History FollowTheLeader / Videogames

** ''EverQuest'' in particular had so many features in common with [=DikuMUD=] that they were often challenged by hackers and developers familiar with the MUD libraries to show their code.

** ''VideoGame/BokeCentralTravels'' (''VideoGame/Poptropica'')

* ''VideoGame/{{Rogue}}'', the GenrePopularizer for the appropriately named Roguelike genre, inspired a number of games, most notably ''VideoGam/NetHack'' and ''VideoGame/{{Angband}}''. Both of which were more advanced versions of their predecessors, which were in turn, descended from Rogue. ''[=NetHack=]'' went on to create a line of "hack-likes," while ''Angband'' created "band-likes", games that were heavily similar to their respective ancestors.

* ''VideoGame/NinjaGaidenNES'' inspired ''VideoGame/WrathOfTheBlackManta'' (which also has elements of ''VideoGame/{{Shinobi}}''), ''VideoGame/ViceProjectDoom'', ''VideoGame/{{Shatterhand}}'', ''VideoGame/{{Shadow of the Ninja}}'' (which ironically was [[DolledUpInstallment dolled up]] as ''Ninja Gaiden Shadow'' on the UsefulNotes/GameBoy), the NES ''VideoGame/{{Batman|Sunsoft}}'' game et al.

* A number of later NES/Famicom {{Platform Game}}s show a huge ''VideoGame/{{Mega Man|Classic}}'' influence, including ''VideoGame/MagicalDoropie'' (also known as ''The Krion Conquest''), ''VideoGame/PowerBlazer'' (whose international version, ''Power Blade'', turned into a different game) and ''VideoGame/LittleSamson''.

* ''VideoGame/{{Contra}}'' imitations included Data East's ''VideoGame/MidnightResistance'', SNK's ''VideoGame/CyberLip'', Treasure's ''VideoGame/GunstarHeroes'' (although it was made by former Konami employees who worked on ''Contra III''), Creator/{{Sunsoft}}'s ''VideoGame/BayRoute'' and Creator/{{Irem}}'s ''VideoGame/{{Gunforce}}''. ''Gunstar Heroes'' was itself imitated by ''[[VideoGame/GunnersHeaven Gunner's Heaven]]'' (also known as ''Rapid Reload'').

* Several Japanese video games of the 1990s imitated ''VideoGame/{{Bomberman}}'', including ''Otoboke Ninja Colosseum'', the UsefulNotes/ArcadeGame ''VideoGame/{{Exvania}}'', and console remakes of ''VideoGame/HeiankyoAlien'' and ''VideoGame/{{Pengo}}''.

* Square's 3D NES games ''VideoGame/The3DBattlesOfWorldRunner'' and ''VideoGame/RadRacer'' were clones/imitations of Sega's ''VideoGame/SpaceHarrier'' and ''VideoGame/OutRun'', respectively. Square's still earlier ''VideoGame/KingsKnight'' borrows a lot of elements from Konami's MSX game ''VideoGame/{{Knightmare}}''. Other ''Space Harrier'' derivatives included ''VideoGame/RocketRanger'', ''VideoGame/CosmicEpsilon'', ''VIdeoGame/AttackAnimalGakuen'', ''VideoGame/JimmuDenshoYaksa'' and the second level of ''VideoGame/{{Savage}}''. And other ''[=OutRun=]'' imitators in the arcades included Creator/{{Taito}}'s ''VideoGame/TopSpeed'' (also known as ''Full Throttle'') and Creator/{{Jaleco}}'s ''VideoGame/BigRun''.

* During the mid-1990s, the success of ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' led to a glut of the MascotWithAttitude, especially in video games released on the Genesis/Mega Drive and SNES during that time. Most of them failed, either because they were just a ThemeParkVersion of Sonic himself, or because they experienced technical issues with their {{Video Game 3D Leap}}s when gaming made the move to 3D later that decade, such as ''[[VideoGame/{{Bubsy}} Bubsy the Bobcat]]'' and ''Bubsy 3D'' (though in fairness Sonic has had issues himself in that department). While some of them like ''VideoGame/EarthwormJim'', ''VideoGame/JazzJackrabbit'' and the ''VideoGame/RocketKnightAdventures'' stood out and have a cult following, Sonic himself is the only MascotWithAttitude to escape from this time, due to being the {{Trope Maker|s}} and persisting as a CashCowFranchise past the trend it started. It certainly helped that ''Sonic'' [[GrowingWithTheAudience grew with its audience]] (if only for a time) to remain cool instead of stay as an immature-looking character like most of its imitators.

* ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' is generally considered the progenitor of the FirstPersonShooter genre, and ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' unleashed a [[StealthPun flood]] of the genre on set-tops. Eventually, the first-person shooter has [[FromClonesToGenre shed the "Doom Clone" image it had during the mid-90s]] and become possibly the most popular genre in all of video games, thanks in no small part to the way games like ''Halo'', ''VideoGame/HalfLife'' and ''VideoGame/{{GoldenEye|1997}}'' refined and improved upon the classic Doom formula. Thus, the "first person shooter" has lost the Doom Stigma and is now its very own unique genre.
** ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'' and ''VideoGame/{{Battlefield}}'' would later help pave way for realistic first person shooters, including most of the staples of the "modern FPS" subgenre: grounded movement, aim down sights, RegeneratingHealth, cinematic campaigns, etc. When their sequels featured modern weaponry such as ''[[VideoGame/ModernWarfare Call of Duty 4]]'', modern shooters became the norm for the genre, such that most FPS's released around that time that weren't "[=CoD=] clones" were [[GrandfatherClause sequels to games that came before CoD started]], and even those tend to take a lot of inspiration from that series (using ironsights to get your gun to work properly and adding a SprintMeter are particularly popular).
** It goes back full circle in the late 2010s, though. With the respective series having lost its magic and mainstream tastes starting to grow tired of the "modern shooter" genre, ''VideoGame/Doom2016'' would be one of the major factors in turning people towards the genre's roots of fast-paced, lateral movement and guns-blazing combat. Many FPS games released around that timeframe would follow suit.
* ''VideoGame/{{Myst}}'' sparked a slew of point-and-click CD-ROM adventure-puzzle games, hastening the death of the older Creator/LucasArts[=/=]Creator/{{Sierra}} adventure genre.
* Although there were RealTimeStrategy games before ''VideoGame/DuneII'', it was the one responsible for making it a genre.
* In spite of {{M|ultiUserDungeon}}UDs and [=GMUDs=] languishing in obscurity for ages, their day would only really come in the rechristened form of {{M|assivelyMultiplayerOnlineRolePlayingGame}}MORPGs. The entire MMO craze was started with ''VideoGame/UltimaOnline'', refined with ''VideoGame/EverQuest'' and ''Lineage'', then given a further kickstart by the massive success of ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft''.
** ''World of Warcraft'' in particular has spawned a number of imitators, ''VideoGame/TabulaRasa'' and ''VideoGame/AgeOfConan'' among them, that copy not only its gameplay style, but major chunks of its interface (right down to yellow exclamation points over the heads of quest-givers). Blizzard's ambitious little title set itself apart with cartoony, comic book inspired graphics and a two faction system. The basic idea of that being that players would have to choose sides when making a character and all players on the opposite faction are their enemies to be fought in PVP battles. These days it's hard to find a MMORPG that doesn't have cartoony graphics and/or doesn't try to imitate the faction system.
** [=WoW=] also has an in-universe example. To fight the undead, the [[ThePaladin Order of the Silver Hand]] created a powerful holy sword that came to be known as the [[LegendaryWeapon Ashbringer]]. To fight their enemies, [[KnightTemplar the Scarlet Crusade]] sought to forge a weapon of equal power to the Ashbringer and used similar forging methods to achieve that goal. Their result, sabotaged from within, was [[PowerIncontinence Light's Wrath.]]
** ''VideoGame/GuildWars'' is one of the ''other'' successful [=MMOs=]. It got that way by aggressively ''not'' imitating WOW; the original development team was made up of former Blizzard employees. Everything from its design to its classes to its pricing (free after purchase) seeks to differentiate itself from its big brother as much as possible. ''VideoGame/GuildWars2'' seems to be trying to go even farther, with such things as completely eliminating a class for TheMedic; ''every'' class has some sort of healing ability.
** ''Everquest'' in particular had so many features in common with [=DikuMUD=] that they were often challenged by hackers and developers familiar with the MUD libraries to show their code.

* ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIII'' is credited with starting not one, but ''two'' threads of Follow the Leader: gritty urban crime games and "[[WideOpenSandbox sandbox games]]." ''VideoGame/SaintsRow'' being a prime example, with a lot of its acclaim coming from the fact that it decided to be as wacky and out-there as the UsefulNotes/PlayStation2-era ''GTA'' games, at a time when ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV'' was trying to be more serious and realistic.
* The massive success of Capcom's ''VideoGame/StreetFighterII'' resulted in a massive glut of fighting games; big-name arcade manufacturers rushed to produce such knockoffs as Creator/{{Irem}}'s ''Superior Soldiers'', Konami's ''Martial Champion'', Namco's ''Knuckle Heads'' and Sega's ''VideoGame/BurningRival''. ''VideoGame/KnuckleBash'' was developed because the Creator/{{Toaplan}} staffers were told to make a fighting game, though it became a BeatEmUp instead. This continued well into the [=PlayStation=] years and switch to 3-D gaming. Indeed, Creator/{{SNK}} made itself a major player in the arcade market by imitating and refining the formula.
** Once ''VideoGame/{{Mortal Kombat|1}}'' made the scene, many of these knockoff fighters began featuring over-the-top gore and/or DigitizedSprites (including, somewhat ironically, ''VideoGame/StreetFighterTheMovie'' in the latter group). Some of the lowlights of this trend included ''[[http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/survivalarts/survivalarts.htm Survival Arts]]'', ''VideoGame/TimeKillers'', ''VideoGame/KasumiNinja'', ''VideoGame/ShadowWarOfSuccession'', ''VideoGame/WayOfTheWarrior'', ''VideoGame/TattooAssassins'' and the UsefulNotes/{{Amiga}} game ''Capital Punishment''.
** Capcom actually sued Creator/DataEast, the makers of the copycat ''VideoGame/FightersHistory''. Data East won on [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scenes_a_faire scènes à faire]]: the copied elements were already commonplace in the genre. Ironically, ''Fighter's History'' was more original than most other fighters released in ''SFII's'' wake, thanks to the ClothingDamage gameplay gimmick.
** After Capcom had success with ''VideoGame/XMenChildrenOfTheAtom'', other companies began making superhero fighting games, such as Data East's ''Avengers in Galactic Storm'' and Creator/{{Sunsoft}} and Creator/BlizzardEntertainment's ''VideoGame/JusticeLeagueTaskForce''. In an interesting reversal, ''Galactic Storm'' became the first fighting game to utilize an AssistCharacter feature, something Capcom would later adopt for the ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom'' series.
** ''VideoGame/ArtOfFighting'' and similar Creator/{{SNK}} fighting games were imitated outside the UsefulNotes/NeoGeo by the Creator/{{Konami}} UsefulNotes/ArcadeGame ''Dragoon Might'' and the UsefulNotes/{{Amiga}} game ''Fightin' Spirit''. ''Art of Fighting'' was also the first fighting game to have powered-up [[LimitBreak Super Moves]] and a ManaMeter to regulate them, a gameplay mechanic countless other titles (including ''Super Street Fighter II Turbo'') subsequently copied.
** The ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'' series is seen by many to have paved the way for a whole subgenre of {{doujin}} fighting games with similar mechanics.
** ''VideoGame/VirtuaFighter'' popularized the 3D fighting game, and spawned its own horde of imitators, such as ''VideoGame/{{Tekken}}'' and ''VideoGame/BattleArenaToshinden''.
** The success of the ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom'' series inspired similar IntercontinuityCrossover fighting games, such as ''VideoGame/MortalKombatVsDCUniverse'' and ''VideoGame/BlazBlueCrossTagBattle''.
** The success of ''VideoGame/MortalKombat9'' inspired many subsequent fighting games to feature an increased focus on the single player Story Mode. ''VideoGame/StreetFighterV'', ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcomInfinite'' and ''VideoGame/Tekken7'' were all particularly blatant about this, even using the same shifting perspective narrative style employed by ''Mortal Kombat''. It's now extremely common to see a fighting game's Story Mode touted by the creators as a selling point instead of the [[ExcusePlot afterthought]] it used to be.
* ''VideoGame/PlayStationAllStarsBattleRoyale'' incorporates elements and concepts which were originally popularized by ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'', as did other games within the MascotFighter category.
* ''VideoGame/{{Tetris}}'' inspired the entire FallingBlocks genre of video games. Its success was also the reason why the UsefulNotes/GameBoy was filled with VideoGame/{{Sokoban}} clones. The amount of puzzle game rip-offs on the Game Boy definitely exceeds 20, making it possibly one of the most extreme cases of this trope in gaming history.
** ''VideoGame/{{Columns}}'' inspired hordes of color-matching three-in-a-row games. And ''VideoGame/{{Bejeweled}}'' popularized [[MatchThreeGame three-in-a-row-with-swapping-pieces]] video games.
** Though some earlier FallingBlocks games had competitive multiplayer, it was ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyo''[='s=] success (itself being an indirect response to the aforementioned popularity of ''VideoGame/StreetFighterII'') that inspired developers to make puzzle games with head-to-head combat as the main attraction. The various imitators it spawned during the 1990s include ''VideoGame/BakuBakuAnimal'', ''Battle Balls'', ''Deroon Dero Dero'' (''Tecmo Stackers''), ''VideoGame/{{Hebereke}}'s Popoon'', ''Panic Bomber'', and ''Taisen Puzzle-dama'' (''Crazy Cross''). Even Capcom itself couldn't avoid the game's success, which resulted in the creation of ''Super Puzzle Fighter II'' after a failed attempt with ''Pnickies'' (which went so far as to license the ''Puyo Puyo'' gameplay from Creator/{{Compile}}).

* The UsefulNotes/PlayStation's other killer app, ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'', spawned a lot of stealth-game imitators that failed to realize that the glory was as much the story as the sneaking.
** Bizarre aversion: ''VideoGame/SyphonFilter'' was widely derided prior to its release as a MGS clone and a blatant attempt to capitalize on its success...then turned out to be an ''entirely different'' type of action game (that actually began development before the release of ''MGS''), being a action shooter with the stealth elements being a really minor aspect for most of the game.
** A more accurate example of this would be ''[=WinBack=]'', a StealthBasedGame hyped as the UsefulNotes/{{Nintendo 64}}'s answer to ''Metal Gear Solid''. While the game actually received fairly positive reviews upon release (which probably had more to do with the slim selection of "mature" N64 games than the quality of the game itself), it was a commercial failure and immediately forgotten, barring a silent rerelease on the UsefulNotes/PlayStation2.
** Another, odder example: ''MGS'' was the first video game to feature Claymore mines -- but they were essentially regular tripwire mines, as opposed to remotely detonated as in the real world. Every single video game released afterwards that features Claymore mines has them work ''exactly the same way'' as the ''MGS'' version, even though in the real world this sort of setup would technically be illegal.
* You can thank the mega-success of Nintendo's ''VideoGame/BrainAge'' and ''Big Brain Academy'' games for the endless stream of portable {{Edutainment Game}}s coming to a DS near you.
* ''VideoGame/WiiSports'' was done by many of Nintendo's best developers and is a game which is easy to pick up and play but offers five completely different disciplines which have relatively deep physics and has the amount of polish you usually expect from a Nintendo game. After its rampant success, many third parties looking for a quick buck [[ShallowParody only saw the pick-up-and-play nature of it]] and made shallow, unpolished minigame collections done by the companies' cheapest development teams. Nintendo's Wii in general seems to have caused many developers to try and cheaply cash in on its success by haphazardly using motion controls whenever they get the chance. ''VideoGame/WiiSportsResort'', like its predecessor, led to a whole mess of sports {{minigame game}}s with a tropical theme, like ''Vacation Isle: Beach Party'' and ''Big Beach Sports''. Almost all of these were predictably terrible, but ''M&M's Beach Party'' is unarguably one of the worst, looking and playing like something released a decade earlier.
* Sony and especially Microsoft attempted to directly copy the Wii, not just with the controllers (Microsoft got their tech from people who made it well before the Wii, and Sony had motion control patents since 2003 with [[http://kotaku.com/5640867/motion-gaming-gains-momentum developments on the move occurring as early as 2001]]). They each have a clone of ''Wii Sports'', though it seems that Microsoft has cranked this up to eleven and plagiarized half of the Wii's library.
* Due to the popularity of the Wii's Mii avatar system, many games have tried to copy off of its concept and design. Even Microsoft tried to cash in on the popularity of Miis with its own avatar system for the Xbox 360 that looked suspiciously similar to Miis, but with more customization. Even Sega managed to rip off the Wii with their [[http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/02/sega-zone-the-genesis-with-a-wiimote-nobody-asked-for/ Sega Zone]]. Don't get too excited, Sega fans, it's just a Genesis with some games saved into a hard drive and a pair of black Wii remote-like controllers. They even marketed the system by announcing that it controls just like the Wii. Kind of makes those old "Genesis does what Nintendon't" commercials HilariousInHindsight.
* Sony's [=PS3=] and Vita combo, and Microsoft's smart glass, following the announcement of the [=WiiU=].
* After Nintendo created two mini retro consoles: the NES Classic Edition in 2016 and the Super NES Classic Edition in 2017, Sony made the [=PlayStation=] Classic in 2018. Other companies followed suit with mini versions of their oldest consoles, with limited success.
* The original plans for the PSP looked just like the GBA SP, only with a disc slot.
* You thought this trope was bad in ''video games''? Well, it's even worse with ''{{casual video game}}s''! Seriously, just try and ''count'' how many {{Time Management|Game}}/{{Match Three|Game}}/{{Hidden Object Game}}s there are on the Internet! The games made by [=PopCap=] did this for the entire casual game genre. Time-management games ''VideoGame/DinerDash'' and ''VideoGame/FarmVille'' are the most visible examples of this.
* After the ''Toys/{{Tamagotchi}}'' fad (itself strongly reminiscent of the Pet Rock) and the virtual pet craze it inspired swept the world, hoards of GottaCatchThemAll video games, {{Collectible Card Game}}s and {{Mon}}s Of [[MonsterOfTheWeek The Week]] anime were spawned in its wake, and have been a popular market segment to this day.
* Certain technologies and gameplay features became popular in video games as tacked on features for brief periods:
** Telekinesis (i.e. the ability to [[WreakingHavok pick up and move objects remotely]]), possibly due to the gravity gun from ''VideoGame/HalfLife2''.
** CelShading, after SEGA popularized it with ''VideoGame/JetSetRadio'', though it had been featured in ''VideoGame/FearEffect'' for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation one year earlier.
** [[StealthBasedMission Stealth levels]], after the success of ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' (these often ruined otherwise great games[[note]]These were really the best demonstration of the lowest of the low for this trope, in that it's very blatant that nobody really wanted to add them but were forced to anyway -- the stealth mechanics never showed up in any level other than the dedicated ''MGS''-ripoff level and were rarely playtested at all (let alone properly), making these the absolute worst levels in their respective games[[/note]]).
** BulletTime (usually done by [[{{Overcrank}} slowing down everything]], possibly while keeping the player's DigitalAvatar moving at the same speed). ''VideoGame/MaxPayne'' was probably the first video game to make use of it, and inevitably more followed.
** [[ActionCommands Simon Says minigames]], popularized by ''VideoGame/{{Shenmue}}''[='=]s [=QTEs=], they've been [[ButtonMashing mashifying]] games ever since.
** Vehicular sections in games where walking is the standard way of moving around.
** Shooter games in which you must TakeCover constantly, as opposed to the Run and Guns of yesteryear.
** The use of [[LeParkour parkour]] as a way of getting around, originally used in ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersiaTheSandsOfTime'' and later popularized by ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed'', has been used in several games since, like ''VideoGame/MirrorsEdge'', ''VideoGame/{{inFAMOUS}}'', ''VideoGame/{{Brink}}'', ''VideoGame/WatchDogs'', etc.
* The FullMotionVideo "Interactive Movie" genre. While it had existed in more basic form using analog video controlled by a computer (I.E.: ''VideoGame/DragonsLair'',) it wasn't until the fully digital Cinepak-based CD-ROM format that it became practical as a consumer format. While it was also used to add cutscenes to existing genres, nearly all early CD titles consisted of immensely similar crosses between a BMovie and a Literature/ChooseYourOwnAdventure book. Occupying somewhere around SoBadItsGood or unplayable depending on the cheesiness of the invariably low production values, the genre has only managed to live on in the form of the VisualNovel, and there often only thanks to overlap with [[HGame adult games]].
* ''Franchise/TombRaider'' and Lara Croft herself spawned many copycat attempts.
* ''VideoGame/{{Diablo}}'', which created its own genre called "''Diablo'' clones" (''VideoGame/{{Torchlight}}'', ''VideoGame/DungeonSiege'', ''VideoGame/UntoldLegends'', etc.), was itself a graphical spin on another fine tradition in Follow The Leader, {{Roguelike}} games, of which ''VideoGame/NetHack'' is the most popular. As ''Diablo'' is the model of many {{M|assivelyMultiplayerOnlineRolePlayingGame}}MORPGs and open-world games, these [=MMOs=] and ''Diablo'' clones often incite accusations of ''Diablo'' killing the WesternRPG genre from fans. There is also a specific aspect of ''Diablo'' that has been copied numerous times, even by games that are not otherwise ''Diablo'' clones: ColorCodedItemTiers. The ability to roughly judge an item's quality with a quick glance was so well-received, that slews of other games adopted not only the concept, but identical colors and names for the levels. By now the scheme is considered tradition, to the point that it's considered annoying for a looter game ''not'' to use it or to mess with the colors too much.
* ''VideoGame/{{Rogue}}'', the GenrePopularizer for the appropriately named Roguelike genre, inspired a number of games, most notably ''[=Nethack=]'' and ''Angband''. Both of which were essentially more advanced versions of their predecessors, which were in turn, descended from Rogue. ''[=Nethack=]'' went on to create a line of "hack-likes," while Angband created "band-likes", games that were heavily similar to their respective ancestors.
* Also, the ''VideoGame/MightAndMagic'' series started a new trend of Group Based [=RPG=]s in the late '80s and '90s, including the excellent ''Franchise/BaldursGate''. Ironically, it died off with the same series, in ''Might and Magic IX'', thanks to the less than kind time and development constraints given by its publisher, 3DO. Sure, some came before it, but it was ''M&M'' that popularized it.
* The series ''VideoGame/HeroesOfMightAndMagic'' spin-off of the ''Might & Magic'' series also gave the kick to both Turn Based Strategy games that aren't incredibly boring and nerdy Electronic Tabletop Wargames AND to Hero-Based Strategy games, being the first strategy game to put "generals" into the equation (other than the player himself as an order giver). ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII'', ''Age of Mythology'' and listless others owe to the franchise. Strangely, many players weren't very understanding when ''Heroes IV'' reminded their audience of the Sci-Fi background of the ''MM'' franchise (mostly because a large portion of the ''Heroes'' fanbase didn't even know there was a ''Might and Magic'' RPG franchise [[MorePopularSpinoff that it was spun off from]]). Still, what really killed it was the same 3DO that killed ''MMIX''.
** Might and Magic was largely inspired by Wizardry, so it shouldn't really be considered "the" staple party-based WRPG of its era, but rather one of the top three series. The open world elements and vast world of Might and Magic are a huge source of inspiration for Bethesda's open world games, even starting as early as Daggerfall, though most (all?) of Bethesda's games lack parties.
* ''VideoGame/XCom'' gave birth to a large follow-up of squad-based tactical games. Some were doomed because most of ''X-Com'''s appeal (that had been just a minor title at UK) was because it came down in the middle of ''Series/TheXFiles'' hype (the game even had its title changed from ''UFO: Enemy Unknown'' to the more ''X-Files''-like name of the anti-alien corporation you play with in the game). One such clone is ''VideoGame/{{Commandos}}''.
* ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' is a good example, as almost every FPS these days has copied the '[[RegeneratingHealth recharging health bar]]' thing (to varying degrees of success). It also eliminated the HyperspaceArsenal concept that most prior [=FPSs=] had and limited it to a primary and secondary weapon only; nowadays, the only shooters you ever see to have static health points and an arsenal limited solely by how many guns were programmed into the game are games from [[GrandfatherClause series which originated in the '80s and '90s]] like ''VideoGame/WolfensteinTheNewOrder'' or [[GenreThrowback deliberate nostalgia trips]] like ''VideoGame/{{DUSK}}'', and even these typically can't help but include ''some'' "modern" mechanics (''The New Order'' having health which regenerates up to the nearest multiple of 20 and the ability to aim down the sights of every weapon, ''DUSK'' including [[WreakingHavok more realistic physics on certain items]]).
** Two often-overlooked mechanics that ''Halo'' brought to the table were melee and grenades always being available and having a dedicated button to use them. Many previous games like ''VideoGame/HalfLife1'' had grenades and melee, but only as specific weapons in the character's HyperspaceArsenal (for example, Gordon Freeman only hits enemies with his crowbar and has to put away his current weapon to pull out grenades before he can throw them, while Master Chief can club someone with anything he can pick up and toss grenades regardless of what he's carrying). Most newer [=FPSs=] incorporate a dedicated melee and grenade button whether they have a traditional hyperspace arsenal or modern two- or three-weapon layout. Some games (like ''[[VideoGame/FirstEncounterAssaultRecon F.E.A.R.]], VideoGame/GearsOfWar,'' and ''VideoGame/{{Darkwatch}}'') have built explicit melee options or even entire combo systems based on a dedicated melee button.
** Halo itself was remarkable primarily for bringing many earlier concepts into a single game. From the early days of the genre in particular, ''VideoGame/DukeNukem3D'' had a dedicated QuickMelee button years before ''Halo'', though it was nowhere near as useful. ''VideoGame/RiseOfTheTriad'' meanwhile did away with {{Hammerspace}} arsenals, albeit to a lesser degree -- pistol, [[GunsAkimbo dual pistols]], an [=MP40=], one heavy weapon, and one magic superweapon. ''MIDI Maze'', way back in 1987 on the UsefulNotes/AtariST, introduced RegeneratingHealth to FPS games, and ''VideoGame/JurassicParkTrespasser'' was one of the best-known games before ''Halo'' to use it.
** ''VideoGame/Halo2'' in particular changed how online gaming was played forever. Just some of the many things that they brought to the table were: friend lists, pre-game lobbies, in-game clan recognition, parties, text and voice messages, proximity voice, matchmaking, playlists, and skill based ranking. Then keep in mind, this is about a third of what Creator/{{Bungie}} had planned to do.
* ''VideoGame/{{Titanfall}}'' was marketed as being revolutionary for its integration of mech gameplay and twitch first-person shooting, but the thing about it that actually caught on was its [[SimpleYetAwesome surprisingly simplistic]] innovation of integrating the DoubleJump with LeParkour. This mechanic caught on very quickly with a lot of shooter games afterward, and showed up in ''VideoGame/{{Destiny}}'', ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyAdvancedWarfare'' and ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOpsIII'', ''VideoGame/StarWarsBattlefront2015'', and even the ''VideoGame/{{DOOM}}'' reboot and ''VideoGame/MassEffectAndromeda''.
* Back when the C64 was still kicking around, the arcade conversion of ''VideoGame/{{Gauntlet}}'' resulted in a [[http://user.tninet.se/~lrv840n/gauntletstyle/gauntletstyle.htm large number]] of similar games to appear, including ''Dandy'' (actually a {{reformulated|game}} version of the dungeon crawler for UsefulNotes/Atari8BitComputers that inspired ''Gauntlet''), ''Druid'', ''Gothik'' and ''Into the Eagle's Nest''. Some "Gauntlet clones" were actually better as they had an objective while ''Gauntlet'' was mainly aimed at making players want to keep inserting more coins: ''Avenger'' and ''Ranarama'' focused more on adventure than action. Though ''Gauntlet'' was never converted to the UsefulNotes/BBCMicro, similar four-player games titled ''Dunjunz'' and ''White Magic'' were produced. There were also a few imitators in the arcades: Creator/{{Konami}}'s ''Devil World'' and Creator/DataEast's ''Shackled''.
* The "guitar game" subgenre of {{Rhythm Game}}s has had massive amounts of this. To begin with, they started as ''Guitar Freaks'', created by Bemani. Harmonix created their own version, ''VideoGame/GuitarHero'', using music better suited for North American and European audiences and adding two more buttons to the guitar peripheral. After a few games of this, Harmonix split off into making a SpiritualSuccessor, ''VideoGame/RockBand'', while Neversoft took over development duties for the ''Guitar Hero'' series for ''III'' and beyond. ''Rock Band'', besides featuring practically identical guitar gameplay as ''Guitar Hero'', added support for drums (which itself could be seen as copping from the sister series of ''Guitar Freaks'', ''Drum Mania'') and vocals, along with a character creator. The fourth ''Guitar Hero'' installment, ''World Tour'', took these elements. Meanwhile, ''Guitar Hero'' created several band-specific spinoffs (for Music/{{Aerosmith}}, Music/{{Metallica}}, and Music/VanHalen), which ''Rock Band'' later did (for Music/TheBeatles and Music/GreenDay). ''Guitar Hero 5'' featured a less "heavy" setlist, focusing on more varied genres rather than the hard rock and metal-oriented soundtracks of previous games, much like ''Rock Band'' did, along with changing its vocal system to be more like that of ''Rock Band''. ''5'' also borrowed the "Unison Bonus" gameplay element from ''Rock Band'', which requires players in co-op to play a brief section of a song perfectly to obtain bonuses.
** Besides just ''Guitar Hero'' and ''Rock Band'', numerous other companies have tried to capitalize on the success of the genre with their own games, like ''VideoGame/RockRevolution'', ''VideoGame/PowerGigRiseOfTheSixString'', and ''VideoGame/{{Rocksmith}}''.
* Taomee is a Chinese company that makes very popular browser games in China aimed at children that copied not only the gameplay but sometimes the visuals of that game. Here are some examples of their games.
** ''VideoGame/MolesWorld'' (''Club Penguin'')
** ''VideoGame/{{Seer}}'' and ''Seer 2'' (''Pokémon'')
*** ''Seer'' also inspired similar games that are its biggest competitors, such as ''VideoGame/AolaStar'' and ''VideoGame/RocoKingdom''.
** ''Magic Haqi'' (''Wizard 101'')[[note]]Ironically, Taomee had the rights to publish ''Wizard 101'' in China.[[/note]]
** ''VideoGame/FlowerFairy'' (''Pixie Hollow'')[[note]]In addition, its [[Animation/FlowerFairy television cartoon]] copied ''Manga/CardcaptorSakura'' in its first season, only becoming its own thing afterwards.[[/note]]
** ''Magic Monster'' (''Moshi Monsters'')
** ''Boke Central Travels'' (''Poptropica'')
* Konami's ''Magician's Quest: Mysterious Times[=/=][[MarketBasedTitle Little Magician's Magic Adventure]]'' can essentially be summed up as: ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing,'' [-[[RecycledInSPACE but at]] [[WizardingSchool WIZARDING SCHOOL!]]-]
* ''VideoGame/HarvestMoonMagicalMelody'' is from a series older than ''[=AC=]'' but looks much more like it than previous games. The art style is divisive both with fans as casuals, as it's not considered as endearing and polished as ''Animal Crossing'' and makes the game seem [[LighterAndSofter too childish]].
* Creator/{{Rare}}:
** In their SNES/N64 times, they had great success imitating popular Nintendo series. ''VideoGame/DiddyKongRacing'' for example built on the success of ''VideoGame/MarioKart'', but adding an adventure mode and more vehicles. Prior to that, ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry1'' was ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'' [[RecycledINSPACE in the jungle]]. To a lesser extent, they also worked upon the blueprint of that era's most popular first-person shooters, resulting in the succesful ''VideoGame/GoldenEye1997'' and ''VideoGame/PerfectDark''. They eventually got tired of doing that, birthing ''VideoGame/ConkersBadFurDay'' (originally another cutesy platformer), though they did it one last time with the GCN game ''VideoGame/StarFoxAdventures'' (which borrowed elements from the ''Zelda'' series) before their buyout by Microsoft.
** They kept doing this after switching to Creator/{{Microsoft|Studios}}. The UsefulNotes/{{Xbox 360}}'s Avatars, which were developed by Rare, look suspiciously similar to Nintendo's Miis. In the game department: ''VideoGame/VivaPinata'' was an attempt at recreating the ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' GottaCatchThemAll craze, and ''VideoGame/KinectSports'' was the response to ''VideoGame/WiiSports''. Rare may have gone over to Microsoft, but they still look to Nintendo for inspiration.
* Although not the first spaceflight "simulator", ''VideoGame/WingCommander'' spawned a lot of them, from good ones like the ''VideoGame/XWing'' and ''VideoGame/{{Freespace}}'' series, to... well, others. Some space "sims" differentiate themselves by doing away with SpaceIsAir and SpaceFriction. ''VideoGame/IndependenceWar'', ''VideoGame/{{Terminus}}'', and the old ''Frontier: VideoGame/{{Elite}} II'' separated themselves from the rest in this manner.
* The use of isometric projection. Nobody's sure whether ''VideoGame/QBert'', ''VideoGame/{{Zaxxon}}'' or ''Ant Attack'' got there first (''Ant Attack'' might have been the first to actually use the word "isometric"), but what people are certainly sure of is that ''Knight Lore'' is the one that blew it apart into the behemoth it became, inspiring a slew of similar games from the crud (''Molecule Man'', ''Return of R2'') to the self-recycling (''Alien 8'', ''Pentagram'') to the sublime (''VideoGame/HeadOverHeels'', ''Get Dexter'') to the just plain weird (''Movie'', ''Sweevo's World'').
* ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar'' didn't introduce the concept of duck and cover shooters but they are the most famous for making such a game enjoyable. Now it seems like there are two ways to do a shooter game, ''Call of Duty''-style FPS or ''Gears of War'' style third-person shooter.
* Many urban-themed BeatEmUp were made to ride on the success of ''VideoGame/DoubleDragon''. Just look at ''VideoGame/FinalFight'', ''VideoGame/StreetsOfRage'', ''[[VideoGame/RushingBeat Rival Turf!]]'', ''64th Street: A Detective Story'', ''VideoGame/BurningFight'' and ''Riot City''. Though some of these games wound up becoming popular in their own right (mainly ''Streets of Rage''). Capcom later tried to revive the urban beat 'em up with ''VideoGame/BeatDownFistsOfVengeance'' and ''VideoGame/FinalFightStreetwise''. Namco tried to take the wind out of Capcom's sails by making and releasing ''Urban Reign'' around the same time. All three games flopped. They tried to catch the Western crowd using "urban" themes, and like the "we want the ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'' audience" example, it alienated old fans and failed to bring in new ones. Sort of ironic as ''Streetwise's'' Western development team wanted to make a true homage to the original ''Final Fight'' series.

* ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'', as well as popularising ActionCommands, seems to have [[TropeMakers spawned a genre]] of [[RatedMForMoney violent, gory]] third-person beat-em-ups with SociopathicHero protagonists. Examples include ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes'' and ''VideoGame/MadWorld'', but even the ''[[Film/XMenOriginsWolverine Wolverine]]'' movie based game is made in the style. The 2007 ''Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian'' game resembles ''God of War'' even further, right down to the spell-powers (which many Conan fans saw as a complete betrayal of the character).
* ''God of War'' itself followed ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'' as a spectacle fighter, and both being successors of the BeatEmUp genre. In addition, the success of ''Devil May Cry'' led to the rise of stylish-action games (before ''God of War'') in the early 2000s. Mainly the type games with an [[GameplayGrading end-of-level rank]] such as ''VideoGame/{{Bujingai}}'', ''VideoGame/ChaosLegion'', ''VideoGame/ViewtifulJoe'', ''VideoGame/Shinobi2002'', and ''VideoGame/NinjaGaiden2004''.
* ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}}'' being the SpiritualSuccessor ''Devil May Cry'', had other games in the genre copying her dodge mechanic, [[BulletTime Witch Time]]. I.E, executing a perfect dodge causes time to stand still or slow down, and attack an opponent for better speed and damage. Other games that use this mechanic are ''VideoGame/TransformersDevastation'', ''VideoGame/NierAutomata'' (both developed by Platinum), ''VideoGame/HonkaiImpact3rd'' (known as the "Time Fracture" mechanic), ''VideoGame/GodOfWarPS4'' (The Ksavir amulet), and ironically, ''VideoGame/DMCDevilMayCry'' with its Demon Evade.
** This is a case of OlderThanTheyThink, as ''VideoGame/{{Onechanbara}}'', a series that started off as a cross between ''[=DMC=]'' and ''Dynasty Warriors'', had a dodge mechanic where pulling it off successfully would slow down time and a high damaging counter attack. Though ''Bayonetta's'' would have an influence on the later games starting with ''Z: Kagura''. The games would have end of level ranks going from bronze to platinum, stages were shorter, and had verses similar to ''Bayonetta''. ''No More Heroes'' has Dark Step, which puts it in a similar case like ''Onechanbara'' too.
* ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil1'' may not have invented the SurvivalHorror genre[[note]]That honor goes to ''VideoGame/SweetHome'', which ''Resident Evil'' was originally created to be a SpiritualSuccessor to[[/note]], but it ''did'' invent the name, and it proved the concept could sell. Cue ''VideoGame/SilentHill1,'' ''VideoGame/FatalFrame'', ''VideoGame/{{Carrier}}'', ''VideoGame/HardEdge'', ''VideoGame/CountdownVampires'', ''VideoGame/MartianGothicUnification'', Capcom's own ''VideoGame/DinoCrisis,'' and so on.
* There is a natural law that goes something like this: "Given continued development and infinite time, all open-source {{First Person Shooter}}s will eventually turn into ''VideoGame/CounterStrike''." If it happens to be a freeware, it will turn into a ''VideoGame/QuakeIIIArena''.
* Shortly after ''VideoGame/Fallout3's'' success, several RPG/FPS hybrids with a wasteland setting were announced, such as ''VideoGame/{{FUEL}}'' (a Open Sandbox racing game set in post apocalyptica,) ''VideoGame/Borderlands1'' (where the developers have gone so far to say they loved ''VideoGame/Fallout3'', and decided to make the game, 'but with co-op'. It gets a little more confusing than that.), and ''VideoGame/Rage2011''.
* ''VideoGame/ClubPenguin'' paved the way for more children's browser {{Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game}}s, such as ''Pandanda'', ''Panfu''[[note]]The former is about red pandas, while the latter is about giant pandas[[/note]],''Franchise/KungFuPanda World'', ''VideoGame/{{Fantage}}'', and ''VideoGame/AnimalJam''. Many of them were simply blatant ''Club Penguin'' ripoffs, while some did break the mold and add new twists to the genre. However, in TheNewTens, this trend declined, with many of ''Club Penguin'''s followers (and even ''Club Penguin'') shutting down, most likely due to the rise of {{Mobile Phone Game}}s, causing kids to stare at lightweight phones rather than bulky laptops.
* ''VideoGame/DefenseOfTheAncients'', an incredibly popular homemade custom map (bordering on GameMod) for ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII'', has spawned a commercial imitator in ''VideoGame/{{Demigod}}'', with more titles on the horizon. ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'' is the product of the original creator of the map making a game out of it.
** On the other hand, the map has an essential genre within fanmade maps of ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII''... which is called Aeon of Strife, which was made in ''VideoGame/StarCraft'', making Aeon of Strife the genre's {{Trope Namer|s}}, while ''VideoGame/DefenseOfTheAncients'' is more the TropeCodifier.
* Funnily enough, a game which started as a mod creating a new genre had a mod that started a new genre in itself. ''Dota Auto Chess'' was a hugely popular custom game for ''VideoGame/Dota2'', so much so that even other companies made their own Auto Chess games, including on ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'' and ''VideoGame/{{Hearthstone}}''. The game ''also'' had a case of the original creator and the base game splitting off to create their own versions of the game. ''Dota Auto Chess'' [[DivorcedInstallment rebranded]] into simply ''Auto Chess'', while Valve created ''VideoGame/DotaUnderlords''.
* ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'' fans believed the 2010 ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonor'' game did this, although technically it's the other way around, Infinity Ward being formed from people who worked on the early [=MoH=]'s. Go figure. And besides that, [=MoH=] '10 is set in UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror, in Afghanistan, while ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare'' is set in Ultranationalist Russia.
** ''VideoGame/BattlefieldBadCompany 2'', another landmark shooter of its generation. does take several plot elements from ''Modern Warfare 2'', but for the most part it's for the purpose of parodying them.
* Countless {{shmup}}s in the '90s (e.g. ''Storm Blade'') imitated ''VideoGame/{{Raiden}}''... which itself was inspired by ''VideoGame/TwinCobra'' and other Creator/{{Toaplan}} shmups, as was Konami's ''Trigon / Lightning Fighters'', which [[DuelingGames came out the same year]] as the first ''Raiden''.
* ''VideoGame/Wizard101'' was ''VideoGame/ToontownOnline'' in a magical school setting.
* [=FPSes=] and [=RPGs=] had BelligerentSexualTension for a while since at least the release of ''VideoGame/SystemShock'', but it was ''Franchise/MassEffect'' that really woke up developers to the potential money involved. Ironically, while ''VideoGame/AlphaProtocol'' is often billed as ''Mass Effect'' [-[[RecycledInSpace IN A SPY SETTING!]]-], and was launched on the wave that ''Mass Effect'' started, it's actually more of a SpiritualSuccessor to ''VideoGame/DeusEx''.
* Ever since ''VideoGame/StarCraftI'', numerous games seem to have followed their theme on formation of factions. [[JackOfAllTrades Balanced]] Terrans, bio-tech Zergs, and {{high|erTechSpecies}}-tech Protoss.

* ''VideoGame/{{Nintendogs}}'' was popular enough to spawn a wave of virtual pet series. To name some: ''I Love My Dogs'', ''Paws & Claws: Pampered Pets'', ''Pet Paradise Resort 3D'', ''Puppies 3D'', ''Puppies World 3D'', and ''I Love Dogs! Cute Puppies!''. An especially tragic example is Ubisoft's ''Catz'' and ''Dogz'' titles of ''VideoGame/{{Petz}}'' games: the game, by PF.Magic, pre-dated ''Nintendogs'' and was more comedic (such as being able to paint your cat or spritz it with water repeatedly). After the [[Creator/TheLearningCompany Learning Company]]/Mindscape/Brøderbund sales, Ubisoft owned the franchise and reinvented it except as an extremely girly knock-off of ''Nintendogs''.
* Although ''VideoGame/RailroadTycoon'' started the "tycoon" brand, ''VideoGame/RollerCoasterTycoon'' started a wave of games, each with "Tycoon" in its name. By the time it died circa 2007, games like ''Fairy Godmother Tycoon'' were on the market.
* ''VideoGame/YoungMerlin'' tries very much to be a Zelda game with some new twists.
* Creator/{{Gameloft}}'s method of making games is copying a currently popular title's graphics, gameplay, and frequently even name, and releasing it onto a platform that doesn't have a version of the game they copied. In a way, they're the video game version of Creator/TheAsylum. Gameloft does at least try to make fun games and acknowledge that they're not exactly being original, and a lot of their products have received critical acclaim. Examples include:
** ''Gangstar'' (''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'')
** ''N.O.V.A'' (''Franchise/{{Halo}}''/''VideoGame/TheConduit''). Both ''N.O.V.A'' and ''The Conduit'' even feature [[spoiler: the main character being nearly killed after he learns that the government agency he works is covering up an alien invasion, only to be rescued at the last minute by a mysterious nonhuman entity known only as "Prometheus"]].
** ''Eternal Legacy'' (''Franchise/FinalFantasy'')
** ''Modern Combat'' (''VideoGame/ModernWarfare'')
** ''Hero Of Sparta'' (''VideoGame/GodOfWar'')
** ''Zombie Infection'' (''VideoGame/ResidentEvil5'')
** ''GT Racing'' (''VideoGame/GranTurismo'')
** ''Dungeon Hunter'' (''VideoGame/{{Diablo}}'')
** ''Brain Challenge'' (''VideoGame/BrainAge'')
** ''Shadow Guardian'' (''VideoGame/{{Uncharted}}'')
** ''Star Front: Collision'' (''VideoGame/StarCraft'')
** ''Sacred Odyssey: Rise of Ayden'' (''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Ocarina of Time]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Twilight Princess]]'')
** ''Crystal Monsters'' (''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' and MonsSeries in general)
** ''Castle of Magic'' ([[ReferenceOverdosed Numerous classic 16-bit platformers]])
* On the same vein as Gameloft, Triniti Interactive has made their fair share of [[SerialNumbersFiledOff blatant clones]] of popular games for the iPhone, which they sell individually and in their ''GAMEBOX'' compilations. To be fair, they have made some decent original stuff and sometimes acknowledge their sources of inspiration. Examples include:
** ''Chicks'' (''VideoGame/{{Lemmings}}'')
** ''Neander Block'' (''VideoGame/{{Bejeweled}}'')
** ''Archer 3D'' (''VideoGame/WiiSportsResort'' Archery)
** ''Bubble Master'' (''VideoGame/{{Pang}}'')
** ''Robo Rush'' (''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1'')
** ''Super World Adventures'' (''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'', some influence from ''[[VideoGame/TheGreatGianaSisters Giana Sisters]]'' remake)
** ''Iron Commando'' (''VideoGame/{{Contra}}'')
** ''Dino Cap'' (''Zombieville USA'')
** ''Ada's'' series (''Sally's Salon/Spa/Studio'')
** ''Yoo!'' series (''Wii'' series)
** ''Bowman'' series & ''Knight's Odyssey'' (art style is very similar to the ''VideoGame/{{Patapon}}'' series)
** ''iPuppy'' series (''VideoGame/{{Nintendogs}}'')
* ''VideoGame/ProfessorLayton'' seems to be inspiring a subgenre of "cinematic game with quaint anime cutscenes and gameplay divided up into small, brainteaser-based chunks." One follower, ''Zack And Ombras Amusement Park Of Illusions,'' took a more mini-game based approach. And one DS title, ''VideoGame/DoctorLautrecAndTheForgottenKnights'' features similar puzzles and anime cutscenes, but with a more traditional GentlemanAdventurer (with a nice 'stache, though the top hat is still Layton-esque) and more ThickLineAnimation.
* Thanks to ''Franchise/TouhouProject'', all modern {{Shoot Em Up}}s have to feature [[TokenMiniMoe little girls]] and magic. FauxSymbolism is also common, thanks to ''Touhou Project's'' use of mythology. The few that don't bite pretty close to ''VideoGame/{{Gradius}}'', ''VideoGame/{{Raiden}}'', or ''VideoGame/GeometryWars''. ''Touhou'''s use of mythology is more fodder for characterization, not an attempt of symbolism, though it hasn't stopped some other shmups from going that path.
* ''VideoGame/KatamariDamacy'', believe it or not. After the unexpected success of the game, [[Creator/BandaiNamcoEntertainment Namco]] tried to follow up on it by creating other quirky, colorful games with a "growing" game mechanic, which resulted in ''VideoGame/NobyNobyBoy'' for the [=PS3=] and ''The Munchables'' for the UsefulNotes/{{Wii}}.
%%What is the "leader" that's supposedly being followed?* Steve Ballmer's claims that the UsefulNotes/Xbox360 is not a games console, but a "family entertainment center", along with his insistence that it was "the only console" with a variety of features, were systematically and viscerally debunked by the ''Podcast/MachineCAST'':
-->"'It's the only system where you are the controller.' To be honest, that last one's just weak. That's like me trying to sell you a bicycle by saying it's the 'only vehicle where you are the engine'! Leaving aside the fact, of course, that the Wii and [=PlayStation=] Move...well, exist."
* Ever since ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty 4: VideoGame/ModernWarfare'' introduced the at-the-time new and innovative class customization multiplayer ideology to the mainstream, many games have copied it exactly, including the experience points and ranking system. Most of them have also copied the "perks" that the ''Call of Duty'' games are known for. Examples include:
** ''VideoGame/BattlefieldBadCompany 2'' and ''VideoGame/Battlefield3''
** ''VideoGame/BioShock2''
** ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedBrotherhood'' and all subsequent ''AC'' games with multiplayer elements.
** ''VideoGame/{{Crysis}} 2'', which even has customization in single player.
** ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' added loadout customization a while after its release.
** ''VideoGame/{{Titanfall}}'' goes so far as to do this ''twice'', using the system for players and their Titan mechs.
** ''VideoGame/{{Killzone}} 2'' and ''Killzone 3''
** ''VideoGame/{{Brink}}'' has experience and customization.
** ''VideoGame/{{MAG}}''
** ''Ironsight'' from Creator/AeriaGames goes above and beyond and straight up ''is'' a free-to-play ''Call of Duty'' in all but name, including almost identical gunplay, attachment systems, perks, killstreaks, game modes, enough so that it's basically the worldwide version of the ''actual'' (Chinese-only) free-to-play ''Call of Duty Online''.
* The rather innovative voxel based destructible environment system of ''VideoGame/{{Infiniminer}}'', after it was made open-source (because the source code got leaked), spawned dozens of clones, most of which weren't that successful. There were exceptions though, one of them being ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}''.
* ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'', in turn, brought the SurvivalSandBox genre [[TropeCodifier into the mainstream]], and it too inspired a wave of imitators. The most successful of these was ''VideoGame/{{Terraria}}'', which shifted the concept from a fully 3D environment to a 2D side-scrolling one, and added {{Metroidvania}} elements. ''Minecraft'' also inspired other games to mimic its blocky art style in various forms. ''Minecraft'', being the "indie" success story, also gave [[IndieGame indie games]] tons of influence and visibility across the gaming community.
* The massive success of the ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' franchise made this inevitable:
** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1'' greatly spurred the development of {{Platform Game}}s for the UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem and later consoles. Surprisingly few took it as their primary model, though the Japanese marketing for ''VideoGame/AtlantisNoNazo'' wasn't too subtle about which game's coattails it was trying to ride on. Some computer games imitated ''Super Mario Bros.'' more brazenly, most notoriously ''VideoGame/TheGreatGianaSisters'', which was withdrawn under pressure of Creator/{{Nintendo}} almost immediately after it was published (maybe the makers should not have written "the brothers are history" on the cover of the C64 version...) Ironically enough, it got a remake on the UsefulNotes/NintendoDS of all platforms and several sequels on Nintendo consoles afterwards.
** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2'' inspired the creation of platform games with an emphasis on picking up and throwing objects (whether to attack enemies or to overcome an obstacle), such as the derided ''VideoGame/BibleAdventures'' and the better-received ''VideoGame/ChipNDaleRescueRangers'', ''VideoGame/McKids'', ''VideoGame/TheJetsonsCogswellsCaper'' and ''VideoGame/{{Uurnog}}''.
** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3'' has many clones/imitations that copy its world map selection and/or diagonal level design, including ''Mc Kids'', the first ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures''[[note]]which, many years later, was noted to have actually been reverse-engineered from ''Super Mario Bros. 3'', copying not only the characters' movements but also the UI and parts of the level design; by today's standards, this would have gotten Konami in legal trouble due to plagiarism[[/note]], ''Armadillo'', etc. Several of these NES titles would be [[DolledUpInstallment converted back into Mario games]] by bootleggers. Famously, ''VideoGame/CommanderKeen'' combined this with StartMyOwn, since id Software created it after Nintendo declined the idea of porting ''Super Mario Bros. 3'' to the PC.
** For ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'', it wasn't limited to just the game itself. Many, ''many'' ROM hacks attempt to copy either ''VideoGame/BrutalMario'', ''VideoGame/KaizoMarioWorld'' or both (in particular, the latter went on to codify the PlatformHell subgenre, [[OlderThanTheyThink though there were precedents]] such as ''Jinsei Owata no Daibouken'' and ''Super Mario Forever''). Sometimes it's fairly 'subtle' (like how ''Scarlet Devil Mario 2'' takes many a level idea from the former and recodes them), sometimes it's a deliberate homage (ala ''Mario's Wacky Worlds'' ripping off Kaizo Mario's first level to annoy LetsPlay/ProtonJon) and sometimes it's blatant enough that any commercial publisher would probably sue as a result (''Super Mario Kollision'' and ''Hammer Bro Demo 3'' take entire levels from said games, complete with the graphics, music and level design). For the more general ROM hacks that attempt to copy the success of ''Kaizo Mario World'' or similar hacks, many designers try to be as brutally difficult as the original hacks or cranks the difficulty up to eleven. The massive flooding of ROM hacks that try to be as difficult as possible slowly killed off ROM hacks in general, though their spirit and tropes rejuvenated thanks to ''VideoGame/SuperMarioMaker'' and [[VideoGame/SuperMarioMaker2 its sequel]].
** ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'' started the "Collect-a-thon" genre of platform games, spawning games like ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong64'', ''VideoGame/SpyroTheDragon'', ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie'', the latter two ''VideoGame/{{Gex}}'' games, ''VideoGame/TyTheTasmanianTiger'', and the first ''VideoGame/JakAndDaxter''. As with most instances of this trope, the quality varies wildly.
** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioMaker'' and ''VideoGame/SuperMarioMaker2'' have the player create their own levels and upload them to share with other players. A lot of common elements in levels are doors and pipes that lead the player to their death, throwing in tons of enemies for the sake of it, putting enemies above the screen so that the player can't see them until it's too late, or even using glitches that can cause the player's game to freeze. Because such elements are popular among certain popular uploaders (and people that leave a nasty comment to tell the person off wound up giving a star/like anyway since comments gave one by default for quite a long time), a ''lot'' of uploaded levels are filled with copycat elements that do nothing but frustrate the player.
** ''VideoGame/MarioKart'' spawned the MascotRacer, bringing forth cute cartoony variants of two previously popular genres. ''VideoGame/WackyWheels'' (DOS), ''VideoGame/DiddyKongRacing'' (Nintendo 64), ''VideoGame/CrashTeamRacing'' (Playstation), ''VideoGame/KonamiKrazyRacers'' (Game Boy Advance) and ''VideoGame/SuperTuxKart'' (Linux) are all clones of ''Mario Kart'', albeit succesful ones (other games, like ''M&M's Kart Racing'', were derided for bringing nothing new to the table).
** After taking note of the success of ''VideoGame/MarioParty'', Creator/{{Sega}} came out with the AlternateCompanyEquivalent ''VideoGame/SonicShuffle''; funnily enough, Hudson Soft developed both games. Other similar multiplayer "party" games include ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}} Party'', ''VideoGame/CrashBash'' and ''Monopoly Party''. Creator/{{Nickelodeon}} even has their own free, online version called ''Block Party''.
** ''Mario's VideoGame/{{Picross}}'' helped speed up the amount of nonogram games to soon follow, mostly in Flash form.
* ''VideoGame/{{Contra}}'' imitations included Data East's ''Midnight Resistance'', SNK's ''Cyber Lip'', Treasure's ''VideoGame/GunstarHeroes'' (although it was made by former Konami employees who worked on ''Contra III''), Creator/{{Sunsoft}}'s ''Bay Route'' and Creator/{{Irem}}'s ''Gunforce''. ''Gunstar Heroes'' was itself imitated by ''Gunner's Heaven'' (also known as ''Rapid Reload'').
* ''Espial'' and ''HAL 21'' were both carbon copies of ''VideoGame/{{Xevious}}'', as was Creator/DataEast's ''Zaviga''. Another very similar UsefulNotes/ArcadeGame was Creator/{{Sega}}'s ''Gardia''. ''Alphos'' for the UsefulNotes/PC98 was apparently developed as a clone but released under license from Namco because this early Enix game resembled ''Xevious'' too much. The original UsefulNotes/{{MSX}} versions of ''VideoGame/{{Zanac}}'' also look a lot like ''Xevious'', as does the original ''VideoGame/ThunderForce'', which was actually dolled-up in Korea as ''Super Xevious''.
* Copying ''VideoGame/RType'' was quite the thing for a long time (e.g. ''VideoGame/{{Pulstar}}'', Konami's ''XEXEX'', Creator/{{Allumer}}'s ''Rezon''), to the point that Creator/{{Irem}} ended up suing a company called Factor 5 for making ''Katakis'', a crass ripoff even by the very low standards of video game thievery.
* ''VideoGame/LovePlus'' made money in Japan, and attracted media attention (perhaps because of obsessive fans). In May 2011, the company Teatime created an adults-only game called ''[=Renai+H=]'' with similar gameplay.
* After ''VideoGame/JustDance'' became a surprise hit, several similar dance games were made, for the UsefulNotes/{{Wii}}, UsefulNotes/Xbox360 Kinect, and UsefulNotes/PlayStation3 Move, including ''VideoGame/DanceCentral'', ''VideoGame/DanceMasters'', ''VideoGame/DanceParadise'', ''VideoGame/SingstarDance'', and ''VideoGame/CountryDance''.
* {{Mobile|PhoneGame}} games with an {{allegedly free|Game}} {{freemium}} model exist within an ecosystem of copied features, including the stamina system and social features of Facebook games popularized by companies like Zynga, the GottaCatchThemAll, {{Mon}} and EvolutionPowerUp aspects of ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' and ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'', MMORPG-inspired features from ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'', and the cost/power/defense stats and mechanics of [[CollectibleCardGame collectible card games]].
* Square's 3D NES games ''VideoGame/The3DBattlesOfWorldRunner'' and ''VideoGame/RadRacer'' were clones/imitations of Sega's ''VideoGame/SpaceHarrier'' and ''VideoGame/OutRun'', respectively. Square's still earlier ''VideoGame/KingsKnight'' borrows a lot of elements from Konami's MSX game ''Knightmare''. Other ''Space Harrier'' derivatives/ripoffs included ''Rocket Ranger'', ''Cosmic Epsilon'', ''Attack Animal Gakuen'', ''Jimmu Densho Yaksa'' and the second level of ''Savage''. And other ''Out Run'' imitators in the arcades included Creator/{{Taito}}'s ''Top Speed'' (also known as ''Full Throttle'') and Creator/{{Jaleco}}'s ''Big Run''.
* Nichibitsu's ''Terra Force'' follows in the footsteps of Konami's ''[[VideoGame/{{Gradius}} Salamander (Life Force)]]'', alternating between vertical and horizontal scrolling, and featuring similar weaponry and {{attack drone}}s.
* ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' was copied a lot, most blatantly with the UsefulNotes/SegaMasterSystem game ''Vampire: Master of Darkness'' and the UsefulNotes/PC98 game ''Rusty''.
* ''VideoGame/NinjaGaidenNES'' inspired ''Wrath of the Black Manta'' (which also has elements of ''VideoGame/{{Shinobi}}''), ''VideoGame/ViceProjectDoom'', ''VideoGame/{{Shatterhand}}'', ''Shadow of the Ninja'' (which ironically was [[DolledUpInstallment dolled up]] as ''Ninja Gaiden Shadow'' on the UsefulNotes/GameBoy), the NES ''VideoGame/{{Batman|Sunsoft}}'' game et al.
* Irem's ''Ninja Spirit'' followed ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfKage'', but was far superior, although it was mostly overlooked.
* ''VideoGame/RollingThunder'' was imitated by ''VideoGame/{{ESWAT}} Cyber Police'', the aforementioned ''VideoGame/{{Shinobi}}'', ''Crime City'', ''Rough Ranger'', ''VideoGame/CodeNameViper'', etc. There were even two attempts to fuse it with themes from ''Film/JamesBond'' movies: ''VideoGame/SlySpy'' and ''[=ThunderJaws=]''.
* In the late 1970s to early 1980s, a large number of video game companies rushed to release their own ''VideoGame/SpaceInvaders''-like games. Some of these were hardly distinguishable from the original, e.g. Leijac's ''Space King'' and IPM's ''IPM Invader'' by two companies now better known as Creator/{{Konami}} and Creator/{{Irem}}, respectively. [[Creator/BandaiNamcoEntertainment Namco's]] ''VideoGame/{{Galaxian}}'' was the most popular variation on the ''Space Invaders'' theme, spawning an incredible number of bootleg knockoffs and derivative games as well as several official sequels. Less creative ''Space Invaders'' imitators included Creator/{{Nintendo}}'s ''Space Fever'' and Creator/{{Sega}}'s ''Invinco!'', which are merely footnotes in the histories of these famous video game companies. ''TI Invaders'' for the UsefulNotes/TI99, ''Avenger'' for the UsefulNotes/VIC20, and ''Space Assault'' for the UsefulNotes/ColorComputer were first-party ''Space Invaders'' clones for systems that never received authorized ports.
* ''VideoGame/{{Pong}}'', ''Tennis'' and other clones were extremely common in the 1970s despite technology allowing to make different games. These came out with most of the first-generation video game consoles after the success of ''Pong'', which was released in 1972. Atari even [[http://mcurrent.name/atarihistory/pong-understand.jpg published an ad]] in May 1973 mocking the band-wagon behavior of their competitors.
* ''VideoGame/AceCombat'' inspired a few modern air combat games combining over-the-top scenarios and an unrealistic flight model. Examples include ''VideoGame/AirForceDelta'', the ''VideoGame/{{Sidewinder}}'' series (released in the west as ''Bogey Dead 6'' and ''Lethal Skies'') and more recently, ''VideoGame/{{HAWX}}'' and ''VideoGame/VectorThrust''.
* ''VideoGame/{{Quake}}'' ended up being the leader in a different way -- there are a whole slew of games running on its engines (particularly ''VideoGame/QuakeIIIArena''[='=]s) or derivatives of them (such as ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'''s IW Engine or Creator/ValveSoftware's [=GoldSrc=] and Source). In the more modern day, it's shifted over towards the competing VideoGame/{{Unreal}} Engine - while third-party usage of the ''[=Q3A=]'' and original Unreal engines were about equal and slightly favoring the former in the old days, now there's only about a dozen releases on the ''VideoGame/Doom3'' engine versus half a thousand on Unreal Engines 3 and 4 ''each''.
* ''VideoGame/MetalSlug'' led to a handful of fast-paced run and gunners with a cartoony yet intricate art style. Examples include ''Demon Front'', ''CT Special Forces'', ''Commando: Steel Disaster'', and ''VideoGame/AlienHominid''.
* ''Videogame/PacMan'' gave rise to such a wave of unauthorized clones that the arcade version of ''Ms. Pac-Man'' and the UsefulNotes/AppleII version of ''Pac-Man'' were originally developed as such. ''K.C. Munchkin'' for the UsefulNotes/Odyssey2 was close enough to get sued, though it became something a bit different. ''Munch Man'' for the UsefulNotes/TI99 was almost too much like ''Pac-Man'' in its prototype version; the final release had a different maze and the superficial substitution of laying chains for eating dots. Creator/{{ADK}}'s ''Crush Roller'' ([[MarketBasedTitle also known as]] ''Make Trax'') similarly switched picking/eating stuff up to laying stuff down, and originally ran on an arcade board that cloned the ''Pac-Man'' hardware. Some developers of dot-collecting {{Maze Game}}s were a bit more inventive, and ''VideoGame/LadyBug'', ''Lock 'n' Chase'' and ''Mouse Trap'' were respectable enough games in their own right to see release on multiple platforms.
* ''VideoGame/LivingBooks'' inspired a whole slew of clones, done in a very similar format (almost all of them had the option to read the story automatically, or read a page and click on everything). The most notable of these is the ''Disney Animated Storybook'' series, although several others had given it a shot too.
* The great wave of "''VideoGame/{{Breakout}}'' clones" actually followed the release of ''VideoGame/{{Arkanoid}}'', in whose wake came UsefulNotes/{{Arcade Game}}s like ''Gigas'' and ''Quester'', and on European 8-bit computers ''Batty'' and ''Krakout''. One game, ''Sorcerer's Maze'', is a Breakout clone made for the [=PS1=]. It was given a misleading title in order to fool gamers because it's [[NonIndicativeName just another Breakout clone]]. The game is actually fairly decent, and it has bosses.
* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' spawned its share of imitators, like: ''VideoGame/{{Spectrobes}}'', which gets lampshaded in ''Game Informer'''s review of the first game. Gotta Dig Up Fossilized Remains of 'Em All! ''VideoGame/YokaiWatch'' is heavily inspired by ''Pokemon'' and was popular enough to give the series a run for its money in Japan, becoming a rival CashCowFranchise not soon after the second game came out.
** ''VideoGame/YokaiWatchWorld'' is ''VideoGame/PokemonGo'' but with ''VideoGame/YokaiWatch'' characters instead of Pokémon. Other franchises have made their own AugmentedReality mobile games in the wake of ''Pokémon GO''[='s=] runaway popularity, such as ''Franchise/DragonQuest'' with ''Dragon Quest Walk'', ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' with ''Minecraft Earth'', and even ''Franchise/HarryPotter'' with ''VideoGame/HarryPotterWizardsUnite'' (though ''Wizards Unite'' was [[SelfPlagiarism made by Niantic, the developers of]] ''Pokémon Go'').
** In similar developments, the ''Pokémon'' games were the first series to achieve mainstream success with [[OneGameForThePriceOfTwo splitting game content]] into two versions -- which would be used by ''VideoGame/{{Bomberman}}'' and the ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork'' (and subsequently ''[[VideoGame/MegaManStarForce Star Force]]'') games.

* Due to its popularity, there are a lot of ''Plants vs. Zombies'' imitations in China, ranging from online role-playing games to arcade games.
* ''Singles: Flirt Up Your Life'' is essentially a [[HotterAndSexier mature]] copy of ''VideoGame/TheSims1'' with graphics similar to ''VideoGame/TheSims2'' (which wasn't out yet).
* Activision quite obviously copied the ''VideoGame/CookingMama'' concept to a T and made it into ''Science Papa''.
* ''VideoGame/KungFuMaster'' led to other single-plane {{Beat Em Up}}s starring {{Bruce Lee Clone}}s: ''Dragon Wang'' for the UsefulNotes/SG1000, ''Kung-Fu Road'' for the UsefulNotes/SuperCassetteVision, and ''China Warrior'' for the UsefulNotes/TurboGrafx16.
* ''VideoGame/{{Farmville}}'' is an interesting case. The game was inspired by Chinese web game called ''VideoGame/HappyFarm'', which itself is inspired by ''VideoGame/HarvestMoon''. Now with the popularity of social network farming games, Marvelous decided to follow the leader that was following Marvelous...
* Creator/{{Konami}} started something with the BeatEmUp genre. This version of follow the leader went into three different directions:
## The success of ''VideoGame/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesTheArcadeGame'' led to the rise of the company itself doing arcade adaptions of popular cartoons/cartoons based on comic books, with up to 4 (6 for X-Men) player co-op. Titles such as ''VideoGame/XMen'', ''VideoGame/TheSimpsons'', and ''[[ComicBook/BuckyOHareAndTheToadWars Bucky O'Hare]]'' during the 90s. Konami did face some competition in the 4-player comic book BeatEmUp field: ''VideoGame/CaptainAmericaAndTheAvengers'' and a Creator/{{Sega}} UsefulNotes/ArcadeGame starring Spider-Man, Sub-Mariner, Black Cat and Hawkeye.
## This also led a couple of "me too's" on {{Ninja}}s with weapons and 4 player co-op. Taito's ''VideoGame/TheNinjaKids'' (most of them wield bladed weapons) and Irem's ''VideoGame/NinjaBaseballBatMan'' ([[BatterUp all fight with baseball bats]]. One of the stages in ''The Ninja Kids'' looks like April's burning apartment. The final stage in ''Ninja Baseball Bat Man'' takes place on top of a scaffold in New York, at night, just like the first stage of ''VideoGame/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesTurtlesInTime''. Both games failed in arcades not because they were bad, but due to poor advertisement and being over shadowed by other, and more popular beat'em ups and fighting games. In fact they had decent (''Ninja Kids'') and excellent (''Ninja Baseball Batman'') game play respectively.
## There were games that hitched on the TeenageMutantSamuraiWombats craze. Mainly the ''VideoGame/{{Battletoads}}'' franchise is guilty of this, but it started on the home consoles and worked its way up to the arcades. The console versions used lots of NintendoHard platforming to differentiate itself from other brawlers, but the arcade game is just a more straight foward brawler and plays more like ''VideoGame/DoubleDragon'' with gory finishers. Wow. Now that's a doozy!
* Jaleco's ''Ninja Jajamaru-kun'' series, after the first two games, abandoned its original style of gameplay in the later Famicom installments, which instead imitated ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'' (''Jajamaru Ninpou Chou''), ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZelda'' (''Jajamaru Gekimaden'') and ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3'' (''Ginga Daisakusen'').

* Although it was a pre-existing franchise, when ''VideoGame/ZoneOfTheEnders'' got an installment for the UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance it ended up remarkably similar to the ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' games on the platform, complete with a morale system and equippable parts.
* To say that ''VideoGame/XuanDouZhiWang'' is Creator/TencentGames' [[AlternateCompanyEquivalent Chinese equivalent]] of ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters'' is like dividing by 1; it's already implied. That being said, [[SincerestFormOfFlattery it does the job well enough]], but the blatant similarities to ''KOF'' (especially after the game was demoed by two of China's best ''KOF'' players) seem like a lawsuit waiting to happen. [[HilariousInHindsight For a bit of irony]], [[VideoGame/FatalFury Terry Bogard]] and [[VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters Benimaru Nikaido]] [[GuestFighter are set to be added to]] ''XD''[='s=] roster.
* ''VideoGame/SecretWeaponsOverNormandy'' inspired several arcadey story-driven WWII flight games. Followers include ''VideoGame/BlazingAngels'', ''VideoGame/HeroesOfThePacific'' and ''Combat Wings''.
* Creator/CompileHeart announced ''Monster Monpiece'', a Vita [=JRPG=] starring much fanservice and monster girls as enemies. It's likely not a coincidence that ''Monster Girl Quest'' was one of 2011-2012's more popular games beforehand. Oh, and they're [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=31SF5DDMu8o not known for being subtle about it.]]
* A number of later NES/Famicom {{Platform Game}}s show a huge ''VideoGame/{{Mega Man|Classic}}'' influence, including ''VideoGame/MagicalDoropie'' (also known as ''The Krion Conquest''), ''Power Blazer'' (whose international version, ''Power Blade'', turned into a rather different game) and ''VideoGame/LittleSamson''.
* Many ''VideoGame/RainbowIslands'' clones, such as ''Top Banana'', can be found on the UsefulNotes/{{Amiga}} ([[AndTheRest among other computer systems of the time]]), due to the game's popularity in the UK.
* "[[UpdatedRerelease HD remakes]]" of games are suddenly all the rage. Started as just a one-off thing for some classic games approaching ten years old (''VideoGame/SeriousSam'' and ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'' were among the first[[note]]the latter also serving as a nice solution for the fact that until then the first game had been an obscure PC-exclusive game in a series which had a fanbase that had since shifted to primarily compose of console players[[/note]]), but now anything and everything that wasn't made for the UsefulNotes/XBox360 and UsefulNotes/PlayStation3 is getting an HD remake for those consoles. And, like many other examples, many of the later imitators completely miss the point - whereas the ''Serious Sam'' HD games are true remakes with updated graphics, animations, models, and the like, most of the later examples are closer to half-assed remasters that are simply upscaled to 720p and often include various bugs, weird omissions, and sometimes even run noticeably ''worse'' on the ''superior hardware'' for no apparent reason.
* The hugely popular mod ''VideoGame/DayZ'' inspired the makers of ''VideoGame/BigRigsOverTheRoadRacing'' to create an MMO zombie survival game called ''The War Z'', a game that [[CoversAlwaysLie contained none of the advertised features]] and being an obvious cash in towards people looking for ''VideoGame/DayZ'' or a game like it. Since then, ''several'' MMO first-person zombie survival games have started showing up on Steam, even though a couple of them are just ''The War Z'' being re-released under a different name because the original release was literally criminally deficient.
* ''Zyclunt'' (exported as ''Blade Warrior''), one of the first games developed by Korean studio Phantagram, takes its lead from ''VideoGame/{{Genocide}} 2'', a Japanese PC game that was not distributed in Western countries but had recently received an IBM-compatible port from a rival Korean company.
* You know how so many third person shooters have AlwaysOverTheShoulder camera? You can thank ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'' for that. It also popularized quicktime events. It's probably one of the most influential games of its generation and its influence is very, very present in the seventh gen. ''VideoGame/DeadSpace'' described as "''Resident Evil 4'', [[RecycledINSPACE IN SPACE!!!]]". ''VideoGame/ColdFear'' ''[[CaptainErsatz is]] Resident Evil 4'', complete with brain parasites, mutants, and the [[NarmCharm lovably cheesy voice-acting we all know and love]], but on a tanker with the most epic use of environmental hazards ever seen in a game.
* The PlatformHell ''VideoGame/IWannaBeTheGuy'' was based off a Japanese Flash game called ''The Life-Ending Adventure''... and when the latter game was finished, [[spoiler:[[RecursiveAdaptation its final areas are based off of IWBTG, with The Kid as the final boss]]]]! ''IWBTG'' itself has inspired a glut of platformers [[FakeDifficulty deriving difficulty from]] TrialAndErrorGameplay. Inverted in [[VideoGame/IWannaBeTheGuyGaiden the sequel]] -- part of level 1-3 is based off the first game, and it starts [[spoiler:right where ''The Life-Ending Adventure'' starts its ''own'' recreation]]! WordOfGod confirms this was intentional.
* ''VideoGame/DragonQuestI'' practically created the EasternRPG, and ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyI'' and ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarI'' were only the two most successful of the many imitators springing up in its wake, which also included ''VideoGame/GloryOfHeracles'' and ''Momotaro Densetsu''. ''VideoGame/MOTHER1'' tried hard to be different in terms of setting and aesthetics, though its gameplay was still the same.
* ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'' itself was explicitly inspired by the first ''VideoGame/{{Wizardry}}'' game (which Yuji Horii was enthralled by; the original concept behind the game was to create something that combined the combat system of Wizardry with the overhead view of ''VideoGame/{{Ultima}}''. The first Franchise/FinalFantasy drew on the granddaddy of the RPG itself, ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', both in terms of VancianMagic (a distinction shared by Wizardry) and monster artwork and design.
* Before ''VideoGame/PunchOut'' had its NES release endorsed by Mike Tyson, Elite Systems Ltd got an endorsement from a RealLife prizefighter for its own knockoff, ''Frank Bruno's Boxing''.
* The mainstream success of ''VideoGame/Persona3'' and ''VideoGame/Persona4'' led to a lot of [[EasternRPG Eastern RPGs]] with {{Animesque}} artstyles, RelationshipValues with party members, LevelUpAtIntimacy5 and time-management systems. It also led to RelationshipValues being added to several EasternRPG franchises that didn't previously include them. ''VideoGame/Persona5'' also started a trend of turn-based [=RPGs=] dropping scrolling menus and instead mapping each action in combat to a separate button. ([[VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel Trails of Cold Steel III]] being one example)
* ''VideoGame/PAYDAYTheHeist'' was heavily inspired by Valve's ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'' series by taking the core concept of tight teamwork and enemies that rush the players in large swarms, but with SWAT teams instead of zombies. The game has done incredibly well and Valve even helped the developers create the crossover No Mercy DLC. The sequel still retains the core concepts of the first game, but differentiates itself from Left 4 Dead by having character class skills and weapon mods.
* ''VideoGame/WorldOfTanks'' [[AllegedlyFreeGame free-to-play model]] has spawned thinly veiled clones using the exact same mechanics.
** ''VideoGame/MechWarrior Online'''s primary gamemode is a copy+pasted version of ''World Of Tanks'' base capture/team annihilation. ''Online'' uses an identical "garage" system (renamed to "mechbay"), and like in ''Tanks'', ''Online'' has no-respawn gameplay. And both have [[RevenueEnhancingDevices obscenely expensive cosmetic items]].
** ''VideoGame/WarThunder'' has similar 'tech tree' mechanics, base capture, and garage, with Freemium play
** ''VideoGame/ArmoredWarfare'' basically advertises itself as "''VideoGame/WorldOfTanks'' with modern tanks."
** Wargaming has also followed its own lead with the same basic gameplay in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarships'' and ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarplanes''.
* ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'' prompted several games based around what can best be called "Dwarf management" (such as ''VideoGame/{{Dwarfs}}'', ''A Game of Dwarves'', and ''Survivors of Ragnarok''), as well as a number of other games in its general style, like ''VideoGame/{{Towns}}'', ''VideoGame/StoneHearth'' and ''VideoGame/RimWorld''. Most of them play differently in one way or another, though, and all of them try to offer an alternative to Dwarf Fortresses' somewhat steep learning curve and minimalist graphics.
* ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil3Nemesis'' was not the first game to include a near-unstoppable, ImplacableMan enemy that repeatedly shows up with a single-minded focus on killing/stopping you, but it was one of the most popular and influential. After ''Nemesis'', this sort of enemy started showing up frequently in a variety other games (a good example being ''VideoGame/SilentHill2'''s Pyramid Head), to the point where other games in the ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' series tried to copy this success with their own versions of Nemesis.
* In the early 1990s, Naxat Soft organized the Summer Carnivals as a rival to Creator/HudsonSoft's Caravan series, both being contests to see who could score the most points in a certain number of minutes. The game featured in Naxat's first annual contest, ''Seirei Senshi Spriggan'', was developed by Creator/{{Compile}}, who had also developed ''[[VideoGame/BlazingLazers Gunhed]]'' for Hudson to use in their '89 contest. For Summer Carnival '92, Naxat developed ''Alzadick'', a short game strongly reminiscent of the ''VideoGame/StarSoldier'' series that was Hudson's mainstay.
* Creator/{{Capcom}}'s ''Gun.Smoke'' was closely imitated by the European computer games ''Desperado'' and ''Wanted'' (alias ''Outlaw''); ''Desperado'' actually became an authorized version of ''Gun.Smoke'' in the UK.
* The success of the physics-based stunt bike-racing game ''VideoGame/{{Trials}}'' spawned two imitators: Tate Multimedia's ''Urban Trial: Freestyle'' and Bakno Games' inventively titled ''Motorbike''.
* Creator/{{Koei|Tecmo}}'s breakout success with ''VideoGame/NobunagasAmbition'' inspired other Japanese VideoGameCompanies to create their own JidaiGeki TurnBasedStrategy games. (A secondary inspiration for some was NHK's taiga dramas, which were reaching their ratings peak.) Examples include Creator/GameArts' ''Harakiri'', Creator/{{Irem}}'s ''Hototogisu'', Namco's ''Dokuganryu Masamune'' and [[Creator/TelenetJapan Wolf Team]]'s ''Zan'' series. Given the lack of appeal of these games to non-Japanese players, it's surprising that even one of the imitators (Hot-B's ''Shingen the Ruler'') was localized.
* Arcade rhythm game which uses collectibles as part of its game mechanic started with ''Anime/PrettyCure'' arcade, followed by ''[[Anime/SpellboundMagicalPrincessLilPri Lilpri -- Yubi Puru Hime Chen!]]'' & ''Love&Berry'' by Creator/{{Sega}}, ''VideoGame/PrettyRhythm'' by Takara Tomy and ''VideoGame/{{Aikatsu}}'' by [[Creator/BandaiNamcoEntertainment Namco Bandai]].
* The Horace games for the UsefulNotes/ZXSpectrum, though never entirely derivative of arcade games, were fairly close in spirit. ''Hungry Horace'' played like ''VideoGame/PacMan'' but with a very different approach to maze design; the first screen of ''Horace Goes Skiing'' loosely resembled ''VideoGame/{{Frogger}}''; and the final screen of ''Horace and the Spiders'' was very similar to ''VideoGame/SpacePanic''.
* The RealTimeStrategy Genre that doesn't fall under the PointBuySystem is either "VideoGame/CommandAndConquer Style" or "[=StarCraft=] Style". Even point buy RTS games can be said to have actual combat based off these two.
* The UsefulNotes/{{Commodore 64}} game ''Uridium'' had a few imitators, including ''Ultima Ratio'' and ''Mirax Force''. ''Psycastria'' for the UsefulNotes/BBCMicro was more popular than that platform's official conversion of ''Uridium''.
* The UsefulNotes/{{Amiga}} ShootEmUp ''Blood Money'' takes blatant inspiration from the contemporary Creator/{{Irem}} UsefulNotes/ArcadeGame ''Mr. Heli''.
* ''Franchise/MortalKombat Trilogy''[==]'s "Brutality" {{Finishing Move}}s are quite obviously their interpretation of ''VideoGame/KillerInstinct''[==]'s Ultra Combos.
* Much as there is the ''Diablo'' clone, Japan also has the ''VideoGame/{{Wizardry}}'' clone. The games ''really'' hit it off in Japan for being [[NintendoHard harder than hard]] first-person dungeon crawler [=RPGs=], and the Japanese version of the series has more than 20 entries. The games had a notable influence on the earliest ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' games, as well as ''VideoGame/EtrianOdyssey''. There's also the Japanese ''[[NoExportForYou Generation Xth]]'' trilogy, which is [=MegaTen=]'s even more cyberpunky ScienceFantasy ''Wizardry'' cousin.
* ''VideoGame/SurgeonSimulator2013'' became an instant hit with the gaming community for having the concept of playing as a clumsy surgeon who only operates with one hand and his fingers move individually with different buttons, making gripping tools difficult but funny to handle as the surgeon tears out all the vital organs to reach the one organ he has to do a transplant on. Several games have followed the trend of badly controlled "simulator" games with various results, such as ''Probably Archery'' (which tries to mimic ''Surgeon Simulator 2013's'' bad controls a little ''too'' well) and ''VideoGame/GoatSimulator'' (has everything as a total wreck for shits and giggles with the exception of any GameBreakingBug). The success of ''Surgeon Simulator 2013'', and ''Goat Simulator'' also caused a slew of copycats to create their own "X Simulator" games on the concept of being clever with things like ''Rock Simulator'', ''Water Simulator'', and even a ''Black Screen Simulator'', reaching the status of a DiscreditedMeme.

* ''VideoGame/AmnesiaTheDarkDescent'' inspired an explosion of first-person SurvivalHorror {{indie game}}s taking what separated ''VideoGame/AloneInTheDark'', ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' and ''Franchise/SilentHill'' from their action-packed predecessors and pushing it even further. So much so that the "wandering a dark place avoiding a monster" genre quickly became a parody of itself, with hordes of inexperienced developers making low-effort, [[NightmareRetardant lower-execution]] {{freeware}} titles in entry-level engines such as UsefulNotes/{{Unity}} and GameMaker. Case in point, Website/SomethingAwful founder Rich "Lowtax" Kyanka has a [[LetsPlay/GamingGarbage YouTube channel]] dedicated to such "projects" and these sorts of games are the predominant genre.
* ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys'', which likely took some cues from ''Amnesia: The Dark Descent'', has its own following of copycats and parodies where every game always seems to take place in some sort of establishment where you have to avoid robotic animals and are only limited to using whatever you have on hand instead of just getting up and running away. Almost every game trying to ride off the success of ''Five Nights at Freddy's'' just [[SerialNumbersFiledOff rubs out "Freddy" and use their own name]].
* ''VideoGame/{{Slender}}'' has had similar impact in the Indie Survival Horror genre, taking the "first person helplessness" mechanics of ''Amnesia'' and distilling it into a [[StrictlyFormula simple formula]] of item collecting and {{Jump Scare}}s in a minimalist environment. Unsurprisingly, countless home-brew spinoffs have been unleashed upon the Internet and, just as unsurprisingly, are one of the most common targets of Lowtax's channel.
* The huge success of ''VideoGame/AoOni'' (it's even got a movie and novelization now) led to the boom of the "Oni Game" genre (4-ish people trapped in a ClosedCircle with a PaletteSwap of the aforementioned Oni as the [[ImplacableMan implacable stalker]]), and the UsefulNotes/RPGMaker Horror Game genre (which itself has been helped along more recently by titles like ''VideoGame/{{Ib}}'' and ''VideoGame/TheWitchsHouse'').

* Creator/{{Namco}}'s ''VideoGame/TimeCrisis'', despite being the standard 3D gun game, had unique gameplay features such as the foot pedal that used to duck down to avoid from getting hit by one of the game's enemies, various clones include ''VideoGame/GunfighterTheLegendOfJesseJames'', ''VideoGame/{{Endgame}}'', and of course, ICE/Play Mechanix's ''Johnny Nero Action Hero''.
* ''Adventure Quiz: Capcom World'' was the first of a wave of board-game-style trivia quiz games that Creator/{{Capcom}} and other companies great and small produced in every popular theme to flood Japanese arcades in the early 1990s. The high fantasy-themed ''Quiz & Dragons'' was one of the very few to be localized, though Saki from the pseudo-DatingSim ''[[http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/quiznanairo/quiznanairo.htm Quiz Nanairo Dreams]]'' would [[MarthDebutedInSmashBros make her Western debut]] as an AssistCharacter in ''VideoGame/{{Marvel Vs Capcom|Clash Of The Super Heroes}}'', and as a playable fighter in ''VideoGame/TatsunokoVsCapcom''.
* ''VideoGame/{{Lemmings}}'' was a BizarrePuzzleGame that involved saving little green-haired creatures from horrific deaths. All the other "save-'em-ups" that followed, like ''Builderland'', ''Gulp!'', ''Troddlers'' and ''Creepers'' (and the indie reimaginings like the {{Animesque}} game ''[[http://www.old-games.com/download/3785/shoujo-attack- Shoujo Attack!]]''), were popular only for a very brief period of time and are now totally forgotten, whereas their inspirator is still known today and spawned a number of sequels and spin-offs.
* Version 0.9 of ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosCrusade'' takes part of its character roster from the official Wii U and 3DS instalments, such as Pac-Man and Little Mac (though other characters, such as Duck Hunt Dog and Mega Man, were already in the game far before those games were even announced). Also, some stages were inspired by ''VideoGame/SuperSmashFlash 2'', despite the community choosing the stages trying hard not to choose stages from that game fearing that they would become essentially the same stage (the stages that were copied though are unique--Casino Night Zone in ''Crusade'' looks visually different than Casino Night Zone in ''Flash 2'').
* Several Japanese video games of the 1990s imitated ''VideoGame/{{Bomberman}}'', including ''Otoboke Ninja Colosseum'', the UsefulNotes/ArcadeGame ''Exvania'', and console remakes of ''VideoGame/HeiankyoAlien'' and ''VideoGame/{{Pengo}}''.
* Following the crowdfunding success of space games like ''VideoGame/StarCitizen'' and ''VideoGame/EliteDangerous'', the developers of ''[[VideoGame/MechWarrior MechWarrior Online]]'', Piranha Games, attempted to jump in on the space craze and launched their own crowdfunding campaign for a new space game, ''Transverse''. The campaign was a hilarious flop, barely reaching 2% of its goal of 1 million dollars, primarily due to Piranha's [[CreatorKiller zero percent approval rating due to numerous public relations disasters]] in ''Mechwarrior Online''.
* ''VideoGame/ParasiteEve2'' attempted to piggyback on the success of ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' by using the same elements, such as fixed camera angles that change between "screens", TankControls, a conspiracy group that one of the supporting characters is a part of, said group using a monster to further spread TheVirus, etc. The game itself wasn't bad overall, but for many, it didn't feel like a ''Parasite Eve'' game compared to the first one.
* The success of ''VideoGame/GranTurismo'' spurred the creation of a large number of simulation racing games on consoles. Direct competitors include ''Sega GT'', ''Driving Emotion Type S'', ''Auto Modellista'', ''Group S Challenge'', ''Enthusia Professional Racing'' and, of course, ''VideoGame/ForzaMotorsport''.
* ''VideoGame/MightyNo9'' led to a trend of crowdfunded SpiritualSuccessor games from well-regarded developers who are no longer involved with the companies and franchises that made their reputations; ''VideoGame/YookaLaylee'' and ''VideoGame/BloodstainedRitualOfTheNight'' being among them.
* Creator/TimSchafer's success with ''VideoGame/BrokenAge'' lead to a massive Kickstarter boom for point & click adventure games like The Two Guys From Andromeda's ''[=SpaceVenture=]'', Lori & Corey Cole's ''[=HeroU=]'', and Creator/RonGilbert's ''VideoGame/ThimbleweedPark''.
* Thanks to ''Creator/TelltaleGames'' games such as ''VideoGame/TheWalkingDead'' and ''VideoGame/TheWolfAmongUs'' hitting such massive popularity, ''VideoGame/DreamfallChapters'' takes a ''lot'' of Telltale tropes -- however this is [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools not a bad thing at all]], as some appreciate having more games like those out and that the choices made in ''Chapters'' hold more influence than the ones made in most Telltale studios. Even Telltale themselves were not being original. Though their popularity exploded with The Walking Dead, their first point and click game structured in this way was ''VideoGame/JurassicParkTheGame'', which they themselves called "''VideoGame/HeavyRain'' [[EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs but with dinosaurs]]".
* There are a number of {{Episodic Game}}s being released after the critical success of ''VideoGame/TheWalkingDead'', such as ''VideoGame/LifeIsStrange'', ''{{VideoGame/D4}}'', and ''Knee Deep''.
* ''VideoGame/{{Unturned}}'' spawned a Unity asset called Unit Z, which is an asset pack that looks like ''Unturned'' and plays like it. So many people have uploaded just the complete asset packs alone on Steam that it's reached epidemic levels of absurdity.[[note]]The asset packs from the Unity asset store is to help new and upcoming game developers get a feel on how things work and are to build upon the assets with their own ideas. Many people prefer to just upload the assets and game concept as is without altering a single thing or buy a bunch of assets and throw them together without doing anything original themselves.[[/note]]
* It took a while for the ''VideoGame/{{Skylanders}}'' clones to arrive, due to the technology involved, but the "Toys-to-Life" genre has started to gain a host of imitators, from Hasbro's Beam Box amongst plug-and-play versions, with ''VideoGame/DisneyInfinity'' and ''VideoGame/LEGODimensions'' being closer to ''Skylanders'''s systems. Even [[Creator/BandaiNamcoEntertainment Namco Bandai]] got in the fray with ''Franchise/KamenRider Summonride'', except it never caught on. Creator/{{Nintendo}}'s Toys/{{Amiibo}} are like Skylanders for the entire Nintendo Library. The business model of ''Skylanders'' continues to be imitated by various other toys that don't use a console, such as ''Playmation'' and ''Infinite Arms''. Of course, if you trace the roots of all this, it goes back to Mattel's UsefulNotes/HyperScan, [[AccentuateTheNegative but people would rather forget how]] ''[[AccentuateTheNegative underpowered]]'' [[AccentuateTheNegative the console is]]. And if you trace ''that'', it goes all the way back to Nintendo's e-card reader for the UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance.
* ''Super Sprint'' inspired a wave of top-down racing games from UK companies. Creator/{{Codemasters}} found success on 8-bit formats with ''BMX Simulator'' and ''Grand Prix Simulator'', while Leland produced the UsefulNotes/{{Arcade Game}}s ''Ivan "Ironman" Stewart's Super Off-Road'' and ''Danny Sullivan's Indy Heat''. Other British imitators included ''Rally Cross Challenge'' and ''Super Cars'', the latter featuring large scrolling courses instead of the single screens that ''Sprint''-likes can usually be distinguished by. Creator/{{Sega}}'s ''Rough Racer'' (1990) was one of the last and least successful ''Super Sprint'' imitators.
* Arcade ''VideoGame/AfterDark'' blatantly took many of it's mechanics from Namco's arcade game ''VideoGame/DeadstormPirates'' such as enemy types and even the wheel for steering and dodging portions.
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaI'' had a number of fairly close imitators, including ''VideoGame/{{Neutopia}}'', ''Psycho Calibur'' and ''Golden Axe Warrior''.
* For a few years in the mid-'80s, a lot of British and Japanese software houses saw ''VideoGame/StarForce'' as a VerticalScrollingShooter worth imitating, the products being games such as ''Astro Warrior'' on the UsefulNotes/SegaMasterSystem, ''Light Force'' on the UsefulNotes/ZXSpectrum, ''Mission Genocide'' on the UsefulNotes/AmstradCPC and ''Plutos'' on the UsefulNotes/AtariST.
* The ''VideoGame/RoadRash'' series spawned a similar Creator/ElectronicArts effort on the UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis called ''Skitchin''', a roller-blade racing and stunt game. Both games each had heavy metal/grunge soundtrack and the concept of cash bonuses for winning races and fighting off opponents.
* ''VideoGame/AloneInTheDark'': In ''[[VideoGame/AloneInTheDarkTheNewNightmare The New Nightmare]]'', the controls, presentation, and gameplay are a little too similar to ''Resident Evil'' to be coincidental ("a little" being a major understatement). Note that Administrivia/TropesAreNotBad, and this also means the game is [[RevisitingTheRoots much more faithful to the first game's spirit]].
* The ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' series (plus its predecessor ''VideoGame/DemonsSouls'') stood out from its contempararies in terms of difficulty by being a highly challenging and unguided adventure. Naturally, its success eventually inspired several other games centered around NintendoHard combat and/or playstyle-based ResourcesManagementGameplay including ''VideoGame/{{Nioh}}'', ''VideoGame/LordsOfTheFallen'', ''VideoGame/SaltAndSanctuary'', and ''VideoGame/{{Necropolis}}'', leading to the term "Souls-like." Even the developers of ''Dark Souls'', Creator/FromSoftware, made their own "Souls-like" called ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}'', and fans of ''Dark Souls'' generally accept it as an unofficial ''Dark Souls'' game.
* ''VideoGame/SaltAndSanctuary'', by bringing ''Dark Souls''' gameplay style in a 2D environment, spawned a bunch of similar hack 'n slash titles featuring dark bleak worlds with oppressive religious overtones and high difficulty, such as ''VideoGame/{{Blasphemous}}'', ''VideoGame/DarkDevotion'', ''VideoGame/VoidMemory'', ''VideoGame/DeathsGambit'', ''VideoGame/{{Unworthy}}'' and, to a lesser extent, ''[[VideoGame/{{Momodora}} Momodora: Reverie Under The Moonlight]]''.
* The ''Momodora'' series has its own imitator in the form of Chinese-made ''[[https://store.steampowered.com/app/1014020/Successor_of_the_Moon/ Successor of the Moon]]''. Interestingly enough, ''Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight'''s devs made their own clone in the form of ''VideoGame/{{Minoria}}''.
* The combined success of ''VideoGame/BionicCommando Rearmed'' and ''VideoGame/MegaMan9'' lead to the greenlighting of many revivals to cult series. Examples of this trend include ''VideoGame/BlasterMaster Overdrive'', Konami's short-lived "Rebirth" series, ''VideoGame/{{Rocket Knight|Adventures}}'' and the cancelled ''VideoGame/{{Bonk}}: Brink of Extinction''.
* The runaway success of ''VideoGame/KanColle'' spawned more browser/smartphone games about UsefulNotes/WorldWarII [[MoeAnthropomorphism shipgirls]] - ''VideoGame/WarshipGirls'', ''VideoGame/VictoryBelles'', ''VideoGame/AzurLane'' - along with more games featuring personified military and historical objects, such as ''VideoGame/ToukenRanbu'' (swords), ''VideoGame/OshiroProject'' (castles), and ''VideoGame/GirlsFrontline'' (guns).
* The [=PS2=] era had a lot of light hearted games have suddenly DarkerAndEdgier sequels. It would seem that it started with ''VideoGame/JakII'', the much darker and edgier sequel to ''VideoGame/JakAndDaxter'', which turned Jak from a happy mute hero into a voiced gun toting anti-hero. Its success apparently set off a chain reaction with everything from [[VideoGame/PrinceOfPersiaTheSandsOfTime Prince of Persia]] to ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' to ''Franchise/RatchetAndClank'' (though the last one was already edgier than the other examples here to begin with, but ''VideoGame/RatchetDeadlocked'' definitely fits the trend.)
* The mostly forgotten ''Will Rock'' is this to ''VideoGame/SeriousSam'' (which already was partially inspired by ''Duke Nukem''): both games were made by an Eastern European team and featured a lone sarcastic "hero" shooting thousands of bullets against gigantic hordes of mythology-inspired creatures in huge arenas. The only major difference is that ''Will Rock'''s enemies were based on Greek instead of Egyptian mythology.

** In turn, ''PUBG Mobile'' borrowed a few mechanics from its imitators, most notably the ping system and teammate respawn system from ''Apex Legends''.
* ''VideoGame/ApexLegends'':
** Not only does the game copy the Battle Royale template popularized by ''Fortnite'' and ''[=PUBG=]'', but it also has {{Hero Shooter}} elements taken straight from ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Paladins}}''. Ironically, ''Apex Legends'' carved out its own niche by emulating ''two'' "hot trending" genres, making it more unique compared to standard examples of either.
** In turn, many battle royale games like ''VideoGame/{{Fortnite}}'', ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyMobile'', ''[[VideoGame/CallOfDutyModernWarfare2019 Call of Duty: Warzone]]'' and ''PUBG Mobile'' copied its non-verbal ping system and respawning mechanics.
* ''VideoGame/{{Fortnite}}'':
** The ''Battle Royale'' mode was originally made as something of a tribute to ''[=PlayerUnknown's BattleGrounds=]'', and plays with this trope. Nobody at Epic realised how big the game would turn out to be, with the number of differences between the two (free to play economy, distinct cartoon aesthetic, differing weapons etc.) allowed ''Fortnite'' to stand on its own in the genre, and thus escaped a lot of comparisons. Bluehole Studios' did attempt to sue Epic Games for copying them, but that went nowher (it was dismissed due to literally everything they claimed was not defensible as being copyrightable and unique to [=PUBG=]).
** When direct competitor ''Apex Legends'' released in February 2019, it brought with it a few mechanics that Epic would later implement into the game. First came the "ping" system, which allows players to mark locations on the battefield, any loot, enemies, and a slew of other important items and actions for teammates with the press of a button. The second was the Reboot Cards and Respawn Vans, which were inspired wholesale by the player respawn mechanic from ''Apex''. In Chapter 2, ''Fortnite'' also added the unlockable loot vaults that first appeared in ''Apex Legends'' Season 3.
* ''VideoGame/HarvestMoon'' (now known as ''VideoGame/StoryOfSeasons'' outside of Japan) is a series of farming simulators with heavy life sim and dating sim elements. After the popularity of its originally PC-exclusive SpiritualSuccessor ''VideoGame/StardewValley'', numerous other games inspired by ''Harvest Moon'' have come out. These include ''VideoGame/GleanerHeights'', ''VideoGame/VerdantSkies'', ''VideoGame/WorldsDawn'', and ''Moonlight Tales''. In a way, even Natsume's in-house ''VideoGame/HarvestMoonNatsume'' titles after Marvelous changed translators also count. ''Ushi no Tane'' forums (a ''Harvest Moon'' forum) even has a [[https://fogu.com/hmforum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=174277 pinned thread]] dedicated to these farming games (and any other game including farming). Tvtropes has a page for the genre under FarmLifeSim.
* ''Sports Champions'' for the [=PlayStation=] Move. While the first game includes uncommon sports such as disc golf and bocce, the sequel includes boxing, golf, bowling and tennis, just like ''VideoGame/WiiSports''.
* ''Carnival Island'', Sony's answer to ''Carnival Games''.
* ''VideoGame/OceanhornMonsterOfUnchartedSeas'', a Finnish action-adventure video game which borrows heavily from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'' and ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'', with its sequel, ''Oceanhorn 2: Knights of the Lost Realm'', borrowing heavily from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild''.
* Nintendo saw huge success with their release of the NES and SNES Classics, which are miniaturized versions of those consoles that come preloaded with several games. Nintendo's success with their releases of their classic games prompted others like Sony, Sega, and Atari to make their own "classic" consoles with varying levels of success[[note]]Though, Atari and Sega have had other plug-and-play consoles for years prior to the NES Classic[[/note]]. There's even a ''PC Classic'' for old DOS games.
* On a meta front, it seems that Creator/ValveSoftware's '''Steam''' itself has become the platform of choice for copying by other AAA company seeking to build a networking client that not only facilitates master server for videogames, but also with an online store feature to cut production costs and sell direct to customers, complete with profile library and achievement tracker. Creator/UbiSoft originally launched Uplay as a CopyProtection method, but it turned into something similar to Steam, and then Creator/ElectronicArts launched '''Origin''' with the main purpose being to take Steam head-on (although to this day, it end up bare-bones), then Website/GOGDotCom launched its '''Galaxy''' client, although this more to facilitate online playing (although regular setup still can be downloaded from the owned games part of the website as a "backup"). Blizzard even revamp the '''Battle.Net''' client for their games (and later, Activision's games), turning it from a network hub into a Steam-like client. Then Creator/EpicGames joined the fray with '''Epic Store''', even courting indies and AAA developers and publishers alike with exclusivity deals, causing a massive FandomRivalry.
* The "remake from the ground-up" trend, which actually started with ''[[VideoGame/DuckTales DuckTales Remastered]]'' back in 2013 but was later codified with the success of the ''VideoGame/CrashBandicootNSaneTrilogy'' in 2017, spawned a wave of developers taking in popular games that are decades old and giving them HD remakes that are entirely made from scratch but stayed true to their roots. This was later apparent with the release of the ''VideoGame/SpyroReignitedTrilogy'' in 2018, ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening'' in 2019, and ''VideoGame/SpongeBobSquarePantsBattleForBikiniBottom Rehydrated'' in 2020, among a few others. While HD remakes in general are nothing new, this particular trend is notable for bringing back old classics that are well regarded withing the gaming community.
* ''VideoGame/{{Karoshi}} 2.0'' and ''VideoGame/Lab13'' were both released around the same time on Yoyo Games in 2008, inspiring a bunch of puzzle platformers with unorthodox solutions that were nowhere as succesful as either ''Karoshi'' or ''Lab 13''.
* ''VideoGame/FTLFasterThanLight'' inspired a bunch of "{{Roguelike}}" games about managing a vehicle, probably with an actual crew, as it travels through RandomlyGeneratedLevels.
* Unlike the DS and 3DS, the Nintendo Switch didn't have a ''VideoGame/{{Nintendogs}}'' game on launch. That's where the third party ''VideoGame/LittleFriendsDogsAndCats'' comes in. It looks and plays very similarly, though it lacks many features (such as having fewer pets and not letting you bathe your pets).
* ''VideoGame/CubeWorld'' follows in the footsteps of ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' by having a blocky look for its aesthetic, a crafting system, and procedural generated worlds. Unlike ''Minecraft'', ''Cube World'' focuses more on exploration and combat and has a class system like an RPG.
* Upcoming Kickstarter project ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yatax3SQ2U Enchanted Portals]]'' came under scrutiny for being a run-n-gun game that looks very similar to ''VideoGame/{{Cuphead}}'', right down to the cartoony style and the playable characters' animations.
* ''VideoGame/IdentityV'' is a rather obvious clone of ''VideoGame/DeadByDaylight'', but it is still an interesting example due to a small piece of trivia; Netease Games, the developers and publishers of Identity V, asked permission to borrow some of DBD's mechanics by Behaviour Interactive. Behaviour said yes, and the game started development. Basically, developers asked if they want DBD to be ripped off.

* ''VideoGame/{{Vampyr}}'' owes a lot of its lingo and mechanics to Creator/WhiteWolf's ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade''. In the game, a vampire refers to fellow vampires as "kindred" and the vampires made by other vampires as "progeny," which are both standard terms in ''Vampire: the Masquerade''. In the gameplay mechanics of both games, vampires use their blood to power supernatural abilities and must refill their blood by feeding. Fire and the claws of supernatural beings inflict "aggravated damage," which requires special effort to heal.
* ''VideoGame/TheTuringTest'':
** Following the top dogs of the genre ''VideoGame/Portal1'' and ''VideoGame/TheTalosPrinciple'' with little variations.
** ''VideoGame/{{Observation}}'', released in 2019, has a number of superficial similarities with ''The Turing Test'': both puzzle games, both set in space (one in a space station, one on a moon), female main characters (Emma Fisher and Ava Turing), computer characters with short male names (S.A.M. and TOM). Gameplay, however, is very different.
* ''VideoGame/TheVagrant'' is a side scroller action game pretty clearly inspired by Creator/{{Vanillaware}} games, especially ''VideoGame/OdinSphere''.
* While DLC and post-launch content had been around before, ''VideoGame/{{Destiny}}'' began marked the point where premium games began to be developed with years of post-launch support in mind, which is called the "live service" or "games as a service" model. The most obvious clones have been Creator/HelloGames' ''VideoGame/NoMansSky'', Creator/{{Rare}}'s ''VideoGame/SeaOfThieves'', Creator/{{Bethesda}}'s ''VideoGame/Fallout76'', Creator/BioWare's ''VideoGame/{{Anthem}}'', and Creator/SquareEnix's ''VideoGame/MarvelsAvengers'', with the most successful being Creator/BlizzardEntertainment's ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}''. These games usually features lots of grinding, an emphasis on multiplayer, and lots of in-game cosmetics and items to purchase. This also began spreading to games that weren't trying to copy ''Destiny'', such as with Creator/{{Ubisoft}}, who moved all of their games to a live service model,

* The ''Xak'' ActionRPG series began in the footsteps of the ''VideoGame/{{Ys}}'' series, and followed its format to the point of remaking the first two games as a single story on the UsefulNotes/PCEngine CD, much like ''Ys Book I & II''. Other ''Ys''-like games included ''VideoGame/{{Lagoon}}'', Technosoft's ''Shin Kugyokuden'' and Creator/DataEast's ''Makai Hakkenden Shada'' (whose title suggests ''VideoGame/TengaiMakyou Ziria'', which was in fact an ActionRPG at one stage of its TroubledProduction and whose highly anticipated release came three months later).
* The combined success of Namco's ''Cybersled'' and Sega's ''VideoGame/VirtualOn'' would inspire a number of one-on-one arena fighters during the 32-bits era (example of this trend include ''Steeldom'' and ''Last Legions UX''). The ''VideoGame/GundamVsSeries'' in turn popularized concepts of team battles and built-in CharacterTiers, enough that ''Virtual On'' itself got in the action with ''Force''.
* ''VideoGame/{{Banished}}'' has been subject to many games attempting to copy it such as ''Patron'', ''Settlement Survival'', ''Kingdoms Reborn'' and ''Farthest Frontier'', with ''Endzone: A World Apart'' taking major inspiration. Together with the later ''VideoGame/FrostPunk'' and it's own imitators, Banished launched the ''Survival City Builder'' subgenre.
* ''VideoGame/VampireSurvivors'' was a runaway hit for its easy-to-play but satisfying gameplay loop where it isn't afraid of letting the player get too powerful while packing a lot of replayability for a very low starting price tag of 3 dollars. This combined with the game's relatively simple implementation led to the creation of a variety of imitators, from higher-end efforts like ''VideoGame/TwentyMinutesTillDawn'' and ''VideoGame/HoloCure'' to low-effort ripoffs, usually with the words "Survivors" slapped in the title. Other imitators add unique gamplay mechanics to differentiate them, such as ''VideoGame/BountyOfOne'' having a CoOpMultiplayer mode. Some people say it's worthy of going FromClonesToGenre and call these games "horde survival" games, but time will tell if it's just a passing fad or if these games will evolve the genre past imitation.

* ''VideoGame/VampireSurvivors'' was a runaway hit for its easy-to-play but satisfying gameplay loop where it isn't afraid of letting the player get too powerful while packing a lot of replayability for a very low starting price tag of 3 dollars. This combined with the game's relatively simple implementation led to the creation of a variety of imitators, from higher-end efforts like ''VideoGame/TwentyMinutesTillDawn'' and ''VideoGame/HoloCure'' to low-effort ripoffs, usually with the words "Survivors" slapped in the title. Some people say it's worthy of going FromClonesToGenre and call these games "horde survival" games, but time will tell if it's just a passing fad or if these games will evolve the genre past imitation.

* ''VideoGame/KungFuMaster'' led to other single-plane {{Beat Em Up}}s starring {{Bruce Lee Clone}}s: ''Dragon Wang'' for the SG-1000, ''Kung-Fu Road'' for the Super Cassette Vision, and ''China Warrior'' for the UsefulNotes/TurboGrafx16.

* The success of the UsefulNotes/NeoGeo inspired the creation of several arcade boards with easily swapped game cartridges. Examples include the Creator/{{Taito}} F3, Creator/{{Capcom}}'s CPS Changer (which was basically a consolized release of the venerable [=CPS1=]), Creator/{{Jaleco}}'s Mega System 32, Kaneko's Super Nova System and IGS's [=PolyGame=] Master. Creator/DataEast's MLC System went for interchangeable daughterboards instead, though Data East's own Neo Geo games were more successful.

* ''Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas'', a Finnish action-adventure video game which borrows heavily from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'' and ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'', with its sequel, ''Oceanhorn 2: Knights of the Lost Realm'', borrowing heavily from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild''.

** Though some earlier FallingBlocks games had competitive multiplayer, it was ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyo''[='s=] success (itself being an indirect response to the aforementioned popularity of ''VideoGame/StreetFighterII'') that inspired developers to make puzzle games with head-to-head combat as the main attraction. The various imitators it spawned during the 1990s include ''VideoGame/BakuBakuAnimal'', ''Battle Balls'', ''Deroon Dero Dero'' (''Tecmo Stackers''), ''Hebereke's Popoon'', ''Panic Bomber'', and ''Taisen Puzzle-dama'' (''Crazy Cross''). Even Capcom itself couldn't avoid the game's success, which resulted in the creation of ''Super Puzzle Fighter II'' after a failed attempt with ''Pnickies'' (which went so far as to license the ''Puyo Puyo'' gameplay from Creator/{{Compile}}).

** ''VideoGame/FlowerFairy'' (''Pixie Hollow'')

* ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil1'' may not have invented the SurvivalHorror genre[[note]]That honor goes to ''VideoGame/SweetHome'', which ''Resident Evil'' was originally created to be a SpiritualSuccessor to[[/note]], but it ''did'' invent the name, and it proved the concept could sell. Cue ''VideoGame/SilentHill1,'' ''VideoGame/FatalFrame'', ''VideoGame/{{Carrier}}'', ''Countdown Vampires'', ''VideoGame/MartianGothicUnification'', Capcom's own ''VideoGame/DinoCrisis,'' and so on.

* The massive success of Capcom's ''VideoGame/StreetFighterII'' resulted in a massive glut of fighting games; big-name arcade manufacturers rushed to produce such knockoffs as Creator/{{Irem}}'s ''Superior Soldiers'', Konami's ''Martial Champion'', Namco's ''Knuckle Heads'' and Sega's ''VideoGame/BurningRival''. This continued well into the [=PlayStation=] years and switch to 3-D gaming. Indeed, Creator/{{SNK}} made itself a major player in the arcade market by imitating and refining the formula.

** ''VideoGame/ArtOfFighting'' and similar Creator/{{SNK}} fighting games were imitated outside the UsefulNotes/NeoGeo by the Creator/{{Konami}} UsefulNotes/ArcadeGame ''Dragoon Might'' and the UsefulNotes/{{Amiga}} game ''Fightin' Spirit''.
** ''Art of Fighting'' was also the first fighting game to have powered-up [[LimitBreak Super Moves]] and a ManaMeter to regulate them, a gameplay mechanic countless other titles (including ''Super Street Fighter II Turbo'') subsequently copied.

* The ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' series (plus its predecessor ''VideoGame/DemonsSouls'') stood out from its contempararies in terms difficulty by being a highly challenging and unguided adventure. Naturally, its success eventually inspired several other games centered around NintendoHard combat and/or playstyle-based ResourcesManagementGameplay including ''VideoGame/{{Nioh}}'', ''VideoGame/LordsOfTheFallen'', ''VideoGame/SaltAndSanctuary'', and ''VideoGame/{{Necropolis}}'', leading to the term "Souls-like." Even the developers of ''Dark Souls'', Creator/FromSoftware, made their own "Souls-like" called ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}'', and fans of ''Dark Souls'' generally accept it as an unofficial ''Dark Souls'' game.

* You know how so many third person shooters have AlwaysOverTheShoulder camera? You can thank ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'' for that. It also popularized quicktime events and "realistic brown" environments. It's probably one of the most influential games of its generation and its influence is very, very present in this gen. ''VideoGame/DeadSpace'' described as "''Resident Evil 4'', [[RecycledINSPACE IN SPACE!!!]]". ''VideoGame/ColdFear'' ''[[CaptainErsatz is]] Resident Evil 4'', complete with brain parasites, mutants, and the [[NarmCharm lovably cheesy voice-acting we all know and love]], but on a tanker with the most epic use of environmental hazards ever seen in a game.

* In an [[UsefulNotes/TheSeventhGenerationOfConsoleVideoGames era]] where video games were becoming more mainstream, and thus more accessibly easy and guided, the ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' series (plus its predecessor ''VideoGame/DemonsSouls'') stood out from the pack for its skill-based combat and unguided adventure. Naturally, its success eventually inspired several other games centered around NintendoHard combat and/or playstyle-based ResourcesManagementGameplay including ''VideoGame/{{Nioh}}'', ''VideoGame/LordsOfTheFallen'', ''VideoGame/SaltAndSanctuary'', and ''VideoGame/{{Necropolis}}'', leading to the term "Souls-like." Even the developers of ''Dark Souls'', Creator/FromSoftware, made their own "Souls-like" called ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}'', and fans of ''Dark Souls'' generally accept it as an unofficial ''Dark Souls'' game.

* Sony and especially Microsoft attempted to directly copy the Wii, not just with the controllers (Microsoft got their tech from people who made it well before the Wii, and Sony had motion control patents since 2003 with [[http://kotaku.com/5640867/motion-gaming-gains-momentum developments on the move occurring as early as 2001]]). They each have a clone of ''Wii Sports'', though it seems that Microsoft has cranked this UpToEleven and plagiarized half of the Wii's library.

** For ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'', it wasn't limited to just the game itself. Many, ''many'' ROM hacks attempt to copy either ''VideoGame/BrutalMario'', ''VideoGame/KaizoMarioWorld'' or both (in particular, the latter went on to codify the PlatformHell subgenre, [[OlderThanTheyThink though there were precedents]] such as ''Jinsei Owata no Daibouken'' and ''Super Mario Forever''). Sometimes it's fairly 'subtle' (like how ''Scarlet Devil Mario 2'' takes many a level idea from the former and recodes them), sometimes it's a deliberate homage (ala ''Mario's Wacky Worlds'' ripping off Kaizo Mario's first level to annoy LetsPlay/ProtonJon) and sometimes it's blatant enough that any commercial publisher would probably sue as a result (''Super Mario Kollision'' and ''Hammer Bro Demo 3'' take entire levels from said games, complete with the graphics, music and level design). For the more general ROM hacks that attempt to copy the success of ''Kaizo Mario World'' or similar hacks, many designers try to be as brutally difficult as the original hacks or cranks the difficulty UpToEleven. The massive flooding of ROM hacks that try to be as difficult as possible slowly killed off ROM hacks in general, though their spirit and tropes rejuvenated thanks to ''VideoGame/SuperMarioMaker'' and [[VideoGame/SuperMarioMaker2 its sequel]].

* ''VideoGame/AmnesiaTheDarkDescent'' inspired an explosion of first-person SurvivalHorror {{indie game}}s taking what separated ''VideoGame/AloneInTheDark'', ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' and ''Franchise/SilentHill'' from their action-packed predecessors and [[UpToEleven pushing it even further]]. So much so that the "wandering a dark place avoiding a monster" genre quickly became a parody of itself, with hordes of inexperienced developers making low-effort, [[NightmareRetardant lower-execution]] {{freeware}} titles in entry-level engines such as UsefulNotes/{{Unity}} and GameMaker. Case in point, Website/SomethingAwful founder Rich "Lowtax" Kyanka has a [[LetsPlay/GamingGarbage YouTube channel]] dedicated to such "projects" and these sorts of games are the predominant genre.

* Many urban-themed BeatEmUp were made to ride on the success of ''VideoGame/DoubleDragon''. Just look at ''VideoGame/FinalFight'', ''VideoGame/StreetsOfRage'', ''[[VideoGame/RushingBeat Rival Turf!]]'', ''64th Street: A Detective Story'', ''Burning Fight'' and ''Riot City''. Though some of these games wound up becoming popular in their own right (mainly ''Streets of Rage''). Capcom later tried to revive the urban beat 'em up with ''VideoGame/BeatDownFistsOfVengeance'' and ''VideoGame/FinalFightStreetwise''. Namco tried to take the wind out of Capcom's sails by making and releasing ''Urban Reign'' around the same time. All three games flopped. They tried to catch the Western crowd using "urban" themes, and like the "we want the ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'' audience" example, it alienated old fans and failed to bring in new ones. Sort of ironic as ''Streetwise's'' Western development team wanted to make a true homage to the original ''Final Fight'' series.

** In turn, many battle royale games like ''VideoGame/{{Fortnite}}'', ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyMobile'', ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyModernWarfare2019: Warzone'' and ''PUBG Mobile'' copied its non-verbal ping system and respawning mechanics.

** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3'' has many clones/imitations that copy its world map selection and/or diagonal level design, including ''Mc Kids'', the first ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures''[[note]]which, many years later, was actually noted to be worked upon ''Super Mario Bros. 3'' via reverse engineering, copying not only the characters' movements but also the UI and parts of the levels' design; by today's standards, this would have put Konami on legal trouble due to plagiarism[[/note]], ''Armadillo'', etc. Several of these NES titles would be [[DolledUpInstallment converted back into Mario games]] by bootleggers. Famously, ''VideoGame/CommanderKeen'' combined this with StartMyOwn, since id Software created it after Nintendo declined the idea of porting ''Super Mario Bros. 3'' to the PC.

* During the mid-1990s, the success of ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' led to a glut of the MascotWithAttitude, especially in video games released on the Genesis/Mega Drive and SNES during that time. Most of them failed, either because they were just a ThemeParkVersion of Sonic himself, or because they hit the PolygonCeiling hard when gaming made the move to 3D later that decade, such as ''[[VideoGame/{{Bubsy}} Bubsy the Bobcat]]'' and ''Bubsy 3D'' (though in fairness Sonic has had issues himself in that department). While some of them like ''VideoGame/EarthwormJim'', ''VideoGame/JazzJackrabbit'' and the ''VideoGame/RocketKnightAdventures'' stood out and have a cult following, Sonic himself is the only MascotWithAttitude to escape from this time, due to being the {{Trope Maker|s}} and persisting as a CashCowFranchise past the trend it started. It certainly helped that ''Sonic'' [[GrowingWithTheAudience grew with its audience]] (if only for a time) to remain cool instead of stay as an immature-looking character like most of its imitators.

* ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIII'' is credited with starting not one, but ''two'' threads of Follow the Leader: gritty urban crime games and "[[WideOpenSandbox sandbox games]]."
** ''VideoGame/SaintsRow'' being a prime example, with a lot of its acclaim coming from the fact that it decided to be as wacky and out-there as the UsefulNotes/PlayStation2-era ''GTA'' games, at a time when ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV'' was trying to be more serious and realistic.

* ''VideoGame/DragonQuestI'' practically created the EasternRPG, and ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyI'' and ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarI'' were only the two most successful of the many imitators springing up in its wake, which also included ''VideoGame/GloryOfHeracles'' and ''Momotaro Densetsu''. ''VideoGame/MOTHER1'' tried hard to be different in terms of setting and aesthetics, though its gameplay was still pretty much the same.

** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2'' inspired the creation of platform games with an emphasis on picking up and throwing objects (whether to attack enemies or to overcome an obstacle), such as the derided ''Bible Adventures'' and the better-received ''VideoGame/ChipNDaleRescueRangers'', ''VideoGame/McKids'', ''VideoGame/TheJetsonsCogswellsCaper'' and ''VideoGame/{{Uurnog}}''.