punchy71 Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 Hello, I like role playing games and I was thinking of trying to compile a list of the first 10 or 20 console rpg's. I think I already know what the first one was. It was Adventure for the Atari 2600. But after that I could use a lot of help in compiling a list. Thanks in advance for any help. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fiddlepaddle Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 (edited) I'd suggest that the first was actually a text-based mainframe game called Adventure (I think VCS game was inspired by that). Edit. I guess using a mainframe as your console was kind of pricey, though... Edited November 17, 2015 by fiddlepaddle 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+thegoldenband Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 I don't know if I'd call Atari 2600 Adventure an RPG per se -- more of an action/puzzle game, really. Maybe Dragonstomper is the first true RPG on the VCS? On the Odyssey^2, Quest for the Rings flirts with the edge of RPGness. On the Intellivision, AD&D: Cloudy Mountain is borderline, but AD&D: Treasure of Tarmin is definitely an RPG. Tower of Doom was delayed until 1987, but would've been out earlier had it not been for the crash, and it's a true roguelike. There are also a few unreleased titles which would've been tantalizingly early: Lord of the Dungeon on ColecoVision, Dark Tower for Vectrex...a lot of good stuff was curtailed by the crash. I personally think of the cart-based computer games as being very much related to the console libraries of the same time. If so, then Dungeons of Daggorath for Tandy CoCo would be a major addition, and there are important cartridge games on other platforms like the TI-99/4A. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatPix Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 There is Dragonstomper for the Starpath Supercharger, on Atari 2600 then. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Dangerous Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 Pong 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eltigro Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 I think some of this depends on your definition of "role playing game". I mean, what elements of the genre are you looking for? An experience system? Turn based battles? A story? Some of the things that many people would consider to make a game an RPG might not show up until the SMS and NES (Phatansy Star/Final Fantasy/Dragon Quest). But some other elements appeared much earlier in text adventures and such (though I'm not sure how many of these were on consoles). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Usotsuki Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 I think most of the genre can trace itself back to Ultima and Wizardry, não é? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BydoEmpire Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 Dragonstomper, probably, though I didn't know it existed back then. Treasure of Tarmin was a year later, but really took it up a notch and is clearly a traditional RPG in every respect. I didn't know consoles could do that kind of game at the time. Mind-blowing, and one of the most 'ahead of its time' games ever. To me the separation of RPGs and adventure games is outward-facing statistics: hit points, experience levels, weapons & spells with different damage ranges based on stats instead of timing of button pushes. Usually a lack of twitch-based combat, as well, even if not entirely turn-based. Of course, there are a lot of sub-genres of RPGs so the line is blurry. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixelboy Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 Let's not forget about Rogue, Nethack, and all those "roguelike" text-based adventure games. EDIT: Oops, just noticed the word "console" in the thread title. Never mind... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cimerians Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 The early one's were on computers Apple/Atari/Commodore. The first game I played on a console that felt like an RPG was "Gateway to Apshai" on Colecovision. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great Hierophant Posted November 22, 2015 Share Posted November 22, 2015 During the 1980s, I count nine traditional, pure RPGs released for consoles in the US : DragonStomper - Atari 2600 Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Treasure of Tarmin - Intellivision Tower of Doom - Intellivision Gateway to Apshai - Colecovision Ultima: Exodus - Nintendo Entertainment System Dragon Warrior - Nintendo Entertainment System Miracle Warriors : Seal of the Dark Lord - Sega Master System Phantasy Star - Sega Master System Phantasy Star II - Sega Genesis 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jfitzenr Posted November 26, 2015 Share Posted November 26, 2015 I think some of this depends on your definition of "role playing game". Yeah this is the really tough part. I mean, in Pong you play the role of a paddle. In Mario you play the role of a plumber or something. In Black Ops you play the role of a 13 year old with a headset and anger issues. Lord of the Dungeon comes to mind, even though it was unreleased but I think that would've probably fit in. Swordquest kinda fits in, but I think GH hits it; really when you get to what we'd slam-dunk, no-arguments call an RPG, it pretty much starts in the NES era. Some of those were ports of PC and Computer stuff tho. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+fdr4prez Posted November 26, 2015 Share Posted November 26, 2015 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_role-playing_video_games:_1975_to_1985 This includes consoles and computers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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