Most Technically Impressive Games

[j_factor]

Red Zone for Genesis. Great 3D effects, full screen rotation done in software, full motion video clips, and one pumping soundtrack. The gameplay is actually pretty sophisticated too. Shame it's way too hard.

Gran Turismo 4 deserves mention for getting 1080i out of a system that totally doesn't support it. I still don't know how that works.

Dragon's Lair for the Game Boy Color is pretty amazing.

Anyone remember Hydra for the Lynx? I thought that game compared favorably to games on Genesis and SNES. Actually it's pretty on-par with GBA.

[Julio III]

Some people have had some good suggestions here:

PS2 - Outrun 2006
Dreamcast - Shenmue II
Dreamcast - Soul Calibur
Gamecube - Resident Evil 4

[eugenek]

Not a single vote for Vectorman? Some of the bosses in that game are mindblowing...hard to believe that's the same system that produced Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle.

[Press_Start]

For technically most impressive graphics of a machine, Squaresoft's games during the PS1 era fit the bill quite well with titles like Final Fantasy 7, Parasite Eve, and Xenogears. Vagrant Story takes the gold, IMO.

The Saturn version of Shenmue does deserve recognition for showcasing Saturn's capabilities were on par with the Playstation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUe9ASlu9Us

[fishsandwich]

Sega CD
Slipheed
Batman
Battlecorps was especially impressive. The pseudo-3D is awesome.

It's a shame the Sega CD hardware was never really pushed. It had a lot of potential with its extra CPU and custom graphics chips with built-in scaling and rotation.

Check out these Sega CD games in action...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k80dODWdj9I

32x
DarXide
Virtua Fighter

N64
Sin & Punishment still amazes me whenever I get to teh scene with the aircraft carriers.

Saturn
Sonic R has the prettiest graphics I ever saw on the Saturn.

Megadrive/Genesis
Duke Nukem 3D is a very impressive-looking FPS. Too bad it plays like ass and looks nothing like the original.

[MachineGex]

....
Burgertime - Intellivision. MUCH better port than the NES, which is interesting, because it's not as advanced of a system. As a matter of fact, I think INTV Burgertime is probably the most authentic arcade translation out there. Except the play control, of course.

I still want an Intellivision for this one game(well baseball was fun also). I keep trying the NES version, but it's not as fun as the Intellivision.

[alexkidd2000]

For there time, the System 16 lineup of Space Harrier, Outrun, Afterburner were technically AMAZING.

[Rob2600]

which games really pushed the hardware to or past the limit.

Atari 2600:

Battlezone
Beamrider
California Games
Decathalon
Enduro
Jungle Hunt
Pete Rose Pennant Fever
Pitfall II: Lost Caverns
Pole Position
RealSports Boxing
Smurfs: Rescue in Gargamel's Castle
Solaris
Super Football
Winter Games


Atari 5200:

Rescue on Fractalus


NES:

Batman: Return of the Joker
Castlevania III
Crisis Force (Japan only)
Kirby's Adventure
Mega Man series
Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!
Summer Carnival '92 Recca (Japan only)
Sword Master
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game
Track & Field II


SNES:

Chrono Trigger
Donkey Kong Country series
Mortal Kombat 2
Pilotwings
Rendering Ranger: R2 (Japan only)
Secret of Mana 2 (Seiken Densetsu 3) (Japan only)
Star Fox
Street Fighter II Turbo
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
Tales of Phantasia (Japan only)


Nintendo 64:

Conker's Bad Fur Day
The Legend of Zelda series
Mortal Kombat 4
NFL Quarterback Club '99
Perfect Dark
Rayman 2
Resident Evil 2
Sin and Punishment
Wave Race 64
Wonder Project J2 (Japan only)
World Driver Championship


GameCube:

Burnout 2: Point of Impact
F-Zero GX
Fight Night Round 2
The Legend of Zelda series
Metroid Prime series
Pikmin series
Resident Evil 4
Star Fox Adventures
Star Wars: Rogue Squadron series
Wave Race: Blue Storm

Where is the love for Resident Evil 4 on the Gamecube? When I first saw that game, I was "wowed".

I agree. It's one of the most impressive-looking GameCube games. In fact, it's one of the most impressive-looking games from that generation.

[NayusDante]

I'm not sure I'd agree with Mega Man 2 being much of a technical achievement, and I had a feeling that somebody would bring it up. I always considered it to be more of a gameplay perfection, but the latter games were more technically impressive. In 2, there are large enemies in some levels (the fish, the fire-dog), but only parts of those are animated. In 3, there are several much larger enemies that move entirely. In 4, the mini-boss enemies are much more complex. In 5, specifically Gravity Man's level, there are huge enemies that leap across the screen, in a scrolling area. Use of color improved after 2 too.

In short, I always respected 2 because it wasn't a technical marvel, and because it didn't have to be. I would personally say that 5 would be the most technical of the series, some reasons being the final stage in the first fortress, overall color depth, and musical complexity.

I'm surprised to see nobody mention the GB Pokemon games or the Star Fox 2 prototype. Pokemon was a very dynamic game on a very low-power platform, and Star Fox 2 may have been the most impressive Super-FX chip game.

An honorable mention should go to Steel Batallion (Xbox). Considering that the controller ports are USB with a modified port shape, it's odd that aside from dance pads, few other custom controllers were ever made.

[Sergeant Sega]

I kind of feel that the first Oddworld game deserves to be mentioned, with the Gamespeak function, it really impressed me when I played it for the first time.

[Rob2600]

I'm not sure I'd agree with Mega Man 2 being much of a technical achievement ... there are large enemies in some levels (the fish, the fire-dog), but only parts of those are animated. In 3, there are several much larger enemies that move entirely. In 4, the mini-boss enemies are much more complex. In 5, specifically Gravity Man's level, there are huge enemies that leap across the screen, in a scrolling area. Use of color improved after 2 too.

Good point. I've changed "Mega Man II" to "Mega Man series" in my previous post.

I also added Wonder Project J2 to the N64 section in my post. The game featured a ton of high-res 2D artwork and animation, which was incredible, especially considering it was released only several months after the console's launch. If I remember correctly, the cartridge was only 8 MB, too.

[CosmicMonkey]

Virtua Fighter 3 and Shenmue were both apparently running on standard Saturn hardware without any sort of upgrade cards.

I think these both fit the description of 'pushing the hardware'.

[megasdkirby]

For me, there have been quite a few games that have WOWed me.

Batman Return of the Joker (NES): Even today, it still shocks at what the game accomplished. EXCELLENT music and graphics. Looks and sounds awesome in almost every aspect.

Journey to Silius (NES): Like Batman ROTJ, this also has one fantastic OST. One of the best I have ever heard on an NES.

Kirby's Adventure (NES): Great graphics and sound make it an excellent title that still impresses to this day.

[eskobar]

Virtua Fighter 3 and Shenmue were both apparently running on standard Saturn hardware without any sort of upgrade cards.

I think these both fit the description of 'pushing the hardware'.

I do not know if they ran on a Saturn box or was still emulated code, but if they were running on the hardware we know, quite possibly we have the most advanced programming work ever made.

[Zebbe]

A lot of these Nintendo cartridge games like Super Mario Bros. 3 and Pilotwings don't "push the hardware to the limits" - their enhancement chips do. Same goes for Virtua Racing on Mega Drive ofcourse.

[Rob2600]

A lot of these Nintendo cartridge games like Super Mario Bros. 3 and Pilotwings don't "push the hardware to the limits" - their enhancement chips do. Same goes for Virtua Racing on Mega Drive ofcourse.

True. Just in case anyone is wondering, roughly 4 percent of SNES games released in the U.S. and 8 percent of SNES games released worldwide have a special chip inside. That's 27 U.S. games and 74 worldwide games...definitely nowhere near the majority.

[icbrkr]

No mention of the C64? Well.. I'll have to fix that!

Anything in the last few years of the C64's commercial life was just amazing (1992-1994). With stuff like this being released, I hated to move on from the 8 bit...



Creatures 2 and Mayhem in Monsterland...

[LiquidPolicenaut]

Many of the best technical achievement games have already been listed, but I'll add the ones I feel are "the ones" for the Sega CD:

Lunar: Eternal Blue
Snatcher
Adventures of Batman and Robin
Dracula Unleashed
Urusei Yatsura

Easily four of the best "technical achievement" games for the system. I always felt the Sega CD gets too bad of a rep sometimes...

[Cryomancer]

No one mentioned Phantasy Star for SMS? I find it pretty impressive.

Gunstar Heroes is pretty kickass, but if you wanna see it really PUSH a system, try the gamegear version! Slowdown lie crazy, but it's an oddly accurate port all things considered.

[Iron Draggon]

Eternal Champions

If I remember correctly, it was the only Genesis game to ever max out the number of colors that could be displayed onscreen at the same time. (64)