Genre-defining games

In the history of games, there have been many genres. But with each genre, there is bound to be a game that creates it, and a game that perfects it. Those two aren't always the same.

Let's take the Platformer genre, for instance. To the best of my knowledge, Pitfall for the Atari 2600 is the first Platformer. But Super Mario Bros. was the first game to define the genre. In fact, the Mario series has been the leader in Platforming innovation. Super Mario Bros. introduced the concept of a scrolling screen to the genre. Only a handful of games used scrolling screens; Defender comes to mind right away. But no other Platformer had used a scrolling screen. Future games, such as Castlevania and Mega Man, borrowed elements from Super Mario Bros., but didn't do a lot to innovate the genre. Super Mario 64 didn't exactly create a 3D platformer (Jumping Flash! on the original PlayStation was a 3D platformer, but it used a first-person view), but it defined it in a way that very few games have yet to replicate. However, I tend to fault Mario 64 for having too few levels, and making players repeat those levels several times each.

The "Open World/Sandbox" genre, created and defined by Grand Theft Auto, is possibly the most popular genre for game developers. In fact, many have taken the "open world" concept from this genre, and attempted to apply it to all kinds of games, with mixed results. As Grand Theft Auto IV, coming later this month, attempts to redefine the genre yet again, one has to wonder if anyone else can perfect this genre like GTA has.

Of course there is the Console FPS genre, which is arguably defined by Halo. This is both a good thing, and a bad thing. The good is that Halo is a pretty good game. Certainly not the "perfect" and epic game that rabid Halo fans and mainstream game reviewers portray it, but a good game. The bad is that companies are trying too hard to be like Halo. Since the success of Halo, it seems like the imagination of FPS developers has deflated. Suddenly every FPS protagonist is a space-faring military soldier on an alien planet. Even Turok, who had some originality in being a time-traveling Native American, has been reborn as a generic soldier on an alien planet populated by Earth-like dinosaurs. So now the FPS genre is divided into three categories: Historic FPS, Alternate History FPS, and Generic Halo Rip-off FPS. That isn't to say that all "space marine" games are bad. Just unoriginal. I know Halo didn't start the "space marine" thing, but it sure did popularize it.

Finally we have the RPG genre. This is an interesting genre in that it seems virtually impossible to define. Every game and/or series has its own different take on gameplay to the point where little seems to be shared. To further confuse things, Japanese-made RPGs and American-made RPGs are based on two completely different concepts. Japanese RPGs seem to be defined by the first of its kind (as far as I know), that being the original Final Fantasy. Turn-based battles, magic, inventory, chatty villagers, and the like were all created by Final Fantasy. Those seem to be some of the few common characteristics.

Almost all American RPGs, on the other hand, are based on Dungeons & Dragons, a tabletop Role Playing Game. I can't say that D&D "originated" or "defined" the genre, as it isn't a video game. But it has provided the inspiration for almost the entire American RPG market. Even if ARPGs don't use the D&D races, skills, etc., they likely use one of the D&D rule sets. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, for example, used a d20 rule set from D&D Third Edition.

I hope you enjoyed this look into a few of the many game genres out there.