10 Game Genres That No Longer Made

Run And Gun

It’s hard to find real run-and-gun games these days. Cuphead is possibly the last big game of this type, but since most of the game is spent fighting bosses, that’s not really saying much.

Games like Contra, Sunset Riders, and the Metal Slug series are some of the best in this genre. The simple arcade-style gameplay of the genre might be what made them mostly go out of style, but the occasional run-and-gun game with a unique twist still pops up now and then.

Shoot ‘Em-Ups

The shoot-em-up genre is a famous type of video game that was at its best in the 1980s and 1990s. It was easy to put in a quarter, get a few lives, and try to kill as many flying enemies as you could to get the best score possible.

These games are a little too easy these days, so they are often turned into simulation games to make them more fun. There are still some of these games out there, but most of them are bullet hell games, which are very hard to make up for the genre’s simplicity.

Instrument-Based Rhythm Games

It’s not that hard to figure out why this genre has died out. The idea that you could play a music game with an instrument in a game like Rock Band was brilliant, but people quickly got tired of it.

It’s possible that making these kinds of games is already very expensive, and the unique controllers don’t help. People will always like rhythm games, but it seems like now is the time for games that are based on movement instead of the guitar.

Collectathons

It can feel like 3D platformers as a whole are going out at times, but the collectathon subgenre is what has really died out. There are a few current games like Donkey Kong 64 or Banjo-Kazooie in that they have a lot of things to find and do. However, few of them can match the sheer size of these classics.

Mario Odyssey might be the most successful modern collectathon, but that might be a bit of a stretch when most of what you collect are moons and not much else of note. It’s a famous genre that can be fun and pass the time, but most people have forgotten about it.

Rail Shooters

It’s pretty clear why rail shooters aren’t made very often any more. Most systems these days won’t even let you set up a gun to use as a remote.

These games were and still are popular in arcades, but the NES and then the Wii were where the idea really took off.

At this point, it’s hard to see why someone would make a rail shooter when they could just make a good first-person shooter. First-person shooters have become so good that going back to a completely on-rails style might turn you off of some of your favorite games.

Side Scrolling Beat ‘Em-Ups

Even though every now and then a unique beat ’em up comes out, most of them are just remasters or continuations of old series that don’t get much attention. Most players today aren’t interested in the easy action of moving to the right and beating up bad guys.

In the 1990s, beat-em-ups were all the rage, but writers had very few tools to work with at the time. Developers can now make some of the most complicated and deep fighting games ever. Since competitive play is so popular now, fighting games are the way to go.

Text Adventures

If most people were honest, they’d probably say they’d rather have a character talk than have to read words. It’s likely that this is what killed the text adventure genre.

Due to its ability to tell entertaining stories with few graphics, this was one of the first genres of PC games and gaming in general. You could use different commands to find out about the journey, and some of these games could have good puzzles. Unfortunately, you probably like watching cutscenes more than reading now.

First-Person Party-Based RPGs

RPGs tried for a long time to be like famous tabletop games like Basket Random. This is what led to the creation of the first-person party-based RPG. You might not have even heard of any of these games, let alone played any of them.

This was another genre that did well because of its limits, which have since been blown away by developers. It’s common for RPGs to be about a group of people, but it’s rare for them to be played from the first-person perspective. This is because most RPGs have deep stories.

Arcade Sports Games

There are plenty of sports games, especially since the big sports all get new games every year, but video games have really taken a back seat. Classics like NHL Hitz and NFL Blitz were great when they came out, but they probably wouldn’t be as good today.

For players who want a realistic experience, absolutely bodying an opponent and then getting set on fire as you slide down the ice or brutally beating someone in football is a bit much. This and most other arcade-style games die because people want them to look and work like real life.

Point-And-Click Games

There are a lot of great point-and-click games with interesting stories and puzzles, but most of them are from a long time ago. The main reason is that it doesn’t make sense to make a game like that when you could put in some movement.

When compared to modern games, making a point-and-click game is pretty easy. Because of this, it can be hard to get the same amount of excitement from a large group of people. Even though the genre is mostly dead, you still have all the greats.