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[DJ_Lae]

Both the PS1 and N64 looked varying degrees of ass.

The PS1 was rougher, though, because of the lack of perspective correction or whatever it was that caused polygons to never line up quite right and wobble the fuck around whenever something moved.

It didn't affect RPGs much for me because they used the 3D stuff sparingly and in battles, but any more typical 3D action game...nope. They looked awful even at the time.

Of course, on the N64 everything was blurred to hell.

 

[OnPoint]

Absolutely definitely the only one.

No. I preferred the look of the N64 to the grainy, awful textures and overworked polygons PS1. Devs tried to do too much with the 3D and quite a few games are unplayable today because of it.

 

[GooeyHeat]

The fact of the matter is, there's not a single 3D game for the system that looks even halfway decent.

I think the Mega Man Legends games looked really good.
Really, when things were so low-poly, almost any game that went for a realistic style tended to look kind of messy, like the old Tomb Raider games. Metal Gear Solid managed to pull it off pretty well, though. But stylized, cartoon-like graphics were easier to stomach on those models, so games like Crash and Spyro, as well as the aforementioned Mega Man Legends, were easier on the eyes. In my opinion, anyway.

 

[RoninChaos]

I liked the 2d games of the ps1 era:

What is that second game? I know the first is Suikoden.

 

[Freshmaker]

i loved it when walls would look like the middle example

I liked getting lost in close tunnels due to warping.

 

[SilverBulletKY]

All that beauty to go with those super fast load times.

 

[Dr. Buni]

Me too, but I hate N64 visuals as well. That generation of games was puke inducing in terms of visuals.

Edit: Some 2D games were glorious-looking, though.

 

[Kriken]

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.

The PS1 version looks hideous next to the N64 version

 

[entremet]

I agree, but the games brought it.

The only PS1 game I replay is SoTN and that's a sprite based game that still looks great.

 

[MercuryLS]

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

I hated this the most.

 

[Jado]

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.

Looks like PS1 was the clear winner.
http://www.game-rave.com/psx_galleries/battle_tombraider/index.htm

What were framerates on graphically intensive N64 games? I remember Perfect Dark dipping into "slideshow"-level framerates in multiplayer (without the expansion pack I think).

 

[Shion]

What is that second game? I know the first is Suikoden.

Saga Frontier 2.

 

[Branduil]

The lack of perspective-corrected textures is what kills PS1 3D for me, more than anything else. I can take point-sampling and aliasing, but swimming textures are gross and disturbing. Fortunately all of those problems can be fixed in emulation.

 

[Noble Neckbeard]

The lack of perspective-corrected textures is what kills PS1 3D for me, more than anything else. I can take point-sampling and aliasing, but swimming textures are gross and disturbing. Fortunately all of those problems can be fixed in emulation.

I came here to say exactly this. Perspective correction makes most PS1 games look absolutely god awful.

Now that I think about it, Crash Bandicoot didn't have any problems with this, right? Was it because of using the PS1's strange rendering mode that no one else used?

 

[eroots]

PS2 visuals were crap too. :]

 

[Some Nobody]

I loved them back then. The only thing that can get me to play a PS1 game now is nostalgia, though. So basically anything I missed is kinda boned. I'll replay Suikoden I forever though.

 

[Noble Neckbeard]

PS2 visuals were crap too. :]

No way, dude. To this day, I still think that the PS2/Dreamcast/Xbox generation is when we were first able to make 3d video games look like something other than a horrible ungodly offspring of Escher and Picasso.

 

[nynt9]

Art design goes a long way

 

[Branduil]

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".

Super Mario 64 was the first 3D game I thought looked really good, and I think it's one of the few games from that era that does still look good, because of the simplistic art style. Unfortunately, very few other N64 games followed its lead, instead opting for more "realistic" texturing which just looks like a garbled mess now.

Art design goes a long way

That and emulator settings

 

[ascii42]

Looks like PS1 was the clear winner.
http://www.game-rave.com/psx_galleries/battle_tombraider/index.htm

What were framerates on graphically intensive N64 games? I remember Perfect Dark dipping into "slideshow"-level framerates in multiplayer (without the expansion pack I think).

Saturn couldn't do transparancies well, if at all. That was one clear advantage the PS1 had over the Saturn.

 

[Bren McGuire]

I hated it too

I didn't know that there was a LEGO Final Fantasy on PS1.

 

[Anth0ny]

Ridiculously ugly.

But the games are so good that it doesn't matter.

 

[SpookyFries]

PSX had some pretty damn impressive games despite its graphical limitations. Playing Metal Gear Solid back in 1998 was a mind blowing experience.

Nothing really blew me away on N64 aside from playing Mario 64 and Goldeneye for the first time. Most games looked similar on that console

 

[Fancy Clown]

Art design goes a long way

Fuck that looks good. I was thinking of having FFVII be my first psone FF I play, but this has me reconsidering...

 

[Mister Wilhelm]

I will forever think beautiful sprites > ugly polygons.

Give me Dragon's Crown visuals over Mass Effect 3's shitlogged textures and animations any day of the week.

 

[hypostatic]

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.

Exactly this. Not sure how anyone can objectively say that PS1 graphics > N64 graphics.

 

[Miguel81]

PSone 3D was perfect for horror and/or gloomy games. The likes of Silent Hill, Tomb Raider, or Metal Gear Solid.

If 3D wasn't such a novelty at the time, we could have had the most fantastic 2D games ever made(like Symphony of the Night), and they would have aged well.

 

[Shadow Hog]

I actually really like lo-fi 3D graphics, particularly when you jack up the resolution to HD (no bilinear filtering unless the game was designed with it in mind, though), but yeah, the lack of perspective correction and a Z-buffer really hurt PS1 graphics compared to, say, N64 or same-era PC graphics.

I think Saturn has proper perspective correction, but it has its own set of major issues. Using quads instead of triangles, most notably. Typically not being able to push them out as well as the competition. Total inability to do polygonal transparencies (sprite and BG transparencies are fine, at least). Inferior lighting system, as I recall (if one existed at all). I also vaguely recall hearing it was totally incapable of supporting skeleton-based animation systems, like the ones most PS1/N64 games moved on to toward the end of the system's life. I still love my Saturn and all, but it's hard to say it had superior 3D in any respect.

 

[PsihoPerihelion]

Even as a teenager that had no clue about graphics and whatnot I found PS1 had some horrendous looking games. One of the few exceptions is...

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.

...This one. So glad someone remember this game.

 

[Freshmaker]

Exactly this. Not sure how anyone can objectively say that PS1 graphics > N64 graphics.

Higher frame rates, superior resolution, higher poly counts, better textures. All master race stuff comes down in the PS1's favor.

 

[jblank83]

God awful 3d graphics. N64 stomped the PS1.

2D RPGs on PS1 were very nice, though.

 

[Fancy Clown]

I will forever think beautiful sprites > ugly polygons.

Give me Dragon's Crown visuals over Mass Effect 3's shitlogged textures and animations any day of the week.

Sprites age infinitely better than textured stuff, but some age really really well. A lot of PS2 era stuff looks amazing in HD even now I think, like MGS2&3 and Shadow of the Colossus. I even like how the few psone classics I've played on my Vita look.

 

[see5harp]

2D games were fine, and for the standout titles like MGS, I dealt with it. But coming from a PC background, I felt like nearly all of the 3d games I saw looked horrible.

 

[RottenTanuki]

Most every game from nearly 20 years ago looks like butt fudge.

 

[low-G]

I used to hate it in the day, but nowadays it's very nostalgic. I've been on a 32-bit era nostalgia groove recently.

 

[Etrian Oddity]

As an N64 kid, I felt that Ogre Battle 64 and Harvest Moon 64 were both beautiful. :3

 

[Vespene]

PS1 was not designed to be a 3D gaming console.

 

[ascii42]

I actually really like lo-fi 3D graphics, particularly when you jack up the resolution to HD (no bilinear filtering unless the game was designed with it in mind, though), but yeah, the lack of perspective correction and a Z-buffer really hurt PS1 graphics compared to, say, N64 or same-era PC graphics.

I think Saturn has proper perspective correction, but it has its own set of major issues. Using quads instead of triangles, most notably. Typically not being able to push them out as well as the competition. Total inability to do polygonal transparencies (sprite and BG transparencies are fine, at least). Inferior lighting system, as I recall (if one existed at all). I also vaguely recall hearing it was totally incapable of supporting skeleton-based animation systems, like the ones most PS1/N64 games moved on to toward the end of the system's life. I still love my Saturn and all, but it's hard to say it had superior 3D in any respect.

The Saturn didn't have perspective correction either. Like the Playstation, it had to be done in software.

PS1 was not designed to be a 3D gaming console.

Well, it was a worse 2D gaming console. The Saturn was the only one of the three to be designed for 2D.

 

[Freshmaker]

PS1 was not designed to be a 3D gaming console.

It was worse at 2d. What are you talking about?

 

[Daytonabot]

Of all generations, PSone is the hardest to go back and replay. easily.

I completely agree with this. 3D ages like milk, so the early stuff is just painful.

 

[MercuryLS]

I wonder how N64 games would have looked if it had a CD drive. Weren't the blurry textures due to stretching out small textures in order to fit all the data onto a cart? Was there any hardware issues that would have prevented better textures if they had CD?

 

[ascii42]

I wonder how N64 games would have looked if it had a CD drive. Weren't the blurry textures due to stretching out small textures in order to fit all the data onto a cart? Was there any hardware issues that would have prevented better textures if they had CD?

Actually, yes. The N64 had a very small amount of memory for textures.

 

[Branduil]

They both spit out some bad 3d.

I loved F Zero X but man that was an eyesore.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TH1T_U3ctA

On the other hand, how many 3D games even attempted 60fps at the time? Awful framerates are another impediment to playing games from that era, especially the 15-20 fps ones.

 

[StuBurns]

It still hurts that Saga Frontier 2 was shit, wow, I really am never going to get over that.

 

[hipgnosis]

They looked amazing back then and they have an awesome retro feel today.

 

[WhiskeyKnight]

The PS1 has aged worse than just about any other system.

 

[Markitron]

Higher frame rates, superior resolution, higher poly counts, better textures. All master race stuff comes down in the PS1's favor.

Absolutely nothing on the PS1 compares to Mario or Banjo visually

 

[Freshmaker]

The Saturn didn't have perspective correction either. Like the Playstation, it had to be done in software.

Saturn used quads IIRC to it didn't have as much problems with textures swimming etc.

Absolutely nothing on the PS1 compares to Mario or Banjo visually

Depends. I think Tobal 2 obliterates both.

 

[SporeCrawler]

Yup i agree both n64 and psone 3d was bad especially compared to PC

 

[ascii42]

Saturn used quads IIRC to it didn't have as much problems with textures swimming etc.

Depends. I think Tobal 2 obliterates both.

Fighting games can't really be compared to other types of games.