Can People Have Nostalgia For Early 3D Games?

[old man]

Nintendo 64 thread?

[j_factor]

I still can't get used to Playstation, Saturn, and N64 being referred to as "early 3D". "Early 3D" makes me think of Hard Drivin', Hunter for Amiga, and old PC flight sims that ran at about 5 frames per second.

That said, I definitely have some genuine fondness for 3D games on the Playstation and Saturn (N64 less so). Today, virtually all games are done the same way, only varying in precise poly count, texture quality, shaders, etc. But back then, there were all kinds of different things going on. You had your fully 3D games, but then you had 2.5D games (Pandemonium), raycasting (Doom), portal rendering (Descent), 3D models on top of bitmaps (Resident Evil), 3D models on top of FMV backgrounds (Fear Effect), 2D sprites on top of fixed polygonal backgrounds (Grandia), scaling 2D sprites in 3D environments (lots of sports games), games that were fully 3D but on rails (Panzer Dragoon), games that weren't quite on rails but on fixed pathways (Crash Bandicoot), 3D objects on top of a flat plane with a fixed overhead view (Mass Destruction), a collection of 3D objects in empty space (Colony Wars), 2D games with "3D" visual effects (Skeleton Warriors), games that take place in a fixed tube (Nanotek Warrior), games that used the isometric 3/4 overhead view but with polygons (Dark Savior)... and then there are some games that do more than one of these things. Plus games like Guardian Heroes that aren't exactly 3D, but certainly have some depth.

I guess my point is, it's easy to dismiss something that looks like a really really primitive version of a new game, but when there is no modern equivalent, not so much. I still have a fondness for those "partly 3D" looks. (And I still have a fondness for many of those games regardless of looks -- graphics aren't everything.)

[spiffyone]

I say yes, and I say yes because there are times where I'm nostalgic for early 3D console graphics. Not all of them, mind you, just the ones that worked well enough.

For example: when Conker's Bad Fur Day was ported to the original XBox (and retitled Conker: Live and Uncut, iirc), the "better" graphics weren't better, IMO. Sure, there was "fur shading" on Conker, everything was higher res with much higher poly counts and better lighting effects, etc., but part of what worked for the N64 Conker, IMO, was the more jagged and simpler look. It was a parody of N64 platformer games, really, and it still works best, oddly enough, if it looks like an N64 era platformer, simpler polys and textures, and blurrier textures at that.

On PS1, I still think the Crash Bandicoot games look pretty good, and it doesn't hurt that although things have gotten "clearer" in the newer Crash games, they still retain a similar art style and gameplay design. Mega Man Legends still looks pretty good, as do Spyro and something like Fear Effect. Heck, I think the more "cartoony", the better such games hold up. I don't need ultra high res or spectacular effects for cartoony or anime style game graphics. Maybe that's why I'm not as interested in Wind Waker HD. Stuff like Metal Gear Solid, though, I really have no real nostalgia for, as they just didn't look all that great to me even back then.

It's a bit different on Saturn, I suppose. Something like, say, Burning Rangers I think oddly intriguing, graphics and art direction-wise, even though it kinda errs toward that gritty "realistic" territory (albeit more colorful than the ones on PS1), but I find myself having more nostalgia for stuff that looks like NiGHTS and even something like Bug! and the Panzer Dragoon games (it's the segmented, almost centipede-like way the dragons look that pique my interest).

I have some odd nostalgia for Jaguar 3D games, specifically Iron Soldier, with it's block builder graphics, and Missile Command 3D (that VR mode!). Also Tempest 2K, I suppose.

3DO as well. Big time. I have more nostalgia for the first Alone in the Dark games on DOS and 3DO than I do for the original Resident Evil (the game that borrowed HEAVILY from AitD). I still break out Star Fighter every now and again because everything is so delightully tiled and cartoony and the music is aces, and destroying the environment is such fun.

I guess it's all about the games not attempting to look "realistic", look more "cartoony" instead, and just being good games overall. That's probably why I don't have much nostalgia for the SNES SFX 3D poly games (even Star Fox) - those just weren't very good games at all. I dig Virtua Racing Genesis as a tech demo for SVP, but it really doesn't control well (thank goodness for the reintroduction of analog control to consoles the next gen). I don't really like any of the 32X 3D polygon driven titles because they weren't very good and not cartoony enough for me.

Still, I have way more nostalgia for older 2D games. Way more. Even going as far back as the 2600 era. Stack the duck looking dragons from 2600's Adventure next to any character or vehicle from the games I listed, and I'll probably gravitate toward the ducks...I mean dragons (...they really do look like ducks. Or seahorses. yeah...duck billed seahorses).

[Rusty Venture]

Basically if you ever hear someone ramble on about how revolutionary and great FF7's graphics were, you should assume they are talking about the battle graphics and then punch them in the face.

To be honest, just mentioning "Final Fantasy 7" usually has my fist is locked and loaded.

[Bottino]

To be honest, just mentioning "Final Fantasy 7" usually has my fist is locked and loaded.

Same here.

I played a lot of N64/PS/SAT in my friends houses back in the day.I think that was the second best generation of gaming, only losing to the previous one.I'm a big admirer of "retro" videogames, not only because i think they're better, but also i love to see what kind of stuff the developers can pull out of their hats despite the limitations of the hardware that they are working on.
So my answer to your thread is yes.

I've been playing Panzer Dragoon for quite some time now, i absolutely love that game, including those early 3D blocky visuals; the art direction of that game is just superb. The same thing applies to the first Resident Evil( the best RE along with Code Veronica ):i think those early 3D graphics only adds up to the creepy atmosphere of the game.

[KitsuneNight]

ff 7 aged rather badly
last time i tried to play it i noticed the poor colors the heavy dithering and artifacting and the annoying random battles i was bored with in 30 minutes and felt no desire what so ever to continue playing

but yes i can not only be nostalgic towards early 3D gaming i can also activley still play them
ps 1 and saturn mostly ( well i would if my saturn had not died ) n64 less so

[The Jackal]

I remember a lot of early 3d PS1 games, and still think of them fondly. So yeah, I have lots of nostalgia for them.

[Danza]

It's possibly to have nostalgia for almost anything, I can't see why "Early 3D" games can't fit the shoe, some people that may of lived in the country when they were younger then moved to the city and for the first time in years saw some rabbit shit may get nostalgia from it. Sounds silly but it's possible. ;p
Anyway I still get very nostalgic from playing "early 3D" games such as Spyro the Dragon, for such a limited amount of polygons I believe the game still looks really good looking to this day,same goes to other games of that time such as crash bandicoot, and the later Tomb raiders. Games that went for a more cartoony and bright look still hold up nicely today, but I still get nostalgic over the not so aged well 3D graphics.

[Yharnamresident]

The blurry N64, the quadrilateral Saturn, the pixelated PS1.

[maxi]

Talk about the 5th generation graphics not being early 3D is the same that say this about the nes graphics also not being early 2D because of the 2600.
Also, the problem is that they already aged bad for today. The 4th-gen 2D (and some games from the Turbografx plus a few of the MS) are nice, and so the 3D from some games of the DC plus the rest of the 6th-gen.
2D graphics are harder to get ugly than the 3D ones, but no one knows until when.

[kool kitty89]

The blurry N64, the quadrilateral Saturn, the pixelated PS1.

How does "quadrilateral" have anything to do with what the average gamer actually SEES on screen? . . . The complaints shoule be more in line with the PS1 there. (if you really wanty to get specific there's other stuff you can criticize for visual quality, but "quads" really isn't one of them -same for 3DO games)

[Yharnamresident]

How does "quadrilateral" have anything to do with what the average gamer actually SEES on screen? . . . The complaints shoule be more in line with the PS1 there. (if you really wanty to get specific there's other stuff you can criticize for visual quality, but "quads" really isn't one of them -same for 3DO games)

Its just one thing that makes Saturn games look different than PS1 and N64 games, not sure if its a complaint or not, its what makes the Saturn unique compared to the other two.

[Kamahl]

Nostalgia for early 3D games (including PS1/N64/Saturn)? Of course, I sure do.

However, as far as "NES looking games" go, I don't think you can do the same for 5th gen games.

NES games had a very unique look, they were very stylized. This gave them a memorable charm. Same goes for Atari 2600 games, 4th gen and CPS/NG/Etc...arcade games (you can't really divide this group), DOOM style games and early un-textured polygonal 3D.

5th gen games are essentially the same visual style as modern games on much weaker hardware. Metal Gear Solid wouldn't be any less "charming" if it had double the poly counts and twice the texture resolution or more.

EDIT: Making games using the various styles mentioned by jfactor do apply though. I specially miss the Crash Bandicoot style platforming (I suppose the closest to it these days is modern sonic).

[Yharnamresident]

I think the PS1/Saturn/N64 should've been another generation of mostly 2D. They were trying to accomplish 3D games on such crappy hardware, by making characters only have like 100 polygons, and 2-bit textures.

Its amazing how well the 2D games have aged:


Vs 3D:

[maxi]

I think the PS1/Saturn/N64 should've been another generation of mostly 2D. They were trying to accomplish 3D games on such crappy hardware, by making characters only have like 100 polygons, and 2-bit textures.

I feel the same, they could do wonders to platformers and RPGs using similar graphics to those from the CPS2 and NeoGeo. However, some genres like racing, flying simulators and adventures (ex. Rush series, SF64/PD and Zelda) were greatly benefited by 3D.