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Joined: Aug 28 2011 Posts: 537

I am writing an article about how kids now have everything, but they have nothing. They have no history with gaming to witness the graphical evolution -- I see fucking 7 year olds start off gaming playing Call of Duty: MW3. They can't develop proper taste in games. They will play classics they download; it is an emptiness unbearable to me.

So what is your history of games that really blew you away with their visual aspects? These are games that had a big impact on you visually, not a thread where you simply list games with good graphics. Below is my history. (Notice how there are no handheld games.)

DKC-->SM64-->F-Zero X-->Halo-->Metroid Prime-->Resident Evil 4-->Killer 7

Donkey Kong Country (SNES) -- Major visual impact
-Donkey Kong's character model looked amazing. The game aesthetics really took me back. A dark forest where the rain falls was probably the most immersive game at the time. Nintendo really outdid themselves.

Super Mario 64 (N64) -- Major visual impact
-Who wasn't blown away by this? Game looked amazing and invited you to long jump to your heart's content in huge colorful worlds (not some empty and bland like a jrpg). To me this game started 3D.

F-Zero X (N64) -- Moderate visual impact
-Screaming guitars, blazing speeds, racing on a cylindrical track that is in the sky -- this kinda exposure was like something obscene to me as a kid.

Halo (XBOX) -- Major visual impact
-From Goldeneye to this. Wow.

Metroid Prime (GC) -- Major visual impact
-Walking away from the kiosk the demo was at you could feel yourself coming back out of the illusion of this art. The game is straight-up gorgeous.

Resident Evil 4 (GC) -- Moderate visual impact
-Damn! Really good looking game. The first time you enter that cavern and see the light shine down with novistadors flying through the air looked like something out of a movie.

Killer 7 (GC) -- Minor visual impact
-Wasn't going to really add this, but I just had to as the game is sickly stylish. It is a visual masterpiece looking at the contrasting colors between your Smith & the background. And the critical hit death animations are a stylized pinnacle in videogames.

Posted: Oct 18 2011 10:21 pm

I could say the same thing about you. Starting with DKC. Bah you didn't start with Combat, or Pitfall!, or visual masterpieces such as E.T. and Pac-Man for the Atari. Razz

I played a lot of RPG's so I would say seeing all the effects and the backgrounds evolve from NES to now. I remember just staring at the screen looking at the backgrounds of Baiten Kaitos, or Final Fantasy XIII, thinking wow, this a long way away from Dragon Warrior for NES.

Joined: Aug 28 2011 Posts: 537

Me being defensive: I've played Donkey Kong on its arcade cabinet when I was a kid. I've played Pong and Pac-Man when I was a kid. Those games were never visually impactful enough to me so I didn't list them. My first video game was Super Mario Bros. so that is my reference point from which I go to the first big jump (the 'graphical wow') to DKC. Now if you are saying that Combat and Pitfall's visuals really hit you compared to prior games that's what I'd like to read about it in this thread.

Yea, Baten Kaitos' pre-rendered clouds are gorgeous. Definitely in the top 3 of pre-rendered backgrounds of last-gen.

Posted: Oct 18 2011 10:39 pm

I remember being really blown away by the Resident Evil remake. I still think it looks better than 4.

Posted: Oct 19 2011 12:22 am

When I got my PS3 and popped in MGS4, I was blown away with the opening scene with Snake riding in the truck with the militia. The only other wow I've had since then was when I was playing Oblivion for the first time and I had just entered the Shivering Isles...

Posted: Oct 19 2011 12:51 am

I'd say the games that had the biggest impacts visually for me were Mario 64, Oblivion, and FF XIII. I remember popping those games in and being just stunned at how awesome the graphics were. I guess Oblivion's people are kinda fugly but the world itself is gorgeous. Mario 64 at the time blew me away because it was just so amazing to see Mario in something other than 2D for the first time. FF XIII was pretty as hell too, though the game itself wasn't all that exciting, first time I saw something on Blu-Ray using an HDMI cord and the world just made me go "Daaaaaaamn..." I can't honestly say I ever saw anything on SNES or NES that I really was too amazed by, but then I was playing those between ages 5-10 or so and wasn't really paying much attention truth be told.

Joined: Jun 08 2010 Location: Termina Field Posts: 1541

Vert1 wrote:

Super Mario 64 (N64) -- Major visual impact
-Who wasn't blown away by this? Game looked amazing and invited you to long jump to your heart's content in huge colorful worlds (not some empty and bland like a jrpg). To me this game started 3D.

Meh. To me, Super Mario 64 didn't really start 3D. Ocarina of Time started it. To me, SM64 is just a glorified tech-demo. Rather buggy, and also rather easy.

Posted: Oct 19 2011 01:50 am

Battlezone/Star Wars (Arcade): The awesomeness was as much from their cabinets as from the graphics (the periscope Battlezone/sit-down Star Wars)

Dragon's Lair/ Space Ace (Arcade): Holy shit! Film quality animated video games! Very Happy

Star Fox (SNES): I remember being in a Sears and in the furniture sections (near the electronics/appliances) there was a computer desk with a TV looping some Star Fox demo video (the flying out of the tunnel, some of the first level,etc). It blew my freaking mind. I watched the video loop a few times, at least, and knew I had to own this game. I still think the art design for this game is awesome.

Morrowind (PC): Even taking into account Bethesda's hideous troll-people the game looked amazing at the time. Too bad with Oblivion they decided bland and generic was a better route.

Soul Calibur (Dreamcast): What sort of demonry is this? It looks just as good as the arcade game. Might be my most-played Dreamcast game.

Falcon 4.0 (PC): Having previously only had Flight Simulator 3-6, A-10 Tank Killer, and Jet Fighter 2, this game looked fantastic...and would barely even run on my pathetic hand-me-down PC. It would be several years before I got to play this as intended. Confused

probably some others that I can't remember...

Posted: Oct 19 2011 02:05 am

I'm fucking tired of being told that young people can never have a true appreciation of games. Anyway, for me, I guess it'd be:

Pokemon Snap: First three dimensional game I ever played

Star Fox 64: It, in my eyes, is one of the best looking N64 games

Sly Cooper maybe?: Whatever it was, it was the first game I played on PS2, the improvement from N64 was great.

Uhh.. One of the CoDs, I guess... maybe Assassin's creed?: Whatever the first Xbox 360 games I played, I kinda realized graphics were peaking at this point.

Joined: Apr 09 2008 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 3112

sidewaydriver wrote:

I remember being really blown away by the Resident Evil remake. I still think it looks better than 4.

That's because 4 was fully-rendered 3D graphics, while REMake was pre-rendered (essentially making your character walk through a painting), which freed up space to make smoother, more detailed characters (I know I'm oversimplifying it, explain it better if you can, programmers).

Pilotwings- I was like 8 years old.

Doom 2- Wait, I'm looking through the character's eyes with all of these giant, scary demons trying to murder me? Awesome. I think I was like 7 for this.

Sonic Adventure- Really only for the sake of the whale scene in the first level. Up until then, most 3D games looked really ugly to me.

Rez- It felt like playing the Lawnmower Man. Except not shitty.

Halo- This was the first time I'd seen 3D graphics that didn't look jaggy, polygonal, or poorly-textured in-game. Dated by today's standards, it was a sight for someone who still wasn't terribly convinced by 3D graphics.

Morrowind- My first 3D open-world style game. It had a wonderful atmosphere and art design that went with each zone that made it fun just to walk around and explore

Painkiller- Gigantic, sprawling levels with tons of unique, highly-detailed enemies, this one really blew me away the first time I played it.

Gears of War- Before this game, most developers figured if they wanted to make an environment or thing seem larger, they would just make the player character small, and size everything up. I always loved the art direction in this series, because they know how to use focal points, depth, field of vision, and other techniques to convey scale.

Just Cause 2- The game just constantly surprises me by how colorful it is, how good it looks, and how massive it is. I love just parachuting or flying around when I need to relax and unwind.

Crytek's whole catalogue- it seems like when a developer comes out with a new engine to show off, most of them try to throw in dark shaders to hide the engines' inadequacies. Crytek will throw your ass into a vivid, varied environments with great artistic design, and not usually only for show. Most of the time, their great graphics are usually incorporated into the game for stealth elements, whether it's to the advantage of you or your enemies.

Posted: Oct 19 2011 03:57 am

Ah yeah Just Cause 2 was beautiful. I'd definitely say I was impressed by the graphics in that game. I spent a lot of time just hanging off the windmills watching the scenery while I plotted my next scheme to demoralize the population.

Posted: Oct 19 2011 03:38 pm

I have to admit that the 2K Sports games are very good looking.

Posted: Oct 19 2011 03:46 pm

Test Drive 1 - Commodore 64. I was use to playing driving games with good graphics on the C=64 that looked like this:

Then Test Drive hit, and not only were the car select screen beautiful:

They were animated! The first time I picked a car, I was blown away when it started up, rev'd its engine, and then drove off the screen!

And, the in game was just as amazing:

This game put you INTO the driver's seat. This was a huge graphical moment for me as a kid.

I may have some more to add later.

Joined: Apr 09 2008 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 3112

Beach Bum wrote:

Ah yeah Just Cause 2 was beautiful. I'd definitely say I was impressed by the graphics in that game. I spent a lot of time just hanging off the windmills watching the scenery while I plotted my next scheme to demoralize the population.

I think Journey might be the only game with a desert that I want to explore even more than JC2's.

Posted: Oct 19 2011 07:46 pm

I hate this thread. That being said:

Crystalis: Easily one of the prettiest NES games ever.
King's Quest 5: Compare to King's Quest 4 for reference.
Mad Dog McCree: Jesus Christ, this game was fucking amazing. The characters looked super fucking real. It truly was a marvel to behold.

Posted: Oct 20 2011 05:56 am

The first Castlevania.

That is all.

Posted: Oct 20 2011 11:31 am

Kind of goes without saying for anyone over 30 years old, but when Dragon's Lair hit the arcade.... HOLY SHIT!

Posted: Oct 20 2011 12:13 pm

You know, I despite the technology being available, I don't think anything as pretty as Dragon's Lair ever came out in that cartoony style. The closest thing would be King's Quest VII, which came out 11 years later.

Joined: Apr 09 2008 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 3112

Syd Lexia wrote:

You know, I despite the technology being available, I don't think anything as pretty as Dragon's Lair ever came out in that cartoony style. The closest thing would be King's Quest VII, which came out 11 years later.

There were a few attempts at home versions of Laserdisc games, notably on the Halcyon system, but since Laserdisc sucked, cool little games like Thayer's Quest were stuck in arcades and forced into obscurity until the mid-90's when the CD-i took the world by storm.

Posted: Oct 20 2011 12:23 pm

i was recently impressed by the Art Direction of El Shaddai. i've seen better graphics, but the art style in this game is impressive.

Joined: Apr 09 2008 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 3112

username wrote:

i was recently impressed by the Art Direction of El Shaddai. i've seen better graphics, but the art style in this game is impressive.

Yeah, I've been wanting to pick it up lately. I heard it was short, so I'll probably nab it after Christmas or something.

Posted: Oct 20 2011 12:25 pm

Greg the White wrote:

username wrote:

i was recently impressed by the Art Direction of El Shaddai. i've seen better graphics, but the art style in this game is impressive.

Yeah, I've been wanting to pick it up lately. I heard it was short, so I'll probably nab it after Christmas or something.

it is a bit short, but the difficulty is also a bit high. so, that artificially extended its playtime for me (maybe i just suck lol)

Posted: Oct 20 2011 12:37 pm

I've tried replying to this thread a few times, but I keep getting off on tangents about the gameplay... I guess graphics just aren't that important to me. (big surprise there if you ever seen my videogame room)

But I must say, Super Mario Bros.
Hey look a hole, shit I fell off the screen. Hey look a Tube, WOW I took a tunnel UNDER the screen, hey look a vine, Holy fuck I took a shortcut ABOVE the screen, with coins galore!!

once again I feel I'm grading the game play, not the graphics.... but it was just nice to know that so much of the game wasn't just 'background graphics', you could interact with it.

Posted: Oct 20 2011 12:42 pm

once again, not to go off an a tangent, (do I have ADD?) but I find it funny how Dragons Lair gets so much love yet Night Trap gets so much hate, they were both the same game... watch the movie, remember where you fucked up, try again. Myself I loved Night Trap, and hope one day to get a 32X and Sega CD or a 3DO to play it in it's highest resolution, most colorful glory.

Posted: Oct 20 2011 12:59 pm

Um, the difference is simple. Dragon's Lair was created by legendary animator Don Bluth and was genuinely pretty. Night Trap looked like crap. At least, it did on the Sega CD and 32X. I am unfamiliar with the 3DO and DOS versions.

Also, if you want live action video games, I already mentioned Mad Dog McCree as a joke. No one seemed to notice. For those of you unfamiliar with it:

It was a light gun game that used live actors. It's pretty terrible.