Reading through this whole thread, I think it's crazy to see how many people are listing systems like N64 and PSX. Really? I am decidedly not a fan of N64, and it's easily my least favorite "major" post-crash console (major meaning excluding stuff like Jaguar). But even so, it still has its share of greats. And PSX is one of the best systems of all time.
I don't really get why people say early 3D games were ugly. I'm not saying they're not, but, early 2D games were just as ugly.
Originally Posted by TheShawn
The 2600 stuff was, yeah, but after that not so much. They also have a timeless feel to them that the early 3D games don't have.
I would compare 2600 era graphics to very early 3D stuff like Hard Drivin'. Colecovision and 5200 are more like 3DO/Jaguar/32x. And NES compares to PSX.
Seems to me most guys who bash on the early 3d systems/games are older hardcore 2d 8bit guys who are aged 35 and older. A lot of those guys scoffed and turned their nose up when 3d came on scene in the early to mid 90's. too bad, they missed out, I personally think anything before NES is pretty trashy when it comes to a video game esperience. 2600 games, just plain ugly and simply and the controller sucks. NES owns anything 8 bit before it. And some of the early 3d games are still better than most 3d games today including Doom Wolf 3d Virtua Fighter Virtua Racing Daytona USA etc Iron Soldier Starfox I love the early 3d stuff. Jumping flash. So ya, most PS1 and N64 haters are old bitter dudes who think atari 2600 is the best thing ever, pfft. and anyone who talks crap about the N64 are simply stupid, mario 64 waverace 64 and TONS of other great 3d games on that system that blew away almost anything on ps1 and thats saying something. In my eyes n64 is equally as good as ps1 even with so many less games.
Last edited by Kevincal; 04-17-2012 at 03:10 PM.
I thought the same things when I went from a SNES to PSOne playing Resident Evil 2 for the first time or FF7. It was mindblowing to how much better it was than the 16 bit era in terms of gameplay experience. However,then you saw the rest of the PSOne's library where they relied fully on blocky,grainy early 3D instead of a mixture of both like in the Resident Evil games. SOTN is an all time great because 2D on the PSOne looks gorgeous and is still very playable.
Games like Vigilante 8 are dead to me now, even Tony Hawk which was a fun game to play when you are bored back in the day isn't worth it. I can go back to the 8 bit, 16 bit era with ease, but the 32 bit one is purely a toss-up unless its on a small screen like the PSP. Goldeneye for N64 was an epic game, but the 3d looks so blurry on it today that people had to create HD packs for it. Its funny how a game like Pacman didn't age badly but 007 did. Like someone said earlier, The Sega Dreamcast is the first system that did 3D properly. It just didn't have enough games.
Basically I think everyone who grew up on the NES first mostly believe that the 32-bit era didn't age well. However its not like we didn't enjoy the era when it was going on. It was fresh, but then went stale.
Last edited by ReaXan; 08-28-2012 at 12:05 AM.
OK I have a new one. Now that I have my Wii softmodded and have a Virtual Boy emulator on it that finally runs at an accurate speed with sound, It is no longer a must for me to play on an actual Virtual Boy system again. I did not dislike the real Virtual Boy or anything, and the 3D did make the images look better than they do in 2D on a TV screen, but for ease of use it's just more practical to emulate it.
[quote name='Shidou Mariya' date='Nov 17 2010, 10:05 PM' post='4889940']
I'm a collector, but only to a certain extent.
Not as extreme as Rickstilwell though.[/quote]
I can get behind the idea that Dreamcast was the first system to do 'good' 3D. I just don't get what the big deal is. It just seems excessively snooty to me, to pooh-pooh everything that doesn't meet some arbitrary graphical standard. When I play Syphon Filter or WipEout or whatever, I'm concentrated on having fun, I'm not thinking "there aren't enough polygons, how pedestrian". All of that stuff is just as playable as it ever was. Hell, even games like Zero Tolerance are still playable.
Personally its less about the quality of the 3D (although its definitely still a factor) then it is about control, especially in regards to camera control of 32 bit era games. Both of those things coupled make the 3D era much less appealing now then other previous generations of gaming. It largely wasn't an issue before the 32 bit era and largely hasn't been standardized after but the transitional period saw everyone trying a different control and camera layout for every other game even in the same genera with many of them simply not being very good due to lack of experience controlling objects in a 3D plane. There are a ton of great gems from this era that are playable today, but I think the vast majority of releases are certainty things you have to push yourself to adjust to again rather then just enjoying it from the get go.
Answer to general "why pick N64" question:
N64 is a console I both have a lot of experience with in its heyday and didn't like then and still and not fond of now. I would only chose something like the CDi, Jaguar, or whatever if I had played them more then once but I haven't yet I have with the N64 and still don't really enjoy it like any other console I have played extensively over the years.
Early 3D is a little jarring to me because of the low framerate on a lot of titles. It definitely takes a while to adjust. That said, I was on a PS1 kick just a couple years ago and after a little while I started getting used to it and it was no longer an issue. It is unsettling for me [i]now[i] to go look at 15fps 3D because my eyes aren't used to it. If the game is fun, though, I'll stick with it.
If you can't do it with 8 bits, you don't need to do it!
A lot of games were 24-30 fps though. I actually agree, low frame rates get annoying, especially when they're inconsistent. But there's plenty of stuff that's worse than PSX/Saturn level. Have you played a SuperFX game lately?
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