most inspiring games per genre

FPS:
Wolfenstein 3D - Pretty much gave birth to the FPS genre.
Doom - Took the FPS genre into the beginning of 3D. Introduced online co-op. Also the first online FPS.
Quake - Further took the FPS genre into 3D with effects...also further progressed online multiplayer and co-op in the FPS genre.
Half Life - Added more depth to FPS by incorporating plotlines, scripted events, and character sequences. Allowed you to recruit friendly AI to fight alongside you. Introduced the importance of how AI can greatly enhance an FPS. Pretty much took the Mod scene to new heights.
Thief - Fused FPS and Stealth.
Tribes - Introduced large scale multiplayer battlefields and took large scale team-based multiplayer in FPS games to a new level. Also popularized items such as rechargeble shields, mines, on-the-fly grenades, etc. One of the first FPS games were vehicles were a big part of gameplay.
System Shock 2 - Further advanced the FPS genre by fusing it with RPG elements. Allowed you to fully customize a character which could greatly alter the gameplay.
Counterstrike - Major influence for multiplayer FPS games, especially with team based gameplay.
Unreal Tournament - Took team-based multiplayer to a whole new level with Assualt game modes. Introduced unparrelled AI for the time.
Deus Ex - Like System Shock 2 before it, fused FPS with RPG, but this time your character had a more vital role in shaping the world around you with led to branching plot paths and multiple endings.
Battlefield 1942 - Further took FPS multiplayer to the next level by pretty much introducing and popularizing massive scale battlefields.
Half Life 2 - Incorporated physics based puzzles as a form of gameplay to progress through the the single player campaign.

Action Adventure:
Zelda: Ocarina of Time - Literally evolved the action adventure genre and took it into a new era.
Ico - Very unique atmospheric adventure with puzzle solving based gameplay.
Devil May Cry - This action game pretty much introduced the type of gameplay which was later a template for games like NG and GoW.
Grand Theft Auto 3 - Literally changed gaming. Introduced free-roaming sandbox world with mission based gameplay. Radio stations. Mini-missions. etc.
Mafia - Took the free-roaming nature of GTA3 and fused it with a compelling and engaging narrative that allowed the game to be free-roaming while also maintaining a linear narrative.
Resident Evil 4 - Took third person shooters to a whole new level. One of the first games to really popularize interactive cutscenes.

RPG:
Fallout - Epic Single Player RPG that introduced a fully-freeroaming world with a unique atmoshere and Pop-Culture references that played a big role in this game.
Lineage - Pretty much the first MMORPG to take make the genre huge and popular.
Everquest - Continued to greatly popularized the MMORPG, especially in the West, and is pretty much considered the granddaddy to it.
Planescape Torment - Took the RPG genre to a whole new level by taking dialogue and character interaction to a whole new level where it effected gameplay and progressed the story more so then actual actions.
KOTOR - Pretty much took Epic D&D based RPGs with a turn based system and brought it into full 3D and while allowing combat and actions to seem virtually realtime despite actually being turn based.
World of Warcraft - Pretty much took MMORPGs and multiplayer as a whole to a whole new level in terms of community interaction.

Platformer:
Super Mario 64 - Took its genre into full 3D.

Adventure:
Maniac Mansion - Introduced multiple selectable character and a new form of interface for Adventure games.
Day of the Tentacle - Pretty much gave birth to the adventure formula that made Lucasarts and Sierra adventure games hits in the mid-90's and carried the genre for almost a decade.
Grim Fandango - Took the traditional adventure genre into 3D, especially with interaction with the gameworld.
The Longest Journey - Revived the adventure genre for a short time in 2000 by introducing a more mature and epic storyline.
Indigo Prophecy / Fahrenheit - Multiple paths that influences various aspects of the story, interactive cutscenes, unique 3D interface for what was technically a traditional adventure game allowed the character to perform multiple forms of tasks and actions and could be adapted to any circumstance.

Robnyc22

you list is soo much better and mine is a worthless piece of **** so i though that this thread should revolve around your list, which it already did... 

super mario 64- introduced 3d graphics. beautifully made when it game out. good platformer too.

doom- introduced the first person shooter. goldeneye and perfect dark followed in its footsteps.

half life- revolutionized the FPS.

halo ce- huge step in the FPS genre, especially campaign.

world of warcraft- arguably the best mmorpg ever made.

grand turesmo 3- revolutionized racing games.

burnout series- gave a new meaning to racing.

grand theft auto iii- introduced the 'open world' or 'free roaming' genre.

zelda a link to the past- showed what 2d adventure games are supposed to be like.

zelda ocarina of time- showed what 3d adventure games are supposed to be like.

final fantasy vii- showed what rpgs are supposed to be like.

fallout- also showed what rpgs are supposed to be like.

the sims- revolutionized simulation games. best selling pc game as well.

sim city- created simulation games.

warcraft series, starcraft- made RTSs what they are.

super mario world- what 2d platformers are supposed to be like.

NOTEWORTHY- tetris pong, pacman.

peypan

agree with most except.

Doom isn't the first, it is Wolfstien 3D

Replace World of Warcraft with Lineage, because that's the first game that really tapped into MMO potential.

Take out Halo because that really didn't do anything except prove once again that Americans love playing first person shooter.

Grand Turismo 1 did more than 3 don't you think?

Same goes to GTA 1

Zelda 1 also showed what 2D adveture games are supposed to be, not link to the past.

Replace Fallout with Ultima

and extra mention on Starcraft because it is the first game that showed that you can make a living by playing games.  

Action Adventure:
Zelda: Ocarina of Time - Literally evolved the action adventure genre and took it into a new era.
Ico - Very unique atmospheric adventure with puzzle solving based gameplay.
Devil May Cry - This action game pretty much introduced the type of gameplay which was later a template for games like NG and GoW.
Grand Theft Auto 3 - Literally changed gaming. Introduced free-roaming sandbox world with mission based gameplay. Radio stations. Mini-missions. etc.
Mafia - Took the free-roaming nature of GTA3 and fused it with a compelling and engaging narrative that allowed the game to be free-roaming while also maintaining a linear narrative.
Resident Evil 4 - Took third person shooters to a whole new level. One of the first games to really popularize interactive cutscenes.

RPG:
Fallout - Epic Single Player RPG that introduced a fully-freeroaming world with a unique atmoshere and Pop-Culture references that played a big role in this game.
Lineage - Pretty much the first MMORPG to take make the genre huge and popular.
Everquest - Continued to greatly popularized the MMORPG, especially in the West, and is pretty much considered the granddaddy to it.
Planescape Torment - Took the RPG genre to a whole new level by taking dialogue and character interaction to a whole new level where it effected gameplay and progressed the story more so then actual actions.
KOTOR - Pretty much took Epic D&D based RPGs with a turn based system and brought it into full 3D and while allowing combat and actions to seem virtually realtime despite actually being turn based.
World of Warcraft - Pretty much took MMORPGs and multiplayer as a whole to a whole new level in terms of community interaction.

Platformer:
Super Mario 64 - Took its genre into full 3D.

Adventure:
Maniac Mansion - Introduced multiple selectable character and a new form of interface for Adventure games.
Day of the Tentacle - Pretty much gave birth to the adventure formula that made Lucasarts and Sierra adventure games hits in the mid-90's and carried the genre for almost a decade.
Grim Fandango - Took the traditional adventure genre into 3D, especially with interaction with the gameworld.
The Longest Journey - Revived the adventure genre for a short time in 2000 by introducing a more mature and epic storyline.
Indigo Prophecy / Fahrenheit - Multiple paths that influences various aspects of the story, interactive cutscenes, unique 3D interface for what was technically a traditional adventure game allowed the character to perform multiple forms of tasks and actions and could be adapted to any circumstance.

FPS:
Wolfenstein 3D - Pretty much gave birth to the FPS genre.
Doom - Took the FPS genre into the beginning of 3D. Introduced online co-op. Also the first online FPS.
Quake - Further took the FPS genre into 3D with effects...also further progressed online multiplayer and co-op in the FPS genre.
Half Life - Added more depth to FPS by incorporating plotlines, scripted events, and character sequences. Allowed you to recruit friendly AI to fight alongside you. Introduced the importance of how AI can greatly enhance an FPS. Pretty much took the Mod scene to new heights.
Thief - Fused FPS and Stealth.
Tribes - Introduced large scale multiplayer battlefields and took large scale team-based multiplayer in FPS games to a new level. Also popularized items such as rechargeble shields, mines, on-the-fly grenades, etc. One of the first FPS games were vehicles were a big part of gameplay.
System Shock 2 - Further advanced the FPS genre by fusing it with RPG elements. Allowed you to fully customize a character which could greatly alter the gameplay.
Counterstrike - Major influence for multiplayer FPS games, especially with team based gameplay.
Unreal Tournament - Took team-based multiplayer to a whole new level with Assualt game modes. Introduced unparrelled AI for the time.
Deus Ex - Like System Shock 2 before it, fused FPS with RPG, but this time your character had a more vital role in shaping the world around you with led to branching plot paths and multiple endings.
Battlefield 1942 - Further took FPS multiplayer to the next level by pretty much introducing and popularizing massive scale battlefields.
Half Life 2 - Incorporated physics based puzzles as a form of gameplay to progress through the the single player campaign.

Action Adventure:
Zelda: Ocarina of Time - Literally evolved the action adventure genre and took it into a new era.
Ico - Very unique atmospheric adventure with puzzle solving based gameplay.
Devil May Cry - This action game pretty much introduced the type of gameplay which was later a template for games like NG and GoW.
Grand Theft Auto 3 - Literally changed gaming. Introduced free-roaming sandbox world with mission based gameplay. Radio stations. Mini-missions. etc.
Mafia - Took the free-roaming nature of GTA3 and fused it with a compelling and engaging narrative that allowed the game to be free-roaming while also maintaining a linear narrative.
Resident Evil 4 - Took third person shooters to a whole new level. One of the first games to really popularize interactive cutscenes.

RPG:
Fallout - Epic Single Player RPG that introduced a fully-freeroaming world with a unique atmoshere and Pop-Culture references that played a big role in this game.
Lineage - Pretty much the first MMORPG to take make the genre huge and popular.
Everquest - Continued to greatly popularized the MMORPG, especially in the West, and is pretty much considered the granddaddy to it.
Planescape Torment - Took the RPG genre to a whole new level by taking dialogue and character interaction to a whole new level where it effected gameplay and progressed the story more so then actual actions.
KOTOR - Pretty much took Epic D&D based RPGs with a turn based system and brought it into full 3D and while allowing combat and actions to seem virtually realtime despite actually being turn based.
World of Warcraft - Pretty much took MMORPGs and multiplayer as a whole to a whole new level in terms of community interaction.

Platformer:
Super Mario 64 - Took its genre into full 3D.

Adventure:
Maniac Mansion - Introduced multiple selectable character and a new form of interface for Adventure games.
Day of the Tentacle - Pretty much gave birth to the adventure formula that made Lucasarts and Sierra adventure games hits in the mid-90's and carried the genre for almost a decade.
Grim Fandango - Took the traditional adventure genre into 3D, especially with interaction with the gameworld.
The Longest Journey - Revived the adventure genre for a short time in 2000 by introducing a more mature and epic storyline.
Indigo Prophecy / Fahrenheit - Multiple paths that influences various aspects of the story, interactive cutscenes, unique 3D interface for what was technically a traditional adventure game allowed the character to perform multiple forms of tasks and actions and could be adapted to any circumstance.

Robnyc22

omg... ur list is soo much better then mine..... 

*list*
Robnyc22

Still needs Ultima, since the Ultima series contained one of the first MMORPGs (Ultima Online), arguably the first FPS (Ultima Underworld - Wolf3D was based on a tech demo of UU, was released after UU, and was totally inferior to UU), and basically popularised and highly influenced both the Western and Japanese RPG markets (Elder Scrolls, Final Fantasy, etc. all were largely influenced by Ultima).

Oh, and the team that started with UU went on to make Thief, System Shock and Deus Ex. Also, Arx Fatalis was made as a sequal to UU, and Dark Messiah was a continuation of that idea...so you could argue that, without Ultima, we wouldn't have those games either.

[QUOTE="Robnyc22"]*list*
Planeforger

Still needs Ultima, since the Ultima series contained one of the first MMORPGs (Ultima Online), arguably the first FPS (Ultima Underworld - Wolf3D was based on a tech demo of UU, was released after UU, and was totally inferior to UU), and basically popularised and highly influenced both the Western and Japanese RPG markets (Elder Scrolls, Final Fantasy, etc. all were largely influenced by Ultima).

Oh, and the team that started with UU went on to make Thief, System Shock and Deus Ex. Also, Arx Fatalis was made as a sequal to UU, and Dark Messiah was a continuation of that idea...so you could argue that, without Ultima, we wouldn't have those games either.

This is true that the Ultima games played a huge role in shaping games, especially FPS and RPGs....Warren Spector and other ex-LG members such as those at Irrational Games have cited Ultima as being the original template for games like Deus Ex, SS2, and even Thief.......however, I never had much experience with any of the earlier Ultima games so I couldnt really comment on their inspiration to the gaming industry, though I definitely aware that they clearly were a major influence. 

FPS:
Wolfenstein 3D - Pretty much gave birth to the FPS genre.
Doom - Took the FPS genre into the beginning of 3D. Introduced online co-op. Also the first online FPS.
Quake - Further took the FPS genre into 3D with effects...also further progressed online multiplayer and co-op in the FPS genre.
Half Life - Added more depth to FPS by incorporating plotlines, scripted events, and character sequences. Allowed you to recruit friendly AI to fight alongside you. Introduced the importance of how AI can greatly enhance an FPS. Pretty much took the Mod scene to new heights.
Thief - Fused FPS and Stealth.
Tribes - Introduced large scale multiplayer battlefields and took large scale team-based multiplayer in FPS games to a new level. Also popularized items such as rechargeble shields, mines, on-the-fly grenades, etc. One of the first FPS games were vehicles were a big part of gameplay.
System Shock 2 - Further advanced the FPS genre by fusing it with RPG elements. Allowed you to fully customize a character which could greatly alter the gameplay.
Counterstrike - Major influence for multiplayer FPS games, especially with team based gameplay.
Unreal Tournament - Took team-based multiplayer to a whole new level with Assualt game modes. Introduced unparrelled AI for the time.
Deus Ex - Like System Shock 2 before it, fused FPS with RPG, but this time your character had a more vital role in shaping the world around you with led to branching plot paths and multiple endings.
Battlefield 1942 - Further took FPS multiplayer to the next level by pretty much introducing and popularizing massive scale battlefields.
Half Life 2 - Incorporated physics based puzzles as a form of gameplay to progress through the the single player campaign.

Action Adventure:
Zelda: Ocarina of Time - Literally evolved the action adventure genre and took it into a new era.
Ico - Very unique atmospheric adventure with puzzle solving based gameplay.
Devil May Cry - This action game pretty much introduced the type of gameplay which was later a template for games like NG and GoW.
Grand Theft Auto 3 - Literally changed gaming. Introduced free-roaming sandbox world with mission based gameplay. Radio stations. Mini-missions. etc.
Mafia - Took the free-roaming nature of GTA3 and fused it with a compelling and engaging narrative that allowed the game to be free-roaming while also maintaining a linear narrative.
Resident Evil 4 - Took third person shooters to a whole new level. One of the first games to really popularize interactive cutscenes.

RPG:
Fallout - Epic Single Player RPG that introduced a fully-freeroaming world with a unique atmoshere and Pop-Culture references that played a big role in this game.
Lineage - Pretty much the first MMORPG to take make the genre huge and popular.
Everquest - Continued to greatly popularized the MMORPG, especially in the West, and is pretty much considered the granddaddy to it.
Planescape Torment - Took the RPG genre to a whole new level by taking dialogue and character interaction to a whole new level where it effected gameplay and progressed the story more so then actual actions.
KOTOR - Pretty much took Epic D&D based RPGs with a turn based system and brought it into full 3D and while allowing combat and actions to seem virtually realtime despite actually being turn based.
World of Warcraft - Pretty much took MMORPGs and multiplayer as a whole to a whole new level in terms of community interaction.

Platformer:
Super Mario 64 - Took its genre into full 3D.

Adventure:
Maniac Mansion - Introduced multiple selectable character and a new form of interface for Adventure games.
Day of the Tentacle - Pretty much gave birth to the adventure formula that made Lucasarts and Sierra adventure games hits in the mid-90's and carried the genre for almost a decade.
Grim Fandango - Took the traditional adventure genre into 3D, especially with interaction with the gameworld.
The Longest Journey - Revived the adventure genre for a short time in 2000 by introducing a more mature and epic storyline.
Indigo Prophecy / Fahrenheit - Multiple paths that influences various aspects of the story, interactive cutscenes, unique 3D interface for what was technically a traditional adventure game allowed the character to perform multiple forms of tasks and actions and could be adapted to any circumstance.

Robnyc22

pretty much agree with all except.

You need to add FFVII. It was the RPG that became blue print for 3D RPGs.  

And you need RTS section  

pretty much agree with all except.

You need to add FFVII. It was the RPG that became blue print for 3D RPGs.

And you need RTS section

TriangleHard

Yeah...FFVII is a big one, except I never really got into the FF series so I can't comment on it....though if from what I've been told by friends, if you're gonna include FFVII you have to include Chrono Trigger as well since that was also supposedly a major influence in JRPGs.

I'm also not a big Strategy gamer....though I can probably name the most influential games in that genre from what I've repeatedly read on forums:

X-Com
Starcraft
Civilization
Homeworld
Warcraft II
Company of Heroes

How was that?

Also, Freespace 2 & Tie Fighter are two very big prominant names I see thrown around as legendary games a lot, though those are more space combat sims....also can't forget Mechwarrior 2.

Depending on the definition of "inspired," the RPG list is sorely lacking.....I know a lot of people would like to think that only RPGs on PCs were "inspiring," but it's hardly true.

And what happened to adventure games like ICO and Shadow of the Colossus? They're not platformers, you know (perhaps action/adventure), and while we're on the subject of platformers, there's more than just one platformer that was "iinspiring." And as far as FPSs go, of course that's a PC-dominated genre, but certain FPSs did a great deal for consoles (Perfect Dark, Medal of Honor, etc.)

It's a very slanted list, IMO.