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General discussionFavorite period for each genre?(49 posts)(49 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted July 28, 2020
Let's finish this up with the third and final part:
Collectathon Platformer (2D: Flicky, ​​Jumpman, ​Jet Set Willy, Ruff 'n Tumble, Rayman; 3D: Mario 64, Banjo 1-2, Ape Escape)

Third-person Shooter (TPS; Xybots?, Tomb Raider, Mega Man Legends, Dark Forces II, MDK, Armored Core, Burning Rangers, Max Payne, RE 4, Dead Space, Vanquish)

Shoot 'em up/Auto-Scrolling Shooter (Horizontal: R-Type, Gradius, Thunder Force, Darius, UN Squadron, Lords of Thunder; Vertical: 1943, Aleste, Twinbee, Soldier Blade, Battle Garegga, Radiant Silvergun)

Gallery Shooter or Cabal Shooter (Wild Guns)

Trapping/Trap 'em up (Lode Runner, Boulder Dash, Spy vs. Spy, Tecmo's Deception)

Fighting (1 vs 1) (2D: IK+, Street Fighter 2, Mortal Kombat, 3D: Virtua Fighter, Tekken, Soul Calibur)

Online Arena Combat/Non-RTS MOBA (Teeworlds, Superfighters Deluxe, Awesomenauts)

Roguelite/Real-time Roguelike (Toejam & Earl, Diablo?, Spelunky, Binding of Isaac, Rogue Legacy)

2D Action Adventure Games (Legend of Zelda, Starflight, Pirates!, Bionic Commando, Solstice, Quackshot, Star Control II, Landstalker, Beyond Oasis, Little Big Adventure, Legacy of Kain, Alundra, Bastion, Hyper Light Drifter)

3D Metroidvania/Platform Adventure (System Shock, Exhumed/Powerslave, The Divide, Banjo-Tooie, Spyro 2, Metroid Prime, Batman: Arkham Asylum?)

Survival (UnReal World (rogue-like), SOS/Septentrion, Deus, Minecraft, Terraria, Don't Starve)

Quest Adventure (King's Quest, Maniac Mansion, Monkey Island, Wonder Project J, Grim Fandango, Machinarium)

Western-style RPG (generally feature an open-ended structure, interactive dialogue and character creation; Ultima IV-VII, Wasteland, Shadowrun (MD)?, Fallout, Baldur's Gate, Elder Scrolls, Star Wars: KotoR)

2D Action RPG (ARPG; Ys, Zelda II, Quest for Glory, Crystalis, Seiken Densetsu/of Mana, Soul Blazer, Shadowrun (SNES & MD), Tales of Phantasia, Terranigma, Diablo, Star Ocean)

Roguelike (Rogue, NetHack, Angband, UnReal World, Shiren the Wanderer, Dwarf Fortress, FTL)

Life Simulation and Virtual pet games (Harvest Moon, Tamagotchi, The Sims, Nintendogs)

Racing Sim (Formula One Grand Prix, Gran Turismo)

Real-time Strategy (RTS; Herzog Zwei, Dune 2, Command & Conquer, Warcraft, Dragon Force, Lords of the Realm II, Myth, Dungeon Keeper, Age of Empires, Total Annihilation, Starcraft, Homeworld, Shogun: Total War (4x), WH40K: Dawn of War)

Tower Defense (Rampart, Starcraft & Warcraft 3 custom maps, Desktop Tower Defense, Lock's Quest, Plants vs. Zombies)

Racing (Outrun, RC Pro-Am, Stunt Car Racer, Power Drift, ​S.T.U.N. Runner, Micro Machines, Mario Kart, Top Gear 2, Rock 'n Roll Racing, Daytona USA, Ridge Racer, Sega Rally, Crash Team Racing, Need for Speed 2-3, Motocross Madness, Wave Race 64, R4, Crazy Taxi, Hydro Thunder)

Puzzle Games (Other)(Minesweeper, The Incredible Machine, Bill's Tomato Game, Cut the Rope)

Logic game (Mario's Picross, Brain Age, )

Party game or Mini-game Compilation (Puzzle & Action, Mario Party, Game & Watch Gallery, Wario Ware)

Edit: Removed VVVVVV from 2D AA since it's more of a sandbox/platformer hybrid.

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My SEU picks: 1988-1997 (Thunder Force II and Gradius II (NES)-G Darius) and 1988-1998 (Gun.Smoke (NES)-Radiant Silvergun)

My 2D AA pick: 1990-1997 (Gargoyle's Quest and Metal Gear 2-Alundra)

My 3D MV pick: 1994-2002 (System Shock-Metroid Prime)

My Quest Adv pick: 1990-1998 (Loom-Grim Fandango) and the fan remake of King's Quest 3

My WRPG pick: 1997-2001 (Fallout-BG2: ToB)

My 2D ARPG pick: 1990-1996 (Crystalis-Diablo)

My RTS pick: 1995-2010 (Warcraft 2-Starcraft 2)

My Racing picks: Early 1990s (Micro Machines and R'nR Racing) and All-Stars Racing Transformed (2012)
Post edited July 28, 2020 by ResidentLeever
Posted July 28, 2020
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ResidentLeever: 2D Action Adventure Games (Legend of Zelda, Starflight, Pirates!, Bionic Commando, Solstice, Quackshot, Star Control II, Landstalker, Beyond Oasis, Little Big Adventure, Legacy of Kain, Alundra, VVVVVV, Bastion, Hyper Light Drifter)
I wouldn't consider this to be a coherent classification. In particular:
* Whether the game is overhead view or side scrolling is a significant difference, as far as it affects the game in a very fundamental manner, and therefore is a genre-defining trait. Hence, placing Zelda (overhead view) and Bionic Commando (side-scrolling) doesn't really work here.
* I would probably not put Pirates! and (from my understanding) Star Control II in this genre either, as they don't feel like the same type of game.
* Solstice feels a bit 3D to me, in the sense that there are three coordinates that specify location and the fact that there are platforms in mid-air in a game where you have two axes of non-vertical movement.
* VVVVVV is a precision platformer, not an action adventure game. The fact that there's an outer world to explore doesn't really matter in this game, as most of the game consists of going through linear stages. I also note that there's no health system (everything is a one-hit kill), no combat, and no tools that the player picks up. I would put this game in the same genre as games like Super Meat Boy and Celeste.

So, the list of "2D Action Adventures" you gave really isn't a list that could coherently be classified as a genre.

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ResidentLeever: Collectathon Platformer (2D: Flicky, ​​Jumpman, ​Jet Set Willy, Ruff 'n Tumble, Rayman; 3D: Mario 64, Banjo 1-2, Ape Escape)
[...]
3D Metroidvania/Platform Adventure (System Shock, Exhumed/Powerslave, The Divide, Banjo-Tooie, Spyro 2, Metroid Prime, Batman: Arkham Asylum?)
It looks like you put Banjo-Tooie into two genres here.

(I note that I consider Super Mario 64, Banjo-Kazooie, Banjo-Tooie, and Donkey Kong 64 to be in the same genre.)

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ResidentLeever: 2D Action RPG (ARPG; Ys, Zelda II, Quest for Glory, Crystalis, Seiken Densetsu/of Mana, Soul Blazer, Shadowrun (SNES & MD), Tales of Phantasia, Terranigma, Diablo, Star Ocean)
Again, this doesn't really make sense.
* Ys 1-5 (except 3), Crystalis, Seiken Densetsu, Soul Blazer, and Terranigma belong in the same category as Zelda 1.
* Ys 3 (not Oath) and Zelda 2 are really the same category as games like Battle of Olympus, Wonder Boy in Monster World, and perhaps even Super Metroid.


Forgot one thing: I'm thinking that Quest for Glory would best be categorized as being in the same genre as King's Quest.
Post edited July 28, 2020 by dtgreene
Posted July 28, 2020
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ResidentLeever: 2D Action Adventure Games (Legend of Zelda, Starflight, Pirates!, Bionic Commando, Solstice, Quackshot, Star Control II, Landstalker, Beyond Oasis, Little Big Adventure, Legacy of Kain, Alundra, VVVVVV, Bastion, Hyper Light Drifter)
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dtgreene: I wouldn't consider this to be a coherent classification. In particular:
* Whether the game is overhead view or side scrolling is a significant difference, as far as it affects the game in a very fundamental manner, and therefore is a genre-defining trait. Hence, placing Zelda (overhead view) and Bionic Commando (side-scrolling) doesn't really work here.
* I would probably not put Pirates! and (from my understanding) Star Control II in this genre either, as they don't feel like the same type of game.
* Solstice feels a bit 3D to me, in the sense that there are three coordinates that specify location and the fact that there are platforms in mid-air in a game where you have two axes of non-vertical movement.
* VVVVVV is a precision platformer, not an action adventure game. The fact that there's an outer world to explore doesn't really matter in this game, as most of the game consists of going through linear stages. I also note that there's no health system (everything is a one-hit kill), no combat, and no tools that the player picks up. I would put this game in the same genre as games like Super Meat Boy and Celeste.

So, the list of "2D Action Adventures" you gave really isn't a list that could coherently be classified as a genre.
1. While I'd agree with that, they're still in the same genre. Except for metroidvania/platform adventure, we have a different name for side view ones. Bionic Commando is a hybrid - mostly side view but also top down at times.
You're of course welcome to split them apart based on perspective if you want.

2. I guess Simulation or open world AA would also work for Pirates!. Star Control II I'm not sure about, but I know it's flight-based (a free-roaming shooter hybrid).

3. Sure, but so are for example top down view games with platforming or beat 'em ups (tilted view like Double Dragon) with platforming. Since isometric 2D is still 2D, there's no true perspective where things are smaller when further away, or actual 3D graphics/engine, I included those here. But you can separate them if you want.

4. You may be right here, but it's at least a sort of hybrid due to the hub area structure. If not AA then a sandbox hybrid.

Most of the list is very much coherent I think. It's a broad category though.

3D MV - Some games like BT and Spyro 2 are considered collectathon platformers first and foremost but they do check most of the boxes for a MV game such as ability gating, partial non-linearity, character upgrades and being able to and sometimes encouraged to backtrack to previous areas. I think one can put them in both genres or either two and that's ok.

ARPG:
1. Ys games are considered ARPGs due to exp point leveling (they also have some interactive dialogue but it's sparse), I think we went over this before. The others also have exp point leveling, and Secret of Mana has party-based combat as well as hit/evade dice rolls.

2. While I'd agree that those are also platform adventure/MV games, they have exp point leveling so they went here.
MV purists don't consider them to be MVs but do see them as ARPGs, so hybrids is about as definitive as we can get with these games. Wonder Boy/Monster World series is considered Zelda-like by MV purists, and they don't have exp point leveling. Super Metroid is metroidvania (in the broader sense used today, not the original meaning).

I'd be curious to see your own list here though.
Posted July 28, 2020
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ResidentLeever: ARPG:
1. Ys games are considered ARPGs due to exp point leveling (they also have some interactive dialogue but it's sparse), I think we went over this before. The others also have exp point leveling, and Secret of Mana has party-based combat as well as hit/evade dice rolls.

2. While I'd agree that those are also platform adventure/MV games, they have exp point leveling so they went here.
MV purists don't consider them to be MVs but do see them as ARPGs, so hybrids is about as definitive as we can get with these games. Wonder Boy/Monster World series is considered Zelda-like by MV purists, and they don't have exp point leveling. Super Metroid is metroidvania (in the broader sense used today, not the original meaning).

I'd be curious to see your own list here though.
As I said before, I don't consider experience point leveling to be a genre-defining factor. Consider that Super Metroid and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night are typically classified in the same genre, and exactly one of them has XP based leveling. Also, I've mentioned some games that are clearly RPGs (like SaGa games) yet don't use XP based leveling.

Also, one way to look at genre is to look at how a certain part of the game plays. I'll take boss fights, for example.
* In an RPG, a boss fight consists of, at a basic level, attacking and then healing when needed; the strategy of when to heal, which healing ability to use, and who to target is part of the challenge. One also needs to worry about resources; if one uses spells that are too powerful, or heals too much, one could run out of MP or items, and that can result in defeat. There's other factors that apply, like stat changing effects and dealing with (and occasionally, inflecting) status ailments.
* In an action game, a boss fight typically involves learning the boss's patterns, dodging those patterns, and then attacking when there's a good opening. Some action games codify the opening aspect, in that you can't attack at all until there's an opening, while others do not, meaning that you can technically hurt the boss any time, but the principle is the same. In particular, healing is not usually a part of boss strategy in action games (though there may be some exceptions, like in Hollow Knight).
In any case, if you take a look at the Ys games, boss fights clearly play out like in action games, in that you dodge boss attacks rather than managing your healing resources. That's one basis for classifying the Ys games as action games and not RPGs.
Posted July 28, 2020
JRPG - 5th gen. Even though realistically for that gen it comes down to the 3 FFs for me, while the other gens have more franchises I enjoyed... come on, it's FF7 we're talking about.

WRPG - 7th gen with Fallout New Vegas. To be fair though, my bad hardware is an impediment to checking out more recent stuff.

MP shooter - 7th gen with the CODs, especially BO. I can never get enough of tinkering with loadouts in these games. I was also thoroughly addicted to Warhawk before I got into COD4.

Single-player shooter: 6th gen with MOH Frontline, Mercenaries and Timesplitters.

Stealth: 6th gen with MGS3.

Action-rogulike: Rite nao with Void Bastards.

Strategy-RPG. GameBoy Advance. Too many to name, but Super Robot Wars OG might be my favorite.

4X: Lots of good games the past few years, it's a great time for them.
Posted July 28, 2020
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dtgreene: As I said before, I don't consider experience point leveling to be a genre-defining factor. Consider that Super Metroid and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night are typically classified in the same genre, and exactly one of them has XP based leveling. Also, I've mentioned some games that are clearly RPGs (like SaGa games) yet don't use XP based leveling.

Also, one way to look at genre is to look at how a certain part of the game plays. I'll take boss fights, for example.
* In an RPG, a boss fight consists of, at a basic level, attacking and then healing when needed; the strategy of when to heal, which healing ability to use, and who to target is part of the challenge. One also needs to worry about resources; if one uses spells that are too powerful, or heals too much, one could run out of MP or items, and that can result in defeat. There's other factors that apply, like stat changing effects and dealing with (and occasionally, inflecting) status ailments.
* In an action game, a boss fight typically involves learning the boss's patterns, dodging those patterns, and then attacking when there's a good opening. Some action games codify the opening aspect, in that you can't attack at all until there's an opening, while others do not, meaning that you can technically hurt the boss any time, but the principle is the same. In particular, healing is not usually a part of boss strategy in action games (though there may be some exceptions, like in Hollow Knight).
In any case, if you take a look at the Ys games, boss fights clearly play out like in action games, in that you dodge boss attacks rather than managing your healing resources. That's one basis for classifying the Ys games as action games and not RPGs.
Yeah well most people do (in combination with AA/RPG elements in the rest of the game, and real-time combat), that's why I categorized them as such.

Ys and others have resource management as well so, not sure what you're talking about (just because they limit it during bosses in Ys, isn't enough to put it in some other genre - the main element here is clearly level gating as bosses go from impossible to easy in a couple of levels). ARPGs are a mix of action and RPG/AA elements and there's no clear line where a game is one or the other that everyone agrees with.

But as I said, do your own categorization if you want.


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Lesser Blight Elemental: 4X: Lots of good games the past few years, it's a great time for them.
What are your top 2-3 in recent years?
Post edited July 28, 2020 by ResidentLeever
Posted July 28, 2020
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ConsulCaesar: Point-and-click adventure: the golden age of LucasArts (1989-1997). With a honorable mention to the indie revival in the 2010s.
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Breja: I know this is pretty much heresy, but I think the 2010s (and even some before, like the stellar Emerald City Confidential) point & clicks are actually way better than those from that "golden age". Don't get me wrong, there are some I absolutley love among those classics, like Monkey Island, but for the most part the newer games have way better, sensible, puzzles less backtracking, and no pixel hunting. It's all the fun minus most of the frustration and walkthroughs.
I'm inclined to agree with you... at least in terms of the indie retro style games, I think producers like Wadjet Eye and co are doing the classic style better than the games they set out to imitate. "Mainstream" point and click has gone to shit unfortunately, almost completely abandoning puzzles entirely. :(
Posted July 28, 2020
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Lesser Blight Elemental: 4X: Lots of good games the past few years, it's a great time for them.
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ResidentLeever: What are your top 2-3 in recent years?
Depends how you define recent. Age of Wonders 3 is a great revival of my favorite TBS franchise. Beyond Earth is a worthy (with the expansion) successor to Alpha Centauri. And for a more Master-of-Orion-style space-based 4X, there's Stars in Shadow and Master of Orion: Conquer the Stars (somewhat dodgy RTS combat notwithstanding).
Posted July 29, 2020
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Lesser Blight Elemental: JRPG - 5th gen. Even though realistically for that gen it comes down to the 3 FFs for me, while the other gens have more franchises I enjoyed... come on, it's FF7 we're talking about.
I don't really know what you mean by "5th gen", but FF7 was not a good thing, and the entire generation, to my understand, was influenced by that particular game, so I would say that's not a good time as far as JRPGs were concerned.

The SNES era was better, especially with Final Fantasy 5, the best game in the series, coming out then (even if only in Japan, but it at least did get one of the first game fan translations ever).

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dtgreene: As I said before, I don't consider experience point leveling to be a genre-defining factor. Consider that Super Metroid and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night are typically classified in the same genre, and exactly one of them has XP based leveling. Also, I've mentioned some games that are clearly RPGs (like SaGa games) yet don't use XP based leveling.

Also, one way to look at genre is to look at how a certain part of the game plays. I'll take boss fights, for example.
* In an RPG, a boss fight consists of, at a basic level, attacking and then healing when needed; the strategy of when to heal, which healing ability to use, and who to target is part of the challenge. One also needs to worry about resources; if one uses spells that are too powerful, or heals too much, one could run out of MP or items, and that can result in defeat. There's other factors that apply, like stat changing effects and dealing with (and occasionally, inflecting) status ailments.
* In an action game, a boss fight typically involves learning the boss's patterns, dodging those patterns, and then attacking when there's a good opening. Some action games codify the opening aspect, in that you can't attack at all until there's an opening, while others do not, meaning that you can technically hurt the boss any time, but the principle is the same. In particular, healing is not usually a part of boss strategy in action games (though there may be some exceptions, like in Hollow Knight).
In any case, if you take a look at the Ys games, boss fights clearly play out like in action games, in that you dodge boss attacks rather than managing your healing resources. That's one basis for classifying the Ys games as action games and not RPGs.
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ResidentLeever: Yeah well most people do (in combination with AA/RPG elements in the rest of the game, and real-time combat), that's why I categorized them as such.

Ys and others have resource management as well so, not sure what you're talking about (just because they limit it during bosses in Ys, isn't enough to put it in some other genre - the main element here is clearly level gating as bosses go from impossible to easy in a couple of levels). ARPGs are a mix of action and RPG/AA elements and there's no clear line where a game is one or the other that everyone agrees with.

But as I said, do your own categorization if you want.
The Ys games still don't have healing abilities (items don't really count here, as they don't really make healing a major part of the strategy) and not all Ys games even have that).

To think of it another way, in an Ys game you can avoid all damage simply by never getting hit; in an RPG you generally can't do this (notwithstanding 100% evade settings that exist in a few of them, or use of status ailments or killing enemies before they have a chance to act). Hence, this is another sense in which the Ys games really aren't RPGs.

Also, if we look at Ys Origin, as an example, there aren't any medium term or long term resources (not counting the currency for upgrades, but those aren't something you spend during the action); the only resources are your HP (which only feels like one you manage if you are playing as Toal on Nightmare mode and are in that one hallway with evil music), your magic (which recharges realy quickly, so it feels more like a cooldown than anything else), and your boost meter.

I could also point out that many action games that aren't generally thought of as RPGs do have some resource to worry about, like hearts in Castlevania (and the equivalent mechanic in Ninja Gaiden) and subweapon energy in Mega Man. In any case, I think it's very specifically having healing replace dodging that gives RPGs their different resource management fiair.

Then again, I really do think it's the abstraction element, that you tell your party members what to do instead of executing the actions yourself, that distinguishes RPGs from other genres.
Post edited July 29, 2020 by dtgreene
Posted July 29, 2020
I only play a few genres...

RPG: I'll say Fallout through Morrowind, covering many infinity engine games too, so 1997-2002.

FPS: My FPS tastes are different from many PC gamers because I favor immersion and a slower pace, so I'll say 2003-2007. This covers Halo 1 (PC) through Bioshock, Doom 3 and Half-Life 2.

Stealth/Immersive Sim: 200-2005, covering Deus Ex, Bloodlines, Thief 3 and Splinter Cell Chaos Theory.

Point and click adventure: I'll say 1993-1997, which covers King's Quest VI through many Lucasarts classics like Sam & Max and Day of the Tentacle, up through Curse of Monkey Island.
Posted July 29, 2020
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dtgreene: The Ys games still don't have healing abilities (items don't really count here, as they don't really make healing a major part of the strategy) and not all Ys games even have that).

To think of it another way, in an Ys game you can avoid all damage simply by never getting hit; in an RPG you generally can't do this (notwithstanding 100% evade settings that exist in a few of them, or use of status ailments or killing enemies before they have a chance to act). Hence, this is another sense in which the Ys games really aren't RPGs.

Also, if we look at Ys Origin, as an example, there aren't any medium term or long term resources (not counting the currency for upgrades, but those aren't something you spend during the action); the only resources are your HP (which only feels like one you manage if you are playing as Toal on Nightmare mode and are in that one hallway with evil music), your magic (which recharges realy quickly, so it feels more like a cooldown than anything else), and your boost meter.

I could also point out that many action games that aren't generally thought of as RPGs do have some resource to worry about, like hearts in Castlevania (and the equivalent mechanic in Ninja Gaiden) and subweapon energy in Mega Man. In any case, I think it's very specifically having healing replace dodging that gives RPGs their different resource management fiair.

Then again, I really do think it's the abstraction element, that you tell your party members what to do instead of executing the actions yourself, that distinguishes RPGs from other genres.
Well yeah, that's what makes them Action RPGs and I like it that way. RPG doesn't necessarily mean tactical combat, it's about the role-playing and growing stronger.
In the Mana games, combat is a bit too basic to justify the pausing and to hit rolls, so while they are still pretty fun I feel like neither aspect is fully developed.

I haven't played Origin yet.

Sure, resource management is part of action adventure and some action games too.

Again tactical combat isn't necessarily an RPG thing, it's from strategy games (which RPGs were an offshoot of before video games). But yeah I enjoy this about TB RPGs too.

The combat centric RPG mechanics are kind of like a crutch for bad players in ARPGs (well, if healing takes some time it can be a risk/reward mechanic or part of the challenge in itself, like the boss fights in Hollow Knight), but this isn't necessarily wrong or bad. It can be poorly balanced though, like the drop rates in CV metroidvanias.
Post edited July 29, 2020 by ResidentLeever
Posted July 29, 2020
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ResidentLeever: I haven't played [Ys] Origin yet.
Have you played Oath in Felghanna? The two games play very similarly, particularly if you compare Felghanna Adol to Origin's Yunica.

(One difference is that Origina isn't as platforming heavy.)
Posted July 29, 2020
Nah the last one I played was Ark of Napishtim. But anyway, you should post your period picks (and new categories?) instead. :)
Posted July 30, 2020
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ResidentLeever: Nah the last one I played was Ark of Napishtim. But anyway, you should post your period picks (and new categories?) instead. :)
That's actually the first Ys to use that engine. Oath and Origin play similarly, but there are a few key differences:
* Magic is not as powerful as in Napishtim, but it uses a meter that recharges quickly, so using it as your main attack is viable. (It's stronger in Origin (assuming Yunica here) than in Oath.)
* There are no healing items, and no boss healing (except for one or two oversights with the third character).
* Enemies drop immediate pick-up items, as I call them. Picking them up will either instantly restore your health (can't save them for later) or give you temporary bonuses; to maintain those bonuses, you need to keep finding more of them before the previous ones wear off. Note that this does not happen in boss fights (which is a disappointment, as it is a fun mechanic). (I note that this is a common mechanic in action games, but would be unusual in a game that I would call an RPG; I do note that Tangledeep has immediate pick-ups despite being a turn-based roguelike, however.)

I did post my picks for WRPG and JRPG earlier in this thread.
Posted July 30, 2020
For 2D platformers in general, I would say the NES era. SNES got fancier graphics, but sometimes it would become harder to tell what's actually going on. Plus, after Super Mario World there were no traditional Mario games released until the Nintendo DS, and classic Sonic also had a long gap with no games that would count. (I note that Yoshi's Island doesn't really play like a Mario game, and Super Mario 64 gave Mario a health meter, a punch attack, and falling damage/drowning, while taking away power ups like the Fire Flower.)

Metroidvanias I think may have reached a peak in the GBA/DS era, with all the Castlevania games coming out then. With that said, there were a few interesting ones back in the NES era, like Zelda 2, Castlevania 2 (but not the other NES Castlevanias), and Battle of Olympus. There's also a modern resurgence of this genre, with games like Guacamelee and Hollow Knight appearing.

Overhead view action adventures were most common, perhaps, in the NES/SNES era, though there's still the fact that the only SNES Zelda game came early in the system's lifetime. With that said, while handhelds did get further 2D Zelda games, they suffer from the problem of focusing too much on puzzles (except Oracle of Seasons), are a bit too linear, and starting to get too minigame-y, particularly when it comes to the Oracle games (which is also where stealth started to appear in 2D Zelda).

One thing is that most of my videogame experience, especially outside the CRPG category, comes in the NES/SNES period, so I may not have experienced enough to really answer the question for other genres. (I have experienced a bit of modern Metroidvanias and platformers, however.)
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