/vr/ - Retro Games

It was fun, anon.

>>4809152
so were a lot of games that people didn't gave a fuck about

Anon you had to be there in the moment to understand the game. Add to the fact that there was really was not a lot of games like that at the time.

Also it was fun as hell and had great music.

>>4809143
still better than any thing gta after 2

>>4809156
>why was game successful
>people liked it hurr durr
anon I'm asking how it caught the attention of people in the first place. I forgot to mention that also got very mediocre scores in the press. Yet the game became a sensation.

>>4809143
What game?

>>4809167
Big Robber Vehicle

a lot of things
>player had a lot of freedom
>it worked well as a hot-seat multiplayer game
>also had network multiplayer
>you got to play as a "bad guy" rather than a "good hero" as with most games
>fairly low system requirements

>>4809143
It was on the PS1 before Carmageddon.

>>4809163
He literally told you how it caught the attention of people. Learn to read, nigger.

>>4809143
It was good fun. It caught on via word of mouth. It's not rocket science.

WHY DO PEOPLE LIKE FUN OVER GRAPHICS

/vr/ 2018, ladies and gentlemen.

Draw distance back then didn't really permit GTA's scope for 3D.

>>4809143
It wasn't 2D. It had 2D sprites but the world itself was 3D.

>>4809297
>It wasn't 2D. It had 2D sprites but the world itself was 3D
this

>>4809219
>It caught on via word of mouth
This. It didn't even get that good review scores (which is retarded) but every single kid loved the game.

I remember the first time I saw it. A friend and I were watching another friend play it. We saw him get out of a car, steal someone's elses car, run the guy over. We were like wait, did that just happen? Friend gets cops on him and they're chasing him around, he gets out of the car and mows them all down with a machine gun. It was freaking unbelievable at the time. We played it then and had a blast.

Friend had gotten it from one of those PC magazine demo discs. Soon we all borrowed it and had the demo version. Demo version had a limited time you could play the city, so we would compete over who could get the highest score via killing spree. I think we played the demo more than we actually played the real game when we finally got it, we played that demo so goddamn much.

I remember I had the score record for fucking ages, too. Then over summer I left, came back, and another friend had made a crazy score. He had found a route around the city to get all the kill frenzies so he got his multiplier up and made something ridiculous. I didn't know where all the kill frenzies were so I was like fuck that. He ended up being king of the GTA demo killing spree, kek.

But yeah. GTA1&2 are incredible.

>>4809143
>-eceleb-alert-warnig!

Its a shit game and youre a shit person for shitposting. You should feel shit about your shit, shit!

>>4809163
>I'm asking how it caught the attention of people in the first place.
edginess, it caused a storm in media about censorship and muh ebil vidya which naturally acts as the best form of marketing.

>>4809297
The world was rendered in 3D and has discrete "elevation changes" but the gameplay is still largely 2D

>>4809143
it was mindblowing, that's why

>>4809309
>It didn't even get that good review scores (which is retarded) but every single kid loved the game.

Yeah, you know how I felt about video game "reviewers" back then when I was a teen? I was extremely cynical and was like "pfft. what do these old fuckers who have jobs know about good video games? They need to stick to reviewing the newest Steely Dan album or something. "

>open world

There you go. Why do you think every other modern game today is some open world walking simulator?

>>4809864
The world is 3D stop being an argumentative bitch you ugly retarded virgin.

op underage get off of 4chan

GTAII must be the most overlooked game in a mainstream franchise ever. the media lost interest in it early on during the development (some magazines assumed that the futuristic setting was a way of making the game more PC by replacing pedestrians with robots), and when it was finally released, it only got those generic dumb "7/10, breddy bad" reviews. no gaming journalist ever took the game seriously.

>>4810191
>no gaming journalist ever took the game seriously.

nobody took gaming journalists seriously back then. At least I didn't but then again I was a teen. Oh, plus you had Nintendo Power which was pretty much pure propaganda when reviewing games. Even the shittiest of their games would get softer reviews than a reviewer in Electronic Gaming Monthly or other gaming mags of the time.

>>4809163
It caught my attention by releasing a demo for the game. Also hearing people talk in game stores about, "this game is going to get banned" gave us some extra hype. The fact that it was a unique concept also helped sell it.

>>4810191
It sold more than GTA1, and GTAV has references to GTA2 such as the Z-Type and Rebel Radio.

>>4810191
It was the biggest deal in gaming until the release of VC.

Where were you when nearly everyone was playing it? Because no gamer at the time overlooked it.

Because you were able to kill innocent people.

>>4810157
>this meltdown

>>4809143
that paedo Max Clifford whipped up a controversy storm for publicity, got lots of magazine covers and good review scores, there was a demo out on PC and PSX, and it's a decent game.
GTA's graphics weren't considered bad at the time, and the media frenzy surpassed Carmageddon's.

>>4809143
>name: THESHIT

>>4809143
but GTA1 WAS 3D.

it's a pretty bad game compared to its direct sequel though.

>>4810602
that's some pretty cool art. reminds me of the european release of 3.

>>4809152
This, it was simple and fun, didn't cost too much to make and sold well, so it got sequels.

>>4809143
>in the day where 3D was all what people wanted

It *was* 3D. Granted, the use of 2D sprites for anything that moves, and the overhead perspective make that 3D rather subtle, but still.

Nobody but big publishers and hardware companies trying to sell tech ever felt this way about 2D vs 3D.

It was all hot air to sell consoles and sub-par games that could appear technologically impressive to a 19 year old layman.

>>4809156
>Anon you had to be there in the moment to understand the game.
>>4809209
>He literally told you how it caught the attention of people
Except it didn't, not worldwide at least.
The only old GTA that I remember being known widely was GTA London, and it's ironically the most forgettable of the series.

OP, I think it was a big hit only in the US and UK, which apparently was enough. Rest of the world didn't give much of a shit.

As for why, well, anglos have shit-taste in everything.

>>4810401
>It was the biggest deal in gaming until the release of VC.
I don't even know why you would make up bullshit like this.

>>4810697
He confused 2 and III.

I loved it cause it was easy to mess with the game files and do shit like make the Semi do 10000mph or change the turning radius for the church bus to -1 causing it to spin like a top the instant it tried to turn

>>4809154
>>4809163

You're clearly a trolling retard. It was a fun game, released with a demo and was just edgy enough to gain traction. It's no more complex than that.

>>4810637
>>4810657
despite the world being rendered in 3D, the gameplay is still 2D. you shoot and move only straight ahead, not up/down. jumping down an elevation level is basically like going through a portal to another area on the same level, except the "3D" presentation makes it look seamless

you could make a fully 2D-rendered GTA clone with no difference in gameplay in regards to the original. the 3D graphics don't make the gameplay 3D even one bit

>>4809143
>how the hell was this so successful in the day?

It was pretty unique for one. Top down driving was also more appreciated then. I didn't hear about it until I saw it on playstation. I think the PS version was missing some things like trains, but playing with a controller was nice.

I remember the version with london 1969 was on an endcap at target, that's how I personally found out about it. I know it was on PC first but back then dedicated gaming consoles has a huge market share.

>>4810736
This. My bad.

>>4809143
>how the hell was this so successful in the day?
because it was a brand new innovative as fuck game

>>4809158
my nigga

>>4810853
op said it had ugly 2d graphics though

it's not ugly but the palette hurts my eyes to be honest

>>4811267
2 was a vast improvement in that regard

>>4810191

>Replacing pedestrians with robots

Never heard that one before, but that's interesting. You can tell that they didn't finish the game, because there was a mission in the third level where you had to pick up a bus full of people and turn them into hotdogs. I preferred GTA2. It was more refined, the damage system kind of made up for the tricky shooting mechanics, and the setting was really cool. GTA1 hasn't really aged well, and there's a fair amount of bullshit involved. I think GTA London's missions were more fun, as they focused more on driving rather than shooting.

>>4810979
It really wasn't innovative in anyway outside of the weird but optimized 3D effect that DMA used, it was a simple and fun cops and robbers game where you could run over and shoot people.

rocky pocky teriyaki, teriyaki tastes like sake

>>4811276
even london was. i don't know why they made it so bright.

>>4809143
It was advertised well. It's was complete shit even back in the day

>>4811583
You are beyond fucking retarded and you have no idea what you're talking about.

>>4811659
You're either Gen Z or a typical /vr/etard that can't play video games for shit or both.

>>4809143
I thought it was fun.

>>4809158
You're a straight busta, anon.

>>4810140
It's almost like the majority of all critics are absolute plebes and shysters.

>>4810694
I live in Sweden and I remember kids in the late 90s being all hype about it and bringing it up a lot.

>>4811671
>Tomb Raider and Quake came out around the same time with better graphics

>>4812452
>talk about innovation in terms of gameplay
>someone critisises you
>quickly move the goalposts by switching to talking about graphics

>>4812457
Gameplay was simple as hell, and in a world where Elite already existed, the open world thing really isn't that innovative

>>4812464
>exploring an empty space populated by near identical looking space stations
>exploring a detailed city on foot
seriously, you could have used so many analogies, and you chose elite of all things.

>>4812480
>GTA 1
>Detailed city
Bahaha

>>4809143
You could but burp, fart, steal cars and shoot people, all at the same time.

>>4812481
it's fairly detailed, each zone has its specific details

>>4809158
Care to explain why?

>>4812487
And this is literally why GTA was so popular back in the day.

>>4812540
Yeah the whole idea of a top down city to run around in is like a childhood fantasy. I used to draw little cities with winding roads in my school notebooks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NupUW9-l61s

Post music. Hard mode: No Joyride or Taxi Drivers Must Die

>>4812593
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEi_yNAre2I
best music coming through

>>4812593
Real hard mode would be No C. Conner songs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrg1m-B6iXk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=On1V-KdW0bU

Love this live action stuff.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Xyo1jVWWRFw

>>4810469
This. I think I was like 7 years old when I first played it. Even back then kids loved edgy stuff.

>>4812886
that entire movie is so fucking kino.

I love the music. the same goes for the game. gta 2 seriously had the best music in the entire series.

People who didn't normally play video games loved the original GTA from what I remember. In fact, it got my older cousin to buy a decent video card and get into PC gaming. Good times were had, wish I can go back.

>>4812452
Quake and Tomb Raider were also dramatically different in concept and gameplay.

>>4812767
the entirety of 76 fm or whatever it was is a masterpiece

>>4812593
That bass
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84yBWQiu5RI

>>4812593
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KEG_v-065M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p13P0PWE-tg
the low sample rate really adds to it to be honest

>>4812593
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iW7INQpd-ns

>>4813489
what's the deal with this song? it's actually licensed? how come this wasn't some kind of hit?

>>4813493
I think the uploader just slapped some random video on it himself. like the other music, it's produced for the game.

>>4813496
conor & jay and ez rollers are actual bands afaik

but where did he get such clean and long version of the song

>>4813502
ez rollers is a real band, yes. if you havent heard it already, I strongly recommend the album short change is from:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUriYm0ZRgw

>but where did he get such clean and long version of the song
no idea. iirc, the song is featured on at least three stations in the game. maybe it was posssible to piece the full song together from that?

>>4813502
Bula Matari as well.

Honestly I never liked any gta for more than five minutes. But I can see how it went popular: it's edgy and gave you sandbox freedom at a time this wasn't common.
Personally the reason I never liked this game is because I find the gameplay clunky, and the perspective kind of jarring. I also think the sandbox design is generally inconsistent and repetitive, but I can still see how other people might get immersed in it.
In retrospective, the graphics are nice. Although yeah, at the time, it looked unimpressive imo.

>>4809143
>2D graphics in the day where 3D was all what people wanted
You're fucking retarded. Stupid dumbass. Why would you post something like this? You look like an idiot. What do you know about what people wanted? Fuck off.

>>4809143
I didn't like it that much but all my friends played it all the time. I guess it was great.
If you are this stupid that you would think "people wanted 3d games" that's not the case you dumbass. You were probably not even born in 1997, this is why you are so full of shit.

>>4809143
It wasn't. GTA 1 and 2 were not that big. Most people didn't even know the series existed until 3 and especially Vice City.

>>4810140
>>4812309
Eh, honestly as a kid I generally used to respect reviewers. I thought they were much better back then and were on the same page as the people reading the reviews. I feel like back then reviewers were actually gamers, and not... whatever the fuck they are now (antifa, SJWs, feminists, assholes that write pretentious reviews like they're reviewing a piece of high art to pretend they're not manchildren -- seriously just go watch any modern Gamespot video review and you'll see what I mean). Of course they didn't get it right every time, GTA being the biggest example I can think of, but I do think reviews back then were far better than they are now. I don't even read/watch reviews anymore.

>>4814327
reviews are certainly getting worse, but they were already bad at the time gta2 was released.

look at pic related. he almost exclusively lists bad points in the review, and then still gives it an overwhelmingly positive score. why can't these brainlets understand that any score above 1/2 is above average and thus good, while 1/2 is still decent?

>>4814176
>If you are this stupid that you would think "people wanted 3d games" that's not the case you dumbass.
name 10 very successful (1 million or more sold) 2D games from that gen.

>>4814434
Diablo
Total Annihilation
Age of Empires
Starcraft
Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines
Anno 1602
Railroad Tycoon II
Baldur's Gate
Simcity 3000
Rollercoaster Tycoon

>>4814467
now do a list without pre-rendered games. And if you throw some console games as well that would be nice.
is this board going to pretend that true 2D games weren't seen as the black death in those years?

>>4814472
>moving the goalposts this much

>>4814480
you now what I've meant by "2D games". If you're still against the perception that people wanted 2D games in that era, it won't be hard to find 10 successful games based on "pixel art", right? it should be even easier to find them on console, given they were the more successful platform.

>>4814472
>>4814486
>post a list of successful 2D games
>anon does
>hurr durr those don't count
lol

>>4814495
WHERE are the 2D games? don't be dishonest prick trying to argue that pic related fits the general perception of 2D. If you can't, I'll wait for other anon to disprove the notion that 2D games weren't highly sought after in that era

>>4814486
by your definition, gta2 is definitly a 3d game, since it uses prerendered sprites

>>4814503
too bad the thread is about GTA1. If a few polygonal buildings makes it 3D, then FFIX is 2D.

Name 10 successful 2D games (read: with heavy presence of pixel art, meaning something akin to SOTN) in the 3rd gen of consoles. If you can answer one question, you can answer another, can you?

>>4809143
It was a new type of game, plus it was edgy.

>>4814510
>2d graphics and gameplay + prerendered sprites = 3d game
>3d graphics and gameplay + pixel art sprites = 2d game
sorry anon, I can't compete with your definitions

>>4814510
>do this for me do that for me name this name that waa waa waaaaah I need attention
Die

>>4814510
>Name 10 successful 2D games in the 3rd gen of consoles
:^/

>>4814502
So this doesn't count as a 2D game because it uses a prerendered background but GTA 1 does despite its 3D world? you're having some major cognitive dissonance there anon.

Anyway more games off the top of my head:
Worms 1&2
Command and Conquer + Red Alert 1&2 + Tiberian Sun
Dune 1&2
XCom games
Sim City games
Loaded & Reloaded (same as GTA: 3D world with sprites)
Take No Prisoners (same as GTA)
Castlevania SOTN (good job calling it in advance)
Street Fighter Alpha and all the other 2D fighters
Full Throttle, Leisure Suit Larry games, Curse of Monkey Island games, King's Quest games, Day of the Tentacle, etc
Rayman (PSX/Saturn Version)
Megaman X4 and all the other ones that gen apart from Legends
Metal Slug games etc

>>4812593
Show Teriyaki-chan some love!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Yyaxg6pRao

FASTER THAN SOUND

>>4814579
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXEkPbys_xk

is this a reference to GTAIV?

>>4814579
OK THAT SONG CRAP BUT COMPUTER PICK FOR ME AND I CAN'T CHANGE

>>4814575
most of these are cult games at most, no way they sold a million copies

>>4814993
>cult games
shows how much you know, tourist

i wonder why cockstar never released the full versions of the soundtracks

they're so good

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMBfUp7SJ7M

>>4814993
Is it really so hard to anonymously acknowledge that you were wrong?

>>4814357
a 3.5 out of 5 is a flawed but okay game, and all he says is that it doesn't add enough to be worth the upgrade, not that it's bad
a 3 is the lowest "decent" score

like, reviewers actually suck, but you're grasping here

>>4815543
Probably licensing issues. Music rights holders are cutthroats. Especially in Japan, if someone says they "couldn't get the rights" to audio, they mean it.

>>4817073
but how? its mostly all in-house and done by like 3 guys (and i think one woman)

>>4810694
if its a hit in the US its a hit worldwide

>>4814993
wow anon you suck at trolling, this is just sad

>>4809143
Just realised that's Trump tower on the cover lol

>>4809143
1. It wasn't as successful as you think it was.

2. Actual gamers didn't care if a game was "3d". Though GTA does have 3d graphics.

Garbage game

>>4809143
>3d was all what people wanted
Bull, fucking, shit. 3D was all that was hyped by the industry, but people still very much played and liked 2D games.
Oddworld, Fallout, Megaman X4, Age of Empires, Breath of Fire 3, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night... only a handful of games were 3D.

And GTA mixes 2D and 3D actually. Look at the buildings and roadsigns as they pass you by, clearly 3D.

Plus, open-world games were a novelty. There were a handful of Ocarina of Time clones, but nothing like GTA.
GTA feels vast, you get no direction but a hint of using missions - but you don't NEED them, as long as you collect a certain amount of cash you win, and you can technically win without accomplishing a SINGLE objective.

This kind of freedom was never seen before in an action game. GTA was probably the first real sandbox game, or at least the first one to get popular.

>>4814510
FEW buildings? Every building in the game is polygonal. They could have easily made it a third-person game (all they would've needed was some extra sprites for rotation), they conciously decided not to.

By your logic Doom and Duke 3D aren't "3d games" and that is beginning to become absurd.

>>4817987
Garbage post.

>>4809143
GTA wasn't successful until 3

>a retard makes a troll attempt
>everyone falls for it

alternatively, topdown GTA bingo
>fun contra graphics
>freedom, opern world
>muh "aged well" contra "aged bad"
>muh 2D games of 90s
>2 is better than 1, which is better than 2
>post best radio/song
>post mission / ped quotes

I'll tell you one thing buddy, and this goes for everyone listening out there..

>>4809143
Got featured a lot in demo discs and was a good game

>>4812498
3D

FRENZY PASSED!

>>4818159
No, GTA 1 and 2 were pretty successful. GTA 3 was a giant smash hit that changed the industry.

Remember that there are different grades of 'success'. For a small company, selling half a million copies can be succesful, while for a big company 5 million isn't enough.

DMA Design was a small company, and by their standards, GTA sold extremely well. It's just GTA 3 sold like fucking hotcakes.

>>4818663
>DMA Design was a small company, and by their standards, GTA sold extremely well. It's just GTA 3 sold like fucking hotcakes.
And now GTA5 is the Dark Side of the Moon of video games. That fucker NEVER leaves weekly top 10 charts, even 5 years later. Sure it's had a remaster but still. Fucking insane.

>>4818712
Is V really that good? I could never finish IV and the will to try V just isn't there.

>>4819102
it's the most meh GTA game so far imo

>>4819102
Yes, V is amazing, but people here will tell you it's shit just because it's popular. IV was easily the worst, most boring GTA ever made and the second most disappointing game I've ever played in my life (2nd only to Dark Souls 2). V was a return to form and then some.

>>4819358
*Btw to be clear I'm not saying GTAV is as high quality as Dark Side of the Moon is. DSotM was one of the highest selling albums ever and didn't leave the sales charts for years -- that's the analogy I was making as GTA:V is still in weekly top 10 sales charts even five years later. GTAV is definitely a fucking great game though, but it's not DSotM great (barely anything is).

>>4809143
It didn't have a console port that was so horrendous it tarnished its reputation for years.

>>4819838
in fact, 2Ds are a lot more enjoyable with a controller

>>4809143
It was simple and to the point despite so there was very little downtime prior to some mayhem, The gameplay itself was pretty mediocre but since it was pretty chaotic and the player had a lot of freedom in which sort of rampage he created it had an unique edge that most games tend to like despite the lack of well designed combat. Same point can apply to GTA3 and onwards since those games also have mediocre combat but very "reactive" AIs that give that let the player dictate how and when to start his fun.

>>4819918
*It was simple and tothe point so there was very little downtime

>>4810602
>official uk playstation magazine
>price in pounds, us dollars, florins and francs

This is weird, surely the uk version was never sold elsewhere. Or were the covers literally the same but with the word "uk" replaced with wherever it was sold?

>>4819908
the old gta games certainly weren't. they cut so many features from the console ports.

>>4819908
shame the PC version of GTA2 has horrible controller support straight from the 90's.

>>4812316
But not every country has little wannabe terrorists anon, it doesn't count.

>>4817537
Yeah, just like Madden huh?

>>4809864
people care about graphics not gameplay

>>4809309

This is more or less exactly how I found out about Grand Theft Auto 2.

Saw someone playing it, was instantly mesmerized. A videogame where you can just kill random bystanders with no consequences, have shootouts with the police and smash Hari Krishna with a tank was mindblowing. It was very common to be a police officer, soldier or other "good guy" that can't just fuck off and do whatever he wants.

Also it had actual music on its radio stations that sounded like real radio stations in whatever bizzaro world GTA is in.

Also the sheer scale of the game itself was really a huge deal, especially for GTA2. Being able to haul ass across an entire city being chased by the cops was something basically no other game had going for it. Even games like NFS Hot Pursuit were track based, you couldn't turn off the track and go for a mile to try and escape the cops.

tl;dr "steal car kill cops" was still a fresh idea when it came out

the fun just started at the side of the road

>>4820818
>>4809309
fuck yeah nostalgia bros

First ever game on PS1, I can't imagine how much I've spent on t.. wait, I still play it today, sometimes when I am back home and find the old PS1 in the drawer, plug it into the old tv and just drown in nostalgia. My dad even walked past and remembered it. fuck I love it so much.

>>4822426
just play them on PC. the PS1 ports are horrid. especially for the 1st game.

>>4822461
it's worse for 2. the lighting effects were responsible for half of the atmosphere and art direction in the game. without lighting, it looks like a desaturated version of the original game.

>>4822471
yeah, but at least it runs at playable framerate and higher resolution compared to the port of 1

>>4822461
>implying I didn't

I loved GTA 2 so much that it was not only my first PS game but also the first PC CDROM.

Yeah, gta 2's got real cool atmosphere with those nice effects. But I don't mind the look of playstation version either.

GTA 2 was fucking awesome, Rockstar use to give both away for free on their site along with GTA Londom. Wasn't so crazy about the first one, mostly cuz your character wore a yellow shirt.