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With a popular topic being about bringing out new and original games it got me thinking about what the last truly groundbreaking game was. One which was like absolutely nothing else on the market at the time and, crucially, was also a brilliant game in itself.
There have been a few original games recently. Crazy Taxi often gets a mention, but this is just an (admittedly great) twist on the existing driving game genre. As does Jet Set Radio but I don't know too much about it to comment on it. Having said that, sales so far don't seem to indicate it has captured people in the way it might have done.
Going back a bit further, on Nintendo's side we have Zelda 64 and Mario 64. Both thought of as brilliant games but taking an existing formula and translating it into 3D, however well done, is not as groundbreaking as what I'm after.
I hope I can be proved wrong on this because it's a sobering thought to think you have to go back as far as I have to find true innovation. A game that has been translated onto every format imaginable. A game that has had a couple of sequels, none of which captured the sheer brilliance of the original (one in 3D). A game that I think is now almost 10 years old. That game is Lemmings.
Lemmings. A puzzle game. You may think that all good puzzle games are original but think about them - how many of them can you compare in some way to others? Most of them? Yes. All of them? I think so. When Lemmings came along it blew everyone away because it was 3 things. It was totally original, simple and above all else, immensely fun to play. There was nothing like it then, and it was an idea executed with such perfection that copycat games have been almost non-existent. I can only think of Troddlers (if that's the correct name, it might be Toddlers) and, at a push, that Comic Relief Sleepwalker game.
I hope someone can correct me on this. If I think of any others I'll post again, but for now it's over to you. By the way, anyone comparing Lemmings to Mad Nurse on the Commodore 64 is REALLY stretching the definition of 'comparison'.
There have been a few original games recently. Crazy Taxi often gets a mention, but this is just an (admittedly great) twist on the existing driving game genre. As does Jet Set Radio but I don't know too much about it to comment on it. Having said that, sales so far don't seem to indicate it has captured people in the way it might have done.
Going back a bit further, on Nintendo's side we have Zelda 64 and Mario 64. Both thought of as brilliant games but taking an existing formula and translating it into 3D, however well done, is not as groundbreaking as what I'm after.
I hope I can be proved wrong on this because it's a sobering thought to think you have to go back as far as I have to find true innovation. A game that has been translated onto every format imaginable. A game that has had a couple of sequels, none of which captured the sheer brilliance of the original (one in 3D). A game that I think is now almost 10 years old. That game is Lemmings.
Lemmings. A puzzle game. You may think that all good puzzle games are original but think about them - how many of them can you compare in some way to others? Most of them? Yes. All of them? I think so. When Lemmings came along it blew everyone away because it was 3 things. It was totally original, simple and above all else, immensely fun to play. There was nothing like it then, and it was an idea executed with such perfection that copycat games have been almost non-existent. I can only think of Troddlers (if that's the correct name, it might be Toddlers) and, at a push, that Comic Relief Sleepwalker game.
I hope someone can correct me on this. If I think of any others I'll post again, but for now it's over to you. By the way, anyone comparing Lemmings to Mad Nurse on the Commodore 64 is REALLY stretching the definition of 'comparison'.
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Wolfenstein 3D would be the groundbreaking game that you mention- it was the first 3D based shooter, and it defined a whole new genre in computer games, it allowed you to kick butt with huge guns for the first time. how many clones have there been? Endless! Another one could be Resident Evil, which sent the benchmark for survival horror games. Personally I prefer the cut video scenes in RE to any other in the series, but in this case how many clones have we seen? Silent Hill is a prime example,and there are many more as well as this. What I would consider to be a groundbreaking game is not in terms of graphics, but in terms of a game that attempts to do something that hasnt been done before or something that has been done, but done in a new and interesting way, that many games after it attempt to emulate and copy the originality of the original, many without very much success unfortunately. The most important clone would be Doom though, coming from Wofenstein 3D, which really sparked our blood lust in games didnt it!
With a popular topic being about bringing out new and original games it got me thinking about what the last truly groundbreaking game was. One which was like absolutely nothing else on the market at the time and, crucially, was also a brilliant game in itself.
There have been a few original games recently. Crazy Taxi often gets a mention, but this is just an (admittedly great) twist on the existing driving game genre. As does Jet Set Radio but I don't know too much about it to comment on it. Having said that, sales so far don't seem to indicate it has captured people in the way it might have done.
Going back a bit further, on Nintendo's side we have Zelda 64 and Mario 64. Both thought of as brilliant games but taking an existing formula and translating it into 3D, however well done, is not as groundbreaking as what I'm after.
I hope I can be proved wrong on this because it's a sobering thought to think you have to go back as far as I have to find true innovation. A game that has been translated onto every format imaginable. A game that has had a couple of sequels, none of which captured the sheer brilliance of the original (one in 3D). A game that I think is now almost 10 years old. That game is Lemmings.
Lemmings. A puzzle game. You may think that all good puzzle games are original but think about them - how many of them can you compare in some way to others? Most of them? Yes. All of them? I think so. When Lemmings came along it blew everyone away because it was 3 things. It was totally original, simple and above all else, immensely fun to play. There was nothing like it then, and it was an idea executed with such perfection that copycat games have been almost non-existent. I can only think of Troddlers (if that's the correct name, it might be Toddlers) and, at a push, that Comic Relief Sleepwalker game.
I hope someone can correct me on this. If I think of any others I'll post again, but for now it's over to you. By the way, anyone comparing Lemmings to Mad Nurse on the Commodore 64 is REALLY stretching the definition of 'comparison'.
There have been a few original games recently. Crazy Taxi often gets a mention, but this is just an (admittedly great) twist on the existing driving game genre. As does Jet Set Radio but I don't know too much about it to comment on it. Having said that, sales so far don't seem to indicate it has captured people in the way it might have done.
Going back a bit further, on Nintendo's side we have Zelda 64 and Mario 64. Both thought of as brilliant games but taking an existing formula and translating it into 3D, however well done, is not as groundbreaking as what I'm after.
I hope I can be proved wrong on this because it's a sobering thought to think you have to go back as far as I have to find true innovation. A game that has been translated onto every format imaginable. A game that has had a couple of sequels, none of which captured the sheer brilliance of the original (one in 3D). A game that I think is now almost 10 years old. That game is Lemmings.
Lemmings. A puzzle game. You may think that all good puzzle games are original but think about them - how many of them can you compare in some way to others? Most of them? Yes. All of them? I think so. When Lemmings came along it blew everyone away because it was 3 things. It was totally original, simple and above all else, immensely fun to play. There was nothing like it then, and it was an idea executed with such perfection that copycat games have been almost non-existent. I can only think of Troddlers (if that's the correct name, it might be Toddlers) and, at a push, that Comic Relief Sleepwalker game.
I hope someone can correct me on this. If I think of any others I'll post again, but for now it's over to you. By the way, anyone comparing Lemmings to Mad Nurse on the Commodore 64 is REALLY stretching the definition of 'comparison'.
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