List of Classic Console Games with Native American / Indigenous Representation

[Razzie.P]

Frostbite and Blackthorne might fit.

[roadrunner]

Top 10 Best Native American Video Game Characters


https://www.blockfort.com/character-lists/nativeamericancharacters/

[Tanooki]

I can't remember but did Illusion of Gaia have that culture in there since the map mimicked the real world and its locations in places?  I remember stuff like Nazca Lines, Angkor Wat and others in there.

[+jgkspsx]

Xevious of course has the Nazca lines:

 

https://youtu.be/Oqa5QZTFEsg

 

Secret of Monkey Island has an interesting portrayal of supposedly cannibalistic uncontacted people: 

 

 

 

Gaelco’s Bang! has typical Western negative portrayals of Native Americans:

 

Mysterious Stones: Dr John’s Adventure, a great game in many respects, is weighed down by portrayal of uncontacted peoples as almost animals:

 

 

Many games have analogues to indigenous cultures in a more abstract way.

 

Among more modern games the vein is richer:

 

Mooseman is inspired by indigenous Uralic cultures: 

 

Pawarumi is a shmup with an almost decolonial theme:

 

 

Abzû is heavily influenced by various cultures. Mostly the world of classical Islam but there are some pieces that seem more mesoamerican.

 

 

[+jgkspsx]

Here’s an interesting article: https://indiancountrytoday.com/.amp/lifestyle/oregon-trail-to-assassins-creed-right-and-wrong-native-american-portrayals-in-video-games

[CapitanClassic]

2 hours ago, jgkspsx said:

Here’s an interesting article: https://indiancountrytoday.com/.amp/lifestyle/oregon-trail-to-assassins-creed-right-and-wrong-native-american-portrayals-in-video-games

It is interesting in that it lists Indian representation in video games. Cannot say much good about their "Right and Wrong" portrayals in video games. Reads as if the author hasn't played much video games in their life (let alone the titles they listed.

 

Quote

assessments of right or wrong are loosely based on public outcry, whether or not Native’s were involved in development, the level of stereotypes and/or cultural appropriation

Civilization IV

Quote

During gameplay, players can encounter “barbarians” that they must defeat for special boosts in the game. ... creators announced Cree leader, Pîhtokahanapiwiyin, aka Chief Poundmaker, in the games expansion pass titled Rise and Fall, there was sharp criticism from Milton Tootoosis, a Cree Nation headman who said the game perpetuated the myth that First Nations had similar colonial values of conquering other peoples to access their land.

Tootoosis said, “That is totally not in concert with our traditional ways and world view.”

According to multiple media sources, including VICE, the publisher of 2K Games, “did not seek the permission of the First Nations or consult the elders in regards in the use their namesake as a character.”

Uh, have you ever played a Civilization game? There are the playable civilizations with established cities and government, and the random barbarian huts on the map can either give you a tech boost, gold, a new city, or surprise barbarian units. Guess what the opposite of civilization is, barbarism. I also take issue with the implication,  "that they must defeat." It isn't clear if you are defeating these minor tribes, or if they are joining your civilization after teaching you "the art of <tech-tree>", providing an elite attack unit, etc.

 

As for the Tootoosis's claim of the Cree not conquering other people, the Blackfoot Confederacy might beg to differ. I guess technically he is correct in that situation,  since they got their asses handed to them.

 

The characterization of 2K Games is also odd. 2K Games doesn't need permission to use historical figures in their games, since their use is transformative to the work being published. I doubt that the Cree have any tradition or world view of, "Right to Publicity," but they sure don't have an issue using that American concept.

 

The rest of the article spouts similar nonsense regarding  the other games.

 

[Tanooki]

Maybe I missed it, but hey why not one of the one off grand daddies of Sid Meier's brain -- COLONIZATION?  That has to be an obvious choice there.  I own a copy of it that's paired with Civ1 (DOS/WIn ver of both) on a CD in a big box called The Explorers.

[CapitanClassic]

8 hours ago, Tanooki said:

Maybe I missed it, but hey why not one of the one off grand daddies of Sid Meier's brain -- COLONIZATION?  That has to be an obvious choice there.  I own a copy of it that's paired with Civ1 (DOS/WIn ver of both) on a CD in a big box called The Explorers.

Likely due to the OP title, Classic Console games, and Colonization was never ported to a game console. Sid Meier's other title, Civ2 was ported to PSX, and does feature the Sioux and the Aztec empires.

[Tanooki]

True.  The Aztec are in the original Civilization, that one did hit the Super Nintendo, even uses the mouse to improve the gameplay limitations of the controller (8 way movement vs 4 way on d-pad.)

[NE146]

I mean, it's not a console game but the first game that came to my mind with Indians is Nintendo's Fire Attack G&W 😛

 

 

Else.. off the top of my head when it comes to consoles, there's NES Gunsmoke with the enemies in some stages, and in Sunset Riders on the Genesis there are also Native American enemy characters (that were removed from the SNES version)

 

 

 

 

 

[flickertail]

On 9/20/2022 at 5:49 AM, carlsson said:

I understand that the original Oregon Trail has quite a bit of negative representation of native Americans, but it was recently remedied in an updated version of the game.

https://www.npr.org/2022/03/21/1087806591/a-twist-on-a-classic-video-game-gives-native-americans-better-representation

Carlsson - Thanks for the link. That's a great reference! Thanks!

[flickertail]

On 9/20/2022 at 11:57 AM, Black_Tiger said:

Tengai Makyo The Apocalypse IV has Inuit, North and Central American Indigenous characters and settiings.

 

 

Excellent, thank you for the title. I've never heard of this title before.

[flickertail]

On 9/20/2022 at 2:39 PM, CapitanClassic said:

Wahan, a native Metaviran, is a playable mercenary in Jagged Alliance.

PS: missed the “console” release, but then was pleasantly surprised that the Nintendo DS got a release of this DOS strategy gem.

Captain Classic, thanks! I appreciate the link to the description.

[flickertail]

On 9/20/2022 at 2:49 PM, Raccoon Lad said:

Gun.Smoke for Arcade/NES had a lot of native american enemies.

 

Also, there was a French gameboy game "Un Indien Dans La Ville" based on a movie which was remade in the US as Jungle 2 Jungle with tim allen and martin short

 

On 9/20/2022 at 2:59 PM, Raccoon Lad said:

Based on the title, "Indian no bouken" on the MSX might qualify for this list, but the only thing even remotely native american about the player or anything else in the game would be the feather in his hat. ...unless the boomerang qualifies?

https://www.generation-msx.nl/software/hudson-soft/indian-no-bouken/release/101/

Raccoon Lad - Keep the titles coming! The more the better! Thanks!

[flickertail]

On 9/20/2022 at 3:15 PM, Razzie.P said:

Frostbite and Blackthorne might fit.

Excellent, an example from another plant! Frostbite is an interesting one. They give the guy on the cover art blonde hair, but a parka that was indigenous look.

[flickertail]

On 9/20/2022 at 6:08 PM, roadrunner said:

Top 10 Best Native American Video Game Characters
https://www.blockfort.com/character-lists/nativeamericancharacters/

Roadrunner - I have never played Assassin's Creed. Didn't realize that the main character had native heritage. Thanks for the 10 in 1 link!

[flickertail]

On 9/20/2022 at 8:35 PM, Tanooki said:

I can't remember but did Illusion of Gaia have that culture in there since the map mimicked the real world and its locations in places?  I remember stuff like Nazca Lines, Angkor Wat and others in there.

Tanooki - Wikipedia says it does. Looks like it includes Incan ruins as well.

[flickertail]

On 9/22/2022 at 8:53 PM, jgkspsx said:

Xevious of course has the Nazca lines:

 

https://youtu.be/Oqa5QZTFEsg

 

On 9/22/2022 at 9:04 PM, jgkspsx said:

Here’s an interesting article: https://indiancountrytoday.com/.amp/lifestyle/oregon-trail-to-assassins-creed-right-and-wrong-native-american-portrayals-in-video-games

jgkspsx - Thanks for all the YouTube links, and the interesting article!

 

[flickertail]

On 9/22/2022 at 11:41 PM, CapitanClassic said:

It is interesting in that it lists Indian representation in video games. Cannot say much good about their "Right and Wrong" portrayals in video games. Reads as if the author hasn't played much video games in their life (let alone the titles they listed.

 

Civilization IV

Uh, have you ever played a Civilization game? There are the playable civilizations with established cities and government, and the random barbarian huts on the map can either give you a tech boost, gold, a new city, or surprise barbarian units. Guess what the opposite of civilization is, barbarism. I also take issue with the implication,  "that they must defeat." It isn't clear if you are defeating these minor tribes, or if they are joining your civilization after teaching you "the art of <tech-tree>", providing an elite attack unit, etc.

 

As for the Tootoosis's claim of the Cree not conquering other people, the Blackfoot Confederacy might beg to differ. I guess technically he is correct in that situation,  since they got their asses handed to them.

 

The characterization of 2K Games is also odd. 2K Games doesn't need permission to use historical figures in their games, since their use is transformative to the work being published. I doubt that the Cree have any tradition or world view of, "Right to Publicity," but they sure don't have an issue using that American concept.

 

The rest of the article spouts similar nonsense regarding  the other games.

 

CaptainClassic - I think we do have to watch out for idealized history. You have made a valid point.

[flickertail]

On 9/23/2022 at 7:22 AM, Tanooki said:

Maybe I missed it, but hey why not one of the one off grand daddies of Sid Meier's brain -- COLONIZATION?  That has to be an obvious choice there.  I own a copy of it that's paired with Civ1 (DOS/WIn ver of both) on a CD in a big box called The Explorers.

Tanooki - This is similar to a game I used to play on the Apple IIc. I can't remember the name of he game. The graphics weren't as good, obviously, because it was on an Apple IIc, but it was very similar. The game would generate a random world, and you played as an explorer. I wish I could remember the name of it. I just know that it wasn't the Colonization game.

[flickertail]

On 9/24/2022 at 10:39 PM, NE146 said:

I mean, it's not a console game but the first game that came to my mind with Indians is Nintendo's Fire Attack G&W 😛

 

 

Else.. off the top of my head when it comes to consoles, there's NES Gunsmoke with the enemies in some stages, and in Sunset Riders on the Genesis there are also Native American enemy characters (that were removed from the SNES version)

 

NE146 - Oh, Fire Attack is an interesting one. An LED game with a fixed background. Is that what these are? LED games. 80s digital watch interface. I'm starting to realize that there are a massive amount of titles.

[flickertail]

Thanks everyone! I have a list of 39 titles so far, not counting the article links! Thanks for those!

Obviously, they are not classic console games, but I wanted to add two of my own to this list:

Age of Empires and Red Dead Revolver/Redemption games. This, I think is a long enough list to get my student started on research! Thanks All!

 

Here's the list

Custer's Revenge
Whomp 'Em
Lone Ranger
Megaman 6
SuperStreet Fighter II
Turok (Franchise)
Prey
Never Alone
Indian Attack
Aztec Challenge
Pocahontes
Magical Tree
Aztec Adventure
Adventures of Tom Swayer
Ice Bomber
SMS Power
General's Retreat/Westward Ho
Sunset Riders
Oregon Trail
Apocalypes IV
Wahan
Gun Smoke
Un Indien Dans La Ville
Indian no bouken
Blackthorne
Frostbite
Illusion of Gaia
Xevious
Secret of Monkey Island
Bang!
Mysterious Stones: Dr. John's Adventure
Mooseman
Pawarumi
Abzu
Colonization
Civilization (Franchise)
Fire Attack
Age of Empires (Franchise)
Red Dead Revolver/Redemption (Franchise 1 and 2)

 

Edited September 27, 2022 by flickertail

[Tanooki]

9 hours ago, flickertail said:

 

NE146 - Oh, Fire Attack is an interesting one. An LED game with a fixed background. Is that what these are? LED games. 80s digital watch interface. I'm starting to realize that there are a massive amount of titles.

Yes Game & Watch is the same as your classic 1980s digital LCD watch games.  You have a segmented LCD display there, glass, polarizer, and clear and colored art on sheet of plastic thing there to create the game.  It was designed by the maker of Gameboy, it's the precursor.  Usually most people think of those Tiger handhelds of the 1985-95~ years based on popular arcade and NES etc titles.  Same tech.  Game & Watch though had a stand in rear and the corner has dual clock/alarm clock function on top of the game itself.  And yes Fire Attack, the original there at least, did have the local native population trying to torch the fort.  They got PC in more recent years so when simulated they just made them all generic characters, but the original fits your description.

[Hakogame 箱亀]

The arcade game Cheyenne by Exidy featured a gang you needed to take down called the Apache Braves, which of course were all native american

[Reaperman]

On 9/18/2022 at 3:02 PM, flickertail said:

For transparency, we are going to use the list in writing an academic paper on the topic. I will include an appropriate acknowledgement of the participants in this thread in the paper, should it ever be published.

 

 

This sounds an awful lot like a 2020's style cancel-the-old-guys trap.