LOOKIN' GOOD but officially

[Anonymous No.11270547]

Why do so-called official remasters and remakes of classic games tend to look like absolute shit? Is the industry full of blind execs and visually impaired normies?

[Anonymous No.11270564]

Right is what left looked like to people back in the day

[Anonymous No.11270579]

Honestly I kind of respect the choice to go with pre-rendered graphics for the remake. Nobody does pre-rendered graphics these days.

[Anonymous No.11270587]

>>11270547
>Why do so-called official remasters and remakes of classic games tend to look like absolute shit?
IMO, a lack of respect for quality pixel art. Pixel art was the first and only practical artstyle for games for a couple decades and when polygons became practical with 5th gen there was this opinion that pixel art is obsolete.
So many of these remakes ditch quality pixel art and replace it with the cheapest 2.5D graphics possible under the idea that it wins by default being a higher class of artstyle. In reality it looks like shit because the original game was high effort and the remake is just trying to cash grab.
This isn't a pixel art supremacy post, I think 2.5D can be done excellently, Sonic Generations is one I enjoy, DKC Tropical Freeze is another. However those are high effort games and people don't remake old games with that level of care and effort... IE the level of care and effort that went into making the original.

Picrel is a low quality 3D remake.

[Anonymous No.11270592]

>>11270587
Here is a high quality pixel art "remake"(yes I know it is a stealth sequel). Bringing it to modern resolutions / aspect ratios and touching up the graphics since they are not limited by hardware or small memory, that is what a 2D remake should be... but that takes the same kind of effort that went into the original so often times you get slop.

[Anonymous No.11270602]

>>11270587
Reshelled was so garbage it actually had people going "maybe these games were always bad" instead of just admitting the remake was a mutant muckpile.

[Anonymous No.11270682]

Just a result of the modern gaming industry and the lessons the artists have learned.
You know how people here talk about certain retro game artists like the Dragon Ball guy and the FF6 artwork guy? They had distinctive styles that were obvious in whatever they were working on. So any modern game artist who wants to become like the respected greats also creates a personal style they use on every game they work on. Does it match the original artwork and style? What do they care, they are trying to make a name for themselves in a crowded industry.
So you get these remakes/remasters that don't really look like the original game anymore, but look like a game that modern artist #241 worked on.

[Anonymous No.11270703]

Making new, high quality pixel art=hard

Flipping some unity slop and calling it a day=easy

[Anonymous No.11270712]

>>11270547
Laziness, one guy made this game
https://youtu.be/i3n_M9UJDGE?t=813

[Anonymous No.11270836]

>>11270712
my head hurts when i play this game
clusterfuck of shit on the screen with bunch of shaking and aids effects
i hate this game

[Anonymous No.11270851]

>>11270703
The thing is that it's not that hard at all, and there's tons of people who can do it. It's just the companies want to rush a product out the door as quickly and cheaply as possible and making some low-quality slop in blender or doing it with low-quality 2D art can be done by some third worlder for a fraction of the price of hiring a decent pixel artist.
>>11270682
The thing is there are plenty of artists nowadays with unique, original styles where if they were in charge, worst comes to worst at least you could go "yeah this isn't to my taste at all, I prefer the original" instead of "holy shit this looks bad". Either they're pushing low-quality slop out the door because they see these IPs as a quick easy way to make a few bucks with little risk regardless of what people think of the finished product, or for more AAA fare like the Silent Hill and MGS3 remakes coming out soon, they're more interested in marketing data and consultant opinions than on understanding or harnassing what actually made the games appealing - there's no nostalgia or sentimentality, no sense of artistry, they see it as a product first and foremost and will treat it like they're rebranding a coca cola product. You do get exceptions - I love Blaster Master Zero and, love him or hate him, at least Nomura does have his own quirks (I may think they're dumb but he's an auteur), but it will continue to become increasingly rare to get passionate remakes of old games.

[Anonymous No.11270897]

>>11270547
So many retards in this thread still don't get it.
First off, all of these games are low budget efforts, because companies understand they won't sell much and mainly ride on nostalgia. They go to low budget studios that are indie/mobile tier, and those make indie/mobile tier art. They couldn't care less about preserving anything, it's about doing things cheap.
Second, real pixel art has been dead for a long time, there are select few studios that still know how it's done, mainly the old guard, and that's it. 2D art in general is also kind of fucked, maybe less so in Japan but more in the West, where a current generation can only draw Calarts style or shitty mobile game style or """pixel art""" (that looks like they've never seen pixel art in their lives).
That's it, you can stop making up theories about it. Good remakes happen, but only when they put effort and money into those, which doesn't happen 99% of time.

[Anonymous No.11270954]

>>11270897
>First off, all of these games are low budget efforts
True
>Second, real pixel art has been dead for a long time
False, the issue is that if you wanna hire someone to do pixel art, they're gonna charge you the rate of a professional illustrator for every single asset etc. I've even seen attempts from companies at using AI to create assets, and as you can imagine, if looks garbage - it isn't actually real pixel art, and even some teenager that's been doing pixel art illustrations on twitter for fun can tell the difference from a second-long glance. It's cheaper and easier just to hire someone to create the assets in blender or, as you said, create movile game style art.
>that looks like they've never seen pixel art in their lives
Yeah I don't agree with that at all. The difference is that if you want art that looks genuinely 16bit, you have to work with the same limitations as a 16bit console - in which case, why make a remake at all? Of course it's going to look different - >>11270592 is an example.

[Anonymous No.11270990]

>>11270564
No, left never looked like prematurely outdated garbage, not even today.

[Anonymous No.11270993]

>>11270851
>The thing is that it's not that hard at all
Post your work

[Anonymous No.11270994]

>>11270564
we would have liked the right back in the day because it's not 16 bit and has a cgi feel to it. today it's trash lol

[Anonymous No.11271001]

>>11270994
It would have been trashed and forgotten like all the other 3D attempts of the time.

[Anonymous No.11271005]

>>11271001
nah those graphics in the snes days would have been impressive

[Anonymous No.11271010]

>>11271005
Yes the graphics look good to someone who has never seen 3D graphics in their life, but that doesn't mean the game would have stood the test of time. Plenty of shitty 3D games whose sole purpose was to show off their graphics were made back then.

[Anonymous No.11271041]

>>11270994
Actually it's kind of weird with pre-rendered graphics. They used to be all the rage but today are generally seen as shit.
Frankly I think execution matters, perhaps all the shovelware gave them bad rep, but games like DKC / SMRPG still hold up imo. Same with CGI, it can look cool or it can look like that Tekken Kazuya ending.

[Anonymous No.11271056]

>>11271041
There were threads when someone posted Nintendo Power issues and it was fun watching the magazine shift from "WOAH pre-rendered graphics THIS IS THE HOTTEST SHIT EVER" to "ho-hum, pre-rendered graphics, who would ever like this ugly-ass shit are we right fellas?" faster than you'd think it would.

[Anonymous No.11271687]

>>11270547
That is crazy how right literally looks like a fake game you might see in a sitcom or movie. I have seen anons say this occasionally but in this case it very strongly applies. I bet even AI could do better at this point. They didn't even give him the gold face helmet like in the SNES version. Just such an inferior looking remake.

[Anonymous No.11271728]

[Anonymous No.11271740]

>>11270547
>Why do companies trying to produce a quick cashgrab make games that look like quick cashgrabs?

[Anonymous No.11271771]

>>11271056
Yeah that was weird. But anyway I think DKC(2) still holds up, because it's not about just 3D but the artistry. They managed to make every level look magical, like an 80s fantasy movie. No other game had this atmosphere and attention to detail.
But then pre-rendered graphics quickly became popular with low budget games. Heck, even GBA had a tonne of those. And needless to say, they came nowhere close to DKC level. Often they looked so crappy, that even most average "classic" 2D still looked better.
Though if you look at high profile PC games of the era, eg Baldurs Gate or Diablo etc., they actually didn't look half bad, because they had skill and weren't making shovelware. I think many people are starting to realize that those games aged pretty well.

[Anonymous No.11271779]

>>11270564
Maybe on planet retard

[Anonymous No.11271802]

>>11271771
>But then pre-rendered graphics quickly became popular with low budget games.
The secret sauce is always effort.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kguJdOMjuI

[Anonymous No.11271824]

>>11271001
>>11271010
Yeah, and guess what? People ate that shit up back then. There was an assumption among a lot of people at the time that if your game was 3D, it was just inherently "better" and you weren't getting with the times if you stuck to 2D. So if it did come out back then, yes people would've hyped the shit out of it.

[Anonymous No.11271839]

>>11271802
True. I mean, Blazing Star is still known as one of the best looking Neo Geo games. And it's a fucking Neo Geo, a platform known for beautiful sprite work. When the game still looks good next to Metal Slug and Garou, it's saying something.

[Anonymous No.11272039]

>>11270712
this is the coolest shit ever, too bad it’s beat em slop

[Anonymous No.11272041]

>>11271728
yunno i like this style

[Anonymous No.11272042]

[Anonymous No.11272047]

>>11271802
this game’s graphics make me cry. too bad i suck at shmups.

[Anonymous No.11272560]

>>11270564
You're an idiot.

[Anonymous No.11272702]

>>11270579
exactly what came to mind when I heard about this, I hate that it's featured in such an unflattering comparison but I've always wanted to see a team take advantage of sprite digitization with hd resolutions, really cool effect.

[Anonymous No.11272752]

>>11271728
I thought 97' The Curse Of Monkey Island looked bad... Then 22' said hold my beer.

[Anonymous No.11273050]

[Anonymous No.11273084]

>>11273050
>top: average 90s anime art style with 90s floof and shoulder pads
>bottom: average 2000s anime art style without 90s floof and smaller shoulder pads
I'll say that the bottom looks a bit flatter / less detailed. But the shading on the top is rather simplistic anyway, and that cleaner look doesn't look out of place for 2000s anime.
So… what was the problem again?

[Anonymous No.11273093]

>>11272560
>Your'e

[Anonymous No.11273098]

>>11270547
That looks like one of those Saturn or GBA games that were entirely pre-rendered

[Anonymous No.11273108]

>>11273050
bottom is better because the girls look meatier. look at them thighs and hips.

[Anonymous No.11273115]

>>11273108
Girls on the top pic have stick legs
What is it with 90s anime and girls having like zero thighs/ass

[Anonymous No.11273117]

>>11271771
Not everyone is able to pull off pre-rendered but Rare was really good at it.

[Anonymous No.11273127]

>>11273115
japanese are civilized breast enthusiasts, not barbaric ass men.

[Anonymous No.11273357]

>>11272039
>>11270836
>/vr/ when confronted with an actual videogame

[Anonymous No.11273376]

>>11270592
nuNatsume is pretty based all around. All their work is great.

[Anonymous No.11273629]

>>11270547
Talented game artists do not work on remakes

[Anonymous No.11273681]

Because beauty is necessary for human flourishing and they're trying to kill us

[Anonymous No.11273965]

>>11270547
Squeenix gave the ActRaiser remake to some mobile kusoge devs that were just getting the job done.
It's pretty common nowadays (especially in the Switch era) for companies to dig up their old IPs they've been sitting on for years and shit out a nostalgiabaiting budget title remake or sequel. Even if it's a game barely anyone cared about even back then like Toki or Bubsy.

[Anonymous No.11273992]

>>11270564
This anon is correct. I actually love Actraiser but it isn't the best looking game by any means. People who say otherwise are contrarian retards. Quintet didn't make good looking sprites until Illusion of Gaia, and peaked with Terranigma.

[Anonymous No.11274687]

>>11273992
If we're talking spritework alone, Illusion of Gaia absolutely mogs Terranigma.

>>11273965
>Squeenix gave the ActRaiser remake to some mobile kusoge devs that were just getting the job done.
I looked it up, Sonic Powered, they've mostly worked on air traffic and railway simulator games. What an odd choice of devs.

[Anonymous No.11274721]

>>11273050
Top reminds me of the Crono Cross artist, pic related. Feet, proportions, and coloring just make me think of CC.

And bottom reminds me of the artist for Breath of Fire 4 (and other Capcom games on the PSX). Bottom looks better.

[Anonymous No.11275241]

>>11274721
>And bottom reminds me of the artist for Breath of Fire 4
Both top and bottom are from the same artist, Tatsuya Yoshikawa, and he did do the art for Breath of Fire IV as well. When Capcom rereleased the first two Breath of Fire games on GBA, they redid the art and interface to make it stylistically closer to IV. I also think it looks (a lot) better.

[Anonymous No.11275284]

>>11275241
Ah, cool to see how someone's style can change that much. And I agree that it's better. Old art style seems a little more generic, and even if it's a different artist I was never really a fan of CC's art style either (both seem very similar)

[Anonymous No.11275294]

>>11275284
He really changed his art style most notably midway through the development of Breath of Fire 3-- to the point that half the cast doesn't even look like their finished designs, and people around the office would see the new illustrations and wonder who the new guy who must have drawn them was.

[Anonymous No.11276269]

>>11270547
wrong

[Anonymous No.11276279]

>>11276269
>Tumblr art

[Anonymous No.11276306]

>>11276269
I'm also nostalgic for Newgrounds games, anon

[Anonymous No.11276323]

>>11276269
Lizardcube is an exception, not the rule

[Anonymous No.11277251]

>>11270547
Act raiser got cursed.
That remaster was supposed to be mobile game which for some reason they decided to use pre rendered assets so now the game looks bad across all platforms and it still has the "mobage dna".

[Anonymous No.11277532]

>>11273050
Both are good for different reasons, but I still prefer top

[Anonymous No.11278446]

>>11275294
It's impressive to change so much. In BoF 3 I remember the sprites (at least for the young protags and teen Nina) using the old design, while the manual and portraits use the new style.
Nina's sprites in the ending do match the new art though.

Some ero artists also changed a lot over time like Seishoujo (from Gun Blaze to Starless) or the Branmarker artist that also did the remake.

[Anonymous No.11278456]

>>11270547
because 90% of people have no sense of taste and eat any shit they can find
is that the companies fault?
a company is made to make money

[Anonymous No.11278464]

>>11273992
ActRaiser2 looked really good actually. Its one of the good things people bring up often when discussing the game.

[Anonymous No.11280038]

>>11273992
>>11278464
Exactly, ActRaiser 2 had impeccable sprite work and visuals, arguably better than the rest of Quintet's SNES library, and Renaissance would have benefitted from taken inspiration from its visuals rather than inexplicably going for a mobage prerendered style.

[Anonymous No.11280435]

>>11270547
Left is looking pretty ugly in its own right. I don't really see the issue with this, you could've used any number of examples.