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Post by akumajobelmont on Oct 17, 2014 17:48:41 GMT -5
Forgive me if there is a thread already covering this topic, but I did a search and it didn't come up with anything. I've been a kick lately - early Saturn, PSX and PC games have been in high-rotation with me, and I'm not sure whether it's nostalgia or what, but I still find myself stupidly impressed with some of these early attempts at 3D. My SEGA Saturn has been broken for a little while, so I fired up my copy of Exhumed/Powerslave in SSF. I wasn't expecting much. But the game gave me the same sense of wonder I experienced as a teen upon release. I came away incredibly impressed with how well it has aged. Pretty textures, nice lighting, and controls that still work well. This was Metroid Prime/Ocarina of Time-style non-linear level progression before either of those titles came out. Thinking it was nostalgia, I loaded up Wipeout 2097 on the PSX - the only game in the series I could never really into, because I didn't actually play it at the time of release. The same thing happened. It seriously felt like 1997 again, and through all the warping textures there was real beauty. I did the same with Tomb Raider - first throwing in my SEGA Saturn copy and yep, blown away again. It looks a little rough, but still aesthetically pleasing, and the level design impeccable. The tank-controls still work, and given this was a 3D plaformer that predates Mario 64, that really resonated with me. Picked the PC game up on Steam, and yep - still awestruck. I know that some games will age better than others - especially when it comes to early 3D. But each and every game I pop in lately has me staring and ogling - Wipeout on the Saturn, Alien VS Predator Gold and the Screamer series on PC. I recently got the Touge King of Spirits games on the Saturn, and they are beautiful - even in SSF. So what early 3D games do you think hold up, and can you go back to them? Do they illicit the same sense of wonder you first experienced? Surely I'm not alone in feeling this way. Low-res, low-poly 3D gets me, and I still find it incredibly pretty. And how far can you go back before it's just too dated? Sound off!!!  |
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Post by X-pert74 on Oct 17, 2014 18:16:46 GMT -5
They often do, yeah. I still really love several games from that generation, such as Super Mario 64, the Mega Man Legends games, Rayman 2, and a bunch of others. Some hold up better than others, but perhaps because I grew up with that generation, it's not too difficult for me to come back to.
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Post by akumajobelmont on Oct 17, 2014 18:25:32 GMT -5
They often do, yeah. I still really love several games from that generation, such as Super Mario 64, the Mega Man Legends games, Rayman 2, and a bunch of others. Some hold up better than others, but perhaps because I grew up with that generation, it's not too difficult for me to come back to. I was about 12 when that generation started, so I agree with you there. I also find that I can discover games from that generation that I didn't grow up with or play at the time, and they still sink their teeth into me. A good example is Metal Gear Solid. I didn't touch that game till a few years ago, and I was floored. |
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Post by X-pert74 on Oct 17, 2014 18:31:35 GMT -5
I was about 12 when that generation started, so I agree with you there. I also find that I can discover games from that generation that I didn't grow up with or play at the time, and they still sink their teeth into me. A good example is Metal Gear Solid. I didn't touch that game till a few years ago, and I was floored. I never played Metal Gear Solid until at least a decade later, and to be honest, I did have some trouble getting into it. Eventually I came to love it, but I found its controls very awkward, and the attempted realistic graphics look strange, especially when looking at the character model's faces. I do think it's easier to get into than Goldeneye 007 though, and that was one I did play as a kid. I came back to Goldeneye a few years ago and beat it on Secret Agent, but it was so tough to get the hang of. I still think it's a very awkward game to play, and it doesn't help that the framerate is consistently poor. |
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Post by spekkio on Oct 17, 2014 18:58:49 GMT -5
At least in regards to Nintendo 64, I think the graphics in Conker's Bad Fur Day have aged the best. I also prefer Conker's design in the original game over his redesign in Live and Reloaded, there was just something creepy about his eyes in the XBox remake.
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Post by vetus on Oct 17, 2014 19:43:14 GMT -5
Early 3D Sega arcade games like Sega Rally Championship, Virtua Fighter 2 (the faces at Virtua Fighter 1 are very ugly to a scaring level), Daytona USA are still appealing for me. Xbox360 has many great racing games, yet I only play Outrun 2 and Daytona USA HD. Ok, that's also because I'm not huge fan of racing games. And even if its graphics are simplistic for some people, I still find the original version of Lylat Wars quite charming. They often do, yeah. I still really love several games from that generation, such as Super Mario 64, the Mega Man Legends games, Rayman 2, and a bunch of others. Some hold up better than others, but perhaps because I grew up with that generation, it's not too difficult for me to come back to. I don't know about Megaman Legends 2 but the first one doesn't holds up so well because of the camera and the controls. |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 17, 2014 19:46:47 GMT -5
A lot of older stuff is pretty hard to look at these days. The original Dino Crisis is damn near unplayable now. For me, at least. It's funny that the games with pre-rendered backgrounds are the ones that have aged the best from that era.
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ult
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Post by ult on Oct 17, 2014 19:54:14 GMT -5
Low-poly is amazing, imo. Like there's a charm to it that can't really be found in a lot of other outlets.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 17, 2014 19:58:18 GMT -5
That's kind of understandable, but I think it's nearly universally agreed that 2D art ages a lot more gracefully than 3D. I'd rather play Rondo of Blood than D at this point.
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Post by elektrolurch on Oct 17, 2014 20:05:00 GMT -5
Low-poly, early 3D is awesome! But for me,it starts well before the PS1 or the saturn,and well before tomb raider.I think those games were already pretty advanced.
I'm still impressed by the first 3D games I ever saw, and still adore the style, and yes I still can play it. think of hunter for the amiga, or the first mechwarrior.....stuff from the late 80ies and early 90ies......
its an otherworldly style, and being slow and choppy even improves the feeling.
For me the likes of tomb raider are somehow in between modern playability and this really oldschool 3D-feeling. for that,they are interesting, but they don't fascinate as much.
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Post by X-pert74 on Oct 17, 2014 20:07:11 GMT -5
They often do, yeah. I still really love several games from that generation, such as Super Mario 64, the Mega Man Legends games, Rayman 2, and a bunch of others. Some hold up better than others, but perhaps because I grew up with that generation, it's not too difficult for me to come back to. I don't know about Megaman Legends 2 but the first one doesn't holds up so well because of the camera and the controls. The Legends games' controls are rather atypical for 3D action-adventure games, but I still like them. They feel natural to me at this point; much later on, when I played Resident Evil 4, part of why I remember liking it so much was because its controls somewhat reminded me of Mega Man Legends', albeit minus strafing and the ability to move while shooting. Also, when I think about it, the weapon upgrade system in Resident Evil 4 is a lot like what Mega Man Legends had. EDIT: Also, I always change the controls in the first Legends so that you turn by pressing left or right on the d-pad, and strafe left/right by pressing L1/R1. |
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Post by The Great Klaid on Oct 17, 2014 20:15:08 GMT -5
I'm no real fan of the controls in a lot of 3D games. Then or now. But I'm kind of impressed how it's all aged so well. I was fully expecting by now for Mario 64 to look like utter ass. Even MGS isn't an eyesore. Bubsy and Virtua Fighter are probably the worst of the bunch off the top of my head. And Lara Croft in the first Tomb Raider looks painful. But, I was playing RE2, and me and my buddy did enjoy how this was like state of the art once upon a time.
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Post by akumajobelmont on Oct 17, 2014 22:29:52 GMT -5
Yeah, I agree. I love the SEGA ports on the Saturn... SEGA Rally still looks nice and chunky. I prefer it over the Arcade version for sure. Sure 2D seems to age better, but I think that these days, the divide between merely ok 3D games and the exceptional one's is a lot more pronounced, more so than back in the day. Yeah, hindsight and all that.
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Post by akumajobelmont on Oct 17, 2014 22:34:40 GMT -5
Low-poly, early 3D is awesome! But for me,it starts well before the PS1 or the saturn,and well before tomb raider.I think those games were already pretty advanced. I'm still impressed by the first 3D games I ever saw, and still adore the style, and yes I still can play it. think of hunter for the amiga, or the first mechwarrior.....stuff from the late 80ies and early 90ies...... its an otherworldly style, and being slow and choppy even improves the feeling. For me the likes of tomb raider are somehow in between modern playability and this really oldschool 3D-feeling. for that,they are interesting, but they don't fascinate as much. Corporation on the Amiga/Mega Drive blew my mind as a kid. As did Steel Talons. Race Drivin' and Hard Drivin' too. I always did prefer raster-style racers to the 3D racers of the time though :-) |
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Post by Scylla on Oct 18, 2014 0:06:51 GMT -5
I think it's always important to look at games with the proper perspective. No game will ever look any better or worse than it did on the day it came out (unless it gets patched or something); the only thing that changes is your own perspective. The games that were visually impressive at launch are just as impressive now, unless the only reason they were found impressive was because they were current gen using the latest technology. Most games aren't particularly impressive visually, even if they are on par with their contemporaries. Many are bland and uninspired on an artistic level, and many are content to stick to the status quo on a technological level. The games that are TRULY impressive visually are those that have a good aesthetic style and/or push the limits of what the hardware is capable of. And time doesn't change anything about that. So yeah, I am still impressed by the graphics of early 3D games, and more often than not I prefer their look (and the look of more recent games on DS/PSP that resemble PS1/N64/Saturn games) over the latest home console games. I feel like, since the technology was a lot more limited, developers spent less time pursuing realism and focused more on giving their games a distinct visual style (and in that kind of way, I prefer looking at something like a Katamari game over a "AAA" game; I care far more about the artistic vision). I still love the design style in stuff like Mega Man Legends and Tail Concerto (they have a similar look). And this isn't particularly relevant, but I also like how 32/64-bit era games feel more "game-y" rather than trying to be some movie-like "experience". If I want a good story in a video game, I'll play a visual novel kthx.
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