electricmastro Posted June 26, 2022 Share Posted June 26, 2022 Felt to make a thread focusing on games where a major/main playable character is female. Games with female protagonists that I've liked include: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Punisher5.0 Posted June 27, 2022 Share Posted June 27, 2022 Jill Valentine, Clair Redfield, Rebecca Chambers If we are including modern games then Id add Jesse Faden and Ellie (The Last of Us) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
electricmastro Posted June 27, 2022 Author Share Posted June 27, 2022 35 minutes ago, Punisher5.0 said: Jill Valentine, Clair Redfield, Rebecca Chambers Resident Evil 3, yeah. Great showcase for Jill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhomaios Posted June 27, 2022 Share Posted June 27, 2022 Some great games here. Super Metroid is one of my top 10 all time favorites. Ignoring others in the series you named, I would definitely include Guardian Legend, Portal, Final Fantasy VI, and Castlevania Bloodlines and Symphony (Maria Renaud). Great games, great female protagonists. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NE146 Posted June 27, 2022 Share Posted June 27, 2022 One often overlooked one is Famicom Salamander (aka NES Lifeforce). Like Contra, the Japanese version has more features than the US version, including a "surprise" ending reveal like Metroid depending on how many continues you used. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikebloke Posted June 27, 2022 Share Posted June 27, 2022 The original version of the ninja (master system) on the mark III was a female ninja. I think someone has ported this version to the colecovision too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youxia Posted June 27, 2022 Share Posted June 27, 2022 5 hours ago, Rhomaios said: Castlevania Bloodlines and Symphony Are the ladies from these games actually playable? Off top of my head I can mention Battle Mania 1/2 (Genesis) and Cotton series STGs. Especially the former, as it's really fantastic yet fairly unknown. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhomaios Posted June 27, 2022 Share Posted June 27, 2022 Brr, I meant Rondo on the PC Engine CD, not Bloodlines. And yes, she's a playable character in the Saturn version of SotN: https://castlevania.fandom.com/wiki/Maria_Renard/Symphony_of_the_Night/Saturn 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhomaios Posted June 27, 2022 Share Posted June 27, 2022 5 hours ago, Mikebloke said: The original version of the ninja (master system) on the mark III was a female ninja. I think someone has ported this version to the colecovision too. Yep, opcode's Ninja Princess. I think the original version is the arcade, right? Thinking of Sega reminded me of Twinkle Tale and Monster World IV, both of which have female protagonists. And Twinkle Tale is such a fun shooter. Monster World IV's protagonist also reminds me of Shantae, but I never put much time into that. It seems to be regarded well enough. A few other GBC games come to mind, including Wendy Every Witch Way and Alice in Wonderland. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatPix Posted June 27, 2022 Share Posted June 27, 2022 1 hour ago, Rhomaios said: Brr, I meant Rondo on the PC Engine CD, not Bloodlines. And yes, she's a playable character in the Saturn version of SotN: https://castlevania.fandom.com/wiki/Maria_Renard/Symphony_of_the_Night/Saturn She's a playable chanracter in the PC-E version too, tho as you need to find her to unlock her, it's not quite a "main character". However she's kind of a cheat code, given how overpowered she is 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youxia Posted June 27, 2022 Share Posted June 27, 2022 (edited) Jade from Beyond Good & Evil and D'Arcy Stern from Urban Chaos deserve a mention. The latter is another from my "seriously underappreciated" list. An interesting question could be who was the first ever female protagonist in videogames (including microcomputers)? Edited June 27, 2022 by youxia 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glazball Posted June 27, 2022 Share Posted June 27, 2022 (edited) 2 hours ago, youxia said: An interesting question could be who was the first ever female protagonist in videogames (including microcomputers)? It's come up in other threads, and though I can't personally confirm it's the first, the consensus is Wabbit (October 1982) is one of the first games ever that has you playing as a female protagonist - the farmer Billie Sue. Certainly it's the first on an Atari system. Edited June 27, 2022 by glazball 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+jgkspsx Posted June 27, 2022 Share Posted June 27, 2022 My contention is that the pilot in Computer Space is a woman. Possibly one of the table tennis players in Pong as well. 1 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
electricmastro Posted June 27, 2022 Author Share Posted June 27, 2022 5 hours ago, youxia said: Jade from Beyond Good & Evil and D'Arcy Stern from Urban Chaos deserve a mention. The latter is another from my "seriously underappreciated" list. An interesting question could be who was the first ever female protagonist in videogames (including microcomputers)? More research might be needed, but I think it might be Lady Bug, from 1981: 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlsson Posted June 27, 2022 Share Posted June 27, 2022 Though this list is computer oriented rather than console oriented, it might be of some help: https://atariage.com/forums/topic/309880-epyx-barbie-first-dress-up-game/?tab=comments#comment-4604039 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roadrunner Posted June 27, 2022 Share Posted June 27, 2022 Rogue Ops 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
electricmastro Posted June 27, 2022 Author Share Posted June 27, 2022 (edited) 1 hour ago, roadrunner said: Rogue Ops Was looking back at female protagonist-led games from the PS2 generation. My favorite design would probably have to be Jade from Beyond Good & Evil: Edited June 27, 2022 by electricmastro Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlsson Posted June 27, 2022 Share Posted June 27, 2022 If you're looking for a list rather than personal recommendations, there is also a category on Mobygames: https://www.mobygames.com/game-group/protagonist-female 2500+ titles seems like a lot, though the definition of "protagonist" sometimes is a bit loose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
electricmastro Posted June 27, 2022 Author Share Posted June 27, 2022 11 minutes ago, carlsson said: If you're looking for a list rather than personal recommendations, there is also a category on Mobygames: https://www.mobygames.com/game-group/protagonist-female 2500+ titles seems like a lot, though the definition of "protagonist" sometimes is a bit loose. Yeah, and it lists Eliza from 1966 as the earliest example, though I understand that Eliza is someone you don't play as, but talk to. Might still be the earliest case of a game centering around a female character though: 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youxia Posted June 27, 2022 Share Posted June 27, 2022 I wouldn't call Eliza a game. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
electricmastro Posted June 27, 2022 Author Share Posted June 27, 2022 (edited) And of course there are the early animal games, whom were sometimes motherly: Edited June 27, 2022 by electricmastro 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlsson Posted June 27, 2022 Share Posted June 27, 2022 No. Eliza is a parody of a psychiatrist. As far as I understand, it never was meant to be taken seriously or any kind of example of self-learning intelligence, yet many people perceived it as such. But unless Eliza is protagonist, what is "she"? Clearly not an antagonist since your goal is not to break down the psychiatrist. Non-playable character that happens to be the main and only counterpart? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGameCollector Posted June 28, 2022 Share Posted June 28, 2022 How can you forget Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble? Dixie is the leader this time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidD Posted June 28, 2022 Share Posted June 28, 2022 13 hours ago, glazball said: It's come up in other threads, and though I can't personally confirm it's the first, the consensus is Wabbit (October 1982) is one of the first games ever that has you playing as a female protagonist - the farmer Billie Sue. Certainly it's the first on an Atari system. Er.... wasn't Ms. Pac-Man released earlier in the year? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roots.genoa Posted June 28, 2022 Share Posted June 28, 2022 It depends if you limit your definition to humans, I guess. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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