Games That Time Forgot

[bificommander]

There is a Descent-like game being developed, called Miner Wars 2081. Don't know how good it is.

And I would like to add Sacrifice, Populous (both are a bit Magic-Carpet like), Battlezone, Homeworld and the Desert/Jungle/Urban strike series. A full 3d Strike game with controls like the Battlefield/GTA series for your helicopter... I'd buy it.

Oh, and something like Secret of mana 2. With the option to pick your own three heroes, various end bosses... would be cool.

 

[mollemannen]

i haven't forgotten descent, a game that later led to forsaken. not many of the kind lately though.

i like that you give example of a game with huge emphasis on galaxy exploration and then a game were you pilot some kind of spacecraft in 3d. these to concepts must have led to games like freelancer, evochron mercenary and lately black prophecy.

 

[Twad]

I agree with magic carpet; i still play the sequel. Its just FUN.

 

[CD-R]

Sacrifice. If ever there was a game that deserved more it was this. Fell through a gap between genres which confused the hell out of people, and also was almost like the Crysis of it's day in needing some pretty hefty resources to get going.
But the things it did and still does. The look of the game drew you in more than most others I can think of.

On a lsightly related note, I also with Planet Moon studios hadn't gone the shitty handheld game and Wii route as Giants: Citizen Kabuto and Armed & Dangerous were, if not the most innovative, two of the funniest games I've ever played. And so few studios do funny. Or at least, do it well.

You might want to check out Brutal Legend if you haven't already. It's very similar to Sacrifice gameplaywise. In fact I think some of the people from Shiny went to DoubleFine, hence why it's so similar. It would also explain Stacking, another DoubleFine game which is very similar to Messiah, another Shiny game.

 

[CanolaOil]

May I suggest Republic Commando as a game that definitely should have got a sequel.

I concur. +1 for a new Republic Commando game.

 

[domicius]

I can't believe Shamus didn't mention the true 3D effect of Magic Carpet. I'm still getting migraines from that!

Otherwise, I'm not sure I agree about XCom. It had its chance, they made a bajillion games out of them and, ultimately, nothing could hit the simplicity and timing of the first one.

So there's really not much cause for regret there... just nostalgia

 

[phoenix352]

what a bout psychonauts huh?
one of the best games ever made and doesn't have a sequel ...

 

[mexicola]

I followed that link for Magic Carpet gameplay... and I have no idea what I just saw. Very strange but at the same time very fancy for 1994.

 

[GothmogII]

Sacrifice. If ever there was a game that deserved more it was this. Fell through a gap between genres which confused the hell out of people, and also was almost like the Crysis of it's day in needing some pretty hefty resources to get going.
But the things it did and still does. The look of the game drew you in more than most others I can think of.

On a lsightly related note, I also with Planet Moon studios hadn't gone the shitty handheld game and Wii route as Giants: Citizen Kabuto and Armed & Dangerous were, if not the most innovative, two of the funniest games I've ever played. And so few studios do funny. Or at least, do it well.

Ypu might want to check ojut Brutal Legend if you haven't already. It's very similar to Sacrifice gameplaywise. In fact I think some of the people from Shiny went to DoubleFine, hence why it's so similar. It would also explain Stacking, another DoubleFine game which is very similar to Messiah, another Shiny game.

The staff did? Thought they were too similar, still, that's good to hear, Shiny was a damn decent company early on. Earthworm Jim, Sacrifice, MDK 1&2 and Giants: Citizen Kabuto. Then they went into licensed games and just never seemed the same.

Since Descent is coming up, I'll say only that I've never played it, but, I always wondered about that series' relationship with Descent: Freespace and Freespace 2? Since Interplay published all of them, was it just a name drop to get existing fans of the Descent series or was there an actual story connection between them?

At that, Volition being still around and going strong, and recently making a headline of the Escapist, seems like there's a good chance we could get Freespace 3, though I think it was something to the head Volition guy saying he'd murder someone to make it, don't know if that's a good or bad sign. ^^'

A new Master of Orion I'd like to see, and I've read that Stardock are looking at the property but I hadn't read if they'd actually bought it. They were also looking at the Star Control series. Given their work on Galactic Civilisations, Stardock I think are just about the only company I think who could do it justice, it would be even better if they could get Paul Reiche III and Fred Ford in as creative directors or something, that would just be awesome then.

Battlezone. Battlezone is an Activison product through and through, back when they were a wee developer rather than the publishing giant they are now (though they did do publishing back then too). I can say that the series is worth taking a look at again, but I'm wondering if it's such a good idea given the lacklustre sequel. Doesn't seem like they'd be interested in it though.

 

[Ravek]

Now that Bungie is free of rehashing Halo, Oni should get a sequel.

 

[bificommander]

I looked around a bit more and:
http://www.minerwars.com/Index.aspx?a=1

An indie game. The trailer on their site references Descent, and it has some free roaming galaxy exploring too if their comments can be trusted. It's in pre-alpha, but you can buy it much like minecraft. I haven't played it myself (not a Descent fan), but I heard some good stories about it.

And yeah, Brutal Legend, gameplay from Sacrifice by the maker of Psychonauts. Sounds awesome, but they seem to have forgotten PCs exist. And I'm not going to buy a whole console for it (well, unless it was a Wii so I could play Zelda, but I think that's the one console they it's not on).

 

[Xenominim]

Sacrifice has another vote for me as a game in need of a sequel (though I'll wuss out and say I wouldn't mind it a bit easier, that game got absolutely punishing in later levels where it seemed the AI could overrun you minutes into a level.)

I'd also like to see a new Tie Fighter, but flight sim style games in general are a nearly dead genre much less space ones. And yes I want Tie Fighter 2, not X-Wing, I've played as the Rebels enough times! So much fun though, dozens of missions with varied objectives and multiple stories/campaigns. And thinking back you could call it one of the first games with an achievement system given the medals and ranks you could earn completing side objectives. Modernize the graphics, tweak some of the weapons (as I always found it silly a fighter could destroy a huge cruiser by sitting in a blind spot and just firing away with basic lasers, or even easier disable it with ion cannons if you had them even with no one else helping), and I'd preorder it the second it goes up.

 

[Kalabrikan]

When I saw the title of the article, the first game that came to mind was Descent, and the fact that you touched upon it makes me a happy man.

Freespace is actually a spinoff series from Descent if you didn't know. The first game is named Descent: Freespace, and it's technically a continuation of Descents story.

This is completely wrong and I have no idea where you got this information from. The only reason the first Freespace was called Descent: Freespace was to avoid trademark issues. In Europe, it's known as Conflict: Freespace for the same reason.

 

[Echo136]

I loved Decent. Glad to see someone out there played it.

 

[Georgie_Leech]

Man, I didn't think anyone else remembered Magic Carpet. One of my saddest days was finding the new family computer couldn't run it; the game was incompatible with new OS or something.

 

[TheEvilCheese]

Wow, I was hit by a huge wave of nostalgia when I saw the Descent screenshot. I last played that when I was like five on my dad's windows 95? I didn't know what it was called, but I still remember the first level by heart.

Thanks for reminding me of that, it's been bugging me for ages.

 

[figday]

Freelancer.

Come on, that game wasn't even properly FINISHED.

THIS! EFFING THIS!! loved the first game, and i dont understand why theres no sequel for it, such a shame.

anyways shamus, thx for nostalgia trigger, makes me wanna go back in time.

and my personal additions
Swiv 3D
Redneck Rampage
Oni
Myst
Dark Reign
Interstate 76

i miss the old days

 

[duchaked]

May I suggest Republic Commando as a game that definitely should have got a sequel.

every time someone reminds me of Republic Commando I feel quite sad :[

but yes, I didn't realize until more recently that it was really the only game I ever look back and truly wish had a sequel
...that along with Battlefront and Timesplitters and adjfalkdjfkldf great

 

[The Madman]

Freespace is actually a spinoff series from Descent if you didn't know. The first game is named Descent: Freespace, and it's technically a continuation of Descents story.

This is completely wrong and I have no idea where you got this information from. The only reason the first Freespace was called Descent: Freespace was to avoid trademark issues. In Europe, it's known as Conflict: Freespace for the same reason.

I stand corrected, Thank you!

 

[Michael O'Hair]

Sequels too often dilute the formula that made previous games great. There is no franchise or series that eventually jumps the shark after a period of time.

Imagine if Christopher Tolkien kept creating books set in Middle Earth after his father's demise; would they be any good? The Expanded Universe of Star Wars has been hit and miss through the ages, but mostly lots of misses. I don't need to mention the prequel films.

Bringing it back to games: Super Mario. After almost three decades that franchise has begun it's eventual descent into a nosedive ending in a collision with the ground, although that maneuver probably began with the various Mario Party and sports games.

Many of the games in the article had sequels. At some point the developers decided "Okay, that's enough," and began work of other projects. Either that, or the games did not sell well enough to warrant a sequel.

A sequel is a means of giving players more of what they want; more of a game the players wanted to play more of, but the developers couldn't or the publisher wouldn't allow more time and content to be invested in the project.

Starflight, X-Com, Descent, Magic Carpet; all four of those games were made with the cutting edge technologies of their time, but which pales in comparison to the resources available today. Nowadays you don't need a Cray or advanced development environment to make games similar to those classics that never got sequels. I say, make your own. If you enjoyed a game enough to want more of it, make some mods or build you own game from the ground up. The garage/basement developers caught on to this idea ages ago.