Homeworld 2 is old enough and still looks fantastic and its an rts and they normally look shit, even to this day.
Older games that aged well. (strictly talking about graphics)
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Not in itself, but as a product of functionality over time:
Doom
Bear with me here, I know that game is incredibly basic in term of graphics but by god, for a game coming up on 20 years old it is functional in almost every area that counts. The enemies may be sprites but they have well realised death and attack animations, for all the fun of fire, manoeuvre, dipping in and out of cover and so on it really holds up today.
Few games REALLY take advantage of the third dimension, height, in FPS that would truly benefit the 3D enemy models. Actually, not enough even benefit from hitting different parts of the body!
Way better than say the awkward 3D of the likes of Goldeneye. Sprites I think age so well because you can have such creative animations that only recently have 3D models become advanced enough to replicate:
The only time this is really a problem is if you try to shoot them from a high angle.
Doom
Bear with me here, I know that game is incredibly basic in term of graphics but by god, for a game coming up on 20 years old it is functional in almost every area that counts. The enemies may be sprites but they have well realised death and attack animations, for all the fun of fire, manoeuvre, dipping in and out of cover and so on it really holds up today.
Few games REALLY take advantage of the third dimension, height, in FPS that would truly benefit the 3D enemy models. Actually, not enough even benefit from hitting different parts of the body!
Way better than say the awkward 3D of the likes of Goldeneye. Sprites I think age so well because you can have such creative animations that only recently have 3D models become advanced enough to replicate:
The only time this is really a problem is if you try to shoot them from a high angle.
I think Crash Bandicoot (the first one) is an example of a PS1 game that actually does still look pretty good in an aesthetic (not technical) way. On an emulator in a full-HD resolution with AA its actually very pleasing on the eyes.
Most cartoony sort of games tend to age well graphically though.
Also, a lot of 90s point and click adventure games still look great simply due to them being 2D and having extremely detailed drawings.
Most cartoony sort of games tend to age well graphically though.
Also, a lot of 90s point and click adventure games still look great simply due to them being 2D and having extremely detailed drawings.
Most 16 bit games stand the test of time expectionally well, because of the colour. Especially SNES. Donkey Kong Country series and the 16-bit mario-games? Freaking gorgeus! Mickey Mania and blah blah blah... Just check the SNES library, the 2d games of that console pretty much all look just fabulous!
In general I find that old 2D games have aged much better than 3D ones. Almost anything from the Playstation era now looks hideous.
From the PS2 era:
Silent Hill 2 and (especially) 3 still look impressive today, particularly the PC versions. Hell some of SH3s character models are more realistic than games that came out this year.
Shadow of the Colossus (the original version). Although if you go back and play it it's pretty obvious that the game was pushing the PS2 to within an inch of its life.
Metroid Prime. The frame rate alone puts many modern games to shame.
Wind Waker is still awe-inspiring to behold, a real testament to the strength of art direction.
Metal Gear Solid 3 was another game that came out at the tail end of the PS2's life, and it really managed to push the aging hardware in a way that holds up surprisingly well today.
The first two Kingdom Hearts games still look really good today, particularly the second one.
This one is kind of cheating since it's not that old, but I continue to be blown away by how good Mario Galaxy looks. The fact that they managed to do that on last-gen hardware is astounding.
My last example isn't so much to do with graphics as how visuals are used in a game. There's been a major push this generation toward making games more "cinematic", mostly with poor results in my opinion. By contrast, go back and watch the opening credits to Final Fantasy VI. Proof positive that music and striking visuals count for far more shiny graphics.
From the PS2 era:
Silent Hill 2 and (especially) 3 still look impressive today, particularly the PC versions. Hell some of SH3s character models are more realistic than games that came out this year.
Shadow of the Colossus (the original version). Although if you go back and play it it's pretty obvious that the game was pushing the PS2 to within an inch of its life.
Metroid Prime. The frame rate alone puts many modern games to shame.
Wind Waker is still awe-inspiring to behold, a real testament to the strength of art direction.
Metal Gear Solid 3 was another game that came out at the tail end of the PS2's life, and it really managed to push the aging hardware in a way that holds up surprisingly well today.
The first two Kingdom Hearts games still look really good today, particularly the second one.
This one is kind of cheating since it's not that old, but I continue to be blown away by how good Mario Galaxy looks. The fact that they managed to do that on last-gen hardware is astounding.
My last example isn't so much to do with graphics as how visuals are used in a game. There's been a major push this generation toward making games more "cinematic", mostly with poor results in my opinion. By contrast, go back and watch the opening credits to Final Fantasy VI. Proof positive that music and striking visuals count for far more shiny graphics.
Generally games that used color and art correctly and usually didn't have pretensions to look realistic. Zelda: Wind Waker, Metroid Prime, Resident Evil Zero(and REmake, who still look awesome despite being "realistic looking"), Golden Sun, Serious Sam, Beyond Good and Evil, World of Warcraft, Advance Wars... you get the idea.
Yeah, I soppose this is somewhat true... You know, when you're not being blinded by the sun, flashlights, car lights, laser sights, not being suppressed by LMG fire, not dizzied by nearby explosions... Sure when you can SEE the game looks great, too bad the game finds everyway it possibly can to make sure you can't see.Tax_Document said:
Games made during the height of the 2D era still hold up extremely well today I think. Examples being the gorgeous Legend of Mana:
And Planescape: Torment:
Just goes to show that, when you choose your art direction carefully and really put a lot of effort into that, your game can survive through the ages.
And Planescape: Torment:
Just goes to show that, when you choose your art direction carefully and really put a lot of effort into that, your game can survive through the ages.
It's still sorta funny how Half Life 2 manages to create characters that feel a lot more alive and have a lot more emotions than, say, The Witcher 2, one of the most graphically advanced games we have.Vault101 said:
And people complain about brown games today... See folks, they're from all eras.munx13 said:Battlefield 1942
Have to agree with the sentiment here. By the time 3D came around the technology was already there, and had been for some time to translate some great looking 2D art styles into a game. So stuff like the SNES Final Fantasies, Chrono Trigger, Super Metroid, Super Mario World, Yoshi's Island, etc. that all had really great art direction weren't hindered by the technology of the day, while early 3D stuff was constantly bumping up against the limits of the technology of the day.Veylon said:
That said, there are still great looking early 3D games that are still great looking because, like you said, they had an art style that worked well within the limits of the technology. Super Mario 64 being a great example. I'd say Mega Man Legends is actually another that works well for similar reasons, and certainly the PSX era FF's, particularly IX, and the Resident Evil games all looked great and hold up fairly well all things considered, in part thanks to their use of pre-rendered backgrounds. On the PC end, stuff like the original Quake still looks good as well.
Last gen is really where 3D started to come into it's own though. Games like the PS2 Gran Turismo's, MGS2 and 3, FFXII, Prince of Persia, Silent Hill 2, 3 and 4, Persona 3, Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, Jak and Daxter, Wind Waker, and a hell of a lot more still look great. And while not really 3D, I have to give a shout out to the 2D in Odin Sphere and Grim Grimoire. And of course this generation, we're no longer really facing the sort of limitations we used to. At this point, short of making a massive open world game, it's hard to push the hardware so hard that it limits the art style a company can use.
Games that went for simple, yet stylistic choices aka your Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Tales of Phantasia, many Final Fantasy games before 7, Fire Emblem games. I was recently watching a slew of the cut scenes for Final Fantasy 6 from the PS1 era and it still surprisingly holds up well.
In the future when Nintendo releases the 30th or so The Legend of Zelda installment (we're at 20 with Skyward Sword), I wonder how The Wind Waker will fare? Certainly there were those who complained about the cel-shaded look of the game and how it made everything appear too "cartoony", but I would think it would fair better than Ocarina of Time considering its more unique stylistic direction. Even considering how spoiled my eyes have been by modern HD graphics on my PS3 and XBox 360, when I replayed the Wind Waker the graphics still held up for me. My replay of Ocarina of Time on the N64, however, lead to progressive eye strain and headaches only an hour in, and they're only 5 years apart! Thank god for the re-release on the 3DS, I mean just look at these comparisons:
In the future when Nintendo releases the 30th or so The Legend of Zelda installment (we're at 20 with Skyward Sword), I wonder how The Wind Waker will fare? Certainly there were those who complained about the cel-shaded look of the game and how it made everything appear too "cartoony", but I would think it would fair better than Ocarina of Time considering its more unique stylistic direction. Even considering how spoiled my eyes have been by modern HD graphics on my PS3 and XBox 360, when I replayed the Wind Waker the graphics still held up for me. My replay of Ocarina of Time on the N64, however, lead to progressive eye strain and headaches only an hour in, and they're only 5 years apart! Thank god for the re-release on the 3DS, I mean just look at these comparisons:
Oh man, totally the PS1 Rayman. When I got my PS1 back in '97 I literally couldn't believe how pretty it was. But to follow up some previous comment Half Life 2 and it's episodes are still top notch.
