/vr/ - Retro Games

>>2292218
>SNES

DKC
Star Fox 1&2
Star Ocean
Tales of Phantasia
Clock Tower
Famicom Tantei Club Part II

>>2292218
The mode 7 levels from Axeley look like garbage and play like garbage.
The game should have been horizontally only.

>>2292249
I really like the mode7 stages.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNZ3VE3qkgM

>>2292257
Looks like crap. Everything is way too flat which makes it look retarded.
Also if you shoot lasers, the weapons just split in a totally awkward way.

>>2292269
Well this is your opinion. Show me a SNES game with beautiful or impressive mode7 then.

>>2292272
There is non. Mode 7 in general looks retarded. It's acceptable as an overworld view for RPGs but otherwise it's crap.

It just looks like the devs build a nice stageonly to ruin it by rolling it up on a spool.

>>2292272
I'm not gonna claim it looked fantastic, but the Super Star Wars trilogy handled its mode 7 levels about as good as one can hope for.

>>2292218
Ecco the Dolphin 1 and 2 are way at the top for me. I think they're both stunning.

Earthworm Jim, Beyond Oasis and Jurassic Park all stand out as well in my memory.

On SNES, Metal Warriors looked amazing and I love that it didn't really have a hud.

Comix Zone of course. Looks brilliant.

>>2292282
That's a fine attitude for 2015, but 1n 1992 when I was playing Super Star Wars, racing around a seemingly endless expanse of Tatooine shooting Jawas, it was a pretty damn beautiful experience for me.

I am of the opinion that the DKC graphics have not stood the test of time. The 3D rendered stuff all looks pretty awful now, the color palette is muddy and there's little definition to the sprites. I think "traditional" drawn sprites look much better.

>>2292348
I am of the opinion that even when it came out, DKC looked like a huge pile of shit. Even back then it felt like a cost cutting measure rather than a real creative choice.

Give me hand drawn animation any day over badly rendered GCI turned into sprites.

>>2292312
>>2292327
Super Star Wars basically uses mode 7 as a ground texture. It looks pretty good.

>>2292348
No?

>>2292348
I agree with this, the biggest issue with the rendering itself is how the shadows are pure black, it just sucks the life out of everything it touches.

>>2292367
That picture proves my point better than I could. It's mostly a mess of brown and the sprites don't "pop" at all. Compare that with the Earthworm Jim pic above.

>>2292371
Wood is brown. What color exactly should a ship be? It isn't muddy. Except for the swamp zone, which is a swamp. And you can make out the details just fine in a picture that is much closer to actual resolution than the Earthworm Jim one. I can't even tell what the background is supposed to be in that, either.

>>2292367
> It looks pretty good.

Ooookay. So if you think it's fine when used in overworld maps, and now you've stated that it looked pretty good in the Star Wars games, then what mode 7 games so you mean when you say it looks like crap?

F-Zero? I sure thought that game looked pretty awesome when it came out. Super Castlevania using it in backgrounds? Because again, that looked stunning in '92 or whatever. Pilotwings? Are you going to try and tell me Pilotwings was a bad looking SNES game?

>>2292218
Ranger X
Socket
Cosmic Spacehead
Rocket Knight Adventures

>>2292374
Not him, but I agree. Donkey Kong Country looks ugly as fuck to me. Because it's all pre-rendered and then turned into sprites, everything has a weirdly fuzzy yet cut and paste look to everything. Like Mortal Kombat, but even worse because it's not shrunken digitized photos, it's it's shrunken digitized ugly early CG renders.

I vastly prefer the look of something where each pixel has been purposefully designed. But this crazy world takes all kinds, so keep rocking that DKC love.

>>2292348
>I am of the opinion that the DKC graphics have not stood the test of time

They didn't look good at the time. Technically impressive, but still ugly.

>>2292367
>Mode 7 is all ugly
>DKC looks good

This guy is trolling us, right?

>>2292416
That's the first post I made in this thread, you stupid fucking nigger.

>>2292417
Then why would you respond to earlier parts of a conversation as if you were? You stupid fucking nigger :)

>>2292272
Winter Gold

Super Aleste
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpmEaffVnQI
Super Castlevania IV
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pj8aCnLKnbU
Choujikuu Yousai Macross
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_a6doLHsPRc
Gokujou Parodius
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8sHpgm-R9M
Hagane
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyPJSms80fk

Super Turrican 2
Rendering Ranger
Red Zone

Ranger X
Rendering Ranger R2

By the way, there's too much negativity on this thread. No one gives a shit about you're scathing criticism, go suck a dick.

>>2292417
>first post i made in this thread
I think you mean first post on this board.

Allow me to introduce you to /vr/, we like having fun and talking about all sorts of video games. Just stay radical and we'll be cool lil bro

>>2292327
Not that guy, but I thought it looked like crap back then, too. Really didn't like it.

donkey kong country looked like fucking crap

>>2292282
>There is non. Mode 7 in general looks retarded. It's acceptable as an overworld view for RPGs but otherwise it's crap.
>It just looks like the devs build a nice stageonly to ruin it by rolling it up on a spool.
Why do high school kids post on /vr/? Mode 7 was amazing at the time of release. Your opinion in invalid.

OP here. I tucking knew this would turn into a DKC debate.

Thanks to all of the genuine replies and recommendations, will definitely check some of those games out.

Played this recently, thought it was pretty

>>2292686

In my opinion, that's one of its only saving graces. Though, I will say the music is nothing to scoff at.

>>2292686
I've played SD3 before but never got really far. But DAMN does this look nice. What a shame it never got released outside of Japan

>>2292480
Who is the giant titted one

>>2292621
>Mode 7 was amazing at the time of release.
It was not amazing at all. I was never impressed by this, but just thought it looked weird when SNES/MD were the shit.

>>2292770

Mode7 was considered amazing at the time of release. This is not an opinion, this a fact. However much you may personally have disliked the effect (and I can see why someone might), when it was revealed jaws dropped and hit the floor. Similar things had been seen before, but not in the home console market.

>>2292745
I think its Ran Niyama.

>>2292249
>>2292257
No mode7 here, boss. Just raster tricks. You can do the same thing on the Genesis.

>>2292249
I agree this game is a nightmare

>>2292272
Super Castlevania 4 has some good use of it (candelabras for example)

>>2292348
>>2292357
>>2292369
>>2292401
DKC was amazing at the time (people basically stopped buying Megadrives because of it) and still stands up visually compared to something like Shocktroopers 2 which handles cg 2d wrong.

>>2292478
I love the style of this game and it ran much faster than starfox etal too

Dragon Quest III's intro really impressed me. Looks much better and has double the frames of pic

>>2293141
How in the fuck did they get such fluid animation for enemy movement? It's almost magical.

>>2292951
Really? Could you explain how its done and how mode7 is different?

>>2293387
Think that warped graphical effect on the title screen of Contra Hard Corps, or in underwater stages on games like DKC.

Just with it being more stationary than anything.

>>2293401
I would have never guessed that those effects are the same as in Axelay. Well you learn something new every day..

>>2293401
I would have never guessed that those are the same effect used in Axelay. Well you learn something new every day...

ITT: people praise 3D pre-renders touched up as sprites

>>2292951

Thanks, I'm tired of seeing hipster teenagers talking about shit they don't know about.
The whole "hurrr mode7 is bad XDD" shit is also annoying as fuck, you kids need to stop spouting shit you hear from e-celebs on youtube.

>>2293454

>hurr prerendered sprites are bad XDDD

fuck off.

Stunt Race FX.

>>2292478
The game is utter garbage though.

>>2292478
>>2293127

Winter Gold did not use Mode 7. It also wasn't polygonal, in the sense that Star Fox was.

Remember the rotoscoped vector animation from Out of This World? Imagine using that to play a video of a ski course. Then you move your player sprite around on top of that. Like Mega Race for Sega CD but instead of traditional video, using something like the great grandpappy of Flash.

If you want to see some really astonishing 3D in a SNES game (although the game itself is bad) look at Dirt Trax FX.

>>2293459
I genuinely didn't knew those were two different techniques, as I just recently got interested in the whole technical aspect of SNES and MD. So stop calling people hipster teenagers for not knowing something, it just makes you look like a teenager.

And stop with that hurrr XDDD thing, its childish.

(At least the game you posted looks very nice)

>>2293459

It's a lack of perspective, I think. The truly sad part is that I got into videogames at the very end of the 16-bit era with a Model 2 Genesis, yet I still try very hard to set aside any preconceptions about hundreds of megabytes of memory or gigahertz processors and always ask myself: "How would this have looked to an enthusiast of that era?". Would they be amazed at the ability to do 3D ANYTHING, for example? How would they react to the coming age of the ubiquitous CD and its ability to utterly destroy the conventional cartridge format? Did the compression wizardry of JPEG floor them?

I try to think about this shit constantly when reading retro research.

>>2292218
Assault Suits Valken (Cybernator)
Chrono Trigger
Demon's Crest
Donkey Kong Country
F-Zero
Pop'n TwinBee
Star Fox 2
Super Mario Kart
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
Super Mario World
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
Super Metroid
Tales of Phantasia
Wild Guns

Aladdin
Alien Soldier
Comix Zone
Contra Hard Corps
Earthworm Jim
Ecco: The Tides of Time
Phantasy Star IV
Ranger-X
Ristar
Rocket Knight Adventures
Sonic The Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles
Streets of Rage 3
The Adventures of Batman & Robin
Thunder Force IV (Lightening Force)

The Playstation version of ToP, definitely.

>>2292589
>>2293119
We all just have opinions I guess. Mode 7 blew me away back then and I always thought DCK looked ugly as all fuck. But we're all different afterall.

Not strictly Genesis, but Kolibri is truly one of the most gorgeous games of all time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T1-dbHkLP8
Because still screens don't do it any justice.

>>2293523
>Pop'n TwinBee
this, it's so pretty and kawaii

>>2293713

I would've posted this, but I figured you guys were sick and tired of hearing from the local Tales-of evangelist. :)

On a related note, it's strange just how much worse Tales of Destiny holds up even to Tales of Phantasia SFC. The polygon-based overworld I can understand (early 3D, etc. etc), but if you look at the enemy sprites even they seem noticeably worse. I wonder what the story (if any) is with that?

(captcha is "frogu")

>>2293469
>(At least the game you posted looks very nice)
It's a Neo Geo game, of course it looks nice.

>>2293729
Really? That is interesting. I was about to disagree before remembering that I've actually only ever played the GBA port of ToP. Tales of Destiny though is one of my favorite games of all time and I also think it's one of the most beautiful. Makes me think I should really look into the PS version of Phantasia.

>>2293746

You really really should play the PSX version. The SFC version is better than GBA version, that's how horrible it is.

Absolute Zero fan translation for the PSX, DeJap for the SFC. Keep in mind the Absolute Zero translation is literal to a fault; it WILL sound slightly stiff and over-proper. I had been hoping to contact the translator to work on a revision patch and offer my services as editor, but my fucking iMac fell apart and this goddamn toaster laptop can't handle mednafen at all.

The DeJap translation goes in the other direction from the Absolute Zero one, again to a fault.

>>2293761
>The SFC version is better than GBA version, that's how horrible it is.
I would certainly believe that, all the other SNES to GBA ports were serious downgrades. It was just the only version I had access to at the time, but now I'm thinking this is a perfect excuse to replay it.

The series frustrates me because Destiny was so incredible and then they gave us Eternia labeled as Destiny 2 and I thought it was awful by comparison. I haven't tried the real ToD2, but every other of the newer Tales games has disappointed or annoyed me.

>>2292218
How can all of you fucking forget Yoshi's Island? It looked like a cartoon drawn with crayons', man, defnitely one fo the first cases where game was less about graphics and more about unique aesthetics - though it was cutting edge graphics-wise, too (those Super FX sprite distortions).

>>2293772

One of the reasons it likely disappoints you is shitty voice-acting and (once again, Japan! X_X) exclusion of all party chat. One of the saving graces of Stahn's character is his infectious enthusiasm, conveyed by a nigh-flawless Japanese voice track performance. Otherwise he'd appear downright clueless and shallow. Tales of Eternia, by contrast, leaves you to get to know the main characters of that game at the tender mercies of subpar English voice actors who aren't nearly as good as they so obviously THINK they are. This combined with the painfully awkward omission of the party chat feature (to the point where if you didn't know that they'd fucked the game you'd seriously be wondering "Why do I have both cooking AND camping???") already leaves a sour first impression. The downright misleading title change and markedly faster battle engine could well complete the alienation you describe. I find it funny as all hell their ineffectual marketing shenanigans "backfired" on them a few years down the road when they actually made a REAL ToD2 and it never stood a chance in hell of getting ported, likely because brand confusion was now legitimately a problem in the west and not just a paranoid delusion of their marketing department.

>>2293805
Yeah, I remember just absolutely despising every character in Eternia. The main guy especially just felt like a total dick and not in a fun way. I also remember the towns all feeling really small and shitty. One of the things about Destiny that impressed me so much was how the towns and even houses felt like they really existed. Most homes having bathrooms and the like, and as I recall there was almost nothing like that in Eternia.

And yes, FUCK that voice acting. Especially after Destiny had spoiled me with the famous Japanese voice actors they'd used and kept in the game. Hearing those whiny shits all the time sucked.

But hey, now I have something Tales related to finally look forward to again!

>>2293805
>>2293857
Is there a patch out there to get the original Japanese voice acting, by any chance?

>>2293862

Not that I know of, but such a thing if it existed would be GODLY. It doesn't have to do another goddamn thing but replace their battle calls and shit (I already turned off spoken dialog; I endured it for approximately ten minutes).

>>2293862
I don't even really think it would help. I mean that was a big problem with the game, but only one of many. At it's core it was just nowhere near as good. If anything, I would recommend just looking for a Jap version and going through with a walkthrough. It might be a bit confusing, but not having to read the text that comes with the English version should be considered a bonus in itself.

>>2293884

It was at the point I read a piece of dialog that failed to translate "The King In Yellow" correctly (calling it instead "Yellow Kings") that I had a pretty good idea what I was in for, quality-wise.

How do you not recognize a Cthulhu mythos reference?

>>2293905
It really makes me wonder what was happening behind the scenes on both sides that lead to it being such a disaster.

>>2292246
>Clock Tower
Ya that's a good one!

>>2293905
> "The King In Yellow"
>a Cthulhu mythos reference
You're rustling my spergers a bit

>>2294012

Let's hear it.

Pocahontas for genesis needs more love, it's a gorgeous game.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zj4gOd4kffg

>>2294013
"King in Yellow" is a Robert Chambers story with nothing to do with Cthulhu et al. Lovecraft referenced once or twice, pretty indirectly I believe, in his own fiction. Anything tying it to the Cthulhu Mythos is the work of later writers, who embellished and/or retconned it pretty heavily

>>2292384
Mickey Mania?

>>2294246

HP Lovecraft himself said The King in Yellow was a heavy inspiration. He's also referenced it directly in his stories several times, as you've said.

Yeah, I'd say it's part of the mythos.

Maybe not on a technical level, but I love the graphics in Famicom Detective Club 2, especially the mirror scene. Heavy spoilers, however.

>>2292272
The mechs walking in snow intro for FFIII (VI) was mind blowing. Too bad the chocobo Mode 7 bits were awful.

>>2294729
That game really does have a beautiful opening. Great cinematically and a really creative use of the tech.

>>2293772
>all the other SNES to GBA ports were serious downgrades
They were usually the exact same game with some extra stuff thrown in. Tales of phantasia was a terrible one.

>>2294729
Man I loved riding around on a Chocobo in that game. It is nothing compared to that opening though. I remember showing it to my mother and her actually trying to play the game because it impressed her so much. She's always been kind of into games though, could beat me and do Mileena's finishing move in MKII and now has over a thousand hours logged into Animal Crossing New Leaf.

>>2294274
Yeah, but I have no idea why it's named mine cart, since that level hasn't seen a mine.

KIRBY'S DREAM LAND 3
http://img.gamefaqs.net/screens/9/d/b/gfs_4606_2_1.jpg

Comix Zone, Ristar, Monster World 4

>>2294936
Nah, they usually had moderately downgraded graphics and significantly downgraded audio.

>>2292621
>>2292282
I feel so weird because I think Mode 7 still looks good NOW. For some reason I totally dig each and every early 3-d effect out there.

>>2294936
Blackthorne port was shit because they changed the colors by drving the Contrast and Saturation sliders in Photoshop up - also it was PoP/Flashback style cinematic platformer, except single 'screens' were too small to fit on a GBA screen, so they had to scroll, which was idiotic (because if we have smooth scrolling, then just remove the screen division at all).

>>2292357
amen brother. DKC looks like ass

>>2293141
DQIII's intro was the best part of the game.

>>2298541

I never could get behind Star Ocean's plot.

>>2298374

You are not alone. You know that famous tech demo of the SNES doing Mode7 with a flat plane of marble tile extending off into infinity in all directions with a cloud-filled sky at sunset? I would totally play that son of a bitch if they somehow made a game of it. Metric fucktons of atmosphere.

>>2298378
>usually
Nintendo's ports were good across the board, and the extra content they all had made up for the smaller resolution