Worst parallax in a 2D game?
- Thread starter Spring-Loaded
- Start date
Gunstar Ikari
Unconfirmed Member
I actually thought that Super Mario Kart was much, much worse in this regard. The spinouts in that game still give me headaches.
Pimpbaa
Member
It's 8-bit cpu was like really fast. It almost didn't matter that it was only 8-bit because some developers could do some amazing stuff in software with the thing (except for Ninja Gaiden obviously). It's a shame that outside of Japan that people were fooled by the "it's only 8-bit" bullshit. It's had 16-bit graphics, that's what mattered.
Graphics Horse
Member
I thought I'd be the one bringing up SMK and SC. The foreground hills looks ok like they match well with the rotation but the background ones just kind of sit there.
Can I just take this chance to say that I absolutely ADORE parallax scrolling? (Just as Joe aka Mr.GameSack apparently does - he mentions it quite often in his videos, as heard in the latest Sega Master System video when he talks about Choplifter at the 4:55 minute mark: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4N0kmU4E7T4.)
In fact, I see it as one of the most important innovations in games in general when it comes to improve world building. When done right, it simply adds so much to make a game's world feel expansive and explorable, even when it is just an optical effect. It enhances the feel of movement and depth as well of course.
Apart from bad examples, I would love to see a thread on good examples as well! (My picks, just off the top of my head, would be Ranger X and Sonic the Hedgehog on the Genesis - a console that in general had many games that used the technique well. I love how in Greenhill Zone, there are waterfalls in the background that flow into the sparkling lake while further back there are mountain peaks as well). Anyone know of particularly good ones, especially those that also feature foreground layers?
Here is another potentially exhausting thread on the subject by the way (listing both good and bad examples): http://www.the-nextlevel.com/tnl/threads/26141-2-D-Games-with-the-best-Parallax-Scrolling.
Oh and did you guys know that a game such as Street Fighter II makes use of a so-called raster variant of parallax scrolling to create its smoothly moving floors that always move in relation to the characters while staying at the correct angle to the player's viewpoint? Cool, right?
In fact, I see it as one of the most important innovations in games in general when it comes to improve world building. When done right, it simply adds so much to make a game's world feel expansive and explorable, even when it is just an optical effect. It enhances the feel of movement and depth as well of course.
Apart from bad examples, I would love to see a thread on good examples as well! (My picks, just off the top of my head, would be Ranger X and Sonic the Hedgehog on the Genesis - a console that in general had many games that used the technique well. I love how in Greenhill Zone, there are waterfalls in the background that flow into the sparkling lake while further back there are mountain peaks as well). Anyone know of particularly good ones, especially those that also feature foreground layers?
Here is another potentially exhausting thread on the subject by the way (listing both good and bad examples): http://www.the-nextlevel.com/tnl/threads/26141-2-D-Games-with-the-best-Parallax-Scrolling.
Oh and did you guys know that a game such as Street Fighter II makes use of a so-called raster variant of parallax scrolling to create its smoothly moving floors that always move in relation to the characters while staying at the correct angle to the player's viewpoint? Cool, right?
Blergh! God that's awful! Who thought this was a good idea?
Holy Crap......... I think both my eyes just threw up!
Came here to post this. Hands down the worst parallax I've ever seen.
The CPU was essentially a risc processor before that became trendy. Tons of horsepower if the programmer made it sing, and the GPU was 16 bit, which is the part that really mattered.
Check rest of thread for why it's not this.
Spring-Loaded
Member
Jesus! Even on the menu my stomach was turning. When it got to the actual game, I couldn't last more than two seconds. Would love to know the rationale behind this design choice.
Vulcano's assistant
Banned
visuals aside, that is some kick ass music.
Parallax Scroll
Banned
Fuck yeah ulillillia. That dude owns.
Spring-Loaded
Member
Gokurakumaru
Banned
Easily my most hated use is Ryu's stage in Street Fighter II Turbo (9m50s in the video). The programmers made the clouds in the background float away. Fine, right? No. The MOON floats away with them. It's bugged me ever since the game was first released.
Net_Wrecker
Member
This could actually be used in a cool way to "fake" a three dimensional space. Like a boss battle in a giant cylinder.
But yeah it's terrible and I'm gonna go throw up now.
Holy crap, you were not joking. It feels like my head is spinning.
This looks like the worst game ever.
At least the music in this seems pretty nice...
And holy shit at Batman & Robin. That game looks phenomenal. Real discovery here is the soundtrack though, love it.
Great thread.
Secret Fawful
Member
Holy shit at ulillillia. What a master. I've never seen anything like that.
abacab driver
Banned
I do not remember Jim Powers parallax being that bad..what in the fuck.
I find it awesome! Lol
Maybe because you(and i) played jim power in mutant planet
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpaFi5VjS1M
MrCunningham
Member
Well now, the parallax in this version looks pretty respectable. That colour palette is rather psychedelic though.
Monado Blade
Member
What's this about ulillillia? I've never heard of him before and googling him... whoa... what is this I don't even
exmachina64
Banned
That's terrible.
Poimandres
Member
Battletoads did this really well. It was very impressive at the time... for those who got to see this level
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_D5kQQXxdcQ
Danger! Explosive!
He's afraid of stairs, mirrors, and can't sit on chairs, only on the floor. He ONLY eats pizza, which he degreases with a complicated and time-consuming paper towel method. He also hates showering because he will be cold for hours afterwards. He has a constantly forward-shifting sleep schedule. He has very likely some sort of high-functioning autism, Aspergers? I'm not too sure and it doesn't really matter. Oh, and he loves BIG NUMBERS, "extreme" power levelling, especially in Disgaea.
http://www.ulillillia.us/aboutme/majorfears.shtml
He has gained quite a bit of a well-meaning following. Sure, some people make fun of him, but many seem to relate to his quirks. He also appears to be completely asexual, and doesn't care about what others think of him, which doesn't make him a good target for incessant trolling like, say, Christian Weston Chandler and his Sonichu creation.
His game "Platform Masters" has been in development for a very long time, he spends most of the time building these insanely intricate scrolling backgrounds rather than actually building levels. In his games, a common theme is humans flying and jumping high in the sky, running with incredible speeds, which seems to be rooted in his "mind game".
(sorry for the off-topic)
Ardenyal
Member
Watching this in a hangover... Yeah, I need to go lie down...
Haha, tried to play that back in the day and couldn't stomach even one stage. So bad.
What were they thinking? Unless you are in a circle-shaped valley with 360° of mountains around it, and you are running in circles, this perspective isn't even possible.
wow as much as I played that I never really noticed lol.
Never noticed it either. I'd have to think it's just a simple case that they ran out of background layers and the options were either leave the moon out entirely or put it on the same layer as the clouds.(Which they probably went with because while it looks good in a screen shot most people don't notice it while the game is in motion.)
Actually anybody else notice in Choplifter the aircraft carrier that you launch from moves at the same rate as the mountains in the background? (Which is due pretty much because the SMS only supports 1 background layer. The Genesis is 2 and I think the SNES is 4.)
It's like a fever dream with a terrible soundtrack.
Parallax Scroll
Banned
Jim Power is definitely one of the worst.
Monado Blade
Member
Thanks very much for this. I honestly didn't know what to believe when I googled him up.
DeaconKnowledge
Member
...
I have never seen this game before. How am I only seeing this now. Is this the genesis version of the Batman and Robin SNES game? the SNES version looks nothing like this.
Spring-Loaded
Member
Yeah, it looks good ass fuck. I wish i owned a genesis or whatever as a kid
Played this for the first time at a family get-together as a kid. Blew my mind. I couldn't process the idea that a genesid game looked better in a ton of ways than alot of arcade games i was playing.
phosphor112
Banned
Oh my fucking fuck. The inverted scrolling amplifies the parallax. Fuck watching 30 seconds from that made me sick.
MrCunningham
Member
The Mad Hatter Stage will always be one of my favorite examples of what the Genesis can do: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3KO3bBPjg0&feature=player_detailpage&t=932
Though the entire stage from start to finish is pretty amazing. The cheshire cat boss had a really nice rotating and warping effects.
Back on the topic of parallax, Ranger X had a lot o cool moments too: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocWNU_il7Vw&feature=player_detailpage&t=381
What marbles thing?
A Black Falcon
Member
Focus on the foreground and you get used to it. That crazy-fast scrolling was intentional, put there in order to create the "3D" effect they mention in the title. It is kind of dizzying if you look at the background, but focus on the sprites and you'll be okay...
Also, the game originally came with 3d glasses, for use with the platformer stages. Supposedly those fast-moving backgrounds make it look "3d" with the glasses, or something. They're not the usual red-blue glasses though, but some special kind called "nuoptix" 3d glasses. I have Jim Power with the box and manual, but don't have compatible glasses, so I'm not sure if they work...
I wonder how it does look in 3D.
ElektroDragon
Banned
How about BEST parallax in 2D game?
Shadow of the Beast on the Amiga, baby. Ultimate and eternal KING of 2D parallax.
Shadow of the Beast on the Amiga, baby. Ultimate and eternal KING of 2D parallax.
AmethystEnd
Member
Indeed it will but my fucking god I love the soundtrack. Particularly the first stage. Never thought I'd see anyone else bring this game up.
Spring-Loaded
Member
I'm about 15 minutes into this video by Ulillillia.
FASCINATING
He clearly cares more about the parallax backgrounds than the actual gameplay. Some indie developer needs to hire him to work on backgrounds exclusively. He could use some direction, you could say
FASCINATING
He clearly cares more about the parallax backgrounds than the actual gameplay. Some indie developer needs to hire him to work on backgrounds exclusively. He could use some direction, you could say