauntlets are there, too (Third Encounter actually only became an official entry in the series late in its development). It is kinda linear, but features some RPG elements like inventory management and even an additional Dungeon Master-like first person viewing window.

[ommadawnyawn2]

Thanks! I'll add that info to their entries.

I consider the Gauntlets as proto-games, up until the Quest Mode in IV which has an interconnected world, ability gating, puzzles and shops. 

Jun 26, 2020 10:08:02 GMT -5 condroid said:

This quote blew my mind. Who writes nonsense like that?

Hehe it's a little pretentious isn't it? Seems mostly correct until the action adventure part though. 

I'll have to investigate those games. 

[ommadawnyawn2]

platformadventure.weebly.com/top-down--isometric-games.html
platformadventure.weebly.com/first-person--tp-view-games.html

Well this is shaping up to be something worth looking at now I think, but it's still early WIP. Let me know what your faves are and if there's something you want mentioned about them.