Ganondorfo
Junior Member
Resident evil 4, it's a great example for other developers how to make an amazing game.
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What would you say is the most polished videogame ever made?
- Thread starter PocketMidget
- Start date
Nick Laslett
Member
Good topic for a thread, imho.
Titles with a lot of polish are the games that really show how slipshod most releases are.
A lot of highly polished titles have already been mentioned.
Stuff like LOZ:Twilight Princes and Ninja Gaiden.
I think gameplay difficulty is the hardest thing to get right consistently across the duration of a game. Technical and graphical polish is an easier target to achieve.
God of War is technically very polished, but the difficulty spike near the end, with the repitious tower climb, taint the whole game.
I think the bland later levels in Halo, with a lot of repeated corridors also takes the sheen of that game.
Gran Turismo 4 is also technically very polished, but there is no gameplay left if you've been with the series since the beginning. I only play it in 6 player network, where it is excellent fun.
Half Life 2 sticks out as a game that was all round excellent, but the Source Engine/Steam issues will have made a lot of people see things differently.
Recently I've been very impressed with Tekken on the PSP, that is the complete package. It is disappointing that such an excellent game should have sold so poorly. If you had told me 5 years ago that I would be playing a game graphically supperior to Tekken Tag on a handhold in wifi versus mode I would not have believed you. The wealth of content in that game is like a lover letter to fans of the series. When you think that the Xbox, GC, Wii, PS3 and Xbox360 all lack a beat'em up as good as Tekken on the PSP, it really makes you raise an eyebrow.
The game that wins the lack of polish prize has to be Tomb Raider AOD, 4 years of development, millions in costs and the result is a game broken in almost every way. How could Edios have spend so much money and Core so much time for so little result is really puzzling. This was mean't to be a flagship console exculsive for the PS2, a sequel to a blockbuster franchise. The fact that Ubisoft got a game as stunning as Prince of Persia to market in similar timeframe really hammers a nail in Core's coffin.
Of course Driver 3 and Enter the Matrix must run TR:AOD a close second and third for lack of polish versus development costs and time.
Titles with a lot of polish are the games that really show how slipshod most releases are.
A lot of highly polished titles have already been mentioned.
Stuff like LOZ:Twilight Princes and Ninja Gaiden.
I think gameplay difficulty is the hardest thing to get right consistently across the duration of a game. Technical and graphical polish is an easier target to achieve.
God of War is technically very polished, but the difficulty spike near the end, with the repitious tower climb, taint the whole game.
I think the bland later levels in Halo, with a lot of repeated corridors also takes the sheen of that game.
Gran Turismo 4 is also technically very polished, but there is no gameplay left if you've been with the series since the beginning. I only play it in 6 player network, where it is excellent fun.
Half Life 2 sticks out as a game that was all round excellent, but the Source Engine/Steam issues will have made a lot of people see things differently.
Recently I've been very impressed with Tekken on the PSP, that is the complete package. It is disappointing that such an excellent game should have sold so poorly. If you had told me 5 years ago that I would be playing a game graphically supperior to Tekken Tag on a handhold in wifi versus mode I would not have believed you. The wealth of content in that game is like a lover letter to fans of the series. When you think that the Xbox, GC, Wii, PS3 and Xbox360 all lack a beat'em up as good as Tekken on the PSP, it really makes you raise an eyebrow.
The game that wins the lack of polish prize has to be Tomb Raider AOD, 4 years of development, millions in costs and the result is a game broken in almost every way. How could Edios have spend so much money and Core so much time for so little result is really puzzling. This was mean't to be a flagship console exculsive for the PS2, a sequel to a blockbuster franchise. The fact that Ubisoft got a game as stunning as Prince of Persia to market in similar timeframe really hammers a nail in Core's coffin.
Of course Driver 3 and Enter the Matrix must run TR:AOD a close second and third for lack of polish versus development costs and time.
Rabid Pancake
TheTrin's underpaid lackey
Civ II damn it.
MGS2, Metroid Prime, Resistance Fall of Man, Ninja Gaiden, and others I'm not thinking of at the moment. Each of them offers a perfectly solid framerate, beautiful visuals, great animation, and fantastic transitions between everything. They feel completely solid.
I don't understand how someone could say Half-Life 2. The technology plays a huge role in polish and the game straight up had issues. The core experience itself was pretty polished, but the Source problems prevented it from feeling that way. Doom 3 was FAR FAR more polished back in 2004 (though not as good).
I don't understand how someone could say Half-Life 2. The technology plays a huge role in polish and the game straight up had issues. The core experience itself was pretty polished, but the Source problems prevented it from feeling that way. Doom 3 was FAR FAR more polished back in 2004 (though not as good).
MasterMFauli
Banned
Besides Nintendo-games in general:
Halflife 2
Halflife 2 - Episode 1
There is no other non-Nintendo-game imo, that is so perfect just in every kind of way.
Halflife 2
Halflife 2 - Episode 1
There is no other non-Nintendo-game imo, that is so perfect just in every kind of way.
HL2 doesn't deserve to be mentioned with the likes of Zelda or MGS. It had technical problems like sound stuttering and frequent loadtimes and the gameplay wasn't exactly what I'd call polished too.
The most technically polished game which I own has to be MGS 2. There are so many small details in it and it still looks as good as it did when I first played it. 60 fps, perfect lighting, perfect rain and water effects, pretty big scale and great character modelling (It's a Konami game after all). On a technical level no game comes even close.
When it comes to gameplay I would say that Nintendo is a step ahead of everyone else in the business. There are very few bugs in Nintendo games and they always are easy to learn and difficult to master, after all these years these guys still know what makes gaming fun.
The most technically polished game which I own has to be MGS 2. There are so many small details in it and it still looks as good as it did when I first played it. 60 fps, perfect lighting, perfect rain and water effects, pretty big scale and great character modelling (It's a Konami game after all). On a technical level no game comes even close.
When it comes to gameplay I would say that Nintendo is a step ahead of everyone else in the business. There are very few bugs in Nintendo games and they always are easy to learn and difficult to master, after all these years these guys still know what makes gaming fun.
jakershaker
Member
Quake 3.
For what it was, multiplayer only, it was polished to perfection. Both gameplay and graphics, nothing was left to chance.
Not many other games even come close.
For what it was, multiplayer only, it was polished to perfection. Both gameplay and graphics, nothing was left to chance.
Not many other games even come close.
Forceatowulf
G***n S**n*bi
Metal Gear Solid 2... Hands down.
GitarooMan
Member
From what I've recently played I thought Okami had a really polished feel which was pretty impressive from a company that also put out Godhand, a fun game that is incredibly unpolished.
BenjaminBirdie
Banned
A Pretty Nasty Drag-Out Fight Between....
Oddworld II: Abe's Exxodus
and
Wip3out
Oddworld II: Abe's Exxodus
and
Wip3out
Forceatowulf
G***n S**n*bi
I'd also like to add the Jak series.
WastingPenguins
Member
Jiggy37 said:
Hey guys, isn't it about time for the weekly 'is wavedashing a glitch?!' debate?
Yoshi's Island.
An unreasonably high level of creativity, and execution that lasts from the first level to the last boss. The game never misses a chance to sneak in a bit of flare.
Zelda LTTP and Super Metroid
Take an adventure, partition the large levels into bite size pieces and make every bite taste like the best food you've ever tasted. Put the bites back together and you have a feast of flavor!
Super Mario Bros
The game that asks so little and gives so much. Simple Fun made simple. A game so solid that even its glitches are legendary and only adds to the lure of the game.
StarCraft and Advanced Wars
The result of the continual refinement of an idal core. Though as time goes on and they tighten their crafts each newest entry will be "more polished" but thats why they're at the end of the list.
An unreasonably high level of creativity, and execution that lasts from the first level to the last boss. The game never misses a chance to sneak in a bit of flare.
Zelda LTTP and Super Metroid
Take an adventure, partition the large levels into bite size pieces and make every bite taste like the best food you've ever tasted. Put the bites back together and you have a feast of flavor!
Super Mario Bros
The game that asks so little and gives so much. Simple Fun made simple. A game so solid that even its glitches are legendary and only adds to the lure of the game.
StarCraft and Advanced Wars
The result of the continual refinement of an idal core. Though as time goes on and they tighten their crafts each newest entry will be "more polished" but thats why they're at the end of the list.
Bill Rizer
Member
Donkey Kong '94 Simply amazing, for its time and still nowadays
Roland Stiles
Member
SSBM and FFVI should be disqualified.
SSBM has a few maps where you can fall through invisible holes (bugs, in other words). FFVI has the Relm sketch crash bugs.
I love both games dearly--but those are major non-polished areas.
Twilight Princess is AMAZING, and I would agree on that, Metroid Prime, MGS3:Subsistence, and Super Mario Bros. 3 (hell, and Yoshi's Island).
Wind Waker was missing 2 dungeons, so that doesn't count either.
SSBM has a few maps where you can fall through invisible holes (bugs, in other words). FFVI has the Relm sketch crash bugs.
I love both games dearly--but those are major non-polished areas.
Twilight Princess is AMAZING, and I would agree on that, Metroid Prime, MGS3:Subsistence, and Super Mario Bros. 3 (hell, and Yoshi's Island).
Wind Waker was missing 2 dungeons, so that doesn't count either.