Portopia Renzoku Satsujin Jiken [Model E-G022]

Released in June 1983.

The game, along with Super Mario Bros., inspired Hideo Kojima, creator of the Metal Gear series, to enter the video game industry. He praised Portopia for its mystery, drama, humor, 3D dungeons, for providing a proper background and explanation behind the murderer's motives, and expanding the potential of video games. Kojima considers it one of the three most influential games he's played, with its influence evident in his games, including the Metal Gear series and Snatcher.

Portopia was also one of the first video games ever played by Nintendo's Eiji Aonuma, who went on to become the director of The Legend of Zelda series starting with Ocarina of Time.

Portopia's influence is also evident in Horii's own later work, including the seminal role-playing game Dragon Quest, which used storytelling techniques and the menu interface from Portopia.

By: Yuji Horii