Isometric Games

For all I know, the first game ever to use isometric view was the Sega arcade machine Zaxxon, a shooter.

8-Bit

The isometric view became popular as soon as there was graphics hardware ro support it. It was typical for action-adventures, which were abundant on the 8-bit platforms.

8-bit

Magnetik Tank

Action

86

Loriciel

Marble Madness

NES

Arcade

From a 1984 coin-op

Nether Earth

RTS

87

The Last Ninja

Action

C64 is the original

16-Bit

With the advent of the 16-bit platforms, the isometric action-adventures sunk into obscurity for a while. Action games now usually sported a side view, and were often scrolling. But then, suddenly, the isometric aardvark (as it was sometimes humoristically called) was reborn. It would be a while until these games were scrolling, too. The isometric RPGs developed out of this genre, which is now once again more or less forgotten.

Lo-Res

Treasure Trap								Adventure	89
Cadaver								RPG	90
The Immortal							NES	RPG
Mad Mix 2								Pac-Man
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure							NES	Adventure	91		NES version only!
Contraption Zack								Puzzle	92
Burntime								strat	93
Shadowrun							SNES	RPG
Darkmere								RPG	94		Mark Jones
Ultima VIII								RPG

Hi-Res

A-Train was the first game that used isometric view under a high resolution. Others soon followed. At first these were all strategy and city builder games.

Hi-Res

A-Train					strat	92		Take the A-Train III
SimCity 2000					strat	93
Transport Tycoon					strat	94
Caesar II					strat	95
Afterlife					strat	96
Legal Crime					RTS			Documentation

1997

The big time of isometric games began in 1997. Practically everything that wasn't 3D was isometric now. The old top-down view was considered quaint, if a game still used an angular grid, it tried to hide the fact with the graphics. Seven Kingdoms is a good example of this.

3D games, on the other hand, were still something of a distinct genre, and became so even more with the introduction of hardware acceleration. It was only a certain type of gamer that had a Voodoo card, usually the type that liked fast-paced action. It made little sense to make a game that would not appeal to this type of gamer in 3D.

Age of Empires					RTS	97
Constructor					strat
Diablo					RPG
Hellfire					RPG
Enemy Nations					RTS
Fallout					RPG
Ultima Online					RPG
Ancient Evil					RPG	98
Baldur's Gate					RPG
Caesar III					strat
Fallout 2					RPG
Railroad Tycoon II					strat
Rise of Rome					RTS			Age of Empires Expansion Pack
Fire & Dragons					RPG			Nikolaus Gebhardt
The Settlers III					strat
Zeus					strat
Abomination					strat	99
Age of Wonders					strat
Cybermercs					RPG
Die Völker					strat
Gates of Destiny					RPG			Nikolaus Gebhardt
Odium (Gorky 17)					RPG
Pharaoh					strat
Planescape: Torment					RPG
SimCity 3000					strat
Street Wars/Mob Rule					strat
Cleopatra					strat	00		Pharaoh Expansion Pack
Diablo II					RPG
Fast Food Tycoon 2					strat
Theocracy					RTS
The Sims
Zeus: Master of Olympus					strat
Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel					RPG	01
Siege of Avalon					RPG
Throne of Darkness					RPG
Emperor					strat	02
Beach Life					strat			Virtual Resort: Spring Break
Divine Divinity					RPG
Locomotion					strat	04
Metalheart: Replicants Rampage					RPG	05

In the Millennium, the isometric view rapidly died out as more and more games became 3D. The term is now sometimes used for 3D games with a similar three-quarter top-down view (as, for example, Neverwinter Nights), but that is misleading and incorrect.

Compare

• Isometric Game Makers