Impressive SNES Graphics

[Kirk_Johnston]

I made a little article with a bunch of really cool SNES graphics examples and the like:

 

https://inceptionalnews.wordpress.com/2022/10/12/impressive-snes-graphics/

 

If you have any others you'd like to add--there's plenty I never included--please go ahead and post them below.

 

Note: I specifically focussed on only stuff that's capable of running on the stock SNES hardware, so no expansion chips in my examples, which makes them all the more impressive imo. But you go ahead and add whatever examples you want. There's loads of games that use enhancement chips that also make the SNES shine and are well worth highlighting. Yoshi's Island would be right at the top of the list of chip-enhanced SNES games for me personally for example. I mean, check out how cool all the bosses from that game are:

 

 

Let's celebrate this awesome little console!

 

PS. Credit goes to all the people who created any of the videos I linked. I just lumped them in one place, really for my own convenience.

Edited October 13, 2022 by Kirk_Johnston

[Bloodreign]

The SNES could do a lot more things than people realize, programmers today have access to more tools than back in the heyday of the SNES. Some games used SlowROM instead of FastROM, which helps alleviate slowdown, and there are people working on the games with slowdown, removing it entirely, sometimes to disastrous results (Gradius III's first SA-1 hack, which ran entirely too fast). I'm of the mindset that like the Sega Saturn, the SNES was hard to program for, but there were people who could do it properly (Super Aleste/Space Megaforce comes to mind, zero slowdown), showing there were a lot of devs who were incompetent when it came to programming for the SNES.

 

I've also come to the conclusion, a lot of western devs were in the back pocket of Sega as Sega pushed back in the day for more western software to be produced for the console, while in Japan, most devs were in the back pocket of Nintendo, as there was a ton more Japan only software, and plenty of Japan made software made it westward, and had the most special effects and most of the best music, save for Plok, which had fantastic music (Genesis suffered musically in the west, while in Japan, sound devs there could harnass it's soundchip much better than western devs could). Games like Earthworm Jim 1 on the Genesis had that extra level, or Mickey Mania on SNES had a level removed from it from the Genesis version, it should've been able to handle the levels cut, no reason for them to be cut out (hence why I started this paragraph the way I did).

[Kirk_Johnston]

7 hours ago, Bloodreign said:

The SNES could do a lot more things than people realize, programmers today have access to more tools than back in the heyday of the SNES. Some games used SlowROM instead of FastROM, which helps alleviate slowdown, and there are people working on the games with slowdown, removing it entirely, sometimes to disastrous results (Gradius III's first SA-1 hack, which ran entirely too fast). I'm of the mindset that like the Sega Saturn, the SNES was hard to program for, but there were people who could do it properly (Super Aleste/Space Megaforce comes to mind, zero slowdown), showing there were a lot of devs who were incompetent when it came to programming for the SNES.

 

I've also come to the conclusion, a lot of western devs were in the back pocket of Sega as Sega pushed back in the day for more western software to be produced for the console, while in Japan, most devs were in the back pocket of Nintendo, as there was a ton more Japan only software, and plenty of Japan made software made it westward, and had the most special effects and most of the best music, save for Plok, which had fantastic music (Genesis suffered musically in the west, while in Japan, sound devs there could harnass it's soundchip much better than western devs could). Games like Earthworm Jim 1 on the Genesis had that extra level, or Mickey Mania on SNES had a level removed from it from the Genesis version, it should've been able to handle the levels cut, no reason for them to be cut out (hence why I started this paragraph the way I did).

Yup, totally agree on all of that.

 

Yean, thankfully, they did get around to fixing Gradius III to not only run at normal speed without slowdown (other than in a few very hectic places, yet still much better than even the arcade), but also without having to use the SA-1 chip at all:

It even holds up very well when compared to the version that does use the SA-1 chip:

When you see games this hectic running this well on the stock SNES (in SlowROM mode no less), it's clear the system is more than capable in the right hands:

 

Edited October 14, 2022 by Kirk_Johnston

[NE146]

I always kind of dug this from Super Turrican

 

 

[Kirk_Johnston]

39 minutes ago, NE146 said:

I always kind of dug this from Super Turrican

 

 

 

Yeah, it's a cool use of Mode 7.

[SlidellMan]

One impressive Super NES game without enhancement chips: Energy Breaker.

Most notably with its painterly pixel art, excellent use of subtractive color transparency, and awe-inspiring art direction.

As much as I love the DKC trilogy, most notably its amazing pre-rendered sprites, fantastic music, and top-notch gameplay; that game needed a shout out.

 

The Super NES Star Ocean made use of the S-DD1 chip for its also excellent visuals, and for the record, prefer it over First Departure. (Ditto for music, gameplay, the continuous field, etc.)

 

[Tanooki]

I really don't want to go youtube surfin' but I will list some games I think you should look at if you're going to be frothing over SNES/SFC impressive visuals whether it used more chip power or not.

 

- Parodius (Gokujyou #2 and Jikkyou Ohsaberi #3) to be specific

- Ogre Battle (has detail, light effects seen on PS1 2D games commonly)

- The ACM rendered games with the DKC Trilogy and Killer Instinct

- Tales of Phantasia (audio is insane too, huge cart)

- Indiana Jones Greatest Adventures (mode 7 areas, but really the very very well converted high color still images taken from the movies for the story sections between stages)

- R-Type III (right up there with Gradius III)

- Super Metroid (high detail, good color, ambient lighting and transparency and translucencies)

- Super Mario RPG (same reasons of DKC/Metroid)

- SDF Macross Scrambled Valkyrie

- Gundam Wing Endless Duel

 

The last one I'd suggest off hand, and it's an oddball since it's a PC conversion is Wing Commander (and it's add-on pack the Special Operations cart too.)  This game is a very strong conversion of a multi-floppy PC DOS game and it retained all it could very well.  Animated sequences between stages for scramble, jump in ship, take off, landing, briefing and debriefings.  Then in combat everything is drawn and re-drawn as this isn't Mode 7 I don't believe, or is it?  Basically it seems to simulate sprite scaling and rotation without using the FX2 chip years later.  Multiple ships or cap ships on screen that turn, rotate, stop, go, fire upon you consistently changing size, angle, and direction.  I'd be curious to see how it was done.  Mode 7 is a background layer, not sure you can throw all those ships into a layer and do that, maybe you can?

[Bloodreign]

 

 This Choujikuu Yousai Macross game pulls off some nice visual flare, shame the game is a bit expensive though.

[Kirk_Johnston]

Yeah, some great examples there.

[Wayler]

Axelay left a lasting impression in me (how could you tell?). I love the rolling cylinder background in the horizontal stages, it's such a weird gimmick but works brilliantly. And the level 5 boss ain't too bad either. 

 

 

[Tanooki]

Yeah thanks for sharing that Macross clip, the game is stunning, and the pricing more stunningly sucks as it's one of those loose carts that'll get you for around $100, and there just aren't that many that high on SFC stuff fortunately.  You could do worse with the nice Hyper Iria, and another I didn't mention because the $150-300 price tag is shit-- Spriggan Powered.

 

I bring up Spriggan now only because of the Axelay post above, it uses some similar techniques that do some stunning work on the game, it's a mix of 3D rendered looking (ACM DKC/KI) sprites, but the backgrounds in the game run in the SNES high resolution mode and do some nice work too much like Axelay does.  See for yourself, then feel bad you don't want to pay that much.  I wish I hadn't lost my crap back in 2005, I had this game, many SFC games, many I've recovered but a few are just toxic.  Macross was the highest I'd go, that set me back $75 in the early month or two of this year. 😕

 

 

[Kirk_Johnston]

14 hours ago, Tanooki said:

Yeah thanks for sharing that Macross clip, the game is stunning, and the pricing more stunningly sucks as it's one of those loose carts that'll get you for around $100, and there just aren't that many that high on SFC stuff fortunately.  You could do worse with the nice Hyper Iria, and another I didn't mention because the $150-300 price tag is shit-- Spriggan Powered.

 

I bring up Spriggan now only because of the Axelay post above, it uses some similar techniques that do some stunning work on the game, it's a mix of 3D rendered looking (ACM DKC/KI) sprites, but the backgrounds in the game run in the SNES high resolution mode and do some nice work too much like Axelay does.  See for yourself, then feel bad you don't want to pay that much.  I wish I hadn't lost my crap back in 2005, I had this game, many SFC games, many I've recovered but a few are just toxic.  Macross was the highest I'd go, that set me back $75 in the early month or two of this year. 😕

 

 

Are you sure the Spriggan backgrounds are running in high-res Mode? And is it just horizontal 512 or both horizontal 512 and vertical 448? Also, do you know if it's running in Mode 5's proper high-res then, or one of the other background modes with the pseudo high-res?

 

Note: I'm on a bus, so I can't test it myself.

 

Either way, the effect in that level with the background coming towards the camera is cool.

Edited October 19, 2022 by Kirk_Johnston

[Tanooki]

I don't know how to test it, maybe Mesen-S would do it?

The first stage alone runs the same video mode/trick that Axelay does with the same high res looking half screen background rolling/peel effect bleeding downward.  Other stages don't do this, but they run in high res mode, some quite quite a few levels of individual scrolling using some trick to get more layers than SNES is usually known for.  Game also uses some rendered stills/higher color blending on them too which look pretty classy all things considered.

 

 

[Kirk_Johnston]

1 hour ago, Tanooki said:

I don't know how to test it, maybe Mesen-S would do it?

The first stage alone runs the same video mode/trick that Axelay does with the same high res looking half screen background rolling/peel effect bleeding downward.  Other stages don't do this, but they run in high res mode, some quite quite a few levels of individual scrolling using some trick to get more layers than SNES is usually known for.  Game also uses some rendered stills/higher color blending on them too which look pretty classy all things considered.

 

 

Just tried it on Mesen-S and everything looks to be standard resolution, but maybe there's a setting I'm missing that would let me see it in high-res mode properly? 

 

Still has some cool visual effects though.

[Tanooki]

Maybe, if it is I"m curious how they pulled that same resolution and roll effect axelay did.  The only differences being the visual assets and it not being a vertical stage.  The game isn't super long at 6 stages but it's a quality ride that has some toxic $150 minimum pricing stupidly.  Not sure what decided to make the game a mess on price as it was super cheap years ago, even among those that did cost more and still do now, it got singled out.

 

[Wayler]

That first stage looks awesome but it's a weird choice when you think about it. It looks like the background is behaving like a waterfall although it's clearly the ground. And then where the effect would be much more appropriate, they chose a still shot of a waterfall for the boss, bonkers. 

 

I suspect the price hike for most of SFC games comes from two factors: playability (little or no in-game text) and exclusivity. If these two are combined, the prices are insane. Spriggan is also a later title so the print run wasn't probably that big, making it rarer. 

[NE146]

It's funny but I was never a big fan of Axelay's scrolling effect, and I bought the cartridge at launch.

 

I don't know but I just felt the effect didn't really deliver and looked more like graphic warping through a haze rather than giving the intended effect of a curved scroll. Or maybe that's just me  'Course it never affected the gameplay. Although I got pretty far in the game I don't think I ever actually finished it since it was relatively difficult, at least for me.

[Kirk_Johnston]

Interestingly, I have a pretty cool idea for using Mode 7 to do a rather sweet 3D-looking waterfall effect in a shump game like that (or could be a lava flow or similar too), where it first actually scrolls towards the screen like a river in proper perspective, then straight down the screen as the actual waterfall part, and then towards the screen again as the river continues flowing. I think that would look really impressive for a 16-bit game if done well, especially with some background mode changing at the top to do the main background scenery and and cloud are (with row/line scrolling for plenty of parallax) and some sprite used to add to the illusion of 3D depth, some semi-transparent mist where the waters splashes at the bottom of the waterfall, and some rocks and grass stumps here and there to give a bit more visual variety and so on.

 

It would be something a bit like this but with at least 3 different perspectives on the river/waterfall for the different parts:

 

 

And, if it's actually possible [by switching out the Mode 7 tile map or just using half for each section], I would even like to try doing to top sky part like this before switching to the bottom river/waterfall part (at 22:47):

 

 

I might mock that up at some point, but it's out there as an idea if anyone else wants to try it.

Edited October 23, 2022 by Kirk_Johnston

[Tanooki]

Axelay is relatively difficult and that visual effect actually I'd argue adds a bit more to the problem of it as it kind of does with the roll effect distort things enough to give a bit less reaction time to deal with whatever eventually rolls into view.  I just got it early this year out of a local second hand peddler shop so I've not given it the big push I would have with a kid and free time, but still, you can feel it out for what it is.

[Kirk_Johnston]

On 10/23/2022 at 12:58 PM, Kirk_Johnston said:

Interestingly, I have a pretty cool idea for using Mode 7 to do a rather sweet 3D-looking waterfall effect in a shump game like that (or could be a lava flow or similar too), where it first actually scrolls towards the screen like a river in proper perspective, then straight down the screen as the actual waterfall part, and then towards the screen again as the river continues flowing. I think that would look really impressive for a 16-bit game if done well, especially with some background mode changing at the top to do the main background scenery and and cloud are (with row/line scrolling for plenty of parallax) and some sprite used to add to the illusion of 3D depth, some semi-transparent mist where the waters splashes at the bottom of the waterfall, and some rocks and grass stumps here and there to give a bit more visual variety and so on.

 

It would be something a bit like this but with at least 3 different perspectives on the river/waterfall for the different parts:

 

 

And, if it's actually possible [by switching out the Mode 7 tile map or just using half for each section], I would even like to try doing to top sky part like this before switching to the bottom river/waterfall part (at 22:47):

 

 

I might mock that up at some point, but it's out there as an idea if anyone else wants to try it.

By the way, expanding on that waterfall idea, I just saw this work-in-progress by Kulor the other day, which is using basically the same Mode 7 faux 3D method I was thinking about, and I can see how cool it would be: 

 

 

He's also using the SNES' 512x448 high-res Mode 5 too (one more example proving this mode can actually be used fully in-game, and, no, isn't limited to just 16 colours total for the background layers as some people believe):

 

 

Impressive stuff, and the kind of cool effect possible on SNES because of all those different background modes. And stuff that you're really not going to see being done on the likes of Genesis, PC Engine or even Neo Geo for the most part. Bonus points for SNES there.

Edited October 24, 2022 by Kirk_Johnston

[SlidellMan]

Wow, that is impressive. Almost as if it was a Sega 32X CD game.

[Wayler]

On 10/24/2022 at 4:59 AM, Tanooki said:

Axelay is relatively difficult and that visual effect actually I'd argue adds a bit more to the problem of it as it kind of does with the roll effect distort things enough to give a bit less reaction time to deal with whatever eventually rolls into view.  I just got it early this year out of a local second hand peddler shop so I've not given it the big push I would have with a kid and free time, but still, you can feel it out for what it is.

I'd say as far as shooters go, Axelay is on the easier side. Many shooters require you to build up your arsenal from power ups and then its all gone with one hit, I hate that mechanic. Axelay always gives you three full powered weapons and most hits will only lose you one of them. So that's 4 hits until you lose a life. And it's not a bullet hell (atleast on the easier difficulties).

 

I like how the horizontal rolling cylinder is not just a separate gimmick but other elements are implemented around it. Like your shots "curve around" to the horizon before disappearing, to give a little depth to the effect. And you can't go to the top of the screen, the "wind" pushes you back for going too fast. And some enemies are embedded to the cylinder also (the floating islands and gun turrets in level 1 for example). And the controls feel stiffer when the cylinder picks up the pace on the last part of the stage, emulating the feel of speed and g-force.

 

Me like.

[91SNESplayer]

On 10/24/2022 at 6:59 AM, Kirk_Johnston said:

By the way, expanding on that waterfall idea, I just saw this work-in-progress by Kulor the other day, which is using basically the same Mode 7 faux 3D method I was thinking about, and I can see how cool it would be: 

 

 

He's also using the SNES' 512x448 high-res Mode 5 too (one more example proving this mode can actually be used fully in-game, and, no, isn't limited to just 16 colours total for the background layers as some people believe):

 

 

Impressive stuff, and the kind of cool effect possible on SNES because of all those different background modes. And stuff that you're really not going to see being done on the likes of Genesis, PC Engine or even Neo Geo for the most part. Bonus points for SNES there.

Looking at the mode 7 demo above and considering how it works, I’m surprised that I have not seen something like that on the SNES before.

[Kirk_Johnston]

5 hours ago, 91SNESplayer said:

Looking at the mode 7 demo above and considering how it works, I’m surprised that I have not seen something like that on the SNES before.

Which is exactly the kind of thing I'm alluding to when I've mentioned in a few places now, on YouTube, in SNESdev, and even in here, etc, that I just don't think SNES was/is really being pushed to its limits for the most part in modern times by the homebrew/indie scene, and that so many of its modes and features simply haven't been fully explored, even back in the day either. I've seen so many examples of background modes that have just been totally ignored for the most part, or potentially interesting ideas get shut-down instantly in places like SNESdev of all places, but not so much stuff that actually shows off the SNES properly in recent times. Examples like the one above are actually quite rare, and that's a real shame, as I truly think the SNES has a lot more left to give. Unlike the Genesis, which it seems has had every nook and cranny of the system explored and exploited at this point, I genuinely think the SNES is still waiting for that kind of movement in the homebrew/indie/dev scene to happen. I'm hoping it does in the near future though, and I can't wait to see what comes of it if it does. . . .

Edited October 30, 2022 by Kirk_Johnston

[Tanooki]

And you're right, they are pretty narrowminded stuck into a realm of tunnel vision after so many years of just prattling on about the same things, same ideas, not much thought going on and it happens.

 

I don't have the calculus level of aptitude or patience to even got at it one more time after so long, but hey, feel free to code for SNES and make them look stupid.  If you can code the core, I'm sure we or others can help out in the visual and audio side of things.  I used to work on sprites and background tiles decades ago, it's not that horrendous and the tools then were more rigid 20 years ago.