Multigenre games

[JamesRobot | 5,793]

Just now, Richardhead said:

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. 

Fuck yeah.

[CMR | 519]

Interesting thing about Airwolf, there are actually two airwolfs (Airwolves?).  Once was the Acclaim game we got and the other was a side scrolling shooter released in japan.  There is a translation hack for the japan one if anyone is interested. 

[mbd39 | 2,020]

4 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

 

Ghost Manor for the Turbografx.

 

[arch_8ngel | 1,597]

Super Mario Land on the GB is a great early example as well.

 

The submarine level was a huge surprise, and probably the most fun level in the game.  Toss up with the airplane level at the end.

[mbd39 | 2,020]

Ikari Warriors III switches from top down beat em up to shooter in the fourth level. It's a nice change of pace.

 

 

[Tulpa | 3,491]

5 hours ago, CasualCart said:

Can anyone think of some other games that switch from platforming to flying right at the end?

 

Not right at the end, but both Wai Wai Worlds have a shooter stage before the final stage.

Xexyz is one that has a shooter stage when you face the boss, but that's how you fight every boss.

[JamesRobot | 5,793]

4 minutes ago, arch_8ngel said:

Super Mario Land on the GB is a great early example as well.

 

The submarine level was a huge surprise, and probably the most fun level in the game.  Toss up with the airplane level at the end.

Super Mario Land was such a great original Mario game.  I remember being very impressed with it for a portable title.

[Tulpa | 3,491]

1 hour ago, CMR said:

Interesting thing about Airwolf, there are actually two airwolfs (Airwolves?).  Once was the Acclaim game we got and the other was a side scrolling shooter released in japan.  There is a translation hack for the japan one if anyone is interested. 

I kind of like the Famicom Airwolf. It's like Silk Worm but without the jeep.

[SoleGoose | 95]

10 minutes ago, JamesRobot said:

Super Mario Land was such a great original Mario game.  I remember being very impressed with it for a portable title.

I remember strongly disliking it, but you're better at games than I am  . I never even made it far enough to see the submarine.

[Ausden | 323]

Definitely Actraiser for me. Such a unique game for its time and still holds up well today.

[arch_8ngel | 1,597]

2 hours ago, SoleGoose said:

I remember strongly disliking it, but you're better at games than I am  . I never even made it far enough to see the submarine.

The controls in the game are less forgiving than NES SMB, but it is worth sticking with to make it to the sub level.

Give it another try, where you just avoid bad guys and focus on the platforming, to not get sucker punched by the hit detection.

Also, look for the secret lifts in both cave levels - they will save you a lot of heartache to simply run through most of the level above the enemies entirely!

[T-Pac | 7,533]

4 hours ago, Tulpa said:

Xexyz is one that has a shooter stage when you face the boss, but that's how you fight every boss.

Yeah - Xexyz does platforming/shooting right because it's consistent throughout the game. The final level is just a more challenging iteration of the formula from the rest of the game. Also, Xexyz gets an A++ in my book because one of the bosses is a giant robot dragon with laser guns and a jet pack.

[acromite53 | 337]

Mr Bones on Sega Saturn. Almost every level has a different play style/mechanic. 2d Platforming, top down platforming, rhythm game sections, breakout arcade type gameplay, 3d swimming levels, telling jokes, arcade style gameplay. This game has it all. I'm playing it right now for Halloween. 

Edited November 3, 2019 by acromite53

[Tanooki | 4,932]

I know it's skirting the edge considering it's same genre different perspective, but every other stage of Moero Twinbee (Twinbee2) aka Stinger in the US went from a horizontal(unique to franchise) to vertical and back.  It really changed the dynamic and made it a lot harder when trying to power up as you'd lose the bells off screen a lot faster while charging into fire to catch them before dropping off as you can't get below the things to juggle so well and scoop them up.

[Nintegageo | 582]

Would you consider Yooka-Laylee 2 as one? The game is awesome.

[CMR | 519]

The Airwolf saga continues with SUPER Airwolf for the Sega Megadrive.  I don't think this one was ever released in the US, which is a shame because it looks pretty awesome and has a great soundtrack.  It also appears to have three different play modes including an overhead run 'n' gun.

 

 

[Vectrex28 | 366]

Vice Project Doom is the best of the bunch IMO. It does emphasise on platforming but the other segments are always nice to play. I also dig NES Star Wars and Battletoads if that counts.

A̶l̶s̶o̶ ̶I̶ ̶b̶e̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶h̶o̶m̶e̶b̶r̶e̶w̶ ̶N̶E̶S̶ ̶g̶a̶m̶e̶ ̶c̶a̶l̶l̶e̶d̶ ̶S̶p̶a̶c̶e̶ ̶S̶o̶v̶i̶e̶t̶s̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶g̶o̶n̶n̶a̶ ̶b̶e̶ ̶k̶i̶c̶k̶a̶s̶s̶ ̶w̶i̶t̶h̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶m̶u̶l̶t̶i̶g̶e̶n̶r̶e̶!̶

[acromite53 | 337]

13 hours ago, CMR said:

The Airwolf saga continues with SUPER Airwolf for the Sega Megadrive.  I don't think this one was ever released in the US, which is a shame because it looks pretty awesome and has a great soundtrack.  It also appears to have three different play modes including an overhead run 'n' gun.

 

 

Thankfully it did come out in the States. It was renamed as "Crossfire".

[jonebone | 1,307]

On 11/2/2019 at 4:55 PM, 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

I saw this and had to pause, never have considered Contra or Super C a game that mixes genres.  Sure it mixed the viewing perspective ("camera angle"), but it's still a shooter.  

Another oddball note worth mentioning, Link's Awakening on GB (probably the Switch version too).  It's the action / adventure overworld genre we all know as Zelda, but there's also a very tiny mix of platforming underground, where you move side to side like Mario.  That struck me as noteworthy in a long line of Zelda games that I've played over the years. 

[CMR | 519]

Thanks, acromite53.  I didn't know that.

[MachineCode | 159]

On 10/31/2019 at 10:28 AM, 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.

Oh man, I LOVE Air Fortress. Such a cool and unique game that had so much potential. The sheer thrill of escaping the fortress before it blew up, with the lights out and the screen shaking as the end drew closer, was awesome. More enemy variety and some more music would have done wonders for it. I feel like the extra SNES power would have really helped that game realize its potential. What I wouldn't give for a solid sequel.

[arch_8ngel | 1,597]

6 minutes ago, MachineCode said:

Oh man, I LOVE Air Fortress. Such a cool and unique game that had so much potential. The sheer thrill of escaping the fortress before it blew up, with the lights out and the screen shaking as the end drew closer, was awesome. More enemy variety and some more music would have done wonders for it. I feel like the extra SNES power would have really helped that game realize its potential. What I wouldn't give for a solid sequel.

Add to that, there is quite a bit of strategy in managing your energy so that it isn't artificially low when you run into mini-reactors or other space men.

 

The big benefit of SNES would have been enhancing the control scheme in some way. 

It works well on the NES, but having 4 extra buttons to work with could have led to some interesting changes.  (could have worked well as a twin-stick shooter for instance)

[Gaia Gensouki | 1,072]

@Tanooki Starship Hector and Axelay are another two shmups that change the perspective as well.

Also, Gunstar Heroes had a shmup level thrown in there as well. It came out of nowhere and was quite difficult, which is why I gave up there. Rocket Knight Adventure has two shmup levels, iirc, but they're offering a much fairer challenge since the firs one starts out relatively easy and then it gets progressively harder.

I think the Goemon/Mystical Ninja games may be worth considering for multigenre games. I have heard that especially some of the later games on the SNES get really crazy.

[peg | 370]

Kid icarus has that weird final stage.  Back to the future also has some weird levels thrown in like the cafe stage and final racing stage

Edited November 7, 2019 by peg

[arch_8ngel | 1,597]

7 minutes ago, peg said:

Kid icarus has that weird final stage.  Back to the future also has some weird levels thrown in like the cafe stage and final racing stage

Kid Icarus also switches up the level style substantially for the palaces, going from scrolling platformer to a more exploration based single-screen mode.