I started compiling information on titles that were related or similar to Saturn games over a decade ago and never really stopped. My original intention was to film gameplay footage of some of these for my YouTube channel, but that ship has long since sailed at this point. Anyway, it would be a shame for all that work to go to waste, and seeing as how most other lists of this sort are either a bit crap or outright AI-generated garbage, I figure it’s worth making it publicly available.
If anyone out there would like to help further build this list, there’s a roadmap below of games and franchises that I’ve yet to add along with research notes. Contact me via Twitter.
This is a list of Saturn titles I’ve yet to add to the directory along with criteria for similar games.
| TO ADD | SEARCH PARAMETERS & NOTES | STATUS |
|---|
| 194X (Franchise)
| Capcom’s 194X games inspired a ton of WWII-themed shmups. Its first three entries in the series are set in the Pacific Theater and remain
somewhat
more grounded in reality than later entries, so those two points could potentially serve as limiting factors for determining what qualifies for this table if the list gets too long.
| Medium priority
|
| 3D Lemmings
| Any puzzle game that follows the traditional Lemmings formula on a 3D playfield would qualify, IMO.
| Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
3×3 Eyes:
Kyuusei Koushu S
| | |
| 6 Inch My Darling
| | |
| Actua Golf
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Actua Soccer
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Advanced V.G.
| I’d like to find some other fighters like this with all-female rosters and similar mechanics without falling into the trap of just rattling off every game in a subgenre. IIRC, the more unique aspect of AVG’s theme has something to do with the girls all being waitresses, but I seriously doubt any other fighter before or since has done that, lol.
| Low priority
|
Advanced
World War:
The Rise & Fall
of the Thousand Year Reich
| | |
After Burner II
(Sega Ages)
| Very fast-moving, behind-view railshooters — usually featuring some sort of lock-on mechanic. Doesn’t necessarily need fighter jets, but having them obviously makes a candidate more likely for inclusion.
| Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
Ai Iijima:
Good Island Cafe
| | |
| Air Management ’96
| | |
| Airs Adventure
| | |
| Albert Odyssey [Gaiden]: Legend of Eldean
| | |
| Album Club: Mune Kyun Saint Paulia Jogakuin
| There’s a bit more going on here, but this is essentially Virtua Photo Studio minus the outright nudity. The only challenge here will be determining how much of the VPS table to copy over.
| High priority
|
| Alien Trilogy
| | |
All Japan
Pro Wrestling
Featuring Virtua
| If I had to pinpoint the defining feature of AJPWFV, it would probably be the crowd meter. I’m not sure if any other wrestling games have something similar, but if they do, they’d probably belong in this table. The ability to “work over” certain body parts also seems pretty novel for a game of this time period, but I imagine that’s gotta be pretty standard in wrestling games these days, right? Anyway, for the moment I’ve limited the table to sequels and what was probably the game’s direct competitor in the Yuke’s-developed New Japan games that appeared in arcades and on PS1.
| Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
Alone in the
Dark 2
| | |
| Amagi Shien
| | |
| AMOK
| | |
| Andretti Racing
| | |
AnEarth
Fantasy Stories:
The First Chapter
| | |
Angel Paradise
(Franchise)
| FMV jigsaw puzzles featuring models / beautiful women.
| Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Angelique (Franchise)
| | |
| Ankh (Franchise)
| | |
| Another Memories
| | |
Antarctic
Adventure
(Franchise)
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
Aqua-World:
The Marvels
of the Sea
| | |
| Aquazone (Franchise)
| Aquarium simulator. There’s a bunch of these out there, so it might be fair to say it’s a simulation subgenre at this point. That makes me hesitant to bother tackling this.
| Low priority
|
| Arcana Strikes
| | |
| Area 51
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Assault Rigs
| | |
Assault Suit
Leynos II
| Horizontally scrolling run-and-gun mech game, no forced scrolling, customizable weapons loadout, shot angle can be controlled with a reasonable degree of precision.
| Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Astal
| In terms of aesthetics, Astal has a crystal theme and makes heavy use of pastels. I haven’t been able to find any other platformer like it in that regard. Gameplay-wise, you have a number of fairly unique attacks — a few of which
might
have been replicated elsewhere at some point. Limited command over a secondary character (the bird) definitely feels like something another platformer would have done.
| Low priority
|
Asteroids
(Arcade’s GH)
| There are far too many Asteroids clones out there for me to bother…
| Low priority
|
| Astra Superstars
| 2D perspective, strictly limited to aerial combat.
| Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
Asuka 120%
(Franchise)
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Atelier Marie
| Long-running franchise with a lot of sequels. I don’t know jack about it so coming up with clone criteria will take some time.
| Low priority
|
Athletic Land
(Konami Ant.)
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
Atlantis:
The Lost Tales
| | |
| Ayakashi Ninden Kunoichiban Plus
| | |
Ayrton Senna
Personal Talk
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| BackGuiner (Franchise)
| | |
Baku Baku
Animal
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Bakuretsu Hunter (Franchise)
| | |
| Baldy Land
| | |
| Baroque
| | Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
Batman Forever:
The Arcade Game
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Batsugun
| | |
| Battle Athletess Daiundoukai
| | |
| Battle Garegga
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Battle Monsters
| | |
| Battle Stations
| | |
| BattleSport
| | Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
Battlezone
(Arcade’s GH)
| Keeping the list of similar games to just BZ clones that use vector graphics might be a way to prevent things from getting too lengthy.
| Medium priority
|
| Beach de Reach!
| | |
| Big Thanks Super Keirin: Dream with Keirin 50 Years
| | |
Bishoujo
Variety Game: Rapyulus Panic
| A minigame collection featuring anime girls that you defeat and partially undress. There is an attempt to mix in adventure elements, but it’s so underdeveloped that it may as well not be there.
| Low priority
|
| Black/Matrix
| | |
| Blam! Machinehead
| | |
| Blast Chamber
| | |
| Blast Wind
| | |
| Blazing Dragons
| | |
Blue Breaker:
Ken yorimo Hohoemi wo
| | |
Blue Seed:
The Secret Records of Kushinada
| | |
| Bomberman (Franchise)
| Huge franchise, lotta clones… I could narrow things down by keeping it more in line with the aesthetics or gameplay innovations of Saturn Bomberman — unfortunately, I think the latter is mostly limited to the expansive multiplayer mode. Ugh… Also gotta account for Bomberman Fight and Bomberman Wars.
| Low priority
|
| Bouken Katsugeki Mono Mono
| | |
| Brain Dead 13
| | |
| Break Thru!
| | |
Bubble Bobble
(Franchise)
| Symphony is pretty much just BB2 and there are a ton of BB clones to pick from. There are also a crapload of a Puzzle Bobble clones, so putting those two under the same table might get confusing. And then there’s Rainbow Islands too…
| Low priority
|
Bubbles
(Arcade’s GH)
| | |
| Bug! (Franchise)
| Early 3D platformer where all stages are suspended in the air and movement is entirely limited to the four cardinal directions.
| Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Bulk Slash
| Transformable mech shooter with a multi-lock homing missile mechanic when in fighter mode. Levels generally allow ground combat, but flight tends to be the best approach in most cases. The defining feature here is the collectible female navigators, which pop up on screen to relay information to the pilot and provide various perks and stat boosts. Indie title Nightshift Galaxy is specifically inspired by this game. Other than that, the next closest games might be a few of the early 3D Macross titles.
| Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
| Burning Rangers
| | Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
| Can Can Bunny (Franchise)
| | |
| Casper
| | |
Castle of Illusion
(Sega Ages)
| | Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
Castlevania: Symphony
of the Night
| Who hasn’t done a Symphony of the Night clone at this point? This would take quite a while, and I’d probably end up adding about half-a-dozen clones every damn year for a piss poor PS1-to-Saturn conversion. If Konami didn’t care, then why should I?
| Low priority
|
| Cat the Ripper: 13-ninme no Tanteishi
| | |
Centipede
(Arcade’s GH)
| There’s a ton of Centipede clones out there, but not so many that this would feel impossible.
| Medium priority
|
| Chaos Control
| | |
| Chariot: Adventure through the Sky (Wonder 3: AG)
| | |
| Chibi Maruko-chan no Taisen Pazurudama
| One of the many versions of Puzzle-dama, which was Konami’s take on Puyo Puyo. Tokimeki Memorial also has a Puzzle-dama spinoff on the system.
| Low priority
|
Chisato Moritaka:
Watarasebashi /
Lala Sunshine
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
Chou Aniki:
The Ultimate Man’s Counterattack
| Gotta find other homoerotic shmups (not something I ever expected to find myself saying). Preliminary searches haven’t yielded much in the way of similar games, but Wikipedia mentions a couple unrelated ones in which CA characters appear, so at least there’s that.
| Medium priority
|
| Choro Q Park
| Takara has farmed out the Choro Q license to various development studios across three decades, so there are quite a few games I could list here. That said, I’m not sure if I want to do that or narrow things down to Choro Q games that play a bit more like the Saturn title — so think kart racer-esque item pickups or the mid-race car swapping mechanic.
| Low priority
|
Civilization:
Shin Sekai Shichidai
Bunmei
| | |
| Cleopatra Fortune
| | Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
| ClockWerx
| | |
Clockwork Knight
(Franchise)
| | Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
| Code R
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
Coin Puzzle
Moujiya
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
Columns Arcade Collection
(Sega Ages)
| | |
Comic Bakery
(Konami Ant.)
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Command & Conquer
| Dune II is a predecessor, some Petroglyph titles could possibly be considered successors. Haven’t exactly nailed down the criteria for clones. There are already tons of suggestions out there for C&C clones, so I’ve got a starting point. Just gotta get around to reviewing game footage myself to confirm.
| Medium priority
|
Contra:
Legacy of War
| Probably the worst Contra game to appear on a game console. LoW isn’t worth wasting my time on while there are still a ton of much better games that I’ve yet to tackle.
| Low priority
|
Conveni, The
(Franchise)
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
Corpse Killer:
Graveyard Edition
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Cotton (Franchise)
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Courier Crisis
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Creature Shock
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| CrimeWave
| I’ve found a number of police-themed, top-down, free-roaming driving games, but I don’t think any of them emphasize vehicular combat to the extent of blowing up your opponent using military-grade weapons, lol.
| Low priority
|
| Criticom
| | |
| Croc: Legend of the Gobbos
| | Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
| Cross Tantei Monogatari: Motsureta Nanatsu no Labyrinth
| | |
Crows:
The Battle Action
| Crows has some staff overlap with the Kunio-kun games, so they can probably be listed as spiritual predecessors. There’s also a number of other beat-’em-ups out there with the whole chibi/super-deformed thing going on.
| Medium priority
|
Crusader:
No Remorse
| | |
| Crypt Killer
| It’s part of that brief transitional stage for gun shooters where the levels were either pseudo-3D or fully 3D environments, but the targets were all sprites. I guess you could compare it to something like Alien 3: The Gun, but that doesn’t quite hit the mark thematically.
| Medium priority
|
| Cube Battler (Franchise)
| It seems unlikely that there’s anything out there remotely close to this strange FMV puzzle game. I’ll keep looking though…
| Low priority
|
| Cubic Gallery
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Culdcept
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Cyber Doll
| | |
Cyber Troopers
Virtual-On
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
Cyberbots:
Fullmetal
Madness
| | Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
| Cyberia
| | |
| D [no Shokutaku]
| | Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
| D-Xhird
| | |
| Daisenryaku (Franchise)
| | |
| Darius (Franchise)
| Giant robotic marine life and lots of it. Got at least two clone candidates so far…
| Medium priority
|
| Dark Savior
| | Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
| Dark Seed (Franchise)
| | |
| Darklight Conflict
| | |
| Darkstalkers (Franchise)
| | |
Daytona USA
(Franchise)
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Dead or Alive
| | |
| Deadalus
| | |
| Death Crimson
| | Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
Death Tank
(Franchise)
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
Death Throttle:
Escape from the
Quarantined City
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| DeathMask
| There’s more than a few cyberpunk FMV games — in fact, I’ve already got several listed in the Blue Chicago Blues table…
| High priority
|
Decathlete
(Franchise)
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Deep Fear
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
Deep Scan
(Dynamite Deka)
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Defcon 5
| | |
Defender
(Franchise)
| | |
| Dejig (Franchise)
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Delisoba Deluxe
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Dennou Tenshi (Franchise)
| | |
| Denpa Shounenteki Game (Franchise)
| | |
Densha
de Go! EX
| Train simulation has pretty much morphed into its own subgenre since Densha de Go! became a thing. The best way to tackle this would probably be listing train sims that still maintain some arcade elements to them.
| Medium priority
|
Deroon
Dero Dero
| | |
| Desire
| | Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
| Destruction Derby
| | |
| Device Reign
| | |
Devil Blade 2:
Code Name
“Zivernauts”
(Dezaemon 2)
| | Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
| Dezaemon 2
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Digital Dance Mix, Vol. 1: Namie Amuro
| As far as I can tell, Namie Amuro has never starred in any other video game, and no one else has ever created a glorified tech demo featuring a dancing J-Pop idol with no real gameplay.
| Low priority
|
| Digital Monsters, Ver. S: Digimon Tamers
| | |
Digital Pinball
(Franchise)
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Dinosaur Island
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
Disc Station Bessatsu:
I Miss You
| A goofy simulated recording studio, some minigames, and a music video. I haven’t been able to find anything else like it, and I doubt I ever will.
| Low priority
|
| Discworld (Franchise)
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| DJ Wars
| There are a few big DJ titles, but they’re actual rhythm games. DJ Wars, on the other hand, is a completely baffling simulation. A few indie games on Steam look
sorta
similar.
| Low priority
|
Doki Doki
Penguin Land
(SAMS, Vol. 2)
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Donpachi (Franchise)
| I hate danmaku… Thanks, Cave. Y’ruined shmups.
| Lowest of low
|
Don’t Pull
(Wonder 3: AG)
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Doom
| The amount of games that Doom inspired is staggering… This would take forever.
| Low priority
|
| Doraemon: Nobita to Fukkatsu no Hoshi
| | |
| Double Switch
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
Doukyuusei
(Franchise)
| | Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
| Dragon Ball (Franchise)
| | |
Dragon Force
(Franchise)
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
Dragon
Master Silk
| | |
| Dragon Slayer (Franchise)
| Remakes of first two Dragon Slayer titles, which are both top-down, fantasy-themed action role-playing-games that introduced the sort of bump combat seen in later RPGs like Hydlide and Ys. I’ve already identified more than a dozen other similar games, but I still need to explore a few more search avenues.
| Medium priority
|
Dragonheart:
Fire & Steel
| | |
Duke
Nukem 3D
| | |
| Dungeon Master Nexus
| | |
Dungeons
& Dragons
Collection
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Dynamite Deka
| | Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
| Earthworm Jim 2
| | Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
| Eberouge (Franchise)
| A dating sim that takes place at a magic school. This concept has been revisited more than a few times since this game came out.
| Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
Edo City
Renaissance
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| EGWord
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
Eiyuu Shigan:
Gal Act Heroism
| | |
El-Hazard:
The Magnificent
World
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
Elan Doreé:
Legend of
Dragoon
| | Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
Elevator Action²
Returns
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Enemy Zero
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
English Dreams
(Franchise)
| | Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
| Eternal Melody
| | |
| EVE (Franchise)
| | Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
Exed Exes
(CG, Vol. 3)
| | |
Eyeful Home:
Oregon & Basic
| Essentially real estate software w/ an interactive FMV home tour. There were probably at least a few other CD-ROMs like this produced during the ’90s, but now they’re buried in landfills amidst billions of America Online free trial discs…
| Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
| F1 Challenge
| Aside from a few nifty car customization options, I’d argue that F1 Challenge doesn’t do much to stand out. Keeping the list of similar games exclusively to its Formula 1 racing sim contemporaries might be the best approach. Alternatively, turning to the Japanese version that features running announcer commentary could be a way of further limiting things.
| Medium priority
|
| Fantastep
| | |
Fantasy Zone
(Sega Ages)
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Farland (Franchise)
| | |
| Fatal Fury (Franchise)
| | |
| Father Christmas
| Carmen Sandiego clone. Probably just wanna connect this one to CS since all other games like CS will obviously be copying CS rather than FC. There’s also another game based on one of Raymond Brigg’s other Christmas stories.
| Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| FEDA Remake!: The Emblem of Justice
| | |
| Feng Shui Master
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Fighter’s History Dynamite
| | |
| Fighters Megamix
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Fighting Vipers
| | Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
| Final Fight Revenge
| The weird Final Fight fighter… I’m not even sure where to begin with this oddball, lol.
| Low priority
|
| Find Love (Franchise)
| | |
Fire Pro Wrestling
(Franchise)
| The Fire Pro series is generally characterized by its large rosters, timing-based grappling system, and an expansive amount of moves that become more and more available as opponents wear down. There are a couple wrestling games that are said to play like this, but none of them resemble Fire Pro in terms of visuals.
| Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
Flicky
(SAMS, Vol. 1)
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Formula Grand Prix Team Unei Simulation
| | |
Formula Karts:
Special Edition
| I’d hazard to guess there aren’t a whole lot of realistic 3D kart racers out there, so this could be easily doable.
| Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
Frankenstein:
Through the Eyes
of the Monster
| | Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
| Fully Cowled Mini Yonku
| This is actually part of a franchise, I think, lol. As for similar games, the slot car stuff from Yakuza 0 and Kiwami 1 might fit the bill…
| Low priority
|
| Funky Fantasy
| | |
Funky
Head Boxers (Franchise)
| Finding some other boxing games where the characters have misshapen heads of some sort would be a good start. So far, nada…
| Low priority
|
| G-Vector
| Obvious connection is Star Fox, but I suppose it could be linked to other railshooters w/ a lock-on laser mechanic. Not really sure how many later Star Fox-inspired games I want to link it to though… I guess if they have the lock-on mechanic, it’s fine…?
| Low priority
|
| Gaia Breeder
| | |
| Gakkou no Kaidan
| I think we might have a Japanese take on the Night Trap / Double Switch formula here, but I’m not 100% positive. The player seems to be tasked with protecting a group of kids walking around an abandoned school, it’s mostly presented in FMVs, there’s a map that lets you jump from room to room, and a timer. I’m not sure that you’re actually trapping anything and all of the FMVs don’t seem to be constantly running in the background at the same time though. What do you guys think — close enough or nah?
| Medium priority
|
| Gal Jan
| | |
| Galaxy Fight
| | |
Galaxy Force II
(Sega Ages)
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Galaxy Fräulein Yuna (Franchise)
| | |
| Gale Racer
| | Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
| Gals Panic SS
| Qix but with scantily clad girls.
| Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
Game Basic
for SegaSaturn
| Unlike Dezaemon or Ochige Designer, Game Basic for SegaSaturn is game creation software that requires some degree of programming knowledge. This was a one-off release for Bits Laboratory, but many other consumer-grade BASIC programming kits for home consoles have been released by other companies.
| Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Game of Life, The (Franchise)
| | Medium
priority
|
Game Tengoku:
The Game
Paradise!
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Gebockers
| Is it fair to call this a Virtual-On clone…? I’m not entirely convinced.
| Meh…
|
| Gekirindan
| Vertically scrolling, time travel-themed shooters. There’s also some design overlap with Toaplan’s earlier Truxton II.
| Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Gex
| Closest annoying TV/movie-themed mascot platformer is probably Bug! Not sure if I want to compare them since the original Gex game plays nothing like Bug! Might have to just keep it to Gex ports, sequels, and compilations…
| Medium priority
|
| Ghen War
| | |
Ghosts ‘n Goblins
(Franchise)
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Girl Doll Toy
| | |
Girls in
Motion Puzzle
(Franchise)
| FMV jigsaw puzzles featuring models / beautiful women.
| Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
Goiken Muyou:
Anarchy in
the Nippon
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
Golden Axe:
The Duel
| The distinguishing feature here revolves around how the super meter is charged — collecting potions by smacking around the imps that run onto the playfield during matches. I haven’t been able to find any fighter with a similar mechanic, so the only other obvious point of comparison for similar games would be theme, which in this case is a Conan-esque dark fantasy fighting game featuring weapons combat.
| Low priority
|
| Gotha (Franchise)
| | |
Gouketsuji Clan
(Franchise)
| | Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
| Gradius (Franchise)
| | |
| Gran Chaser
| Actually predates Wipeout — is it the first antigrav racer in 3D? How many other antigrav racers should I compare it to? Maybe just ones with a story mode…?
| Medium priority
|
Grand Cross
(Dezaemon 2)
| | Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
| Grandia
| I’ve seen some people compare Grandia to stuff like Child of Light and the Trails games. Not really sure though. I probably need to consult with people who are more into RPGs than I am…
| Medium priority
|
| Grandread
| | |
| Great Adventure: St. Elmo’s Miracles, The
| | |
| Grid Runner
| | |
| GT24
| Super GT 24h, obviously. I guess I could add other 3D endurance racing games, but that’s basically a genre unto itself, so maybe don’t do that…? Gotta figure out the criteria or I’ll just be listing every single game that does Le Mans…
| Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
| Guardian Force
| Forced vertically scrolling shmup with multidirectional shooting. Should probably feature a tank or at least some sort of armored vehicle.
| Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
| Guardian Heroes
| At a bare minimum, I’d say a potential clone would need to use Guardian Heroes’ three-plane movement system. Incorporating expansive fighting game-style movesets, RPG elements, or branching paths would be big pluses too.
| Created
table,
suitably
populated
|
Gun Frontier
(Arcade Gears)
| Are there any other sci-fi meets Old West-themed shmups out there? Sadly, I’ve yet to find anything else…
| Medium priority
|
| Gunbird
| Nothing about Gunbird’s gameplay is particularly novel. What really makes it stand out is its presentation — a sort of weird blend of cute-’em-up mixed with an early industrial/sci-fi/fantasy setting. Of particular note is the constant presence of and interactions with a rather comedic gang of pirates that are probably modeled after the villains of the Time Bokan anime series or one of their many, many derivatives. The only other game that I’ve found that’s obviously trying to mirror Gunbird in these ways is AngerForce.
| Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| GunBlaze S
| | |
Gungriffon
(Franchise)
| | Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
Gun.Smoke
(CG, Vol. 4)
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
Gussun Oyoyo
(Franchise)
| Lemmings x Tetris
| Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Hang-On GP [’95/’96]
| It’s so easy to look at a motorcycle racing game and compare it to either Hang-On or Super Hang-On because those games are so distinctive. Hang-On GP, on the other hand, is not… It’s just a generic closed circuit 3D motor cycle racer, which makes it difficult to come up with a narrow list of similar titles.
| Low priority
|
Hansha
de Spark!
| Often compared to Bomberman, but this game has a much higher emphasis on playfield manipulation.
| Low priority
|
| Hardcore 4×4
| | |
Harukaze Sentai
V-Force
| | |
| Haunted Casino
| There are plenty of strip poker/blackjack/etc. games out there, but finding something that mixes in adventure game elements is key here. So far, I’ve come up empty.
| Low priority
|
Head-On
(SAMS, Vol. 1)
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Heim Waltz
| Essentially real estate software w/ an interactive FMV home tour. There were probably at least a few other CD-ROMs like this produced during the ’90s, but now they’re buried in landfills amidst billions of America Online free trial discs…
| Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
| Herc’s Adventure
| | Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
| Hexen
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Hi-Octane
| | |
High School
Terra Story
| | |
| Hissatsu!
| | |
| Hop Step Idol
| | |
| Horde, The
| An early top-down tower defense game that tasks the player with defending medieval towns against rampaging hordes of goblins. You can construct obstacles and traps, hire mercenaries, and buy weapons and abilities for the player-controlled hero character to use during the defense phase. Towns will grow or decline automatically between phases and generate income depending on how well they’re managed and protected. Said income must be put toward paying taxes but can also be reinvested in defense or further income generation. I’ve yet to find another game that combines most of these elements.
| Low priority
|
| Horror Tour
| | |
| Houma Hunter Lime Perfect Collection
| | |
House of the
Dead, The
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Hyper Duel
| Horizontal shooter featuring a flying transformable mech.
| Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Hyper Securities S
| | |
Idol Mahjong:
Final Romance (Franchise)
| | |
Image Fight
(Arcade Gears)
| | Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
| Impact Racing
| | |
| In the Hunt
| Submarine-themed horizontal shooter with that classic Metal Slug-esque visual style. Sub moves right sticking mostly just below the water’s surface and has a couple different ways to fire. Clones should adhere to most of these points.
| Table
created,
suitably populated
|
Incredible Hulk:
The Pantheon Saga, The
| | |
| Independence Day
| | |
| Internet Software
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
Isto é Zico:
Zico no Kangaeru
Soccer
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
Jantei Battle
Cos-Player
| There are a couple other cosplay-themed mahjong games out there. I think this would be a pretty easy game to cover.
| Medium priority
|
J.B. Harold:
Blue Chicago
Blues
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
Jewels
of the Oracle
| | |
| Jikkyou Powerful Pro Yakyuu (Franchise)
| Chibi/SD baseball franchise. ID’d at least two similar — one on the Saturn itself.
| Medium priority
|
| Jikuu Tantei DD
| | |
| Johnny Bazookatone
| | |
Joust
(Arcade’s GH)
| Balloon Fight is the first really obvious Joust clone and probably spawned a crapload of clones of its own. Just gotta make sure other clones are modeled more after Joust than BF.
| Medium priority
|
| Jung Rhythm
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
Jungle Park:
Saturn Island
| | Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
Keio Flying
Squadron 2
| | Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
| Keriotosse!
| | Table
created,
actively
seeking
to exand
|
| King of Fighters, The (Franchise)
| | |
King’s Valley
(Konami Ant.)
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
Knightmare
(Konami Ant.)
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Koi no Summer Fantasy: in Miyazaki Seagaia
| As far as I can tell, Megumi Okina never appeared in any other game, but I’d bet there are probably a few other dating sims out there that feature real world Japanese celebrities.
| Low priority
|
Konami Rally
(Konami Ant.)
| | |
| Krazy Ivan
| | |
| Kumitate Battle: Kuttu Ketto
| | |
| Kunoichi Detective Story
| | |
Kururin Pa!
(Franchise)
| | Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
Kuuga / Sky Fang
(Franchise)
| | Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
Kyuukyoku
Tiger II Plus
| | |
| Kyuutenkai
| Can’t really find anything else quite like it. Criteria should probably be multipart scrolling tables with a cute chibi theme.
| Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
Langrisser
(Franchise)
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
Last Bronx:
Tokyo Bangaichi
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
Layer Section
(Franchise)
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Legend of Heroes III: Shiroki Majo, The
| Dragon Slayer spinoff. I’m not sure yet if it’s going to get its own table or only appear under the Dragon Slayer (Franchise) one.
| Low priority
|
Legend of the
Galactic Heroes
| There
seem to be
several more LotGH strategy games by the company that made this…
| Low priority
|
Lifescape:
Life’s Four Billion Year Journey
| | |
Lifescape 2:
Body Bionics
| | |
| Linda³
| | |
| Linkle Liver Story
| | |
| Loaded
| | |
Lode Runner
(Franchise)
| There are a ton of games based on Lode Runner and/or Alien Panic.
| Low priority
|
| Lost Vikings 2: Norse by Norsewest
| | High
priority
|
| Lost World: Jurassic Park, The
| | Low
priority
|
| Lunacy / Torico
| | Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
| Lunar (Franchise)
| New collection makes me want to get these on the list sooner rather than later. Not really sure about clones. Everyone says Pier Solar. Saw a few others compare it to Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky. Gotta consult RPG fans…
| Medium priority
|
Lupin III: Sage of
[the] Pyramid
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Macross: DYRL?
| Pretty much identical to the second Zeta Gundam game. Might be able to find some other horizontal-scrolling Macross games w/ an “Itano Circus” lock-on mechanic and the transformations.
| Medium priority
|
| Magic Carpet
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Magic Knight Rayearth
| | |
| Magical Drop (Franchise)
| | |
Magical Tree
(Konami Ant.)
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Magnificent World of El-Hazard, The
| | |
| Mahjong Hyper Reaction R
| | |
| Mahjong Tenshi Angel Lips
| | |
| Mahoutsukai ni Naru Houhou
| | |
Mansion of
Hidden Souls, The
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
Manx TT
Super Bike
| There is a modern Manx TT franchise, but — of course — it’s very much a racing sim that feels and plays nothing like the Sega arcade racer.
| Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
Marica:
Shinjitsu no Sekai
| | |
| Martian Successor Nadesico (Franchise)
| The Sega-developed Nadesico title on the Saturn has a fairly similar FMV combat system to the Sega-developed Evangelion one that was released about a year earlier. I’m sorta hesitant to mark them as similar games though because the Eva game isn’t also a love sim. I dunno…
| |
| Marvel (Fighting Games)
| Probably shouldn’t be too hard. Just link them to the Capcom fighters they borrow elements from and map out the franchise.
| Medium priority
|
| Mass Destruction
| There’s a few games like this one. Shouldn’t be too hard.
| High priority
|
Master of Monsters:
Neo Generations
| | |
| Maximum Force
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Mechanical Violator Hakaider
| | |
| MechWarrior 2
| | |
Media ROMancer
Daisuke Asakura
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Mega Man (Franchise)
| Identifying Mega Man clones isn’t that difficult. There just happen to be a lot of them…
| Low priority
|
Megami Tensei
(Franchise)
| | |
| MeltyLancer (Franchise)
| | |
Message Navi
(Franchise)
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Metal Black
| | Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
| Metal Slug
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Mighty Hits
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Minami no Shima ni Buta ga Ita: Lucas no Daibouken
| | |
Missile Command
(Arcade’s GH)
| | |
Mizubaku
Daibouken
| | Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
Mobile Suit
Gundam
(Franchise)
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
Monaco GP
(SAMS, Vol. 2)
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Monster Slider
| | |
| Moon Cradle
| | |
Mopiranger
(Konami Ant.)
| A fairly easy top-down maze game where the player is tasked with collecting baby mice while avoiding or attacking hostiles. The maze is flooded though, so speed will be reduced when moving against a current. I have seen this mechanic duplicated using conveyor belts in a few other maze games like Pac-Man Arrangment (2005) and I’m Sorry, but I can’t think of any others where it’s employed to the same extent as in Mopiranger. Feels like there should be more, so I’m going to keep searching… In the meantime, I went ahead and added a table since I found a fan remake.
| Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
| Mortal Kombat (Franchise)
| | |
Motteke Tamago
with Ganbare!
Kamonohashi
| | Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
| Mr. Bones
| Musically-themed horror title that makes heavy use of FMV. In terms of genre, it’s all over the place. Sometimes it’s a platformer, sometimes it’s a shooter, other times it’s a rhythm game… I enjoy Mr. Bones, but it’s definitely a game that doesn’t really know what it wants to be, and that makes the prospect of finding anything similar to it extremely unlikely.
| Low priority
|
| My Best Friends: St. Andrew’s Girls School
| Scantily-clad anime girls in jigsaw puzzles, accompanied by light nudity in a few of the FMVs. There’s no shortage of stuff like this out there.
| Low priority
|
| Myst (Franchise)
| I’d say the hallmarks of a Myst-type adventure are isolation (especially on an island), puzzle solving, and potentially using some sort of medium to move between ages or worlds. There are a ton of games like that to sort through though…
| Low priority
|
| Nanatsu Kaze no Shima Monogatari
| The Wonder Project J games are both Givro titles that share some common staff and themes with NKnSM, but are basically raising sims, so I don’t think they’re quite close enough. I’ve seen one person compare it to the Samorost games, and I can
kinda
see it…
Kinda.
| Low priority
|
| NASCAR ’98
| | |
NBA Jam
(Franchise)
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Nekketsu Oyako
| Closest thing might be Final Fight. The father resembles Mike Haggar quite a bit, so that’s one fairly obvious connection at a glance.
| Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
Neon Genesis
Evangelion
(Franchise)
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
Next King:
The Eternal Kingdom of Love
| | |
| Night Striker SS
| | Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
NiGHTS
into Dreams
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
Nile-gawa
no Yoake
| | |
| Ninja Hayate
| Although unrelated in both story and genre, Taito’s Legend of Kage series pretty much recycled Hayate’s character design — especially for promotional artwork. I think those games could safely be listed as pseudo-sequels.
| Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
Ninja
Jajamaru-kun
| Not sure I’m gonna find anything quite like the Saturn/PS1 games. The one Goemon game on the N64
might
be the closest thing. There’s a bunch of games in this franchise worth listing even if I can’t find anything else that’s similar.
| Medium priority
|
Ninja Princess
(SAMS, Vol. 2)
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Ninkuu: Tsuyokina Yatsura no Daigekitotsu!
| | |
| Ninpen Manmaru
| | |
| No-Appointment Gals Olympos
| | |
| Nonomura Byouin no Hitobito
| | |
| Noon
| | Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
| Nouvelle Fanpasia Gulliver Boy
| | |
| Ochige Designer: Tsukutte Pon!
| Design software for creating user-made games in the falling puzzle piece genre. So far I’ve been unable to find anything else like it. Considering that there’s all sorts of software like this for RPGs, shooters, and even sound novels, that’s kinda surprising!
| Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
| Off-World Interceptor Extreme
| | Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
| Ogre Battle (Franchise)
| I’ve got the Ogre Battle side of this table covered pretty well, but I need to more clearly define what counts as a Tactics Ogre clone and find some games that meet that definition.
| Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
Okudera
Yasuhiko no
Sekai o Mezase!
Soccer Kids: Nyuumon Hen
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Ousama Game
| Essentially just a collection of minigames with some scantily-clad models as your reward for winning, but the whole premise is supposed to revolve around the Japanese children’s game where “the King” (O-sama) orders everyone around. I guess you could say it’s like truth or dare without the truth component. I bet there’s probably a ton of stuff like this out there but searching it out isn’t a high priority for me.
| Low priority
|
OutRun
(Sega Ages)
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Pacific Theater of Operations II
| | |
| Pandemonium!
| | Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
| Paneltia: Kerun’s Great Adventure
| Paneltia’s main gimmick revolves around constructing the world around you as you explore it. You collect map panels from defeated enemies which can then be placed on a map grid and explored. I don’t know how I’d even go about searching for other RPGs with a similar mechanic to this, lol.
| Low priority
|
Panzer Dragoon
(Franchise)
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Pappara Paoon
| Usually compared to Columns.
| Low priority
|
| Parodius (Franchise)
| Obviously spun off from Gradius and features some characters who are either from or went on to appear in other Konami games. As for similar games, there are a lot of wacky horizontal-scrolling cute-’em-ups out there. I guess singling out ones that use the Gradius power-up system would be a good way to go… Y’know, that or ones featuring lots of giant women.
| Medium priority
|
| Pastel Muses
| Puzzle Bobble on a horizontal playfield. Shot placement also depends on how long the player holds down the fire button.
| Medium priority
|
Pengo
(SAMS, Vol. 1)
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Phantasm
| | |
| Phantasy Star Collection
| | |
| Photo Genic
| | |
| Pict Flash Dondon
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
Pippols
(Konami Ant.)
| | Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
Pirate Ship
Higemaru
(CG, Vol. 3)
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Planet Joker
| | |
Playboy Karaoke
Collection
(Franchise)
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Policenauts
| | |
| Power Drift
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| PowerSlave
| | Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
Pretty Guardian
Sailor Moon
Super S: VE
| There are four other Sailor Moon fighting games and one based on its predecessor manga Sailor V. I’m betting there might be a fan game or two out there as well. In terms of theme, there are quite a few magical girl fighters that could be included as similar games, but I’d probably be casting too wide of a net. Perhaps best to limit it to ones where they’re wearing sailor uniforms…?
| Low priority
|
| Primal Rage
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Princess Crown
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Princess Maker
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Princess Quest
| | |
| Prisoner of Ice
| | |
| Private Idol (Franchise)
| | |
Pro Pinball:
The Web
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Pro Yakyuu Team mo Tsukurou!
| Another super-deformed baseball franchise on Saturn — the other being the Power Pros games. Should be pretty easy to knock both of them out.
| High priority
|
| Psychotron, The
| | |
Pu-Li-Ru-La
(Arcade Gears)
| I swear, the dude who came up with this game must’ve been on an acid trip while watching something made by Hayao Miyzaki or Isao Takahata — the girl character, in particular, reminds me of Anne Shirley from 1979’s Anne of Green Gables television series. Sadly, I don’t think there’s anything else out there like Pu-Li-Ru-La, but I do know of at least one crossover it has with another Taito title.
| Medium priority
|
| Pup-Breeder
| | |
| Puyo Puyo (Franchise)
| The sheer number of Puyo clones out there makes me reluctant to touch this anytime soon.
| Low priority
|
Puzzle & Action
(Franchise)
| | Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
QuackShot
(Sega Ages)
| | Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
| Quake
| | Low priority
|
Quantum Gate I:
Prelude to a
Nightmare
| | Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
| QuoVadis (Franchise)
| | |
R?MJ:
The Mystery Hospital
| | |
| Rabbit
| 2D fighter featuring stands à la Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure. Naturally, the most obvious similar game is the 1998 Jojo’s arcade title.
| Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
| Race Drivin’
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Radiant Silvergun
| A game resembling Radiant Silvergun would give the player access to far more than the typical amount of weapons that could be employed at will, but still require that the correct one is used in just the right situation. Must be a vertically scrolling shooter. Frequent boss encounters is a huge plus.
| Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
Rampage
World Tour
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Rayman
| Mainly need to figure out how to parse the many, many Rayman 1 releases. Adventures of Lomax definitely replicates Rayman’s visual style. Rayman Redemption and Rayman 4 You as fan projects.
| High priority
|
Real Sound:
The Wind of Regret
| Surprisingly, I stumbled across a Real Sound fangame, so I figured it would be worth creating a table for it — even if I haven’t thoroughly looked into other similar games yet. And yeah, there definitely should be at least a few adventure games in this mold since video games for the blind are much more prevalent these days. Heck, audiogames.net has a
database
of their own that I can sort through.
| Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
| Resident Evil
| | |
Reverthion
(Franchise)
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Revolution X
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Riglordsaga (Franchise)
| | |
| Road & Track Presents the Need for Speed
| | |
| Road Blaster
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
Road Fighter
(Konami Ant.)
| | Medium
priority
|
| Road Rash
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Robo Pit
| Seen some comparisons to VO but with a ton of customization. I guess that kinda makes it more like Custom Robo? Also has a sequel.
| Medium priority
|
Robotron: 2084
(Arcade’s GH)
| Single-screen, top-down, multi-directional shooter with a futuristic robot theme and some trippy screen transitions. A clone would need to satisfy most of these criteria. I’ve already found a few but want to dig a little deeper before posting a table.
| Medium priority
|
| Ronde
| | |
| Roommate (Franchise)
| | |
Roosters: Quest
for the Chariot
(Wonder 3: AG)
| | |
| Rox
| Falling puzzle game where the pieces that drop are dice. MobyGames has a pretty good explanation of the rules
here
. Anyway, Stakk’M from the Maxi-15 game pack on NES and Mr. Dice on Atari ST exhibit
some
similarities but neither seem close enough, IMO.
| Low priority
|
Sakura Wars
(Franchise)
| Grid-based TRPG w/ visual novel and dating sim elements accompanied by a steampunk Taisho-era setting featuring mechs… Unsurprisingly, finding something that checks all those boxes has proven impossible. But even limiting it to just the previously mentioned gameplay elements won’t get you much closer to a Sakura Wars clone. The most comparable titles are probably ones like Sparkling Feather, Thousand Arms, or the Growlanser games, but I’m not sure any of them come quite close enough. Input from an RPG aficionado would be greatly appreciated.
| Low priority
|
Samurai
(SAMS, Vol. 2)
| | Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
| Samurai Spirits (Franchise)
| The easy answer is “2D fighting game w/ bladed weapons combat,” but that’s still probably too broad. Also want to avoid accidentally listing games that take more from Bushido Blade’s gameplay style which is more geared toward striking a fatal blow. I should probably consult w/ people who know fighting games better than me before proceeding.
| Medium priority
|
| Saturn Music School (Franchise)
| Educational music software that’s compatible with the Saturn’s MIDI keyboard adapter. The same company that released this also made O.to.i.Re: Dreamcast Sequencer, which can use a MIDI keyboard as well but doesn’t seem to be educational software. I’m not sure whether I want to connect them together or not.
| Low priority
|
| Savaki
| | |
| Scorcher
| | |
| Scud the Disposable Assassin
| | |
See the
World by Train:
Switzerland Ed.
| The first in a series of interactive travel guides produced for the Japanese television show “See the World by Train.” Subsequent volumes were only released on PC, and I’ve documented them all in the table as it currently exists. Similar products like the “Guide to North America’s Tourist Railways and Museums” CD-ROM do seem to exist and should be added at some point.
| Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
Sega Rally
(Franchise)
| While Sega Rally has been cited as a source of inspiration for several subsequent rally titles, many of these tend to push gameplay into a more sim-oriented direction. Personally, I believe a real Sega Rally-type game needs things like in-game music, a countdown timer, checkpoints, and the ability to race an entire field of drivers all at once across multiple stages of a championship.
| Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
Sega Saturn
de Hakken!!
Tamagotchi Park
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
Sega Touring Car
Championship
| | Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
Segata Sanshirou
Shinkenyuugi
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
Seifuku Densetsu:
Pretty Fighter
(Franchise)
| | Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
| Sengoku Blade
| The feudal Japan theme makes it comparable to a few of the games in the Aleste series, but I’m not really sure if that’s enough to warrant their inclusion — especially since Blade, unlike Ace, scrolls horizontally and features flying people. It’s not all that special mechanically. You’ve got a main shot, a sub shot (in the form of a familiar) that can be charged for more damage, and a bomb.
| Medium priority
|
| Senkutsu Katsuryuu Taisen Chaos Seed
| | |
| Sentimental Graffiti (Franchise)
| | |
Shadows
of the Tusk
| | |
| Shellshock
| | |
| Shienryuu
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Shining (Franchise)
| Never played a Shining game and probably never will, so I’m not really sure what makes them stand out compared to other RPGs. Still, Shining Force III is one of the biggest RPGs on the system, so I have to look into this eventually…
| Low priority
|
| Shinobi Legions
| Just gotta be careful not to fall into the Ninja Gaiden trap…
| Medium priority
|
| Shinouken
| | |
| Shinrei Jusatsushi Taroumaru
| I don’t think there is anything out there quite like Taromaru. HG101’s article on the game does compare the shooting mechanic to the one in Alisia Dragoon, and that does appear to be somewhat apt. Still, the two are pretty different otherwise. And yeah, the sheer amount of boss fights Taromaru throws at you does feel very reminiscent of a Treasure title, but I can’t exactly point to any single example and say “these two are very similar!” Not sure where to go from here.
| Medium priority
|
Shippu Mahou
Daisakusen
| | Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
| Shockwave Assault
| | |
| Shutokou Battle (Franchise)
| Maybe just keep clones to Japanese highway racing games of the era.
| Medium priority
|
Shutsudou!
Mini-skirt Police
| | |
| Silhouette Mirage
| | Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
| SimCity 2000
| Maxis pioneered the whole city-building simulation genre through the SimCity franchise. One could liken any number of games to it, but it would probably be best to keep things limited to generic modern city builders à la Cities: Skylines.
| Low priority
|
Sindbad Mystery
(SAMS, Vol. 2)
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
Sinistar
(Arcade’s GH)
| | |
| Skeleton Warriors
| | |
Sky Jaguar
(Konami Ant.)
| | |
| Slayers (Franchise)
| | |
| Snatcher
| | Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
| Sol Divide
| Horizontal flying guy shooter w/ RPG elements and ugly digitized sprites. I don’t think anyone ever replicated that formula, lol.
| Low priority
|
| Solar Eclipse
| | Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
| Söldnerschild
| | |
| Solo Crisis
| Solo Crisis was pieced together from the remains of a cancelled ActRaiser remake, so that’s at least one connection I can draw. As for clones, I’ve yet to find any other god games that use the top/bottom world mechanic.
| Low priority
|
| Sonic Council
| | |
| Sonic Wings Special
| There’s a new Sonic Wings game coming, so it’s at least worth mapping out the franchise, if nothing else. SW/AF was pretty popular, so I figure there has to be at least a few similar games too, right…? Probably no other dolphin pilots though!
| Medium priority
|
Sonic the
Hedgehog
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
SonSon
(CG, Vol. 3)
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Sorvice
| | |
| Soukyuugurentai
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Sound Novel Machi
| Spike/Chunsoft made quite a few games like this. There’s also a successor of sorts that came out in the 2010s, IIRC. Should be pretty easy to do.
| High priority
|
Sound Novel
Tsukuru 2
| There’s a couple of these…
| Medium priority
|
| Sound Qube
| An audio puzzle game where you use sonar to correctly identify, group, and eliminate similar pieces of a floating space cube. As far as I can tell, nothing has ever come close to approximating Sound Qube’s gameplay.
| Low priority
|
| Soviet Strike
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
Space Harrier
(Sega Ages)
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Space Hulk: Vengeance of the Blood Angels
| | |
| Space Invaders
| | |
Spartan X
(Irem AC)
| The first beat-’em-up, so it’s relatively simplistic. Clones should have no lateral movement and no platforming. Maybe keep it to just martial arts-themed ones.
| Medium priority
|
| Spot Goes to Hollywood
| Isometric mascot platformer with shooting and puzzle elements. I guess you could compare it to something like SteamGear Mash, but I feel like that one leans more heavily on shooting than platforming. Might be worth exploring other games featuring recognizable advertising mascots to find one that
sorta
looks and plays like this one.
| Low priority
|
Star Bowling, The
(Franchise)
| | Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
Star Jacker
(SAMS, Vol. 2)
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| StarFighter 3000
| | |
| Steam-Heart’s
| | Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
| SteamGear Mash
| | |
| Steep Slope Sliders
| | |
| Stellar Assault SS
| | Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
| Strahl: The Seven Hidden Lights
| Closest thing is probably Time Gal or Space Ace, but it’s much more serious than either of those. Not exactly great fits for points of comparison.
| Low priority
|
| Street Fighter (Franchise)
| This’ll take a while…
| Low priority
|
| Street Racer [Extra]
| A goofy kart racer with combat more akin to something like Road Rash than Mario Kart.
| Low priority
|
| Strikers 1945 (Franchise)
| Obvious point of comparison is probably Capcom’s 194X series of games. Strikers series dials up the absurdity by introducing future tech and aliens into the WWII setting. I’ve been able to find at least a few other shmups that kinda fit this mold.
| Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Suchie-Pai (Franchise)
| | |
| Suiko Enbu
| Fighting game based on the Chinese novel Water Margin. Japan seems to love that tale almost as much as Romance of the Three Kingdoms, so I wouldn’t be surprised if there were more similarly-themed fighters.
| Low priority
|
| Suikoden
| I know next to nothing about this franchise other than the fact that it’s based on Water Margin, but the recent remaster or whatever it is probably means I should get around to it.
| Medium priority
|
Super Breakout
(Arcade’s GH)
| | |
Super Cobra
(Konami Ant.)
| Scramble with a helicopter, Super Cobra is a horizontal shooter with a standard forward shot, a secondary shot for ground targets, and a constantly depleting fuel gauge. Meet those criteria and you’ve got yourself a Super Cobra clone…
| Low priority
|
| Super Real Mahjong (Franchise)
| | |
Super
Robot Wars (Franchise)
| | |
| Super Tempo
| | Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
| Swagman
| | Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
| Sword & Sorcery
| | |
| T&E Golf Games
| There’s a lot of stuff that uses this engine. As for defining features that can be used to find similar titles, I’d say look for golf games that utilize digitized sprites and have caddies or other golfers pop up on screen to comment on your shots.
| Medium priority
|
| Tactical Fighter
| | |
| Tactics Formula
| | |
| Tadaima Wakusei Kaitakuchuu!
| | |
Taito Chase H.Q.
Plus S.C.I.
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Taiyou no Shinden: Asteka II (Falcom Classics II)
| | |
Tama: Adventurous
Ball in Giddy
Labyrinth
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Tamagotchi Park
| Could possibly add some more Tamagotchi games besides the “…de Hakken!!” titles — especially considering that branding really doesn’t mean much in terms of how the games are related to one another.
| Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
| Techno Motor
| There’s a ton of music creation software for game consoles out there.
| Medium priority
|
| Tempest (Franchise)
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Ten Pin Alley
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Tenant Wars
| Mall Madness meets Monopoly in video game form.
| Low priority
|
| Tenchi Muyou (Franchise)
| | |
Tenchi wo Kurau II:
Sekiheki no Tatakai
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Tengai Makyou: Daiyon no Mokushiroku
| | |
| Terra Cresta 3D
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Terra Phantastica
| | |
| Tetris (Franchise)
| There’s not enough time left before the heat death of the universe to document every Tetris clone in existence.
| —
|
Texthoth Ludo:
Arcana Senki
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Theme Park
| | |
| Thor: Chronicles of the Elemental King
| | |
| Those Who Hunt Elves (Franchise)
| | |
Thunder Force
(Franchise)
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Thunder Storm
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Tilk: Aoi Umi kara Kita Shoujo
| I’ve seen Tilk compared to the Wonder Project J games, but it doesn’t seem to play anything like them. In terms of the art style though, I can definitely see it. Hell, they appear so similar that it’s hard to imagine one didn’t influence the creators of the other. It might be worth scanning through JP Wikipedia or googling both titles in Japanese to see what folks on the other side of the Pacific have to say.
| Low priority
|
| Time Bokan Series Bokan to Ippatsu! Doronboo Kanpekiban
| | |
| Time Gal
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
Time Pilot
(Konami Ant.)
| Another time travel-themed shmup à la Gekirindan. This one is multidirectional though. Seeing as how I kept the Gekirindan table to vertically scrolling time travel shooters, I should probably be looking for multidirectional time travel shooters here.
| Medium priority
|
| Three Dirty Dwarves
| Comical beat-’em-up that allows for a single player to switch between three characters on the fly. Haven’t found anything like it yet.
| Low priority
|
| Time Commando
| | |
| Tokimeki Mahjong (Franchise)
| | |
| Tokimeki Memorial (Franchise)
| | |
Tokusou Kidoutai
JSWAT
| An underwhelming police-themed boomer shooter with a stiflingly claustrophobic field of view, J-SWAT is probably more notable for being one of the few examples of Japan’s take on the genre than anything else. Regardless, it feels like there should be something reminiscent of it — I just haven’t invested much time in sniffing it out.
| Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
| Tokyo Shadow
| | |
| Tomb Raider
| I mainly want games that look and play similar to the first three Tomb Raider titles. I’ve already ID’d a few. Mapping out the TR franchise itself will be annoying though. It’s pretty big…
| Low priority
|
| Touge (Franchise)
| Probably best to keep clones to mountain racing games of the same era.
| Medium priority
|
| Toushinden (Franchise)
| I could probably copy over most of the Last Bronx table w/ a few alterations.
| Medium priority
|
| Tower, The
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Transport Tycoon
| | |
| Trash It
| | |
| True Pinball
| True Pinball is one of several pinball games DICE developed before they became known for Battlefield. I’ve already got their stuff mapped out, but I’m not sure whether to include some of the later games that were marketed as sequels but developed by other companies.
| High priority
|
| Tryrush Deppy
| | Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
Tssuukai!!
Slot Shooting
| An beach/ocean-themed puzzle shooter w/ a slot machine mechanic. Not exactly comparable to TSS since destroying puzzle pieces feeds them into the slot machine rather than being an attack.
| Low
priority
|
| Tunnel B1
| | |
| TwinBee (Franchise)
| Defining characteristic of these games is probably the bell power-up system. Might wanna look for other cute-’em-ups with something similar. Punching ships probably started with this series too. There are a few things on itch.io that kinda fit the bill.
| Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Twinkle Star Sprites
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Ultraman (Franchise)
| | |
| Universal Nuts
| | |
| Uno DX
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
Unsolved:
Hyper Science
Adventure, The
| | Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
Up’n Down
(SAMS, Vol. 1)
| | Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
| Vandal Hearts
| | |
| Vatlva
| | Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
Virtua Cop
(Franchise)
| Police-themed light gun shooter. The defining feature here is the zooming camera and reticules that materialize over targets that are about to fire upon the player.
| Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
Virtua Fighter
(Franchise)
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
Virtua
Photo Studio:
Cameraman
Simulation
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
Virtua Racing
Sega Saturn
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Virtuacall S
| | |
| Virtual Hydlide
| | |
| Virtual Kyoutei (Franchise)
| A fairly poor speedboat racing sim with a lot of customization options. Surprisingly, there’s like five or six games in this franchise, lol.
| Low priority
|
| Virus
| | |
Voice Idol Maniacs:
Pool Bar Story
| A reskin of Data East’s 32-bit Side Pocket series featuring idols. I don’t believe this one is technically a dating sim like The Star Bowling games. Seems like you’re just earning FMVs featuring the girls. Either way, I haven’t been able to find anything comparable yet.
| Low priority
|
Vulgus
(CG, Vol. 3)
| Xevious clone. Multiplane vertical shooters of this vintage are a dime a dozen, so this would be an enormous time sink.
| Low priority
|
| Wachenröder
| An isometric strategy RPG with a run-down steampunk motif. Preliminary searches haven’t turned up anything similar.
| Low priority
|
| Waku Waku 7
| | |
| Wangan Trial Love
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Wara² Wars: Gekitou! Daigundan Battle
| | |
Warcraft II:
The Dark Saga
| | |
| Welcome House
| | Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
| Whizz
| | |
| Willy Wombat
| | |
| Wing Arms
| | Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
| Wipeout (Franchise)
| Antigrav racers have kinda become their own genre at this point, so coming up with a criteria to narrow things down would be good. I guess you definitely want to differentiate between those that take after F-Zero and those that are more like Wipeout. Not sure what else… Maybe keep it limited to lo-poly ones…?
| Medium priority
|
| Wizardry (Franchise)
| | |
| Wizard’s Harmony (Franchise)
| | |
Wolf of the
Battlefield
(Franchise)
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| World Heroes Perfect
| | |
| World Series Baseball (Franchise)
| Fairly big franchise spanning multiple Sega consoles. The Saturn games were basically reskins of Greatest Nine. Should be pretty easy to add.
| High priority
|
| Worms
| Turn-based artillery game featuring cute mascot characters.
| Medium priority
|
X Japan:
Virtual Shock
(Franchise)
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
X-Multiply
(Arcade Gears)
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
Yakyuuken Special:
Konya wa
12-kaisen, The
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Yellow Brick Road
| | Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
Yie Ar Kung-Fu
(Franchise)
| | |
| Ys (Franchise)
| Remakes of first two Ys games, which are both top-down, fantasy-themed action RPGs featuring bump combat. I’ve already identified more than a dozen similar games, but I still need to explore a few more search avenues and parse the Dragon Slayer games.
| Medium priority
|
YU-NO: A Girl Who
Chants Love at the
Bound of This World
| | Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
| Yumimi Mix Remix
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Z
| Z lacks base building and resource management. Instead, the player needs to capture sectors with preexisting structures that pump out units at set intervals. Destroying your opponent’s fort or all their forces results in victory. My experience with the real-time strategy genre is
mostly
limited to the Command & Conquer, Age of Empires, and Total War franchises, so I’ll have to do some digging to find out if any other RTS games work like this.
| Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
| Zanma Chou Ougi Valhollian
| | |
| Zap! Snowboarding Trix (Franchise)
| | |
Zero Divide:
The Final Conflict
| | Table
created,
actively
seeking
to expand
|
Zero4 Champ:
Doozy-J Type-R
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
Zippy Race
(Irem AC)
| | |
| Zoop
| | Table
created,
suitably
populated
|
| Zork (Franchise)
| | |
