Back when videogames were still new, there was no such thing as game
genres; the very concept of a videogame was still taking shape. But
we humans love putting labels on things, and once certain types of
game mechanics proved popular, it wasn't long before the market
settled on a few easily identifiable genres which it exploited. Sure,
new kinds of games continued to appear all along the 1980s and
1990s, but they were all promptly milked to death by an increasingly
risk-averse gaming industry.
Luckily, nowadays the situation has been reversed again. Not only are
indie game developers churning out an impressive array of innovative
titles, but even established genres are going right back into the
blender. RPGs are borrowing from shooters (Fallout 3, Mass Efect).
Shooters are borrowing from strategy games (Team Fortress 2,
Tremulous). And strategy games have had RPG elements since at
least Heroes of Might and Magic 3 (for a modern example, see Battle for Wesnoth).
But even in the intervening years there were games that dared to break
the mold and combine two existing kinds of gameplay into a coherent
whole, or even do something entirely unique.
Nowadays it seems natural for space trading games to combine two very
different types of gameplay, but when Elite! was published, real
time 3D graphics were still in their infancy (the Spectrum version was
limited to wireframe!) and Star Trader was purely an economic
simulation with a text-based interface and about 10 star systems for
a playground. Elite! was a pioneer in that it seamlessly blended the
two into one such that they complemented each other, and the vivacity
of EVE Online is evidence that the formula still works.
At the other end of the spectrum (pun not intended) lies
The Sentinel. It's hard to describe. Let's call it a minimalist
first person 3D strategy, set in an abstract mountainous landscape,
in which the objective is to reach the highest point on the map and
defeat the eponymous sentinel. If there is another game like it, I've
never been able to find it.
Wait, did I say "first person strategy"? Yes I did, and it wasn't the
only such game back then. One of the most ambitious titles ever
released for the aforementioned British micro, Lords of Midnight,
would be a pretty conventional (if simplified) turn based strategy,
except you're seeing the battlefield through the eyes of your
commanders, switching between them as needed. Oh, and it's a huge map.
Interestingly, LoM also has a dash of adventure, as there is one way
to win that doesn't involve maneuvering armies into battle.
Turns out, this kind of hybrid can go much further.
In the 1992 videogame adaptation of Dune, you can't even begin
to take control of the planet and beat up Harkonnen troops on the map
until you unlock certain abilities and pieces of equipment by going
around in first person, uncovering various places and characters.
However, I've been told that it's possible to skip much of the story
if you just want to make a speedrun. That's definitely not possible
in the next title, namely...
Alien Legacy, a 1994 PC-only release in which you have to settle
another star system, starting from the sublight colony ship in which
you arrived. But where are the people who preceded you here, and what
about the alien activity in the system? Alien Legacy makes it so
that failing at economy leaves you without a power base, and failing
at investigation leaves you unable to progress. It also has one of the
most gripping stories I've seen in a computer game. Perhaps the least
interesting parts are the combat sequences, inspired from a less-known
8-bit gem called Star Raiders II.
Looking back, none of these games are likely to make it on a "greatest
ever" list. Nevertheless, I remember them fondly, and I think they're
a great source of inspiration for game developers trying to stand out
from the crowd by giving their players a truly special experience.
P.S. In a not-quite-related note, this article from Kotaku makes
a special mention of the good old hybrid videogames. Yay!