What are some early 3D games that still look pretty good today, either due to art style, animation, or even nostalgia? This may span be a pretty broad era, but our main goal is to appreciate well-done 3D under the limitations of past hardware. Or, if you don't think it was possible to create visuals back then that still look good, explain why.
I think art and animation can make or break a visual style even in early 3D, and some games prove that it was never about hardware. First, let's define "early". There were 3D games in the 80s, after all. I think we should limit it to any 3D up to, and including, the PSX/N64 generation, since those are systems stigmatized as having poor 3D hardware and ugly games. Now let's define "3D": Personally, I am fine with 2D sprites as long as there is a strong 3D element and it manages to look 3D.
Paper Mario
Year: 2000 (Japan)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cQO9uAPfcU
First, let's be real... this came out pretty late, but still in the N64 era. And more importantly, Intelligent Systems had little or no 3D experience and was not adept with 3D for a good long while even after Paper Mario. ...Through several Fire Emblem games, at least. That said, this game was made for the limitations of 'early' 3D as well as the limitations of the N64. It came out a little later, but started development in the earlier days of the N64, on the 64DD.
The characters are not sprites in the traditional 2D sense, but actual flat 3D. The 3D environments were stylized to resemble paper craft rather than traditional environments, and they pulled it off really well for the time. They came up with a visual concept that was supposed to look "fake" and it fit perfectly with the hardware's capabilities. Just add Mario and you have a classic game that still looks pretty good. It probably would have held up even better if not for the much-improved sequels.
Final Fantasy VII (Battle Scenes)
Year: 1997
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvErgY6HpX8
I wasn't the biggest fan of the gameplay or the overworld graphics, but I could not argue with the graphics in the battle scenes of this game. And the following game in the series fixed everything wrong with the mismatched styles of FF7. FF8 was an absolute graphical marvel of that generation and could be in this topic just as easily. The 3D in FF7 (and subsequent games) had a combination of fantastic models and great animation. Yes, this meant we had to sit through unskippable summons spells in 7 and 8, but it was worth it. For a while... I still think the battle graphics in FF7 look good.
Star Fox
Year: 1993
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWvUhYqFDh0
Poor framerate aside, the game still has a look that I find really appealing. The flat shades and limited color palette worked in its favor, and they managed to animate these basic shapes very well. The fact that they were able to create a 3D space opera on Super Nintendo is impressive alone, but it actually looked pretty good in a stylized way. Star Fox Command even harkened back to this visual style somewhat. The enemies in Command were very polygonal in a way that would be almost nonsensical in more modern graphical styles, such as connecting parts of an enemy only with the tip of the vertices.
And after Star Fox Command, Q Games made a sequel to their X series called X-Scape for DSi, which sort of modernized and stylized this older, simplistic look. There is also a Kid Icarus Uprising level that intentionally invokes the style of Star Fox SNES and it looks fantastic to me. And Wario Ware Smooth Moves has a 9-Volt level which brought a short part of Star Fox SNES onto (relatively) modern hardware and with a better framerate.
Outcast
Year: 1999
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otmbPomQjzI
People will probably think I'm crazy for this. This is an example that is more about the engine and the usage of it rather than the art. There are lots of moments in which this game looks terrible. Sometimes, the graphics scream "jank", but strangely, it was somewhat prophetic. Open-world RPGs games became known for that. Or maybe that's all they've ever been... I think the developers used their engine very well to convey a weird, appropriately alien world. I think it was ahead of its time and still looks that way, somehow. The animation, while admittedly strange at times (see: the character's run), was not that bad for the time.
The voxel engine made it look 'different' from other games of the time. Everything had depth, rather than just a texture (perhaps too much to the detriment of the textures). I think the developers took advantage of their engine's capability and came up with a style that really made it work (at times). But again, this is probably just me.
I am sure there are better games for this topic, but these are some outliers that came to mind for me. So what other 3D games (or parts of games) from generations ago still looks good today, and why? Or do you think this topic is crazy because no game looked good before 2011?
I think art and animation can make or break a visual style even in early 3D, and some games prove that it was never about hardware. First, let's define "early". There were 3D games in the 80s, after all. I think we should limit it to any 3D up to, and including, the PSX/N64 generation, since those are systems stigmatized as having poor 3D hardware and ugly games. Now let's define "3D": Personally, I am fine with 2D sprites as long as there is a strong 3D element and it manages to look 3D.
Paper Mario
Year: 2000 (Japan)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cQO9uAPfcU
First, let's be real... this came out pretty late, but still in the N64 era. And more importantly, Intelligent Systems had little or no 3D experience and was not adept with 3D for a good long while even after Paper Mario. ...Through several Fire Emblem games, at least. That said, this game was made for the limitations of 'early' 3D as well as the limitations of the N64. It came out a little later, but started development in the earlier days of the N64, on the 64DD.
The characters are not sprites in the traditional 2D sense, but actual flat 3D. The 3D environments were stylized to resemble paper craft rather than traditional environments, and they pulled it off really well for the time. They came up with a visual concept that was supposed to look "fake" and it fit perfectly with the hardware's capabilities. Just add Mario and you have a classic game that still looks pretty good. It probably would have held up even better if not for the much-improved sequels.
Final Fantasy VII (Battle Scenes)
Year: 1997
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvErgY6HpX8
I wasn't the biggest fan of the gameplay or the overworld graphics, but I could not argue with the graphics in the battle scenes of this game. And the following game in the series fixed everything wrong with the mismatched styles of FF7. FF8 was an absolute graphical marvel of that generation and could be in this topic just as easily. The 3D in FF7 (and subsequent games) had a combination of fantastic models and great animation. Yes, this meant we had to sit through unskippable summons spells in 7 and 8, but it was worth it. For a while... I still think the battle graphics in FF7 look good.
Star Fox
Year: 1993
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWvUhYqFDh0
Poor framerate aside, the game still has a look that I find really appealing. The flat shades and limited color palette worked in its favor, and they managed to animate these basic shapes very well. The fact that they were able to create a 3D space opera on Super Nintendo is impressive alone, but it actually looked pretty good in a stylized way. Star Fox Command even harkened back to this visual style somewhat. The enemies in Command were very polygonal in a way that would be almost nonsensical in more modern graphical styles, such as connecting parts of an enemy only with the tip of the vertices.
And after Star Fox Command, Q Games made a sequel to their X series called X-Scape for DSi, which sort of modernized and stylized this older, simplistic look. There is also a Kid Icarus Uprising level that intentionally invokes the style of Star Fox SNES and it looks fantastic to me. And Wario Ware Smooth Moves has a 9-Volt level which brought a short part of Star Fox SNES onto (relatively) modern hardware and with a better framerate.
Outcast
Year: 1999
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otmbPomQjzI
People will probably think I'm crazy for this. This is an example that is more about the engine and the usage of it rather than the art. There are lots of moments in which this game looks terrible. Sometimes, the graphics scream "jank", but strangely, it was somewhat prophetic. Open-world RPGs games became known for that. Or maybe that's all they've ever been... I think the developers used their engine very well to convey a weird, appropriately alien world. I think it was ahead of its time and still looks that way, somehow. The animation, while admittedly strange at times (see: the character's run), was not that bad for the time.
The voxel engine made it look 'different' from other games of the time. Everything had depth, rather than just a texture (perhaps too much to the detriment of the textures). I think the developers took advantage of their engine's capability and came up with a style that really made it work (at times). But again, this is probably just me.
I am sure there are better games for this topic, but these are some outliers that came to mind for me. So what other 3D games (or parts of games) from generations ago still looks good today, and why? Or do you think this topic is crazy because no game looked good before 2011?
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