Games that looked awesome back then, but look terrible nowadays.

[Saturos]

Don't you hate it when you go back to some game that was fun and had awesome graphics at the time only to discover that the graphics aren't so awesome anymore? Here's a small list of such games I played recently that looked good back then, but nearly makes me puke nowadays:

The PS2 Grand Theft Auto series
JakII
PS1 Final fantasy games
Parasite Eve 1 & 2
Blood (still alot of fun though)
PS2 Ratchet & Clank games
Half-Life 1
The N64 Legend Of Zeldas
Goldeneye 007
StarFox 64

Dammit, I loved these games too, but they make my eyes bleed if I try playing through them again.

Stangely enough, if the game is really old, (or is simply designed to be 2D arcade gameplay with 3D graphics) and is still 2D, the graphics don't bother me much at all.
Such games as these don't bother me despite being dated graphically:

The Metal Slug series (awesome artwork direction negates the feeling of graphical inferiority in this series)
Any of the old Mario Bros. games
The Advance Wars series (again, like the Metal Slug series, the artwork is brilliantly designed enough to negate inferior graphics)
The old Sonic games
Shadowrun (Sega Genesis)
Final Fantasy III
Chrono Trigger

...and a bunch of others I don't feel like listing. I guess with 3D games that try to immerse the player in quasi-realistic environments and 3D worlds, the game fails to deliver the fun because it no longer accomplishes what it originally set out to do. :| Does anybody else feel the same way about older games as I do? What are some other theories?

List the names of games that looks terrible nowadays, but was incredible eye-candy for it's time. Likewise, list some games that still holds it's charm and interest despite being graphically inferior.

EDIT > BTW, if anybody still has JakII, do you get screen tearing and framerate issues throughout the game?

 

[Letters]

Yeah, that early 3d stuff like N64/Playstation games have really aged badly. There's plenty of games older than that era of stuff, like most of them actually, that still look just fine.

 

[Iron_cube]

Goldeneye64 is still a epic multiplayer game with 3 good buddies, what's your point?

 

[Warbie]

Many 2d games have aged gracefully over the years - I completely agree about Metal Slug and Mario et al - while old 3d stuff looks like complete arse. Original Playstation and older pc games seem to fair the worst.

My fave timeless game has to be Yoshi's Island. I couldn't believe how good it looked on release and still have to pick my jaw off the floor all these years later.

 

[Saturos]

Many 2d games have aged gracefully over the years - I completely agree about Metal Slug and Mario et al - while old 3d stuff looks like complete arse. Original Playstation and older pc games seem to fair the worst.

My fave timeless game has to be Yoshi's Island. I couldn't believe how good it looked on release and still have to pick my jaw off the floor all these years later.

My point rests.

Yoshi's Island also falls into the category of games that have "awesome artwork which negates graphical/technical inferiority", and yes Yoshi's Island is still awesome as hell because of it.

Goldeneye64 is still a epic multiplayer game with 3 good buddies, what's your point?

Yes, Goldeneye007 multi-player is still great fun, but just don't try to play the SP missions, or you'll notice the blurry textures all to easy right before your eyes melt from your skull.

3D games I do believe age much more horribly than the older 2D stuff. Strange, but it's true. :|

Even Doom3 looks like it's been hit with the ugly stick over the course of 4 years of it's existence.

 

[Agent.M]

Starfox for sure never thought graphics would get any better than that lol.

 

[Direwolf]

The first generational 3D stuff (on consoles its stuff from the Saturn, N64, and Playstation 1) is probably never going to be remembered as fondly as the stuff that came before or after. We went from:

to

In two generations. Which do you think will be easier to enjoy in ten years? Not that it still won't look terrible, but it will at least be recognizable.

 

[Shoes_Buttback03]

Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction. I just recently poped my copy into my PS2 and wow. It has not aged well. And it was realesed in 05!

 

[Saturos]

Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction. I just recently poped my copy into my PS2 and wow. It has not aged well. And it was realesed in 05!

Yeah, another good example. Probably the same way I felt after popping in JakII. Ugh! /facpalm

I wish JakII would've been held off for a PS3 release (or a remake) now that I think about it.

 

[Asuka]

I still think Half-Life and Metal Gear Solid look great. As well as Deus Ex. To me those games simply dont age.

 

[Jintor]

Grim Fandango is still pretty awesome. Another case of artwork superiority. It's helped by the fact that most of the background is basically a looping movie... and I'm glad someone else around here plays Metal Slug.

Deus Ex is one of those games that you just can't help wishing was built in the Source engine.

 

[Raziaar]

Halo 3. The graphics looked awesome back when they were the exact same as Halo, but look terrible today as we realize they are the exact same as Halo.



















I haven't played Halo 3. Just trying to piss off fanboys.

 

[xcellerate]

rainbow six

 

[leib10]

rainbow six

QFT

HL2 still looks better than 75% of the games that come out today, and probably will for some time.

 

[Krynn72]

The N64 Rainbow Six fared much worse:

 

[AmishSlayer]

Time Commando

I remember when my friend and I fired up the demo for this game. We thought we were watching an FMV but suddenly we were attacked and died. Around that time we realized it was actually in-game.

Btw...best...old...game...ever.

 

[Jintor]

Holy shit, is THAT WHAT THAT GAME WAS CALLED

I played it once but could NEVER REMEMBER WHAT IT WAS CALLED

GAhahahhHHhHHh

I've wasted my life

 

[Saturos]

I still think Half-Life and Metal Gear Solid look great. As well as Deus Ex. To me those games simply dont age.

If you say so. I guess when it comes to 3D games, I'm a bit of a graphics whore. To some people, these games are still entertaining no matter what. The only old 3D game I can still play without choking to death is Blood. Lots of fun blowing up fanatics and gargoyles with dynamite.

I'm glad someone else around here plays Metal Slug.

Metal Slug has, and always will kick loads of 3D game ass as far as fun goes. :E

Deus Ex is one of those games that you just can't help wishing was built in the Source engine.

I'd rather they remake the first Deus Ex with updated graphics rather than trying for a sequel to Deus Ex:IW tbh.

The N64 Rainbow Six fared much worse:

All N64 games look like runny diarreah (blurry).

Whereas PS1 games look like chunky bits of sharp peanuty poo. The kind that hurts coming out. (blocky textures and lots of jaggies)

 

[Krynn72]

I'd rather they remake the first Deus Ex with updated graphics rather than trying for a sequel imo.

You know that there IS a sequel right?

 

[Saturos]

You know that there IS a sequel right?

*fixed*

...and besides, I wouldn't really call IW a sequel to the original Deus Ex. More like a fluke that never should have happened imo.

 

[Stormy]

Awesome-0

 

[Krynn72]

*fixed*

wut?



And DX:IW was a pretty good game. Just not to the original's extent.

 

[Jintor]

Earth-worm Jim!

Da-da-da-da-da-DAAAAA!

Earth-worm Jim!

Da-da-da-da-da-DAAAAA!

EARTH-WORM-EARTH-WORM-EARTH-WORM-EARTH-WORM-JIM! JIIIM! JIIIIMMMM!!!

 

[el Chi]

I remember looking at a preview of HL1 in a magazine and saying, out loud: "Wow those graphics are photo-realistic!"
Not so much. Although at the time they were jaw-dropping: I remember playing it for the first time and staring wide-eyed at the chrome effects on the Barneys' helmets.
It still looks alright for what it is.

Grim Fandango is still pretty awesome. Another case of artwork superiority.

Sir, you couldn't be more right.

[Deus Ex: IW was] More like a fluke that never should have happened imo.

Sir, you couldn't be more right.

On t'other hand, I'll be interested - although sceptical - to see what they do with a third DX game.
Plus: the first game does not need a remake, nor does it still look good. Stylistically it's pretty cool, but some of the graphics are horrid.

And DX:IW was a pretty good game. Just not to the original's extent.

I fear we may have played different versions of DX:IW...

 

[Tagaziel]

Most of the games of my hard drive have aged well, though some suffer from their inability to run in higher resolutions (Baldur's Gate 1, Planescape: Torment, Fallout). This is made up for with artwork and general awesome (not so much in BG1, though).

2D games generally age better than 3D ones, and that's a fact.

 

[jimbo118]

Hell I played Condemned the other day and thought it looked crap, mostly shitty textures though.

 

[Jintor]

Most of the games of my hard drive have aged well, though some suffer from their inability to run in higher resolutions (Baldur's Gate 1, Planescape: Torment, Fallout). This is made up for with artwork and general awesome (not so much in BG1, though).

2D games generally age better than 3D ones, and that's a fact.

Planescape Torment in particular still had me dropping my jaw in awe and just how gosh-darned pretty Sigil was. Fallout... not so much. Then again, Fallout was kind of nuclear warfareland.

 

[Absinthe]

I remember being completely awed by Zelda:OoT. Now it's kind of difficult to look at.

The funny thing about Deus Ex is that even though it looks bad today (and it was never that impressive to begin with), I don't mind at all. I just feels appropriate still, you know? I could load it up and play through it again now and the aged graphics wouldn't enter my head once. That's not the case with a lot of older games, where I can't finish them again since I can't get past the visuals.

 

[Jintor]

I know what you mean, Absinthe, but then I play Vampire: The Masquerade and just sit there and wonder how much MORE awesome Deus Ex would have been if the Source Engine had been available for it.

God, VTM's conversation engine is just so awesome...

 

[el Chi]

Don't get me wrong: it's a spectacular game. I've been playing it again (third time maybe?) on-and-off recently and the graphical issues have only entered my head a couple of times. Nevertheless, they still suck.

 

[Nibwoddle]

Mario Kart 64 and pretty much all the old Nintendo games.
Half Life, definitely.
Half Life 2, definitely not.
Starlancer
Star Wars Jedi Outcast
Turok 1
V Rally

 

[Absinthe]

Don't get me wrong: it's a spectacular game. I've been playing it again (third time maybe?) on-and-off recently and the graphical issues have only entered my head a couple of times. Nevertheless, they still suck.

Well, in some weird way what I'm saying is... Uhh... It wouldn't be Deus Ex somehow if it didn't have crap graphics.

Does that make sense? =P

 

[Tagaziel]

Planescape Torment in particular still had me dropping my jaw in awe and just how gosh-darned pretty Sigil was. Fallout... not so much. Then again, Fallout was kind of nuclear warfareland.

What kicks me in the arse is the quality of the writing. The author of the dialogues in PS:T deserves a Nobel prize.

As for Fallout... well, nuked out wastes tend not to be colourful

 

[Beerdude26]

Theme Hospital aged well.

The DNF trailer didn't ;(

EDIT: okay so maybe it did

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPX_y7wP_ko

 

[Gray Fox]

FFVII
I strongly disagree with the OP on the ps2 games, most of them still look amazing today, especially Jak II.

edit: crono cross

 

[Krynn72]

I fear we may have played different versions of DX:IW...

You probably played it with the " This is a Deus Ex Sequel" mindset. I played it with a "This is a totally separate game" mindset. It was a lot better than most other games at the time, but it was doomed to be a perceived failure since it was a follow up of the arguably best game of all time. Seriously, how can any game live up to Deus Ex?

Also, another game that didnt age well is Duke Nukem 3D. I just played it today, and urhg, looking up towards the sky makes me want to puke. I dont know how they did it, but they managed to get the laws of perspective backwards.

 

[Laivasse]

Most of the games of my hard drive have aged well, though some suffer from their inability to run in higher resolutions (Baldur's Gate 1, Planescape: Torment, Fallout). This is made up for with artwork and general awesome (not so much in BG1, though).

2D games generally age better than 3D ones, and that's a fact.

Just in case you aren't: are you aware of the existence of BG1 Tutu? Allows you to play BG1 via the BG2 engine. I've tried it at a couple of stages in its development, and the most recent incarnation has a very streamlined install and only a few minor bugs. Thanks to Tutu I completed BG1 just recently, all at a very nice resolution. The only problem is you lose some of the uniquely BG1-style art touches (eg. the shape of shields, helmets and armour).

And I fully agree with Saturos' points about 3D graphics being less future-proof than 2D ones. With 3D, the devs have to carry all the suspension-of-disbelief with their own hard graft, by way of the polygon-count/bump-mapping/whatever. With 2D it succeeded or failed based on the art direction. 2D&3D hybrid environments a la FF7 or Grim Fandango were often a great design choice back in the day.

 

[Bad^Hat]

Idunno, I'm not normally off-put by older-than-granny's-tits graphics, but there are exceptions. One of the biggies is 3D low-poly characters over pixellated 2D backgrounds. It was fine at the time, but playing them again today at higher resolutions looks baaaaad. Case in point: Grim Fandango, the PS1 Final Fantasies (wait, doesn't pluralising that make it an oxymoron?).

 

[Kyorisu]

FF7/8/9 Still look great imo.

 

[Cornerstone]

Allows you to play BG1 via the BG2 engine.

Both used the Infinity engine but OpenGL acceleration was put into use for BG2.