The Top 7... Precursor Games

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Halo 3's ending revealed? Big Daddy's father unmasked? Witness the evolution that led to today's favorites



What can we learn about the future of gaming by looking at what's survived the past? We've picked out our seven favorite precursor games that sired some of today's most successful hits. Read on to find out what jump started GTA III, who the Big Daddy's father is, and how you just might be able to figure out Halo 3's ending before the game releases.

Marathon begat Halo

Dual-wielding pistols, integrated voice chat, King of the Hill, and a super soldier with way too many guns. No, we're not talking about Halo; we're talking about its father, the game that made Master Chief possible: Marathon.

Many of the Halo's defining features are actually re-hashed from Bungie's first big hit. Sure, Marathon's "Kill the Guy with the Ball" multiplayer mode doesn't have the same ring to it as Halo's "Oddball," but you get the idea.

Similarities between Marathon and Halo don't end there. Parallels between the plots of both titles are so strong that some fans have taken it upon themselves to speculate on how Halo 3 will end by looking back on the first three Marathon games.

If Marathon does wind up being the Halo Rosetta Stone speculators make it out to be, expect Master Chief to time travel to the past to save the future or bust through the space time continuum to patch things up in an alternate reality.

If you're hungry for more Halo 3 details, check out our exclusive interview with the first games journalist to beat and review the game.



Above: Will Halo 3 end with some good old fashioned time traveling to the past to save the future? Only time will tell

Useless Facts:
- Halo was originally announced at the 1999 Macworld Expo. Microsoft later bought Bungie and repurposed Halo for release on the Xbox in 2001. PC and Mac gamers had to wait 2 years to get their hands on Master Chief in 2003.
- Expect a 40 point achievement titled "Marathon Man" for those who find all the terminals in Halo 3's single player campaign. In Marathon terminals provided mission details and backstory.
- It's hinted that Master Chief is the last remnant of an elite military battalion, the Spartans, while the unnamed protagonist in Marathon seems to be the last survivor of the Mjolnir.
- Both Halo and Marathon feature memorable missions that require you to defend a space cruiser under siege.
- Both Halo's Forerunners and Marathon's Jjarro are technologically advanced races that have mysteriously disappeared.



System Shock begat BioShock

Who's the Big Daddy's father? It's no secret that there are a ton of similarities between the System Shock series and BioShock. Irrational Games' creative director, Ken Levine has said in various interviews that the art deco-oriented BioShock was designed to be a spiritual successor to its cyberpunk predecessor.

But where do you draw the line between a spiritual successor and a repackaged copy?

Check the stats below and decide for yourself.



Above: The writing is on the walls. Some of BioShock's most memorable moments and features come straight from its predecessor

Useless Facts:
- BioShock lets you customize your character with super special powers via Plasmids and Tonics, which are quite similar to System Shock's Psionic abilities.
- Both BioShock and System Shock 2 feature a friendly guide who talks you through the game. Both guides wind up having strikingly similar shocking secrets near the end.
- Hacking security cameras, turrets, and drones are a big part of both games. Both games also feature power ups that improve your hacking skills.
- BioShock fills you in on the plot through audio diaries much like System Shock's email logs.
- Boo! Both games feature ghosts or spirits that provide un-scary story fillers.
- If BioShock's hacking minigame seems familiar, it's because it's practically the same as Pipe Dream.



Donkey Kong begat Mario

Without Donkey Kong, there'd be no Jumpman. Without Jumpman, there'd be no Mario, and with no Mario, Shigeru Miyamoto would just be some guy working at a Japanese playing card company called Nintendo.

In 1980, Nintendo unleashed Radar Scope in the US in the hopes of cashing in on the lucrative arcade craze. Unfortunately, arcade owners and patrons weren't interested, and Nintendo found themselves with tons of unsold units wasting away.

Enter Shigeru Miyamoto, who was charged with re-designing a new game to replace the ones in the ruinous Radar Scope cabinets. His answer was Donkey Kong. Needless to say, the barrel-tossing ape was a huge success.

But it was the anonymous Jumpman you controlled that went on to become one of the most recognizable characters in video game history. It just goes to show that today's second banana game character can 1-up the main attraction and become a star in his own right.



Useless Facts:
- Most gamers first heard Mario speak in the 1996, Super Mario 64. But voice actor, Charles Martinet had been voicing the Italian plumber for Nintendo at trade shows since 1990 and was featured Mario FUNdamentals in 1995.
- The damsel in distress that required rescuing in Donkey Kong was named Pauline.
- Mario's cap was designed as a clever way to work around the problem of animating Mario's hair.
- According to a 1990 survey, Mario was more recognized amongst American children than Mickey Mouse.
- Universal sued Nintendo for trademark infringement due to the similarities between Donkey Kong and King Kong. They lost.
- Donkey Kong may have been the result of a mistranslation, and was reportedly intended to be called Monkey Kong. Designer, Shigeru Miyamoto contends that the name "Donkey" was deliberate, and that he was trying to capture the stubborn-as-a-mule nature of the barrel flinging ape.



Body Harvest begat Grand Theft Auto III

What jumpstarted Grand Theft Auto III? Before Body Harvest, DMA Design (now known as Rockstar North) kept the ultra-violent world of Grand Theft Auto locked in two dimensions. Released for the N64 in 1998, Body Harvest introduced free-roaming sandbox gameplay and over 60 vehicles to tool around with as you traveled through time to fend off an alien invasion.

Combine Body Harvest's free-roaming 3D gameplay with the car-on-car chaos of the first two GTA's and you've got all the key ingredients needed to create GTA III, GTA: Vice City, and GTA: San Andreas.



Above: Do the math.

Useless Facts:
- DMA Design's Body Harvest contains a ton of Biblical references with many boss names that come straight from the good book, such as Leviathan, Cerberus, Moloch, Beelzebub.
- Body Harvest features an ice cream truck much like the one in GTA III.
- GTA: San Andreas features a mission involving a combine harvester titled "Body Harvest."



Project Gotham Racing 2 begat Geometry Wars: Evolved

Critics across the board praised Project Gotham Racing 2 for its beautiful graphics. However, most reviews missed out on mentioning the minigame tucked away in the game's garage, Geometry Wars. Those that did, never failed to mention the old school Robotron-like fun Geometry Wars delivered.

What started out as an excellent Easter egg, ended up taking off as one of the highest selling titles on Xbox Live when the revamped Geometry Wars: Evolved made its debut on the Xbox 360.

Although the 360 version of Geometry Wars offered more eye candy and shapes to shoot, the basic principles that made the game so addicting were all there in Project Gotham Racing 2's garage.

Today, Bizarre Creations is still riding the wave of Geometry Wars' popularity with new versions for the Wii and DS scheduled to release later this year. But elements of Geometry Wars' colorful aesthetics can also be seen in Boom Boom Rocket. The addictive draw of besting the competition with your high score also looks like it'll live on in The Club.



Above: PGR 2 got good grades for its graphics, but it was its simple minigame, Geometry Wars that spawned one of the most popular Xbox Live titles ever

Useless Facts:
- For a long time, Xbox Live player, K4RN4GE topped the Geometry Wars: Evolved leader board. He allegedly let himself die on purpose so his score would read as 360,360,600.
- As of Monday, September 17, 2007, the highest Geometry Wars: Evolved score goes to KILLERTOKER420 with 500,684,945 points.
- Geometry Wars: Galaxies for the Wii will introduce the Masters, which are large blocks that break down into smaller pieces as you blast them.
- Project Gotham Racing 4 comes with Geometry Wars: Waves, which comes with tweaks to the scoring system and spawns enemies in lines that bounce back and forth across the screen like waves.



Out of this World begat Flashback

Flashback: The Quest for Identity was Delphine Software's most successful title. Unless of course, you count the game that paved the way for the Flashback franchise: Out of this World.

With nearly identical gameplay, the same silky smooth rotoscoping, and striking aesthetics, Flashback managed to milk all the important elements that made Out of this World stand out from its cartoony platforming contemporaries.

Unfortunately, once Delphine Software introduced the third dimension to the series and deviated from Out of this World's design, the series lost its charm. Flashback's fast-paced action slowed down to a crawl in its sequel, Fade to Black, disappointing many fans.



Above: Flashback was great because its design was so much like Out of This World

Useless Facts:
- Although he got help with the music, Eric Chahi designed and developed Out of this World from on his own from the coding down to the box art.
- Both Out of this World and Flashback have identical endings with the protagonists flying into the horizon with the worlds 'THE END' flying toward the screen.
- Flashback also gives a nod to Out of this World with the use of the personal force field and the similar cinematic where Conrad gets his gun back.
- The scene where you see three female aliens bathing in Out of this World was too erotic for console versions. According to Chahi, the cracks on their bottoms were reduced by a three pixels.



Arch Rivals begat NBA Jam

NBA Jam may be the game you think of as the pioneer of glass shattering slam dunks. But Midway had already smoothed out this backboard breaking maneuver beforehand with Arch Rivals. In fact, if you take out the advanced graphics, NBA licenses, and replace the punching with some ball slapping to steal, Miday's NBA Jam plays just like Arch Rivals.



Above: Arch Rivals showed us that you don't need official licenses for a fun sports game. NBA Jam showed us that having them helps a lot

Useless Facts:
- Michael Jordan was noticeably absent from NBA Jam's roster. Scottie Pippen's pumped up stats may have been meant to make up for the MIA MJ.
- Like most Midway games, NBA Jam featured a ton of Easter eggs. NBA Jam Tournament Edition even let you play as Bill, Hillary, and George Clinton.