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1->''"First weeks of 2010 are going to be fun, aren't they? ''VideoGame/{{Darksiders}}'', ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}}'', ''VideoGame/DantesInferno'', and ''VideoGame/GodOfWarIII''. (''God of War'' ripoff, ''God of War'' ripoff, ''God of War'' ripoff, and God of Wa-- ...well, ''VideoGame/GodOfWar''.)"''
2-->-- '''Yahtzee''', ''WebAnimation/ZeroPunctuation''[[note]]''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}}'' is actually a SpiritualSuccessor to ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry''. He later rectifies this in his review.[[/note]]
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6[[folder:Specific Games]]
7* 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.
8* 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''.
9* The InteractiveMovie genre had existed in more basic form using analog video controlled by a computer (I.E.: ''VideoGame/DragonsLair'',) but 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]].
10* 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 ''VideoGame/KnightLore'' 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''). There was even a ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' LicensedGame in this style.
11* {{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]].
12* 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 included ''VideoGame/RocketRanger'', ''Cosmic Epsilon'', ''Attack Animal Gakuen'', ''Jimmu Densho Yaksa'' and the second level of ''Savage''. And other ''[=OutRun=]'' imitators in the arcades included Creator/{{Taito}}'s ''Top Speed'' (also known as ''VideoGame/Full Throttle'') and Creator/{{Jaleco}}'s ''Big Run''.
13* ''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, and more recently, ''VideoGame/{{HAWX}}'' and ''VideoGame/VectorThrust''.
14* ''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 ''VideoGame/QuizAndDragons'' was one of the very few to be localized, though Saki from the pseudo-DatingSim ''VideoGame/QuizNanairoDreams'' 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''.
15* Arcade ''VideoGame/AfterDark'' took many of its mechanics from Namco's arcade game ''VideoGame/DeadstormPirates'' such as enemy types and even the wheel for steering and dodging portions.
16* ''VideoGame/AloneInTheDark'': In ''[[VideoGame/AloneInTheDarkTheNewNightmare The New Nightmare]]'', the controls, presentation, and gameplay are a little too similar to ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil'' to be coincidental. Note that Administrivia/TropesAreTools, and this also means the game is [[RevisitingTheRoots much more faithful to the first game's spirit]].
17* ''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 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.
18* While ''VideoGame/AngryBirds'' is not the first game of its kind (being preceded by ''[[http://armorgames.com/play/3614/crush-the-castle Crush the Castle]]''), its immense popularity led to several physics-based games involving launching projectiles to knock over structures.
19* The huge success of ''VideoGame/AoOni'' (it also got a movie and novelization) 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 ExplorerHorror Game genre (which itself has been helped along by titles like ''VideoGame/{{Ib}}'' and ''VideoGame/TheWitchsHouse'').
20* ''VideoGame/ApexLegends'':
21** Not only does the game copy the Battle Royale template popularized by ''VideoGame/{{Fortnite}}'' and ''VideoGame/PlayerUnknownsBattleGrounds'', but it also has HeroShooter 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.
22** In turn, many battle royale games like ''Fortnite'', ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyMobile'', ''[[VideoGame/CallOfDutyModernWarfare2019 Call of Duty: Warzone]]'' and ''PUBG Mobile'' copied its non-verbal ping system and respawning mechanics.
23* ''VideoGame/{{Banished|2014}}'' has been subject to many games attempting to copy it such as ''Patron'', ''Settlement Survival'', ''VideoGame/KingdomsReborn'' and ''Farthest Frontier'', with ''Endzone: A World Apart'' taking major inspiration. Together with the later ''VideoGame/FrostPunk'' and its own imitators, Banished launched the ''Survival City Builder'' subgenre.
24* ''VideoGame/BattlefieldBadCompany 2'' takes several plot elements from ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyModernWarfare2'', but for the most part it's for the purpose of parodying it.
25* ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}}'' being the SpiritualSuccessor of ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'', 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.
26** This is a case of OlderThanTheyThink, as ''VideoGame/{{Onechanbara}}'', a series that started off as a cross between ''[=DMC=]'' and ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriors'', 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''. ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes'' has Dark Step, which puts it in a similar case like ''Onechanbara'' too.
27* The Platform/{{Amiga}} ShootEmUp ''VideoGame/BloodMoney'' takes inspiration from the contemporary Creator/{{Irem}} UsefulNotes/ArcadeGame ''Mr. Heli''.
28* Several Japanese video games of the 1990s imitated ''VideoGame/{{Bomberman}}'', including ''Otoboke Ninja Colosseum'', the UsefulNotes/ArcadeGame ''Exvania'', and console remakes of ''Heiankyo Alien'' and ''VideoGame/{{Pengo}}''.
29* You can thank the mega-success of Nintendo's ''VideoGame/BrainAge'' and ''VideoGame/BigBrainAcademy'' games for the endless stream of portable {{Edutainment Game}}s coming to a DS near you.
30* 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 [[Creator/BandaiNamcoEntertainment Namco's]] ''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 another Breakout clone]].
31* 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 ''VideoGame/{{HeroU}}'', and Creator/RonGilbert's ''VideoGame/ThimbleweedPark''.
32* ''VideoGame/{{Cabal}}'', a third-person arcade shooter, spawned many "Cabal clones", such as ''VideoGame/BloodBros'' and ''VideoGame/WildGuns''. ''VideoGame/SinAndPunishment'' also used a similar format to Cabal.
33* Ever since ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty4ModernWarfare'' 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:
34** ''VideoGame/{{Battlefield}}'' from ''VideoGame/BattlefieldBadCompany 2'' onwards
35** ''VideoGame/BioShock2''
36** ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedBrotherhood'' and all subsequent ''AC'' games with multiplayer elements.
37** ''VideoGame/{{Crysis}} 2'' and ''3'', both of which even have perk customization in single player, and all three games allow the player to change attachments in single-player in-game.
38** ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' added loadout customization a while after its release.
39** ''VideoGame/{{Titanfall}}'' goes so far as to do this ''twice'', using the system for players and their Titan mechs.
40** ''VideoGame/{{Killzone}} 2'' and ''Killzone 3''
41** ''VideoGame/{{Brink}}'' has experience and customization.
42** ''VideoGame/{{MAG}}''
43** ''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 essentially the worldwide version of the ''actual'' (Chinese-only) free-to-play ''Call of Duty Online''.
44** ''Call of Duty 4'' was also at the center of another specific instance, where several games in the next few years after it came out all borrowed its iconic "DeathFromAbove" AC-130 level. Amusingly, ''Call of Duty'' explicitly decided ''not'' to have another section like that in the campaign for ''[[VideoGame/CallOfDutyModernWarfare2 Modern Warfare 2]]'' because the devs - and ''only'' those specific devs, evidently - knew that it would be impossible to do that again without it just being a boring and generic rehash, which is exactly what every other AC-130 section after ''Call of Duty 4''[='=]s was.
45%%* ''VideoGame/CarnivalIsland'', Sony's answer to ''VideoGame/CarnivalGames''.
46* ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' was copied a lot, most notably with the Platform/SegaMasterSystem game ''VideoGame/VampireMasterOfDarkness'' and the Platform/PC98 game ''VideoGame/{{Rusty}}''.
47* ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes''. When Creator/MarvelComics realized they couldn't sue the MMORPG to oblivion, they hired the developers to make a Marvel Comics-based MMO. Then Creator/{{Microsoft|Studios}} got involved and demanded it run on the Xbox 360. [[{{Vaporware}} There was lots of hype, but the game never materialized.]] Then Creator/DCComics announced they would make an MMO for Platform/PlayStation3. ''Then'' there was ''VideoGame/ChampionsOnline'', headed by the president of the ''City of Heroes'' dev team, but which was near-immediately dumped into bargain bins before becoming [[AllegedlyFreeGame free to play]].
48* ''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 Kung Fu Panda World]]'', ''VideoGame/{{Fantage}}'', and ''VideoGame/AnimalJam''. Many of them were simply ''Club Penguin'' copies, 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 also ''Club Penguin'' itself) shutting down, most likely due to the rise of {{Mobile Phone Game}}s, causing kids to stare at lightweight phones rather than bulky laptops.
49* ''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 ''VideoGame/ContraIIITheAlienWars''), Creator/{{Sunsoft}}'s ''VideoGame/BayRoute'' and Creator/{{Irem}}'s ''VideoGame/{{Gunforce}}''. ''Gunstar Heroes'' was itself imitated by ''Gunner's Heaven'' (also known as ''VideoGame/RapidReload'').
50* Activision copied the ''VideoGame/CookingMama'' concept to a T and made it into ''Science Papa''.
51* 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''.
52* ''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.
53* 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-bit era (examples 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''.
54* The ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' series, plus its predecessor ''VideoGame/DemonsSouls'', stood out from its contemporaries 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.
55* 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 a 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 criminally deficient.
56* ''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.
57** 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.
58** 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''.
59* 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.
60* ''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.
61* Following its release in the early 80s, ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong'' was cloned and replicated to [[ExaggeratedTrope a near comical degree.]] Games such as Ape Craze, Donkey King, Dunkey Munkey, Krazy Kong, Crazy Kong, Dinkey Kong, Killer Gorilla, Killer Kong, Kong, Kongo Kong, Monkey Bizness, Monkey Kong, Wally Kong, and Honey Kong have exactly the same gameplay as Donkey Kong, with slightly altered levels and character sprites.
62* ''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 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 ''VideoGame/{{Quake}}'', ''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.
63** ''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).
64** It went 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, a genre that would come to be dubbed "Boomer Shooter". Many FPS games released around that timeframe would follow suit.
65* 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!]]'', ''VideoGame/SixtyFourthStreetADetectiveStory'', ''VideoGame/BurningFight'', ''VideoGame/DDCrew'' and ''VideoGame/RiotCity''. Though some of these games wound up becoming popular in their own right (mainly ''Final Fight'' and ''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 ''VideoGame/UrbanReign'' 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.
66* ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'':
67** The series 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.
68** ''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'', ''Momotaro Densetsu'' and ''VideoGame/HoshiWoMiruHito''. ''VideoGame/EarthBoundBeginnings'' tried hard to be different in terms of setting and aesthetics, though its gameplay was still the same.
69* 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. 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'' but with dinosaurs".
70* 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 trend is notable for bringing back old classics that are well-regarded within the gaming community.
71* Although there were RealTimeStrategy games before ''VideoGame/DuneII'', it was the one responsible for making it a genre.
72* ''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.
73* ''Eldritch Vania'' is a free game on Steam that openly homages ''VideoGame/LaMulana'', only with a Scottish adventurer instead of a Japanese archaeologist, dealing with creatures and locations from the Franchise/CthulhuMythos instead of world mythologies.
74* ''VideoGame/EnchantedPortals'' 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.
75* Shortly after ''VideoGame/Fallout3's'' success, several RPG/FPS hybrids with a wasteland setting were announced, such as ''VideoGame/{{FUEL}}'' (a sandbox racing game set in the post-apocalypse,) ''VideoGame/Borderlands1'' (where the developers have gone so far to say they loved ''Fallout 3'', and decided to make that but with co-op), and ''VideoGame/Rage2011''.
76* ''VideoGame/FarmVille'' is an interesting case. The game was inspired by Chinese web game called ''Happy Farm'', 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...
77* The surprise of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' becoming a KillerApp and introducing RolePlayingGames to a more general audience resulted in a slew of games starring blond, [[AnimeHair spiky-haired]], moody young men who turn out to be the TomatoInTheMirror.
78* ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys'', which likely took some cues from ''VideoGame/AmnesiaTheDarkDescent'', 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 rubs out "Freddy" and use their own name. Later such games were dubbed "MascotHorror".
79* ''VideoGame/FlatOut'' is often nicknamed ''VideoGame/{{Burnout}}'s'' redneck cousin. Instead of crashes with cars only, they focus on cars crashing with the drivers being ejected.
80* ''VideoGame/{{Fortnite}}'':
81** The ''Battle Royale'' mode was originally made as something of a tribute to ''VideoGame/PlayerUnknownsBattleGrounds'', 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 nowhere (it was dismissed due to literally everything they claimed was not defensible as being copyrightable and unique to [=PUBG=]).
82** When direct competitor ''VideoGame/ApexLegends'' 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.
83* ''VideoGame/FTLFasterThanLight'' inspired a bunch of "{{Roguelike}}" games about managing a vehicle, probably with an actual crew, as it travels through RandomlyGeneratedLevels.
84* 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. The company 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:
85** ''Gangstar'' (''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'')
86** ''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"]].
87** ''VideoGame/EternalLegacy'' (''Franchise/FinalFantasy'')
88** ''VideoGame/BackStab'' (''Franchise/AssassinsCreed'')
89** ''VideoGame/ModernCombat'' (''VideoGame/ModernWarfare'')
90** ''VideoGame/{{Hero of Sparta}}'' (''VideoGame/GodOfWar'')
91** ''VideoGame/ZombieInfection'' (''VideoGame/ResidentEvil5'')
92** ''GT Racing'' (''VideoGame/GranTurismo'')
93** ''Dungeon Hunter'' (''VideoGame/{{Diablo}}'')
94** ''Brain Challenge'' (''VideoGame/BrainAge'')
95** ''VideoGame/ShadowGuardian'' (''VideoGame/{{Uncharted}}'')
96** ''Star Front: Collision'' (''VideoGame/StarCraft'')
97** ''[[VideoGame/SacredOdysseyRiseOfAyden Sacred Odyssey: Rise of Ayden]]'' (''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Ocarina of Time]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Twilight Princess]]'')
98** ''Crystal Monsters'' (''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' and MonsSeries in general)
99** ''VideoGame/CastleOfMagic'' ([[ReferenceOverdosed Numerous classic 16-bit platformers]])
100* 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 Platform/Atari8BitComputers that inspired ''Gauntlet''), ''Druid'', ''Gothik'' and ''Into the Eagle's Nest''. Some "Gauntlet clones" were 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 Platform/BBCMicro, similar four-player games titled ''Dunjunz'' and ''White Magic 1989'' were produced. There were also a few imitators in the arcades: Creator/{{Konami}}'s ''VideoGame/DevilWorld'' and Creator/DataEast's ''Shackled''.
101* ''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, ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty''-style FPS or ''Gears of War'' style third-person shooter.
102* ''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'' further, right down to the spell-powers (which many Conan fans saw as a complete betrayal of the character).
103** ''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''.
104* 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''.
105* ''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 Platform/PlayStation2-era ''GTA'' games, at a time when ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV'' was trying to be more serious and realistic.
106* The "guitar game" subgenre of {{Rhythm Game}}s has had massive amounts of this. To begin with, they started as ''VideoGame/GuitarFreaks'', 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 identical guitar gameplay as ''Guitar Hero'', added support for drums (which itself could be seen as copying from the sister series of ''Guitar Freaks'', ''VideoGame/DrumMania'') 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.
107** 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}}''.
108* Creator/{{Capcom}}'s ''VideoGame/GunSmoke'' was closely imitated by the European computer games ''Desperado'' and ''Wanted'' (alias ''Outlaw''); ''Desperado'' became an authorized version of ''Gun.Smoke'' in the UK.
109* ''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]]).
110** 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 (the closest example would be rifles with grenade launchers as a secondary fire, like Half Life's, while Master Chief can use melee attacks and grenades while holding any weapon). 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.
111** 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 Platform/AtariST, introduced RegeneratingHealth to FPS games, and ''VideoGame/JurassicParkTrespasser'' was one of the best-known games before ''Halo'' to use it.
112** ''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.
113* ''VideoGame/HarvestMoon'':
114** The games (now known as ''VideoGame/StoryOfSeasons'' outside of Japan) are 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''.
115** 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). Tv Tropes has a page for the genre under FarmLifeSim.
116** ''VideoGame/HarvestMoonMagicalMelody'' is from a series older than ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing'' but looks much more like it than previous games.
117* One of the biggest criticisms of ''VideoGame/{{Homefront}}'' is that it's such a shameless copycat of ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare'' that it actually [[GenreKiller sunk the genre]] ''Modern Warfare'' pioneered and [[TrendKiller many of the tropes]] that ''Modern Warfare'' pioneered and contributed to mainstream tastes growing tired of the "modern shooter" genre.
118* The ''VideoGame/{{Horace}}'' games for the Platform/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''.
119* 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.
120* ''VideoGame/IdentityV'' is a 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.
121* The voxel-based destructible environment system of ''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}}''.
122* The [=PS2=] era had a lot of lighthearted games have suddenly DarkerAndEdgier sequels. It would seem that it started with ''VideoGame/JakIIRenegade'', the much darker and edgier sequel to ''VideoGame/JakAndDaxter'', which turned Jak from a happy mute hero into a voiced gun toting AntiHero. Its success apparently set off a chain reaction with everything from ''VideoGame/{{Prince of Persia|TheSandsOfTime}}'' to ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' to ''Franchise/RatchetAndClank'', though the last one was already edgier than the other examples here to begin with, but ''VideoGame/RatchetDeadlocked'' fits the trend.
123* After ''VideoGame/JustDance'' became a surprise hit, several similar dance games were made, for the Platform/{{Wii}}, Platform/Xbox360 Kinect, and Platform/PlayStation3 Move, including ''VideoGame/DanceCentral'', ''VideoGame/DanceMasters'', ''Dance Paradise'', ''Singstar Dance'', and ''Country Dance''.
124* The runaway success of ''VideoGame/KanColle'' (alongside its DistaffCounterpart ''VideoGame/ToukenRanbu'') 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 ''Oshiro Project'' (castles), and ''VideoGame/GirlsFrontline'' (guns). This even kicked off the MoeAnthropomorphism as a whole in the modern day, with media such as ''Anime/KemonoFriends'' (animals), and ''VideoGame/UmaMusume'' (race horses) following the trend as well.
125* ''VideoGame/{{Karoshi}} 2.0'' and ''Lab 13'' 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 successful as either ''Karoshi'' or ''Lab 13''.
126* ''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'' (also made by ''Katamari'' crator Keita Takahashi) for the [=PS3=] and ''The Munchables'' for the Platform/{{Wii}}.
127* Creator/{{Konami}} started something with the BeatEmUp genre. This version of follow the leader went into three different directions:
128## 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 player co-op. Titles such as ''VideoGame/XMen1992'' (which had ''6 player'' co-op) , ''VideoGame/TheSimpsons'', and ''[[ComicBook/BuckyOHareAndTheToadWars Bucky O'Hare]]'' during the 90s. Konami did face some competition in the 4-player comic book BeatEmUp field from ''VideoGame/CaptainAmericaAndTheAvengers'' and ''VideoGame/SpiderManTheVideoGame''.
129## 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 due to poor advertising and being overshadowed by other, more popular beat'em ups and fighting games.
130## 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.
131* ''VideoGame/KungFuMaster'' led to other single-plane {{Beat Em Up}}s starring {{Bruce Lee Clone}}s: ''Dragon Wang'' for the Platform/SG1000, ''Kung-Fu Road'' for the Super Cassette Vision, and ''China Warrior'' for the Platform/TurboGrafx16.
132* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaI'' had a number of fairly close imitators, including ''VideoGame/{{Neutopia}}'', ''Psycho Calibur'' and ''Golden Axe Warrior''.
133* ''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 forgotten, whereas the original is still known today and spawned a number of sequels and spin-offs.
134* ''VideoGame/LittleBigPlanet'' seems to have spawned a wave of co-op {{Platform Game}}s, as well as a run of console games with level editors.
135* ''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 ''VideoGame/DisneysAnimatedStorybook'' series, although several others had given it a shot too.
136* The success of ''VideoGame/LoveAndPies'' spawned imitators such as ''Cook & Merge'', ''Merge Inn'', ''Merge Restaurant'', and ''Gossip Harbor'', all which involve matching ingredients to serve customers and fixing up restaurants as part of the plot.
137* ''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.
138%%* Konami's ''VideoGame/MagiciansQuestMysteriousTimes[=/=][[MarketBasedTitle Little Magician's Magic Adventure]]'' can be summed up as: ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing,'' [-but at {{WIZARDING SCHOOL}}!-]
139* ''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. And besides that, [=MoH=] '10 is set in UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror, in Afghanistan, while ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare'' has multiple settings (though there are a few levels that do take place in Afghanistan).
140* 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, ''VideoGame/PowerBlade'', turned into a different game) and ''VideoGame/LittleSamson''.
141* The Platform/PlayStation's other killer app, ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'', spawned a lot of stealth-game imitators.
142** Bizarre aversion: ''VideoGame/SyphonFilter'' was widely derided prior to its release as a MGS clone and an 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 minor aspect for most of the game.
143** A more accurate example of this would be ''VideoGame/WinBack'', a StealthBasedGame hyped as the Platform/Nintendo64's answer to ''Metal Gear Solid''. While the game 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 Platform/PlayStation2.
144** Another, odder example: ''MGS'' was the first video game to feature Claymore mines -- but they were 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.
145* ''VideoGame/MetalSlug'' led to a handful of fast-paced run and gunners with a cartoony yet intricate art style. Examples include ''VideoGame/DemonFront'', ''VideoGame/DolphinBlue'', ''VideoGame/CTSpecialForces'', ''VideoGame/CommandoSteelDisaster'', and ''VideoGame/AlienHominid''.
146* 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.
147** The series ''VideoGame/HeroesOfMightAndMagic'', a spin-off of the ''Might & Magic'' series also gave the kick to both Turn Based Strategy games that aren't Electronic Tabletop Wargames and also to Hero-Based Strategy games, being the first strategy game to put "generals" into the equation (other than the player themself as an order giver). ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII'', ''VideoGame/AgeOfMythology'', and listless others owe to the franchise. Strangely, many players weren't 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 that it was spun off from. Still, what killed it was the same 3DO that killed ''MMIX''.
148** ''Might & Magic'' was largely inspired by ''VideoGame/{{Wizardry}}'', so it shouldn't 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 ''M&M'' are a huge source of inspiration for Bethesda's open world games, even starting as early as ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIDaggerfall'', though most of Bethesda's games lack parties.
149* Due to the popularity of the Wii's UsefulNotes/{{Mii}} avatar system, many games have tried to copy off of its concept and design. Microsoft also tried to cash in on the popularity of Miis with its own avatar system for the Xbox 360 that looked similar to Miis, but with more customization.
150* ''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.
151* ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' 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.
152* ''VideoGame/MiniRobotWars'' seems like a clone of ''VideoGame/PlantsVsZombies'', except that the game is in a horizontal view with platforms you have to place your units on.
153* The ''VideoGame/{{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}}''.
154* The ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter'' series is huge in Japan, and has already inspired a handful of multiplayer-party-vs.-giant-monster successors, namely Creator/SquareEnix's ''VideoGame/LordOfArcana'', [[Creator/BandaiNamcoEntertainment Namco Bandai]]'s ''VideoGame/GodEaterBurst'', Creator/GameArts' ''VideoGame/RagnarokOdyssey'', and Creator/KoeiTecmo's ''VideoGame/{{Toukiden}}''.
155* 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.
156* ''Franchise/MortalKombat Trilogy''[==]'s "Brutality" {{Finishing Move}}s are their interpretation of ''VideoGame/KillerInstinct''[==]'s Ultra Combos.
157* ''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.
158* The success of the Platform/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, IGS's [=PolyGame=] Master and Sammy's Atomiswave, that last one being particularly notable as it's the system Creator/{{SNK}} went for after retiring the Neo Geo. Creator/DataEast's MLC System went for interchangeable daughterboards instead, though Data East's own Neo Geo games were more successful.
159* 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 also a ''PC Classic'' for old DOS games.
160* ''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 Platform/GameBoy), the NES ''VideoGame/{{Batman|Sunsoft}}'' game et al.
161* 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/TheLegendOfZeldaI'' (''Jajamaru Gekimaden'') and ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3'' (''Ginga Daisakusen'').
162* Irem's ''VideoGame/NinjaSpirit'' followed ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfKage'', although it was mostly overlooked.
163* ''VideoGame/{{Nintendogs}}'':
164** The game 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!'' Another 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 Creator/TheLearningCompany[=/=]Mindscape/Brøderbund sales, Ubisoft owned the franchise and reinvented it as a copy of ''Nintendogs''.
165** 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.
166* 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 one of the imitators (Hot-B's ''Shingen the Ruler'') was localized.
167* ''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''.
168* ''VideoGame/OperationWolf'' set the model for most {{Light Gun Game}}s of the late 1980s. ''VideoGame/LethalEnforcers'' revamped it for the 1990s with [[DigitizedSprites digitized graphics]], which were then taken up by Creator/DataEast's ''VideoGame/LockedNLoaded'', ''VideoGame/UnderFire'', Creator/{{Atari}} and Mesa Logic's ''VideoGame/Area51'', and (ironically) ''Operation Wolf 3''.
169* ''Videogame/PacMan'' gave rise to such a wave of unauthorized clones that the arcade version of ''Ms. Pac-Man'' and the Platform/AppleII version of ''Pac-Man'' were originally developed as such. ''VideoGame/KCMunchkin'' for the Platform/Odyssey2 was close enough to get sued, though it became something a bit different. ''Munch Man'' for the Platform/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'', ''VideoGame/LockNChase'' and ''VideoGame/MouseTrap1981'' were respectable enough games in their own right to see release on multiple platforms.
170* ''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.
171* ''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 well and Valve also 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.
172* 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 Relationship Values being added to several EasternRPG franchises that didn't previously include them. In addition, while ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG'' is likely the UrExample of turn-based [=RPGs=] dropping scrolling menus and instead mapping each action in combat to a separate button, ''VideoGame/Persona5'' was the game that [[TropeCodifier codified]] it, leading to others following in its footsteps - ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel Trails of Cold Steel III]]'' being one example.
173* Due to its popularity, there are a lot of ''VideoGame/PlantsVsZombies'' imitations in China, ranging from online role-playing games to arcade games.
174* ''VideoGame/PlayerUnknownsBattleGrounds'':
175** In the aftermath of PUBG's amazingly successful release, numerous other games like the zombie survival game ''VideoGame/{{Fortnite}}'', the hero shooter game ''VideoGame/{{Paladins}}'', and even the long-standing ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'' and ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' series with ''[[VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOps4 Black Ops IIII]]'' and ''VideoGame/Fallout76: Nuclear Winter'' have put out {{Battle Royale game}} modes of their own.
176** In turn, ''PUBG Mobile'' borrowed a few mechanics from its imitators, most notably the ping system and teammate respawn system from ''VideoGame/ApexLegends''.
177* ''VideoGame/PlayStationAllStarsBattleRoyale'' incorporates elements and concepts which were originally popularized by ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'', as did other games within the MascotFighter category.
178* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' spawned its share of imitators, like: ''VideoGame/{{Spectrobes}}'', which gets lampshaded in ''Game Informer'''s review of the first game. ''VideoGame/YokaiWatch'' is also heavily inspired by ''Pokémon'' 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.
179** ''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'').
180** 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.
181* ''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. Many of them were straight copies while some did provide variations. Atari also [[http://mcurrent.name/atarihistory/pong-understand.jpg published an ad]] in May 1973 mocking the band-wagon behavior of their competitors. The oversaturation of pong clones compared to other games was a major contributor to a video game crash of 1977.
182* The games made by Creator/PopCapGames caused ripples in the entire casual game genre and spawned imitators. Time-management games ''VideoGame/DinerDash'' and ''VideoGame/FarmVille'' are the most visible examples of this.
183* Arcade rhythm games which use collectibles as part of their game mechanic started with ''Anime/PrettyCure'' arcade, followed by ''[[Anime/SpellboundMagicalPrincessLilPri Lilpri -- Yubi Puru Hime Chen!]]'' and ''Love and Berry'' by Creator/{{Sega}}, ''VideoGame/PrettyRhythm'' by Takara Tomy and ''VideoGame/{{Aikatsu}}'' by [[Creator/BandaiNamcoEntertainment Bandai Namco]].
184* ''VideoGame/ProfessorLayton'' seems to be inspiring a subgenre of "cinematic game with quaint anime cutscenes and gameplay divided up into small, brainteaser-based chunks." They also mostly followed the title structure of CharacterNameAndTheNounPhrase or something very similar therein, such as ''VideoGame/HenryHatsworthInThePuzzlingAdventure''. One follower, ''Zack and Ombra's 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 and more ThickLineAnimation.
185%%* Sony's [=PS3=] and Vita combo, and Microsoft's smart glass, following the announcement of the [=WiiU=].
186* 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''.
187* ''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''.
188* 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''.
189* 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 ''VideoGame/FairyGodmotherTycoon'' were on the market.
190* Many ''VideoGame/RainbowIslands'' clones, such as ''VideoGame/TopBanana'', can be found on the Platform/{{Amiga}} ([[AndTheRest among other computer systems of the time]]), due to the game's popularity in the UK.
191* Creator/{{Rare}}:
192** 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'' in the jungle. ''VideoGame/StarFoxAdventures'' (which borrowed elements from the ''Zelda'' series) before their buyout by Microsoft. To a lesser extent, they also worked upon the blueprint of that era's most popular first-person shooters, resulting in the successful ''VideoGame/GoldenEye1997'' and ''VideoGame/PerfectDark''.
193** They kept doing this after switching to Creator/{{Microsoft|Studios}}. The Platform/{{Xbox 360}}'s Avatars, which were developed by Rare, look 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.
194* ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'':
195** ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil1'' may not have invented the SurvivalHorror genre[[note]]That honor goes to ''VideoGame/SweetHome1989'', 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.
196** ''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.
197** 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 present in the seventh gen. ''VideoGame/DeadSpace'' described as "''Resident Evil 4'', IN SPACE!!!", while ''VideoGame/ColdFear'' ''[[CaptainErsatz is]] Resident Evil 4'', complete with brain parasites, mutants, and the cheesy voice-acting, but on a tanker with the epic use of environmental hazards ever seen in a game.
198* While not nearly to the same extent as ''VideoGame/MarioParty'', ''VideoGame/WiiSports'' or even ''VideoGame/WarioWare'', ''VideoGame/RhythmHeaven'' is still a MinigameGame owned by Nintendo that gets a few clones here and there.
199** There's an obscure Platform/NintendoDS game called ''Beat City'' which has you hold the system on its side like the second game, and whose protagonist bears a striking resemblance to the ''Munchy Monk'' character from the series.
200** One of the many web browser games ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' had was called ''Rhythm Heroes'' whose [[{{Minigame}} Rhythm Games]] mostly consisted of [[{{Expy}} Expies]] of existing ones like ''Glee Club''.
201** ''Megamix'' had a bootleg mobile port which can no longer be accessed, presumably due to [[ScrewedByTheLawyers potentially obvious reasons]].
202* The ''VideoGame/RoadRash'' series spawned a similar Creator/ElectronicArts effort on the Platform/SegaGenesis called ''VideoGame/{{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.
203* Whenever a game made in Platform/{{Roblox}} gets really popular to the point where Youtubers start making videos of it, there are bound to be so many imitators that [[TropeMaker it creates a whole genre.]]
204** Piggy. Roblox Youtuber Flamingo made a video of Piggy that was so popular, it kickstarted the whole "evil guy chases you while you have to collect required items around the room to use them and then escape" genre of Roblox games. Later, he made a video where he and his friend play various Piggy games. Most of them involve players being trapped some place, and one of them controls the character that is supposed to hunt them down. The players usually get a head start on finding the required items to use to progress toward escaping. There will usually be a JumpScare if you get caught by the hunter.
205** Camping. The original Roblox Camping game did so well, that it started a whole genre of story games. A few being Airplane and its sequels, High School, and later (by the same creator of Camping), Camping 2. Most of these story games have some sort of field trip to some place, with the intention of nothing going wrong, when all of a sudden, a monster chases them and you have to survive the monster. [[AnyoneCanDie Most players will die during the course of the game.]]
206* ''VideoGame/{{Rogue}}'', the GenrePopularizer for the appropriately named Roguelike genre, inspired a number of games, most notably ''VideoGame/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.
207* ''VideoGame/RollingThunder'' was imitated by ''VideoGame/{{ESWAT}} Cyber Police'', ''VideoGame/{{Shinobi}}'', ''VideoGame/CrimeCity'', ''Rough Ranger'', ''VideoGame/CodeNameViper'', etc. There were also two attempts to fuse it with themes from ''Film/JamesBond'' movies: ''VideoGame/SlySpy'' and ''VideoGame/{{ThunderJaws}}''.
208* 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 copy of ''R-Type''.
209* ''VideoGame/SaltAndSanctuary'', by bringing ''VideoGame/DarkSouls''' 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]]''.
210* ''VideoGame/SecretWeaponsOverNormandy'' inspired several arcadey story-driven WWII flight games. Followers include ''VideoGame/BlazingAngels'', ''Heroes of The Pacific'' and ''Combat Wings''.
211* ''Singles: Flirt Up Your Life'' is a [[HotterAndSexier mature]] copy of ''VideoGame/TheSims1'' with graphics similar to ''VideoGame/TheSims2'', which wasn't out at the time.
212* 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 Platform/HyperScan. And if you trace ''that'', it goes all the way back to Nintendo's e-card reader for the Platform/GameBoyAdvance.
213* Deckbuilder ''VideoGame/SlayTheSpire'' launched a sort of sub-subgenre within the category of {{Roguelike}}, typified by relatively quick encounters that conclude with an offer to choose between usually three options that will help for the rest of the run, health that carries-over between encounters with limited opportunities to heal, and an "ascension" system that allows the player to gradually increase the difficulty of the game by adding modifiers that are fairly minor separately but stack together to substantially toughen the game at higher levels. This includes other deckbuilders such as ''VideoGame/MonsterTrain'' and ''VideoGame/{{GriftLands}}'' and even games that are otherwise quite different such as ''VideoGame/{{Hades}}''.
214* ''VideoGame/{{Slender}}'' has had similar impact in the Indie Survival Horror genre, taking the "first person helplessness" mechanics of ''VideoGame/AmnesiaTheDarkDescent'' 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, are one of the most common targets of Lowtax's channel.
215* During the mid-1990s, the success of ''Franchise/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 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.
216* ''VideoGame/SonicMania'' had this effect on Classic ''Sonic'' content going forward, with both Official media (''Sonic Origins'', and to a lesser extent ''VideoGame/SonicSuperstars''), and fan content (such as the ongiong ''[[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehogChaos Sonic Chaos]]'' remake, along with later versions of ''VideoGame/SonicRoboBlast2'') following in its graphical, musical, and overall presentation style.
217%%* The original plans for the Sony PSP looked just like the GBA SP, only with a disc slot.
218* 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 Platform/TI99, ''Avenger'' for the Platform/VIC20, and ''Space Assault'' for the Platform/ColorComputer were first-party ''Space Invaders'' clones for systems that never received authorized ports.
219* 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.
220* 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 Platform/SegaMasterSystem, ''Light Force'' on the Platform/ZXSpectrum, ''Mission Genocide'' on the Platform/AmstradCPC and ''Plutos'' on the Platform/AtariST.
221* 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 ''VideoGame/KnuckleHeads'' 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 with series like ''Videogame/FatalFury'', ''Videogame/ArtOfFighting'' and ''Videogame/TheKingOfFighters''.
222** ''Street Fighter II'''s infamous string of [[CapcomSequelStagnation revisions]] (''Champion Edition'', ''Turbo'', ''Super'', etc.) influenced similar {{Updated Rerelease}}s of rival titles like ''[[Videogame/FatalFury2 Fatal Fury Special]]'', ''[[Videogame/MortalKombat3 Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3]]'' and ''[[Videogame/WorldHeroes World Heroes 2 Jet]]''. Nowadays, it’d be harder to name a major fighting game series that ''hasn’t'' seen at least one updated entry that added new characters and balance changes.
223** Once ''VideoGame/{{Mortal Kombat|1992}}'' 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 ''VideoGame/SurvivalArts'', ''VideoGame/TimeKillers'', ''VideoGame/KasumiNinja'', ''VideoGame/ShadowWarOfSuccession'', ''VideoGame/WayOfTheWarrior'', ''VideoGame/TattooAssassins'' and the Platform/{{Amiga}} game ''VideoGame/CapitalPunishment''. Some better received examples that were nonetheless still inspired by ''MK'''s gore included ''Videogame/SamuraiShodown'', ''Videogame/KillerInstinct'' and ''Videogame/EternalChampions''.
224** 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.
225** 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.
226** ''VideoGame/ArtOfFighting'' and similar Creator/{{SNK}} fighting games were imitated outside the Platform/NeoGeo by the Creator/{{Konami}} UsefulNotes/ArcadeGame ''Dragoon Might'' and the Platform/{{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.
227** ''VideoGame/VirtuaFighter'' popularized the 3D fighting game, and spawned its own horde of imitators, such as ''VideoGame/{{Tekken}}'', ''Videogame/DeadOrAlive'' and ''VideoGame/BattleArenaToshinden''.
228** The success of the ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom'' series inspired similar IntercontinuityCrossover fighting games, such as ''VideoGame/MortalKombatVsDCUniverse'' and ''VideoGame/BlazBlueCrossTagBattle''.
229** The ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'' series is seen by many to have paved the way for a whole subgenre of {{doujin}} fighting games with similar visuals and mechanics like ''Videogame/MeltyBlood'' and ''Videogame/UnderNightInBirth''.
230** After 2008's ''Videogame/StreetFighterIV'' successfully resurrected the series following a downturn in the late 90s, several other 2D fighting game franchises were eventually revamped with similar TwoAndAHalfD graphical styles, such as ''Videogame/TheKingOfFighters'' with ''Videogame/TheKingOfFightersXIV'', ''Videogame/SamuraiShodown'' with its 2019 relaunch and the aforementioned ''Guilty Gear'' with ''Videogame/GuiltyGearXrd''. Even the ''Mortal Kombat'' series, which had already transitioned to 3D graphics years earlier in ''Videogame/MortalKombat4'', pivoted to 2.5D starting with ''Videogame/MortalKombat9''.
231** 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.
232* 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.
233* ''VideoGame/SuperKiwi64'': The game is a love letter to the CollectAThonPlatformer genre that was popularized in TheNineties with ''VideoGame/SuperMario64''. In particular, the deisgn and aesthetics of the levels (as well as the main character's abilities) are inspired in ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie'' and ''VideoGame/SpyroTheDragon''.
234* The massive success of the ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' franchise made this inevitable:
235** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1'' greatly spurred the development of {{Platform Game}}s for the Platform/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 Platform/NintendoDS of all platforms and several sequels on Nintendo consoles afterwards (where it very wisely underwent DerivativeDifferentiation and declined to pick another fight with a huge and legally-savvy juggernaut like Creator/{{Nintendo}}).
236** ''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 ''VideoGame/BibleAdventures'', ''VideoGame/ChipNDaleRescueRangers'', ''VideoGame/McKids'', ''VideoGame/TheJetsonsCogswellsCaper'' and ''VideoGame/{{Uurnog}}''.
237** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3'' has many clones/imitations that copy its world map selection and/or diagonal level design, including ''VideoGame/{{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[[/note]], ''VideoGame/{{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.
238** For ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'', it wasn't limited to just the game itself. 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 Mari 2'' takes many a level idea from the former and recodes them), sometimes it's a deliberate homage (ala ''Mario's Wacky Worlds'' copying Kaizo Mario's first level to annoy LetsPlay/ProtonJon) and sometimes it's obvious enough that any commercial publisher would probably sue as a result (''Super Mario Kollision'' and ''VideoGame/HammerBrother'' 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]].
239** ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'' started the "Collect-a-thon" genre of platform games, spawning games like ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong64'', ''Franchise/SpyroTheDragon'', ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie'', the latter two ''VideoGame/{{Gex}}'' games, ''VideoGame/TyTheTasmanianTiger'', and the first ''VideoGame/JakAndDaxter''.
240** ''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.
241** ''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''.
242** 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 ''Franchise/{{Shrek}} Party'', ''VideoGame/CrashBash'' and ''TabletopGame/{{Monopoly}} Party''. Creator/{{Nickelodeon}} also has their own free, online version called ''Block Party''.
243** ''Mario's VideoGame/{{Picross}}'' helped speed up the amount of [[GridPuzzle nonogram]] games to soon follow, mostly in Flash form.
244* 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 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'').
245* ''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 Arcade Games Ivan "Ironman" Stewart's VideoGame/SuperOffRoad'' 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.
246* ''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''.
247* [=FPSes=] and [=RPGs=] had some competition 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'' [-IN A SPY SETTING!-], and was launched on the wave that ''Mass Effect'' started, it's more of a SpiritualSuccessor to ''VideoGame/DeusEx''.
248* 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.
249* 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.
250** ''VideoGame/MolesWorld'' (''VideoGame/ClubPenguin'')
251** ''VideoGame/{{Seer}}'' and ''Seer 2'' (''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}''). ''Seer'' also inspired similar games that are its biggest competitors, such as ''VideoGame/AolaStar'' and ''VideoGame/RocoKingdom''.
252** ''Magi Haqi'' (''VideoGame/Wizard101'')[[note]]Ironically, Taomee had the rights to publish ''Wizard 101'' in China.[[/note]]
253** ''VideoGame/LittleFlowerFairy'' (''Pixie Hollow'')[[note]]In addition, its [[Animation/FlowerAngel television cartoon]] copied ''Manga/CardcaptorSakura'' in its first season, only becoming its own thing afterwards.[[/note]]
254** ''Magic Monster'' (''VideoGame/MoshiMonsters'')
255** ''Boke Central Travels'' (''VideoGame/{{Poptropica}}'')
256* 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.
257* ''VideoGame/{{Tetris}}'' inspired the entire FallingBlocks genre of video games. Its success was also the reason why the Platform/GameBoy was filled with ''VideoGame/{{Sokoban}}'' clones. The amount of puzzle game copies on the Game Boy exceeds 20, making it possibly one of the most extreme cases of this trope in gaming history.
258* ''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.
259* Though some earlier FallingBlocks games had competitive multiplayer, it was ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyo''[='s=] success (itself being an indirect response to the aforementioned popularity of Capcom's ''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, and after a failed collaboration with the series' creator Creator/{{Compile}}) for the game ''Pnickies'' (which went so far as to allow Capcom to license the ''Puyo Puyo'' gameplay), they decided to create their own from the ground up, resulting in the creation of the hilariously-titled ''Super Puzzle Fighter II''.
260* 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 ''VideoGame/JohnnyNeroActionHero''.
261* ''VideoGame/{{Titanfall}}'' was marketed as being revolutionary for its integration of mech gameplay and twitch first-person shooting, but the thing about it that caught on was its [[SimpleYetAwesome simplistic]] innovation of integrating the DoubleJump with LeParkour. This mechanic caught on quickly with a lot of shooter games afterward, and showed up in ''VideoGame/{{Destiny}}'', ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyAdvancedWarfare'' and ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOpsIII'', ''VideoGame/StarWarsBattlefront2015'', and also the ''VideoGame/{{DOOM}}'' reboot and ''VideoGame/MassEffectAndromeda''.
262%%* ''Franchise/TombRaider'' and Lara Croft herself spawned many copycat attempts.
263* ''[[http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/top-speed/ Top Speed]]'' was Taito's answer to SEGA's ''VideoGame/OutRun''.
264* 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.
265* 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 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''.
266* The success of the physics-based stunt bike-racing game ''VideoGame/{{Trials}}'' spawned two imitators: Tate Multimedia's ''Urban Trial: Freestyle'' and Bakno Games' ''Motorbike''.
267* Triniti Interactive has made their fair share of 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:
268** ''Chicks'' (''VideoGame/{{Lemmings}}'')
269** ''Neander Block'' (''VideoGame/{{Bejeweled}}'')
270** ''Archer 3D'' (''VideoGame/WiiSportsResort'' Archery)
271** ''Bubble Master'' (''VideoGame/{{Pang}}'')
272** ''Rob Rush'' (''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1'')
273** ''Super World Adventures'' (''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'', some influence from ''[[VideoGame/TheGreatGianaSisters Giana Sisters]]'' remake)
274** ''Iron Commando'' (''VideoGame/{{Contra}}'')
275** ''Dino Cap'' (''VideoGame/ZombievilleUSA'')
276** ''Ada's'' series (''[[VideoGame/SallysSalon Sally's Salon]][=/=]Spa[=/=]Studio'')
277** ''Yoo!'' series (''Wii'' series)
278** ''Bowman'' series and ''[[VideoGame/KnightsOdyssey Knight's Odyssey]]'' (art style is very similar to the ''VideoGame/{{Patapon}}'' series)
279** ''iPuppy'' series (''VideoGame/{{Nintendogs}}'')
280* ''VideoGame/TheTuringTest'':
281** Following the top dogs of the genre ''VideoGame/Portal1'' and ''VideoGame/TheTalosPrinciple'' with little variations.
282** ''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.
283* In spite of [[MultiUserDungeon MUDs]] and [=GMUDs=] languishing in obscurity for ages, their day would only really come in the rechristened form of [[MassivelyMultiplayerOnlineRolePlayingGame MMORPGs]]. 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''.
284** ''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.
285** [=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.]]
286** ''VideoGame/GuildWars'' is one of the ''other'' successful [=MMOs=]. It got that way by ''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.
287** ''[=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.
288* ''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]]
289* The Platform/Commodore64 game ''Uridium'' had a few imitators, including ''Ultima Ratio'' and ''Mirax Force''. ''Psycastria'' for the Platform/BBCMicro was more popular than that platform's official conversion of ''Uridium''.
290* ''VideoGame/TheVagrant'' is a side scroller action game pretty clearly inspired by Creator/{{Vanillaware}} games, especially ''VideoGame/OdinSphere''.
291* ''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 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 from clones to genre 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. For what it's worth, [[WordOfGod developer poncle]] says ''Vampire Survivors'' itself was based on the little-known mobile game [[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.vkslrzm.Zombie&hl=en&gl=US Magic Survival]], right down to the name.
292* ''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.
293* There are a number of {{Episodic Game}}s being released after the critical success of ''VideoGame/TheWalkingDead'', such as ''VideoGame/LifeIsStrange'', ''VideoGame/{{D4}}'', and ''VideoGame/KneeDeep''.
294* ''VideoGame/WiiSports'':
295** The game 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 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''.
296** Sony, Microsoft, and Sega attempted to directly copy the Wii, not just with the controllers[[note]]Microsoft got their tech from people who made it well before the Wii, 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]], and hey also marketed the system by announcing that it controls just like the Wii, while Additionally, Sega had their [[http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/02/sega-zone-the-genesis-with-a-wiimote-nobody-asked-for/ Sega Zone]].[[/note]]. They each have a clone of ''Wii Sports'', with Sony's being ''VideoGame/SportsChampions''.
297* The mostly forgotten ''VideoGame/WillRock'' is this to ''VideoGame/SeriousSam'', which already was partially inspired by ''VideoGame/DukeNukem'': 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.
298* 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. ''Independence War'', ''VideoGame/{{Terminus}}'', and the old ''Frontier: VideoGame/{{Elite}} II'' separated themselves from the rest in this manner.
299%%* ''VideoGame/Wizard101'' was ''VideoGame/ToontownOnline'' in a magical school setting.
300* Much as there is the ''VideoGame/{{Diablo}}'' clone, Japan also has the ''VideoGame/{{Wizardry}}'' clone, a category which includes the earliest commercially successful Japanese-made RPG, ''The Black Onyx''. The games [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff 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 more cyberpunky ScienceFantasy ''Wizardry'' cousin.
301* ''VideoGame/WorldOfTanks''' [[AllegedlyFreeGame free-to-play model]] has spawned clones using the exact mechanics.
302** ''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 expensive cosmetic items]].
303** ''VideoGame/WarThunder'' has similar 'tech tree' mechanics, base capture, and garage, with {{Freemium}} play.
304** ''VideoGame/ArmoredWarfare'' advertises itself as "''VideoGame/WorldOfTanks'' with modern tanks."
305** Wargaming has also followed its own lead with the same basic gameplay in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarships'' and ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarplanes''.
306%%What is the "leader" that's supposedly being followed?* Steve Ballmer's claims that the Platform/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'':
307%%-->"'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."
308* The ''VideoGame/{{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 Platform/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).
309* ''VideoGame/{{XCOM}}'' gave birth to a large follow-up of squad-based tactical games. Some were doomed because most of ''XCOM'''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 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}}''.
310* ''Espial'' and ''HAL 21'' were both carbon copies of ''VideoGame/{{Xevious}}'', as was Creator/DataEast's ''Zaviga''. Another similar UsefulNotes/ArcadeGame was Creator/{{Sega}}'s ''Gardia''. ''Alphos'' for the Platform/PC98 was apparently developed as a clone but released under license from Namco because this early Enix game resembled ''Xevious'' too much. The original Platform/{{MSX}} versions of ''VideoGame/{{Zanac}}'' also look like ''Xevious'', as does the original ''VideoGame/ThunderForce'', which was dolled-up in Korea as ''Super Xevious''.
311* To say that ''VideoGame/XuanDouZhiWang'' is Creator/TencentGames' [[AlternateCompanyEquivalent Chinese equivalent]] of ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters'' is like dividing by 1; it's already implied. For a bit of irony, [[VideoGame/FatalFury Terry Bogard]] and [[VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters Benimaru Nikaido]] [[GuestFighter are set to be added to]] ''XD''[='s=] roster.
312%%* ''VideoGame/YoungMerlin'' tries very much to be a ''[[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Legend of Zelda]]'' game with some new twists.
313* Although it was a pre-existing franchise, when ''VideoGame/ZoneOfTheEnders'' got an installment for the Platform/GameBoyAdvance it ended up similar to the ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' games on the platform, complete with a morale system and equippable parts.
314* ''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.
315[[/folder]]
316
317[[folder:Other]]
318* Certain technologies and gameplay features became popular in video games as tacked on features for brief periods:
319** Telekinesis (i.e. the ability to [[WreakingHavok pick up and move objects remotely]]), possibly due to the gravity gun from ''VideoGame/HalfLife2''.
320** CelShading, after SEGA popularized it with ''VideoGame/JetSetRadio'', though it had been featured in ''VideoGame/FearEffect'' for the Platform/PlayStation one year earlier.
321** [[StealthBasedMission Stealth levels]], after the success of ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid''.
322** 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.
323** [[ActionCommands Simon Says minigames]], popularized by ''VideoGame/{{Shenmue}}''[='=]s [=QTEs=], they've been [[ButtonMashing mashifying]] games ever since.
324** Vehicular sections in games where walking is the standard way of moving around.
325** Shooter games in which you must TakeCover constantly, as opposed to the Run and Guns of yesteryear.
326** 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.
327* "[[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 Platform/XBox360 and Platform/PlayStation3 is getting an HD remake for those consoles.
328* 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 video games, 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 ended up bare-bones), then Platform/GOGDotCom launched its Galaxy client, although this is more to facilitate online playing[[note]]although regular setup still can be downloaded from the owned games part of the website as a "backup"[[/note]]. Blizzard also revamped 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.
329* In 2011, Creator/{{Nintendo}} started advertising their upcoming games, as well as associated media and events, through periodic online video presentations known as WebVideo/{{Nintendo Direct}}s. These proved remarkably popular, and other major gaming companies began developing their own versions, such [[Creator/XboxGameStudios Microsoft's]] "Inside Xbox", [[Creator/SonyInteractiveEntertainment Sony's]] "State of Play" and "Playstation Showcase", "Creator/{{Ubisoft}} Forward", "Creator/SquareEnix Presents", and Creator/DevolverDigital's "Devolver Direct". Inversely, this is widely believed to have led to the downfall of the UsefulNotes/ElectronicEntertainmentExpo in the early 2020s, as gaming companies realized it was much cheaper, simpler, and more convenient to hype their products to a big audience on the internet through livestreams (in large part due to the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic shutting down E3 for three years straight).
330[[/folder]]

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