Every once in a while, a video game brings radical changes that influence the industry. Without proper execution or polish, however, a video game can be an utter disaster. We've seen it time and time again that a AAA game fails to appeal to gamers.
The following video games are outliers that stood out for being ahead of their time. In some cases, video game consoles are also ahead of their time. We saw this with the Sega Dreamcast, which released several revolutionary games. Although groundbreaking at release, these games may have missed the mark. These are ten '90s retro video games way ahead of their time.
10 Shenmue
As the most expensive game to develop at its time of release, Shenmue cost approximately $70 million. It featured one of the first 3D open-worlds, and the amount of detail was astounding for its time. It also contained advanced gameplay mechanics like day and night shifts.
Not only was Shenmue ahead of its time, but its platform the Sega Dreamcast was as well. Sega's 128-bit video game console was poorly marketed, and with Sony's PlayStation 2 approaching, there was little room for Shenmue in a flooded video game market.
9 Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss
Look closely and you might see a resemblance to The Elder Scrolls series. This game released in 1992 and is the first 3D role-playing game to play in the first-person. Naturally, this game is non-linear and is an excellent dungeon simulator.
To this day, Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss serves as an influence for developers like Bethesda Softworks. The game sold 500,000 units, yet few people still talk about this game's groundbreaking achievements. Suffice to say, Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss was way ahead of its time.
8 Final Fantasy VII
This is a game that harnessed the original PlayStation's power, bringing graphics leagues ahead of concurrent games. Final Fantasy VII made leaps for the role-playing genre with an intriguing dystopian story. It's one of those games that plays seamlessly, unlike any previous role-playing game.
Final Fantasy VII brings enough to the table to be considered ahead of its time. Not everyone played the original, but the remake has restored popularity for Final Fantasy VII's enormous map, soaring soundtrack, side quests, and dynamic characters.
7 System Shock II
Despite being a game with lackluster sales numbers, System Shock II was later deemed to be a highly influential first-person shooter. Why System Shock II was a commercial failure is attributed to the game's progressive design; it was way ahead of its time. System Shock II influenced games like BioShock and Deux Ex. BioShock was also created by Irrational Games and is considered a spiritual successor.
6 Trespasser
Trespasser is a hidden gem meant to be a sequel to 1997's The Lost World: Jurassic Park film, which occurred before Jurassic Park III released. Despite being lambasted by critics, it was an ambitious game.
Trespasser was expected to be revolutionary. The physics of the game needed polish, but the dinosaurs looked great. Also, it had top-notch textures making it an immersive game. It's hard to ignore Trespasser's technical achievements, even though it was overhyped.
5 Virtua Fighter
The original Virtua Fighter was released for the arcade but was later ported to consoles like Sega Saturn, Sega 32X, and PC. This was the first fighting game to contain 3D polygon graphics. The amount of depth provided in Virtua Fighter was a leap for the genre. The game had high sales for arcade and Sega Saturn, even though it is considered ahead of other fighting games, and it's time.
4 F-Zero
This is a video game series that continually releases games ahead of their time. Arcade racing was previously the prevalent racing platform until F-Zero flipped the script with its competitive races. This surreal futuristic game set a new standard for racing games. In retrospect, it should have had a multiplayer mode, yet the game is still considered a racing phenomenon.
3 Super Mario 64
When Mario made the jump to 3D, it was an innovative achievement for the franchise and gaming. Super Mario 64 was a commercial success considered ahead of its time. It was one of the first games to shift a series from 2D to 3D. Free-flow motions were combined with a treasure trove of stages to give the game long-lasting appeal. Numerous games took influence from Super Mario 64, despite criticism for its wonky camera angles.
2 StarCraft
While StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty took the best of Starcraft and refined it into a masterpiece, the original Starcraft was a blank slate. Starcraft is an RTS (real-time strategy) game that made the genre more competitive than seen before. The series is still widely recognized for being a mainstay of Esports.
Starcraft was remastered and re-released in 2017. The remaster contains the Brood War expansion with gameplay that still holds ups.
1 Sonic Adventure
Sega's Sonic Adventure is yet another item on Sega Dreamcast's long list of games ahead of their time. This was the first time that Sonic the Hedgehog made the jump to 3D. It is considered a technical achievement, despite being a game with performance issues like frame rate. Had this game been as refined as Sonic Adventure2, the Sega Dreamcast may have sold more systems. People still regard this as a great Sonic game, but unfortunately, it was ahead of its time.