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Post by phediuk on Feb 2, 2019 14:19:38 GMT -5
Generally, sequels will, if nothing else, look better than the games that came before them, if only because the devs have learned the hardware better, and they can focus on upgrading the assets and engine from the last game rather than making completely new ones. So it's notable when the visual presentation regresses. This thread is for those pairs of games in a series that look like they came out in reverse order from how they actually did. I submit Rocket Knight Adventures > Sparkster (Genesis). Rocket Knight Adventures Sparkster: Rocket Knight Adventures 2 RKA looks like it should be the sequel, but nope, Sparkster was just a massive downgrade. Fewer colors, simpler backgrounds, smaller sprites, fewer frames of animation, fewer effects, simpler bosses. I don't know wtf happened.
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Post by mainpatr on Feb 2, 2019 15:42:14 GMT -5
Yoshis's Island to Yoshi's New Island Crysis to Crysis 2 Far Cry 2 to Far Cry 3
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Post by GamerL on Feb 2, 2019 17:57:59 GMT -5
The first example that always springs to my mind is Mechassault and Mechassault 2: Lone Wolf on the original Xbox.
The sequel goes for the "bump map" look but before that was really viable and it looks worse than the first game, even when it was new.
Same deal with Halo and Halo 2, Halo 2 has that early bump mapping as well and it always looked ugly even at the time, just makes everything look like it's made out of plastic.
The only original Xbox game that really pulled off early bump mapping was Chronicles of Riddick and Splinter Cell Chaos Theory.
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Post by shelverton on Feb 2, 2019 18:26:30 GMT -5
I mean, Castlevania: Lament of Innocence is IMO a much prettier game than Curse of Darkness. It probably has something to do with the different cameras (locked vs not locked).
While on the subject one might also argue that Castlevania 64 is absolutely hideous compared to Symphony of the Night, but it’s pretty unfair to compare late nineties pixel perfection to early 3D console graphics...
How about DMC2? It looks rather drab compared to DMC.
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Post by spanky on Feb 2, 2019 18:57:06 GMT -5
I would also argue that the original Rocket Knight looks better than that one that came out in 2010.
In general, I think a lot of 2.5D games are pretty ugly. It's a good game, but Bionic Commando Rearmed looks really bad, even compared to the NES game. I like sprite art though so it might just be personal bias.
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Post by jackcaeylin on Feb 2, 2019 19:07:11 GMT -5
I am not quite sure, if it counts, but Final Fantasy X looked certain times better than FF XII with its surroundings. I guess, it has something to do with open world vs. linear. The same thing can be said about FF XIII vs. XIII Ligthning returns, but I can't remember details. Golden Axe 2 looks better than 3, mostly due to its backrounds, 3 looks empty, especially in comparison to 2. On theory, you can cheat in this topic with two ways:
-you can cheat on this topic and mention handheld sequels from console games. -You can cheat on artstyle (an example would be King of Fighters XIII vs. King of Fighters XIV, because XIII had beautiful sprites, but XIV went middle budget 3d/or low budget). Especially, regarding the pre-patch version of XIV.
Yours sincerely Jack Caeylin
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Post by ommadawnyawn2 on Feb 2, 2019 21:13:00 GMT -5
Castlevania: Belmont's Revenge > Castlevania Legends Bionic Commando (NES & GB) > Elite Forces Phantasy Star > PSII
Mainly going on art style, colors and drawing technique which matters more to me.
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Post by Bumpyroad on Feb 3, 2019 9:00:26 GMT -5
Let's do some cheating:
Alundra > Alundra 2 R-Type III > R-Type Delta Contra: Hard Corps > Contra: Legacy of War RayForce > RayStorm Thunder Force IV > Thunder Force V Sengoku Blade > Sengoku Cannon Final Fight > Final Fight Revenge Dungeon Siege II > Dungeon Siege: Throne of Agony Mortal Kombat 3 > Mortal Kombat 4 Metal Slug 3 > Metal Slug 4 (not cheating) Ogre Battle > Ogre Battle 64 Langrisser V > Langrisser Re:Incarnation Tensei Zelda: A Link to the Past > Zelda: Ocarina of Time Final Fantasy VI > Final Fantasy VII Silent Hill: Origins > Silent Hill
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Post by lurker on Feb 3, 2019 9:17:53 GMT -5
Jade Cocoon > Jade Cocoon 2
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Post by dsparil on Feb 3, 2019 9:33:54 GMT -5
Vectorman > Vectorman 2
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Post by phediuk on Feb 3, 2019 9:49:40 GMT -5
Yeah I was also thinking this one. For whatever reason Vectorman 2 shows off considerably fewer effects than the first game, and the ones that are there aren't as impressive. Nothing in VM2 looks as nice as the waterfall level in VM1 for instance.
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Post by dsparil on Feb 3, 2019 10:30:22 GMT -5
Yeah I was also thinking this one. For whatever reason Vectorman 2 shows off considerably fewer effects than the first game, and the ones that are there aren't as impressive. Nothing in VM2 looks as nice as the waterfall level in VM1 for instance. I think it's because the development was rushed. I replayed them a few days ago, and 2 feels like a thrown together game in many ways.
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Post by kaoru on Feb 3, 2019 10:45:21 GMT -5
Xenoblade 2 compared to the two prior games, thanks to the change in character design, looks like a generic tiddy anime game at first glance now.
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Post by X-pert74 on Feb 3, 2019 17:58:43 GMT -5
A pretty easy answer for this would be Mega Man & Bass/Rockman & Forte, which unavoidably looks worse than Mega Man 8 does, due to being made on the Super Famicom using downgraded assets from the Playstation game.
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Post by windfisch on Feb 3, 2019 20:54:57 GMT -5
Hmm, maybe we shouldn't compare apples and oranges?
I, mean Rocket Knight and Sparkster I can understand, at least to some degree: I think that Mega Drive Sparkster is a great looking game, albeit with a radically different artstyle compare to the first game (reminds me a bit of Dynamite Headdy at times). But artstyle aside, Rocket Knight has even more variety and neat ittle touches, which put it slightly above Sparkster.
And speaking of Mega Man, how about the X games: Aren't X5 and X6 both considered worse looking than X4? (can't speak from much experience, because I haven't really played those yet, just seen some videos). X6 might even look worse than the SNES games - would any of you agree?
My pick would be the Street Fighter 3 series: I think the first of the bunch (New Generation) has the most gorgeous backgrounds, with tons of little details, animations and multiple stage transitions between rounds. Second Impact's background are a bit more static and less detailed overall and the ones from Third Strike even more so. The latter even feels a bit rushed in that regard as some characters share the same background, albeit slightly modified. It's almost like these were originally intended to be stage transitions for a single character, but then the team was running out of time. Both, Second Impact and Third Strike are still fantastic looking games. Some of the stages in them are even on par with NG's backgrounds in terms of liveliness (like Chun Li's stage in TS). And from a graphic design perspective (form follwing function=gameplay) less detail and animation might even be preferential, meaning less potential distraction. But when it comes to pure spectacle New Generation is hard to beat.
Just compare Ibuki's stages in NG, a village, featuring three different times of day (noon, sunset and night) and villagers, to the same scene but without any times of day or inhabitants in SI. And Ibuki's TS stage is a relatively minimalistic, featuring a quiet field path (I still love that stage, though, especially since it's an homage to Geki's Street Fighter 1 stage).
Or how about Elena's NG stage featuring a bridge from which you can see far way mountains and a river. Said bridge crashes down in round two and cheering people and animals await the combatants. SI has the same stage only at night, still looking pretty, but with almost no characters in it. And finally TS features a sunset savannah, which looks somewhat flat by comparison.
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