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[Unison]

Closest thing I can think of is one of the Last Ninja games that got a NES port.

A bad one at that!

Subjective, of course, but that game was no looker to me.

 

[Phediuk]

A bad one at that!

Subjective, of course, but that game was no looker to me.

I just threw up a little.

 

[TheRedSnifit]

Does anyone know the game OP is referring too?

I'm guessing Sweet Home since he says it's like Resident Evil, but I don't think that game has ninjas.

 

[D.Lo]

Crisis Force, and Batman Return of the Joker.

 

[Heyasuki]

Gimmick! overall I'd say and Moon Crystal had some sick character animations.

 

[Tavernacle12]

Chip and Dale 2 looks pretty great, especially compared to the first game.

 

[dragonzdogma]

I just threw up a little.

Oh come on,
maybe it helps if you see it in motion - I dunno is that 3D look that I liked I guess -_-;

 

[FrontalMonk]

Shatterhand and Vice had some pretty sweet paralax. I remember liking those.

edit:

It doesn't hurt that Vice: Project Doom also had driving/shmup segments, rail shooter segments, ninja gaiden style cutscenes, and happened to be a bangin' platformer. A real gem of a NES game.

 

[Unison]

Cosmic Epsilon has some awesome effects, but you have to see it in motion:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PS9tWJMfesM

 

[RedSwirl]

I don't know if we can count this as the most technically advanced NES game, but in Europe there was an NES version of Elite. It had 3D graphics.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoBIOi00sEI

 

[Gold_Loot]

I would say either Ninja Giaden or Bionic Comando.

 

[jb1234]

Kirby's Adventure.

 

[ryushe]

Kirby's Adventure i'd say.

Kirby, not even close

Yep and yep.

Found out this was an NES game years after the fact and I was floored.

 

[Peltz]

I'd go with Kirby or Gimmick. But Recca deserves a mention:

And Joy Mecha Fight:

So smooth for a Famicom game.

 

[RowdyReverb]

Batman: Return of Joker looked amazing for how limited the NES was compared to the Genesis, but for some reason, the Genesis one looked a bit "off" despite being the more powerful console...(probably the framerate?)

Comparison video of NES vs Genesis versions

Is it wrong that I think the NES version looks better than both the Genesis and SNES versions? I think the limited hardware forced restraint in color selection, and the design is more focused as a result. The 16-bit versions look messy by comparison

 

[L.O.R.D]

Hands down.

GIF from the last time this thread came up:

More GIFs

 

[Sanjuro]

Battletoads is up there in the animation category.

 

[trikster40]

I think Zelda II Has got to be up there, the side scrolling segments look fantastic.

 

[Brandon F]

Hands down.

GIF from the last time this thread came up:

More GIFs

Whelp, I'm convinced.

 

[RowdyReverb]

The NES could by default display 25 colors and all 64 colors if you were using programming tricks.

Cool link:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_video_game_console_palettes

Arguments about which platform has higher resolution seem so trivial when you remember that some contemporary platforms could literally display more colors simultaneously than others.

 

[LinkSlayer64]

And Joy Mecha Fight:

So smooth for a Famicom game.

So that's what those salty bet fighters are from!

 

[140.85]

Blaster Master.

Beautiful with H & V scrolling without artifacts you'd see in some games.

 

[ryushe]

More GIFs

Well damn.

 

[DrKelpo]

while the game itself may not win a beauty contest, the animations in Metal Storm were amazing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_JF3k-c2RI

 

[Weltall Zero]

Wait a minute- I thought the nes was 8 bit as in 8 colors

... please be kidding. This is some serious "not even wrong" territory. I wouln't know where to start to untangle the mess of misconceptions in that sentence.

 

[talkingood]

...But okay, never played the Batman game but that's pretty impressive.

 

[Man God]

Final Fantasy 3 is often overlooked here. I don't think it's quite on the level of Return of the Joker or Gimmick but it is a gorgeous game. Parts of FF 4 don't look much better!

 

[Days like these...]

Cosmic Epsilon has some awesome effects, but you have to see it in motion:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PS9tWJMfesM

Wow I had never seen this game. Amazing!

 

[Ludist210]

Kirby's Adventure, Battletoads, or the second Batman game.

 

[Brandon F]

Final Fantasy 3 is often overlooked here. I don't think it's quite on the level of Return of the Joker or Gimmick but it is a gorgeous game. Parts of FF 4 don't look much better!

For a long time I would have considered FF3 in the running myself.

 

[Talamius]

Return of the Joker, easily. I am fairly certain Sunsoft employed wizards.

 

[lazygecko]

...But okay, never played the Batman game but that's pretty impressive.

Towards the end of the NES lifespan, the top tier graphics designers for the system had pretty much converged around 2 very distinct art directions that were proven to work very well within the color and palette limitations of the platform. First is the gritty ultra dark noir style you see in Batman, Shatterhand, etc. Second is the vibrant cutesy graphics you see in Kirby and Mr. Gimmick.

 

[Luminaire]

Holy crap @ that Batman game.

I was gonna say Kirby or Mario 3 but damn.

 

[HeelPower]

Shatterhand and Vice had some pretty sweet paralax. I remember liking those.

edit:

I feel like people are wrong when they say NES/SNES graphics have aged well.

Tell to that to any young kid playing games these days, no way they'd play that after exposure to modern games.

 

[Het_Nkik]

Kirby's Adventure is probably my top choice but Ninja Gaiden III has some great parallax.

 

[WonderzL]

 

[Raiden]

IYO? Is that what kids use instead of in your opinion now? This is a first for me.

 

[McCHitman]

Does anyone know the game OP is referring too?

The Last Ninja is the first thing that came to mind.

 

[mindsale]

Shatterhand and Vice had some pretty sweet paralax. I remember liking those.

edit:

Holy shit, which game is this? This and the Batman Return of the Joker gif are beautiful.

 

[Het_Nkik]

IYO? Is that what kids use instead of in your opinion now? This is a first for me.

The usage of iyo is literally over a decade old.

 

[Dizzy-4U]

Holy shit, which game is this? This and the Batman Return of the Joker gif are beautiful.

Vice: Project Doom

 

[Rival]

Unbelievable what they were able to achieve on nes in some of these games. I think some of them look better today than a lot of stuff from the ps one era.

 

[ds1724]

time lord

oh boy that game infuriated me as a kid...could never figure out how to get anywhere in that game. I think the level was a western themed one and there was just nowhere to go/no way to progress that I could find. Bothers me to this day!

 

[AmyS]

Hands down.

GIF from the last time this thread came up:

Holy shit.

Kirby's Adventure is probably my top choice but Ninja Gaiden III has some great parallax.

I've always known about that parallax scrolling in Ninja Gaiden III, and that it was gone in the SNES "remastered" version in the NG Trilogy.

Sword Master

No, seriously. It's Sword Master.

Sword Master looks awesome as well.

Shatterhand and Vice had some pretty sweet paralax. I remember liking those.

edit:

Awesome. (I'm editing this post to collect these gifs!)

So smooth for a Famicom game.

Indeed!

 

[Deckard Chapel]

Aside from Batman: Return of the Joker, Konami's Track & Field II was really impressive also:

 

[What The Forest Taught Me]

Hands down.

GIF from the last time this thread came up:

Wizardry.

 

[Regiruler]

And Joy Mecha Fight:

So smooth for a Famicom game.

So this is the prequel to ARMS?

 

[frankie_baby]

I don't know if we can count this as the most technically advanced NES game, but in Europe there was an NES version of Elite. It had 3D graphics.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoBIOi00sEI

I had that

While it certainly did stuff i dont think any other nes game did, not sure ic it can class as technically advanced being a port from early 80s home computers (on which it was a technical marvel)

 

[bionic77]

Aside from Batman: Return of the Joker, Konami's Track & Field II was really impressive also:

That's Over the Top!

 

[hikarutilmitt]

My brain thinks "Vice: Project Doom... oh hey it's been mentioned!"

Then again with "Batman ROTJ!" and again it's posted.

But where is the love for Bucky O'Hare?

https://youtu.be/GHHM7_pBjUw?t=4m18s

It also has a great soundtrack.