Tulpa 2,842 Member · Posted October 25, 2019 Share Posted October 25, 2019 Playing The Guardian Legend, which is half adventure, half shooter, got me thinking about other games that mix genres up. What games do you find balance their multiple gameplay elements well, and what games kind of fall short in that regard, despite best intentions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbd39 1,671 Member · Posted October 25, 2019 Share Posted October 25, 2019 I love ActRaiser. Neither the sim or hack and slash aspect would be great as their own game but they combine so well. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red 343 Member · Posted October 28, 2019 Share Posted October 28, 2019 I like Xexyz. It's part platformer and part horizontal shooter. It's almost like a side-scrolling version of The Guardian Legend. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DefaultGen 4,416 Member · Posted October 28, 2019 Share Posted October 28, 2019 I love Golgo 13 which has different screens with different types of action gameplay, culminating in a 3D maze (a genre I also love!) Phantom Dust blends genres smoothly instead of having multiple distinct things. It's essentially a collectible card game played as an action game. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cj_robot 440 Member · Posted October 31, 2019 Share Posted October 31, 2019 Air Fortress was a game I used to enjoy back in the day. Each level started as a horizontal shooter, then you'd enter the enemy fortress and the second half of the level became a free-roaming adventure to find the core, destroy it, and then find the exit before the place exploded. It was the first game I played that made me feel I was on an adventure rather than just playing a video game. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonebone 1,252 Member · Posted October 31, 2019 Share Posted October 31, 2019 Actraiser on SNES IIRC. Sim City and platformer, pretty unique. Bayou Billy also comes to mind with lots of various level types. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RH 4,053 Member · Posted October 31, 2019 Share Posted October 31, 2019 Final Fantasy IX, X and Xenogears all had games built into them that were semi-important to the story. Although you didn't have to master those games, I think for all three of those titles, there was at least one or two segments in the story where you had to play the internal games. I'm not sure if those count, though. FF IX and Xenogears games were card games, where Blitzball was just an odd sports title. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrMark0673 195 Member · Posted October 31, 2019 Share Posted October 31, 2019 Though Battletoads is a “platformer” at heart, the game play is so varied it’s absurd. Side scrolling beat em up, vertical and horizontal auto scrolling, foot race, vehicle obstacle course, it’s all over the place. Actraiser was the first game that came to mind though. Moonlighter is essentially two totally different games played in tandem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bearcat-Doug 4,274 Member · Posted October 31, 2019 Share Posted October 31, 2019 On 10/24/2019 at 8:16 PM, mbd39 said: I love ActRaiser. Neither the sim or hack and slash aspect would be great as their own game but they combine so well. I remember renting it back when it came out and really being impressed with how well that combination actually worked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMR 468 Member · Posted November 1, 2019 Share Posted November 1, 2019 (edited) Konami did a lot of games like this BITD. Laser Invasion has levels where you fly a helicopter around and first person maze + gallery shooting levels. The Lone Ranger has side scrolling, overhead, and first person lightgun levels The Adventures of Bayou Billy has side scrolling, driving, and shooting gallery levels A non Konami game that also did this was Vice Project Doom. Edited November 1, 2019 by CMR 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanooki 4,557 Member · Posted November 1, 2019 Share Posted November 1, 2019 Another vote for Actraiser, obvious if you know me. But you know what else fits it? Castlevania II and future iterations playing off the SuperMetroid handbook. At first glance you have this seamless solid action platforming game, but then you realize it's not. You have items, a form of if not outright experience, growing health and magics, and more. It's this like perfect blend of RPG skill/stat/upgrade tree mixed with a platforming adventure which helps it keep from being stale far sooner if at all when the game is done right. The GBA/DS Sorrow duo really pegged it, even the other GBA/DS games basically did too and didn't get boring. Bloodstained did it again but it does kind of lack some of the charm but same roots. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Californication 1,466 Member · Posted November 1, 2019 Share Posted November 1, 2019 My favorite 3 are Dragon Fighter, Lone Ranger, and Master Blaster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arch_8ngel 1,597 Member · Posted November 1, 2019 Share Posted November 1, 2019 22 hours ago, cj_robot said: Air Fortress was a game I used to enjoy back in the day. Each level started as a horizontal shooter, then you'd enter the enemy fortress and the second half of the level became a free-roaming adventure to find the core, destroy it, and then find the exit before the place exploded. It was the first game I played that made me feel I was on an adventure rather than just playing a video game. Air Fortress does it perfectly. It probably pushes the definition of the thread, but Star Tropics is a great blend between Zelda-style underworlds and DW-style overworld and towns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nintegageo 514 Member · Posted November 1, 2019 Share Posted November 1, 2019 Probably because I recently purchased it but Nier Automata seems to be pretty diverse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoleGoose 87 Member · Posted November 2, 2019 Share Posted November 2, 2019 Lizard has an interesting Battletoads-like racing segment snuck into it. That was a pleasant, though difficult, surprise. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m308gunner 352 Member · Posted November 2, 2019 Share Posted November 2, 2019 Sigma Star Saga for the GBA was a throwback to Guardian Legend. Had adventure, shooter and random encounters ala RPGs. Also had interesting *ahem* alien female designs/clothing. I'm half convinced someone came up with that before the rest of the game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoctorEncore 3,559 Member · Posted November 2, 2019 Share Posted November 2, 2019 This is one of the facets of the NES library that doesn't get enough attention. Just perusing this thread gives like a dozen examples of the variety on the console. Probably my favorite aspect of collecting for NES. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoleGoose 87 Member · Posted November 2, 2019 Share Posted November 2, 2019 I learned from this thread that Air Wolf has two modes, nuts! Like the Guardian Legend, that is a game that I would have indefinitely passed by if the depth to it hadn't been pointed out. Ginga Denshou is one for the FDS that I always forget about (vertical shooter mixed with action-adventure), but it is not really enjoyable like The Guardian Legend. Probably why I forget about it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMR 468 Member · Posted November 2, 2019 Share Posted November 2, 2019 (edited) Nice to know about Air Wolf. That one is new to me as well. Everyone knows about Contra and Super C Lifeforce and Legendary Wings have vert and horz scrolling levels Bionic Commando has side scrolling and overhead parts along with Rygar and Snakes Revenge Edited November 2, 2019 by CMR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arch_8ngel 1,597 Member · Posted November 2, 2019 Share Posted November 2, 2019 34 minutes ago, CMR said: Nice to know about Air Wolf. That one is new to me as well. Everyone knows about Contra and Super C Lifeforce and Legendary Wings have vert and horz scrolling levels Bionic Commando has side scrolling and overhead parts along with Rygar and Snakes Revenge Didn't even think about Bionic Commando, as the classic "Commando" overhead sequences are kind of an afterthought and only matter a couple of times in-game. Blaster Master is a great one that flips the Bionic Commando formula (overworld sidescrolls and main levels are overhead mazes) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CasualCart 6,069 Graphics Team · Posted November 3, 2019 Share Posted November 3, 2019 This reminds me of all those NES platformers that switch to a 'flying/shooting' section right at the final stage or final boss (Kirby's Adventure, Kid Icarus, Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu). It definitely adds something special to the end of a game, but it always felt counter-intuitive. You spend so much time mastering the mechanics of a game just to get to the end and find out those skills don't translate to the final boss. The game throws something completely new at you instead of testing what you learned along the way. Can anyone think of some other games that switch from platforming to flying right at the end? -CasualCart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoleGoose 87 Member · Posted November 3, 2019 Share Posted November 3, 2019 2 hours ago, CasualCart said: This reminds me of all those NES platformers that switch to a 'flying/shooting' section right at the final stage or final boss (Kirby's Adventure, Kid Icarus, Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu). It definitely adds something special to the end of a game, but it always felt counter-intuitive. You spend so much time mastering the mechanics of a game just to get to the end and find out those skills don't translate to the final boss. The game throws something completely new at you instead of testing what you learned along the way. Can anyone think of some other games that switch from platforming to flying right at the end? -CasualCart Micro Mages does the same thing as Kirby at the very end. The game is a forced vertical scroller, so other than doing something like what Lizard does for the frog boss, it seemed like it fit well. Another game that changes the style of play for the end boss, though not to a flying segment, if Quest Forge. The game is somewhat rogue-like in terms of combat, and I spent most of the game wondering how that was going to work come the end since that didn't seem like it would fit for a one-on-one battle. Sure enough, it switched to more of a Zelda-like gameplay type. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesRobot 4,978 Events Team · Posted November 3, 2019 Share Posted November 3, 2019 (edited) Blaster Master! Overworld driving/platforming and dungeon exploration/boss battles. Edit: Just saw Arch's reply. Carry on. Nothing to see here. Edited November 3, 2019 by JamesRobot 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesRobot 4,978 Events Team · Posted November 3, 2019 Share Posted November 3, 2019 Super Mario Bros. 3 has a lot going on but it literally has arcade Mario Bros. installed as a 2 player head to head challenge. Always enjoyed that. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richardhead 2,163 Member · Posted November 3, 2019 Share Posted November 3, 2019 Starsky and Hutch for the PS2 is a driving game and a shooting game. One person drives while the other uses a light gun to shoot shit. Gotta have a friend to play it though. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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