The genre’s origins date as far back as 1973, to a game called Maze War. In FPS games, players aim and fire from a first-person perspective.
Source: Game Informer First Person Shooter (FPS) The insanely brutal Mortal Kombat continues to get even crazier-only now in HD Tekken, Mortal Kombat, and Capcom’s Street Fighter are all franchises that have spawned numerous spin-offs and sequels, and even a handful of movies between the three of them. Some of the most iconic games today are fighting games.
Battles are set inside a single arena, and characters come with their own skill sets, special moves, and play styles. Characters typically only had their fists and an epic and gritty backstory to propel them through the chaos: you’re a vigilante fighting criminal gangs in Final Fight, or a beefy, shapeshifting Greek hero coming to save Zeus’ daughter in Altered Beast.Īltered Beast’s first boss and his weird raining heads attackįighting games share many of the same characteristics as beat ‘em ups, but instead of hordes of enemies you typically fight against one or a two-three man team of opponents through a gauntlet of rounds. Players moved through the round by walking, running, and smashing through opponents. The goal seemed to be to milk as many pennies from arcade players as possible, but we loved them just the same. You can either go guns ‘a blazin and actively hunt other players, or you can hunker down in a strategic spot and snipe enemies from afar.įortnite - one of the most popular games of all timeīack in the 80’s most beat ‘em ups were characterised by unending waves of enemies coming out of literally everywhere and punishingly difficult boss fights. The goal is to be the last one standing, which you can approach through a number of ways. The play area is constantly shrinking, virtually forcing encounters between players. Up to a hundred players are dropped in an open-world map with equipment and weaponry scattered in randomised locations. Popular games in the genre like Fortnite and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds follow along the same vein, with a few new mechanics tossed in. One of the younger genres in the industry, Battle Royale takes its name from a book of the same title, whose plot revolves around students on an island trying to kill each other. Many games simply defy pigeonholing or merge established genres together (what the heck are the Lemmings games anyway?)īelow we explore and define the biggest and most popular video gaming genre we could find, from the very earliest days of the industry to fairly new innovations. However, the acronyms and definitions have created a categorisation system that can feel convoluted and confusing, even for seasoned gamers. There’s no scarcity of types of games to play. Visit any top games list on Steam or peruse the shelves of your local games store and you’ll find everything from cinematic, interactive survival horror to dating sims and retro looking platformers. What started as a simple, pong-like game on a hulking computer in the 1950s has now evolved beyond all recognition as various gaming systems host many thousands and thousands of games across a dizzying range of genres. The world of video games and arcade machines is wonderfully diverse.