Top 10 Strategy Games for 8/16-bit consoles?

[Pingfa]

SUch a loose definition covers a lot of titles. Some of these I wouldn't count as a Strategy game - it's more fitting to list Jungle Strike as a tactical game.

It'd naturally be best to disregard a lot of Koei titles as many of them are very similar and would make the list less diverse than you want them to be.
Excluding foreign titles and cutting out some Koei titles, as well as ones people have already mentioned here, I'll list:

Bandit Kings of Ancient China - NES
King's Bounty - Genesis
Liberty or Death - Genesis/SNES
Master of Monsters - Genesis
North and South - NES
Operation Europe - Genesis
Pirates! Gold - Genesis (also an earlier NES version called Pirates!)
Star Control - Genesis
StarFlight - Genesis
Uncharted Waters - NES, SNES, Genesis
Uncharted Waters 2: New Horizons (just called New Horizons) - Genesis, SNES

If we include some foreign titles (all Genesis):

Fengshen Yingjiechuan
Hybrid Front
Ninja Burai Densetsu
Vixen 357

[timewarpgamer]

What about games like ActRaiser? Or Cannon Fodder? What about Genghis Khan II or the Nobunaga's Ambition series? What about Worms or the Romance of the Three Kingdoms games? Heck, and these are just Super Famicom or SNES games. You have a lot of strategy RPGs, but surely there's more straight strategy you could throw on the list.

Ack, you're destroying my efforts to be lazy. I suppose that now I'm going to need to split the list into two: Tactical RPGs and Other Strategy Games. One top 10 would just miss too much.

I've heard many a person rave about Herzog Zwei's greatness, but--embarrassing as this is to admit--for some reason the few times I've tried it I've had trouble getting into it. Looks like I gotta give it another shot.

[timewarpgamer]

I liked Future Cop L.A.P.D., which is in the same vein as Jungle/Desert/Soviet/Nuclear Strike. Throw in Gemfire for the NES, and General Chaos for the Genny, and you have everything covered in my book.

Yes, General Chaos! I remember playing the hell out of that with the 4-player adapter back in the day. Loved laying waste with the rocket launcher at a distance and getting up close and personal with the flamethrower. And horror or horrors it isn't even on my top Genesis games list yet. That will have to be remedied.

Never even played your other two recs. Will check them out. Thanks!

[timewarpgamer]

Bandit Kings of Ancient China - NES
King's Bounty - Genesis
Liberty or Death - Genesis/SNES
Master of Monsters - Genesis
North and South - NES
Operation Europe - Genesis
Pirates! Gold - Genesis (also an earlier NES version called Pirates!)
Star Control - Genesis
StarFlight - Genesis
Uncharted Waters - NES, SNES, Genesis
Uncharted Waters 2: New Horizons (just called New Horizons) - Genesis, SNES

If we include some foreign titles (all Genesis):

Fengshen Yingjiechuan
Hybrid Front
Ninja Burai Densetsu
Vixen 357

Holy shnikes! I'm never going to finish playing all of these and actually finish that top 10. North & South is good, but the side-scrolling levels are atrocious, so I just didn't feel it offered the full package. The Pirates! games will definitely make one of my top 10 lists; I always felt they were more like adventure or action-adventure games. But maybe strategy is better? Ugh, I hate dealing with genre definitions. Hybrid Front looks awesome, but I sure wish there was a fan translation for it.

[the7k]

I liked Future Cop L.A.P.D...

Future Cop is not 8/16-bit...

Don't get me wrong, I love the game, but it isn't of the era he's inquiring about.

[Ack]

What about games like ActRaiser? Or Cannon Fodder? What about Genghis Khan II or the Nobunaga's Ambition series? What about Worms or the Romance of the Three Kingdoms games? Heck, and these are just Super Famicom or SNES games. You have a lot of strategy RPGs, but surely there's more straight strategy you could throw on the list.

Ack, you're destroying my efforts to be lazy. I suppose that now I'm going to need to split the list into two: Tactical RPGs and Other Strategy Games. One top 10 would just miss too much.

I've heard many a person rave about Herzog Zwei's greatness, but--embarrassing as this is to admit--for some reason the few times I've tried it I've had trouble getting into it. Looks like I gotta give it another shot.

Sorry chief, I just figured since you said strategy games, you'd want strategy games. If you want some more ideas about tactical RPGs, I'm sure we'd be more than happy to help.

And don't worry about not getting into Herzog Zwei. I don't entirely get it myself, though it didn't stop me from picking it up when I saw it for $3.00.

[timewarpgamer]

Sorry chief, I just figured since you said strategy games, you'd want strategy games. If you want some more ideas about tactical RPGs, I'm sure we'd be more than happy to help.

Haha, s'all good. I think I'm much closer to finishing the Tactical RPG list right now, so bring it on! Here's my laundry list of great tactical RPGs that will make the top 10, be honorable mentions, or at least be recommended:

Genesis
Hybrid Front
Langrisser (a.k.a. Warsong)
Langrisser II
Shining Force: The Legacy of the Great Intention
Shining Force II

NES
Fire Emblem: Ankoku Ryū to Hikari no Tsurugi
Fire Emblem: Gaiden
Just Breed

Sega CD
Shining Force CD

SNES
Bahamut Lagoon
Der Langrisser
Fire Emblem: Monshō no Nazo
Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu
Fire Emblem: Thracia 776
Front Mission
Ogre Battle
Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together
Treasure Hunter G

TG-16 CD
Langrisser Hikari no Matsuei

Any additions? Maybe something that should be dropped? And of course, any other strategy recommendations are appreciated as well, it's just going to take me longer to play all the necessary candidates and get that list up on the interwebs. Thanks for all the help, y'all.

[MrPopo]

I don't remember, were Famicom Wars and Super Famicom Wars mentioned for regular strategy games?

[timewarpgamer]

I don't remember, were Famicom Wars and Super Famicom Wars mentioned for regular strategy games?

I actually have that one. For the record, here's what I've got so far for the non-tactical RPG side of things:

Genesis
Dune: The Battle for Arrakis
Herzog Zwei
Lord Monarch
General Chaos
Gain Ground
Desert Strike
Jungle Strike

NES
Hanjuku Hero
Famicom Wars
Rampart

Sega CD
Dune

SNES
Jungle Strike
Metal Marines
Ogre Battle

TG-16 and TG-CD
Military Madness
Neo Nectaris

SMS
Gain Ground

[Ack]

Hmm, I would consider checking these out as well, just in case. I'm not saying they'll all make your list, but give them a shot:

Genesis
Vixen 357

Sega CD
Arslan Senki

SNES
Energy Breaker (which I'm happy to say may actually see it's translation patch come out within the next year)
Majin Tensei
Majin Tensei II

I figure the MegaTen fans will appreciate that. The Farland Saga fans might not though, and there are two of those games on the Super Nintendo, Farland Story and Farland Story 2.

Also, while I doubt you'll want these for a top ten list, there are a couple of Taiwan-only strategy RPGs on the Genesis:

Tiger Hunter Hero Novel
Heroic Legend of Sealing Gods

So yeah, I wish you good luck!