Games that really showcased the generational leap?

[DaSorcerer7]

Wii Sports, Mario 64

[chandoog]

[Anghammarad]

For me, it was A Link to the Past that really showcased the new generation. I can remember going to my neighbour, together with my father. He had an SNES, while we were still playing the NES. When we visited, he was playing the very beginning of ALttP. We were both blown away by the fantastic colours, details and of course the rain that was falling. Suffice to say that not long after this, we got ourselves an SNES

And of course, something similar happened back in 1998, when I first put OoT in my N64...

[DieH@rd]

MGS2 by far.

[AtticusD]

Super Mario World - SNES

Wipeout - PSX

Mario 64 - N64

Gears of War - Xbox 360

Uncharted and Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction - PS3



Curious how the first three titles were launch ones.

[SmokyDave]

Test Drive Unlimited (360)
Sonic Adventure (Dreamcast)
Sega Rally (Saturn)

And I have to say, as a console player, Halo: Combat Evolved. Playing The Two Betrayals co-op for the first time was an epiphany after a staple diet of OutTrigger. The start of the second level with the escape pods coming in overhead seemed insane too. THE SUNLIGHT IS DAPPLING THROUGH THE TREES!

[Lagspike_exe]

My mind was blow away when I first saw Motorstorm. I saw some kid playing it on a demo kiosk and I just stood their and just couldn't believe a game could look like that with that awesome blur, terrain deformation etc. and still run at 30 frames. :|

[GarthVaderUK]

For this gen - Oblivion, Fight Night Round 3 and Gears of War.

[ChackanKun]

This gen: Warhawk

[painey]

[jim-jam bongs]

I'm going to go a bit left-field and say F.E.A.R. on PC. The quality of the shaders and post just seemed so far beyond anything that had come before it like Doom 3, and the particle effects still amaze me.

[onken]

This gen: Gears/Motorstorm
Last gen: Metroid Prime
Gen before: Resident Evil 2

[robor]

OoT on N64
Metroid Prime on Cube
Zack & Wiki on Wii

EDIT.

Soul Calibur on Dreamcast

[Vorador]

For me it was Soul Calibur. I was absolutely stunned.

Wot? Elaborate...

New game from FROM Software for ps3. There's a big ass thread about it somewhere.

[jsnepo]

[randomwab]

This gen: Dead Rising

Next gen: Crysis (Ohh yeah, I went there)

[BloodySinner]

Last generation it totally was...

[comedian]

Heavenly sword.

[ChackanKun]

Heavenly sword.

Kind of agree with you. But Warhawk stole the crown.

[PnCIa]

This gen: Oblivion and Gears of War. Both looked crazy good when they launched.

[Astery]

Now gen:
Gears of War
Killzone 2
Wii sports (in another way)

Last gen:
Phantasy Star Online
Shenmue
Shadow of the Colossus

Gen before:
Metal Gear Solid
FF VIII

wasn't paying much attention in this gen and anything before :(

[DavidDayton]

I don't think anything really had the same impact that Super Mario 64 had.

I really want to say Super Mario Galaxy, just because...

[Truant]

GRAW was a big deal for me. Especially the explotion scene. Also, Oblivion, at the time.

[mario ate my burger]

GTA 3

[EatChildren]

Wii Sports.

The only correct answer for this generation. Of all games, this is the one that without a doubt felt like a quantum leap for gaming as a whole. New widely recognized audience, new direction for one of the biggest developers in gaming, and a game that felt like no other before it.

[user_nat]

Oblivion back then, donno how it aged so poorly.

[manueldelalas]

Mario 64 of course; then I haven't seen anything that couldn't be done until Wii Sports and recently Tiger Woods 10 on Wii.

Also Kirby Canvas Curse was quite eye-opening when looking at what could be done with a stylus.

[Winterblink]

Wipeout HD. The improvement from previous generations to this one has been profound. As evidence I present Exhibit A:

[manueldelalas]

Wipeout HD. The improvement from previous generations to this one has been profound. As evidence I present Exhibit A:

F zero AX was prettier and faster. *runs*

[Spydy]

GRAW was a big deal for me. Especially the explotion scene. Also, Oblivion, at the time.

Was about to post the same. When I first started playing, I was using an old CRT. I bought a HDTV a week later to fully experience it. The move from standard to high definition including a massive graphical upgrade was fantastic to see...pity the game was buggy as hell.

Last gen, MGS2.

[Xenomorph]

[dcdobson]

Nothing showcases a generational leap like Mario 64 did. That game was fucking MINDBLOWING when it came out.

Couldn't agree more.

[Second]

Mario 64 is the true winner.

This gen:
Gears of War
Killzone 2
Wi Sports

All did it in their own way. But Ps360 are still showing more while the Wii kinda stood still after WiiSports...

[Fimbulvetr]

Do the target renders for KZ2 and FF XIII count?

[HD-VHS]

As a kid raised on the SNES and the Genesis, going to the arcade and seeing Virtua Fighter for the first time was jaw dropping. The leap from 2D to polygons blew me away back then.
Then VOICE ACTING!

[szaromir]

[Interfectum]

Super Castlevania 4
Mario 64
Metal Gear Solid 2
Grand Theft Auto 3
Gears of War

[S. L.]

Metal Gear Solid 2 by FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR
OMG that trailer!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bk7aBSUAozE&fmt=18

[Ryu bogard]

GRAW 360
MGS2 PS2
Shenmue DC
Uncharted PS3

[Seiken]

Motorstorm this generation.

[krioto]

Killzone 2, but wipEout HD has been the biggest eye-melter this gen.

[mr_nothin]

Metal Gear Solid 2 by FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR OMG that trailer! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bk7aBSUAozE&fmt=18

Man I just watched that trailer all the way through and I got the same feeling I had when I 1st watched it.

:( MGS4 lost sooooo much of what made MGS awesome :(

[StuBurns]

This generation, Burnout Paradise. It's approach to online, DLC, it's game design, it's technical performance, everything. Despite greatly disliking it, it's about as next-gen as any game released so far.

Last generation, GTA3, for the obvious reasons.

[JosM88]

I remember looking at the pics of Gears in magazines, and thinking to myself"holy shit this is soooo fake". Now gears is merely passable to me compared to RE5, RAGE is showing amazing gfx, and the PC is pusing 360 titles to the max. It's an awesome time to be a graphics whore.

Edit:
I didn't know this covered multiple gens. In that case I'd say.

Mario 64
Ninja Gaiden

These were the absolute cream of the crop in their respective generations in my opinion.

[rayner]

I bought an SNES at launch in the US and it wasn't until that X-mas ( 1991 ) that it took the generational leap with Act Raiser. I was the coolest kid on the block with mode 7 graphics

Thinking back now... that was the last system I bought on launch-day.

[Woodsy]

Original Tekken on the PSX was the first game I distinctly remember thinking "Holy shit, I'm playing an ARCADE game in my basement!" - and that was on a crappy 19" early 80's RCA television.

[segarr]

NFL2K blew me away when I booted up my dreamcast. I was going off N64, never had a psx, so I wasn't even used to seeing FMV. Then when I started a game and it looked like the FMV-- I haven't been that much in awe of a game's graphics since.

[megashock5]

From Nes to this felt like another world. Graphically at least.

Absolutely.

Also, Soul Calibur/Sonic Adventure/NFL2K at Dreamcast launch.

[Yoboman]

Took until Bioshock for me I think

[Winterblink]

F zero AX was prettier and faster. *runs*

*points in your direction, fires Quake* :p