What's popular and mainstream in the gaming industry today won't be in the future. During the '90s to mid-2000s, one couldn't walk through a game store kiosk without seeing at least one cartoony platforming mascot on the cover. For many years, World War II was the default setting for every military-themed shooter.
However, over time, tastes changed, and many genres were deemed to be no longer viable by certain publishers. However, the success of crowd-funded games, such as Broken Age and A Hat in Time, shows that publishers aren't always in touch with what consumers want. There are some long-dormant game genres that deserve another chance.
10 Fantasy Pinball Titled Out Of Existance
While many pinball-themed video games such as Pinball Dreams for the Commodore Amiga attempted to simulate the physics and rules of an actual machine, certain titles took the concept to more outlandish settings and visuals.
Sega invoked nostalgic memories of its classic franchises with Sonic Pinball Party and Pinball of the Dead for the Game Boy Advance. Nintendo even incorporated Mario and Samus into the genre with Super Mario Pinball and Metroid Prime Pinball, respectively. Unfortunately, players might have better luck finding an actual pinball machine than another fantasy pinball game.
9 Flight Based Rail Shooters Haven't Taken To The Skies In Years
Dating back to the arcades with Sega's Space Harrier, flight-based rail shooters managed to find a resurgence during the 32-bit era. In contrast to light gun shooters like Virtua Cop or Time Crisis, flight based rail shooters such as Star Fox and Panzer Dragoon put players in control of a character on the screen and tasked them with shooting enemies and dodging projectiles.
Although recent efforts like Star Fox Zero and the Panzer Dragoon Remake didn't exactly take to the skies, the success of Natsume's Wild Guns remake shows that there's still some life in this genre.
8 Vehicular Combat Went Out With A Whimper Rather Than A Bang
One of the earliest PlayStation franchises came courtesy of David Jaffe with Twisted Metal. Despite poor focus testing, the game became a commercial hit and paved the way for other vehicular combat titles such as Rogue Trip and Vigilante 8. Twisted Metal attempted a return for the PlayStation 3 but was met with a much more mixed reception.
It's a shame because with today's graphics, controlling vehicular monstrosities and blowing enemies to smithereens would be amazing on a technical and visual level. It's hard to think of a better showcase of hardware than with destructible environments and vehicles.
7 Extreme Sports Wiped Out During The HD Era
Although the first two Tony Hawk's Pro Skater titles received a remake not too long ago, those craving some extreme sports in their titles are still non-satiated. Pro BMX Biker Dave Mirra lent his name to a series of successful games from the now-defunct Acclaim. Nintendo and EA catered to snowboarding fans with the 1080° and SSX games, respectively.
However, during the HD generation, this genre seemed to wind down. Despite new efforts like Skate throwing their boards into the ring, the Tony Hawk franchise declined in sales and reviews, which might explain the genre's disappearance.
6 Detective Games Got Bumped Off
While Frogwares is returning to the genre with Sherlock Holmes Chapter One, there are not enough games that put players in the role of a gumshoe. Although mechanically similar to graphic adventures, titles such as the Tex Murphy series and Snatcher tasked players with gathering clues, interviewing suspects, and narrowing down suspects based on the info gathered.
Rockstar's L.A. Noire attempted to take this formula into the modern age with its detailed facial animations, while Telltale flirted with the idea a bit in The Wolf Among Us. The success of shows such as Boradchurch and True Detective shows that there is a market.
5 Bullet Hell Shooters Seem
Shoot 'em ups such as Space Invaders and Galaga used to dominate in the arcades, even before Nintendo's famous mustachioed plumber hit the scene. Later entries would increase the number of projectiles and hazards that players would have to avoid in what would be called the "bullet hell" genre.
As the industry moved towards 3D action titles, the genre was relegated mostly to niche releases such as Square's Einheinder for the original PlayStation. Treasure's Ikaruga for the Dreamcast incorporated puzzle elements such as the color-coded projectiles. While not unheard of in the indie scene, it's not the giant that it used to be.
4 Some FMV Games Utilized Actors To Serve The Gameplay
Many titles that utilized full-motion video, such as Night Trap and Double Switch, were nothing more than gimmicky titles attempting to ape movies. However, there were titles that managed to incorporate live-action videos into the gameplay to great effect. Since the technology was so expensive, performances had to be done in one go, which led to some odd performances.
However, graphic adventures such as Gabriel Knight and Zork Grand Inquisitor used live actors to enhance rather than interrupt the story and gameplay. Recent efforts such as Black Mirror: Bandersnatch and Contradiction: Spot the Liar! managed to find some success with critics.
3 Fantasy Flight Sims Have Remained Grounded
While realistic flight simulators have continued to soar, ones that take place in the realm of fantasy are still unfortunately grounded. LucasArts took to the skies in a WWII setting with Secrets of the Luftwaffe and a galaxy far far away with the X-Wing and Tie Fighter games.
Speaking of which, Origin Systems managed to get Mark Hamill to step into the cockpit with Wing Commander III and IV. Factor 5's Rogue Squadron titles allowed players to reenact their favorite dogfights from the Star Wars films and even added some original missions.
2 Realistic Platformers Have Yet To Leap Into Action
While cartoony platforming titles such as Crash Bandicoot and Psychonauts have made a recent resurgence, more realistic platformers akin to Tomb Raider and Prince of Persia are sorely missed. Assassin's Creed may be the money maker at Ubisoft, but it owes its entire existence to Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.
Not only did both titles share the same director in Patrice Désilets, but the original Assassin's Creed was intended to be a prequel entry called Prince of Persia: Assassins. The Uncharted series has somewhat filled this particular niche, but it would be great to have another title that focuses completely on parkour platforming.
1 Rhythm Games Went Silent
The 32-bit era introduced many new genres such as Survival Horror, 3D fighters, and music-based rhythm games. Sony's Parappa the Rapper for the PlayStation is largely credited with kick-starting this genre. Other studios such as Konami and Harmonix introduced special peripherals into the scene with Dance Dance Revolution and Guitar Hero, respectively.
While these pads and plastic guitars could break the bank, they helped sell the fantasy of being a rock star. Unfortunately, music games have gone silent in recent years. Their disappearance is a shame considering that music never goes out of style.