I just finished playing a little gem called Snatcher. So it lead me to an age-old problem: Most console adventure game titles are almost impossible to know. Those exists, but are rarely mentioned by adventure sites who focused mainly on pc.
And surfing console / old computer sites can hardly help, way to many of them and : Some sites don't categorized, some others doing so very badly (Pitfall and Castelvania as 'adventure game'...) the few others mix up the genre with RPG. And to make that task impossible :
- A lot of Console adventure games sound to be a total(EDIT : commercial) flop.
- Console nostalgics were way more into Ninja Gaiden than Maniac Mansion for NES.
So
please let me know any non-pc adventure game that you know!
To break the ice :
Maniac Mansion (NES)*
- No presentation needed : Politically correct version of the PC
- (just wrote here to know that it existed)
Tomb and Treasure (NES)
- Modern time : Rummaging Aztec ruins fulfill with monsters, 1st person perspective.
- Some (fake) RPG elements.
Snatcher (MSX - Sega CD - Saturn... others)
- Cyberpunk : The real ancestor of Westwood's Blade Runner.
- Near interactive fiction. Some action elements.
Project Firestart (C64)
- Space and Cyberpunk Thematic. : Special op in a spaceship fullfill of creatures.
- Action sequences.
If you're counting the C64 as a console than I add Below the Root (http://www.mobygames.com/game/c64/below-the-root) and Alice in Wonderland (http://www.mobygames.com/game/c64/alice-in-wonderland) to the mix.
They were my first graphical adventure games and they hold a special place in my heart.
also: ebay link (http://cgi.ebay.com/Commodore-64-Alice-in-Wonderland-Windham-Classics_W0QQitemZ110150172600QQihZ001QQcategoryZ4315QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem) this seems like wishful thinking to me!
That's cheap instant buy!
More console ports of PC adventures:
King's Quest V (NES)
Rise of the Dragon (SEGA CD)
Broken Sword 1 and 2 (PlayStation, Game Boy Advance)
Ico (PS2)
Shadow of the Colossus (PS2)
Indigo Prophecy (Xbox, PS2)
Hotel Dusk - DS
Touch Detective - DS
Trace Memory - DS
Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney - DS
Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Justice for All! - DS
I should also mention that there is a DS version of SCUMM-VM as well, and that it is "officially supported" by the SCUMM-VM group. Gotta love the DS for its click-and-play interface. It plays very well (even better than computers IMHO) for adventure games, and the developers have taken note.
Cadaver - various consoles plus PC
The Immortal - various consoles plus PC, Sega version is best
The Hobbit - C64 and probably others
Off the top of my head, there's Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom, Shadowgate, and Deja Vu are all for the NES. Princess Tomato is one of my favorite adventure games ever and I highly recommend it. Then there's games like Out of this World and Flashback that came out on several consoles, including the SNES and Genesis. Shadowrun is an SNES game (there's a completely different yet related Genesis game called Shadowrun also) that is an RPG with adventure game element.
Don't forget the Scooby Doo Mystery game for Genesis. It's kinda like DOTT.
Glass Rose (PS2):
Not-that-bad point and clicker from Cing, the makers of Another Code (Trace Memory) and Hotel Dusk on the DS.
Clocktower (SNES):
Truly excellent survival horror precurser, from Human Inc. Clocktower and Clocktower 2: The Struggle Within/Ghost Head on the PSOne retain the basic premise, but go polygonal. Neither are great, and pale in comparsion the the SNES original.
D (PSOne):
Pre-rendered First-Person FMV adventure from 1996. Good, but an acquired taste.
Panic! (Sega CD):
More of a puzzle game, really, but I actually enjoyed this. It's really little more than pressing buttons, pulling levers, etc, to make various things happen on-screen. Weird.
Michigan (PS2):
Bizarre (and I mean BIZARRE) first person adventure/pervert sim. Investigate weird lovecraft-esque happenings through the lens of a news camera man, while hoping for shots of woman showering, pole dancing, falling over, etc. Awesomely terrible, and completely unique. Budget release (across Europe) through 505 Gamestreet, and hard to find in shops.
The Dallas Quest - C64
There's also most survival horror games like Resident Evil which involve exploration, collecting items, solving puzzles and unlocking new area as much as collecting ammo and killing monsters.
Shadow of memories - Has a different title in America. (PS2):
Get murdered, then step back in time to prevent it from occuring. Again and again. I loved it though, with it's numerous twists and multiple endings.
Quote from: LimpingFish on Mon 06/08/2007 21:10:32
Glass Rose (PS2):
Not-that-bad point and clicker from Cing, the makers of Another Code (Trace Memory) and Hotel Dusk on the DS.
Clocktower (SNES):
Truly excellent survival horror precurser, from Human Inc. Clocktower and Clocktower 2: The Struggle Within/Ghost Head on the PSOne retain the basic premise, but go polygonal. Neither are great, and pale in comparsion the the SNES original.
D (PSOne):
Pre-rendered First-Person FMV adventure from 1996. Good, but an acquired taste.
Panic! (Sega CD):
More of a puzzle game, really, but I actually enjoyed this. It's really little more than pressing buttons, pulling levers, etc, to make various things happen on-screen. Weird.
Michigan (PS2):
Bizarre (and I mean BIZARRE) first person adventure/pervert sim. Investigate weird lovecraft-esque happenings through the lens of a news camera man, while hoping for shots of woman showering, pole dancing, falling over, etc. Awesomely terrible, and completely unique. Budget release (across Europe) through 505 Gamestreet, and hard to find in shops.
Aaah, D. My sister and I played through D, and found it to be ridiculously bad (though we still enjoyed playing it, I guess). I don't recommend playing it with a serious attitude or you'll wind up being like "...What?" There's also a sequel, but we never played that.
Yeah, D's appeal varies from person to person I guess. The semi-sequel is Enemy Zero, which has the same take-it-or-leave it vibe.
The official D sequel, D2, was a Dreamcast launch title. Lot's of pomp at it's unvieling in Japan (live rendition of the score by the director himself, flash stage show, etc) only for the director to pick up the gamepad and promptly cause the game to crash.
Turned out to be a fairly decent third-person, survival horror deal. Haven't heard much from the company that made all three games, Warp, in a long ol' time.
Quote from: LimpingFish on Mon 06/08/2007 23:13:17
Yeah, D's appeal varies from person to person I guess. The semi-sequel is Enemy Zero, which has the same take-it-or-leave it vibe.
The official D sequel, D2, was a Dreamcast launch title. Lot's of pomp at it's unvieling in Japan (live rendition of the score by the director himself, flash stage show, etc) only for the director to pick up the gamepad and promptly cause the game to crash.
Turned out to be a fairly decent third-person, survival horror deal. Haven't heard much from the company that made all three games, Warp, in a long ol' time.
To be fair, the only thing that I found really ridiculous was "the big reveal" at the end. The experience of playing wasn't bad, it just didn't seem worth all the trouble.
Spoiler
The whole "You have the blood of DRACULA in your veins!" thing caused my sister and I to bust up laughing, and even spawned a few inside jokes between us, which is always a big plus for any game.
Quote from: MrColossal on Mon 06/08/2007 15:13:15
If you're counting the C64 as a console than I add Below the Root (http://www.mobygames.com/game/c64/below-the-root) and Alice in Wonderland (http://www.mobygames.com/game/c64/alice-in-wonderland) to the mix.
They were my first graphical adventure games and they hold a special place in my heart.
also: ebay link (http://cgi.ebay.com/Commodore-64-Alice-in-Wonderland-Windham-Classics_W0QQitemZ110150172600QQihZ001QQcategoryZ4315QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem) this seems like wishful thinking to me!
Below The Root was such a great game for its time. A friend and I use to play that game hours on end. The graphics were very simplistic, but the gameplay seemed way ahead of its time.
If I can remember correctly, wasn't there an inventory item called a shupa or shuba that you used to fly down from high amongst the tree branches.
It has been such a long time since I played it, but I remember enjoying every second of that game.
@ Blueskirt : Dallas Quest... :D
My first adventure game... Contains all the possible flaws of a game : Objects appearing 'after fadein' - Illogical story (if there is a story) Inconsistencies (get killed by a giant rat) - Illogical puzzle - Roving around with no Idea what to do... Finally inished it 3 years ago with the help of a Walkthrough and a speed-up emulator.
@Mr. Colossal : Below The Root is on my to-play list since some years... waiting to be on the mood but sonds great story. I wish you found those 1000 bucks...
Some other games :
The Three Musketeers (C64)
- Choose your own adventure
- 1 choice over 3 sends you to instant dead. - Dead walks - Relatively near the novel.
Famicom Detective Club Part II (SNES)
- Menu style interface. Manga grapx. Well done so far.
- Discworld [PC, Mac, Playstation, Saturn]
- Discwold 2 [PC (Dos/Win), Playstation, Saturn]
- Discword Noir [PC, Playstation]
I never played any of the last two, but the first one was fun and helped me identify the novels on the shelves when they were finally (and badly) translated to Spanish.
RE: Below the Root
I always loved the way the game looked and made me feel but I never got anywhere in it. Recently I read the books the game came from, apparently the author got a lot of mail about the ending of the third book and so she decided to explain the ending more in the game. I'm eager to play Below the Root but not so eager about the walking dead...
"Necronomicon, gateway to the beyond" had a disc that could instal on either a Mac or a PC if I recall correctly.