I love horrendous 90's Graphics. Do you?

[Brotherofwill]

Now I'm currently playing Fallout 2 and one thing that came to my mind: I absolutely love this style of strange, ugly 2D graphics. I can't help it.

I grew up playing these styles of games and to this day I like looking at them. To me they have the same charms and style that 16 bit graphics have. It's beautiful, man. Anyway, I know it's mostly nostalgia and bias but I couldn't care less. Here are some awesome examples:

Spoiler: Fallout 2

Spoiler: More Fallout 2

One image showing the beautiful talent of an artist portraying an ambiguous woman, the other a picture of the Mona Lisa.

Spoiler: Baldur's Gate 2

Spoiler: Diablo

Spoiler: Diablo 2

Spoiler: Planescape Torment

Spoiler: Abe's Oddysee

So anyway, what do you think of this style of design/ graphics? Does it hold fond memories? Does it reduce the fun for you while playing? Does it look worse than your mirror reflection on a Sunday morning? Some other games that should make the list (post picture please)?

(ps: I know Diablo 2 and BG 2 were released in 2000, it's still 90's graphics, yo)

 

[TheNamlessGuy]

DELETED

 

[aseelt]

I like them. In certain games. I don't think a game coming out today would be the same if it had 90s graphics, things look so much cleaner now.

But looking back, yeah they were awesome. Functional, didn't take a ton of horsepower. And gorgeous, just look at Commandos for example.

I always considered the 90s style to be drawn by artists, those with an artistic talent, not by programmers. It just looks *different*

 

[SavingPrincess]

They weren't horrendous... they were 2D. I miss them. I did a whole piece about why 2D should still be a viable medium for blockbuster games. This is the sole reason I love handhelds.

 

[Booze Zombie]

I want to see a cell-shaded 2D Fallout at some point in time.

It'd be very awesome and quite in line with that kind of weird, almost cartoon-like style that 90's graphics seem to have.

 

[Optimus Hagrid]

They don't hold as much memories as the blocky Playstation polygons.

These graphics don't necessarily looks horrendous, but the pre-rendered models used to create the sprites in most of these games look pretty dated.

 

[Julianking93]

What do you mean bad graphics?

Just look how awesome this [http://www.zeldacapital.com/Games/preview/alttp3.jpg] is!

 

[Brotherofwill]

They weren't horrendous... they were 2D. I miss them. I did a whole piece about why 2D should still be a viable medium for blockbuster games. This is the sole reason I love handhelds.

Yeah? Do you have a link? I'd like reading it.

 

[Therumancer]

It depends on the game, and playability.

Truthfully I think the 90s were when graphics got to the point of actual pictures and artwork and as such it can age very well depending on the game and art style. But it also depends on the quality and what they were trying to do.

Each of the games shown above were arguably some of the best graphics of the era for what they were trying to do.

On the other hand pull out something like say Twisted Metal 2 from the same era, and the graphics can be almost painful to look at in places, even if the gameplay is still fairly decent.

Though honestly graphics aren't everything for me, you would probably be appalled if you knew how many hours I've logged with various "Roguelike" type games.

 

[Meggiepants]

I do have nostalgia for these old games, and when I put them in, am surprised at how well they still hold up for replay.

But I wouldn't want them to make new games with this old school level of graphics. I guess it's because I am too used to the better graphics to go back to the old school in my newer games.

On the other hand, I do wish developers would put less emphasis on the newest shiniest graphics, and more emphasis on fun gameplay.

 

[BlindMessiah94]

The equation is quite simple.

Gameplay > Graphics.

A game can look like absolute shite and still be great.

A game can look like a sunset painted by Jesus and still be crap.

Graphics should never take the priority of the gameplay.
Back when graphics were only as good as being 2D they really had no choice but to focus on gameplay.

Yet, some games still looked beautiful and played great too (Chrono Trigger).

 

[Strategia]

Ahh, nostalgia =) Yeah, I love '90s 2D graphics. They look awesome. 2D in general is still a pretty good idea - with a 3D model, you're very limited in looks by the power of the user's machine (case in point: despite my not-all-that-bad comp, I need to play, for instance, Mass Effect on medium or it'll lag like crazy, and I need to tune the graphics down all the way to low on many other games of the past few years), but with 2D, you're only limited by the time you have available and the skill of the artist. A well-done 2D setting can easily look better in pretty much every way than a 3D setting. Everything can look good without causing excessive draw on computer resources, and objects and environments can blend much better than in some modern 3D games.

 

[Srdjan]

Ofcourse I like, especially HoMM 3 and all RPGs

 

[Srdjan]

Ofcourse I like, especially HoMM 3 and all RPGs

 

[Uncreation]

I love 90s graphics too, and i don't think it's horrendous. I think it's lovely. Those you just showed are some of my favourite games. Nice.

 

[zauxz]

I dont love them, I just dont mind them.

 

[Srdjan]

Sorry about double posting, my connection laged, how do I delate post.

 

[SnootyEnglishman]

Ah the 90's a time where TV, Music and Movies were being edgy and it was acceptable...cartoons were random and nasty but hilarious to watch and most video games were made in big lumpy but still wonderfully rendered polygons most of my childhood was spent in that era and i loved it.