Is The 32-Bit Gaming Era The New Retro? 69
Thanks to GameSpy for its 'Pixel' column discussing whether the early days of the PlayStation and Saturn are a newer, but nevertheless interesting stage of 'retro'. The author points out: "Moving to 3D brought a lot of challenges along with it, not the least of which involved graphics. The 32-bit generation differs greatly from its 16-bit predecessor in that a lot of 32-bit games' visuals have not aged well." But he nevertheless highlights the fact "there were so many vibrantly original games released for these machines, some obscure, some blockbusters... Motor Toon Grand Prix brought cartoonish designs to 3D life. King's Field put you in a truly non-linear, 3D dungeon. WipeOut married futuristic racing with high-caliber visual design. Panzer Dragoon gave flight to every kid's 'Neverending Story' fantasies." What were your favorite titles from the early days of 32-bit?
Nights! (Score:5, Insightful)
Single-handedly sold the saturn to me.
Re:Nights! (Score:2)
If I recall correctly, it was the first really widely adopted analog controller. Sorta widely anyway.
Re:Nights! (Score:1)
I'm still stuck in the 16 bit retro days (SNES/Genesis).
Re:Nights! (Score:2)
Re:Nights! (Score:1)
The DC was a great machine, but there's really only a small number of titles available. That said, many of them are pretty unique (Seaman, anyone?), but if you like RPGs, you're almost out of luck, since there are only three good ones (Skies of Arcadia, Grandia 2, and Record of Lodoss War). There are, however, no less than 50 bazillion racing and fighting games.
Re:Nights! (Score:2)
For action RPG, try Elemental Gimmick Gear.
I haven't tried Grandia 2.
Record of Lodoss War is a Diablo clone. It's fine, but I wouldn't place it in the "good rpg" category. Better go with PSO, especially since player made servers are getting up to speed.
Not just yet.... (Score:4, Insightful)
They're not retro yet if people still actually use them. I know people that still play games on their original PlayStation.
Give them another 10 years or so. Nothing picks up speed as being "retro" until the people who grew up with it get to the point where they have the capability of enabling their want for nostalgia.
Re:Not just yet.... (Score:2)
Re:Not just yet.... (Score:2, Insightful)
Wipeout (Score:1)
anyone have a track listing for Wipeout (the first one?) I could never find it.. some tracks I had never heard before
Re:Wipeout (Score:2, Informative)
Ground Breakers (Score:5, Insightful)
Mario 64 is still one of my favorite games of all time, and the graphics are still quite good, if primitive. This was really a revolutionary game, and I can't really even think of a game on any non-nintendo system even today that has quite re-created the formula.
Tekken - I've always prefered the tekken series over the virtua fighter series. These two titles though really brought the fighting game genre into it's own with 3D fighters.
Blood Omen - Legacy of Kain. While I did not care for the sequals, this remains one of my favorite games of all time. With lots of great voice acting this macabre adventure surpasses even a number of the zelda games in my mind.
Resident Evil - this game is like one of those 60's horror flicks, it was scarry at the time, but even now it's a lot of fun because while the graphics "special effects" are dated, it's great fun to go back and laugh at.
Final Fantasy VII - One of my all time favorite Final Fantasy games, the rich detailed pre-rendered backgrounds still look good today, and the storyline and gameplay still offer plenty of fun. I would love to see a sequal to this game, rather than that dreadful FF:X2.
Re:Ground Breakers (Score:1)
Re:Ground Breakers (Score:2)
I don't know many people who played this game, but everyone who did can attest to the fact that this very unique game definitely deserves a spot on the list.
Also let us not forget what I belive might have been the last N64 game to be release, Conquers Bad Fur Day. Now THAT was a fun game.
Re:Ground Breakers (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Ground Breakers (Score:1)
Re:Ground Breakers (Score:1)
Re: My favorites (Score:2)
Castlevania SOTN (best graphics & sound ever?)
Suikoden II (rare gem that few people played)
Breath of Fire IV (ditto)
Strider 2 (still fun to play)
Grandia (great for an earlier game)
As well, there was a huge collection of remakes:
Lunar 1 & 2 (these were awesome!)
Final Fantasy 1-2, 4-6 (pretty good)
Chrono Trigger (so-so, but
Not retro (Score:3, Funny)
BTW, 8-bit rules!
New Retro (Score:2, Insightful)
Final Fantasy II (Score:3, Funny)
saturn! (Score:1)
shining force 3
Panzeer Dragoon!
Such a great system. I still play mine although it does feel like I use to feel playing atari.
Virtual Boy! (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Virtual Boy! (Score:4, Interesting)
The more I think about it, that's one of my favorite games of all time.
bangai-o (Score:2)
Im quite looking forward to the next Paper Mario. Its visual style is truly cool and 'new' yet quite retro.
As always i stand by my sig.
Jumping Flash (Score:1)
alas, too odd an interpretation of ol' platformers to catch on too strongly
Re:Jumping Flash (Score:2)
Wish they would've brought 3 to the states.
Re:Jumping Flash (Score:2)
But, I think that the most remarkable part of it, is that it is a 3D jump-and-runner, with First Person perspective, that actually has the jump part right. When you jump, the camera automatically looks down, so you can control where you are going to land. THIS F*CKING WORKS!
No other game that I remember has done this (I really missed this when playing Metroid Prime, Half Life, and whatever oth
Sega 32x - Doom (Score:2)
Re:Sega 32x - Doom (Score:2)
Added Note: Disturbingly, the frame rate on 32X Doom is better than the Saturn version.
Re:Sega 32x - Doom (Score:1)
Reminds me of Hard Drivin' [klov.com], although the Genesis port was pretty bad. They used to have one of these arcade machines (the full cabinet one, mind you) at the Franklin Institute in Philly, where you could play for free. I think it was in the technology section, and is was supposed to demonstrate VR, and how, by 2000, we would all have VR suits and do everything virtually. Anyway, I mostly remember it for running over t
Motor Toon (Score:2)
Not Quite Long Enough (Score:4, Insightful)
I mean the "16-bit era" (I use that term loosely since one could endlessly argue specs of the systems at the time.) had a solid amount of time to create very unique gameplay and push it boundaries wheras the 32-bit boom was merely a blink of an eye. The platforms were introduced, games were made and then new consoles took over.
In a way that whole time frame has kinda scarred me when trying to classify new classics on the 3 leading platforms. It's almost like game manufacturers are no longer concerned with pushing the limits of their hardware. They only feel threatened when a bigger and badder system is introduced.
Re:Not Quite Long Enough (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Not Quite Long Enough (Score:1)
(disclaimer: I didn't bother to verify dates, so I'm going by memory. I may be off by a year or so.)
I'm not sure I agree with you. The "16-bit era" started with the Genesis
Re:Not Quite Long Enough (Score:1)
Re:Not Quite Long Enough (Score:1, Informative)
Re:Not Quite Long Enough (Score:1, Informative)
"Bits" refers to the data size of the CPU. You don't add it when a machine has multiple processors, and you definitely don't count sound processors when measuring bits.
The Genesis and SNES were 16-bit because they used 16-bit CPUs, but IIRC they had 8-bit sound.
The SNES had a 16-bit sound processor (SPC700), and the Genesis had a Z80 for sound.
though I believe the SNES at least could pull from a palette of 2^16 colors, and the Genesis from 2^15 or
Re:Not Quite Long Enough (Score:1)
Re:Not Quite Long Enough (Score:2)
Re:Not Quite Long Enough (Score:2)
Re:Not Quite Long Enough (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
Re:Yeah, I know.... (Score:1)
Re:Yeah, I know.... (Score:1)
I'm not flaming or opening things up for a serious debate or anything... I'm authentically interested in what made the two versions of the game so different...
Re:Yeah, I know.... (Score:2)
Saturn & Jaguar (Score:1)
Tempest 2000, Alien Vs. Predator, and Battlemorph were great on the Atari Jaguar.
In fact, Tempest 2000 and Guardian Heroes are my second and third favorite games of all time (Grand Theft Auto III claims the top spot).
Not great (Score:4, Interesting)
I'm not denying that there weren't some great games, but nothing like the breadth that the SNES offers the retro player, and what there is has been watered down by remakes for the modern hardware.
32-bit? (Score:1)
Marketing-speak aside, the PS2, Gamecube, Xbox and most of your PCs and Macs are 32-bit machines.
Re:32-bit? (Score:1)
The first (truly) 64-bit machine will be quite something.
ahh... the PS... (Score:1)
Twisted Metal 2 (Score:2)
Vigilante 8 tread a lot of the same ground, and it had its own charm.
I also fondly remember the homemade 25ft link cable made for head-to-head Armored Core.
Old 32-bit favs (Score:2)
Great Games (Score:1)
Daytona USA we played it for HOURS and HOURS and HOURS.
Sega Rally - Game Over Yeah!
Guardian Heroes
Radiant Silvergun
XMen vs. Streetfighter (import)
Saturn Bomberman
Playstation:
Gran Turismo
Metal Gear Solid
Castlevania: SOTN
Square RPGs
N64:
Mario
Zelda
GoldenEye
Perfect Dark
CD32! (Score:2)
CD32 had lots of cool games. Here's a short list of my faves:
S uperfrog...
:)
Pinball Fantasies
Super Stardust
Zool
Banshee
D-Generation
Premiere
And many more
What about 64-bit? Goldeneye anyone? (Score:2)
"Retro" is still limited to 2D, although it is no longer restricted to the early classics like Pong, Pacman, and Galaga. Now it can include NES, SNES, and Genesis titles li
Two words... (Score:1)
Had to be the most revolutionary game of it's time, not only graphically, but the gameplay as well.
I probably replayed that game 10 times, which is always the ultimate compliment.
Neverending Story? (Score:2)
Panzer Dragoon was pretty much a full-on rip-off of Nausicaa, visually, and in large part thematically. Christ, comparing Panzer Dragoon to Neverending Story is kind of like comparing Predator to ET.