Top Down View Games: 1992 (Quest for Glory III, Ultima VII, Ultima Underworld, Flashback and Alone in the Dark are released)
1990|1991|1992|1993|1994|1995|1996|1997|1998|1999
King Colossus (MD, 1992)
Subgenre: ARPG, Dungeon Crawler
Perspective: TD View
Other: Platforming, Hub map
Playthrough w/ commentary - Video Review - Mini Review
Soul Blazer/Soul Blader (SNES, 1992)
Subgenre: ARPG
Perspective: TD View
Other: Travel between locations via a hub map (Quack Shot etc.)
Playthrough - Video Review - Mini Review
Esper Dream 2 (NES, 1992)
Subgenre: JRPG/ARPG Hybrid (separate battle encounters in real-time, similar to DSII: Xanadu, Radia Senki and Tales of Phantasia)
Perspective: TD view
Other: Hub area (the library), sub areas have a town(s) and hostile areas structure
Playthrough - Video Review - Mini Review
Rolan's Curse II/Velious II: Fukushuu no Jashin (GB, 1992)
Subgenre: Action Adventure/ARPG-ish (Leveling up is done through item (portrait) collecting rather than killing enemies)
Perspective: Top down view
Playthrough - Video Review - Mini Review
Gargoyle's Quest II (NES, 1992/GB, 1993)
Subgenre: Similar to Zelda II (without the semi-random encounters and exp point leveling)
Perspective: TD view overworld and town exploration
Movement Mechanics: Stamina-based flight
Other: Overworld w/ towns and hostile areas+dungeons, No random encounters
Playthrough - Video Review/Retrospective - Mini Review
Kaeru no Tame ni Kane wa Naru/For the Frog the Bell Tolls (GB, 1992)
Subgenre: Action Adventure/Maze Platformer Hybrid (Linear)
Perspective: TD (overworld)/SV (dungeons and hostile areas) Hybrid
Other: Automatic battles, Travel by boat in the late game (FF1?), Non-random encounters
Playthrough - Video Review - Mini Review
Star Control II: The Ur-Quan Masters (PC, 1992/3DO, 1994)
Subgenre: Adventure/Action Adventure/Free-roaming Shooter Hybrid (hover vehicle and space ship-based)
Perspective: FP/TD view Hybrid
Other: Ship and planet lander vehicle customization (crew/fuel/mineral capacity, thrust and rotation speed, weapons - can equip several modules for more firepower as well as one kind of secondary weapon modules, energy recharging, extra landers) - can buy tech upgrades for the flagship from a couple of species, items sell at their purchase value (makes experimenting with customization much easier), Fleshed out dialogue trees for NPC encounters with meaningful choices (options can change depending on prior actions or dialogue choices, one choice can take out two races by making them fight each other and one choice can start a civil war within another race, diplomacy is generally the way to go though it's possible to kill pretty much anyone, can sign contracts with slave traders and battle thralls, some hostile NPCs try to bluff the player), Dog fight/melee mode w/ 2-player vs. option, Build a ship fleet (follows your main ship outside of combat, one ship at a time is used during combat, 25 different ones) and ally with some alien races who'll provide you with escort ships that you can select and pilot in combat, Avoidable enemy encounters (black dots in hyperspace which is basically the game's overworld; can also talk to an enemy before engaging in battle and sometimes talk them out of it, separate one on one fights in looping arenas - Space Wars), Time limit of about 4 in-game years - time stops at various points though
Ur-Quan Masters (3DO ver. port to PC w/ some tweaks):
Playthrough - Video Review - Mini Review
Star Trek: 25th Anniversary (GB, 1992)
Subgenre: Horizontal Shoot 'em up/Action Adventure (top down view) Hybrid, Collectathon element (12 disrupter pieces)
Perspective: SV/TD view hybrid
Other: Hub map
-Partially non-linear structure (choose your path towards each planet in-between the shoot 'em up levels - have to be quick though as you automatically move forward)
-Ship systems distribution mechanic (kinda like the tech distribution in PSIII)
-Tricorder item points you in the direction of disrupter pieces while on a planet
-Can examine objects and plantlife while on a planet
-No ability/tool gating
-Password save
-No planet maps (basic shoot 'em up level "map" which shows how close to the goal you are)
-Some switch puzzles
-No item inventory
Playthrough
Power Singer: Ellance Saga #1 (PC-98, 1992)
Subgenre: ARPG?
Perspective:
Find Gameplay
Exile II: Wicked Phenomenon (PCE CD, 1992)
Subgenre: ARPG
Perspective: Top down town exploration/Side view hostile areas & dungeons
Other: No hub map
Playthrough - Video Review - Mini Review
Spiritual Warfare (NES/GB, 1992/PC, 1993/MD, 1994)(Unlicensed)
Subgenre: Zelda 1-like Action Adventure
Perspective: Top down view
Other: Religious (christian propaganda) theme
Some ability gating (bombs/vials for blowing up obstacles and raft for crossing water)
Playthrough (NES)
Outliers:
Darklands (PC, 1992) - WRPG w/ "real-time with pausing" battles
Wizkid (Multi)? - Action/Adventure/Puzzle hybrid
Nightshade (NES) - Quest Adventure/Fighting Hybrid, Tilted view
Shodai Nekketsu Kouha Kunio-Kun (SNES, 1992) - Beat ‘em up/Action Adventure w/ RPG elements, Tilted view
Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest (SNES, 1992) - JRPG/Action Adventure Hybrid (some ability gating such as an axe to cut through small trees and a bomb to blow up certain obstacles, hub map), TD view/TP view hybrid
-Non-random encounters outside of dungeons however most of them aren't skippable (they stand still and block narrow passages)
-Save anywhere (multiple save slots)
-More overworld interactions including jumping (tends to work more like using a key though)
-Well designed final dungeon w/ several gimmicks, loopback structure design, new encounters, and redesigned boss fights
-Multiple potential solutions in the Falls Basin dungeon
-Zelda-style dungeons in Pazuzu’s Tower and Spencer’s Place
-One-way "conveyor belt" tiles in some dungeons? (Lolo?)
King Colossus (MD, 1992)
Subgenre: ARPG, Dungeon Crawler
Perspective: TD View
Other: Platforming, Hub map
- Somewhat open-ended structure (choose between three areas on the hub map from the get go)
- Gladiator fights
- Large arsenal of weapons and spells
- Minor ability/tool gating (bombs to blow up rock barriers and claws to break ice ones though they're both used like keys)
- Save anywhere outside of boss fights (three slots)
- Exodus spell lets you teleport out of dungeons
- Some backtracking into previous dungeons to progress
- Some puzzles (spatial awareness, blocks/statues and switches, )
- Temporary invincibility power ups (enemy drops) and spell (aura shield)
- Some NPCs in dungeons and hostile areas
- No dungeon maps
Playthrough w/ commentary - Video Review - Mini Review
Soul Blazer/Soul Blader (SNES, 1992)
Subgenre: ARPG
Perspective: TD View
Other: Travel between locations via a hub map (Quack Shot etc.)
- Strafe move
- Interesting concept (take over spawn points (by emptying them of enemies) to restore the world and its inhabitants and solve minor puzzles to get to each dungeon boss), Enter peoples' dreams (access hidden items in the waken world, similar to Alundra))
- Checkpoints which serve as teleporters back into town (additional one-way teleporters here and there in dungeons too)
- Some interesting storytelling approaches (flashbacks and dreams reveal peoples' fates piece by piece)
- Thunder ring (release thunder by touching certain stone monuments and luring enemies close to them in dungeons)
- Telekinesis (draw gold towards yourself using the strafe move)
- Shows enemy health bars - Ys
- Minor ability/tool gating (ice, bubble and elemental armor+mushroom shoes to pass through areas you couldn't before, leaves to make some cats follow you - helping some mice to make them give you an optional attack spell)
Playthrough - Video Review - Mini Review
Esper Dream 2 (NES, 1992)
Subgenre: JRPG/ARPG Hybrid (separate battle encounters in real-time, similar to DSII: Xanadu, Radia Senki and Tales of Phantasia)
Perspective: TD view
Other: Hub area (the library), sub areas have a town(s) and hostile areas structure
- Partially non-linear structure with difficulty/level gating (while you can visit either of 4 areas from the get go* and there is some dynamic difficulty balancing based on your level in areas 2 and 4, forced encounters are static and there's stuff like dark rooms or invisible enemies where you need a later spell or item (get the tool to see invisible enemies around the middle of area 2) to see where you're going/what you're shooting at, mostly linear progression through areas - the fifth one seems more open ended but makes you go back and forth to do the quests in order). Some optional backtracking to previous areas (item trading sequence to get the best armor in the game)
- Mostly non-random encounters which you can escape from (there are forced ones over the course of the game which increase in frequency in later areas) - battle arena layouts randomly change but generally they're pretty simple
- CPU-controlled battle companions (they can't die = no babysitting, have to find/rescue them and they don't follow you into other chapters, can't give them orders or otherwise control their behavior (see Secret of Mana))
- Save feature (at the library)
- No real ability gating (scuba gear, esper eye (shows invisible enemies) and light spell for dark rooms work like key gates; there are breakable walls during random encounters only which you can use the mines on but it's not required)
- Teleport spell/ESP power to go back to the library or quickly escape battles (besides boss fights) - default spell
- Game speed option
- Can talk to your ally to find out where to go next (not that helpful at times though)
- Can quickly switch between spells with select (not weapons though)
- Final area is a straightforward enemy/boss gauntlet
Playthrough - Video Review - Mini Review
Rolan's Curse II/Velious II: Fukushuu no Jashin (GB, 1992)
Subgenre: Action Adventure/ARPG-ish (Leveling up is done through item (portrait) collecting rather than killing enemies)
Perspective: Top down view
- Multiple playable characters with different abilities (explosives - some breakable wall tiles, healing, playing dead while still as the skeleton, etc) - you can keep a party of four characters at any one time and switch between them with Select
- Partially non-linear structure (can do some bosses in any order though there is an intended order)
- Good interface (?)
- Multiple endings
- Save feature (almost anywhere)
- Map system (so-so though)
- Can warp to previously visited areas
- No puzzles?
Playthrough - Video Review - Mini Review
Gargoyle's Quest II (NES, 1992/GB, 1993)
Subgenre: Similar to Zelda II (without the semi-random encounters and exp point leveling)
Perspective: TD view overworld and town exploration
Movement Mechanics: Stamina-based flight
Other: Overworld w/ towns and hostile areas+dungeons, No random encounters
- Mostly linear structure (can do a three of levels in either order at one point, two more on GB), No backtracking with abilities to progress (key/quest items and beating levels only)
- Password save (average length)
- No area or overworld maps
- No fast travel (one teleporter maze) besides one teleporter shortcut
- Lives system (can buy and find more)
- Two mazes
- Minor platforming puzzles
- Can exit levels where you entered them as well as replay beaten ones (up to a point; vials and hearts+bosses respawn)
- Off-screen enemy respawning and they don't drop anything
- GB ver.: Two more optional levels+one new weapon and one new ability (homing shot, astral projection for scouting ahead)
Playthrough - Video Review/Retrospective - Mini Review
Kaeru no Tame ni Kane wa Naru/For the Frog the Bell Tolls (GB, 1992)
Subgenre: Action Adventure/Maze Platformer Hybrid (Linear)
Perspective: TD (overworld)/SV (dungeons and hostile areas) Hybrid
Other: Automatic battles, Travel by boat in the late game (FF1?), Non-random encounters
- Good writing overall
- Good map systems (like Link's Awakening except without the "fog of war" on the world map)
- Save anywhere (two slots)
- Can choose to fight or bribe certain NPCs (latter leads to a fight anyway?)
- Scripted events make town exploration more exciting
- Transformations (frog - breathes underwater/eats bug enemies/jumps higher, snake - turns some enemies into blocks/crawls through tight spaces/can barely jump; each animal can talk to others of its kind)
- Some shortcuts (wells)
- Teleport back to the current dungeon's or last visited town's entrance (unlimited use warp door item)
- NPC encounters in dungeons
- Decent puzzles overall
Playthrough - Video Review - Mini Review
Star Control II: The Ur-Quan Masters (PC, 1992/3DO, 1994)
Subgenre: Adventure/Action Adventure/Free-roaming Shooter Hybrid (hover vehicle and space ship-based)
Perspective: FP/TD view Hybrid
Other: Ship and planet lander vehicle customization (crew/fuel/mineral capacity, thrust and rotation speed, weapons - can equip several modules for more firepower as well as one kind of secondary weapon modules, energy recharging, extra landers) - can buy tech upgrades for the flagship from a couple of species, items sell at their purchase value (makes experimenting with customization much easier), Fleshed out dialogue trees for NPC encounters with meaningful choices (options can change depending on prior actions or dialogue choices, one choice can take out two races by making them fight each other and one choice can start a civil war within another race, diplomacy is generally the way to go though it's possible to kill pretty much anyone, can sign contracts with slave traders and battle thralls, some hostile NPCs try to bluff the player), Dog fight/melee mode w/ 2-player vs. option, Build a ship fleet (follows your main ship outside of combat, one ship at a time is used during combat, 25 different ones) and ally with some alien races who'll provide you with escort ships that you can select and pilot in combat, Avoidable enemy encounters (black dots in hyperspace which is basically the game's overworld; can also talk to an enemy before engaging in battle and sometimes talk them out of it, separate one on one fights in looping arenas - Space Wars), Time limit of about 4 in-game years - time stops at various points though
- Mostly non-linear structure after the first couple of quests (multiple ways to deal with various races and allying with some of the potential allies is optional, several optional secrets, various events are on a hidden timer, alien ships often move about from planet to planet so combat can often be avoided, four ways to deal with the thraddash)
- Few directions when you begin besides the main objectives to go to Earth and to fight the Ur-Quan mentioned in the intro however at certain points you'll get clues from the earth starbase commander in case you haven't made progress in crucial areas
- Save anywhere outside of combat or in the middle of dialogue (multiple nameable slots)
- Large world (many solar systems/planetary systems large - something like 120+)
- Starflight-inspired exploration and NPC interaction gameplay (mostly open world, scan and explore planets via a dispatched vessel (mining, combat; can only dispatch if the atmosphere allows it and there's anything to mine), many different alien races with different personalities and motives)
- Dialogue speed options (can also skip lines)
- Some interesting items/devices (Emergency warp escape can be used to exit ship combat quickly (uses some fuel if used by the flagship rather than a fleet ship, fleet ships are placed in the flagship until a battle is over, there's also 5 seconds of delay where you have to be still before it activates so it can't be used right before death) - however if there are multiple nearby encounters then only the last one is avoidable following your escape (if surrounded while trying to leave a planet it can sometimes help to let them come to you and clump together more before escaping), Burvixese and Umgah HyperWave Broadcasters for impersonating certain NPCs+summoning the Melnorme+to communicate through planet slave shields, QuasiSpace Portal Spawner to warp to quasispace where you can fast travel - costs 10 fuel, Shofixti Maidens revive a certain species, Taalo Shield protects against psychic manipulation by a certain race, Talking Pet drives away a certain fleet of ships)
- Very good map system (shows star names and color which helps tell which ones are worth visiting for mining, max exploration range (one way trip) is shown with a circle based on your current fuel supply, spheres of influence are shown for races that you've gained info from via dialogue or searching their wrecked ships, auto-pilot command which can be canceled at will), zoomable, can type in stars to quickly select them (- key), radar while in hyperspace - shows enemies and stars, shows how much fuel a one-way trip will cost when moving the cursor around, alien spheres of influence are updated on the star map over the course of the game)
- Fast travel via QuasiSpace (a separate area (alternate dimension) mainly used for teleporting around the star map but you can also find a hidden species here)
- Various cool weapons (flamethrower, upgradeable auto-aiming laser for the flagship (8 levels), homing upgrade for the first three flagship weapons (auto-tracking systems, 3 levels), etc) and fleet ship combat tools (one per ship; Switch forms (x-wing or y-wing - different main weapons and one turns well while the other is fast), Confusion ray, Force shield, etc)
- Planets are present during ship combat and their gravitational fields have an effect on it
- Rich lore
- Temporary and partial message log (press space to review the current topic of the current conversation) - No full quest log
- Some environmental storytelling (the machines on the moon, precursor colonies and mines+relics, ruins)
- Some decent puzzles (dealing with tanaka, a lot of info can be gained from multiple sources, sun device use)
- Resource management (fuel, crew, minerals - turned into resource units for buying flagship upgrades and crew/fuel at the earth starbase, inventory space (can drop lesser minerals if needed), can salvage the wreckage of a defeated opponent ship for resources as well as biological data from creatures on planet surfaces which can be sold to one race for quest info/fuel/tech and planet lander upgrades, credits=alternate currency - can sell rainbow world info and buy fuel for the credits to then sell it to make money/resource units, can trade certain artifacts to the druuge for fuel (can fill up a whole ship of fuel tanks this way) or mauler ships)
- Slightly randomized landing location when dispatching a planet lander and you can't choose which direction you'll be facing when landing - done to avoid repeatedly landing and lifting off to avoid hazards though a short cooldown period could also have been used, Somewhat randomized starting positions when entering combat
- Can't conquer alien homeworlds
- Can have the CPU fight for you (cyborg toggle, can also speed these battles up) but it kinda sucks
- Energy-based weapons which recharge slowly during battle (different recharge speeds depending on the ship, can be upgraded for the flagship with dynamo (shorten delay before each recharge) or shiva (more energy regained per recharge) modules)
- No controller support toggle in-game - use external program or joytokey
- Limited number of total crew you can recruit on the starbase at earth before costs increase (+2 resource units after 1k - the 2k number mentioned in-game isn't actually true, if you ally with the Shofixti the cost goes back down and this tally is removed, if you sell crew as slaves then it goes up by 7 after 100 and then 15 after 250 (the human commander catches you) so it seems not worth it in the long run), Each fleet ship has a pre-determined primary and secondary weapon/tool which can't be switched out
- No strafing/dodging/backwards moves for the flagship however you can use the thrust controls to strafe and move backwards while firing
- Can have sex with one NPC
- Can't fight alongside allied NPC ships
- No in-game tutorial
- No game speed or fast-forward option
- Building exploration on planets is automated and communicated via a text box (same with empty starbases)
- No difficulty options
Ur-Quan Masters (3DO ver. port to PC w/ some tweaks):
- Fully voiced NPCs (pretty good overall)
- Rewind+fast forward dialogue options
- Much larger viewport for planet exploration - makes it easier to spot hazards in advance and feels less claustrophobic than the tiny window in the corner used in the first PC ver.
- Super Melee/head to head combat mode selectable in the main menu, Network support added for this mode
- Interface options (PC or 3DO-style for various things)
- In-game key config
- Smoother transitions between the few pre-set zoom levels during combat (they're still pretty quick and stop at certain points but it's better than jump cuts) - not added to solar system zoom levels though
- Non-nameable save slots - they instead show some valuable stats though so it's not that much of a loss
- No option of filling a Syreen Penetrator's crew to its peak of 42 crew from your Starbase here
- Slylandro Probes can appear in solar systems here (apparently it's a bug fix)
- The inventory capacity of the planet lander vehicle is a bit smaller here (50 vs 64) - the mineral capacity can be upgraded to 2x (bio data capacity is unlimited)
- The AI was improved to register the Thraddash afterburner flames as an attack (so using them is more of a challenge)
- The Mycon don't mention the location of their homeworld here (https://wiki.uqm.stack.nl/Star_Control_II_Gameplay_FAQ)
- No specific item explanations in-game (can learn some things from the earth satellite base/starbase commander)
- No movie intro unless you manually add it to the game?
- Time limit isn't mentioned here
Playthrough - Video Review - Mini Review
Star Trek: 25th Anniversary (GB, 1992)
Subgenre: Horizontal Shoot 'em up/Action Adventure (top down view) Hybrid, Collectathon element (12 disrupter pieces)
Perspective: SV/TD view hybrid
Other: Hub map
-Partially non-linear structure (choose your path towards each planet in-between the shoot 'em up levels - have to be quick though as you automatically move forward)
-Ship systems distribution mechanic (kinda like the tech distribution in PSIII)
-Tricorder item points you in the direction of disrupter pieces while on a planet
-Can examine objects and plantlife while on a planet
-No ability/tool gating
-Password save
-No planet maps (basic shoot 'em up level "map" which shows how close to the goal you are)
-Some switch puzzles
-No item inventory
Playthrough
Power Singer: Ellance Saga #1 (PC-98, 1992)
Subgenre: ARPG?
Perspective:
Find Gameplay
Exile II: Wicked Phenomenon (PCE CD, 1992)
Subgenre: ARPG
Perspective: Top down town exploration/Side view hostile areas & dungeons
Other: No hub map
- Linear structure plus very straightforward and short dungeons and hostile areas overall
- No ability gating
- Save feature (in towns, 3 slots)
- Switch between 4 characters on the fly (shared experience but also HP)
- No dungeon maps (barely needed though)
Playthrough - Video Review - Mini Review
Spiritual Warfare (NES/GB, 1992/PC, 1993/MD, 1994)(Unlicensed)
Subgenre: Zelda 1-like Action Adventure
Perspective: Top down view
Other: Religious (christian propaganda) theme
Some ability gating (bombs/vials for blowing up obstacles and raft for crossing water)
Playthrough (NES)
Outliers:
Darklands (PC, 1992) - WRPG w/ "real-time with pausing" battles
Wizkid (Multi)? - Action/Adventure/Puzzle hybrid
Nightshade (NES) - Quest Adventure/Fighting Hybrid, Tilted view
Shodai Nekketsu Kouha Kunio-Kun (SNES, 1992) - Beat ‘em up/Action Adventure w/ RPG elements, Tilted view
Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest (SNES, 1992) - JRPG/Action Adventure Hybrid (some ability gating such as an axe to cut through small trees and a bomb to blow up certain obstacles, hub map), TD view/TP view hybrid
-Non-random encounters outside of dungeons however most of them aren't skippable (they stand still and block narrow passages)
-Save anywhere (multiple save slots)
-More overworld interactions including jumping (tends to work more like using a key though)
-Well designed final dungeon w/ several gimmicks, loopback structure design, new encounters, and redesigned boss fights
-Multiple potential solutions in the Falls Basin dungeon
-Zelda-style dungeons in Pazuzu’s Tower and Spencer’s Place
-One-way "conveyor belt" tiles in some dungeons? (Lolo?)