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The Most Technically Impressive Nintendo Wii U Games?

Xenoblade does have pretty strong, unapologetic pop-ins though.

I would say Mario Kart 8 as well, even though it's only 720p. But the most impressive game to me is Yoshi's Wooly World, they really nailed the look on that one, could not look any better. Basically photorealistic within yarn space.
 
Mario Kart 8 and Splatoon both use a deferred rendering model for lighting and it shows. Both have superb art direction as well which complement the tech used.

The draw distance in Xenoblade X is breathtaking, as is the stable performance.

Fast Racing Neo has physically based rendering.

And yes, shout out to the ports which turned out to be superior: Trine 2, Most Wanted U, etc.

Donkey Kong Country: TF may not be a technical showcase, but the animation work and amount of detail stuffed into its levels is impressive. Also benefits hugely from good art direction - even the most mundane level themes are brought to life.
 
Hands down, its Mario Kart 8, its almost Pixar-Level in my eyes And thats a rather Impressing for a Video Game.

Smash is close though

And we can wonder what will Nintendo get done with NX, they proved they can do HD And now they can perfect it
 
Dagobert Duck said:
Hands down, its Mario Kart 8, its almost Pixar-Level in my eyes And thats a rather Impressing for a Video Game.

Smash is close though

And we can wonder what will Nintendo get done with NX, they proved they can do HD And now they can perfect it
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MK8 is one I would love to see enhanced. It would look fantastic at a higher resolution with actual anti-aliasing and texture filtering. The asset quality is already excellent.
 
There's actually a lot of really impressive Wii U games.

Mario Kart 8 still boggles my mind with its beauty, sadly the 720p looks quite bad on my TV (I'd be down for a 1080p remaster on NX, with proper battle mode, of course).

Xenoblade X's scale is just breathtaking. I've put close to 100 hours into it and still find myself stopping to look at the scenery from time to time.

Bayonetta 2 is so stable at 60fps, with wacky shit going on all over the place. Really amazing how much better it performs and looks than Bayo 1 on PS360.

As OP said, Most Wanted is amazing. It was one of the first games that really looked next gen to me, and it still stands up well to the newest racing games on the PS4 and Xbox One.

Last one for me has gotta be Smash 4. It has a shit ton of content, tons of characters, hundreds of songs, and a ton of stages with hazards and whatnot going on, blink-and-you'll-miss-them loading screens (after the first loading screen), all in 1080p, unfaltering 60fps, and up to 8 players at once. The game is a technical achievement, I think you would struggle to get a game to perform like that on any system, let alone the Wii U.
 
dark10x said:
MK8 is one I would love to see enhanced. It would look fantastic at a higher resolution with actual anti-aliasing and texture filtering. The asset quality is already excellent.
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Oh boy, did anyone see those 5k screenshots?

http://i.imgur.com/rPsXSMv.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/j3Y0bAv.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/zzciLZ4.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/TV7fFDB.jpg

What's always fascinated me is how round the holes look in the Cheese Land course: http://i.imgur.com/U5nzend.jpg

I was expecting them to lose their roundness and look jagged, but they still look great.
 
I still think Pikmin 3 is one of the most beautiful games on the system, the fruit in the game looks good enough to eat.
 
SomedayTheFire said:
I feel so bad for Criterion about MW Wii U.
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Tell me about it. The game was utterly amazing. Played great, looked amazing and had a load of DLC already in the game. A shame really. Should've done so much better, but with the release timing and the WiiU being such an abysmal sales failure it wasn't meant to be.

Still mad props to the devs for this port.
 
R00bot said:
Bayonetta 2 is so stable at 60fps, with wacky shit going on all over the place. Really amazing how much better it performs and looks than Bayo 1 on PS360.
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That's not really true. Bayonetta 2 actually runs at a lower average frame-rate than Bayo 1 does. It often drops into the mid-40s even during quiet sequences.

Now, the port of Bayo 1 on Wii U is very good and runs about the same as the 360 version BUT without any screen tearing.
 
call me silly, but I think captain toad looks amazing - a definitive improvement on the already great looking 3D World engine.

Captain_Toad_-_Treasure_Tracker_E3_2014.jpg


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WiiU_CaptainToad_101014_SCRN06.0.jpg
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dark10x said:
That's not really true. Bayonetta 2 actually runs at a lower average frame-rate than Bayo 1 does. It often drops into the mid-40s even during quiet sequences.

Now, the port of Bayo 1 on Wii U is very good and runs about the same as the 360 version BUT without any screen tearing.
Click to expand...

To me Bayo 2 felt a lot more consistent though. It felt like Bayo1 hit lower lows than Bayo2.
 
I forgot about Pikmin 3. The lighting is often really nice and the game has a naturally beautiful look.

And I love what happens when you walk through a puddle of water - the ripples displace relative to where you're moving. Looks really convincing.
 
Erdnuckel01 said:
Thats because they are textures and not actually modelled in, look at the "cave" in the cheese or the corners where the holes are actually part of the polygon model and you can clearly see edges.
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Oh, I wasn't referring to those textures on the wall of cheese to the right - just that the actual caves in the track (which are indeed modelled so your Kart reacts to them) are still pretty round despite a 16x leap in resolution over 720p
 
Toadthemushroom said:
Oh, I wasn't referring to those textures on the wall of cheese to the right - just that the actual caves in the track (which are indeed modelled so your Kart reacts to them) are still pretty round despite a 16x leap in resolution over 720p
Click to expand...

Oh I see, thought you were talking about the cheese on the side, still I find the holes in the road to be quite, how should I say, "blocky".

But there is no denying that MK8 looks great, especially in motion.
 
Toadthemushroom said:
Would you say Bayonetta 2 is a more technically demanding game outside of it having more things going on in backgrounds?
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Oh it's definitely the more demanding game, no doubt. There are some pretty ambitious scenes in there.

fabricated backlash said:
In the whole game of Bayo 2 there isn't a single slowdown as bad as the Zeppelin interior in Bayo 1 which basically ran at 10fps even on WiiU.
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Well, sure, but that hardly counts as the average. The general level of performance of Bayo 1 is much better than its sequel. The sequel never drops THAT hard but it is consistently under 60fps during many battles and exploration scenes.

Mario Kart 8 to me still looks more beautiful than probably anything else this gen. <3

Runs perfectly, plays perfectly.
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It's just a shame the frame-time skips weren't addressed. That still drives me nuts.
 
Toadthemushroom said:
Oh boy, did anyone see those 5k screenshots?

http://i.imgur.com/rPsXSMv.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/j3Y0bAv.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/zzciLZ4.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/TV7fFDB.jpg

What's always fascinated me is how round the holes look in the Cheese Land course: http://i.imgur.com/U5nzend.jpg

I was expecting them to lose their roundness and look jagged, but they still look great.
Click to expand...

Those 5k shots are stunning. MK8 holds up way better than I would have expected it to.

My picks are probably MK8, XCX, and Captain Toad. But I don't know how technically impressive Toad is, given how small the environments are&#8212;it's like the total opposite of XCX. However, all three of those games are gorgeous and make me say that Nintendo's internal studios handled the transition to HD beautifully.
 
MK8
Nintendo Land (to me still one of the best looking WiiU games)

and especially Xenoblade X. I don't know how they pulled that off on hardware as weak as the WiiU but it's just wow. WOW
The moment after you get the flight module and you can fly in one sitting without anysort of loading through one of the biggest open world worlds will be always remembered by me.
The scale and detail is breathtaking, to say at least..
It reminds me of riding through hyrule fields in N64s Ocarina of Time for the first time.

WeeklyPleasedAfricanrockpython.gif

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sometimes it's even too detailed. I look at you Noctilum (entering the first time)
 
Dusk Golem said:
I think Fatal Frame V is up there. Does have a lot of impressive character models, lighting, effects, and does various things with the WiiU's gameplay systems and the WiiU controller, and it runs at 60fps (though it has some dips in areas with lots of ghosts).

zero_nuregarasu_no_miko_by_allgamesbeta-d7r18k3.gif

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tumblr_nchcsrvrw71sfekczo1_500.gif
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I'd have to fire it up again to be sure, but I'm pretty sure I remember this game running at 30 fps. I agree that it's a stunning game on Wii U though.
 
toadbird.gif

iszteopu7mvims4ksr.gif
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Both are stunning games visually running at 60fps, perhaps they aren't technically the most impressive but they're easily the most beautiful, Tropical Freeze has some of the best texture work I've ever seen. You ended the thread with Xenoblade Chronicles X, there isn't a Wii U game more technically impressive.

Project Zero, Mario Kart, Smash, FAST Racing Neo and Pikmin 3 also look amazing.

Pikmin-3-Kiwi.jpg
Click to expand...

Wish I could find some higher quality shots but some of the games look even better in motion.
 
poodaddy said:
I'd have to fire it up again to be sure, but I'm pretty sure I remember this game running at 30 fps. I agree that it's a stunning game on Wii U though.
Click to expand...
You are correct - it is 30fps.

The ONLY Zero/Fatal Frame title to run at 60fps is the original game on PlayStation 2 (and the Xbox port, I presume). All follow-up games were 30.
 
Rodin said:
Joke post? Or some people still believe that not showing faces before that trailer= downgrade? Lol
Click to expand...

No joke, I'm afraid. I recall very well that people were quite disappointed with the newer screenshots the closer it got to release. And those character models that I posted are absolutely horrible for a system like Wii-U.
 
My #1 is Wind Waker HD, as nice looking a game as there is in existence:

latest


1377265012_4.jpg




Second all the votes for:

Yoshi's Woolly World
Xenoblade
Mario Kart 8
Super Mario 3D World
Bayonetta 2

Pikmin 3 was a bit uneven - parts of it look photorealistic, but some elements, like the ground textures, throw it all off.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution was a pretty memorable port, too.
 
Xenoblade Chronicles X is the obvious awnser. The game is ridiculous at what it does. Such a huge alive world with a load icon that pops up so rarely that it's completely negligible. There are obvious sacrifices made, but they're there for the bigger picture. Because performance is also really solid.

Mario Kart 8 looks amazing. Really smooth models and the lighting is godlike and that at 60fps! Really impressive to see. Though the lack of AA really kills it. I wonder why Nintendo has a thing against that this generation.

Maiden of the Black Water has some nifty tech up its sleeve. Might not technically be incredibly impressive, but I really like the way the game looks. Very smooth and it just looks great.

dark10x said:
You are correct - it is 30fps.

The ONLY Zero/Fatal Frame title to run at 60fps is the original game on PlayStation 2 (and the Xbox port, I presume). All follow-up games were 30.
Click to expand...
I don't remember the first game being 60fps at all (played it on the Xbox), felt rather choppy to me. But that might've simply been the game that's somewhat lacklustre because it really looks terrible at points.
 
dark10x said:
You are correct - it is 30fps.

The ONLY Zero/Fatal Frame title to run at 60fps is the original game on PlayStation 2 (and the Xbox port, I presume). All follow-up games were 30.
Click to expand...

Aw, thank you sir; you saved me some time :). Games running at 60fps on console tend to always stick with my memory quite a bit as they're something of a rarity so I really thought I would of remembered Fatal Frame's frame rate more if it was 60 so thanks for the confirmation that my memory isn't complete crap....well not yet at least.
 
Bayonetta 2 runs at super duper fast 60fps and never lets up with all the shit flying around and exploding.
 
MuchoMalo said:
Can anybody show me a good video of Xenoblade X? It looks like a PS2 game (especially the animations) in YouTube videos.
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There are various gifs and shots on this very page that illustrate Xenoblade's visuals but I don't believe that anyone here will be able to aid you with your ocular difficulties you seem to be suffering from. My condolences to you and yours on the deficiency and I hope you adjust to it well. Stay in well lit areas.
 
Smash Bros 4 deserves some love too, a 1080p game which mantains 60fps even in the most chaotic situation is truly remarkable. And most of all, the fighter's animations are gorgeous.
 
In terms of IQ, personal favorite is Captain Toad - impeccable IQ, from the AA, through the texture filtering, to the super-stable artifact-free shading, to the overall 'I'm not looking at a computer-generated imagery' effect. I'd give up half a kingdom for a Zack&Wiki sequel done in that engine and to that level of polish.

Runners up:

Kirby Rainbow Curse. The sense that you're playing a game made of clay is not lost for a second.
WW HD. Visuals-wise, game is just a beautiful cartoon, through and through.
SM3DW. Captain Toad x 0.9.

In terms of overall physical presence and believability: MK8 - superbly emulated GI, great use of DOF and those finger-licking-good animations. Remove the occasional aliasing and the 1-in-60 framedrop, and that would be pixar flick-level-of-quality.

Runners up:

NFS:MW U - state-of-the-art urban-themed open-world racing game, with all the visual (and physical) bells and whistles of the genre.
XCX - the most ambitious wiiU title to date, with apparent tradeoffs, but yielding an overall impressive effect. A good deal of that comes through the fantastic art direction, though. The rest is mostly the effect of seamless-ness.
 
I really love topics like this. It's so interesting to see what people think are the technological achievements on each console.

Some good pics in here. Pikmin is probably my favourite, although looking at Fatal Frame V that looks beautiful too. I think Xenoblade for scope at the very least.
 
-shadow- said:
I don't remember the first game being 60fps at all (played it on the Xbox), felt rather choppy to me. But that might've simply been the game that's somewhat lacklustre because it really looks terrible at points.
Click to expand...
It is 60 on ps2 for certain. Maybe Xbox port was botched? Never played it!
 
For me it's Mario Kart 8.
dark10x said:
It's just a shame the frame-time skips weren't addressed. That still drives me nuts.
Click to expand...

I am so happy that I can't see this. To me the framerate seems perfect.

Locked 60 in 2 player splitscreen with A.I or online.
Locked 30 in 3 or 4 player split screen (but it's still technically 60 because of the way the game updates the screens)

In a game as chaotic as Mario Kart can get with 12 cars on the track, it's just amazing that it looks so good while running perfectly.

Nintendo are wizards.
 
The first game that comes to mind is Xenoblade Chronicles X. That one was pretty darn impressive. Otherwise, I'm thinking of Mario Kart 8.
 
poodaddy said:
There are various gifs and shots on this very page that illustrate Xenoblade's visuals but I don't believe that anyone here will be able to aid you with your ocular difficulties you seem to be suffering from. My condolences to you and yours on the deficiency and I hope you adjust to it well. Stay in well lit areas.
Click to expand...

I'm not even mad.

Seems like it's more impressive in well-lit, open areas than when looking at close-up textures or when indoors.
 
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