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Post by X-pert74 on Dec 19, 2016 18:15:15 GMT -5
The original Metal Gear for the MSX2. At the time of its release, no one had heard of the idea of infiltrating a top-secret enemy base in a video game before. There's the Castle Wolfenstein games which came before it. One could say those games were ahead of their time
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Post by Weasel on Dec 19, 2016 18:29:22 GMT -5
Yeah there's a really interesting subgenre of Western-developed computer stealth games, between Castle Wolfenstein and stuff like The Great Escape on the ZX Spectrum, and arguably the Skool Daze games.
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Post by r0ck3rz on Dec 19, 2016 20:40:58 GMT -5
005, an arcade game by Sega, did the stealth thing in '81. The Herzog thing: Zwei was the first attempt at an RTS that was brought to hardware with enough processing power to actually allow the game to run in real time. Otherwise, the processor was so slow on previous RTS' that the games were practically turn based. Another fun fact is that the codifier of the genre(Dune II) was ported to the Genesis as well. Basically, any way you slice it, the genre practically has it's origins, at least in the form you know it from nowadays, on this console. ommadawnyawn2 : <-4 playable characters. Not that TMNT('89) hadn't already beaten it there, but I can say this for SoR2. I can't think of a beat 'em up that precedes it in which most characters(I can't think of anything for Axel) have their own weapon quirks. You can say Cody is deadlier with a knife than Haggar and Guy are, but that's really about it in Final Fight. In SoR2, Skate has the hardest time wielding longer weapons(but probably still swings them faster than anyone else, just at an awkward short ranged angle), Max can hit enemies from behind, plus has the longest reach with them, and Blaze can do some incredible damage with a knife, when she's standing in just the right spot(can stab an enemy 3 times, which may be more damaging than a sword).
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Post by alphex on Dec 19, 2016 21:01:29 GMT -5
The Colonel's Bequest not only had a cool female lead (Roberta Williams again), but also went for a non-linear narrative. It was noticeable held back by technical limitations, but boy did it do all it could do within them.
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Post by 1983parrothead on Dec 19, 2016 21:33:22 GMT -5
Wolf Fang has close-range combat predating Metal Slug in run n gun history. Gamers in USA compare it to Contra, but gamers in Japan compare it to Atomic Runner Chelnov due to auto-scrolling and some weapon similarities, as well as both by Data East.
Kabuki Quantum Fighter has hair as a close-range weapon predating Shantae.
The Asuka 120% BURNING Fest. franchise, unlike Ningyou Tsukai and Variable Geo, it was more safe for the younger audience to enjoy due to no adult content, while it even had a spiritual successor called Phantom Breaker.
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Post by ommadawnyawn2 on Dec 20, 2016 0:25:38 GMT -5
ommadawnyawn2 : <-4 playable characters. Not that TMNT('89) hadn't already beaten it there, but I can say this for SoR2. I can't think of a beat 'em up that precedes it in which most characters(I can't think of anything for Axel) have their own weapon quirks. You can say Cody is deadlier with a knife than Haggar and Guy are, but that's really about it in Final Fight. In SoR2, Skate has the hardest time wielding longer weapons(but probably still swings them faster than anyone else, just at an awkward short ranged angle), Max can hit enemies from behind, plus has the longest reach with them, and Blaze can do some incredible damage with a knife, when she's standing in just the right spot(can stab an enemy 3 times, which may be more damaging than a sword). Thanks for the correction and yeah, that's worth mentioning I think. Edited that one.
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Post by jcrankin on Dec 20, 2016 1:23:13 GMT -5
Marathon actually came out a few months after System Shock, and most of what people praise Marathon for is in Bungie's earlier Pathways into Darkness Good catch on the release dates (System Shock 1 is another game I love), though I IMO while Pathways might have did some things first, Marathon actually refined them to make them work, more or less, even if its engine just wasn't as good as Doom's (neat technical tricks nonwithstanding). Anyway, going by the definition "ahead of its time" = "Good idea, but when the game was made, the hardware in existance just wasn't enough to handle the scope of the game.", I have a solid pick in Alternate Reality series (well, only two games ever got made, but still). To roughly approximate the idea behind AR, imagine a The Elder Scrolls style sandbox (random sidequest-driven, first person perspective, open world...), except made on Commodore 64 era hardware. Every part was supposed to mesh together into a (relatively) huge world: The City offered a, well, detailed city to explore, and The Dungeon enabled the user to explore the sewers underneath. Sadly, it ran like crap even on the Amiga port I've played, and the series got axed well before the game could actually reach the envisioned scope.
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Post by wyrdwad on Dec 20, 2016 2:33:14 GMT -5
I guess if you want to go by that definition of "ahead of its time" specifically, then... basically, the Vectrex, in its entirety, was RIDICULOUSLY ahead of its time. It was a forebear to the idea of wireframe 3D animation, and allowed for absolutely smooth rotation and scaling, as well as pixelless art, back in 1983. When you consider when the thing was made, some of the games that were released for it are kind of mindblowing! Everything about the Vectrex was innovative and new -- like the VR of its era.
-Tom
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Post by elektrolurch on Dec 20, 2016 4:53:20 GMT -5
What about GTA3? I mean, it's easy to dismiss now, but at the time it was crazy, I mean..you could argue it was one of the first fully realized 3D open world sandbox games in which you could enter and leave vehicles at will. Ok Body Harvest came before, sure, which does those things as well, but it feels less fully realized in scope. But the driver games at the time seemed way more restricted.
And Mechwarrior 2. I mean it's still impressive how deep and complex the gameplay mechanics are.
Has Half-Life been mentioned? I remember playing it for the first time....it was very impressive, to me it was the first FPS that really succeeded in building a strong atmosphere through its npcs and its enviroments.
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Post by jcrankin on Dec 20, 2016 4:56:35 GMT -5
Has Half-Life been mentioned? Why would it be?
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Post by condroid on Dec 20, 2016 6:25:22 GMT -5
There are probably many Dani Bunten games that would qualify, but one especially good example is Modem Wars. This is a real-time tactics game from 1988 with a pretty elaborate online mode, something that wouldn't become popular in mainstream gaming until the RTS boom of the mid-nineties. Another game way ahead of its time is Habitat, an MMO with graphics and GUI, released by Lucasfilm in 1986.
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Post by GamerL on Dec 20, 2016 7:48:08 GMT -5
The ultimate ahead of it's time game is Trespasser: Jurassic Park.
It's kind of freaky to think that there exists a game from all the way back in 1998 with a physics engine, bump mapping and other advanced tech, but of course the game basically didn't work when it was first released since it was so absurdly ahead of it's time.
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Post by surnshurn on Dec 20, 2016 8:29:00 GMT -5
my big one would be Starseige:Tribes. 3-d action in an fps with the jetpack. also large landscapes.
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Post by elektrolurch on Dec 20, 2016 8:52:46 GMT -5
Has Half-Life been mentioned? Why would it be? Becausse I remember playing it for the first time....it was very impressive, to me it was the first FPS that really succeeded in building a strong atmosphere through its npcs and its enviroments. When you compare it to its contemporaries like Quake 2 or Unreal, I think it becomes clear what I mean. The whole playable intro sequence with NPCs that reacted to you, the ride on the train, etc pp.... it just from the very beginning seemed like a world with a purpose, which was not only there to be an excuse to kill stuff.. When you look at it now, sure, those things are established standards. But before Half Life, FPSes just were not like that....
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Post by ommadawnyawn2 on Dec 20, 2016 9:19:57 GMT -5
Some were though not as polished: System Shock, Marathon, Strife, Ultima Underworld
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