/vr/ - Retro Games

Could an RE game have been made in 2D sprites for older consoles before the Playstation? Typically games were either side-scrollers, or top down perspectives.

I'm thinking of what RE but with the 3D characters rendered with 2D sprites. This would require 4-8 sprite sets from various angles for all the characters and cast, and that would likely be the limiting factor as that increases complexity, and cost. Then you'd need to scale the sprite to give it the illusion of getting closer or farther away from the camera, and I'm not sure if that's easy on these old consoles. The Game.com RE2 port is sorta, kinda like this concept, but way more primative.

I'm just curious why this approach was never attempted before 3D consoles.

A big way FF7 and RE blew my mind was simply by showing the characters from multiple camera angles. I'll always remember the part early in FF7 when they transition from one background to another with a CGI movie that blew my mind. Showing games from one angle for the entire game feels like a straight jacket, while this was true freedom.

The platform is part of the problem as much as the game itself though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1whfiMVm-Hg

Resident Evil 2 on the Game.com. Very fascinating.