Hulk_Smash
Banned
Have you ever saw a game and thought, "Wow, that was on the [console name]? That looks too good to be on that system!" Well, I have many times.
With each console cycle, we always see at least one or two games that are the pinnacle of that gen's graphics. Visuals that look so good, you wonder how they were able to accomplish that on that particular console. I'm not talking about games that stand the test of time or look really good "for that era". I'm talking about games that look like they would be impossible to do on current hardware or look like an early next gen game. A game like Symphony of the Night is one that stands the test of time, but we would never mistake it for a PS2 game.
I'll give you one example from each generation from Atari on and see if it sparks a discussion about what limits can be pushed on a hardware platform and what we could be seeing as this generation wraps up and the next one starts.
Atari 2600: Solaris This generation was the hardest to show a leap in graphics, because of the gap between the Atari 2600's peak and the introduction of the NES. But, I think this game is comparable to the black box games on the NES. Very simple graphics, but you'd think twice before guessing the 2600- a console released in 1977.
NES: Return of the Joker Did you know Sunsoft made a sequel to '89 Batman before Batman Returns came out? And it was actually pretty good? Look at that parallax scrolling! Look at the shading!
Super Nintendo: Off-Road: The Baja An SNES game with 3D modeling? Or is that some Nintendo-level wizardry I see with those sprites? I couldn't believe this wasn't an early PS1 game.
N64: Jet Force Gemini I went with another Nintendo console because the PS1 had such a bad problem with 3D rendering that I don't think any PS1 game could escape that PS1 look. Besides, JFG has them all beat anyway. The draw distance, lighting, and texture work could fool anyone into think this was a PS2 level game. Maybe even GameCube.
GameCube/PS2: Resident Evil 4 I first saw this live on a Wii and I couldn't even believe it was on the Wii. You could've told me it was an Xbox 360 or PS3 game and I would have believed you.
PS3: The Last of Us It's facial features, texture work, level of detail in the world, all add up to one astounding graphical experience. I've recently been playing through the remastered version and while, I am sure there are some differences, I'd have to put them side by side in order to tell you what those differences are.
So, that's all I got. Surely not the only examples of these kinds of games or even the best examples... that's why we debate
. What games from this gen do you think would be the ones we look back and swear it was too good for its current system?
With each console cycle, we always see at least one or two games that are the pinnacle of that gen's graphics. Visuals that look so good, you wonder how they were able to accomplish that on that particular console. I'm not talking about games that stand the test of time or look really good "for that era". I'm talking about games that look like they would be impossible to do on current hardware or look like an early next gen game. A game like Symphony of the Night is one that stands the test of time, but we would never mistake it for a PS2 game.
I'll give you one example from each generation from Atari on and see if it sparks a discussion about what limits can be pushed on a hardware platform and what we could be seeing as this generation wraps up and the next one starts.
Atari 2600: Solaris This generation was the hardest to show a leap in graphics, because of the gap between the Atari 2600's peak and the introduction of the NES. But, I think this game is comparable to the black box games on the NES. Very simple graphics, but you'd think twice before guessing the 2600- a console released in 1977.
NES: Return of the Joker Did you know Sunsoft made a sequel to '89 Batman before Batman Returns came out? And it was actually pretty good? Look at that parallax scrolling! Look at the shading!
Super Nintendo: Off-Road: The Baja An SNES game with 3D modeling? Or is that some Nintendo-level wizardry I see with those sprites? I couldn't believe this wasn't an early PS1 game.
N64: Jet Force Gemini I went with another Nintendo console because the PS1 had such a bad problem with 3D rendering that I don't think any PS1 game could escape that PS1 look. Besides, JFG has them all beat anyway. The draw distance, lighting, and texture work could fool anyone into think this was a PS2 level game. Maybe even GameCube.
GameCube/PS2: Resident Evil 4 I first saw this live on a Wii and I couldn't even believe it was on the Wii. You could've told me it was an Xbox 360 or PS3 game and I would have believed you.
PS3: The Last of Us It's facial features, texture work, level of detail in the world, all add up to one astounding graphical experience. I've recently been playing through the remastered version and while, I am sure there are some differences, I'd have to put them side by side in order to tell you what those differences are.
So, that's all I got. Surely not the only examples of these kinds of games or even the best examples... that's why we debate
. What games from this gen do you think would be the ones we look back and swear it was too good for its current system?
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The frame rate gives it away though.
