Gaming mechanics lost to time?

[Yancakes]

What other games have mechanics or game goals that you don't see much these days?

Unique Controllers

Twinstick
The arcade Robotron. I have not seen too many current games that utilize the move in one direction while shooting in another. I really had hoped PS2 Red Star would have gone this route. Geometry Wars is one of the newer games that utilize Twinstick gameplay.

It's picked up a lot recently in indie games and whatnot, I know I've played a few XBL games that use it. On computers it was largely replaced during the 90's with the mouse functioning the same as the right stick, the last commercial game that I can think of that used it though was Apocalypse for the PS1.

[The Last Horseman]

The lack of use of vector graphics, arcade sticks, and rail shooters. I'm personally a huge fan of arcade gaming, and want to make a MAME cabinet at some point. (At least not until I move out, and I will need a damn lot of help) I love rail shooters though. But there are so few... Panzer Dragoon? Bah. So few people know of the lost greatness....

[Yancakes]

^^^Pokemon Snap?

[GameMasterGuy]

PS has to be my favorite rails shooter of all time. Shame it's so short. On topic, has anyone played Megaman Battle Network 2 or 3 on the GBA? The other four also have the same unique gameplay, but have a significantly lower quality and may not sway you the way 2 did for me. It's basically genreless... unless you want to really dissect it and say that it's a RTS/beat em up/ CC Volleyball minigame/ trading card game/ RPG/ fighter... and then some.

[isiolia]

The lack of use of vector graphics, arcade sticks, and rail shooters. I'm personally a huge fan of arcade gaming, and want to make a MAME cabinet at some point. (At least not until I move out, and I will need a damn lot of help) I love rail shooters though. But there are so few... Panzer Dragoon? Bah. So few people know of the lost greatness....

Child of Eden? Sin & Punishment?

Though on a different tangent, to me, it's less that rail shooters are lost so much as that they've become hybrids. Consider the criticism of some modern FPS games as being just being a long hallway - there are at least segments of games like CoD4 that are basically akin to an on-rails shooter...just with looser rails.

[The Last Horseman]

I know there are more, that is just the one I picked.

I see where your trying to go with the COD comparison, but I don't agree. The single player is tacked on crap at this point, it just isn't trying. Now in a rail shooter, one of the fundamental things is lack of movement, and the small amount of hits you can take. (There are some exceptions to the last case, but even then I can't take as many bullets as a COD character)

I want a vector graphics rail shooter controlled with a pistol and spinner.

[jvalentine98]

Tank controls - Resident Evil style. Yes I know RE4 used the same controls with a different camera but that doesn't stop people from complaining about the earlier games. I happen to love the old control scheme

[Razzmatazz]

I remember on games like Streets of Rage you could listen to the music and the sound effects from the game in the options menu. I think that's an option I'd like to see return more, it always reminds me of the Dilated Peoples track Clockwork that sampled Blaze from SOR on the beat.
Although there are so many sound effects in games now it would be silly, a music soundtrack menu would be good.

[sheath]

Gameplay elements that I miss the most today are Action Side Scrollers like the Shinobi series, especially Revenge of Shinobi and Shinobi III, Ninja Spirit and Legendary Axe. I also miss Arena Based Combat games like Virtual On, Technical 2D and 3D Fighters like Eternal Champions, Weaponlord and Virtua Fighter, Free Roaming Story Based Space Ship Sims.

[Yancakes]

Was Eternal Champions ever in 3d? I've only played the original...

Also, there are still fairly frequently released 3D fighting games, though mostly they come out of Namco.