Game changers?

[JC]

What Famicom games were "game changers" -- causing a noticeable shift in the elements that made up future games? Influential graphics, music, gameplay, weapons, characters, etc., that influenced future development.

I don't just want a game name...give me an good justification for your response!

[satoshi_matrix]

Well obviously, Super Mario Bros. Sure there were platformers before it such as Pitfall, but SMB eas to the go-to game for how to make a platformer. Nearly every 2D action game owes its existence to SMB.


Another good one Rockman 1. While yes, the game was liner, it was one of the first games that allowed the player the choice to choose the bosses in any order they wish. Again with Rockman, gaining the ability of a boss upon its defeat was something very innovative.

A real doozy is of course a game you've been playing recently JC: Metroid. The game was quite literally "heres the title screen, an eight page manual that doesn't explain much............GO!" I would argue that any game that makes you scratch your head on what to do next is a nod to what Metroid did.

I could go on.....but I'll others post.

[Trium Shockwave]

Metroid was more revolutionary for being almost completely non-linear. Zelda had the same setup of letting you free roam, but there was still a set order you went about your business. Metroid, the only order was that you needed some items to get to other places, and you had to do Tourian last. Later Metroid games only seem to get more linear, as they force you to beat bosses in a certain order to reach new places.

SMB was pretty huge. It really presented you with a lot of gameplay variety in a time when most games just did the same thing over and over, just getting more difficult. Doki Doki Panic/SMB2 US refined the idea, and SMB3 revolutionized it again. The idea of the map screen still persists to this day, even if it's disguised as something else (Galaxy's floating castle, for example).

I think Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy should be credited with popularizing RPGs, particularly of the turn-based type. Again, elements of these games persist throughout their genre to this day. They also seemed to capture a much broader audience than the dungeon crawlers that came before.

[NintendoKing]

I dont know about Famicom but a NES game that helped 3d mapping was "Snake Rattle N Roll"

[JC]

For the longest time I thought Snake Rattle N Roll was an arcade game before it was an NES game. It's among my favorites, but I've never seen a Famicom version, not even a pirate port.

[NintendoKing]

For the longest time I thought Snake Rattle N Roll was an arcade game before it was an NES game. It's among my favorites, but I've never seen a Famicom version, not even a pirate port.

It was released on European edition NES and US NES but never famicom.