Games which really impressed you with their innovation

[Asura]

The AKI wrestling games on the N64 deserve a mention. It wasn't a matter of simply pummelling your opponent/s until their health bar hit zero - it was about building up momentum and dishing out a mass of pain as stylishly, quickly and brutally as possible. You could be getting your arse handed to you from start to finish and come back with a glorious victory. They captured everything exciting about wrestling in a way no other wrestling games have and I'd argue they stand comfortably alongside the best beat-em-ups to grace any system.

An online AKI wrestling game that lets us create our own fighters, form alliances, grudges, invade other matches and take part in big tournaments would be the best thing ever.

Was WCW vs NWO Revenge one of these?

If so, then good callout. That was a surprisingly good game, even for a non-wrestling fan.

[Nu-Eclipse]

Was WCW vs NWO Revenge one of these?

If so, then good callout. That was a surprisingly good game, even for a non-wrestling fan.

Yep. Both N64 WCW vs. NWO games (World Tour & Revenge) and both WWF games (WrestleMania 2000 and No Mercy) for the N64 were made by AKI. Excellent wrestling games.

Human's Fire Pro Wrestling series was quality too - they forced you to rely on great timing to execute your moves and it worked really well. Loved the SNES/SFC games in the series.

[nakamura]

I've not played Fire Pro, always fancied them even as a non wrestling fan.

[eastyy]

any game that has multiple endings such as chrono trigger and guardian heroes

[Mayhem]

No. I think Knights of the Round did a blocking mechanic first.

Way of the Exploding Fist had a blocking mechanism as well, but I'm guessing the discussion is more about scrolling fighters rather than one-on-one games.

[nakamura]

Yes, mainly because so many were derivative and such things were less common.

[Asura]

People have mentioned one of them already, but I remember being very impressed by Metal Gear Solid, Vagrant Story and (most of) Front Mission 3, for doing the much of their cutscene/narrative content in the game engine, rather than with pre-rendered sequences.

It made me reflect at the time on how that was likely to be the shape of things to come. These days the majority of games do it (or their cutscenes are designed to look in-engine at least).

Also Fear Effect; similar - Final Fantasy and Resident Evil had already done 3D characters on detailed 2D backdrops, but that was the first game which made good on those backdrops being videos, as opposed to images (or sometimes GIF-type animations).

[Dogg Thang]

Didn't Mr Bones on the Saturn do that years earlier? I could be wrong - I never played the game but I have vague memories of reviews saying that at the time.

[H-Man]

Was WCW vs NWO Revenge one of these?

If so, then good callout. That was a surprisingly good game, even for a non-wrestling fan.

Yup. I wasn't a wrestling fan either btw - all a bit too soap opera and scripted - but in the context of a video game it all made sense. The games played out so well they could have been scripted!

[Asura]

Didn't Mr Bones on the Saturn do that years earlier? I could be wrong - I never played the game but I have vague memories of reviews saying that at the time.

I think that was a 2D game though, at heart. Fear Effect was like Resident Evil, but with video backdrops.

It probably wasn't the very first game to do it in retrospect, but it was the first I remember seeing do it well.

[Anpanman]

I liked what Gran Turismo did, brought a 'life' mode to a driving game. Used real cars, taught you a bit about racing driving and upgrading car parts.

The replays were a boon too.

[Mayhem]

Revs was the ultimate early doors proper driving simulator. Not easy to race at all!

[Sam The Man]

Im gonna say Nights Into Dreams with it's unique style and gameplay. Also the music changed depending on how well you were playing! Seamon and Katamari Damacy are another 2 i can think of.

[Terry Tibbs]

I was a fan of the rocket tunelling in Red Faction. "Try me, miner!"

[Brad]

Demon's Souls. Leaving messages for other players, ghosts of other players dying, calling for help from ransoms, invasions and the picacle, being the boss is a boss battle. Felt like a really innovative use of online functionality. Might not have been the first on all of those but they were all firsts for me.