That's obviously not true, since there was a console that could do all of those to some degree better than the PS1. It's not like people didn't know those things existed. Horrible framerates are true, but people could tell they were bad, they just accepted it at the time. The hype for the PS2 showed how much people cared about finally getting a console with acceptable 3D graphics.
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I hated PS1 visuals
- Thread starter MercuryLS
- Start date
That's obviously not true, since there was a console that could do all of those to some degree better than the PS1. It's not like people didn't know those things existed. Horrible framerates are true, but people could tell they were bad, they just accepted it at the time. The hype for the PS2 showed how much people cared about finally getting a console with acceptable 3D graphics.
*High five*
There are lots of old games that still blow my mind in both artistic and technical achievements. I'm currently replaying one of them: Threads of Fate by Squaresoft. I absolutely love the look of this game.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXZZjD5muUk
MrCunningham
Member
Same here man, I had a Sega Saturn while all my friends had a Playstation. .. I also had an N64 too. I completely missed the boat on owning a Playstation 1 back then.
For it's time the PS1 was impressive even compared to PC gaming graphics; at least in the year it launched. Many of the early games look awful now and the later games didn't compare well to PC games of that era or some n64 games but it was a technical marvel when released and was a lot of power for the price.
Been on a "buying frenzy" of PSone Classics at the SEN Store over the last days.
Got:
-R4
-Vagrant Story
-Tomba
-Alundra
-Tomb Raider The Last Revelation
-Pocket Fighter
-Disney's Hercules
-Jumpin' Flash
-Motor Toon Grand Prix
Some because I couldn't get them back them for some reason (i.e. wanted Hercules because it looked cool in the magazines and the ads mentioned a 5 colors disc!! hehe)...
But part of the reason of this "frenzy" is because of the visuals. Looked and still look great this days and there's a charm of sorts tied to them that I really like.
Got:
-R4
-Vagrant Story
-Tomba
-Alundra
-Tomb Raider The Last Revelation
-Pocket Fighter
-Disney's Hercules
-Jumpin' Flash
-Motor Toon Grand Prix
Some because I couldn't get them back them for some reason (i.e. wanted Hercules because it looked cool in the magazines and the ads mentioned a 5 colors disc!! hehe)...
But part of the reason of this "frenzy" is because of the visuals. Looked and still look great this days and there's a charm of sorts tied to them that I really like.
Completely agree with the OP. I missed badly the awesome 2d visuals from the previous era at the time, and once 3dfx cards became available for PC's around 97ish, I stopped playing my PS1 all together and went to PC gaming because of the night and day difference between stuff like GL Quake and FF7.
PS1 era, still during the heyday of Square(Enix). Back then I thought their games looked great, though now I guess they look a bit archaic, but they made good use of what power was avaliable to them. I really wish they would do HD versions of those game since I'm not really into doing the research for emulation, but I this point I don't expect anything from SE.
So you stopped playing a certain platform just because graphics alone, not caring about if the games themselves were good or anything?
I don't remember whether I got a N64 or a PS1 first, but I was always quite impressed with both. Although the N64 was somewhat more powerful technically, it's far more interesting how different the showcases on each platform were. The former did have smoother 3D, and games like Mario 64, OoT, and Banjo-Kazooie were amazing things to behold. The trend of beautiful pre-rendered backgrounds and amazing FMVs in the latter, though, totally obfuscated whatever differences in performance there were, at least to my young eyes.
To this day, I enjoy seeing what developers managed to conjure up on that generation of platforms. You could reasonably say it represented the awkward phase in the transition to 3D, I suppose, but the other side of that equation is that it was quite unique. There's nothing about the visuals that's objectively bad, especially if you keep them within the context of the times. Far more than just being the consoles that existed before the PS2/GC/Xbox generation further refined 3D, they represented an incredible and compelling leap from the 16-bit era of gaming, and it's in this environment that classics from FFVII to Mario 64 came to be.
If you were primarily a PC gamer, you may have been numb to those advances in the console space, I suppose.
To this day, I enjoy seeing what developers managed to conjure up on that generation of platforms. You could reasonably say it represented the awkward phase in the transition to 3D, I suppose, but the other side of that equation is that it was quite unique. There's nothing about the visuals that's objectively bad, especially if you keep them within the context of the times. Far more than just being the consoles that existed before the PS2/GC/Xbox generation further refined 3D, they represented an incredible and compelling leap from the 16-bit era of gaming, and it's in this environment that classics from FFVII to Mario 64 came to be.
If you were primarily a PC gamer, you may have been numb to those advances in the console space, I suppose.
More like trading one platform that had good gameplay with atrocious visuals for another platform that had good gameplay with amazing visuals.
vagabondarts
Member
I'm playing Persona 2: EP right now and I think it's a great mix of sprites and simple 3D.
Another PsOne game that got that mix right was Breath of Fire IV.
Something like Nightmare Creatures or SpecOps being ugly though, I'll give you that...
Another PsOne game that got that mix right was Breath of Fire IV.
Something like Nightmare Creatures or SpecOps being ugly though, I'll give you that...
How About No
Member
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.
Holy CRAP. Never seen this. Now I wanna see it in motion...
That's like...REmake tier.
Edit: OH MY GOD IT'S ON STEAM TOO!!! AAAAHHHHH
Same here. It's still pretty impressive what was possible on the PS1 with its 33 Mhz CPU.
I had a PS1 and a couple of my friends had N64s. As I recall, the main point of discussion was that the N64 had more controller ports.
Uncle Rupee
Banned
R4 looks great in motion, by far the best looking racer of that generation.
Direct feed, original resolution:
Better looking than any N64 game. I get the feeling a lot of people who are in favor of N64 either never owned a PS1 or never played the best looking games available on it.
In motion it's even better. The flashlight lights up the prerendered backgrounds. Works remarkably well.
drtomoe123
Member
This game does some really cool tricks to increase the resolution compared to other PS1 games. I replayed it on the PS3 recently and damn that game's visuals just POP!
The trick they used to simulate rim lighting is so smart, it blew my mind when I first played it (in 2013).
BumblebeeCody
Member
I feel that the Crash games have aged very well and still look pretty good to this day.
I agree but that's because of the cartoon style.
I honestly think the PS1 looks terrible. Yeah, for it's time but it's not aged well at all. The N64 never suffered this problem because it never tried to do what Sony was doing(and I'm not saying that's bad either). But it's aged terribly.
Morrigan Stark
Arrogant Smirk
Eh? I've seen better looking Genesis games... what game is that anyway?Psh, it was just the early 3d that was terrible (and I mean terrible). The 2d games looked pretty damn good!
:*(**
Lunar Silver Star Story Complete, coincidentally, a remade Sega game haha (Well, Sega CD).
This thread is so weird. I completely agree with the OP. I couldn't get into PS1 at all because of the weird moving polygons and everything being weird and jaggy. Definitely unplayable now, but even back then it was like... wtf is this pile of mush?
N64 definitly doesn't hold up, but at the time it really felt like no contest.
N64 definitly doesn't hold up, but at the time it really felt like no contest.
I remember that time quite well and no one gave a shit about any of those things back then. And, yes, most people didn't even know what those things were. It wasn't until the PC 3D video card push that those things were ever even talked about. I never once heard anyone talking about filtering, aliasing, or resolution on either console to be honest. And the hype for the PS2 wasn't because people were lamenting those things and were finally going to get a console that could do it better, it was because most people considered the PS1 to be an amazing machine and couldn't wait to see it's sequel. Of course it looks awful now, but at the time it had the best looking games of any gaming system, including the PC.
eyeball_kid
Member
C'mon now...
wipEout XL (2097)
Tekken 3
Ehrgeiz
wipEout XL (2097)
Tekken 3
Ehrgeiz
Correctomundo
Member
Sorry to hear it. I adore the look of PS1 games. Everything, from the big, chunky pixels to texture warping. They just exude this fantastic charm that not even the Saturn could bring. Only Playstation I've ever loved.
This thread gives me the warm fuzzies.
I had all three, broseph.
This thread gives me the warm fuzzies.
I had all three, broseph.
MvmntInGrn
Member
I hate the jittery effect in PS1 3D games and tend to prefer the look of N64 games because of it. The N64 had more performance problems (framerates) but those bothered me less than the constant jitter.
I still play my N64 fairly often. Only title I've tried that it just too technically unsound to play long is Banjo Tooie. Framerate is unbearable. Banjo-Kazooie on the other hand is probably the best visual output to performance ratio on the system.
I still play my N64 fairly often. Only title I've tried that it just too technically unsound to play long is Banjo Tooie. Framerate is unbearable. Banjo-Kazooie on the other hand is probably the best visual output to performance ratio on the system.
entremet
Member
I owned them all. I actually prefer the PS1 library for days, but the graphics aged poorly.
7DollarHagane
Banned
Um Jammer Lammy is right up there with Vagrant Story for me. Fantastic looking game, even with the use of some pre-rendered stuff.
jhmtehgamr20xx
Banned
100% agreed with this. I still play it occasionally and it's very smooth during play despite being 30fps.
I usually stick with 1st-person tho, maybe that's why I don't notice what the other person is describing (if in fact it happens to that degree, which I strongly doubt).
This is contradictory; if anything you could've said Sony never tried what Nintendo was doing, because the flat, simple-textured cartoony style of Mario 64 is what they and almost every developer for N64 did that gen.
Meanwhile Sony copied that for games like Crash but still went for detailed stuff with games like Omega Boost and Vagrant Story. So by your own words N64 should rank even lower.
That's what I'm thinking now, too. I used to think N64 was unquestionably better a long while ago, but I've been playing a lot of PS1 games these days and can't think of many (if any) N64 ones that compare. Where the fuck did that power advantage go, Nintendo?
Battle for Naboo, Conker, Majora's Mask, Beetle Adventure Racing. The system's power was definitely held back by the texture cache, though.
Vane_MagicCity
Banned
Back in those days a framerate drop was called slowdown and most gamers had no idea what the technical reason was. Resolution? No one had to know what resolution a game ran at since CRT's didn't have a native resolution.
Most gamers didn't understand or care why the N64 was more blurry and the PS1 was more blocky.
Oh the good times when it was more about the games and less about the specs.
DarkoMaledictus
Tier Whore
To be frank I hated those poly too back then. Preferred 2d 100% more!
KojiKnight
Member
Psh, it was just the early 3d that was terrible (and I mean terrible). The 2d games looked pretty damn good!
You stretched the poor game out to fuck and back. Poor Lunar doesn't deserve what you did to it. Seriously dude... that's sick.
Lunar Silver Star Story Complete... it doesn't normally look that terrible, but when you stretch a 4:3 image nearly double it's width, that's what happens. It's easily regarded as amongst the best JRPGs of all time, let alone on the PS1.
Vane_MagicCity
Banned
That's an awesome argument. Assuming that people who do not agree with you MUST be lacking experience in the topic.
Resolution wars were definitely a thing even back then, LOL. Buying an expansion pak to unlock hi-res mode in Rogue Squadron was considered a big deal, and of course there were also PC gamers bragging about the higher resolution of their games.
Infernal Monkey
Member
At the time I thought PlayStation's 3D graphics were complete shit compared to the Nintendo 64, but these days I think they've held up much, much better.
I gave a shit about it back then, the PS1 (and Saturn) had awful 3D hardware that made the N64 look great in comparison.
My hype for the PS2 was due to the much improved graphics.
The PS1 did not have the best looking games for very long, the 3DFX voodoo (and N64) came out in late 1996 and they both blew the PS1 away (even some software rendered PC games looked better than what the PS1 could do).
KojiKnight
Member
What he meant to say was "me and most of my friends were grade schoolers at the time and we didn't understand the technical aspects." Resolution and textures were DEFINITELY a topic of discussion back then. I ran Mega Man Legends via Bleem on my PC back in 2000 for that sweet ass texture filtering and resolution on a voodoo 2!
Vane_MagicCity
Banned
Speaking for myself. I had no idea what hi-res meant during that generation. In fact, I was living in the barracks in the latter half of that generation and no one talked about resolution. There were people connecting PS1's together to play Command and Conquer but no one was talking about the technical shit we talk about today.
Lynd7
Member
Hm, I dunno. I think N64 graphics look better overall.
Aside from graphics, I doubt Mario 64, Oot etc would work very well on the PS1 hardware. Load times would of sucked.
Vane_MagicCity
Banned
Spyro worked pretty well.
Lynd7
Member
Did Spyro feature continuous levels on the scale of Mario 64? I can't remember, I didn't play them that much.