2D Games for N64, PS1 and Saturn ?

[Ziggy]

Here's something I've always been interested in, but more and more as the years go by. There's just something that's so awesome about 2D graphics. The N64, PS1 and Saturn were the three best selling consoles of the fifth generation of home consoles. They are mostly known for 3D games, and 2D games on these consoles felt like a rare treat. Looking back at these consoles now, there's some really awesome 2D games for them. I want to explore them more! Are there any comprehensive lists already out there? If not, can we start one here? I wouldn't mind giving any 2.5D games an honorable mention.

[postulio]

I'm not aware of any comprehensive lists, but it's a common topic of discussion on forums and reddit. just do some googling.

a few things of note:

N64 really only has a handful, and they're almost all Japan exclusives. Very few US games are worth a mention, Yoshi's Story and Mischief Makers being the notable ones. Goemon is 2.5D. MK Trilogy is the other obvious one but... meh. The standout Japanese game is Bangai-O

Saturn has an abundance of 2D titles. Saturn actually handled 2D way better than 3D and was originally envisioned as a 2D powerhouse. It wasn't until Sony's push to 3D as the future of gaming on the PSX that Sega saw the folly of their way. It's why 3D Saturn games are ugly as all hell. Anyway, there are hundreds of incredible 2D Saturn games between US and Japan. I reckon the majority of Saturn games are 2D.

PSX is the only one where a 2D list makes any kind of sense. There are plenty but many are obscure/rare/import only and the 2D titles were almost all hidden gems. Still, if you include all the shmups you'll be scraping 100 games easy.

[Ziggy]

I wanted to circle back to this when I got the time. I did check out the YouTube links, but I was wanting something more organized. I was thinking about compiling my own list, using those YouTube playlists, and specifying the genre. "2D" is just too broad since it can include shmups, fighters, and platformers. All of which are vastly different genres. So I was thinking about making a list that specifies 2D or 2.5D as well as genre. That would make it easier to find something if you have a specific genre in mind.

[o.pwuaioc]

2.5D can mean different things, as well. Both Klonoa and Doom are sometimes called "2.5D" but are very different graphically. Pixel art v. polygon renderings is a bit more accurate, but comes with its own problems of view.

[Ziggy]

Hmm, I see what you mean. But in this case, 2.5D would simply mean a game where the game play is largely or all two dimensional but uses 3D models. Whereas DOOM uses 2D assets but the game play is three dimensional.

[pook99]

2.5D can mean different things, as well. Both Klonoa and Doom are sometimes called "2.5D" but are very different graphically. Pixel art v. polygon renderings is a bit more accurate, but comes with its own problems of view.

Who calls doom 2.5d? I have never heard of that before.

The definition of 2.5d in a video game context is generally understood as a game that plays like a 2d game( typically side scrolling platformers and fighting games) but has 3d backgrounds, klonoa is a great example of this, i can't think of a good fighting game example but I know plenty exist

[marurun]

Doom is sometimes called 2D 3D, or 2.5D, because the way it does the 3D perspective isn't actually 3D at all. It's a 2D approximation of 3D.