The Quintessential Game for Each Genre

[T-Pac | 7,560]

What single game would you consider the perfect representation of each genre?

Like - if someone has no clue what a "beat-em-up" is, and you could only present the genre to them through one game, what game would it be?

(I'm still trying to think of my own answers, but I might have some interesting takes - for example, I think Columns is probably a better representation of the puzzle genre than Tetris).

[T-Pac]

[Reed Rothchild | 9,549]

WRPG: Baldur's Gate II
JRPG: Chrono Trigger
SRPG: Final Fantasy Tactics
Turn-based strategy: Heroes of Might & Magic III
Real-time strategy: Total Annihilation
Tactical strategy: Myth II

It's a total coincidence that these all came out within a few years of one another during my formative years.

[DarkTone | 986]

Can we get @T-Pacbanned for asking amazing but impossible questions? 

...What do you mean "he's unbannable and doesn't know it yet" ?

Whatever. Heres what genres I can think of..... so far 

Platformer - Super mario world
FPS - Doom
Light gun - House of the dead
Shooting - Ikaruga
Fighting - Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3
Beat em ups - Streets of rage 2
Stealth - metal gear solid
Survival horror - resident evil 4
Rhythm - PaRappa the rappa
Battle royale - pac man 99 (RIP)
Action adventure - A link to the past
Adventure - God of war ragnarok
Puzzle - tetris
RPG - Chrono trigger
Simulation - SimCity
Strategy - advance wars
MOBA - ?
RTS -?
Tower defence - ?
Racing - Mario kart 8 deluxe
Sports - wii sports
Party - wii party
Typing - typing of the dead

[ZeldaFreak | 3,600]

Wow, that is an amazing question. I think I'm gonna have to simmer on that one for a few days honestly, haha. Gonna have to wrack my brain here.

[Link | 2,714]

I can’t rank to pick one. I’m spitting out multiple answers for every genre I can think of. I like too many things. It’s also a question whether there is a difference between “best game in the genre” and “best representation of the genre”. 

What I came up with so far: 
Beat ‘em up: Kung Fu [Master] for old-school. X-Men double screen for later - but is that the best representation? There aren’t many others like quite like it, should TMNT or Simpsons qualify instead? 

Run ‘n’ gun: Rush ‘n’ Attack, Bio-Menace, Abuse, Alien Hominid… At this point I decided I can’t narrow things down like that. 

[ZeldaFreak | 3,600]

Here's what I've got so far, actually already came up with a lot more than I thought I would. Some of these are slightly specific sub-genres, but I think that's fair since trying to represent, say, every action-adventure game in one game? I mean, most of the games that exist could be categorized as action-adventure, that could mean anything, so I figured getting a bit more specific was fair. I also think I might have a slightly unique perspective here, as someone who's much younger than a good amount of the userbase here, and grew up with, and by extension have an equal amount of love and appreciation for both modern and retro gaming:

Singleplayer FPS - DOOM Eternal (Might be an overwhelming choice in the situation you presented where it's someone's FIRST FPS game, but I think Eternal wraps up everything great about fast-paced FPS games in to one tightly-knit package, it's incredible and is a very good poster child for the FPS genre as a whole I feel. Even got a bit of platforming mixed in there as well to spice things up a little.)

Co-op/PvE FPS - Payday 2 (Had to sneak this one in there somehow, haha. I would definitely argue Payday 2 is the definitive co-op shooter, it is tons of fun both with friends and solo, especially earlier on when you're not as familiar with the game and things are much more hectic and chaotic.)

PvP FPS - Counter-Strike 2, formerly known as Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (As much as I hate the name change from CS:GO to CS:2, Counter-Strike is still one of the finest examples of PvP FPS gaming, it requires genuine focus, teamwork, communication, strategy, and reflexes. If not CS:2, one of the other Counter-Strike games definitely belongs in this category IMO.)

Platformer - Super Mario World (I mean c'mon, of course this belongs here, probably the most iconic entry in the most iconic platforming series of all time.)

Action Platformer - Super Castlevania IV (Was very difficult to narrow it down between this and Castlevania III, but I think IV is a slightly more well-rounded, and slightly less unfair experience. Rondo of Blood is my personal favorite Classicvania game, but III and IV are better representations of the genre as a whole I think.)

Puzzle Platformer - Portal 2 (This one could slot in to a lot of different genres honestly, FPS, singleplayer, co-op, puzzle, platformer, etc. Puzzle Platformer seemed like the neatest category to fit it in though. Probably my personal favorite puzzle game I've ever played, outside of something like Tetris. Genuinely makes you think reeeaaally hard, then makes you feel like a dunce when you figure out the solution, which is always the sign of a great puzzle game, haha.)

Run 'n' Gun - Contra III: The Alien Wars (As great as the OG Contra games are, Contra III is incredible, very underrated, and in contrast to DOOM Eternal, would be a great introduction to the genre if someone had never played a game like it I think. It was my introduction to the Contra series and I wouldn't have had it any other way, great way to start.)

Top-Down Action-Adventure - The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (Don't think this one needs any explanation, haha.)

Puzzle - Tetris (Neither does this one, let's be honest.)

Farming - Stardew Valley (Not much I can say about this one that hasn't already been said, I think it's pretty easily the best farming game ever made, and would not only be a terrific introduction to the genre, but is also a terrific representation of the genre as a whole for sure.)

Roguelike - The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth (If you can get past the somewhat dark plot and art of the game and/or come to embrace it like I have, this is eeeaaasily the best roguelike game ever made, especially when combined with its DLCs, and is absolutely a very good representation of the genre.)

Open World RPG - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Breath of the Wild is my personal favorite game of all time, but there's no denying Skyrim is just the quintessential Open World RPG. If you haven't played it, you've definitely at least heard of it, and honestly that alone makes it deserving of this spot I think, even beside the fact that the game itself is just a very good representation of the genre anyway.)

2D Sandbox - Terraria (Honestly if I had to choose just one Sandbox game in general, I'd be hard-pressed to not pick this one over Minecraft since I've always felt that Terraria was a much better game as a whole than Minecraft, so I figured splitting it up in to 2D and 3D Sandbox was a good way to have my cake and eat it too, haha. Terraria is one of the best 2D games of all time in general IMO, everything about it is utterly fantastic, and it's definitely a wonderful representation of not only Sandbox games as a whole, but especially 2D Sandbox games in particular.)

3D Sandbox - Minecraft (No explanation needed, one of the most iconic video games of all time, and the game that popularized the sandbox genre as a whole. And in fairness to Minecraft, it's definitely more of a "true" sandbox game, whereas Terraria has a lot more gamey elements to it, so Minecraft probably is a better representation of the Sandbox genre as a whole, as much as I adore Terraria.)

Choose Your Own Adventure - Detroit: Become Human (I was trying to think of a way to categorize games like this, wherein the main schtick is the player making decisions that affect the outcome of the story, and I think Choose Your Own Adventure would be the best way to put it. Of the games of this variety I've played, Detroit has been my favorite, and I think is a good representation of the genre, especially since while some games have the whole "your choices matter" thing as one of many features, this game's primary focus is the whole "your choices matter" thing, which I think makes it a better fit for this category.)

Singleplayer Fighting Game/Boxing Game - Punch-Out!! (Wii) ("Boxing" felt like a bit too specific of a sub-genre, but I figured singleplayer fighting game worked. My personal favorite Punch-Out!! game, and even though it's a slightly different format to what you would normally consider a "fighting" game, it still definitely fits in to that genre just fine, and as such earns a well-deserved spot here I feel.)

Multiplayer Fighting Game - Super Smash Bros: Ultimate (I mean, Ultimate is literally in the name, and as its name would imply, I would argue this is definitely the best Smash Bros game, which is by extension one of the best fighting game franchises of all time, filled to the brim with content and more fighters than you even know what to do with, so I figured this pick makes sense. I also feel it'd be a solid, if somewhat overwhelming introduction to the genre for someone who hadn't played a fighting game before.)

Racing - Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Similar logic to Smash Bros Ultimate, best entry in one of the most iconic racing franchises of all time, very easy pick.)

Rhythm - Clone Hero (Once again, the best version of one of the most well-known Rhythm franchises of all time, Guitar Hero. As such, I think this pick makes a good amount of sense. Honorable mention to Friday Night Funkin' as well, if the base game had more content I'd consider putting it in this category instead.)

That's what I've got for the time being. There are some genres I declined to include, such as MOBAs, MMOs, Survival Horrors, etc since I don't really have enough experience in those genres to feel confident in picking a single game that could define the whole genre. Like for survival horror, based on my experience in that genre I would probably say Alien: Isolation, but I haven't played any of the Silent Hill or Resident Evil games which are the two most iconic survival horror franchises of all time, so it would be silly for me to pick a game in that genre when I haven't even played any of the most iconic entries in said genre. And then there's some genres like MMOs that just aren't really my cup of tea anyway, so I wouldn't really say I could come up with a good pick since I'm not a big fan of the genre as a whole.

[ZeldaFreak | 3,600]

1 hour ago, Link said:

It’s also a question whether there is a difference between “best game in the genre” and “best representation of the genre”.

I went by which games I feel would best represent their respective genre as a whole, and some of those picks just happened to be my personal favorites of their genres anyway.

[Sumez | 2,967]

I don't like picking favourites, but I love making lists. Either way a "quintessential" game of course wouldn't necessarily be the "best" game in a genre, but the best representative of the genre's tropes, I guess.

I can get behind not wanting to group Tetris with other puzzle games due to none of the others really feeling similar to Tetris at all, even when using the same "blocks dropping from the ceiling" central mechanic. That said, I think it's mostly just that puzzle games often struggle to find the same depth. Tetris is kind of an ideal standard, even if it's unreachable.

My own best bets at this point. Lots of other games are really hard to pin down genre-wise, especially if you want to do things like "action adventure", which can mean wildly different things - nevermind all the games nowadays with a narrative focus and rpg elements all sprinkled in.

"Action" puzzle: Tetris The Grand Master 2
"Cerebral" puzzle: Baba is You
Shoot'em Up: RayForce
Bullet Hell shmup: Mushihimesama Futari
2D Platformer: Super Mario Bros. 3
3D Platformer: Super Mario Galaxy
Run'n'Gun: Contra 3
Metroidvania: Symphony of the Night
Roguelike: Rogue
Adventure: Day of the Tentacle
Beat 'em up: Streets of Rage 2
Character Action: Devil May Cry 3
Immersive Sim: System Shock 2
JRPG: Chrono Trigger
Survival Horror: Resident Evil 1 Remake
Open World RPG: Oblivion
FPS: Quake 1
4X: Civilization V

[Sumez | 2,967]

1 hour ago, ZeldaFreak said:

Multiplayer Fighting Game - Super Smash Bros: Ultimate (I mean, Ultimate is literally in the name, and as its name would imply, I would argue this is definitely the best Smash Bros game, which is by extension one of the best fighting game franchises of all time, filled to the brim with content and more fighters than you even know what to do with, so I figured this pick makes sense. I also feel it'd be a solid, if somewhat overwhelming introduction to the genre for someone who hadn't played a fighting game before.)

I find this to be an interesting answer, given how deliberately unrepresentative Super Smash Bros. is of the fighting genre as a whole.
People will often argue whether Smash Bros is a fighting game at all due to this, but I don't think you can deny that it still fills out the essentials. If you were to say which is the quintessential party fighting game, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate would be the one no doubt.
But I don't think any game really defines fighting games like Street Fighter II, and the only way I'd see anyone argue others is because later games did the exact same better. So of course, Street Fighter 4 (arcade edition) qualifies, or the majority of the King of Fighters series. Or if you want to look at what's popular in the fighting scene nowadays you got games in the vein of Melty Blood or Guilty Gear Strive.
But Smash Bros is about as far as you can get from that while still barely qualifying as the same genre  

Edited November 6, 2023 by Sumez

[ZeldaFreak | 3,600]

36 minutes ago, Sumez said:

I find this to be an interesting answer, given how deliberately unrepresentative Super Smash Bros. is of the fighting genre as a whole.
People will often argue whether Smash Bros is a fighting game at all due to this, but I don't think you can deny that it still fills out the essentials. If you were to say which is the quintessential party fighting game, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate would be the one no doubt.
But I don't think any game really defines fighting games like Street Fighter II, and the only way I'd see anyone argue others is because later games did the exact same better. So of course, Street Fighter 4 (arcade edition) qualifies, or the majority of the King of Fighters series. But Smash Bros is about as far as you can get from that while still barely qualifying as the same genre  

...Who argues whether Smash Bros is a fighting game at all? In which circles does that happen in, in what way could you possibly argue it's not? That seems incredibly strange to me. If anything you could make a much better argument for Punch-Out!! not really being a fighting game due to how different that is from a traditional 2D, PVP fighting game, even if it does still technically fall within that genre. Super Smash Bros. is undeniably a fighting game, at least by my perspective.

I picked it due to, like I said, the overwhelming amount of fighters there are, there's guaranteed to be at least one (probably multiple) that mesh well with any given person's playstyle, that amount of fighters means that there's nearly always going to be variety in the fights, not just due to varying levels of player skill, but also due to, again, the sheer number of fighters there are, and due to the fact that I would say it's more friendly to casual players, whilst still also being friendly to more hardcore players. You can get away with fairly basic attacks and simple combos most of the time, but there's also plenty of more complex combos, strategies, and all kinds of meta discussions you can have as well, just like any other fighting game, and that side of it is only amplified by, yet again, the sheer amount of fighters there are. It's a good catch-all fighting game I feel, and it's one of the few fighting games that I do actually enjoy quite a bit, and like I said I think it'd be a good introduction to the genre as well. It ticked all the right boxes for me when trying to come up with picks for the various genres I could come up with off the top of my head. It's somewhat different to a stereotypical fighting game to be sure, it has some different mechanics than what you'd expect from a Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat, it has a different feel, but... it's still a fighting game through and through, haha.

I will say though that fighting games in general are one of the genres I'm not a super huge fan of, I have just barely enough experience within the genre to feel fairly confident in making a pick for that genre. Traditional fighting games I'm not usually a huge fan of, but I didn't let that cloud my judgment or anything, even if that wasn't the case I'd still stick with my pick of Smash Bros. Ultimate I think.

I think it's impossible to be completely objective with lists like these anyway, everyone's answers are gonna be based on their own personal experience with games and their own personal likes and dislikes.

[ZeldaFreak | 3,600]

37 minutes ago, Sumez said:

"Cerebral" puzzle: Baba is You

Metroidvania: Symphony of the Night

Baba is You is a really good answer for the Puzzle genre actually, and I somehow totally forgot about Metroidvanias, but yeah, Symphony of the Night would be my pick for that genre as well. Portrait of Ruin is my personal favorite Metroidvania, and my personal favorite Castlevania game as a whole, but SoTN is definitely a better representation of the genre.

[Sumez | 2,967]

18 minutes ago, ZeldaFreak said:

I picked it due to, like I said, the overwhelming amount of fighters there are, there's guaranteed to be at least one (probably multiple) that mesh well with any given person's playstyle, that amount of fighters means that there's nearly always going to be variety in the fights, not just due to varying levels of player skill, but also due to, again, the sheer number of fighters there are, and due to the fact that I would say it's more friendly to casual players, whilst still also being friendly to more hardcore players. (...)

This is all true. But it's also pretty much the only game that exists of this style, so what it's representative of it pretty much just itself.  
Even you just used the term "traditional fighting games", implying Smash Bros. isn't traditional  
I'm not expecting you to be objective, and I think not enjoying traditional fighters is a perfectly respectable perspective, and that's why I enjoy reading your list in the first place. I just found this pick particularly interesting because it's probably the last thing I'd consider.

19 minutes ago, ZeldaFreak said:

I think it'd be a good introduction to the genre as well.

I can't think of any other game that Smash Bros would serve as an introduction to.
But maybe I'm just out of the loop - what exactly did you have in mind? Power Stone?

[ZeldaFreak | 3,600]

21 minutes ago, Sumez said:

This is all true. But it's also pretty much the only game that exists of this style, so what it's representative of it pretty much just itself.  
Even you just used the term "traditional fighting games", implying Smash Bros. isn't traditional  
I'm not expecting you to be objective, and I think not enjoying traditional fighters is a perfectly respectable perspective, and that's why I enjoy reading your list in the first place. I just found this pick particularly interesting because it's probably the last thing I'd consider.

I can't think of any other game that Smash Bros would serve as an introduction to.
But maybe I'm just out of the loop - what exactly did you have in mind? Power Stone?

Yeah to be clear I wasn't trying to be argumentative or anything, I never am, I was just kinda caught off-guard and somewhat perplexed by the comment that people argue about whether or not Smash Bros. qualifies as a fighting game at all. I mean there's many picks in my list that I wouldn't consider "traditional" versions of whatever genre they're meant to represent, but at least to me that doesn't exclude something from being a good representation of said genre. Being unique doesn't necessarily exclude something from being put under a wider umbrella, if anything that could even be a benefit, cause it to be a particularly shining example of any given genre thanks to its uniqueness.

And yeah, that's why I think this is such an awesome question, since everyone's lists and perspectives are gonna vary wildly since, like I said, absolutely impossible to be 100% objective with this kind of thing.

Also, uh... no, it would be a good introduction to the genre. The fighting game genre as a whole, exactly what I said. Like I may not always be a big fan of traditional fighting games but I've played them before, they're not that different to Smash Bros, they really aren't, haha. I think it would serve as a good introduction since like I said, it's a lot more friendly to a more casual audience, so it would be a good way to ease someone in to the genre rather than immediately tossing them in to the deep end since more traditional fighting games I feel aren't nearly as easy to just pick up and play for a newbie.

[Mega Tank | 966]

39 minutes ago, Sumez said:

But it's also pretty much the only game that exists of this style, so what it's representative of it pretty much just itself.

Ever play Multiversus?

 

[T-Pac | 7,560]

6 hours ago, ZeldaFreak said:

I went by which games I feel would best represent their respective genre as a whole, and some of those picks just happened to be my personal favorites of their genres anyway.

 

5 hours ago, Sumez said:

Either way a "quintessential" game of course wouldn't necessarily be the "best" game in a genre, but the best representative of the genre's tropes, I guess.

Exactly - when I try to think of my answers, I tend to lean towards critically acclaimed titles - but I find that those usually aren't distilled enough to be a pure representation of their genre.

Like for shoot-em-ups, I'm tempted to say Gradius or Xevious. But the powerup system in Gradius and the dual-attacks / atypical boss encounters in Xevious aren't indicative of traditional shooters. So I'd actually go for a game like Solar Striker because it nails all of the regular shooter tropes without any frills or deviations.

[T-Pac]

[Reed Rothchild | 9,549]

Hah, I'm the opposite.  Personal answers for the win.

Our observations are heavily tainted by our own experiences and biases, so I say lean into it.  Anyone can search Wikipedia and put together a quintessential list.  But only a lifetime body of work can put together a list of how we truly feel.

 

Just my own personal take on these kinds of things.

[RH | 4,921]

Even from my own perspective, this question is a bit too subjective.  Obviously, I only know the games I've played.  But I'm also aware that there are games within specific genres I'd love to play but, maybe, I've never owned the respective console.  So really, the question to me is which games are the quintessential titles for a genre that I'm familiar with.  Here are the ones that I can think of.

• Single-Screen Arcade: Ms. Pac-Man
• Platform (2D): SMB3
• Platform (3D): SM64
• Adventure (2D): Final Fantasy Adventure
• Adventure (3D): LoZ: Breath of the Wild
• JRPG (2D): Final Fantasy V
• JRPG (3D): Xenogears Final Fantasy VII*
• TRPG (2D): Front Mission
• TRPG (3D): Final Fantasy Tactics
• FPS (Console w/Controller): GoldenEye 007
• FPS (PC w/ Keyboard & Mouse): Half-Life (especially if you include the game mods like TF and CSS)
• Fighting (2D):  I never played much.  Maybe MK3, although saying it's not an SNK or CAPCOM title feels wrong, even to me.
• Fighting (3D): Tekken Tag Tournament
• Racing (2D, Traditional): Rad Racer
• Racing (2D, Isometric): R.C. Pro Am
• Racing (3D, Simulation): Ridge Racer V
• Racing (3D, Arcade): Cruisin' USA
• Puzzle (2D): Tetris (Game Boy)
• Puzzle (3D): Intelligence Qube 
• Shmup (2D): Galaga
• Shmup (3D, Rails): Star Fox 64
• Shmup (3D, Free Flight): SW: Rogue Squadron 
• Shmup (Overall, "bullet hell"): Sky Force: Reloaded
• Horror: Resident Evil 2
• Point-and-Click: Myst
• Whatever we want to call "Metroidvania", that's not "Metroidvania": Axiom Verge
• Sports (Yes, I'm lumping them all together): THPS3 (PS2)
• Unusual/Tough to Categorize: Katamari Damacy
• Game Requiring Special Peripherals: Guitar Hero 3
• Mobile (Idle): Soda Dungeon 2
• Mobile (Short-play): Slayin'
• Mobile (Gacha): Ha ha, lol.  I've enjoyed a few of these, and some you can be casual with, but they all eventually fall into a void where if you're not willing to be a significant P2W player, what's the point.  The Kingdom Hearts game, though, wasn't bad for what it was.  It's "dead" but still available if you want to play through it's rather long story mode.  In that way, I think the game might be entirely F2P since they shut down all of their PvP servers and content.  It was nice of them to not just kill the app, but they made one last publish allowing long-time players to keep all of their content in what's more-or-less an offline state.

[*] Ok, I have to admit 3D JRPGs was a tough one and I'm switching.  Though I love Xenogears and could consider it one of the top, enjoyable experiences, what I've always loved about Final Fantasy VII beyond it's insane story is how it builds out it's mechanics.  You start with some basic, turn-based actions, paired with the traditional pairing of weapons and armor to build up stats.  BUT the Materia system is, to me, the absolute best way to expand the capabilities of equipment and skillsets.  De-coupling growth trees from characters, while providing a very-dynamic way for various affect-objects to interact with one another was pure genius.  I've seen plenty of skill trees and such, but to date I've never seen an RPG come up with a system as awesome as the Materia.  Forget the wackiness of the story.  By mechanics alone, that game is the best technical JRPG experience.

Edited November 6, 2023 by RH

[Reed Rothchild | 9,549]

3 hours ago, RH said:

Obviously, I only know the games I've played

Herein lies the rub.

We all die fighting for our hills, and we've never even been to the other hills 

[ZeldaFreak | 3,600]

8 hours ago, T-Pac said:

Exactly - when I try to think of my answers, I tend to lean towards critically acclaimed titles - but I find that those usually aren't distilled enough to be a pure representation of their genre.

Like for shoot-em-ups, I'm tempted to say Gradius or Xevious. But the powerup system in Gradius and the dual-attacks / atypical boss encounters in Xevious aren't indicative of traditional shooters. So I'd actually go for a game like Solar Striker because it nails all of the regular shooter tropes without any frills or deviations.

[T-Pac]

Iiinteresting, that makes sense but that's actually a slightly different approach to what I did. I went with options that I felt had honed in on and fine-tuned their given genres to perfection, but if I went with more, like you say, "distilled, pure" examples of any given genre, that would change several of my answers (and then I'd have to agree with Sumez that something like Street Fighter II would be a better pick for fighting games.) I went with games that I felt, as a whole, encapsulated the best of their respective genres, rather than the most "pure" examples of their genres. Almost all of my picks have aspects about them that deviate from more pure examples of their genres, but to me like I was saying earlier, that doesn't exclude something from being a very good example of its genre.

Also you better come up with a list of your own at some point man, you can't ask a question like this and not answer it yourself, haha.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,549]

18 hours ago, Reed Rothchild said:

WRPG: Baldur's Gate II
JRPG: Chrono Trigger
SRPG: Final Fantasy Tactics
Turn-based strategy: Heroes of Might & Magic III
Real-time strategy: Total Annihilation
Tactical strategy: Myth II

It's a total coincidence that these all came out within a few years of one another during my formative years.

Finishing this thought:

Soulsborne: Elden Ring
Puzzle adventure thingy:  Baba is You
Puzzle non-adventure thingy, with like shit dropping down from the top of the screen or something: Tetris Attack
Arcade sports: Tecmo Super Bowl
Simulation sports: MVP Baseball 2005
Card Rogue stuff: Slay the Spire
Dungeony Rogue stuff: Darkest Dungeon
Twin Peaks-likes: Deadly Premonition
Co-op shmups: Jamestown+
Shmups to play by yourself (even if they have co-op): Ikaruga
Boomer shooter: Doom
Gen X shooter: Half Life
Millenial shooter: Bioshock
Gen Z shooter: Wolfenstein II The New Colossus

[ZeldaFreak | 3,600]

7 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Gen Z shooter: Wolfenstein II The New Colossus

[Link | 2,714]

1 hour ago, ZeldaFreak said:

Iiinteresting, that makes sense but that's actually a slightly different approach to what I did. I went with options that I felt had honed in on and fine-tuned their given genres to perfection, but if I went with more, like you say, "distilled, pure" examples of any given genre, that would change several of my answers (and then I'd have to agree with Sumez that something like Street Fighter II would be a better pick for fighting games.) I went with games that I felt, as a whole, encapsulated the best of their respective genres, rather than the most "pure" examples of their genres. Almost all of my picks have aspects about them that deviate from more pure examples of their genres, but to me like I was saying earlier, that doesn't exclude something from being a very good example of its genre.

That’s the issue I was getting at. Best representation of a genre is not necessarily the best game. Street Fighter II is a prime example of that. It’s basically the Ur example that established 2 player competitive fighting games as a powerhouse genre. Mortal Kombat took it to another level with the digitized graphics, blood and violence, and finishing moves. But my pick for what I had the most fun with there is Soul Calibur. Is that the best representation of the genre? A lot harder to say so than with SF or MK. 

And maybe I’d go with a Smash Bros. entry, idk because I’ve never played any of that series, never had anyone to play it with - speaking of @Reed Rothchild’s hills never traveled to. I feel like Soul Calibur was the precursor to that with the console-exclusive guest characters.

 

 

[ZeldaFreak | 3,600]

2 minutes ago, Link said:

That’s the issue I was getting at. Best representation of a genre is not necessarily the best game. Street Fighter II is a prime example of that. It’s basically the Ur example that established 2 player competitive fighting games as a powerhouse genre. Mortal Kombat took it to another level with the digitized graphics, blood and violence, and finishing moves. But my pick for what I had the most fun with there is Soul Calibur. Is that the best representation of the genre? A lot harder to say so than with SF or MK. 

And maybe I’d go with a Smash Bros. entry, idk because I’ve never played any of that series, never had anyone to play it with - speaking of @Reed Rothchild’s hills never traveled to. I feel like Soul Calibur was the precursor to that with the console-exclusive guest characters.

Oh yeah I totally get that, I just think it's interesting how I went in more of a "Which games do I feel encapsulate all of the best aspects of these genres?" direction, vs a "Which games do I feel represent the purest forms of these genres?" direction. I just find it interesting how there's so many different ways to even answer this question.

Yeah I think you really struck gold with this @T-Pac, already been some really interesting discussions happening here, haha.

[DarkTone | 986]

I left out "metroidvania" on purpose. I mean, super metroid isn't a metroidvania, is it?

[ZeldaFreak | 3,600]

4 minutes ago, DarkTone said:

I left out "metroidvania" on purpose. I mean, super metroid isn't a metroidvania, is it?

Of course it is, I would argue all the Metroid games are Metroidvanias. Or, well, the 2D ones at least.

Google seems to agree at least, haha.