Overrating the underrated

Baba O'Reily · Post by **Baba O'Reily** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 7:06 am

You know, I have Battle Arena Toshinden upstairs. I've never met somebody besides myself who had even HEARD of the fucking game, much less PLAY it.
If nothing else, FF7 gave us lasting clichÃƒÂ©s... or rehashed them so that today's youth could revel in the absurdity.

The Doc · Post by **The Doc** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 9:53 am

The reason some people liked DK64 (and I was one of them and, frankly, still AM) is because first of all: the music was pretty damn head-sticky. Not addictive, mind you, but the shit just stuck in your damn head for hours.

Secondly, the DKC craze went 3D. That was enough to boost sales.

Another factor was that it was sold with an N64 Expansion Pak when it was first released (which eventually became REQUIRED for all later games), yet they sold the whole kit and kaboodle for the same price as just a game, so they thought, "hey, a free Expansion Pak...eh, why not? The game can't be that bad..."

Plus, Lanky Kong is God.

Grant · Post by **Grant** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 10:19 am

As someone who quite enjoyed DKC, I remember being very disappointed with DK64. That was just a lazy game from Rare.

The Doc · Post by **The Doc** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 10:48 am

I'm not afraid to say, I was OBSESSED with the game for a long, LONG time. Until I beat it the THIRD time, I just kept playing it. Looking back, I can't for the life of me figure out why.

...Maybe it WAS Lanky!

Post by **G.Silver** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 11:52 am

Toshinden was--as I seem to remember it--huge in 1995 or whenever it was that the PSX launched. No one talks about it now because they are embarassed that they bought so many copies that they made three games out of it before people got over the 3D graphics and realized what crappy fighting games they were (there was an anime, too).

Post by **Green Gibbon!** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 2:04 pm

Yeah, Toshinden was hailed as some kind of killer app or something when the PS1 launched. The media coverage was huge, it got even more blitz than VF and Tekken.

I remember when I finally played it on the Saturn, I cleared the entire game (on every difficulty setting) by pressing the same button over and over.

And actually, there were 4 Toshinden games, plus 5 different versions of Toshinden 2. There was even an SD version on the Game Boy, I believe.

kurosaki · Post by **kurosaki** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 3:58 pm

G.Silver wrote:No one talks about it now because they are embarassed that they bought so many copies that they made three games out of it before people got over the 3D graphics and realized what crappy fighting games they were

Good point...wait, doesn't this happen with EVERY fighting game?

Omni Hunter · Post by **Omni Hunter** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 4:04 pm

Hey, I don't care about graphics when it comes to old games, the old ones are some of the best. Toshinden was great, Gaia was kickass.

kurosaki · Post by **kurosaki** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 4:13 pm

Yeah, some games can kinda be immortalized, even though the graphics suck *cough* every 2D Sonic game *cough*
In fact, I like 2D fighters more than most 3D fighters.

Omni Hunter · Post by **Omni Hunter** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 4:15 pm

The old greats, Street Fighter, Fatal Fury, hell even the fighting mode in Streets of Rage kicked arse.

Post by **Segaholic2** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 4:15 pm

You think the 2D Sonic games have sucky graphics? BANNED.

Omni Hunter · Post by **Omni Hunter** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 4:21 pm

2d graphics don't suck, in the early days they allowed more detail. Even now on whatever bit, you can get better detail on a 2d sprite than most 3d characters.

Spazz · Post by **Spazz** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 4:25 pm

He's a 1337Ã‚Â¡Ã‚Â§7!, MAY WE BURN HIM?!

Omni Hunter · Post by **Omni Hunter** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 4:27 pm

What the fucks a 1337Ã‚Â¡Ã‚Â§7!?

Spazz · Post by **Spazz** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 4:40 pm

1337Ã‚Â¡Ã‚Â§7 = leetist

...<i>n00b!</i>

Omni Hunter · Post by **Omni Hunter** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 4:44 pm

Lack of understanding does not always make a n00b!

Post by **Green Gibbon!** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 4:51 pm

I would say the 2D Sonic games are some of the best-looking sprite-based graphics ever, even now.

Spazz · Post by **Spazz** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 5:03 pm

Same here. Especially stages like Casino Night with all its flashy lights and such. Now <i>that's</i> detail.

Omni Hunter · Post by **Omni Hunter** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 5:12 pm

Don't forget the moving backgrounds of Metropolis. Even Scrap Brain's internal act 2 backgound was incredible when Sonic The Hedgehog was originally released.
Here are what I think were genesis bests:

Ice Cap: Ice Flow
Green Hill: Magnificent Valleys and waterfalls
Hill Top: Moving cloud cover
Sandopolis: Heat wave effect
Star Light: Fantasticly detailed layered background

The list goes on...

kurosaki · Post by **kurosaki** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 6:24 pm

Okay okay, before I get flamed to hell, allow me to clarify. Yes, the graphics of the old Sonic games had very nice sprites (not only for their time, but also now). HOWEVER, won't you agree with me that compared to today's standards in graphics for consoles like Xbox and Gamecube, the graphics(of games like Halo), to be states kindly, are not "up to par"? And don't get all smart and say something like "Well, Sonic Mega Collection has the same graphics"

The graphics of Sonic games have incredible detail, espcially the newly relseased franchise for the GBA.

Post by **Popcorn** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 6:33 pm

kurosaki wrote:Okay okay, before I get flamed to hell, allow me to clarify. Yes, the graphics of the old Sonic games had very nice sprites (not only for their time, but also now). HOWEVER, won't you agree with me that compared to today's standards in graphics for consoles like Xbox and Gamecube, the graphics(of games like Halo), to be states kindly, are not "up to par"?

I don't really get what you mean. You mean they don't have polygons or massive colour palettes, or what? Working within the boundaries of the avilable technology, the games managed to be visually attractive then and still manage it now.

Spazz · Post by **Spazz** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 6:45 pm

kurosaki wrote:even though the graphics suck *cough* every 2D Sonic game *cough*

Segaholic2 wrote:You think the 2D Sonic games have sucky graphics? BANNED.

kurosaki wrote:Yes, the graphics of the old Sonic games had very nice sprites (not only for their time, but also now).

That made me laugh. ^_^

Omni Hunter · Post by **Omni Hunter** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 6:46 pm

Games are more than just play things, some are works of art like a shifting portait of creativity, ingenuity and resoursefulness.
Most old Sonic games fall into this category because of attention to detail and constant improvement with each sequel.
Sorry to sound soppy but to compare Sonic The Hedgehog (as in 1)
to Halo or similar games is ignorant.
There, my rant over, pass the cheesecake...

Post by **Crazy Penguin** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 6:48 pm

I hate it when people judge a video game's visuals purely on a technical level. Going by that logic you could say that nearly all of the first generation Playstation games have "better graphics" than Yoshi's Island. Which would be complete bollocks.