Most Technically Impressive Games

[j_factor]

Look again. The wood beams in the background move in 3D. Not the vertical wood beams, but the beams that are on the Z-axis.

Alright, just for good measure I hooked up my SNES and played that level of DKC2. I see those wood beams. That's the same normal parallax effect as on the surface of the water.


There's a lot going on in DKC 2, especially compared to a game like Super Mario World. I'd put DKC 2 in the same league as Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island.

Compared to Super Mario World, sure, but that's kind of a random comparison. Super Mario World's graphics are attractive but very plain.


As far as I know, the SNES can handle transparency. There are translucent clouds in the Ghost House intros in Super Mario World. There are also translucent green blobs in the castles. None of those objects are full screen.

Translucent clouds does not a "transparency" make. Lots of games have translucent images, but that's not really a transparency effect.


I've always understood parallax to mean background layers that scroll independently. By that definition, the bee/honey levels in DKC definitely feature parallax scrolling. There's the main background, the distant background, and the translucent animated foreground, all scrolling at different speeds. I know the YouTube video is low res, so it may be difficult to see that.

That does technically fit the definition of the word parallax, but that's not what most people mean when they say parallax scrolling. SNES (as well as Genesis, Neo Geo, and other systems) allows a game to have multiple background layers. If they weren't able to scroll independently, they wouldn't be separate layers. Having multiple layers isn't an effect of any sort, it's just how the video hardware works.

Parallax scrolling generally refers to different rates of scrolling at different "heights" (within one layer) to give a 3D look, usually done as a raster effect. For a quick and easy example of the difference, look at the intro to Sonic 3 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfYsTmow76g). The scrolling effect on the water that gives it the illusion of depth is parallax scrolling. Right after that, as he flies onto the island, you can see two independent background layers.

Parallax scrolling was done in some 8-bit games. Particularly nice examples are Choplifter for SMS, and Battletoads Double Dragon for NES (level 2-3).


Again, DKC 2's graphics are deceptively simple (for lack of a better term). There's actually a lot more going on than just pretty computer rendered graphics. Rare went all out.

Sure there's more going on, but the additional things going on are relatively basic.

[Ed Oscuro]

Rendering Ranger, Super Aleste (Space Megaforce) to a little degree.

I think TES3/4: Morrowind / Oblivion and even Gothic III are somewhat impressive.

More so for FarCry, Crysis, Portal, and Team Fortress 2 (OMG facial animation and the great decal system!), of course.

Also, just had a random thought - Uru: Ages Beyond Myst is good too.

[swlovinist]

I apologize if some of these have been already duplicated, but to me, these games really had my jaw drop when they came out.

Tekken 3(PS1)...this port was awsome, one of my most played PS1 games. The gameplay was tight and it had everything from the arcades(moves). Everyone said that Namco could not pull it off and they did a brillant job.

Genesis-TMNT Hyperstone Heist-very colorful and impressive sprites...arcade graphics

Gamecube-Rebel Strike...This game really pushed what the GC could do...gosh it looked awsome

Atari 2600 greats were both Gravitar and Track and Field.
Atari 2600 homebrew kudos goes to Toyshop Trouble...simply amazing

[Ed Oscuro]

Gamecube-Rebel Strike...This game really pushed what the GC could do...gosh it looked awsome
Yeah, that was an early title too, wasn't it?

The GC was one of those systems which had a number of games with impressive graphics when people were expecting less. All the system's original Resident Evil titles come to mind, along with the Metroid titles. Wind Waker's ocean was something of a feat as well.

[swlovinist]

Yeah, that was an early title too, wasn't it?

The GC was one of those systems which had a number of games with impressive graphics when people were expecting less. All the system's original Resident Evil titles come to mind, along with the Metroid titles. Wind Waker's ocean was something of a feat as well.

Rebel Strike was the the sequel to Rogue Leader...which was a launch title and impressive to say the least. Even though Rebel Strike was a shortcoming as a sequel and third installment to the Rougue Squadron series...it was very impressive. What alot of people dont know, is that the sequel had a two player co-op of Rogue Leader in the game as a mega bonus...not to mention the graphics were bumped up a bit as well as the difficulty. Truly amazing


Needless to say that I put some serious time into the game, and have enjoyed the series a ton!

[Ed Oscuro]

That reminds me, Rogue Squadron was also darn impressive for the system it was on (N64!), and also was likely the first time the Naboo Starfighter appeared anywhere (before the film!), although it was hidden away and not found until some time later.

I suppose I need to go play Conker's BFD and some other good N64 titles, now that I think about it...

[swlovinist]

Come to think of it, Shadows of the Empire(N64) was a dang impressive game at the time. The snowspeeder level alone made it an outstanding graphics achievement.

Battle for Naboo was not as good as Rogue Squadron, but it was pretty decent on its own on the N64.

Gosh, Factor 5 needs to do another star wars game :)

[Ed Oscuro]

Come to think of it, Shadows of the Empire(N64) was a dang impressive game at the time.
Yeah, I was thinking about that too. Might as well mention Goldeneye too!

[Hardcore]

I've been looking through, and I might have missed it, but I think the Streets of Rage/Bare Knuckle series, while not graphically pushing, was A++ on the sound department. Koshiro-san really worked the sound chip on the Genny, creating some of the best music of the 16-bit era, Tommy Tallarico be damned.

[Gentlegamer]

That does technically fit the definition of the word parallax, but that's not what most people mean when they say parallax scrolling. SNES (as well as Genesis, Neo Geo, and other systems) allows a game to have multiple background layers. If they weren't able to scroll independently, they wouldn't be separate layers. Having multiple layers isn't an effect of any sort, it's just how the video hardware works.Neo Geo doesn't have independent background layers; everything is done with sprites.

[j_factor]

I stand corrected. My knowledge of Neo Geo hardware is quite limited. I know Turbografx only has one background layer, and some games did a spectacular job of overcoming that, but a lot of other games for the system look very "flat" in comparison. The Saturn could do 4 independent background layers, but it was rarely used.

[Ed Oscuro]

Neo Geo doesn't have independent background layers; everything is done with sprites.
That's totally bizarre and I didn't know that. Thanks for the info.

I wonder if that turned out to be a better solution for the hardware. Many arcade systems had dedicated background RAM layers which could sit idle when not used, which isn't very cost-effective.

[PresidentLeever]

Panorama Cotton for the Mega Drive shows off with some dazzling scaling effects with an impressive colour palette. Decent audio too.

Yeah that one is amazing for a genny game. It also does shadow/hilight mode (first boss), sprite 'squeezing' and lots of parallax.

[Zebbe]

I stand corrected. My knowledge of Neo Geo hardware is quite limited. I know Turbografx only has one background layer, and some games did a spectacular job of overcoming that, but a lot of other games for the system look very "flat" in comparison. The Saturn could do 4 independent background layers, but it was rarely used.

The SNES also had four bg layers, but I've never seen all used at once.

[j_factor]

The SNES also had four bg layers, but I've never seen all used at once.

The SNES can only do four background layers by limiting each to four colors. I don't know if it was ever used. It can also do three layers by having one with four colors and the other two with sixteen colors. The vast majority of SNES games run in modes with two background layers (Mode 7 only has one background layer).

[onReload]

I think most people don't know the science behind the graphics, so it's hard to tell sometimes - for instance, DKC does look amazing when compared to other platforming games on the SNES, and it's a popular game. I know that the series only got better and better looking as it went on, and I was just 100%ing DKC2 yesterday for the first time, and the game is very easy on the eyes...but I don't know a damn thing about the system's limitations; and most developers don't either, so there's a lot of games that underestimate the system.

I know it's been pointed out before, but people really overlooked the graphical capabilities of both the gamecube and the Wii (so far, but I doubt much will change)...The in-house and "2nd party" developed games look amazing, whereas the rest of the library is so-so in the looks department.

Also, I remember someone talking about SMB3 using the sound chip in creative ways (to create the percussion in the flying ship stages)...

...and does this topic include games that have chips inside? If so, some games qualify, and some don't. Or, games that require add-ons like the Expansion Pak (N64)

[Rob2600]

I know it's been pointed out before, but people really overlooked the graphical capabilities of both the gamecube and the Wii

I agree, the GameCube had some of the best-looking games from its generation. As I listed in a previous post:

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

Even Beach Spikers still looks really good.


and does this topic include games that have chips inside? If so, some games qualify, and some don't.

If a console like the NES or SNES was initially designed so that games would have extra hardware inside, then I think those games should count. That's how the system was designed from the beginning.

[onReload]

from what i've seen, wind waker's use of cel shading is genius; other games don't even come close - but again, that's from what I've seen

someone mentioned how the wii could use effects very similar to other consoles, but they require other knowledge...so instead of bloom or whatever a popular technique is for lighting, the programmers would have to know another way of imitating the effect; but it would still be possible for many games to look near identical on all platforms. but that's just hearsay from me.

though looking at a game like SC4, i really didn't see how something like that couldn't end up on the wii; it just didn't strike me as high-above-the-cut graphically. please, feel free to correct me if i'm totally off base.

[Rob2600]

someone mentioned how the wii could use effects very similar to other consoles, but they require other knowledge...so instead of bloom or whatever a popular technique is for lighting, the programmers would have to know another way of imitating the effect; but it would still be possible for many games to look near identical on all platforms. but that's just hearsay from me.

Well, GameCube games like Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and Burnout 2 feature bloom lighting, so it makes sense that the Wii could do bloom lighting, too.

As I posted in the thread about the upcoming Wii game The Conduit:

"In addition to Factor 5's project and The Conduit, survival horror game Cursed Mountain will feature some advanced visual techniques seen in few Wii games thus far. According to IGN:

the Sproing team relies on its proprietary Athena game engine... Some features of the Athena game engine include HDR-Rendering, shader simulations developed especially for Wii in order to display ice, heat, and water, realistic reflections and refractions, an ultra-fast particle system for amazing snow storms, soft particles for realistic fog and smoke, depth of field, motion blur, dynamic soft shadows, spherical harmonics lighting, as well as a high performance level-of-detail and streaming system in order to provide long viewing distance of the entire surrounding."

So yes, in 2009, we'll finally see games that push the graphics capabilities of the Wii. What took so long?

[Soviet Conscript]

Ginga Fukei Densetsu: Sapphire - turboduo

something that looks like an early PS1 game on a system thats still in some respects an NES era machine (8 bit cpu).

[tomaitheous]

The SNES can only do four background layers by limiting each to four colors. I don't know if it was ever used. It can also do three layers by having one with four colors and the other two with sixteen colors. The vast majority of SNES games run in modes with two background layers (Mode 7 only has one background layer).

Actually it's bits per pixel per tile, not the whole tile map. For 3 BG layer mode, 1 layer has 2bit(4colors) tiles but has access to 8 palettes and the other two BG layers are 4bit(16 colors) and access to 8 palettes. So if you're counting colors - 2 BG layers are 128(121) colors and 1 BG layer is 16(13) colors. Mode 7 has 8bit tiles. Sprites have separate palettes.


DKC 1 wasn't impressive to me when it first came out. The graphics were nice but not jaw dropping. The game was also somewhat boring IIRC. I didn't play the sequels, but they don't look over impressive. Some nice effects but nothing the SNES wasn't knowingly capable before hand.

[Wraith Storm]

Game Boy Color:

Alone in the Dark -
This game used the GBC's high color mode to great effect.
Video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcsQ1THAY54)

Dragons Lair -
So much animation on a GBC cart is quite impressive.
Video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4DZcWbFZCc)

Warlocked -
An incredible Warcraft inspired Strategy game. The game had so much love put into it by it's creators it still impresses. From the graphics and sound, to the fog of war effects and all the extras it was one hell of a package. Too bad the GBA sequel was never released.
Video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDDWsjHO9ac)

[roushimsx]

Alone in the Dark -
This game used the GBC's high color mode to great effect.
Video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcsQ1THAY54)


I remember thinking that the screenshots of that game were doctored to make it look better, then being completely floored at how excellent it looked when it did come out.

Warlocked looks awesome. I've never heard of it before...can't wait to fire it up and check it out first hand.

[eugenek]

Ginga Fukei Densetsu: Sapphire - turboduo

something that looks like an early PS1 game on a system thats still in some respects an NES era machine (8 bit cpu).

That game is damn impressive. But I don't know if you can compare Sapphire to other PC Engine games, since it required the Arcade Card...

[SegaAges]

I am getting crazy on this one:

Wing Commander: Privateer for Dos.

The game was visually impressive, and was able to sustain a decent framerate as well, and also needed extended memory in order to even function. I don't quite remember what extended memory is, but I assumed it is like todays Virtual memory (correct me if I am wrong though, please).

Wing Commander: Privateer was beyond its time. Customization of your ship. You could pick which way you played the game.

I remember I did it with one save just to see what would happen, but I would kill the guys by the space stations (while in space), and after I killed enough of them, anytime I was in that area of space, they would come after me for being a murderer.

This game was also very open ended.

By far one of the most impressive games that came out for Dos

[eugenek]

I don't quite remember what extended memory is, but I assumed it is like todays Virtual memory (correct me if I am wrong though, please).



Not exactly...virtual memory is a technique to address larger ranges of memory than you actually have, usually swapping inactive programs to the hard disk.

Extended memory is all the memory above the first 640K of "conventional" memory + 384K of "expanded" memory. This extended memory is not accessible under normal operation in the old 8088 architecture (that's computer engineering shortsightedness for you); with the advent of x86 architecture, the CPU's protected mode allows this memory to be addressed.

[roushimsx]

Wing Commander: Privateer was beyond its time. Customization of your ship. You could pick which way you played the game.

It really wasn't that much more than Elite + Wing Commander, and Frontier: Elite 2 was far, far more technically impressive (and released within a month of Privateer). Didn't stop me from playing the shit out of it of course, but it wasn't really the technical marvel that Wing Commander was before it or Wing Commander III was after it.

Origin did have an awesome knack for pushing the capabilities of PCs and putting out games that were optimized for computers that weren't even out yet. Crytek doesn't have shit on them.

[David Galloway]

For 2001 on the PS2 ICO was quite a marvel.

It really would have been amazing if it had ever come out on the PS1 as was planned.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jq9oCaYlBlE

Gran Turismo on the PS1, stands out for me as the all-time example of a game that was astounding and ahead of its time.

[NayusDante]

For 2001 on the PS2 ICO was quite a marvel.

It really would have been amazing if it had ever come out on the PS1 as was planned.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jq9oCaYlBlE

Gran Turismo on the PS1, stands out for me as the all-time example of a game that was astounding and ahead of its time.

Holy crap, that Ico preview could pass as an early Dreamcast demo... A lot of it is obviously prerendered, but the in-engine shots are awesome.

[Rob2600]

Holy crap, that Ico preview could pass as an early Dreamcast demo... A lot of it is obviously prerendered, but the in-engine shots are awesome.

I agree that it looks very good, but definitely not Dreamcast quality. If you look closely, you'll notice the PlayStation's trademark twitchy polygon problem. The walls and floors constantly undulate. Nintendo 64 and Dreamcast games did not suffer from that problem.

[Zebbe]

I think Alien Soldier for the Mega Drive is very impressive. It is really maxing out the hardware with high resolution, many colours, clear sound samples, huge multi-jointed bosses, rotation, sprite-stretching and high speed. There is some slowdown and flickering here and there, but all in all I doesn't matter when the game really lives up to the slogan "68k on fire".

[Gerry-Cola]

Sorry if I´m wrong...

but I´m very confused that it seems like noone mentioned AXELAY for the SNES.

I loved Supercontra... but AXELAY to me was the game that pushed the SNES more then any other game ever. It made the SNES look like a High-Tech-Machine with Arcade (if not better) graphics.

The zoom-effects of the first level (also on later ones) were better looking then most arcade effects on coinups of those days. The superior zoom-effects of Axelay made the great Supercontra and Super Castlevania Zoom-effects look like a childrens birthday cake in comparison.

Even the more traditional side-scrolling-levels to me were better then R-Type, Gradius etc. Graphically and technically!

Axelay was a Masterpiece of Konami and to me the best SNES game ever. It made the best Sega Genesis games look so dated in direct comparison. It looked even better then the Neo Geo "Last Resort" on the side-scrolling levels... and of course: it offered those unbelieveable pseudo-3-D-Zooming-Levels the Neo Geo could not offer.

It had e few slowdowns... but technically and graphically it made the SNES look like one of the best arcade machines... the SNES-chips sureley were smoking for this game!

I was very sad that Axelay never got a follow up of the same programmers-team.

[SegaAges]

Jet Grind Radio

I can't vouch about them starting using cell shading, but they did it extremely well.

Also,
Conker's Bad Fur Day (N64)
It may have been done before it, but this was was well knows for having voice acting in there (not the first I don't think, but very awesome)

Is Quake Live browser-based? If so, I will definately say QL. I have seen videos of the QL tournament at Quake-con, and doing something like that and keeping it browser-based is incredible.

[NayusDante]

Is Quake Live browser-based? If so, I will definately say QL. I have seen videos of the QL tournament at Quake-con, and doing something like that and keeping it browser-based is incredible.

I played a Java Quake II source port a while back. It just asked for your data files (base*.paks) and went to fullscreen. It was still part of the browser process, or something like that. It seemed kinda pointless at the time.

Running 3D content in a browser window is an odd idea. They're going to have to have an implementation of OpenGL or DirectX embedded in the page, somehow. Still, it may be that they do everything by loading the program into memory, but streaming the content over the internet. Kinda like playing Quake III before, except you don't have to run an installer, and the Quake III CD is replaced with a network connection to the content server. In that case, it's just a neat way of making the game easy to play, if not a bandwidth hog....

[alexkidd2000]

Wow I am still impressed with Power Drift as well. Were there any other games around that time that built as impressing 3D area? Pretty cool sprite tricks if you ask me.

[The 1 2 P]

The Xbox had so many technological wonders but I'll narrow it down to the big 4 that the PS2 couldn't handle:

Chronicles of Riddick
Farcry Instincts
Doom 3
Half Life 2

But the PS2 had both God of War's and they are simply breathtaking.

[Wraith Storm]

For the Sega Saturn two games spring to mind.

Scorcher -
It has incredible back drops, jaw dropping graphics, a fantastic techno soundtrack by Jesper kyd (Has he ever made a bad ost? ), and in first person view one of the greatest senses of speed ever achieved in a racing game. I have read before that Sega even sent copies of this game to third parties to show them that the Saturn was a VERY powerful machine if you had the right programmers behind it.

Scorcher might have had some sloppy and very difficult track design but it was a showcase game on the Saturn. Too bad there was no 2-player :(

Video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3lyBL-FOkc)

Amok -
Kick ass arcade style mech game, Jesper Kyd sound track, well textured polygon models, and a frentic 2 player mode was enough to impress. But the fact that the game ran on a Voxel engine was mind blowing!!! All the games environments were crafted completely from voxels. Sure, they weren't the smallest voxels so the environments looked pretty chunky at times but as far as I know it was the first voxel game to appear on a home console.

Video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xp7XHB02gfw)

[16bitter]

This may have been mentioned, but The Adventures of Batman & Robin, I thought, really pushed the Genesis. Contra Hard Corps too. These games did things I never thought the Genesis was capable of doing.

[crazyjackcsa]

For the Sega Saturn two games spring to mind.

Scorcher -
It has incredible back drops, jaw dropping graphics, a fantastic techno soundtrack by Jesper kyd (Has he ever made a bad ost? ), and in first person view one of the greatest senses of speed ever achieved in a racing game. I have read before that Sega even sent copies of this game to third parties to show them that the Saturn was a VERY powerful machine if you had the right programmers behind it.

Scorcher might have had some sloppy and very difficult track design but it was a showcase game on the Saturn. Too bad there was no 2-player :(

Video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3lyBL-FOkc)

Amok -
Kick ass arcade style mech game, Jesper Kyd sound track, well textured polygon models, and a frentic 2 player mode was enough to impress. But the fact that the game ran on a Voxel engine was mind blowing!!! All the games environments were crafted completely from voxels. Sure, they weren't the smallest voxels so the environments looked pretty chunky at times but as far as I know it was the first voxel game to appear on a home console.

Video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xp7XHB02gfw)


When thinking Saturn showcases, I can't see Scorcher and Amok being two of them. Scorcher has very little going on in the way of environments other than the track itself and Aamok was originally supposed to be on the 32X. Draw in on both games is very poor, even for the saturn.

No mention of Shining Force 3 for the Saturn? The game used the sound chip as a video processor. Besides the game had two full engines. The 3D battle engine, and the polygon/sprite based map. Also, there are almost no load times between the two.

That's very impressive Technically.