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[FireBeaver]

A bit of an obscure one, but I cannot believe Comanche. It's an MSDOS game that came out in 1997 (edit 1992 actually!) and it looks like this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d480zpAQu08

Also fun fact. Shrek on Xbox was one of the first commercial games to use deferred lighting. Seriously.

 

[Piston Hyundai]

Porting Quake to an entirely different engine to get it on the Saturn is insane.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUZ436FXB4U

 

[Cert.in.Death]

Perhaps not a historic achievement, but having to rebuild old games from scratch due to lost source code and match their original is mighty impressive.

Crash Bandicoot and KH1, as examples.

EDIT: Not really a technological achievement but praise is warranted.

 

[btags]

A bit of an obscure one, but I cannot believe Comanche. It's an MSDOS game that came out in 1997 and it looks like this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d480zpAQu08

Also fun fact. Shrek on Xbox was one of the first commercial games to use deferred lighting. Seriously.

The shrek one has always been interesting to me, so I looked up who developed it once. The developer is none other than Digital Illusions CE, more commonly known as DICE.

 

[Celine]

Fun fact a Comanche game was planned for SNES (with voxel graphics and all) in 1995 but eventually cancelled:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Op5EkC7GbxQ&feature=youtu.be&t=8283

 

[bati]

The first Elite game was a few thousand kilobytes of code if I remember correctly. And the first Civilization game fit on a floppy disk - crazy, considering the depth and scope of the game.

 

[Crossing Eden]

The original Jak and Daxter was the first game with a seamless open world

 

[show me your skeleton]

rollercoaster tycoon being written entirely in assembly is pretty crazy.

 

[Joey Ravn]

Astérix and Obélix XXL for the GBA.

Looks like a PSX 3D game. It's mindblowing.

 

[DiipuSurotu]

Nintendo's Satellaview: playing video games streamed from a space satellite back in 1995

 

[Velocity:Design:Comfort]

The original Jak and Daxter was the first game with a seamless open world

Legacy of Kain?

 

[MAtgS]

I'd say this counts.

 

[unrealist]

Crysis is a graphical leap and achievement right? I mean it became a meme and is still used for benchmarking even years later.

 

[greenmind]

The lighting on Splinter Cell 1 was pretty sick..

also gotta give it to Ultima Underworld

and also Wolfenstein 3d

and also Tomb Raider on 3DFX card.

 

[MoonsaultSlayer]

That Uncharted 2 train sequence.

And all of Horizon Zero Dawn.

The original Jak and Daxter was the first game with a seamless open world

Huh? Was Smuggler's Run not considered open world? That came out before J&D. Actually, I'm pretty sure it was a PS2 launch title. I just remember it being the first game like it that I've played.

 

[mrlion]

Fun fact a Comanche game was planned for SNES (with voxel graphics and all) in 1995 but eventually cancelled:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Op5EkC7GbxQ&feature=youtu.be&t=8283

They spent 2 million in advertising Earthbound? And that was still not enough to get the game popular? This is criminal man, Earthbound is one of my favorites of all time why did they have to destroy the game like that?

 

[Sho Nuff]

Also fun fact. Shrek on Xbox was one of the first commercial games to use deferred lighting. Seriously.

Fun fact: Shrek was coded by Atman Binstock, who's now the chief architect at Oculus.

 

[Ahasverus]

The original Jak and Daxter was the first game with a seamless open world

You mean Soul Reaver.

 

[Saganator]

You had to have a beast mode PC to run that Commanche game to get even 20 fps.

 

[DOWN]

Euphoria

LA Noire video imported performances

 

[Crossing Eden]

Legacy of Kain?

Huh? Was Smuggler's Run not considered open world? That came out before J&D. Actually, I'm pretty sure it was a PS2 launch title. I just remember it being the first game like it that I've played.

You mean Soul Reaver.

As in zones weren't separated by loading screens.

 

[Willenium]

They spent 2 million in advertising Earthbound? And that was still not enough to get the game popular? This is criminal man, Earthbound is one of my favorites of all time why did they have to destroy the game like that?

They really focused on the "goofy" stuff and made it very much seem like a Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest-type RPG for beginners or little kids, alienating the (albiet small) American JRPG fanbase at the time, while simultaneously alienating regular video game fans with the rather primitive graphics. I mean, look at the other games on that page.

Not to mention the full strategy guides packaged with literally every copy of the game probably were not cheap to print.

 

[Ahasverus]

As in zones weren't separated by loading screens.

So, Soul Reaver.

 

[SuomiDude]

As in zones weren't separated by loading screens.

So 2D games don't count when talking about open world games? Like Ultimas (at least 6, 7 and 8)?

 

[Kikorin]

Smash Bros on 3DS still blows my mind.

 

[DOWN]

So 2D games don't count when talking about open world games? Like Ultimas (at least 6, 7 and 8)?

That’s more like open pantry

 

[Phediuk]

Elite (1984)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elite_(video_game)

 

[adamsapple]

I'd say this counts.

Toy Story quality graphics have finally been realized. !

 

[sneas78]

For me.. Mortal Kombat. Digitized Characters.
That's 1992 yo.

 

[Crossing Eden]

So, Soul Reaver.

I haven't played Soul Reaver but if that's the case why does ND have the award?

So 2D games don't count when talking about open world games? Like Ultimas (at least 6, 7 and 8)?

Not in this case specifically.

 

[Mr.Deadshot]

God of War 3 intro sequence and boss fight is still the most impressive thing I ever played. I hope they can match this level of epicness with the new game.

 

[Seven4sses]

Guilty Gear Xrd's aesthetic.Even if it's with Unreal Engine, making your characters appear like colorful 2D sprite while having 3D camera angles still amazes me.

Too bad ASW isn't using this for Blazblue Cross Tag Battle.

 

[Tyaren]

Horizon Zero Dawn. From the skin pores of character models...

...to the amazing detail of the environments...

...to the vast size of it all...

 

[sixteen-bit]

Guilty Gear Xrd's aesthetic.Even if it's with Unreal Engine, making your characters appear like colorful 2D sprite while having 3D camera angles still amazes me.

Too bad ASW isn't using this for Blazblue Cross Tag Battle.

That Dragonball tho

 

[jett]

I don't know if DKC was the first game to use pre-rendered graphics for its sprites and tiles, but it sure blew minds back in the day.

 

[KageMaru]

The Shenmue tech demo on the Sega Saturn should not be possible.

I also think Panzer Dragoon Saga is an amazing achievement for the Saturn. You have open 3D worlds to fly around in, gouraud shaded polygons, colored lighting, and true transparencies, all in the same game.

Splinter Cell Chaos Theory on the PS2 was a good attempt in emulating normal maps for the system.

Porting Quake to an entirely different engine to get it on the Saturn is insane.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUZ436FXB4U

This is a great first post. Lobotomy Software were coding magicians.

 

[Sectorseven]

For me.. Mortal Kombat. Digitized Characters.
That's 1992 yo.

What, no love for Pit Fighter?

 

[mattwhite924]

I haven't played Soul Reaver but if that's the case why does ND have the award?


Not in this case specifically.

I don't know if Guinness is really that accurate as far as video games. I remember seeing people complain about them getting several other things wrong.

 

[VlaudTheImpaler]

Battlefront 1 for being the best looking game right now even though it's multiplatform.

It's use of photogrammetry is incredible and hopefully inspirational.

 

[Stiler]

Severance (aka Blade of Darkness).

One of if not the first game with real time lighting/dynamic shadows. This was before doom 3.

The original Jak and Daxter was the first game with a seamless open world

What about Daggerfall? Can't remember if it was seamless or not, I remember going in/out of buildings without loading screens though, unlike the later Elder Scrolls games.

 

[shandy706]

I loved Comanche..put a ton of hours into it. Wouldn't surprise me if my copy was in storage somwhere.

Fun fact a Comanche game was planned for SNES (with voxel graphics and all) in 1995 but eventually cancelled:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Op5EkC7GbxQ&feature=youtu.be&t=8283

What book is that???

 

[Dictator93]

Severance (aka Blade of Darkness).

One of if not the first game with real time lighting/dynamic shadows. This was before doom 3.

The penitent man.... JUMPS!

 

[backflip10019]

Sprint Vector's fluid locomotion system, which allows movement in VR with no motion sickness.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2EgXu_FrSk

 

[Palette Swap]

I assume it's a typo, OP, but to further your point, Comanche is a 1992 game, not 1997. It was mind blowing back then.

Speaking of PC games from this era, Wing Commander 2 was phenomenal too, particularly if you played with all the voices on.

 

[Crossing Eden]

I don't know if Guinness is really that accurate as far as video games. I remember seeing people complain about them getting several other things wrong.

Oh really? That would be a shame if true.

What about Daggerfall? Can't remember if it was seamless or not, I remember going in/out of buildings without loading screens though, unlike the later Elder Scrolls games.

Should've put "on consoles specifically"

 

[RBIYF]

I still think Metroid Prime looks great, I was highly impressed by what that game pulled off on Gamecube in 2002, like the morph ball physics, water effects to the enemy ragdolls.


Another is Giants: Citizen Kabuto, with it's (for the time) vast colorful outdoor landscapes. Really impressive for a game from the year 2000.

 

[Painguy]

Always the 1st thing I think of.

 

[SatoAilDarko]

Astérix and Obélix XXL for the GBA.

Looks like a PSX 3D game. It's mindblowing.

Indeed.

This was on the Gameboy Advance.

 

[Pinky]

Rogue Leader: Rogue Squadron 2 on GameCube. Still impressive to this day.

 

[NOLA_Gaffer]

I'd say this counts.

What's the technological achievement here? "Good Graphics"? Because there's been a ton of games with good graphics over the past few years.