Multi-Genre or Hybrid Video Games

Question for you all. Does anyone know what is considered the first multi-genre video game? It seems like the late 80s is when these types of games were mostly experimented with. Games like Guardian Legend, Blaster Master and Xexyz. And into the 16-bit years with games like Actraiser. Now days almost every game you play could be considered multi-genre in one way or another, although it tends to be more subtle. However, games like Nier Automata are straight up multi-genre in your face, switching seamlessly from a 3rd person action game to a SHMUP (similar to The Guardian Legend in some ways). So the more "pure" multi-genre idea of the late 80s still seems to exist, in one form or another.

So, back to my question. Does anyone know of any early multi-genre games? Earlier than the late 80s. I've done research but I keep getting Guardian Legend and Blaster Master. Surely those two can't be the first... Anyone know of any others?

The Three Stooges predates those two. It's a collection of what now would be labeled mini-games. Beyond that, I suppose you can consider those Atari 2600 games which mixed platforming or shooting elements with adventure stuff such as the Swordquest series. Actually, a few arcade games like Jungle Hunt used a mix of play styles, and that's from '82. It's going to depend on how you wall off your genres.

Venture is a Commando/Gauntlet/Zelda overhead shooter/adventure arcade game released in 1981.

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Originally Posted by Black_Tiger

Venture is a Commando/Gauntlet/Zelda overhead shooter/adventure arcade game released in 1981.

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My mom and uncle had that one as kids for colecovisoin. I remember they had a lot of fun playing it emulated on my Wii a few years back.

It's a pretty fun and unique game. At one point I wanted to re-create it for the Genesis, but never really got anywhere.

Plenty of early action-adventures and action-sims mix genres but if we're limiting it to games where the different genres are on separate levels, then here are some more from before the late '80s:

TRON (1982) - shooter, light cycles, tank maze
Major Havoc (1983) - shooter and platformer levels
Archon (1983) - turn based strategy and action/shooter sections
Lazy Jones (1984) - various genres tied together in minigame form
Master of the Lamps (1985) - flying levels and music levels

Quest for the Rings (1981) and Conquest of the World (1981) mix video gaming with board gaming but I'm not sure they fit the thread.

There's probably something from the '70s I can't think of.

Combat (Atari 2600, 1977)

The tanks and planes seemed more like separate games on the same cartridge to me but I can see an argument for including it.

Beachhead II: You have one level where you're shooting at soldiers advancing towards your gun turret, another where you're throwing knives at each other, a level where you're shooting mortars at a compound and a final level where you are shooting at a mountain base.

Raid Over Moscow: Like Beachhead II , it has you doing multiple missions with a variety things like jets and guns.

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone! This will help a lot. I am working on a video with this topic in mind and I wanted some earlier examples. Glad to see there are MANY of them.

Does anyone know of the FIRST multi-genre game? Could Combat be considered that game? I'd like to have a starting point for it...

Also, what about early action games that implemented RPG elements? The Guardian Legend was the first action game I ever played that mixed RPG elements and leveling up into it. Although I'm sure there was a game that predated it... Any other feedback is appreciated as this topic has very little info around the net that I can find.

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Originally Posted by AggroSky

Does anyone know of the FIRST multi-genre game? Could Combat be considered that game? I'd like to have a starting point for it...

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Don't be that guy, I'd say. Why there's a need to claim that one particular game was THE FIRST one to do anything?
We simply don't have enough available information to claim such things IMO. Besides the subjectiveness of genre definitions, to begin with.

So, I'd suggest citing games such as Combat "one of the first" multi-genre games. This way you avoid some unnecessary revisionism IMHO.

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Originally Posted by AggroSky

Also, what about early action games that implemented RPG elements? The Guardian Legend was the first action game I ever played that mixed RPG elements and leveling up into it.

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I'd recommend you to have a look at old computer games. Things like leveling up characters made more sense in platforms where saving (of some sort) was possible - though, of course, there are exceptions.
And RPG elements are common to Japanese games. Maybe there's something for ancient platforms such as the Sharp MZ-80 which have RPG elements already.

Generally speaking, youtubers are very ignorant about Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, MSX, PC-88, lesser known arcade games, etc. So, if you research in that direction you'll already be delivering premium content to your subscribers.

Well, here are some (sort of) examples:

Diamond (Sharp MZ-80) (1982/1983)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffcPxyJQrQs

It seems to be one of those ancient "3D" Maze games with very little going on.
Now have a look at this one:

Minotaur's Cave (Sharp MZ-80) (1982/1983)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5vdlL08Nms

This one allows you to save and load characters from cassette, has animation for attacks and your character skills evolve during gameplay.
Some people will say it's a 3D RPG but I can see it as a 3D maze action game with RPG elements. :p


And what about this one:
Tombs of Karnak (Sharp MZ-80) (1982)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyogQAIFFSM

Isn't this some sort of Amidar (ARC) (1981) with RPG elements? Action RPG?

Xain'd Sleena mixes shoot 'em up and run 'n gun, also you can freely select the stage order.

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Originally Posted by AggroSky

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone! This will help a lot. I am working on a video with this topic in mind and I wanted some earlier examples. Glad to see there are MANY of them.

Does anyone know of the FIRST multi-genre game? Could Combat be considered that game? I'd like to have a starting point for it...

Also, what about early action games that implemented RPG elements? The Guardian Legend was the first action game I ever played that mixed RPG elements and leveling up into it. Although I'm sure there was a game that predated it... Any other feedback is appreciated as this topic has very little info around the net that I can find.

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The problem with stuff like Combat is that it blurs the line between multi-genre and compilation. Combat's box advertises them as separate games, and they're based on multiple arcade games. It's not much different than Fairchild's Videocart-01 (1976) which had Tic-Tac-Toe, Shooting Gallery, and Doodle on the same cartridge. They just fit a bit better together thematically in Combat.

What is first is difficult to determine and depends on one's definition. Does Maze War (1974) count as a maze/shooter hybrid or just an FPS? Does Spasim (1974) fall under one genre as a space sim or is it an action/strategy mix? Is Dungeons of Daggorath (1982) more of an RPG with action elements or an action game with RPG elements?

Yeah, Combat has "27 Video Games" noted on the box. They are each treated as a separate game.

I wouldn't consider Combat's different play modes as different games. The only thing which separates the planes from the tanks is constant acceleration. Otherwise, the gameplay is the same with tweaked variables. It'd be akin to saying SFIII: Third Strike is some ridiculous amount of games depending on the DIP settings.

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Originally Posted by gamevet

Yeah, Combat has "27 Video Games" noted on the box. They are each treated as a separate game.

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As far as the packaging text, "every" game from that era seemed to advertise it's different adjustments as separate games. Hell, Space Invaders advertises 112 video games on its box.

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Originally Posted by Benjamin

I wouldn't consider Combat's different play modes as different games. The only thing which separates the planes from the tanks is constant acceleration. Otherwise, the gameplay is the same with tweaked variables. It'd be akin to saying SFIII: Third Strike is some ridiculous amount of games depending on the DIP settings.



As far as the packaging text, "every" game from that era seemed to advertise it's different adjustments as separate games. Hell, Space Invaders advertises 112 video games on its box.

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It's really 3 separate games with 9 different ways to play each one of them. The tank part of the game is pretty much based on Kee Games Tank that was in arcades in the 70s, while the Bi-Plane and Jet Combat games can be considered 2 additional games on the cart. It's not the same as something like Beachhead on the C-64, where you are firing a gun turret on a ship during one level, and then piloting a ship through waters that have torpedoes firing all around you on the next level.

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Originally Posted by Black_Tiger

Venture is a Commando/Gauntlet/Zelda overhead shooter/adventure arcade game released in 1981.

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Originally Posted by Benjamin

Beyond that, I suppose you can consider those Atari 2600 games which mixed platforming or shooting elements with adventure stuff such as the Swordquest series. Actually, a few arcade games like Jungle Hunt used a mix of play styles, and that's from '82. It's going to depend on how you wall off your genres.

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Originally Posted by NeoZeedeater

Plenty of early action-adventures and action-sims mix genres but if we're limiting it to games where the different genres are on separate levels, then here are some more from before the late '80s:

TRON (1982) - shooter, light cycles, tank maze
Major Havoc (1983) - shooter and platformer levels

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All great examples. The line between multi-genre and what one might call "multi-modal" gameplay is getting blurred here, but I think the OP is looking for games in which you have different types of gameplay in a single play session, and these all work well. I, Robot (1984) is another one. Gravitar is also a bit like Venture, with its main map where you can still get killed and free choice of individual substages.

I'd also throw in a game like Sea Battle (1980) for Intellivision as an example, since you have a zoomed-out mode for strategy-style gameplay (e.g. laying mines) and a zoomed-in mode for ship-to-ship combat. AD&D: Cloudy Mountain also does something similar but the overworld is only for navigation so I wouldn't necessarily count it; Space Battle is also borderline since you don't really make decisions on the strategic/radar view, but just dispatch your squadrons of ships.

One console with Multi-Genre:

TV Jogo Eletron (ART2735)

Este artigo, publicado em 1978, foi um dos maiores sucessos da época. Com o lançamento em kit, milhares de unidades deste que foi um dos primeiros TV-jogos ou videogames como chamamos agora, lançados no Brasil foram vendidas. O jogo era muito simples, quando comparado aos atuais, mas tinha diversas modalidades e funcionava com televisores analógicos da época. Se o leitor encontrar o circuito integrado usado, ou ainda tiver uma unidade que deseja recuperar, este artigo pode ser muito importante. Reproduzimos o artigo na forma original como escrevemos na época.

http://www.newtoncbraga.com.br/index...letron-art2735
http://www.revistavintage.info/2011/...tron-1981.html

One title with Multi-Genre:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlKi0Is0nGQ
On Atari 2600:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flYEqNNSWGs
But i found this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQ9iGNSjwWo
But i found this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MnRkPvIjKE
1972!

Misadvenutres of Tron Bonne did a great job at doing this, being mainly a spinoff of Mega Man Legends. You had stages centered around first person dungeon crawling, Sokoban-style box puzzles, and numerous other things. Great game, I had a heck of a time with it and look forward to playing it again on PSN.

A few other early ones:
Zoo Keeper (1982) - Donkey Kong-like/Trapping/Construction
Dragon Slayer II: Xanadu - ARPG/Maze/Platformer
Ghostbusters (1984) - Strategy/Driving/Trapping/Action Platformer
Below the Root - Exploration-based Platformer/Quest Adventure
Hydrax - Platformer/Quest Adventure

Mr. Bones (1996)

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Originally Posted by Alianger

A few other early ones:
Zoo Keeper (1982) - Donkey Kong-like/Trapping/Construction
Dragon Slayer II: Xanadu - ARPG/Maze/Platformer
Ghostbusters (1984) - Strategy/Driving/Trapping/Action Platformer
Below the Root - Exploration-based Platformer/Quest Adventure
Hydrax - Platformer/Quest Adventure

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Interesting that you mentioned Donkey Kong. DK Jr. would be an interesting choice, with vine climbing along with platforming, and then you have the level with the keys to unlock Donkey Kong's chains.

Honestly dislike these multi-genre games. Like the saying goes "Jack of all trades, master of none."

Auf Wiedersehen Pet for the Commodore 64 was a bizarre mix type game. Based on the much loved eponymous comedy drama from the UK.

There's also Vanguard (1981), which has both horizontally- and vertically-scrolling shmup levels. (Both shmup, of course, but scroll direction is practically a genre distinction in the eyes of many players.)

^ So that means Salamander/LifeForce (1986) goes on the list too?

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Originally Posted by gamevet

Interesting that you mentioned Donkey Kong. DK Jr. would be an interesting choice, with vine climbing along with platforming, and then you have the level with the keys to unlock Donkey Kong's chains.

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Interesting, never played more than a couple of levels of that one. Not sure what to call the key segment though, maybe more a case of action adventure or puzzle elements (Edit: perhaps "hostage rescue") within the original platform/action framework than a proper hybrid though.

Interesting article:
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...-retrospective

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Granted, the frame-rate was a blistering 5fps, but Mercenary combined flight simulation and true exploration in an open and interactive world. It had vehicles, objects and puzzles. There had never been a game like it - so much so that it doesn't really sound like a game from the 1980s at all.

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^"You must spread some Barone around before giving it to reputation again." Really cool stuff!

Mercenary's cool. I played through it a few years ago although I did get help from maps on the internet.

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Originally Posted by Thief

Honestly dislike these multi-genre games. Like the saying goes "Jack of all trades, master of none."

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Gonna have to disagree with you there Thief. There are games that handle multiple genres at the same time no problem. Turrican 2 is the best platformer on the Amiga, and it's shooter stage plays better than any shooter on the machine! The Total War series is another perfect example.

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Originally Posted by Kamahl

Gonna have to disagree with you there Thief.

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https://cdn.meme.am/instances/500x/6...-you-there.jpg

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Originally Posted by Barone

Interesting article:
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...-retrospective

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Thanks for the input Barone, I know I can always count on you. That was a great find and a pretty good example :D

And again, thanks everyone for all the suggestions! So much information to go through! But by all means, if anyone has any other suggestions, I'm all ears. I'm looking for newer games as well. Nier Automata is the first to come to mind that really mixes it up. I'm sure there are countless others...

Playing Psycho Pinball lately got me thinking about the bonus stages, which switch to side-scroll (and top down) platforming using the game's mascot as the avatar.