Slashdot Mirror
Computer Games That Defined RPGs In the 1980s
adeelarshad82 writes "The 1980s were huge for RPGs. This genre was one of the most defining game forms in the computer gaming world. A recently published article strolls down the memory lane to look back at classic computer games that both defined and extended the definition of the RPG in the 1980s. The roundup includes some obvious ones like Ultima and The Bard's Tale, and others which you may never have heard of."
Nuff said. Great series...humor was great.
I played 7 out of these 10 when they were cutting edge. I wonder if this makes me old or just "classic".
Alot of those games are available for purchase at GOG.com Disclaimer: Not affiliated with GOG.. just a customer. :-)
Seriously when are they going to remake this game? As a long term fan of old school RPGs like Chrono Trigger, Breath of Fire 3, Panzer Dragoon Saga, Suikoden, ... Final Fantasy 7 was an epochal and defining moment in the whole history of video games!
It has been consistently voted as the best game of all time. The characters were stunning each deserving of games in their own right, and experienced large character arcs. The story was amazing and well ahead of any film or book I have ever seen/read. The story of FF7 can be understood on multiple levels and there are dozens of themes that are introduced throughout the game, left hanging while more are introduced and then wrapped up later.
The end of disk 1 was the saddest moment I have ever felt playing a video game. Quite how the story built up that relationship and that the unexpected twist was gut wrenching.
FF7 is a skillful masterpiece. The new generation needs this classic in an updated format. It's a shame that games are not timeless like books. They really do age fast.
Wasteland. The spiritual ancestor of the Fallout series.
See the title... Computer games.
Circumcision is child abuse.
I bet you even went to brick and mortar stores to buy such games.
My favorite was "Nybbles and Bytes" across from the Tacoma mall. I was sad when they closed.
Sierra Games was big back in the day, and the Kings Quest series from memory were almost as big as the Leisure Suit Larry series.
Absolutely! And Police Quest, and Space Quest, and Hero's Quest, and Codename Iceman ...
Which are all great ADVENTURE games
Has everyone forgotten this classic?
As a note, Wizardry 1 was really awesome - it was hours and hours and hours of fun. Trebor and Werdna ruled!
Those are not RPGs, they are adventure games.
Just because in your mind they faded into obscurity doesn't mean they weren't profoundly influential.
These games by and large predate those JRPGs. Dragon Quest, in fact, was inspired by Wizardry and Ultima. Final Fantasy also sees it's roots in those early RPGs. Both have been extremely influential, particularly amongst JRPGs, but they weren't the originators of the genre.
The Legend of Zelda is more unique because of it's arcade-like elements and reduced emphasis on conventional RPG elements. While it's been influential I don't think it's quite had the direct impact of those other games, particularly within the RPG world.
And the most important aspect of all is that this article is about COMPUTER games.
Absolutely wrong. CRPGs were huge back in the late 80's and early 90's, with Ultima, Bard's Tale, Wizardry, Wasteland, etc. Baldur's Gate made the genre popular again but it definitely didn't create "the western scene."
They do mention Rogue though, which I think will count as nethack. Bureaucracy was good, though I think the best Infocom game of all time was Trinity. Planetfall was awesome too.
Ultima VII was arguably the peak of the Ultima series, which was never again surpassed, and its world modeling puts even many modern RPGs to shame (is there today any RPG out there that will allow you to bake bread, from harvesting the wheat to the finished product?). It was also the beginning of the end, as you say. Ultima VII was produced at around the time Origin was in the process of being acquired by Electronic Arts, and there are many allusions in the game to how none of them were very happy with that state of affairs. The square, sphere, and tetrahedron generators used by the Guardian in his plot to take over Britannia are a rather transparent reference to the old Electronic Arts logo used at the time. Ultima VII also abounds in ways to kill Lord British, more than any other Ultima before or since, and one of the more interesting ways to do it would be to click on a sign above the doors leading to his throne room during a time when he is standing right below it. The sign falls on his head and kills him. This is said to allude to an incident where Richard Garriott was similarly beaned by a falling sign while Origin relocated corporate headquarters at EA's behest (it was not fatal though).
Qu'on me donne six lignes écrites de la main du plus honnête homme, j'y trouverai de quoi le faire pendre.
no number system and pointing and clicking on every pixel of the screen to figure out you need to stick your finger up an owls ass sound like classic RPG play to me, from pen and paper to modern day
oh no, wait that is what ADVENTURE games are ... just cause its set in a fantasy setting, and you get involved with it somehow, does not mean its an RPG. I would play Toejam & Earl like it was like smoking crack, but I would not pretend its nothing more than a Easter egg hunt.
Indeed, the early Ultima games were fairly big in Japan, and the first Final Fantasy game was an attempt to cash in on that by a company which was taking one more throw of the dice before it expected to go out of business (hence the title).
Acknowledging your point about this being a list of computer games rather than video games - if there was a Japanese RPG that deserved a place on the list, it would be the second Final Fantasy game. That's where you start to see the elements that would define JRPG storytelling (as opposed to the Western equivalent) introduced.
This guy is playing through all of the computer RPGs ever released in chronological order and gives them a critical, but fair review from a modern perspective in addition to interesting observations while he's playing them. He's currently at the end of 1988. It's definitely worth reading if you're interested in the history of CRPGs.
One game that isn't given enough credit but was miles ahead of everything for the time was Tunnels of Doom for the TI-99/4A. It was a framework with two games bundled (the simplistic "Pennies and Prizes" and "Quest for the King") that was meant to host further games, though no more were ever released, to my knowledge. it featured:
- 16 colour graphics
- Randomly generated dungeons
- 3D filled vector graphics for exploring, switching to overhead icon-based for combat
- 4 character classes, level progression
- Item upgrades, random effect treasure.
- In-game maps
And this was in *1982*!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunnels_of_Doom
http://ridingthecrest.com/edburns/classic-gaming/tunnels/images/
Yes, they mentioned that Rogue on the PC was a port from an older game on Unix systems, and also mentioned that it inspired Nethack and Angband.
I was pleasantly surprised to see that they remembered to include these games, which despite the simple graphics were by far the most advanced games of their day.
However, if you want to get really pedantic, they should have mentioned the even older ADVENTURE.
Now there is a game way ahead of it's time back in the early 80's. I'm surprised they didn't mention this because it was very popular back then.
-- By all means let's be open-minded, but not so open-minded that our brains drop out.
to be a small 1 pointer at the bottom of an old thread, but in case anyone is still mining...
In addition to wasteland which was already mentioned (which finally has WL2 coming!!) I think there was another awesome RPGs not mentioned:
Alternate Reality (the dungeon)
This great game has it all - humor, great music, discovery, tons of monsters and items and a neat story. It's really hard, but worth it.
http://www.lemon64.com/?mainurl=http%3A//www.lemon64.com/games/details.php%3FID%3D101
and a modern reboot:
http://www.crpgdev.com/
You can only be young once, but you can be immature forever.