#system: snes

[vgheroines]

Game: Wild Guns

Heroine: Annie

System: SNES

Year: 1995 (US)

Developer: Natsume

Genre: Shooting

[vgheroines]

Game: The 7th Saga / Elnard (JP)

Heroine: Esuna Busy

System: SNES

Year: 1993

Developer: Produce

Genre: RPG

Etc: Esuna, being a classic "elven magic user," is physically weak and very difficult to start out with if you choose her as the player apprentice. Not to mention that the English version of the game was reprogrammed to be more difficult.

(screenshots from MysteriousJG)

[vgheroines]

Game: Umihara Kawase

Heroine: Umihara Kawase

System: Super Famicom

Year: 1994 (JP)

Developer: TNN/NHK SC, others

Genre: Platformer

Etc: The title of the game comes from the Japanese idiom: "海の魚は腹に、川の魚は背に脂が乗っている" or "Sea fish are fat in the belly, river fish are fat in the back." Umihara Kawase also had a sequel, subtitled "Shun" as well as enhanced PSP and DS ports.

(screenshots from SonicViewer27)

[vgheroines]

Game: Angelique

Heroine: Angelique Limoges

System: Super Famicom, others

Year: 1994

Developer: Ruby Party

Genre: Dating-sim

Etc: Angelique's success led to the creation of it's own series, and while almost every new canonical game stars a different girl, they are all named some variant of Angelique.

*

I want to say that Angelique is a great game, but it's not. What it is though, is a start.

See, when I was little, and I wanted to play a game "made for girls" (not just one with a girl in it) I played Barbie Game Girl on my Game Boy! (Gotta love the title parallel) It was years later when I found out that in Japan, Koei was attempting to make games for girls that didn't involve half-hearted licensing. (after all, Barbie is the only thing girls are interested in, am I right?)

Angelique was a game with original characters, an imaginative world, beautiful graphics and a unique-ish gameplay system. Of course, it was also a "dating-sim" so it seems Koei didn't fall as far from the branch as they may have wanted. But Angelique was a huge hit and caused Koei and it's new girl oriented studio Ruby Party to continue making games for girls, some which did admirable in breaking loose from the dating-sim stereotype!

Unfortunately, going back to the original Angelique, the game has turned into something of a family unfriendly Aesop over time. In attempting to nourish your own island to prove that you are fit to be queen, you must gain the favor of 8 male Guardians who rule over various elements. While the game never goes beyond a PG rating, the message of using sexual appeal to get what you want from men is still there. Not only that, winning the Guardians over requires memorizing minuscule personal facts about their life, and knowing how to respond appropriately to their desires and needs. None of these men are looking for an intelligent, self-sufficient woman, they want a girl who knows exactly how to please them. (Not to mention, achieving "romance" in the game means eventually giving up your shot as queen. No balancing job and family here!)