Top Influential Games on The Popular Games That I like
These lists tend to be predictable as there's generally a correlation between most popular and most influential, and it's rare for something like a new or forgotten developer interview to come up that changes our perspective on game history.
A list of obscure games is naturally more interesting as it goes back to the innovative games that (potentially) influenced the streamlining, popularizing games, but also tends to get speculative.
I thought we could do a topic where we list games that inspired the games we like, followed by an explanation, to make it more personal and surprising.
Here's mine, mostly with wikipedia or mainstream articles as sources but with some speculation thrown in here and there.
These games were of course influenced by other things as well such as programming discoveries, the possibilities of new hardware and software tools, books, film, etc. A lot of this is documented on wikipedia for example.
1970s:
Colossal Cave Adventure (PDP-10, 1976/1977) - Adventure (2600)->possibly Dragon Slayer (based more on Caverns of Freitag (1982))->Legend of Zelda, Rogue, various later adventure games
Star Raiders (Atari 8-bit, 1979) - Elite, Solaris, Star Luster->Star Fox 2, Wing Commander (via Space Rogue possibly)->Star Wars: X-Wing
Space Invaders (ARC, 1978) - Galaxian->Galaga->Scramble (and Defender)->Xevious, etc. Space Invaders itself was inspired by Breakout (1976)
Western Gun/Gun Fight (ARC, 1975) - Robotron 2084, Twin stick gameplay
Akalabeth (PCs, 1979) - Its success led to the Ultima series which in turn led to a whole bunch of stuff (along with Wizardry's success in 1981) including Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy and Legend of Zelda
Superman (Atari 2600, 1979) - Not sure besides Adventure (A2600) probably but it has various interesting firsts like open world gameplay, object manipulation, a looping world, thieving enemies, friendly NPCs, transformations, not being able to die and shortcuts
Space War/SpaceWar! (1978) and Asteroids (1979) - Thrust, Gravity Force 1-2 & Gravitation, Star Control 1-2, Solar Jetman
Indy 800 (1975, single screen, MP) & Super Bug (1977, multidirectional scrolling) - R.C. Pro-Am (1988), Micro Machines (1991)
Heiankyo Alien (1979) - Trapping genre: Lode Runner, Spy vs. Spy, Home Alone (MD)->Tecmo's Deception (via King's Field or Ultima Underworld)
1980s:
Quest For Glory I: So You Want To Be A Hero (PC, 1989) - Merging contemporary Adventure games' interactive dialogue w/ RPG conventions and an open world w/ avoidable encounters. This and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (PC, 1989)'s dialogue trees seem to have had the most impact on changing later WRPGs.
Ultima IV (Multi, 1985/C64, 1986/AMI, 1988) - Also pivotal in making RPGs interesting
Super Mario Bros. (1985) and Mega Man (1987) - Led to better platformers, action platformers and platform adventure/metroidvania games. SMB itself was in part based on Excitebike (it used its game engine as a basis) and Kung Fu which they ported to the NES
Adventure (Atari 2600, 1980) - Led to Dragon Slayer (PC-88/PC-98/FM-7/X1, 1984)(according to Jeremy Parish; Some other sources say Tower of Druaga and Panorama Toh are DS's main inspirations and the former was in turn based on Wizardry, D&D and Pac-Man; it seems most based on (based more on Caverns of Freitag (1982)) which Falcom distributed for Apple in Japan) which combined it with Sokoban, and that in turn led to Zelda 1 (with some additional influence from Ultima and Black Onyx, possibly also Hydlide)
Dragon Slayer II: Xanadu (Multi, 1985) and Knightmare II: Maze of Galious (MSX, 1987) - Castlevania 2->CV: SotN via Zelda (and Super Metroid probably), possibly Wonder Boy 3/Monster World 2 (WBiML/Monster World 1 was influenced by Wizardry as well as Tower of Druaga and Dragon Buster which Nishizawa wanted to improve upon) and Zillion (was probably also influenced by Impossible Mission), La-Mulana, Faxanadu (1987)->Hollow Knight (2017)
Starflight (PC (1986/MD, 1991) - Star Control 1-2 (via Space Wars and Asteroids, Archon and Faery Tale Adventure), Mass Effect, Dwarf Fortress
Thunder Force II (X68K, 1988/MD, 1989) and Zanac/Zanac EX (MSX, 1986) - Helped lead to more accessible shoot 'em ups like the Aleste series, Gun Nac, Elemental Master, rest of the TF series, Hyper Duel and the "of Thunder" games, plus the hybrids Guardian Legend and Golvellius
Tempest (ARC, 1981) - Buck Rogers, Major Havoc and Gyruss which then led to Space Harrier, After Burner, Galaxy Force II, etc.
Populous (PCs, 1989/SMS, 1991) - SimCity 2000 and Powermonger, Civilization (via Empire, SimCity, the board game of the same name, Populous and possibly Incunabula (1984)), X-COM's perspective, Lord Monarch
Knight Lore (PCs, 1984/FDS, 1986) - Solstice, D/Generation, Landstalker, Light Crusader, Mario RPG, Dark Savior, Alundra 2
SimCity (AMI/PC, 1989) - Dune II (via Populous, Civilization, Herzog Zwei, Eye of the Beholder and Military Madness, possibly Ancient Art of War), Warcraft, Civilization, Caesar series
Military Madness/Nectaris (PCE, 1989)(TBS) - Langrisser (SRPG)(though it seems mainly influenced by Elthlead, Gaia no Monshou, Dione and Gaiflame), Dune II
Laser Squad (Spectrum/C64, 1988/AMI, 1989/PC, 1992) - X-COM (via Civilization and Populous)->Fallout (via Wasteland)
Kid Kool (NES, 1988) and Psycho Fox (SMS, 1989) - Sonic the Hedgehog (acceleration style, multiple routes, water skipping, springs, anthropomorphic player char)
Choplifter (PCs, 1982/ARC, 1985/SMS, 1986) - Jackal and Desert Strike but also Rescue Raiders (->Herzog 1, which in turn led to Herzog Zwei (possibly via Thunder Force II and/or Bosconian))
Herzog Zwei (MD, 1989)(proto-RTS/MOBA) - Dune II (via Civilization and Military Madness) and Warcraft
Archon (Multi, 1983) - Mail Order Monsters?, Starflight (more precisely Archon's designer advised Johnson), North & South (via Defender of the Crown probably), Vasteel 1, Star Control 1, Legend of Prince Valiant/Kingdom Crusade, possibly Syndicate and Lords of the Realm?, Total War?
Aztec (Apple II, 1982/Multi) - Plays kind of similarly to Karateka and Prince of Persia (which led to Another World, Flashback, Abe's Oddysee and Tomb Raider)
Thexder (1985)(inspired by Macross/Robotech and Gundam) - Target Earth/Assault Suits Leynos->Front Mission: Gun Hazard, Ranger X
Silver Ghost (PC-88, 1988)(TRPG w/ exploration between battles, real-time combat) - Shining Force
Utopia (Intellivision, 1981) - SimCity (but moreso Raid on Bungeling Bay (C64, 1984)), Civilization (this connection seems sketchy though and it seems based more on SimCity, Empire, Populous, the board game of the same name and Railroad Tycoon)
Tutankham (ARC, 1982) and Gauntlet (ARC, 1985) - Time Bandit, Dungeon Explorer 1-2, Arcus Odyssey, Dark Seal 1-2, Zombies Ate my Neighbors?, Xybots
I, Robot (ARC, 1984) - I'd speculate it led to more of a 3D focus by Namco and later Sega
The Castles of Dr. Creep (1984)(2-player puzzle platformer) - Possibly Lost Vikings
Below the Root (Multi, 1984) - Hard to say but it is technically one of the first platform adventure/mv games, with some RPG and Adventure elements in the mix
S.T.U.N. Runner (ARC, 1989) - Similar to Wipeout but then again maybe not that influential
Exile (Electron, 1988/AMI & C64, 1991)(Superior Software/Audiogenic) - Similar to Pixeljunk Shooter, Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet and the like
It Came from the Desert (AMI, 1989) - RPG dialogue trees?, Some western horror games?
Tetris (1984) - Falling Block/Matching Puzzle games
The Magic of Scheherazade (NES, 1987) - Little Ninja Brothers?, Ocarina of Time?
Clash at Demonhead (NES, 1989) - Popful Mail?, Phantom 2040, Front Mission: Gun Hazard, Shaman King (GBA)
River City Ransom (NES, 1989) - Capcom's D&D BEU's?, Guardian Heroes?, Princess Crown?, DMC?, Dragon's Crown?
Silent Service (Multi, 1985) and Covert Action - Pirates!? (possibly via Starflight and/or Ultima 3-4)
Alien: The Computer Game (1986)(2D squad tactics) - Space Hulk and Hired Guns possibly
The Ninja/Ninja Princess (1985) - Run 'n Gun and action games with dodge moves (1942 (ARC, 1984), Spatter (ARC, 1984) and Shootout (ARC, 1985) also had one)
Forbidden Forest (1983) - Possibly Cabal->Blood Bros, Wild Guns
1990s:
King's Bounty (PC, 1990/MD, 1991) and Master of Magic (PC, 1994) - Heroes of Might and Magic series, non-random encounters which could join or flee if the player was stronger
Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty (PC, 1992/AMI, 1993/MD, 1993) - Warcaft series, C&C series, Lords of the Realm 1-2, Total Annihilation
Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss (PC, 1992) - System Shock 1-2, Elder Scrolls 2: Daggerfall, Deus Ex, Bioshock, Half-Life 2, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines, (and ES1, Tomb Raider, Arx Fatalis, Gears of War)
Star Control II (PC, 1992) - Fallout, Mass Effect, Stellaris
Civilization (PC, 1991) - Dune II, X-COM, Master of Magic->Heroes of Might & Magic, Age of Empires
Power Monger/Powermonger (AMI, 1990/PC, 1991/MD/FMT, 1992/SNES, 1993/MCD, 1994) - Magic Carpet->Dungeon Keeper and Populous 3
Another World (AMI/PC/MD, 1991/PC Remake, ) - Flashback, Ico, Limbo, Silent Hill?, influenced Kojima and Suda
Lemmings (AMI, 1991/SMS, 1992) - Warcraft, Ico
Super Mario 64 (N64, 1996) and Tomb Raider (PS1/SAT/PC, 1996) - 3D TP view action games with free movement
Catacomb 3D (PC, 1991) - Wolf3D->Doom->Powerslave/Exhumed and Strife
Earthbound/Mother 2 (SNES, 1994) - Good writing and satire in JRPGs, Mother 3
Kaeru no Tame ni Kane wa Naru/For the Frog the Bell Tolls (GB, 1992) - Zelda: Link's Awakening
Beatmania (ARC, 1997) - Guitar Hero, Elite Beat Agents
Theme Park (PC/AMI/3DO, 1994/MD/MCD/SNES, 1995) - Dungeon Keeper, Theme Hospital
Outcast (PC, 1999) - Not sure but it pioneered various things that became more standard in the '00s or even '10s: High degree of interactivity in a detailed and open-ended 3D environment, fully voiced NPCs, good quest log, systemic elements like weakening enemy patrols via their supply chains, more natural NPC behavior, detailed and zoomable mini-map, etc.
Virtua Fighter (ARC, 1993) - Major influence on the 3D focus of the PS1, Tomb Raider, Quake
Radia Senki: Reimeihen (Chronicle of the Radia War)/Tower of Radia (NES, 1991) - FF Adventure predates it by about half a year but it seems to have influenced Secret of Mana
X-COM: UFO Defense/UFO: Enemy Unknown (PC/AMI, 1994) - Fallout (via Wasteland), Civ II: Fantastic Worlds, possibly Jagged Alliance 2 and Warhammer 40K: Chaos Gate, Xenonauts
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (PS1, 1997) - Shaman King 1-2 (GBA, via Aria of Sorrow), Bunny Must Die, possibly Mega Man ZX, Rogue Legacy, much later Timespinner, Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, Blasphemous
Wing Commander->X-Wing and Tie Fighter, Subwar 2050
Phantasy Star IV: End of the Millennium (MD, 1993) - Some key similarities to FF12
Corporation/Cyber-Cop (AMI/ST, 1990/PC, 1991/MD, 1992) - Some similarities to System Shock
Puzzle & Action: Tant-R (ARC, 1993/MD, 1994) - Mario Party and Wario Ware?
Catrap/Pit Man (GB, 1990)(puzzle platformer w/ rewind) - PoP: Sands of Time?
Crystalis/God Slayer (NES, 1990) - Soleil and Beyond Oasis?
Soul Edge/Soul Blade (PS1, 1996) - Story modes in fighting games?
Armored Core (PS1, 1997) - Metal Wolf Chaos, Good blend between mech-based TPS and Mech Sim
Stunts/4D Sports Driving (PC, 1990) - TrackMania?
The Divide: Enemies Within (PS1/PC, 1996)
Shadowrun (SNES, 1993) and Shadowrun (MD, 1994)
Alone in the Dark (PC, 1992) - Resident Evil
Dragon Quest IV (1990) and Final Fantasy IV (1991) - Better characterization/char development in JRPGs
2000s:
WIP
A list of obscure games is naturally more interesting as it goes back to the innovative games that (potentially) influenced the streamlining, popularizing games, but also tends to get speculative.
I thought we could do a topic where we list games that inspired the games we like, followed by an explanation, to make it more personal and surprising.
Here's mine, mostly with wikipedia or mainstream articles as sources but with some speculation thrown in here and there.
These games were of course influenced by other things as well such as programming discoveries, the possibilities of new hardware and software tools, books, film, etc. A lot of this is documented on wikipedia for example.
1970s:
Colossal Cave Adventure (PDP-10, 1976/1977) - Adventure (2600)->possibly Dragon Slayer (based more on Caverns of Freitag (1982))->Legend of Zelda, Rogue, various later adventure games
Star Raiders (Atari 8-bit, 1979) - Elite, Solaris, Star Luster->Star Fox 2, Wing Commander (via Space Rogue possibly)->Star Wars: X-Wing
Space Invaders (ARC, 1978) - Galaxian->Galaga->Scramble (and Defender)->Xevious, etc. Space Invaders itself was inspired by Breakout (1976)
Western Gun/Gun Fight (ARC, 1975) - Robotron 2084, Twin stick gameplay
Akalabeth (PCs, 1979) - Its success led to the Ultima series which in turn led to a whole bunch of stuff (along with Wizardry's success in 1981) including Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy and Legend of Zelda
Superman (Atari 2600, 1979) - Not sure besides Adventure (A2600) probably but it has various interesting firsts like open world gameplay, object manipulation, a looping world, thieving enemies, friendly NPCs, transformations, not being able to die and shortcuts
Space War/SpaceWar! (1978) and Asteroids (1979) - Thrust, Gravity Force 1-2 & Gravitation, Star Control 1-2, Solar Jetman
Indy 800 (1975, single screen, MP) & Super Bug (1977, multidirectional scrolling) - R.C. Pro-Am (1988), Micro Machines (1991)
Heiankyo Alien (1979) - Trapping genre: Lode Runner, Spy vs. Spy, Home Alone (MD)->Tecmo's Deception (via King's Field or Ultima Underworld)
1980s:
Quest For Glory I: So You Want To Be A Hero (PC, 1989) - Merging contemporary Adventure games' interactive dialogue w/ RPG conventions and an open world w/ avoidable encounters. This and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (PC, 1989)'s dialogue trees seem to have had the most impact on changing later WRPGs.
Ultima IV (Multi, 1985/C64, 1986/AMI, 1988) - Also pivotal in making RPGs interesting
Super Mario Bros. (1985) and Mega Man (1987) - Led to better platformers, action platformers and platform adventure/metroidvania games. SMB itself was in part based on Excitebike (it used its game engine as a basis) and Kung Fu which they ported to the NES
Adventure (Atari 2600, 1980) - Led to Dragon Slayer (PC-88/PC-98/FM-7/X1, 1984)(according to Jeremy Parish; Some other sources say Tower of Druaga and Panorama Toh are DS's main inspirations and the former was in turn based on Wizardry, D&D and Pac-Man; it seems most based on (based more on Caverns of Freitag (1982)) which Falcom distributed for Apple in Japan) which combined it with Sokoban, and that in turn led to Zelda 1 (with some additional influence from Ultima and Black Onyx, possibly also Hydlide)
Dragon Slayer II: Xanadu (Multi, 1985) and Knightmare II: Maze of Galious (MSX, 1987) - Castlevania 2->CV: SotN via Zelda (and Super Metroid probably), possibly Wonder Boy 3/Monster World 2 (WBiML/Monster World 1 was influenced by Wizardry as well as Tower of Druaga and Dragon Buster which Nishizawa wanted to improve upon) and Zillion (was probably also influenced by Impossible Mission), La-Mulana, Faxanadu (1987)->Hollow Knight (2017)
Starflight (PC (1986/MD, 1991) - Star Control 1-2 (via Space Wars and Asteroids, Archon and Faery Tale Adventure), Mass Effect, Dwarf Fortress
Thunder Force II (X68K, 1988/MD, 1989) and Zanac/Zanac EX (MSX, 1986) - Helped lead to more accessible shoot 'em ups like the Aleste series, Gun Nac, Elemental Master, rest of the TF series, Hyper Duel and the "of Thunder" games, plus the hybrids Guardian Legend and Golvellius
Tempest (ARC, 1981) - Buck Rogers, Major Havoc and Gyruss which then led to Space Harrier, After Burner, Galaxy Force II, etc.
Populous (PCs, 1989/SMS, 1991) - SimCity 2000 and Powermonger, Civilization (via Empire, SimCity, the board game of the same name, Populous and possibly Incunabula (1984)), X-COM's perspective, Lord Monarch
Knight Lore (PCs, 1984/FDS, 1986) - Solstice, D/Generation, Landstalker, Light Crusader, Mario RPG, Dark Savior, Alundra 2
SimCity (AMI/PC, 1989) - Dune II (via Populous, Civilization, Herzog Zwei, Eye of the Beholder and Military Madness, possibly Ancient Art of War), Warcraft, Civilization, Caesar series
Military Madness/Nectaris (PCE, 1989)(TBS) - Langrisser (SRPG)(though it seems mainly influenced by Elthlead, Gaia no Monshou, Dione and Gaiflame), Dune II
Laser Squad (Spectrum/C64, 1988/AMI, 1989/PC, 1992) - X-COM (via Civilization and Populous)->Fallout (via Wasteland)
Kid Kool (NES, 1988) and Psycho Fox (SMS, 1989) - Sonic the Hedgehog (acceleration style, multiple routes, water skipping, springs, anthropomorphic player char)
Choplifter (PCs, 1982/ARC, 1985/SMS, 1986) - Jackal and Desert Strike but also Rescue Raiders (->Herzog 1, which in turn led to Herzog Zwei (possibly via Thunder Force II and/or Bosconian))
Herzog Zwei (MD, 1989)(proto-RTS/MOBA) - Dune II (via Civilization and Military Madness) and Warcraft
Archon (Multi, 1983) - Mail Order Monsters?, Starflight (more precisely Archon's designer advised Johnson), North & South (via Defender of the Crown probably), Vasteel 1, Star Control 1, Legend of Prince Valiant/Kingdom Crusade, possibly Syndicate and Lords of the Realm?, Total War?
Aztec (Apple II, 1982/Multi) - Plays kind of similarly to Karateka and Prince of Persia (which led to Another World, Flashback, Abe's Oddysee and Tomb Raider)
Thexder (1985)(inspired by Macross/Robotech and Gundam) - Target Earth/Assault Suits Leynos->Front Mission: Gun Hazard, Ranger X
Silver Ghost (PC-88, 1988)(TRPG w/ exploration between battles, real-time combat) - Shining Force
Utopia (Intellivision, 1981) - SimCity (but moreso Raid on Bungeling Bay (C64, 1984)), Civilization (this connection seems sketchy though and it seems based more on SimCity, Empire, Populous, the board game of the same name and Railroad Tycoon)
Tutankham (ARC, 1982) and Gauntlet (ARC, 1985) - Time Bandit, Dungeon Explorer 1-2, Arcus Odyssey, Dark Seal 1-2, Zombies Ate my Neighbors?, Xybots
I, Robot (ARC, 1984) - I'd speculate it led to more of a 3D focus by Namco and later Sega
The Castles of Dr. Creep (1984)(2-player puzzle platformer) - Possibly Lost Vikings
Below the Root (Multi, 1984) - Hard to say but it is technically one of the first platform adventure/mv games, with some RPG and Adventure elements in the mix
S.T.U.N. Runner (ARC, 1989) - Similar to Wipeout but then again maybe not that influential
Exile (Electron, 1988/AMI & C64, 1991)(Superior Software/Audiogenic) - Similar to Pixeljunk Shooter, Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet and the like
It Came from the Desert (AMI, 1989) - RPG dialogue trees?, Some western horror games?
Tetris (1984) - Falling Block/Matching Puzzle games
The Magic of Scheherazade (NES, 1987) - Little Ninja Brothers?, Ocarina of Time?
Clash at Demonhead (NES, 1989) - Popful Mail?, Phantom 2040, Front Mission: Gun Hazard, Shaman King (GBA)
River City Ransom (NES, 1989) - Capcom's D&D BEU's?, Guardian Heroes?, Princess Crown?, DMC?, Dragon's Crown?
Silent Service (Multi, 1985) and Covert Action - Pirates!? (possibly via Starflight and/or Ultima 3-4)
Alien: The Computer Game (1986)(2D squad tactics) - Space Hulk and Hired Guns possibly
The Ninja/Ninja Princess (1985) - Run 'n Gun and action games with dodge moves (1942 (ARC, 1984), Spatter (ARC, 1984) and Shootout (ARC, 1985) also had one)
Forbidden Forest (1983) - Possibly Cabal->Blood Bros, Wild Guns
1990s:
King's Bounty (PC, 1990/MD, 1991) and Master of Magic (PC, 1994) - Heroes of Might and Magic series, non-random encounters which could join or flee if the player was stronger
Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty (PC, 1992/AMI, 1993/MD, 1993) - Warcaft series, C&C series, Lords of the Realm 1-2, Total Annihilation
Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss (PC, 1992) - System Shock 1-2, Elder Scrolls 2: Daggerfall, Deus Ex, Bioshock, Half-Life 2, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines, (and ES1, Tomb Raider, Arx Fatalis, Gears of War)
Star Control II (PC, 1992) - Fallout, Mass Effect, Stellaris
Civilization (PC, 1991) - Dune II, X-COM, Master of Magic->Heroes of Might & Magic, Age of Empires
Power Monger/Powermonger (AMI, 1990/PC, 1991/MD/FMT, 1992/SNES, 1993/MCD, 1994) - Magic Carpet->Dungeon Keeper and Populous 3
Another World (AMI/PC/MD, 1991/PC Remake, ) - Flashback, Ico, Limbo, Silent Hill?, influenced Kojima and Suda
Lemmings (AMI, 1991/SMS, 1992) - Warcraft, Ico
Super Mario 64 (N64, 1996) and Tomb Raider (PS1/SAT/PC, 1996) - 3D TP view action games with free movement
Catacomb 3D (PC, 1991) - Wolf3D->Doom->Powerslave/Exhumed and Strife
Earthbound/Mother 2 (SNES, 1994) - Good writing and satire in JRPGs, Mother 3
Kaeru no Tame ni Kane wa Naru/For the Frog the Bell Tolls (GB, 1992) - Zelda: Link's Awakening
Beatmania (ARC, 1997) - Guitar Hero, Elite Beat Agents
Theme Park (PC/AMI/3DO, 1994/MD/MCD/SNES, 1995) - Dungeon Keeper, Theme Hospital
Outcast (PC, 1999) - Not sure but it pioneered various things that became more standard in the '00s or even '10s: High degree of interactivity in a detailed and open-ended 3D environment, fully voiced NPCs, good quest log, systemic elements like weakening enemy patrols via their supply chains, more natural NPC behavior, detailed and zoomable mini-map, etc.
Virtua Fighter (ARC, 1993) - Major influence on the 3D focus of the PS1, Tomb Raider, Quake
Radia Senki: Reimeihen (Chronicle of the Radia War)/Tower of Radia (NES, 1991) - FF Adventure predates it by about half a year but it seems to have influenced Secret of Mana
X-COM: UFO Defense/UFO: Enemy Unknown (PC/AMI, 1994) - Fallout (via Wasteland), Civ II: Fantastic Worlds, possibly Jagged Alliance 2 and Warhammer 40K: Chaos Gate, Xenonauts
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (PS1, 1997) - Shaman King 1-2 (GBA, via Aria of Sorrow), Bunny Must Die, possibly Mega Man ZX, Rogue Legacy, much later Timespinner, Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, Blasphemous
Wing Commander->X-Wing and Tie Fighter, Subwar 2050
Phantasy Star IV: End of the Millennium (MD, 1993) - Some key similarities to FF12
Corporation/Cyber-Cop (AMI/ST, 1990/PC, 1991/MD, 1992) - Some similarities to System Shock
Puzzle & Action: Tant-R (ARC, 1993/MD, 1994) - Mario Party and Wario Ware?
Catrap/Pit Man (GB, 1990)(puzzle platformer w/ rewind) - PoP: Sands of Time?
Crystalis/God Slayer (NES, 1990) - Soleil and Beyond Oasis?
Soul Edge/Soul Blade (PS1, 1996) - Story modes in fighting games?
Armored Core (PS1, 1997) - Metal Wolf Chaos, Good blend between mech-based TPS and Mech Sim
Stunts/4D Sports Driving (PC, 1990) - TrackMania?
The Divide: Enemies Within (PS1/PC, 1996)
Shadowrun (SNES, 1993) and Shadowrun (MD, 1994)
Alone in the Dark (PC, 1992) - Resident Evil
Dragon Quest IV (1990) and Final Fantasy IV (1991) - Better characterization/char development in JRPGs
2000s:
WIP
