Video Game Genres That Deserve More Appreciation - Retro Bird
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 12 ก.ย. 2024
- We've all got some game genres we feel could use more appreciation, so about a video about it! I go over some of my personal choices, as well as why certain genres don't get appreciated more than they do.
Video Game Genres That Deserve More Appreciation - Retro Bird / Overlooked Video Game Genres / Underrated Video Game Genres / Game Genres That Go Under the Radar
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Games Played: Gradius Gaiden (0:01), Confidential Mission (0:18), Tetris (0:27), Crazy Taxi (0:43), Turtles in Time (1:06), Dodonpachi (3:08), Batsugun (3:19)
I was just wondering that badass looking gun you were using for that shooter game was that the sniper scope cuz that was cool looking
@@animemaster4861 It's called the Mad Catz Dream Blaster. Yeah, I think it's pretty cool!
Just recently discovered and subscribed to your channel. No, you're not comparable to Beavis & Butthead more like the Carl Sagan of Video Games. I love love your humor and your taste in games, but for the love of god don't you ever play Tetris like the way you just did ever again! I see you intentionally played bad Tetris and explaining about it (point taken). But my eyes cringed so badly watching you played just like how my ears would exploded hearing nail on a chalkboard. Oh, I'd love to challenge you to a game of Tetris Attack, "hocus pocus." After beating and taunting you, I'd ask to borrow ALL your games and having no plans of returning them.
Retro bird, you are just brilliant! I’ve been “retro” gaming for years and watching Game sack, Sega Lord and the like. It’s only recently TH-cam’s algorithm has presented your channel to me. I watched this and subscribed. You’re informative and hilarious. I don’t think you’re appreciated enough!
Glad you're liking it! I appreciate the positive vibes :)
Same here, watch the others you mentioned but recently the algorithms have been throwing me his vid's, I subscribed also, he putting in the work and quality.
Nice shout out to Game Sack and Sega Lord X but I'd like to throw another one out there. Console Wars
You’re channel is Truly a blessing due to how ya make so much of the video comical and yet the information you spit out is truly Fantastic! Thanks You!
Same - thanks for the content!
I just can't believe this channel have 15k subscribers. You deserve a million at least.
It might be a bland choice, but I miss really solid collect-a-thons! I know there’s been a bit of a resurgence, but they’re either over complicated or over simplified. Banjo Kazooie hit the sweet spot.
Banjo Kazooie really did nail that perfect balance in my opinion.
I liked Yooka leye. Never finished it but I had lots of fun playing it.
@@lifeonleo1074 I 100%ed Yooka Laylee (I helped kickstart it too!) I really loved it! But I don’t know if we’ll ever have a true sequel because of all the TH-camrs dunking on it. :(
@@heyitzay1326 those TH-camrs wouldn't know a good game if it smacked them in the face, Arlo, Antdude and several others did actually like it, I think it was a deal of a bunch of know it all journalists and critics, a vocal minority, hating on it.
I like this channel
A genre I love that rarely gets a whole lot of fanfare is "Run n' Gun" games. Contra, Metal Slug, and Mega Man (To an extent). Maybe not the most underappreciated genre but I hardly ever see anybody go nuts over them anymore.
There was a short lived interest in them a little while ago when the Atomaswave games got released online that you could play on a Dreamcast. Particularly with the game Dolphin Blue that has a similar art style to Metal Slug.
The being compared to Roy from Dinosaurs made me laugh so hard. I never would have thought that but now I can't unsee it. But I'm just going to say we've never seen the two of you in the same room together.
For me I'd say an under appreciated genre is the action puzzle/maze genre. Bubble Bobble series, Bomberman series, Lode Runner, Solomon's Key, Gauntlet, and other games like that.
It's the only comparison made that I feel like I can identify with :)
I think Retro Bird looks like he could be Rob Dyrdek's cousin 😂. Almost everyone looks like somebody else though.
I can tell you genre that is under appreciated. TH-cam channels dedicated to retro video games that are led by birds. Love your content continue on the good fight
Thank you for the positive vibes!
My fave genres are
- JRPGs
- platformers, especially 3D platformers
- pre-bullet-hell-era shmups (aka shmups from the 90s on PCE, Saturn & arcades)
- fighting games from Japan (2D & 3D), SFII to today
- racing games
- action-adventure games in the Zelda mold
Several of these genres are still popular and plenty appreciated today (even by some non-retro gamers). The three genres I feel are under-appreciated are:
- SHMUPS - Really, if these don't appeal to a gamer, they don't appeal! But I feel like some people try the wrong ones first. If your first shmup experience is a hard as nails Gradius or R-Type game, you're much less likely to warm to the genre. If on the other hand you start with Blazing Lazers, Space Megaforce/Super Aleste, or Galactic Attack/Layer Section, or ideally all three (!!), you're so much more likely to get hooked.
- 3D PLATFORMERS -- We were swimming in an oversupply of these back in the 5th and 6th gen eras, but then they abruptly dried up, replaced by boring first person shooters. Mario games keep selling big numbers and getting love, but games like Sypro, Ape Escape, and Jak & Daxter are treated as curiosities now, and the excellent Crash 4 seems not to have sold very well. People dismiss them as kiddie games, even the new Ratchet which sold well and features some amazingly fun gunplay. This genre will always include some of my very favorites, even though I first played all of them as a grown-ass man!!
- RACING GAMES like Ridge Racer Type-4 & Metropolis Street Racer. No gimmicks, no smashing things, no violence, no maintenance schedule ... just driving around beautiful courses listening to great music, and getting better and better and better at them. Even excellent recent games like Driveclub and the Forza Horizon games don't quite get this formula right -- there are too many "racing season" trappings getting in the way of the pure dreamy but adrenaline-pumped driving.
I know 3D platformers have started to gain an upswing in the indie game scene lately, if that helps any.
@@CassiDS Thanks, yes I have had fun with several indie 3D platformers in recent years: games like Yooka-Laylee, Effie, Mail Mole, Pumpkin Jack, Demon Turf. A real 5th gen throwback called Frogun just released a couple of weeks ago -- fun game! However, to me none of these fun indie games reaches the heights of the best 3D Platformers from 5th & 6th gen, when creativity & fun within the genre was bursting!
I feel that Puzzle games are super underrated, but not so much arcade puzzle such as Dr. Mario, Tetris, Puyo Puyo or Yoshi for example (Although those are great as well). I’m talking logic puzzle games, stuff like Adventures of Lolo, Kickle Cubicle, Namida No Sokoban or Mole Mania. I absolutely love those types of games and am slowly trying to discover/collect more!
I love me some Lolo or Mole Mania!
I highly recommend Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker if you have a Nintendo Switch! Great game.
Not really a genre thing but I wish Survival horror games still used fixed camera angles. Their all over the shoulder or first person now.
I'm one of the few people who isn't bothered by the way the old Resident Evil games played :) I do still like the way games like Resident Evil 2 (2019) handles though.
Dungeon crawlers. Combo of maze and rpg. Shinning in the Darkness still one of my favorite game.
seconded, I just finished Eye of the Beholder on my Sega CD and it is such a great game that nobody ever mentions anymore....love SitD a lot too, but I love St Holy Ark more
Your cutaways keep crackin me up! This one at 6:19 had me rollin. The banana peel sequence deserves a gif. I lost it when you dropped that Dinosaurs guy comparison and did the face. You're hilarious and somehow it all doesn't get away from the points you're making.👌
I'm glad you feel it doesn't get away from the points I'm trying to make. I try to be conscious of that.
Dude this video solidified my love of your channel! First off…one of my favorite games is Rocket Knight Adventure! Second, I absolutely love beat em ups (especially 16 bit era). Also am really getting into light gun games. Pro tip: if you don’t have a CRT fire up a PS3 and pick up Time Crisis Razing Storm!! Includes 3 games on one disc and you can play on a modern TV! Also the Wii ones are great co-op too! Keep up the good work my friend !!
I'm just trying to watch a video while my baby is asleep and this dude keeps making me chortle!
You are appreciated!
I appreciate you saying that!
speaking of appreciation, you're an awesome find my dude! def get a retro youtube feel from you which i appreciate and is it's own existential nightmare, a "retro" style retro game youtube channel. either way, good work!
Haha thank you :)
I'd like to answer a slightly different question: what genres are underrepresented in modern games? (This is just how my brain interpreted the question and now I can't get it out of my head; sorry!) I'd have to say I'd like to see more beat-em-ups, on-rail shooters, and 3D platformers.
Agreed. When it comes to on rail shooters; my personal zenith for that particular genre; will always be Panzer Dragoon Orta for the original Xbox; following just barely on the heels of that title, would be Starfox 64.
Omega boost!!!!
Dude, I said this on a prior video, I was neeeeever very into shmups. Now I'm digging them. I think as a boomer gamer, I appreciate bite size arcade action. That's why I find myself just playing 2 races. Or a couple of matches in a fighter. I would loooove to play a ubisoft game but I don't have 60 hours
Puzzle games were underappreciated then and now lol
Point and click games and tactical rpgs
Strawberries and Bananas, a truly versatile combination. Oatmeal, ice cream, smoothies, and many other options.
Thanks for the awesome video. When I show friends beatemups for the first time, I give a short lecture on how important it is to move on the vertical axis (99% of beatemup attacks will be horizontal)
A genre I like to direct appreciation towards is the point-and-click adventure, especially some of the 90's LucasArts games.
I second this. The genre was a huge part of my life growing up, and I will always have fond memories of playing them. Discworld on the Sega Saturn is one of my all time favorites, despite me never finishing it.
I was anticipating this answer being brought up! Good choice :)
Those were so much fun indeed!
"Don't have to be good, to enjoy it" great line
You'll find it's true for many things!
I understand people hate on sports games (and understandably so, even though I personally love to play them, myself as they’re considered my “stockholm syndrome” games), but they deserve more love for its “pick-up and play” and I really love the soundtracks to some of the games:
Options screen (NBA Give N Go, the NBA Live Games, NBA Action 94, NFL Blitz, etc.)
All the music in the early EA Genesis Games (John Madden Football, NHL Hockey, Lakers vs Celtics, etc.)
I agree with you about special soundtracks. Here's why I see they aren't valued in the same way as other games though (my 3 points explained)...
1. Game design isn't valued like it should be:
There are great sports games that present a brilliant gaming experience but for non-sports fans, the business model is just a scam of annual roster updates. It just looks like a series of annual re-releases where no particular game stands out.
For real sports fans, it looks very similar but having the latest rosters each season is important. These games should be remembered for game design in terms like 'NHL 98 was the turning point where EA made the first great 3D hockey game'. That's not the way it works though. The connection to the real sport means there's non-gaming attachments. People reflect on things like 'NJ Devils winning the Stanley Cup in 2000 was a great year, so I love going back to NHL 2000'. This is why there's no particular sports sim that overshadows the others of its era like it really should.
2. Non-sports fans:
There are lots of fun sports games that capture a great arcade game experience. You don't need to be a sport fan to enjoy them but a lot of gamers don't like them because they find sport related stuff to be a turn off. It's the same for them as anything on TV that you don't want to see and also seeing that being a gaming genre that you don't want to play either.
3. The business model of sports games:
The online era has made sports games more expensive with the additional microtransaction business model. Also, the latest version is always the one you need to play online, so the previous version (no matter how good) gets relegated to worthlessness every year. This shouldn't really reflect on the retro game scene but it does because this all began with EA in the 90s when sports game scene became dominated by annual updates instead of creating a new game. Previous sports games have a bargain bin reputation for good reasons, despite that there's many games that don't deserve to be in this category. Sports is a healthy cash cow business that isn't going to disappear though and you can enjoy the back catalogue in many ways without it being expensive, which is nice.
@@breakfasthole3851 Great points!!! Especially when you’re talking about how NJ Devils fans go back to NHL 2000, as the year they won the cup and they remember the roster. It’s kind of like me playing games like NBA Live 95, NBA 2K-2K2, etc., because I love playing as the Original Charlotte Hornets and reminiscing about their roster (being from NC at the time) and games such as NBA Live 2000, NBA Street Vol. 2, NFL Street 2, etc. has legendary players - many of whom started their careers before video games were accepted by the mainstream. It can help younger players do research on them (e. g. Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, Ty Cobb, Bo Jackson, Dan Marino, etc.). More importantly, you were spot on
@@thomastripp9002 I live in England but I've got a lot of appreciation for the Hornets. The era you're talking about is when good sports games got me watching NBA on satellite TV here. Same thing with WWF because of Smackdown on PS1. I was already watching NHL though because I played hockey. The Blackhawks are my all time favourite team... after Sheffield Steelers (the city where I live)
@@breakfasthole3851 Great point…Although I’ve never honestly played sports outside of Rec Leagues, etc. (had family that did), but I have a soft spot for them. But, in NC in the 90s, if people weren’t wearing Chicago Bulls, Dallas Cowboys, Washington Redskins (before the Panthers), UNC Tar Heels or NC A&T Aggies…You saw a lot of Charlotte Hornets gear. Also, I grew up watching ACC Basketball on Raycom/Jefferson-Pilot Sports (WCTI-12 - ABC in New Bern, NC and WRAL-5 - the -CBS in Raleigh, NC)
I'm not sure how many videos Retrobird has made, as I'm too lazy too check... But, he simply has the best attitude of anybody on TH-cam. As someone who often has a negative outlook, plus hates toxic positivity and feigned support, thank you for doing what you do!
Run n gun,Light Gun,Shoot em ups,beat em ups,Puzzle, and Arcade Racers are my favorite videogame genres XD
Rhythm games! I'd love to see a video about rhythm games or the Bemani series.
Bring back arcade quality games like beat em ups, shooters, Side scrollers, Gun games & 2D fighters. I would like to see puzzle games, point & Click & full motion video games.
When i was a little kid i used to play some shmups on the arcade near my house and i was not very good at them! This year i rediscovered this exciting genre and even though i still may not be very good at them, im having so much fun playing them! Its a mix of nostalgia and a real challenge for me as an experienced gamer now!
I’m the same, really like the genre, really not that good at it lol but..
Ha. I'll never tire of your love of Rocket Knight Adventures. As far as under appreciated genres are considered; my go to is puzzle games/puzzle platformers. Kickle Cubicle for the NES is one of my favorite games of all time.
sokoban is such an underappreciated genre that most people dont even know that it is one. there have been a few recent games in the genre too that have done some creative twists with it like baba is you and catherine. I can also understand why people wouldnt care too much about games that just focus entirely on pushing blocks around though
I often think of Big Bird when you're wearing the yellow shirt, personally 😅
I'm so glad I found your channel.love your vids. You seem to be from the crt age of gaming. 80s, 90s child like the test of us.(38 this year). We gotta get this channel out there for all to see
Thank you for the good vibes!
Totally agree that lite gun games need more appreciation I’ve got lots of them for the Wii and the plastic gun accessories. These games are always great fun especially in multiplayer
Drinking alcohol at 10pm and a retro bird video comes out hits different.
Point-and-click adventures from the retro PC days. I'm experiencing this genre for the first time and many of these games are positively stupendous!
It's cheating a little but my choice for "genre" is what I call trial-and-error based story driven/cinematic games, which kind of broadly encompasses stuff like "cinematic platformers" and point-and-click adventure games. I know gameplay is king among a lot of retro gamers; and for some of these titles, that's their weakest aspect. However a lot of these games are memorable because of their stories. Lucasarts games like Full Throttle, Monkey Island, and other relics like Another World, Heart of Darkness, and Abe's Odyssey come to mind.
Point & clicks get bashed for being slow. But if one takes their time...try to immerse yourself and explore, results be damned. I mean,it will be hard to find an environment with so many possibilities of interaction than from point & clicks.
Haha :)
On the PC side the King's Quest series was awesome despite being a walk around and click game. You got absorbed into the fictional world around you.
Puzzle games are my favorite! I have also been known to enjoy a driving game or two in my day.
What are some of your favorite puzzle games? Also have you ever tried the ps1 game roll away (kula world)?
I think you gotta get to know more about Jon Cartright. Now he'll appreciate your Puzzle games. He'll appreciate them a lot. He probably has gone through the streets declaring his love for Panel De Pon. Brings it up whenever he can he does.
Also it only took checking out a couple of vids from him to learn that Metal Jesus will appreciate your Racing games. He's super into them.
I just found you and I've just binged about 102 of your videos so seeing a fresh one is pretty cool!
Welcome aboard and glad you like it :)
Yeah, I'm pretty much in the middle of the same thing right now. Your content is very fun and chill to listen to.
I know a lot of people are into games like The Sims, Harvest Moon, Animal Crossing, etc but what about games like Sim City and Populous? I like playing those retro sim games and trying to figure out how to build a city and not have it fall apart in three days. Or games like Uncharted Waters even? Another game genre I really like is strategy/tactical games like Liberty or Death, Ogre Battle, Super Robot Wars, etc. I like games that let you assemble your troops to take down the opposition. I love puzzle games too! I like trying to figure out how to clear a board or complete a structure by putting pieces in the right place. Honestly there are a lot of game genres that go overlooked and just because someone thinks they're lame or boring doesn't mean someone else doesn't find them interesting. I don't really get into sports games too much save for something like the Mutant League games or NBA Jam but I feel like maybe if I understood the game of baseball better then I could get into something like Baseball Simulator 1000.
Life force for the original Nintendo NES was a classic shooter that deserves ultimate respect and admiration. 🏆
I wish SRPGs got more appreciation. I'm begging for a new game from the Ogre Battle / Tactics Ogre series. Strat RPGs are few and far between compared to platformers or JRPGs or racing games.
Lucky some modern stuff inbound, e.g., triangle strategy, metal slug tactics. No tactics ogre yet though :(
Ogre Battle 64 is awesome. It’s a mix of real time and turned base strategy.
Yeah, Triangle Strategy looks great. Looking forward to that one.
I think tactic rpgs are under appreciated like tactics ogre, vangaurd bandits, vandal hearts, fftactics, fire emblem, rebel star, advance wars and langrisser. The genre has never been hot with the exception of fire emblem in recent years. I think it might be gaining in popularity with games like advance wars remake, metal slug tactics, wargroove, triangle strategy, god wars, dark crystal tactics, and langrisser coming back.
One of my best friends actually DOES go on and on about how great Panel de Pon is :D I somewhat agree, even though I’m more of a Tetris guy.
A for my choices, it’s not really retro, but I feel like a lot of people write off these artsy story-based indie games like The Stanley Parable and Her Story as non-games, but even when they are easy, you do need to make decisions and interactivity is a huge part of the experience. Generally they are also short and unique, providing a nice change of pace before returning to something traditionally challenging.
Platformers. They were huge in the 90's and early 2000's. Kinda sad that they don't make much these days.
All of em!
Good answer!
I enjoy retro alternative sport games. I don't know if they deserve more attention, but they are some of my favorite games. Skitchin', Skate or Die, and Cool Boarders are some of the games I remember most playing. I like seeing my other hobbies put into video games. Also, the Tony Hawk series is my absolute favorite of all time
I introduce Duck Hunt to my little daughter. She loves it. I play with her on TMNT arcade 1up. She also play Mickey Mouse Castle of Illusion. I let her win on SF2.
There is 1 rule that I tell her. Every game that endorse violence are fake and must not be used in everyday life. There will be consequences. I played MK and I explained that all of this are fake.
Good to hear you passing on the ways of a retro gamer!
I adore shmups and what you mentioned regarding limiting your continues is the way I also enjoy the genre, too. I think part of the reason I enjoy these games is that the challenge is learning enemy/obstacle patterns so you can get a little further each time. It is very rewarding when you apply knowledge from previous attempts and ultimately beat the game using all the skills you've learned.
Great video, im 37 years old and dont have much time to play because life, so pick and play games like the ones you have commented is a safe choice and boy there are great titles on these genres.
Great channel
English is not my first language, sorry
Saludos de Chile
Greetings to you out in Chile! Thanks. And you did pretty well with your English!
Immersive sims Imo are criminally underrated, there is just so much depth and thought out into their design that it baffles me that they are not as popular as other genres.
Movie based games are underappreciated. I love watching a movie and then playing the game. Some of those games are amazing like Willow or GoldenEye but I think as a whole people just assume it's going to be a bad game made for a quick buck based solely on it's title.
I like the choice there!
Great end to my Friday!
I bought a Wii back in 2010 because I'm a sucker for light gun games. But I totally agree with this list.
The Wii is great for those games!
Wish these videos were a hour longer
Nah.... 10 min is plenty....You be bored if somebody talked for 1 hour always no matter who it is.
@@tonyp9313 I work and listen. Long podcast are ideal for me
@@bucketsoyeah podcasts is a whole different thing. You don't have to 100% focus on them because it's audio.
@@tonyp9313 i guess i want a retro bird podcast
Puzzle games are great with the family! The N64 has several that are 4 players…Dr Mario, Tetris, and Bust a Move are some of our favorites!
I absolutely love the theme music at the end of the video I usually try to jump to the next video before the video ends in an attempt to try to avoid a commercial but the theme at the end I don't wanna go past
The theme is about 40% of why I subscribed lol
Fun vid and that commitment to banana based fun, excellent. I think you hit most of the under appreciated genres though. I think that maybe the sim management and RTS genres could use a little bit more appreciation. I always enjoy slowing things down w/a nice game of Sim-City, Theme park, Rollercoaster Tycoon, or Populous. As for the genres in your vid, those are all very much enjoyed in my house 😁
I actually appreciate the advice you have for beat-em-ups. I think I was always a button-masher and never thought to treat these games as more of a strategic fighting game. You're absolutely right! Defending yourself properly can be the difference between survival and a Game Over.
Puzzle games
Sudoku, crosswords, chess, tetris, ...
i have these games on all my devices...
You may think im crazy but one of my favorite games on genesis was "Shove It"
I can tell you put effort into editing and making these videos entertaining. Well done.
Thank you :)
0:12 wow thanks for personally attacking me
If you're talking about under-appreciated by retro game enthusiasts specifically, it's gotta be sports games. I get how they can be out of date pretty quickly but I also remember countless afternoons being wrapped up in Madden or NHL or NBA Jam. I remember having very strong opinions about Bases Loaded vs RBI Baseball, and then later Hardball III vs World Series Baseball.
Dodonpachi is my favorite shmup. It got me into import gaming. Glad it got some love this video!!
I'd say light gun games have definitely lost some clout in recent years. Seems like the Wii\Xbox 360 era was the last time we really saw some solid light gun style games. That said, I kinda think 3D Platformers could use some more appreciation. We went from far too many to far too few in just a few short years.
Recently fired up Turtles in time with my girlfriend, such a classic, and super easy to pick up for newbies
Hi, Bird! I have an idea for a video that’s right down your alley as the Premier TH-cam “Fresh Approach” Retro Gamer: The Personalities of Video Game Consoles… how each has a unique FEEL/ATTITUDE to them. Thanks for the videos!
Dude. Your channel kicks ass. And so do bananas.
Thank you my friend :)
I see youve mastered the Crazy Taxi jumpy launch on controller. I could score S ratings on the arcade cabinet but I remember I just couldn't make that flick translate to a controller, so props to you!
It's pretty tricky. I still can't do it every time. It's such a small window to get the timing perfect.
Underappreciated genre for me would be games like Danganronpa and Phoenix Wright. Visual Novels with some "action" elements.
Oh and Hotel Dusk in the DS is a gem.
13 Sentinels Aegis Rim is another like that. I like VN's with their own gameplay spin.
Love the Videography and amount of detail on the physical games in this one!
Also the content was great as well, love your commentary.
I am a new follower of your content, so I am now seeing a lot of your videos have great focus on physical carts and playing on original hardware. 👍
Glad you like it and welcome to the channel. Glad to have you here :)
Played Point blanks,project horned 🦉,Vampire knight,elemental gearbolt and ninja assault so much in 2021.Pick up & play pure crt nostalgia.🥺
Good stuff!
I think point and click games also deserve more appreciation in general.
I totally agree about appreciating all the genres. The only time I ever had an issue with a genre was with the advent of 3D Platformers and developers having almost unanimously deciding it was the same genre as 2D Platformers and now an obsolete tech. I am so glad we are past that now and I can enjoy a 2D Platformer Renaissance while still enjoying great new 3D Platformers. I will never not consider them different genres with similar basic structure.
"[Someone running through the streets proclaiming Panel De Pon's greatness] is going into the never pile."
JOHN CARTWRIGHT: "I sense a disturbance..."
Hot damn! That is one mighty fine looking gameboy.
The person who worked on it comes highly recommended!
It can be hard to know what games to collect when sometimes people will only talk about the "mascot" character games you mentioned. Especially to someone just starting to collect retro games it can be overwhelming when you try to collect more obscure games cause you don't know what to go for. Great video!
I haven't played a light gun game since before 2010s lol
FMV-games deserve more appreciation for sure.
Any suggestions? X-Files and Night Trap seemed like terrible experiments and I can't think of any others. Bandersnatch (interactive Black Mirror film on Netflix) would be my modern recommendation. And it's about a videogame programmer in the 80s 🙂
So nice to see shmups be featured here, along with puzzle and driving games!
Sports. You almost never hear about them in retro discussions. Tecmo Super Bowl was a top 5 rated game on the NES back in the day. Nowadays, you never see it in top recommend lists. You'll sometimes see NHL 94 recommended, but where's NBA Jam, Ken Griffey, or those first couple of Maddens? Ring King is a great pick up and play game on the NES, probably the best 1v1 fighting game on the system, depending on how much you like TMNT Tourney Fighter and/or World Champ Boxing.
Point and Click adventure games, preferably with inventory combination puzzles. Thank goodness there's been a resurgence even if they tend to be shorter or episodic games, but I would say I'm frustrated that some point and clicks have oversimplified or even mediocre art styles, yet some companies manage to pump out dozens of hidden object games with gorgeous art work.
Arcade style driving games definitely need more love. For me, the difference between arcade racers, kart racers, and racing sims is two fold. First kart games focus on the character driving at a typically slower pace. Mario Kart, Crash Nitro Kart, Lego Racer and Super Bombad Racing are all focused on their IPs. Racing sims of course try to emulate real physics and usually real cars or other vehicles. Arcade racers are usually faster than karts, have some over the top physics, and focus more on the vehicles th an the other genres. I'm partial to Burnout, Outrun, and Hydro Thunder myself.
I think a lot of people play arcade games "wrong" by credit feeding them. Then they will say that games like Gauntlet (for eg) are boring. These games were never designed to be played on free play. They were meant to be public machines with a public score table that cost you real money for every attempt, and that's a very different proposition. Gauntlet that doesn't take your money doesn't have any peril. You just push a button whenever you need more health. Of course it's boring like that.
Now, you aren't ever going to recreate real cash stakes on an emulator at home, but to give them their proper due you can at least try to play the games in the spirit they were intended by not credit feeding them. Instead of banging your way through a game in one mind-numbing sitting, I like to try playing the game for one credit only and see how far I get, and then come back and try again another day. That's how I would have played a real arcade machine.
Puyo Puyo Is a great puzzle game, same goes for Panel de Pon. Best games of the puzzle genre..In my opinion 😊 Great video btw 👍
Arcade Racers for sure need more love, and Metroid style games. There have been a few that have come out but they're all smaller budget. I'd love to see what a metroid style game would be like with a AAA budget.
i. There are lots of retro racing games that offer destruction and high speed chase such as Chase HQ, Carmageddon and a ton of arcade games.
ii. There is another genre which also deserves some appreciation: unlicensed sports games like Megaman Soccer, Disney Sports and some other sports games which doesn't use real life names and players as we can have so much fun with them.
iii. Visual Novel games: I think there were popular in Japan but not in the US.
I think VR games need more love. VR is fantastic! People have to really try it to understand how great it is.
When it comes to driving games I think if a game can incorporate more than just being 1st in a race it really helps keep people interested. Burnout 3 with it's crash mode is so good trying to ram and take down opponents. Same with Mario kart the experience of being 1st isn't what makes it fun it's coming from behind taking people out.
A genre that sells a lot but when it comes to the online community everyone dismisses them is sports games. As a kid my friends and I played a ton of football and basketball games. As we grew up and went our separate ways as life does us I stopped playing sports games. They're a lot more complicated than people give them credit for. There is a lot of strategy and multiple facets to them. As kids we used to co-op; in football games we would take turns one would run the ball as the other would try to block, and on defense we would both rush the quarter back trying to get the sack. So many great memories, a simpler time that I miss quite a lot. Puzzle games are really great when there is a co-op mode. Tetris in co-op is so much fun. Krazy Kreatures on NES is a fun little co-op puzzler. Competitive modes in puzzle games are also good. Dr Mario, Columns, Super puzzle fighter, etc.
My favorite underappreciated are the twin stick shooters with a score mechanic. I love the aspect of getting better to get higher scores.
I'm surprised Puyo Puyo wasn't mentioned with the puzzle games with how popular Puyo Puyo Tetris 1 & 2 have been in recent years
Oh man, great video. Thank you!!
I personally love race games, puzzle games, and beat 'em ups, and I am slowly getting more comfortable tackling space shooter games.
I have always been a huge fan of puzzle games, and I had both Tetris and Dr. Mario for the NES. But I never bought any other puzzle games after... it's like puzzle games peaked with those two titles. Tetris Attack for SNES was fine, Puyo Puyo for Genesis was fine, and Tetrisphere for the N64 was a neat game, but nothing beat Tetris or Dr. Mario for the NES (the SNES versions of those games in my opinion just didn't feel as tight).
Racing games were pretty underwhelming for the NES, got a lot better for SNES (Rock 'n Roll Racing, F-Zero, Mario Kart, Super Offroad, Top Gear, etc.), but (what I forgot until watching this video) was how amazing racing games got with the newer hardware. I look back at the N64/PS1 games and a lot of them look pretty ugly now (except for the amazing pixel art games like Castlevania and 2D fighter games) but the polygon race games still look pretty charming. F-Zero 64, Mario Kart 64, Cruisin USA, San Francisco Rush - they all look appealing to me, whereas Mario 64, Tomb Raider, Turok, Goldeneye, etc. look pretty janky. I think the move to 3D allowed for many more hidden paths and secret shortcuts (I'm looking at YOU Mario 64 Rainbow Road). I can't really think of a genre that benefitted more from the move to 3D.
Beat 'em ups to me feel like they need to be pixel art of bust. SNES was a monster at that genre, and I'm just starting to learn how great Genesis was too. I never liked polygon beat-em-up games (I remember at the time thinking that Die Hard Arcade looked... disappointing?). I am looking forward to trying the new Streets of Rage 4, but want to finish the original genesis games first. I am wildly excited about the new TMNT game coming out soon for Switch!!
As for games that don't fit a genre, here are some I dug up from my past:
- World Class Track Meet for NES (with Power Pad)
- Dance Aerobics for NES (with Power Pad)
- Uniracers for SNES
- Chessmaster for SNES (I don't think it's really a puzzle game, is it?)
- Blast Corps for N64 (the closest to genre I can think of is whatever we would call Rampage and Rampage World Tour)
- Dance Dance Revolution for the PS3
Thanks as always for a great video, and for an especially interesting trip down memory lane!
Sorry, I forgot to answer the question. I think the 'creator' genre of games doesn't get enough love. Mario Paint, Mario Maker, Sim City, Sim City 2000, Civilization, stuff like that. I never hear anyone talk about those games. (but that may be me missing people raving about those games, so my apologies if I'm out to lunch).
Cooking guide games like Personal Trainer Cooking on the DS are definitely overlooked. People compare them to recipe books and say 'they're not real games'. Well firstly, everybody knows books are for bozos. Secondly, if you cook food using a DS, it means you've won a level on Personal Cooking Trainer! I'm not sure if you can really eat the food after but I'm guessing you could try it. Don't blame me if you die though. If you want to cook real food, it's probably best to follow a real recipe book like an adult instead of playing a DS game
Game genie codes help mee and my 4 year ole son enjoy and appreciate a lot of these retro games.
Underrated Classic Survival Horror Game's
Silent Hill Classic Resident Evil Clock Tower Alone In The Dark Fatal Frame ❤❤❤
I used to really like scrolling beat 'em ups as a kid, but I typically find them a little too repetitive and lacking in compelling gameplay now. Good for casual co-op, but not really very exciting to play by yourself. That was until Streets of Rage 4 knocked it out of the park with its combo system. The ability to earn extra lives via high scores is really important in that game, and tying that to how quickly you can attack enemies without taking a hit makes the gameplay much more exciting and rewarding. I really hope developers of new beat 'em ups can look at what that game so well before coming up with their own systems.
How about "rolling" games like Marble Madness, Super Monkey Ball, maybe even including pinball... Or perhaps the "space racer" games like F-Zero, Wipeout, etc...
Obligatory "you're drastically underrated" comment. Keep up the good job, you manage to be very positive while approach different point of views, which is an art.
Also, what is that game boy? Is it modded?
Yes, the Game Boy has been modified with a backlit screen.
I’d say Third Person Rail Shooters. Games like Star Fox, Panzer Dragoon, Sin and Punishment and Space Harrier. They don’t get enough love.
Also high speed futuristic racers like F-Zero, Wipeout, Extreme G and the FAST series.
Rail shooters absolutely. Somebody else mentioned them as well :)
Huge beat em' up fan. Also love point and click adventure games which dont get much love these days.
I love shoot em ups and Beat Em Ups. I think turn based RPGs could use more love. They are a dying breed now with everything being an action RPG. Rail shooters is another good one such as the Panzer Dragoon series, Star Fox Series, Sin and Punishment series, etc. Also visual Novel/Interactive games such as Snatcher and Policenauts. Pinball games as well get overlooked. All genres I enjoy but don’t get enough attention sometimes.
Nintendo Switch is probably the best bet for these games as it has been getting a bunch of turn based RPGs and Visual Novels.
Oh, I am totally with you on rail shooters. I love the genre, particularly games like PD which gives you the full 360 degree control.
Ah yes rail shooters! Love 'em!
I absolutely love a good pinball game. They can be such crazy fun. I love that they can also be great pick up and play games. 😎🤘
Im glad beat em ups got brought up! I always felt that beat em ups are some of the most...video gamey video games? Just boot up, pick a cool looking character and beat everyone up, but outside of turtles in time and sometimes streets of rage, they dont get brought up much, and basically died off completely until recently where they are making a huge resurgence with river city girls, streets of rage 4, the new turtles and more
I love a good driving or light gun game! it really gets rid of the awareness of the fact that I’m sitting on a couch pushing buttons.