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[biglittleps]

No way!! This thread makes me want to play Ape Escape...



Patience RE games are still completely playable.

For me too, as I'm playing these still.

 

[kess]

Persona 1 is about as lo-fi as it gets but it's still a great game:

 

[nOoblet16]

I think the biggest issues with PS1 games were texture warping, lack of Z-buffer and perspective correction (this a bit more than the other).

 

[beril]

The screens weren't even the size of your fist.

Personally I think there are a lot of really good looking DS games, even 3D:

Also almost every DS games ran at 60 fps, unless they were using 3D on both screens at once. I think there was a hard cap for the number of triangles you could draw per frame so you basically couldn't sacrifice performance for graphic fidelity. Also it didn't have any of the glitchy artifacts of early 3D consoles like wobbly textures and z-fighting, and it could do things like cel shading, outlines, and even some manner of edge AA.

 

[TheD]

I think the biggest issues with PS1 games were texture warping, lack of Z-buffer and perspective correction (this a bit more than the other).

Don't forget the lack of sub pixel precision for it's polygon rasterization.

 

[sublimit]

I don't know i still like and appreciate the graphics of the PS era.Whenever i replay a PS game i always find it interesting to notice how the art directors managed to overcome the hardware limitations with a beautiful art direction.Not to mention that the blocky and empty look of some of those games today gives them a somewhat abstract and modern-art look.

And not to mention i have much more fun replaying my PS1 games than the interactive hollywood movies of today.(Like Tomb Raider for example)

 

[TnK]

More people need to play some Omega Boost!

Omega Boost was awesome, and really hard for me as a kid. Could never beat the game, but I remember reaching stage 4's giant dog boss thing.

Many PSone games actually look quite nice when you see them running in a higher resolution. Mega Man Legends is a good example of that

Of all the MML2 screenshots, you chose THAT!

Well, technically, all 2-D games on the PSX only "looked" 2D - they were actually all just textured polygons displayed at a fixed perspective. By that logic, Castlevania SOTN is the best looking 3D game of the generation.

This game was in reality 3D? The hell?

OP, IMHO, I find PS1 games to have aged better vs the N64. PS1 games in general had a cleaner look compared to the N64.

N64 had horrible frame rates, as they always felt like they worked slower compared to ps1 games, had disgusting textures (so called shit smeared), and had those horrible fogs. These issues were opened up with previous members.
Compare a 64 game with MML2, and MML2 has none of those problems, looks clean, and runs at a stable 30FPS.

 

[Timu]

When discussing this kind of thing I believe you need to take the whole library into account.

While many PSX 3D games have aged poorly, the library still features a huge number of 2D titles alongside some 3D games that did hold up. Same deal with Saturn.

Now, Nintendo 64 I do believe has aged worse in the sense that its library is made up almost entirely of 3D games which were attempting to try new things. While Nintendo's own games are still brilliant, most of the library is not. The games were exploring genres that hadn't matured and as a result feel extremely clunky these days. The N64's 3D functions were more in line with what we ended up seeing on the PC with 3D graphics cards. It took a more modern approach to 3D and that definitely improved things. My issue is that most of the library consists of slow, low-frame-rate 3D games. There are precious few 2D games and those that do exist used that nasty 3D-rendered sprite look started with DKC. Saturn and PSX feature a huge number of high quality 60 fps 2D games with visual design that could still work in a game released in 2014.

So while PSX and Saturn have lower lows than N64 I think the libraries as a whole hold up better and are more appealing for collectors such as myself. It's impressive to look back at what was achieved on N64, though.

That said, ignoring the really old pre-Nintendo consoles, I think the 3DO has actually aged worse than any other console.

Why? First of all, it was limited to 480i output despite internally rendering at 320x240. It used interpolation to modify the image before it hit the display and the result is a garbled, blurry image. It looks so much worse than its contemporaries on both a real CRT and on a good scaler. More importantly, most of its games run at obscenely low frame-rates; much worse than typical N64 games. Games like Killing Time chug along at single digit frame-rates while even 2D titles tend to top out at 30 fps with lots of slowdown (see Gex).

2D games were ugly and ran poorly on 3DO while 3D games are all much uglier than PSX or Saturn and run much MUCH MUCH slower. Then you have all the FMV games which, of course, don't hold up at all.

This is why I feel it holds up worse than any other system from that era. Even the Jag and consoles such as the PC-FX or Virtual Boy hold up better than 3DO due to at least a handful of 60 fps 2D games that still look reasonably appealing.

Wow the 3DO sounds like a mess.

 

[MoGamesXNA]

.

 

[JimmyRustler]

yeah i never could get into the classics Resident Evils because of the tank controls,they're just awful.

Resident Evil has actually aged pretty well. The controls are not bad, that's how it's meant to be played.

Now stuff like Syphon Filter, that has aged bad because this kind of gameplay has been done infinitely better by now.

 

[immortal-joe]

Good art direction trumps any technical limitation, EVERY time. From there, if the gameplay is designed around the overall game structure and layout, then it will always be timeless in my eyes.

Resident Evil tank controls are a perfect example. The game is designed around those controls, so it feels natural even today.

 

[Jimrpg]

SNES and Genesis 3D is what I'd compare to pre-NES consoles. I'd say the PSX and Saturn and N64 remind me of the MSX and C64 and NES and SMS, personally. The PS2 stuff reminded me of the Genesis and SNES. The PS3 stuff reminded me of the 2D stuff from the Saturn days.

I didn't really count SNES cause well one, I never had the console so I can only remember Star Fox being really 3D... and Genesis was 95% 2D anyways.

Also I feel like I could go back and play most of the NES games probably not any of the sports games but the platformers, action and adventure titles are all pretty playable. I find it hard to want to search out a copy of pitfall or pong or pacman.

That's fine, but seriously, don't ignore the 2D games. There's a huge number of beautiful 2D games on PSX that hold up brilliantly today.

100% agree with you....

PS1 and Neo Geo era had some amazing 2D art and games. If it wasn't for the absurd price, I would get a Neo Geo just to play it the original way.

 

[encephalon]

The original Resident Evil is clunky, but RE2 and RE3 are in fact pretty agile/fluid games. The camera angle can be a mindfuck and no tank controls aren't perfect, but they were good enough for a full blown action game in RE4. To be honest, if we're going to say games can "age" then I'd argue they've "aged" better than any other games on the console. The combination of pre-rendered backgrounds and 3D models really wasn't as well executed in any other games I've played from the era. Even Parasite Eve 2, which is essentially an action RPG, can feel a bit "off" compared to RE and those camera transitions. The combination allowed them to really nail the art direction they were going for. At times the 3D models are extremely well integrated into the CG, like with the truck you push with Ada Wong in Leon's scenario.

 

[Man]

Vagrant Story is timeless despite being a fully polygonal PSOne game.

It's one of the most atmospheric games of all times. Perfect for the western gamer who might feel jrpgs to be a foreign experience but love Ultima, Diablo and Baldurs Gate. It hits that sweet spot that Demon's Souls does.

 

[Oblivion]

PS1 is pretty bad, as is the 3DS, but I'd probably have to give the title to the NES and any other 8-bit and pre-8 bit systems.

 

[playXray]

It's really strange how bad some PS1 games are in hindsight, even though they were ace at the time. I went back and played the original Crash Bandicoot a couple of years ago, and I was totally shocked at how awful it was. I just had to stop after 20 mins and I never want to play it again. I was a bit gutted tbh.

 

[nintendork666]

I appreciate PS1 graphics in the same sense I still love NES aesthetics - so no.

Anything pre-NES though...

 

[Munin]

I love the unfiltered big pixel low poly look of PSX games. I just wish they had fixed the warping and jittering.

 

[Into]

Disagree

RE 1-3, FF 7-9, Tekken series, MGS are still amazing games. The use of pre rendered backrounds makes RE and FF (and other Square games) look acceptable. Compared to most full 3D games, the pre rendered stuff looks just fine, your eyes are not under attack. The 2D games on the PSX look amazing, only flaw is the loading times.

Graphically the worst aging system is the original DS when it comes to 3D games, they looked barely acceptable back then and today look terrible. N64 has not aged well either, most games are full 3D meaning they look like school projects today, the lack of 2D games and only RE2 port with pre rendered graphics means everything for most part looks bad.

 

[Jamix012]

MGS is one of the best games ever, but other than that? I fully agree with this premise. NES games haven't aged perfectly, no, but there are still more NES games I'd rather play than PS1 games, just by virtue of having 6 Mega Man games.

 

[Vashetti]

I think Vita is the best home for PS1 titles now, especially the OLED model. Played a lot of the Spyro games on there and they look beautiful.

 

[Acquiescence]

It varies with the games, obviously. From both a graphical and gameplay perspective, some hold up well while others are blatantly a product of their time or just borderline unplayable. I'd say games like the Spyro and Crash trilogy, Ape Escape, Vagrant Story, Final Fantasy IX, Alundra, Vib Ribbon and Wipeout 3 still look impressive when you consider how old they are, and they play just as well.

And when all is said and done, the PS1's catalogue still kicks the shit out of anything else released that gen anyway.

 

[redcrayon]

I think the DS is the worst, that thing was an offense to the eyes day one, it's an abomination now.

I put the PSOne and the DS in the same bracket, where most of the 3D games on both have aged terribly, but the 2D ones relying on gorgeous pixel art still look great.

My favourite PSOne games are FFIX and Front Mission 3, and it's only on the Vita that I can still play them these days. Although to be fair FM3 wasn't exactly a looker at the time. It is strange though, I remember being wowed by FFIX on release. The cut scenes are still gorgeous.

 

[Damigos]

Another great example that PS1 stood the test of time is the Crash Bandicoot series. Especially 2 and 3 still look very good today

 

[Manmademan]

I think the Atari/ CollecoVision era stuff aged much worse, at least to me. I can appreciate the rough polygonal stuff for whatever reason.

yep. Pre-NES console games are almost all universally unplayable by now.

 

[Alcoholikaust]

Symphony of the Night still looks better than any N64 game.

yea n64 games look like booty on new HDTVs.

and dreadful on a 60" 4k set. haha

:/

 

[DidntKnowJack]

One of the best racing games ever made, I love everything about it. Unplayable? Pfft.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YioL1nggSOM#t=0m45s

 

[ultratruman]

Crash Team Racing is still great.

 

[ResidentDante]

I appreciate PS1 graphics in the same sense I still love NES aesthetics - so no.

Anything pre-NES though...

yep. Pre-NES console games are almost all universally unplayable by now.

My first generation of consoles are the NES and Master System, but come on guys, there are games that are amazingly playable from before this.

 

[Lemmy]

Uh... no, not really.

A lot of the 3D intensive titles have probably dated badly, yeah, but I've replayed a few in recent years that hold up okay to play despite being truly hideous to look at now, like the Tomb Raider, Tekken, Ace Combat, Ridge Racer or Wipeout games to name a few. Others like Driver or Destruction Derby are garbage now though.

Guess it just depends on the games you're basing it off (How many of you have played trash like Body Harvest on N64 lately for example, or the original 15fps version of Ocarina of Time?), but yeah, early polygon stuff is kind of painful to look at now for the most part I guess.

Also, worth keeping in mind that Resident Evil games have always had seriously shit controls, from day one right up to now.

 

[Lovely Salsa]

Back in the day the only game that has ever impressed me graphically was crash 2.

Most of the time I thought the graphics were ugly and during the end of the generation it was unplayable

 

[ascii42]

My first generation of consoles are the NES and Master System, but come on guys, there are games that are amazingly playable from before this.

All of those are arcade games. I assume when they said console games they meant games that were exclusive to consoles.

 

[kess]

I could probably count on one hand the number of games I'd bother playing on an Atari 2600- it was unbelievably quaint by the 90s. The Playstation hardware might be dwarfed in a similar manner today, but the games certainly are not.

It's hard to compare those systems when the Atari could barely do stylized graphics, let alone display articulate sprites. A better comparison would be 8-bit computers, which rudimentary, have loads of games that hold up, even today.

 

[News Bot]

Scanlines are your best friend when it comes to that generation and its predecessors.

 

[Portugeezer]

For the most part yes.

The 3D in most games is primitive and limited. 2D games are fine though.

 

[Shaneus]

If I had a CRT and a PSX with Wip3out, I'd play the shit out of it. That game still kicks ass.

Because the Wipeout games had a solid design aesthetic, too. Works because even when you can make out the low-res textures etc., it still feels like the world it's meant to be.

TDR did an amazing job with those games, as did Psygnosis.

 

[K' Dash]

FF6, 7, 8, and 9... should all be very playable. Also, FF tactics

Sidenote:
Can't wait for them to put ff9 on steam...

FF6 is a SNES game.

 

[SuperEpicGuy]

Why's everyone mentioning CRT's? I don't see how the strobing low motion blur display will help ps1 games.

 

[Vashetti]

Why's everyone mentioning CRT's? I don't see how the strobing low motion blur display will help ps1 games.

The lower resolution screens help. Playing PS2 games on a CRT looks better than on an HDTV for instance (unless you're running them through an emulator like PCSX2).

 

[sixteen-bit]

I like the low-poly aesthetic of gen 5 games.

What's hard to go back to is some of the framerates.

 

[industrian]

I find that some 3D PSX and early PS2 games aged terribly because of the lack of dual stick controls. Trying to play games like Extermination is frustrating because of dual-stick muscle memory.

I still consider that era to be the best in video gaming though. There was so much creativity and experimentation.

 

[Jacobi]

NO. I love the look the early 3D games had on it and in some cases PSX graphics were superior to anything comparable on N64. Some examples I like:

The lack of texture filtering really fits the grungy atmosphere Silent Hill had.

Metal Gear Solid looked great. Had pretty extensive models like tanks and hinds.

You could compare Perfect Dark to it, but it used the expansion pak. Perfect Dark definitely had better character models, but some stuff looked worse on the other hand (the heli-flying-whatevers).

GT2 looked unbelievable back in the day. Would still look good on a smaller screen.

I'm currently playing FF9 for the first time on the Vita and it still holds up.
Of course, if you upscale the pre-rendered backgrounds you get a mess, but that's no problem on the Vita. And frankly, these games were designed for SD 15-20inch screens, so be fair about it.

 

[clem84]

I don't think PSX games hold up very well either but N64, while not quite as bad, also has aged really poorly. The entire 5th gen of consoles has aged horribly IMO. There are a few exceptions of course but generally, I almost never play these games anymore, while I regularly go back to 8-bit and 16-bit games.

 

[sörine]

There are precious few 2D games and those that do exist used that nasty 3D-rendered sprite look started with DKC. Saturn and PSX feature a huge number of high quality 60 fps 2D games with visual design that could still work in a game released in 2014.

I agree with your general premise, because of 2D games I would rather "go back to" the PSX and Saturn libraries over N64 overall, but it's worth pointing out that N64 does indeed have some 2D or heavily sprite based 3D games that don't use prerendering. Good examples being Wonder Project J2, Rakuga Kids, Pokémon Puzzle League, Bomberman 64 JP, Bangaioh or Paper Mario, most of which still hold up incredibly well today. And really, even the prerendered N64 stuff tends to hold up well visually and far better than their 16bit forebearers. Good examples there being Mischief Makers, Yoshi Story or Ogre Battle 64. I wouldn't call any of those nasty looking.

 

[vagabondarts]

I guess I'm in the minority because I think a lot of PSX games look pretty good.

I'm biased though, it's one of my favorite consoles and I still play PSX games to this day.

 

[Augemitbutter]

i hated all 3D of that generation. almost drove me away from gaming altogether. fortunately, you could go exclusively with 2D and have a good gaming life. in the end, i learned to deal with it and enjoy MGS, FF etc.

the Saturn also had its 3D gems like Virtua Fighter 2. pretty smooth and colorful game, running at a higher res.

 

[sörine]

I guess I'm in the minority because I think a lot of PSX games look pretty good.

I'm biased though, it's one of my favorite consoles and I still play PSX games to this day.

I honestly like going back to early 3D too, it can be super charming. I replayed Jumping Flash recently and had a great time with it. I even like going back to flat shaded 16bit 3D like Star Fox or Virtua Racing.

 

[vagabondarts]

I honestly like going back to early 3D too, it can be super charming. I replayed Jumping Flash recently and had a great time with it. I even like going back to flat shaded 16bit 3D like Star Fox or Virtua Racing.

I'm totally the same way. Virtua Racing! Love that game!!!

 

[Waylon Drums]

I never had a PSX so I have no nostalgia to cloud my view* and I think playing most any PSX game with polygons is a nightmare.

Spoiler

*The N64 is still totally great however /nostalgia

Symphony of the Night still looks better than any N64 game.

It's funny, SotN is the reason I said "with polygons" because it still looks good.

 

[s_mirage]

I largely agree with the OP but there are games that still look ok. Symphony of the Night being one. What puzzles me though is why so many people rate MGS for looks. It has texture warping all over the place, heavy dithering (IIRC), the characters have no faces, and even at HD resolutions it looks pretty ugly these days.

Wow the 3DO sounds like a mess.

And yet, every game that was ported from the 3DO to the Playstation looks better on the 3DO.... IMHO the 3DO's graphics looked more solid than the PS1's: less texture warping and polygon seams and no dogshit looking dithering, which was all over the place on the PS1.