Together Retro - May

[BoneSnapDeez]

@aj

I don't want to get too pedantic about anything. If SS-platformers wins I'd be willing to stretch the definition to include the likes of Parasol Stars, Gyromite, Ice Climber, and Wrecking Crew (and very similar games I'm not thinking of), but let's not get any more complicated than that. And yeah, something like Tumble Pop on Game Boy (which had a fixed screen in the arcade) is fine.

@Nemoide

Torneko is a fine pick. Something I didn't realize until I started thinking about this TR is that the first few Mystery Dungeon games were actually published by ChunSoft themselves, without the involvement of Enix.

Glad to see y'all like the options.

[Exhuminator]

I voted for First Person Dungeon Crawlers

I'd prefer to see First Person Dungeon Crawlers win.

FPDC is my top pick as well, but let's not kid ourselves guys.

I'll be surprised if Square, Enix, but NOT Square Enix doesn't win. I'm good with it if that happens though. There's still plenty of classic Square and Enix games I've yet to play.

@BONE - "Classic Anime" ... what exactly does "classic" entail for you? How old should a game be to be considered classic in your curating opinion? Can we play PS3 anime games?

[Ack]

Hey, aj, I wanna help you out a little:

Nippon Telenet (aka Telenet Japan)

You have more options than you realize. These guys were big for the PC Engine and TurboGrafx, but they also released quite a bit for the Mega Drive, SNES, and various other consoles. Here's a few to consider:

The Valis series
Arcus Odyssey
Gain Ground
The Tennis Tournament: Grandslam

If you do have a PC Engine, Nippon Telenet also handled the porting of games such as Columns and Golden Axe to that console.

Wolf Team was a subsidiary developer for Nippon Telenet that was sold off to Namco in 2003. You know their work, even if you don't know them. They're the driving force behind the entire Tales series. In fact, the team is now known as Namco Tales Studio, so Tales of Phantasia, Tales of Destiny, Tales of Symphonia, Tales of the Abyss, so on and so forth are all options.

Other subsidiaries include RiOT, Laser Soft, and Renovation Products.

First Person Dungeon Crawlers

Bone's already mentioned this is more open than we realize, so it doesn't matter if it's tile-based or free roaming dungeon explorers, so long as it has a first person view and you make your way through dungeons. This means the Elder Scrolls games are options, the Ultima Underworld games, stuff like Stonekeep, Arcana, Dungeon Master, Eye of the Beholder, many of the MegaTen games, and a ton more stuff. Heck, he even said he'd be fine with Super Spy, which blows this option wide open as a possibility. Something like a FPS/RPG hybrid might be an option, like Strife or Hexen, or even System Shock if he wants to be that inclusive. If this wins, don't worry, we'll be happy to help find you something to play.

Static Screen Platformers

Actually, I have a question: does Flicky count? It has scrolling, but it's because every level wraps. They're all the size of the screen.

I didn't bring up Square, Enix and Classic Anime because yeah, those are going to be easy to find. What about reskins? If someone came in and wanted to play Street Combat, is that cool since it's a reskinned Ranma 1/2 game?

[PartridgeSenpai]

Bone, would something like Jet Set Willy count for Single-Screen Platformers? It's something I've wanted to try, but since you can technically move from screen to screen, I wasn't sure if it would count or not.

[alienjesus]

Hey, aj, I wanna help you out a little:

Nippon Telenet (aka Telenet Japan)

You have more options than you realize. These guys were big for the PC Engine and TurboGrafx, but they also released quite a bit for the Mega Drive, SNES, and various other consoles. Here's a few to consider:

The Valis series
Arcus Odyssey
Gain Ground
The Tennis Tournament: Grandslam

I guess my concerns with this one are that I want to actually keep to the Telenet era, and that I want the game to be something affordable. Doing both is challenging, especially when it comes to the games that most interest me.

I've already beaten most of the Valis games, for the record.

First Person Dungeon Crawlers

Bone's already mentioned this is more open than we realize, so it doesn't matter if it's tile-based or free roaming dungeon explorers, so long as it has a first person view and you make your way through dungeons. This means the Elder Scrolls games are options, the Ultima Underworld games, stuff like Stonekeep, Arcana, Dungeon Master, Eye of the Beholder, many of the MegaTen games, and a ton more stuff. Heck, he even said he'd be fine with Super Spy, which blows this option wide open as a possibility. Something like a FPS/RPG hybrid might be an option, like Strife or Hexen, or even System Shock if he wants to be that inclusive. If this wins, don't worry, we'll be happy to help find you something to play.

This was a noble attempt, but the issue is I just don't have any interest in any of these. I don't begrudge anyone that does, but it's just not something I'm inspired by. If it wins I will find something, but I dont expect I'll commit too much time to it.

Static Screen Platformers

Actually, I have a question: does Flicky count? It has scrolling, but it's because every level wraps. They're all the size of the screen.

No worries on this one. I'm always open to more ideas, but I can certainly find entries in this genre I enjoy - there's loads of interesting examples on Game Boy and PC Engine. I'm a big fan of Bubble Bobble and Parasol Stars, and from Bone's post above I'm assuming that he'd be open to Rainbow Islands as an option too (but Bone, great if you could confirm!)
I wonder if Donkey Kong 94 counts? I've played it before, but it's fantastic.

I didn't bring up Square, Enix and Classic Anime because yeah, those are going to be easy to find. What about reskins? If someone came in and wanted to play Street Combat, is that cool since it's a reskinned Ranma 1/2 game?

I got the impression from Bone's initial post that that would be fine (he mentioned butchered localisations) but I'm sure he'll confirm for us!

[MrPopo]

For those who think First Person Dungeon Crawlers are grindy, might I suggest Pool of Radiance?

[ElkinFencer10]

@BONE - "Classic Anime" ... what exactly does "classic" entail for you? How old should a game be to be considered classic in your curating opinion? Can we play PS3 anime games?

I'd say probably pre-Dreamcast anime games, but that's just an assumption on my part.

[alienjesus]

@BONE - "Classic Anime" ... what exactly does "classic" entail for you? How old should a game be to be considered classic in your curating opinion? Can we play PS3 anime games?

I'd say probably pre-Dreamcast anime games, but that's just an assumption on my part.

I wasn't taking 'classic anime games' to mean classic games based on anime, I was taking it to mean games based on classic anime.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Haha, damn you guys like to push the limits of these genre definitions. Okay now.

@PartridgeSenpai
Yes both of the "Miner Willy" titles are okay. They're especially fine choices if you enjoy games that are both bad and impossible.

@aj
Rainbow Islands and Flicky are both eligible. Anything more elaborate is out. I didn't mention this in my original post, but "flappy" games like Joust and Balloon Fight are also fine, as are isometric titles like Knight Lore.

Let's not stray too far from the original genre though. The true single-screen games of the early-80s arcade are the best and most obvious picks. Don't spend a whole month playing "whatabouts."

@Ack
You're right, FPS/RPG hybrid stuff is eligible. Pure FPS is not. Everything in the "dungeon-crawler" category has to be rooted in RPGs somewhere, either as a pure RPG or a game with "RPG elements."

Now about that "classic anime"....... "Classic" was a not-so-subtle way to imply that I want people to gravitate towards retro stuff. If you must play a more modern game, try to make sure the anime is at least somewhat old.

Reskins are fine. Of course, if you don't already own something like Street Combat, it's just as easy to purchase the true version (Ranma 1/2: Chounai Gekitou Hen) these days instead.

[Ack]

Cool, I'm sold. I'm not big on the platformers, so I'll probably need help tracking something down (are there options on Steam or GOG that folks know of?), but I will still find something if it wins. There's a lot of neat stuff to play here, no matter what wins.