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[Not Spaceghost]

I don't think it is. The N64 one has way too much Anisotropic Filtering on the floor.

They're definitely real because that was basically what the difference between rayman 2 on the ps1 and rayman 2 on the n64 looked like as well.

Check it out.

PS1 Intro

N64 Intro

For a scene comparison go to 1:45 on the PS1 version and 1:35 on the N64 version and you'll see the HUGE difference between the two.

 

[Zodzilla]

I always hated how it would distort the textures.

Being a PC gamer, I found that shit horribly disgusting to look at.

That being said, looking at the heavily blurred textures on the N64 was just as irritating to me.

 

[Halcyon]

vs

 

[koryuken]

Mind blowing visuals.

This shit looks like negative Anti Aliasing.

Gotta say though, Tenchu on the PS1 brings back some of my fondest memories.

 

[RalchAC]

I hated it too

It's hard to hate FFVII visuals when you have to endure the fucking awful spanish translation the game has. All my hate is on that aberration, I'd say they used Google translate if I didn't knew it didn't existed bach then. Seriously, it's so bad it halves the fun xD
__

I don't have any problem with PS1 visuals. They're pretty rough, that's true, but I suppose there is some nostalgia attached to those games.

 

[Devilgunman]

The answer for "Was/Am I the only one....?" is always "No", so OP you should ask "Was I a minority...?" then the answer is "Yes".

 

[gigantor21]

It is bad now, back then it was incredible and breathtaking for me.

Pretty much. Hell, the Dreamcast and PS2 made PS1/N64 games look quaint and antiquated. I couldn't look at them the same way after Soul Calibur and Tekken Tag 1.

 

[adamantypants]

Einhander was great to look at IMO.

And MGS still holds up for me. I typically can't go back to old games because I can't get over graphics (sue me), but I MGS still looks great to me.

 

[larvi]

I've never been a fan of 3D graphics so I hated them as well as all of the PC games that were going 3D at the same time. That was about the time I started getting into hand held gaming more and more.

 

[Giever]

Reminds me of Mega Man Legends. I don't want to be reminded of Mega Man Legends

Spoiler

3

T_T

 

[Atone13]

I loved my original playstation. I was 12 or 13 when I got the system probly near launch I can't remember though. I had come up on atari 2600, NES, then the Genesis. The first time I fired up the psx and Ridge Racer splashed across my screen my young mind was blown.

 

[JC Lately]

No, not at all. I remember being so pissed, in that way only entitled teenage gamers can be pissed, over how ugly PS1 games were. It was like someone threw a switch somewhere and took away all my stylized, artistic, luscious sprites and replaced them with a rectangle placed atop an upside triangle atop of two thinner rectangles. Then, as if to piss me off more, they frequently place these polygonal abominations on top of beautiful (for the time) pre-rendered backgrounds. All that accomplished was to make the characters look like even worse shit. Fortunately the games were good enough for me to swallow my rage and enjoy, but I was so happy when I dropped MGS2 in my PS2 for the first time and realized the era of shitty polygonal/3D graphics was over.

 

[PsionBolt]

The fact of the matter is, there's not a single 3D game for the system that looks even halfway decent. They're all thoroughly ugly.
But you know what? I loved some of 'em anyway.

So good.

 

[mattp]

Why would that be strange?

because both consoles generally ran around the same resolution. ~320x240
sometimes ~640x480


that n64 shot looks like it's running in an emulator or something


edit: but hey, based on a quick googling it seems maybe that is just how it looked on n64. surprised how clean it looks.

 

[Majine]

I think first generation 3D was cute. Especially PS1's "2D-pseudo-3D" games.

 

[zma1013]

The thing I didn't like was how all the textures in the games went into random convulsions for no apparent reason.

 

[fluffydelusions]

It is bad now, back then it was incredible and breathtaking for me.

This

 

[majik13]

Fortunately, unlike N64, there are a respectable number of 2D games (same with Saturn). These are the games that have held up over the years.

There are certain titles which still managed to appear somewhat nice even in 3D, however.

Tobal 2 springs to mind with its higher resolution and use of gourad shaded rather than fully textured characters.

such a good game, except for the single player stuff.

 

[ViviOggi]

As an N64 guy I only saw PS1 games at friends' back in the day and the texture warping in particular irritated me to no end, still does. A handful of games do have a certain charm though, for example I recently played MGS on PS3 and that art team really knew how to work that crappy tech.

 

[Eusis]

nope
psx 3d is perfect
you guys are wrong

There's having opinions, then there's being certifiably insane.

Thought it was ugly most of the time, put up with it. Granted this is probably a borderline case of "playable" now, but it still performed well enough for most games and some actually worked within the limitations very well. If I can't return to a game it probably has more to do with the mechanics and/or controls than the visuals themselves.

 

[moltonasty]

Also, before I forget, I love games that really try to make the most with limitations. For some reason this topic got me thinking of how amazing Alone in the Dark: New Nightmare looked on PS1.

FUCK OUTTA HERE. never saw this on PS1..shit looks re-donk-u-lous

 

[SmokedMeat]

My only gripe with N64 games is that they seemed to all have these super bright colors. PSone games seemed to use more than just primary and secondary colors.

Is there any fighting game on N64 that looks as good as Tekken 3 or Soul Blade?A racing game that matches Gran Turismo or RR4? I think there are certain genres where PSone had some better looking games.

 

[whyreggielie]

PS1 games were noticeably worse looking for me in comparison to the N64. Though both consoles had some of the greatest games of all time, FFVII had cutscenes that amazed me.

That was one epic generation with games that still can't be topped.

 

[Muffdraul]

It was weird that they were undeniably rough, yet cutting edge at the time. PSX 3D graphics were a slight improvement over the Saturn, so that softened the blow a bit.

Also gotta remember, back in those days FMV and pre-rendering were not a bad words yet, they were seen as hot new features.

 

[Jado]

They looked bad even then because PS1 released while arcade gaming was in its 3D prime. The first games to look breathtaking on a home console were blessed Dreamcast games because arcades had slowly descended into cheap gimmickry.

Wha? I don't recall arcade games around '99/early 2000s being cheap gimmickry and supposedly being the reason Dreamcast "caught up" to arcades. What I do remember is that Sega's Naomi arcade hardware was based on the Dreamcast and pretty damn good. Console/arcade parity was legitimately achieved at last. Street Fighter 3, Capcom vs SNK, Powerstone, Crazy Taxi, Virtua Tennis, VF 4... they were amazing on both platforms at the time.

N64 graphics were almost good, you could tell they tried really hard to make the visuals smooth. The blurriness and framerates really hampered the visuals though. DC was the first 3D system where I was like "finally 3D games look good".

My first 32-bit game was Tomb Raider on Sega Saturn at a friend's house and it looked fantastic at the time. I had an N64 first and a PS1 several years later. Quite honestly the horrible framerates, bluriness and heavy fog got old really fast. Outside of a few N64 games, I preferred the look of Metal Gear Solid, Tomb Raider, FF7 and Twisted Metal 2. N64 visuals are hard to stomach nowadays. Everything looks like drab mush, even Ocarina of Time. Someone said "shit-smeared" which isn't too far off.

It was weird that they were undeniably rough, yet cutting edge at the time. PSX 3D graphics were a slight improvement over the Saturn, so that softened the blow a bit.

Also gotta remember, back in those days FMV was not a bad word yet, it was the hot new feature.

Is this really true? I was just watching this and Tomb Raider looks better on Saturn.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DHQllP0tB4

 

[Slamtastic]

Dat N64 smoothness

 

[Chao]

I had a Saturn and then got a N64. Saturn/PSONE 3d was really hard to go back to after playing stuff like Ocarina of Time, Banjo Kazooie or Jet Force Gemini. For me it was the jittery textures more than anything. It's like the consoles couldn't output a proper 3D image and they were trying all kinds of tricks in order to keep the illusion of perspective.

N64 looked way better at the time.

 

[dog$]

The answer for "Was/Am I the only one....?" is always "No", so OP you should ask "Was I a minority...?" then the answer is "Yes".

Even simpler, just ask "who else".

"Was I the only one that ______?" There are billions of people on the planet. There are thousands of people who can see and respond to this thread. The answer is no, by default. Therefore the question is unnecessary to ask.

"Who else _____?" This allows you to state an opinion and invite other people to discuss if they agree with you, rather than putting your own opinion on a pedestal.

The resultant replies will be the same, but asking it in the latter method doesn't make you sound ignorant.

 

[7DollarHagane]

Its weird because I'm fascinated with the early real time 3d games and their attempts and failures at making things work.

I love this era of games so much.

 

[Muffdraul]

Is this really true? I was just watching this and Tomb Raider looks better on Saturn.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DHQllP0tB4

Those look about the same to me. And from what I remember, TR was actually developed as a Saturn exclusive and then ported to PSX. I had both consoles and I remember open seams between polys always been more of an issue on the Saturn.

 

[LookAtMeGo]

What was the best looking PSX game?
I would have to go with RE2. Even tho it was static backgrounds I was blown away.

 

[Tain]

Model 2 was king and still holds up great.

PSX still looks pretty good on a standard definition CRT.

such a good game, except for the single player stuff.

What's wrong with the single-player? That honestly seems like the main reason I'd want to play it.

 

[To Far Away Times]

The PS1 was good at 2D games and games with pre-rendered backgrounds. But in terms of fully 3D games, N64 felt like it was almost a generation ahead.

 

[vagabondarts]

I loved them for the most part. Something amazing to me about low poly games.

 

[khaaan]

I was a kid at the time so I didn't really notice it much, at best i noticed that licensed games didn't look as nice as the cartoons/movies but it didn't matter. It could be because of nostalgia that I can go back and play those games without a problem but I can also still go back and play unattractive PS2 games.

 

[bsb]

Can't stand PS1 or N64 graphics. Even back then, I hated them. And they just look worse and worse with the passage of time.

 

[Abounder]

Not only are the visuals bad but the gameplay is often clunky like Resident Evil. Playstation games age terribly, but they really ushered in cinematic experiences with CGI, voice acting, etc. The presentation stuff alone was a game changer.

 

[Aizu_Itsuko]

As an N64 owner, the only games that ever impressed me technically on the PS1 were Wipeout (at its launch) and FF7 2 years later with its FMV transitions. Seeing Mario 64 killed any impact the PS1 could ever have with me. I still regret never owning one tho.

That's the thing.

If you were coming from the previous gen, PS1 was really impressive and its 3D limitations were completely normal for its time. OTOH, if you got the system later on after experiencing more modern forms of 3D (perspective correction, filtering, etc), you would focus more on its limitations instead of the positives.

It kind of happens the other way around too. When people go from PS1 to N64, they tend to focus more on the blurriness or any other limitations, even if they can see the other positive aspects.

As much as many games from that era (especially early ones) have aged pretty bad in multiple ways, people that didn't experience that transition first hand don't understand what a huge impact the change from 2D to 3D had. It was a completely fresh and new experience coming from previous gen, so much that it overshadowed the limitations of the era.

PS1 was also especially fast at 3D for its time and price, with a couple of nice additions, like 3D transparencies and a prevalent use of gouraud shading. Like many systems of its time, CRTs hid some of its drawbacks pretty well too. It can be hard going back to many of those games nowdays, especially on a HDTV. Not only were those machines very limited, but most developers had no experience developing 3D games. There are quite a few gems though,many of which lead 3D development by example. Exciting times.

 

[Intru]

This is the era of gaming that I grew up with, and I don't mind it. I think some even still look good, like the Zelda games, Mario 64, Banjo Kazooie, Conker, Diddy Kong Racing, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, and Final Fantasy 9 to name a few.

 

[RoninChaos]

vs

Tenchu made me mod my psx to get imports.

Man, I wish they'd do another Tenchu.

 

[mackattk]

In 1995, no way. The PlayStation was amazing in its time. Totally blew 15-year-old me away and filled my gaming past with so many great memories (and is also when I started importing games)!

In 2014 - yeah it's ugly and it's hard to go back to very many of the 3D games with a few excpetions (mostly Tobal 2, Einhander, and Internal Section. See also Wipeout 3).

Going to have to agree. I still remember the issue of gamepro that showcased Ridge Racer, one screen taking up two full pages and saying "yes, this is an actual in game screenshot". Probably looks like ass today, but back then it was pretty awesome.

 

[out0v0rder]

i loved it when walls would look like the middle example

 

[Skab]

Also, before I forget, I love games that really try to make the most with limitations. For some reason this topic got me thinking of how amazing Alone in the Dark: New Nightmare looked on PS1.

I loved this game. I should track down a copy some day.

 

[outunderthestars]

I liked the 2d games of the ps1 era:

 

[Nowhere Man]

I hated PS1 and N64 3-D graphics back in the day. I saw my beautiful, sharp, highly detailed SNES sprite art that still looks great today being tossed aside for polygons that, as Yahtzee so astutely put it "look like pool toys someone tried to inflate by farting at them". Blobs of jutting ugly polygons covered blurry, muddy textures, and then there was the PS1 "bending" or whatever it's called distortion effect on everything. The N64 didn't have the distortion but it was so blurry it looked like a gallon of Vaseline was smeared on the screen.

 

[Alcifer]

Personally I can live with the chunkiness, it's the low precision (fixed point) data that drives me mad with the vertex positions jumping about all over the place. It completely ruins all the animations and there's very little you can do with emulation to fix it because the data simply isn't there.

 

[moltonasty]

lol, ew. vita could have done SO much better with this game. for shame.

 

[Warewolf]

Emulated PSX games look like fucking garbage because of how smooth the blocky models are and the textures end up being filtered, too.

However... PS1 games rendering on the actual hardware are so, so sexy. That blocky, sharp jittery look the 3D had due to the shitty zbuffer was amazing.

Yep. Makes no sense but the unstable vertices PlayStation hardware outputs still feel more tangible to my brain than the hyper-polished, anit-aliased stuff on PC.

Even more peculiar, I don't feel that way about N64 visuals at all.

 

[MannyToons]

Holy sausages at that Rayman 2 PS1 vs N64 comparison. The differences are stunning. Much smoother resolution and animations on the N64 version. PS1 version just comes off as... choppy.

 

[InsaneLuchador]

I loved my PS1, but seriously, it's the only console I ever owned that I just knew at the time how poor the visuals were. I've bought PSone classics on PSN, but they're so ugly I can't bring myself to play them.