Readers discuss the most graphically impressive video games ever made, from the early 16-bit days to modern next-gen consoles.
The topic for this week’s Hot Topic was suggested by reader pete216state, who asked what are the best graphics you’ve ever seen on a particular console? It doesn’t have to be the best graphics ever, just the best graphics in that format.
We had a lot of suggestions from decades past, with many pointing out that video game graphics can age quickly and those with distinctive art styles or the best gameplay last the longest.
Short-term profession
I’ve had a lot of ‘How can graphics ever get better than this?’ moments in my life and every example that is more than a few years old is now laughable except Zelda: The Wind Waker, because the graphics are always improving.
The most recent example was Ghost Of Tsushima Director’s Cut on PlayStation 5, which admittedly coincided with the purchase of my first 4K television. I almost doubted the usefulness of the PlayStation 5 because what was essentially a PlayStation 4 game looked more beautiful than I could have ever imagined. How on earth can a game look better than this?
Surely this was as good as we could ever get because it is both technically impressive and artistically appealing? Then I started the DLC and somehow the beginning of it was an order of magnitude nicer than the main game. Things suddenly looked convincingly wet in a way I didn’t realize was missing before.
I like nice games and like to see what’s possible now, but the appeal of nice graphics fades very quickly. There’s a reason the opening part of Ghost Of Tsushima’s DLC has stuck with me more than the rest. Gameplay will always be king, and it’s incredibly rare that I play a game purely for the graphics. The last time I did that was probably The Order: 1886 and that was only because it was short and I borrowed it from a colleague.
PazJohnMitch
mind blown
I remember being impressed with the graphics in GTA 3.
On the first island is a viaduct over a road.
I was standing on that bridge and the glow of the sun made me yawn.
As an aside, Rockstar packed cards with the game, and I had it on my side to determine where I was.
I remember finding orientation very difficult; mainly because the map was upside down and the legend was not checked.
It took me a bit to work that out.
Paul
Can’t slow down
I own the original, VHS-style Xbox One. The best graphics I’ve seen on it have to be from Devil May Cry 5. I’ll admit the locations in that game are a bit monotonous and boring, but still look pretty good, but the character design and animation, and especially the faces, are stunning and look lifelike without going into the uncanny valley. to go.
Plus, the fact that the game looks so good, can have a lot of enemies on screen, and still runs at 60 frames per second without huffing on the base Xbox One is extremely impressive. Considering that many games have been released after that with less impressive graphics that trudge a lot on it (looking at Doom Eternal).
Sunny
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Impossible Gate
Here’s a deep cut for you, and one that doesn’t strictly fit the question, as I’ve never “seen” this game on console with my own eyes, but does anyone know when there might be a remake of it? Resident Evil for the Game Boy color?
It looked ridiculously good (for a Game Boy Color game) and they had obviously used a lot of tricks to make it look 3D. I remember it kind of fell out of the blue and the magazine previews at the time were a little dubious about whether it would actually work, and it showed when Capcom had it in a can when it was apparently 90% complete. . Just an odd footnote in gaming history, but it looked good.
Charlie
GC: We saw it run, it was a British developer who made it and it was very impressive.
Changing standards
In terms of the best graphics ever, I thought we could easily say that each gaming generation had its own pinnacle of graphics standards, such as God Of War on the PlayStation 2 and Halo on the Xbox.
So that got me thinking it might not be the best graphics ever, but rather the best evolution of graphics over time and the best example I could think of was Super Mario.
With the arrival of the Super NES, I remember being impressed by the sheer beauty of Super Mario World, and that each game moving forward has resulted in an improvement in the quality of what is displayed on screen.
Super Mario 64 looks very basic now, but again, I looked at it like it was the best graphics ever when it came out and immediately bought an N64 with that game.
Nintendo took it a step further from 3D quality and animation that I have admired continuously ever since. I even played Super Mario Sunshine recently and it still holds up today and if they scaled up the resolution it would still look great.
And that game is 20 years old. How many other games can people say they can go back and play and still appreciate that beautiful clean look, combined with fantastic animation and – don’t forget – superb gameplay?
ZipPi
rock master
I remember being absolutely blown away by Resident Evil 4 on the GameCube. It was so ahead of its time that I remember just looking at the textures on rocks because they were so realistic.
It stayed the best at its game for a long, long time, but it’s still good enough that they use it for VR games without much change. This remake has a lot to live up to…
closer
Jurassic larks
I remember seeing the original Jurassic Park and being blown away by the CGI dinosaurs and the engineering skills used to amaze everyone in the movie theaters. Just being a little school kid at the time, to see a game with the graphics capabilities of Donkey Kong Country with similar technology to Jurassic Park’s creations was absolutely amazing.
When I got stuck in the game’s cartridge and switched it on, it was literally smacking to see the 3D-esque models of the game characters set against such lush jungle backdrops, with a pretty pretty funky opening theme too.
The gameplay was your usual side-scrolling jump-on-enemy kind of affair, but then you didn’t get bored of these styles of games because they all felt different based on their own merits. The best thing about the levels was to experience something new and unique. Fire barrel cannon to get to the next part of the level and the light on/off levels!
When the player encountered a blizzard, there were about six odd layers, or more, of perfectly crafted snowflakes moving in different directions, obscuring your view. Also the amazing underwater levels with the very realistic movements of the sharks and fishes.
Whatever you say about the simple gameplay of Donkey Kong Country, the graphics made it an all-time classic, which seemed to improve with Diddy’s Kong Quest and Dixie’s Double Trouble, introducing more Kong family members and enemies with more great music soundtracks to keep you entertained and engaged.
The series really showed the capabilities of the Super Nintendo and how far this extraordinary console could be pushed. A great era to be a part of.
alucard
This week’s hot topic
The topic for this weekend’s Inbox was suggested by reader pete216state, who asks what are the best graphics you’ve ever seen on a particular console?
It doesn’t have to be the best graphics ever, just the best graphics in that format. So for example the best looking SNES game or Xbox 360 title. What impact did the graphics have on you at the time, and which games have surpassed that since then?
Was your choice mainly made from a technical or artistic perspective, and if so, how long did it stay at the top?
Email your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.uk
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