I recently downloaded Street Fighter II (Virtual Console) on my Wii and found that it was a great game. The graphics really look great to me.
Let me describe that. Some games, like Killzone 2 or Crysis, just look amazing and almost real to me. Other games, like World of Goo, Mario 64, Halo, or SFII, just look good to me. Like they did what they were trying to accomplish with the graphics they have, and nothing else is really needed.
Also, I recently went back to play Majora's Mask on my 64 (which is the best Zelda game, post forthcoming). That also had awesome graphics to me, because I didn't really feel like it needed any more. The characters, stories, and art design really make a game look good to me.
Metroid Prime is another game. That game looks pretty good just graphically, but the art style, the whole feel of the game, and the enemies and presentation just make that game look simply amazing to me.
What games "hold up" like this to you? Or, what games do you think their graphics are just fine as they are, and aren't very glaring in today's world of 360's and PS3s?
I recently downloaded Street Fighter II (Virtual Console) on my Wii and found that it was a great game. The graphics really look great to me.
Let me describe that. Some games, like Killzone 2 or Crysis, just look amazing and almost real to me. Other games, like World of Goo, Mario 64, Halo, or SFII, just look good to me. Like they did what they were trying to accomplish with the graphics they have, and nothing else is really needed.
Also, I recently went back to play Majora's Mask on my 64 (which is the best Zelda game, post forthcoming). That also had awesome graphics to me, because I didn't really feel like it needed any more. The characters, stories, and art design really make a game look good to me.
Metroid Prime is another game. That game looks pretty good just graphically, but the art style, the whole feel of the game, and the enemies and presentation just make that game look simply amazing to me.
What games "hold up" like this to you? Or, what games do you think their graphics are just fine as they are, and aren't very glaring in today's world of 360's and PS3s?
I still think the original Halo is one of the most playable shooters on the market today. I don't know what it is about that game, some intangible factor; whatever it is, it plays so fluidly, plays by it's own rules, and feels better than either of its sequels by a long shot.
Street Fighter II is in 2D. 2D graphics age extremely well - if they look good once, they always look good - but 3D games will inevitably get uglier and uglier the more advanced the graphics of new games become. Some 3D games with stylized graphics(like Okami or that new Naruto game that looks exactly like the anime, even when in motion) will age well though.
For last gen, I'd say the God of War, Final Fantasy, and Viewtiful Joe games still look pretty good. Before that, things get a little sketchy. Most PSone games are visually horrible, looking at them now, and I'm not a fan of the blocky look of N64 games either. Both were fantastic for their time, but times... they are a' changin'.
Full Throttle still looks amazing to me. That's probably my favorite art-style of any game and has held up really well. Here are some other ones:
Super Mario 3, Super Mario World, Super Mario 64 (and so on) - Starting really with 3, the Mario games have had an excellent art style and have held up generally really well.
Super Metroid - There's a sense of desolation created by the sparse beginning that holds up really well throughout the game. The art in general works, but the fluid animation holds up particularly well.
Leisure Suit Larry 6 & 7 - Once Sierra shifted from text input to point and click, the quality of the graphics improved exponentially, culminating in several incredible looking games. These two LSL games hold up particularly well graphically.
Quest for Glory 4 - I adore the art direction in this game. So much just works right - they nailed the fantasy version of Transylvania perfectly.
Lara Bow 2 - Though not the most entertaining game, the graphics were definitely sharp for the day and I still enjoy them.
Myst - still some of the most gorgeous stills in gaming.
Grim Fandango - There's a lot to love about this game, including the crazy kick-ass art style.
All three Donkey Kong Country games - Probably the pinnacle of what stylish graphics the SNES could pump out. These games still look great to me.
Final Fantasy VII-current - Call me crazy, but I freakin' love the art style and graphics of all the Final Fantasy games, even with the blockiness of the PS1 era. The world and art design hold up so well I don't hardly notice the character graphics.
PaRappa the Rappa - Yeah. Shaddup.
Star Wars Ep. 1 Racer - One of a very few racing games that has held up graphically. There's a great sense of speed in this game without sacrificing a lot of graphical power or art design.
Tekken 3. That game didn't just blow my mind the first time I played it with my friends as a kid, even now it looks really great for a PS1 game. I'd also quite happily re-play Red Faction if I still had a copy, geo-mod was damn fun.
Echoing the opinions on Halo, too, though that might be nostalgia, the singleplayer actually feels kinda dated now.
Halo---> May not be as old as you say (this is using halo 1, halo 2 also works, but its not exactly old), it just holds up good. Maybe it's because it was the earlier game to start the modernization of shooters Tekken 3---> I was playing this over my wii collection FF7---> does not hold up... sort of. I played the majority of it later than it's time, although not all. I love it. My favorite game every probably. But I came back to play it the other dya and it sucked. I guess it's a mindset of being able to invest much time. 2d Marios---> they just do
Shockingly enough, Deus Ex always stood the test of time. But I think the narrative was more important than anything else. That and Grim Fandango, the last time I played that game was a few weeks ago, but damn it is a good game.
Games that hold up: High Quality 2D platformers like any of the Mario games or the Donkey Kong Country series Street Fighter II: Because fighting games really haven't advanced beyond this point anyways. The Legend of Zelda OOT: Because Zelda games really haven't advanced beyond this point anyways. Mario 64: Because Super Mario Sunshine was kind of dumb. Baldur's Gate II: Because it's still the best D&D RPG game ever.
Games that Fail to hold up: Pre RE4 Resident Evil Games: As much as I like them, and as much as REmake and RE0 managed to push the Gamecube visually, they are really not games I would consider watertight in terms of holding up. Fallout 1&2: I know I have just pissed off a bunch of people, but those games have not exactly aged well First Person Shooters that came out before 2001:I still don't get why everyone loves goldeneye.
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