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[IbizaPocholo]

Sometimes it is interesting to take a look back to realize that before some versions did make a difference. Currently, all versions provide a very similar experience, while previous generations left us very curious and interesting cases, such as Resident Evil 4. In this case, the PS2 version suffered considerable cuts. Let's go with the comparison:

- Cutouts in texturing and polygons of characters and environment.
- Elimination of some post-processing effects, such as fog or light rays.
- Cutouts in ambient occlusion and lighting.
- Longer loading times when changing zones or accessing the menu.
- The cutscenes on PS2 were pre-rendered GC videos. Gamecube showed the custom suits in the scenes, while PS2 did not.
- Water effects considerably lower or directly eliminated.
- The sound undergoes a fairly aggressive compression, decreasing its quality.
- Elimination of elements in the environment such as trees, rocks, bushes or animals.

 

[mansoor1980]

it was still playable and enjoyable despite the downgrades , unlike the base console versions of cyberpunk 2077.

 

[Erebus]

Still a pretty solid port all things considered that introduced the game to a bigger audience.

 

[ShadowLag]

I played both back in the day. The PS2 version had all of those problems, plus: for whatever reason, the analog stick inputs felt more digital than analog... like "you can only aim left/right/up/down or diagonal", without any real inbetween/smoothness values. I would quite literally use the D-pad for aiming at times, and it felt exactly the same as using the stick.

This video doesn't seem to show it, but the heat distortion/refraction effects in the castle's big lava room are also totally absent on PS2, making the room look like just a big flat orange area.

It was like half a gen behind the GC version, but it was still worth it for the extra content, Assignment Ada especially.

 

[Insane Metal]

Nah it wasn't big.

It was HUGE

 

[RoadHazard]

Did Mikami ever get around to cutting off his own head as he promised?

 

[NT80]

I played both back in the day. The PS2 version had all of those problems, plus: for whatever reason, the analog stick inputs felt more digital than analog... like "you can only aim left/right/up/down or diagonal", without any real inbetween/smoothness values. I would quite literally use the D-pad for aiming at times, and it felt exactly the same as using the stick.

This video doesn't seem to show it, but the heat distortion/refraction effects in the castle's big lava room are also totally absent on PS2, making the room look like just a big flat orange area.

It was like half a gen behind the GC version, but it was still worth it for the extra content, Assignment Ada especially.

I thought the extra Ada section was absolute garbage. I really got the impression it was made by the B team.

 

[SantaC]

I miss the days when Nintendo didnt release garbage hardware

 

[ProgenitorCastle]

Gamecube original all day everyday (Wii version comes close)

 

[Kamina]

Didnt even know.
Terrific game regardless

 

[namekuseijin]

sounds like a better port than most ports on switch

 

[radewagon]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong here, but I seem to remember that one of the main differences between the two was that while both versions offered progressive scan and a forced letterboxed image, only the PS2 version supported anamorphic widescreen. So on a Gamecube, if you played on a widescreen display, you either had a pillarboxed widescreen image or you needed to use your set's zoom function to fill your display. As someone that never had the Gamecube version, I'm not sure if this is actually the case, but if it is, it's such a strange choice to make a widescreen-only title while not allowing anamorphic support.

All that aside, I first played the game on PS2 and have since played the ports for the Wii and the PS4 and, honestly, none of the improvements have made much of a difference. The core game is just so darned peerless.

 

[S0ULZB0URNE]

PS2 had the content but GC was the better version and controller IMO.

 

[Calverz]

I had played through it twice on gamecube. I lent the game and my gamecube to play it. Eventually ps2 version released which he bought. I remember going round to see it and looked like complete shit.

 

[StateofMajora]

The difference is massive. I sometimes wonder what an Xbox port would look like. Better texture resolution would be possible, not sure if anything would need cut down due to no eDRAM or not.

 

[ShadowLag]

I thought the extra Ada section was absolute garbage. I really got the impression it was made by the B team.

It certainly wasn't the greatest, but extra content for no additional cost ain't a bad deal either

There was some additional bonus stuff beyond that too, but I can't remember what it was atm...

 

[GinSama]

Bought the GameCube because of that game.
After that pretty much finish at least once in all others consoles.

For me the wii is still the best version. But playing for the time in the GameCube was amazing.

 

[TheGejsza]

Oh boy... I played it for the first time on PC. PC port was...terrible. I had to aim with the... arrows. I think the only worse port was DMC3...

 

[TheMooMan]

This might be the only version of RE4 I haven't bought.

I got it back on the Gamecube, then Wii, then 360, then PC...

I guess it was released last gen too which I didn't buy as the PC version is now the definitive, but man, it feels like I've bought it more than 4 times ha.

Soon to be 5 with the remake I guess.

 

[UltimaKilo]

I was always sad the GameCube’s power was never fully realized by more developers. It was a beefy little cube.

 

[Unknown?]

Stark difference from today's games where the PS5 version is better but not really noticeable outside of analysis like DF.

 

[Touch fuzZy. get BizZay]

Gamecube crushed it as per usual. I remember the part about PS2 cutscenes being videos of gamecube footage

Looking forward to REM4KE if you can get around to it capcom

 

[chorizosausage#3774]

Nah it wasn't big.

It was HUGE

True, I was there.

 

[MistBreeze]

I remember this like it was yesterday

unfortunately I did not have a game cube that gen

I had ps2 and xbox only

but nonetheless I was very happy to play it on ps2 and to me to this day it is my best game of all-time yes it is a huge difference in the favor of gamecube but the core game is the same

I was a teen that gen and if I told my father to buy a gamecube for me he would kill me

having 3 consoles in his eyes will be pure greed from me lol

 

[Shodan09]

Has the GameCube version ever been rereleased? It seems every new port is missing something.

Edit: Jesus Christ, the PS2 version looks like a mobile game in comparison.

 

[PumpkinPie]

Did Mikami ever get around to cutting off his own head as he promised?

He tried using the chainsaw GameCube controller, hence he failed.

 

[Bonfires Down]

I played both back in the day. The PS2 version had all of those problems, plus: for whatever reason, the analog stick inputs felt more digital than analog... like "you can only aim left/right/up/down or diagonal", without any real inbetween/smoothness values. I would quite literally use the D-pad for aiming at times, and it felt exactly the same as using the stick.

I did notice that in the HD (PC) version. The aiming seemed almost digital and just felt bad. Not even the mouse aiming felt good. So I guess the new version might be based on the PS2 game for some reason.

 

[EverythingsOverrated]

The PS2 versions most noticeable flaw (at least when I played it after playing the GC version) is how flat the lighting is. Obviously textures, models and other things are downgraded, but that was the thing that jumped out back in the day.

Still an impressive port considering how it was very specfically built for the GC

I was always sad the GameCube’s power was never fully realized by more developers. It was a beefy little cube.

True. Looking at games like RE4 and Rogue Squadron 3 really showed how far the cube could be pushed with the right devs.

 

[MrA]

Has the GameCube version ever been rereleased? It seems every new port is missing something.

Edit: Jesus Christ, the PS2 version looks like a mobile game in comparison.

I really wish they would allow switching to the GameCube balance, weapon power/costs, enemy placement, item progression all being a little different makes the experience different,

 

[Tchu-Espresso]

If I can find my copy of the game (got it for free), I’ll sell it with my GameCube on eBay. I’m sure someone is willing to pay something for them.

 

[K' Dash]

It looked like shit on PS2. Even to this day there are effects that were never replicated on newer and much more powerful hardware.

 

[Captain Toad]

The PS2 had one advantage though. People actually owned a PS2.

 

[OneBigPuss]

 

[Porcile]

Did Mikami ever get around to cutting off his own head as he promised?

Yes. He is a Japanese dev who works for Microsoft now.

 

[nordique]

I got it on Gamecube back in the day, it was glorious

PS2 version was solid too (ada wong expansion was nice). But I preferred it on GCN

 

[HotPocket69]

The Capcom 5 never looked good on the PS2

The ports of Viewtiful Joe and Killer7 were also really weak compared to the Cube versions

 

[Northeastmonk]

I had it preordered for GameCube at EB Games. I played through the demo multiple times before it came out. I remember thinking it took ages for it to come out on PS2. I remember seeing photos of people holding up a copy and thinking “you're finally going to get to play this amazing game?”. I had a Ps2 at launch, but at the time exclusives for a particular console meant nothing if you owned all the consoles on the market. I bought the PS2 version down the road. The GameCube version was one hell of a game. It felt like it didn’t have any flaws to it.

 

[Romulus]

Not a huge gap between them when you consider the OG xbox ports of that time period. In several cases they looked like a different generation. Some even ran at 720p lol

 

[Corgi1985]

The GCN version was the best version. The last time I've said that about 3rd party games on a nintendo console.

 

[CamHostage]

It was like half a gen behind the GC version, but it was still worth it for the extra content, Assignment Ada especially.

I thought the extra Ada section was absolute garbage. I really got the impression it was made by the B team.

Oh, funny, I was coming in to say about Assignment Ada (or I guess more Separate Ways) that, while the main game showed some notable compromises in the port over from Gamecube (particularly the pre-rendered cutscenes), the Ada sections showed IMO what this PS2 version of the engine could have done if the game were customized for the platform. (It would not have been as good a Resident Evil otherwise, however.)

Chapter 4 I think had that whole second in a ship that you could see the bottom from the top and just kept climbing down and down into the hold, through tons of jutting pipes and ladders and hookshot points and big cranes and all this machinery lit with harsh spotlights and "fog", and it's pretty much load-free that whole section. (That's my memory of it, at least.) It was a huge open section with tons of enemies and stuff all over, and there's not really much like that in the GameCube version (the closest is maybe when you're fighting your way from like the bottom of a mineshaft.) It was a massive area with tons going on, and then they packed it full of enemies (because that's how the Ada missions worked; less scare, more warfare) and it all played out as one big setpiece. That stuff made me really excited when playing RE4 PS2 (the hedge maze, maybe not so much...)

Also, Ada was wearing a cool-looking, flowing gown.

 

[StateofMajora]

Not a huge gap between them when you consider the OG xbox ports of that time period. In several cases they looked like a different generation. Some even ran at 720p lol

It's as big a gap as Chaos theory xbox vs. ps2. Honestly in terms of visual gains, it's larger.

Due to the advanced shader features in Chaos theory, Re4 gamecube has aged vastly better due to more polygons and tasteful lighting and not "let's plaster this shiny new toy everywhere"

Re4 has aged better than any other realistically proportioned game from that generation.

 

[Bakkus]

I still haven't played it despite owning it for 10 years, lol.

 

[Romulus]

It's as big a gap as Chaos theory xbox vs. ps2. Honestly in terms of visual gains, it's larger.

Due to the advanced shader features in Chaos theory, Re4 gamecube has aged vastly better due to more polygons and tasteful lighting and not "let's plaster this shiny new toy everywhere"

Re4 has aged better than any other realistically proportioned game from that generation.

Not even remotely close to the gap with Splinter Cell. Waaaay off. And you knowing one of the games I was talking about really proves it in itself. I didn't even need to mention it. Everyone knows that one as one of the biggest gaps within a generation ever.

"Tasteful" is purely subjective. I happened to think GC RE4 looks awful now, super grainy and just drab everywhere. Plenty of other GC games that aged better.

 

[StateofMajora]

Not even remotely close to the gap with Splinter Cell. Waaaay off. And you knowing one of the games I was talking about really proves it in itself. I didn't even need to mention it. Everyone knows that one as one of the biggest gaps within a generation ever.

"Tasteful" is purely subjective. I happened to think GC RE4 looks awful now, super grainy and just drab everywhere. Plenty of other GC games that aged better.

I knew what you're thinking because you said xbox ports and that's the only game I can think of atm. SC aged like milk, low poly with over reliance on normal maps, but it takes all kinds I suppose.

 

[Alan Wake]

Gamecube was a cute little powerhouse.

 

[CityHunter1981]

I think the wii version was the best, the only game I remember where I loved the motion controls.

 

[Davey Cakes]

I think the wii version was the best, the only game I remember where I loved the motion controls.

The Wii version is the best if you can do without the HD aspect. I put over 100 hours into it across five playthroughs, plus Mercenaries and the Ada content. Such an incredible value as a game that regularly went on sale for ten bucks.

People that complain about the Wii controls (which are legit fantastic even if they break the game) forget to mention that you can use a classic controller or even a GC controller if it’s a first gen Wii.

 

[sunnysideup]

The game isnt made for hd resolution. Original is in letterboxed 4:3 640x480 essentially 512x288.

The assets are made for low resolution displayed on an sd tv.. It should not be displayed in hd. It looks barren and shitty.

 

[Business]

Makes me glad I played it on gamecube.

 

[vito_don_corleone_]

GameCube was such a powerhouse of the console back then...