Older games that aged well. (strictly talking about graphics)

[Ando85]

This topic might be a little superficial as I'm mainly talking about graphics. Usually something an RPG fan puts less emphasis on. But, I have noticed some games visually have stood the test of time, while some look pixelated and grainy and hard to look at.

I noticed for example, to this day I really love the style of the Fire Emblem titles on GBA. A lot of these 16 bit games still look great. I do enjoy Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn, yet I think the 3D polygonal characters look horrible compared to those in Fire Emblem and Fire Emblem Sacred Stones.

I feel Saturn and PS1 titles have not aged well at all. Prerendered backgrounds I think look great, but the characters are horribly pixelated.

Also, take a peak at Wild Arms 1. The game looks pretty good visually despite looking like a SNES game. But, they really really dropped the ball when it came to the 3D battles. I could tolerate a lot of PS1 games despite a bit of pixelation and blocky characters, but the original Wild Arms battle graphics are painful to witness.

What games do you believe stood the test of time visually, and those that didn't?

 

[FilipJPhry]

Chrono Trigger still looks good, as with Mega Man X. PS1 games are butt-ugly! I have MGS1 in my PS3, and the cutscenes look like people wearing stockings over their their heads as they violently shake into convulsions. The N64 games look kinda good, most of the designs are cartoony, which fits their look. But most of them that try to look realistic(Goldeneye) look even worse than PS1.

 

[Ando85]

Chrono Trigger still looks good, as with Mega Man X. PS1 games are butt-ugly! I have MGS1 in my PS3, and the cutscenes look like people wearing stockings over their their heads as they violently shake into convulsions. The N64 games look kinda good, most of the designs are cartoony, which fits their look. But most of them that try to look realistic(Goldeneye) look even worse than PS1.

Aye, funny thing is though that when I first got a PS1 I thought the graphics were absolutely astonishing. But, by today's standards they are horrible.

Glad you mentioned N64, I forgot to talk about Goldeneye not aging well at all. Once again at the time I thought the graphics were amazing. I actually went back to it not too long ago after years of playing current gen FPS, and I must say it looked horrible.

 

[Jacco]

Halo. Even by today's standards it looks pretty good. Its not fantastic, but its certainly not bad.

 

[Gmans uncle]

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night still looks great to me, ironic how people all laughed at it still being 2D when it first came out.

 

[Jedoro]

Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay

Damn, that game was pretty for being on Xbox.

 

[BreakfastMan]

Well, Wind Waker still looks fantastic, and most games that use the Doom 3 engine also still look pretty decent by today's standards (Chronicles of Riddick or Prey, for example). Also, the original Gears of War has held up surprisingly well so far. It still looks better than some games released recently, which is kind of sad.

 

[doggie135]

Silent Hill 2. It's graphics still stand up today (See the upcoming HD Collection) and it relied more on art design and direction than technical 'wow'.

Then again, the same can be said for any of the PS2 Silent Hill titles (And other games with similar priorities, like Ico and Shadow of the Colossus. Even Metal Gear Solid 2 & 3. Heck, any game that's either got or is getting an HD re-release!)

 

[Klumpfot]

Heroes of Might and Magic III/IV for me. Both games had absolutely gorgeous graphics, especially so with the third installment. I really miss the old sprite graphics.

 

[WaReloaded]

Mortal Kombat 2: The digitized sprites have aged incredible well (probably due to the increased resolution from the first game), they're both crisp and well detailed. The stages also hold up, particularly the Living Forest and the Dead Pool, as they're two of the most memorable in the entire series.

 

[Fiz_The_Toaster]

Silent Hill 2. It's graphics still stand up today (See the upcoming HD Collection) and it relied more on art design and direction than technical 'wow'.

Then again, the same can be said for any of the PS2 Silent Hill titles (And other games with similar priorities, like Ico and Shadow of the Colossus. Even Metal Gear Solid 2 & 3. Heck, any game that's either got or is getting an HD re-release!)

Outside of MGS, only because I've never played them so I can't really say anything about it, I think those games don't really need the HD touch since I think they look fine. I will say Shadow of the Colossus needed one only because it needed to do something about the frame rate, not so much the graphics though.

OT: The first couple of Ratchet and Clank games looked fine to me still, and Sly Cooper, although I will admit the HD remake of Sly did make it look nicer.

 

[PunkyMcGee]

Personally speaking, I find sprite games to be timeless. there's just a charm to a character like Mega Man or something that can't be found in 3-D.

 

[RA92]

Well, most of the popular 2D games of the '90s with good art direction and animation has stood the test of time. The tougher ones to pick are the ones with polygons.

Talking of something a bit more recent, Nexus: The Jupiter Incident had really awesome shield and thruster effects, not to mention sky boxes. It has aged rather well.

http://www.thecoopyears.co.uk/2004/Nexus2.jpghttp://nomoregoatsoup.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/nexus_3.jpghttp://www.gamestar.hu/apix_collect/0205/nexus-the-jupiter-incident/nexus-the-jupiter-incident_20041101200234_1977_original.jpghttp://img.gamespot.com/gamespot/images/2005/067/reviews/525559_20050309_screen002.jpghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4d/Nexus_asteroidfieldbattle.jpg

 

[booker]

Well, Wind Waker still looks fantastic[...]

I've been meaning to make this thread for AGES with Wind Waker being my primary example. Excellent art direction. Really did well for its time and it still holds up in my opinion.

Spoiler: Gorgeous

Also, because it is obligatory in one of my posts, Super Metroid.

 

[Gennadios]

All the 2D sidescroller Castlevania games from the SNES up still look badass, and even the NES ones are still totally serviceable.

On a personal note, the entire Quest for Glory series still looks beautiful.

 

[CommanderL]

jak and daxter 2 i played it like a week ago and was surprised how good it looked i also think the orginal spyro held up well

 

[MolotoK]

Another World (1991)

 

[Veylon]

Most of the games in the middle-to-late sprite era still hold up. There was just a bad gap about ten years ago where 3D was still catching on. There's only a few, like Mario 64, that made the limited polygon count into a style instead of being confined by it.