DracIsBack Posted January 20, 2008 Share Posted January 20, 2008 I was playing a few classic games today now that my consoles are all "out of storage" following the move and remembering some titles that absolutely blew me away when I first saw them. Games that were technical achievements on the systems they were on. Games that made you go, "wow - how did they do THAT on THIS SYSTEM???" Just wondering - what are some games that redefined what a system was capable of for you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thomasholzer Posted January 20, 2008 Share Posted January 20, 2008 (edited) Usually not, it just comes with the long-lasting time of said console/computer. The better the coders learn the machine over years and years, the better the games get, for example DKC on SNES. But if you look at the Jaguar, it's graphical gaming potential was never reached because it died far to young. Edited January 20, 2008 by thomasholzer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Segataritensoftii Posted January 20, 2008 Share Posted January 20, 2008 Race Drivin' on the Sega Genesis. I had just never seen a 3D game on a 16 bit console done without any extra hardware being used. It ran at like 5 FPS, often dipping lower than that, but it was very fun and quite a thrill ride nonetheless. But for some reason, I never noticed how impressive Sonic 3D Blast's special stages or the corridor level in Toy Story were, despite those stages pushing the system's potential pretty far as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8th lutz Posted January 20, 2008 Share Posted January 20, 2008 (edited) nes- Kirby's Adventure Sms- Phantasy Star Sms- Sonic Snes- Donkey Kong Country atari 2600- Pitfall 2 Atari 7800- Commando Atari 7800 ballblazer Atari 7800- Midnight mutants Genesis- Toy Story Genesis- Sonic 3d blast I picked out games that weren't hacks or homebrews. The Atari 7800 gamse I mentioned are closest Games I think maxed out the system. Edited January 20, 2008 by 8th lutz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iwan-iwanowitsch-goratschin Posted January 20, 2008 Share Posted January 20, 2008 Solaris on the Atari 2600... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gemini Posted January 20, 2008 Share Posted January 20, 2008 (edited) On the NES, The Guardian Legend is very impressive in that it can handle a nearly countless number of sprites on the screen at a time. Yes, it has horrible flickering issues when it's at its limits, but it handles them fairly well in my opinion. On the Atari 2600, I find Robot Tank very impressive, especially when considering the restraints it had to be made under. Even when stepping through in a debugger, it boggles my mind how they made the kill tally at the top of the screen. On the Genesis, Zero Tolerance should impress anybody... provided they don't mind the gore. True, the actual 3D game view is restricted to about a third of the screen and has a framerate of about 8, but in that third you have decals on walls, blood splats, elevators, the ability to jump and crouch (though finding uses for these abilities is hard), diagonal walls, and yes, even strafing is allowed. I also think a lot of people forget that the Master System had 3D LCD shutter glasses, compatible with certain games. I have a pair of LCD shutter glasses for my old , broken video card. Like the Virtual Boy, you can give yourself a headache if you wear them too long in one sitting, but the fact that an 8-Bit system was doing it is impressive enough. Edited January 21, 2008 by Gemini Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadow460 Posted January 20, 2008 Share Posted January 20, 2008 Atari 2600: Escape from the Mindmaster. Both this game and Tunnel Runner deserve props for their first person perspective. Pitfall II also deserves a mention here as well with the music and the custom chip. I've read the F-18 Hornet has polygons on the 7800 version, but I haven't played it enough to notice. Game Boy Classic: The Empire Strikes Back has wireframe polygons in the second stage. Not bad for the little handheld! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midnight magicman Posted January 20, 2008 Share Posted January 20, 2008 Yeah, Definitely Tunnel Runner. Peace Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DracIsBack Posted January 20, 2008 Author Share Posted January 20, 2008 The Atari 7800 gamse I mentioned are closest Games I think maxed out the system. Interesting because in 2 of those 3 cases, those were the very first titles those companies did for that system. They actually make me believe we didn't come close to seeing what the system could do because we never saw their third or fourth generation game to see what they were able to pull off with experience. Also makes me think how bad many developers actually were given that Lucasfilm and Radioactive pulled those off out of the gate. In your list, I remember Toy Story and Donkey Kong Country really blowing me away. DKC because it opened up a new approach to graphics that, frankly, made a lot of Jaguar/3DO games look wimpy; Toy Story because I didn't think they could pull something like DKC off on the Genesis and they did. There's a lot to be said for $$$ ... didn't DKC cost something like $30 million to develop? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DracIsBack Posted January 20, 2008 Author Share Posted January 20, 2008 Usually not, it just comes with the long-lasting time of said console/computer. The better the coders learn the machine over years and years, the better the games get, for example DKC on SNES. But if you look at the Jaguar, it's graphical gaming potential was never reached because it died far to young. Totally agree. It's interesting to see what programmers are still pulling off. When that digitized video was done on the Atari 2600 a few years ago, I was totally blown away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Impaler_26 Posted January 20, 2008 Share Posted January 20, 2008 Turrican II on the C64. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zonie Posted January 21, 2008 Share Posted January 21, 2008 Raiders of the Lost Ark on the 2600 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atari5200 Posted January 21, 2008 Share Posted January 21, 2008 I will put in a second vote for Robot Tank and Solaris on the 2600 I will also add Treasure of Tarmin AD&D for Intellevision and Resident Evil II for Game.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atarifever Posted January 21, 2008 Share Posted January 21, 2008 Kill the Attacking Aliens for O2. Midnight Mutants for 7800, maybe. Solaris and Secret Quest for 2600. I agree with Zero Tolerance on the Genny. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonmasterDan Posted January 21, 2008 Share Posted January 21, 2008 Genesis: Aladdin PC Engine Super CD: Tengai Makyo 2 Game Cube: Resident Evil 4 Game Cube: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n8littlefield Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 Off hand: Battletoads for the NES always impressed me, the colors on screen and that first level boss that you fight from it's own point of view just blew me away at the time. Sonic for the Genesis was definately a mind blower, along with the animation quality of EWJ/EWJ2/Aladdin, and the overall amazing look of Beyond Oasis. Yoshi's Island for the SNES is simply amazing looking, to this day it still doesn't seem possible that it's a 16bit title. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwinChargers Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 Was it just me, or was California Games for the 2600 significantly more advanced than earlier titles. I'm also agreeing that Donkey Kong Country was pretty revolutionary for 16 bit gaming. I thought that Genesis games were all graphically pretty good, but Sonic 3D, although a bit more difficult to play was ahead of its time. And Nintendo you just have to look at the first Mario on the NES and Mario 3 and you see a significant difference, almost like it was done on 2 different systems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetset Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 I have to add some 5200 games... Robotron Ballblazer Defender Adventure II Zone Ranger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DracIsBack Posted January 22, 2008 Author Share Posted January 22, 2008 Was it just me, or was California Games for the 2600 significantly more advanced than earlier titles. Along with Solaris and Robot Tank, California Games ranks as one of the absolute best looking 2600 games, in my book. Also one of the best sounding too. I remember plugging it in and going, "That is the Atari 2600???!!!!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vdub_bobby Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 (edited) I'm including homebrews... 2600: Pitfall II Solaris Thrust+ Battlezone Lady Bug Atari 8-bit computer: Ballblazer Genesis: Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure Sonic the Hedgehog SNES: Killer Instinct Donkey Kong Country N64: Wave Race 64 Edited January 22, 2008 by vdub_bobby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trip_Cannon Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 NES - Super Mario 3 Lynx - Alpine Games Master System - Phantasy Star SNES - Yoshi's Island, Star Fox 1 or 2, Rendering Ranger Jag - Battlesphere N64 - Perfect Dark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregory DG Posted January 22, 2008 Share Posted January 22, 2008 I'd say pretty much all the games I've highlighted on TAT's 2600 page. Including Double Dragon, Command, Track & Field, and Road Runner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsoper Posted January 23, 2008 Share Posted January 23, 2008 Dreamcast Soul Caliber, totally incredible for a North American launch title, still looks good today. I always liked the Sypro games on the Psone too, but that was more a case of tailoring the game graphics to what the system did well and avoiding what it didn't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skylark68 Posted January 23, 2008 Share Posted January 23, 2008 Knowing the limitations of the Odyssey 2, Monkeyshines is pretty impressive. The monkeys are well animated and are very fluid. Killer Bees is another good one that seems to have pushed the limits of that system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lost Monkey Posted January 24, 2008 Share Posted January 24, 2008 Saturn - Panzer Dragoon Zwei Pc Engine CD - Sapphire 2600 - Thrust Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
AtariAge on Instagram
Watch us on YouTube
Chat on Discord
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.