Help Me With The Retro Roots of Popular Franchises

Chooly · 06-26-2009, 12:07 AM

Did you know the very first game in The Elder Scrolls series was a DOS game released in 1994? Have you heard of The Wasteland, the game that inspired the Fallout series, way back in 1988? What other games of lesser known popularity have inspired or begun the franchises we all know and love?

MurderCityDevil · 06-26-2009, 12:09 AM

yes to all of those questions. Im going to bed now but ill hook you up with a list of a few awesome ones after my class in the morning.

Shinryu · 06-26-2009, 01:29 AM

awesome thread. bioshock is touted as a "spiritual successor" to the system shock games that came out for PC in the 90s. also, probably a well-known fact, but "founder of the survival horror genre" resident evil started out as a blatant ripoff of the alone in the dark series.

Mr Kite · 06-26-2009, 01:39 AM

I hear Starcraft finds its roots in WH40k.

AgentBBJ · 06-26-2009, 01:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shinryu

awesome thread. bioshock is touted as a "spiritual successor" to the system shock games that came out for PC in the 90s. also, probably a well-known fact, but "founder of the survival horror genre" resident evil started out as a blatant ripoff of the alone in the dark series.

Everyone talks about how good system shock 2 was I like the first one better. I remember getting home and having a hell of a time to get it to work with sound. I love DOS. The creators of Resident Evil have said that a famicom game called Sweet Home was a big influence on them.

A New Challenger · 06-26-2009, 03:34 AM

Yo! Noid is a reskin of some ninja game that originally only came out in Japan. I forget the title. The fact that it didn't start with the license but with the skeleton of a pre-existing game explains why it's at the very least a playable game with decent production values rather than an unmitigated disaster.

Aerox · 06-29-2009, 10:33 PM

Super Mario 2 was Doki Doki Panic!

Arch649 · 06-30-2009, 01:58 PM

The original Donkey Kong came from Miyamoto wanting to make a Popeye game but unable to get the rights. If you notice early depictions of Mario (Jumpman), he has a very 1930's cartoon style to him.

JT IceFire · 06-30-2009, 04:15 PM

The team behind Portal got their start in 2005 with a independent proof-of-concept game called "Narbacular Drop". Valve saw it and immediately hired the whole lot of them.

KyleGamgee · 06-30-2009, 04:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JT IceFire

The team behind Portal got their start in 2005 with a independent proof-of-concept game called "Narbacular Drop". Valve saw it and immediately hired the whole lot of them.

That's beautiful, man.

portastad · 06-30-2009, 11:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JT IceFire

The team behind Portal got their start in 2005 with a independent proof-of-concept game called "Narbacular Drop". Valve saw it and immediately hired the whole lot of them.

Wasn't it about a princess or couldn't jump or something?

Phantomile · 07-01-2009, 05:22 AM

Probably well known but the Halo series has a ton a references the the Marathon series, which was also made by Bungie.
It's pretty old but there are a lot of things about it, mostly in terms of aesthetics, that make me like it more than Halo.

chronoswing · 07-01-2009, 09:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by portastad

Wasn't it about a princess or couldn't jump or something?

Actually it's basically portal in a medieval type setting with quake 1 era graphics. You solve puzzles in a dungeon using portals by throwing boxes in them among other things. It's also free and can be snatched up here.

CaffeineKnight · 07-01-2009, 10:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chronoswing

Actually it's basically portal in a medieval type setting with quake 1 era graphics. You solve puzzles in a dungeon using portals by throwing boxes in them among other things. It's also free and can be snatched up here.

I never did get to play ND (Abbreviated because the name is obnoxious as hell), but I'll be damned if that doesn't look hawt.

Going to play.

Chooly · 07-12-2009, 04:19 PM

Found out the game Rogue influenced Dave Breviks' ideas on how to make Diablo.

Wry Guy · 07-12-2009, 05:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chooly

Found out the game Rogue influenced Dave Breviks' ideas on how to make Diablo.

Rogue inspired a lot of people, though. One a lot of people might not realize is that Mega Man basically has his roots in Astro Boy. In fact in the ending of Mega Man 1 you can see Rock wearing an outfit similar to Astro Boy.

megaStryke · 07-12-2009, 10:45 PM

Bangai-O was inspired by a 1983 Sharp X1 game called Hover Attack. It was originally going to be a remake, but so much extra was added that it become its own thing.

Read up here.

06-26-2009, 12:07 AM	#1
Chooly is Offline [Level 3: Humanoid] Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 75	Help Me With The Retro Roots of Popular Franchises Did you know the very first game in The Elder Scrolls series was a DOS game released in 1994? Have you heard of The Wasteland, the game that inspired the Fallout series, way back in 1988? What other games of lesser known popularity have inspired or begun the franchises we all know and love?

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06-26-2009, 12:09 AM	#2
MurderCityDevil is Offline [Level 2: Human] Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: CC Posts: 44	yes to all of those questions. Im going to bed now but ill hook you up with a list of a few awesome ones after my class in the morning.

06-26-2009, 01:29 AM	#3
Shinryu is Offline [Level 6: Robot] Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Rome, Italy Posts: 929	awesome thread. bioshock is touted as a "spiritual successor" to the system shock games that came out for PC in the 90s. also, probably a well-known fact, but "founder of the survival horror genre" resident evil started out as a blatant ripoff of the alone in the dark series.

06-26-2009, 01:39 AM	#4
Mr Kite is Offline [Level 5: Mech] Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Edmonton, AB Posts: 261	I hear Starcraft finds its roots in WH40k.

06-26-2009, 03:34 AM	#6
A New Challenger is Offline [Level 4: Cyborg] Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: 13 Dead End Dr. Posts: 234	Yo! Noid is a reskin of some ninja game that originally only came out in Japan. I forget the title. The fact that it didn't start with the license but with the skeleton of a pre-existing game explains why it's at the very least a playable game with decent production values rather than an unmitigated disaster.

06-29-2009, 10:33 PM	#7
Aerox is Offline J-Ro Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Santa Monica Posts: 1,092	Super Mario 2 was Doki Doki Panic!

06-30-2009, 01:58 PM	#8
Arch649 is Offline [Level 4: Cyborg] Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 146	The original Donkey Kong came from Miyamoto wanting to make a Popeye game but unable to get the rights. If you notice early depictions of Mario (Jumpman), he has a very 1930's cartoon style to him.

06-30-2009, 04:15 PM	#9
JT IceFire is Offline [Level 4: Cyborg] Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Morrisville, PA Posts: 133	The team behind Portal got their start in 2005 with a independent proof-of-concept game called "Narbacular Drop". Valve saw it and immediately hired the whole lot of them.

07-01-2009, 05:22 AM	#12
Phantomile is Online [Level 8: Skynet] Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Sleeping on your floor Posts: 2,868	Probably well known but the Halo series has a ton a references the the Marathon series, which was also made by Bungie. It's pretty old but there are a lot of things about it, mostly in terms of aesthetics, that make me like it more than Halo.

07-12-2009, 04:19 PM	#15
Chooly is Offline [Level 3: Humanoid] Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 75	Found out the game Rogue influenced Dave Breviks' ideas on how to make Diablo.

07-12-2009, 10:45 PM	#17
megaStryke is Offline [Level 4: Cyborg] Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: South Florida Posts: 128	Bangai-O was inspired by a 1983 Sharp X1 game called Hover Attack. It was originally going to be a remake, but so much extra was added that it become its own thing. Read up here.