2D Potential of the N64

[Breetai]

Of course it probably would have helped Sega had the Saturn been released in the fall/winter of 1995 as opposed to the surprise May of 1995 launch, since it would have given them more time to make the 3D engine better I suppose.

Which 3D engine are you talking about? When the Saturn came out in North America in May 1995, it was released with games that had been out on the Saturn in Japan since late 1994. Same with most titles that came out in fall 1995 (they were released much earlier in Japan). The hardware or engines used in the games would not have changed at all. The main benefit was that developers would have had more time to localize games for the release, which would have made for an infinitely stronger launch.

[WallCrusher]

These might've been sourced from an emulator, which might skew comparisons a bit, but I think it's a fairly good representation.

My copy of Legends 1 is crying from this image comparison.

[harper]

OMG a couple of jaggedy lines and a slightly decreased draw distance!! Oh, The horror!!!


Seriously guys, it's not that bad.

[Michi]

Seriously guys, it's not that bad.

Well, it is bad.... if you're comparing it to the generations that came after. But I agree with you. I've never had a problem with the graphics of either system. I've gotten to the point were I'd consider them charming now.

"Aw, look at the clunky graphics that used to be state of the art. Aren't you just precious? Yes, you are..."

[Valkyrie-Favor]

There's Bangai-O and J2 which look pretty good. Not Legend of Mana but pretty respectable.

[dtrack]

All i know about 2D on the N64 is they fucked up mortal kombat trilogy and it is still the best version of the game.

[Gunstar Green]

These might've been sourced from an emulator, which might skew comparisons a bit, but I think it's a fairly good representation.

My copy of Legends 1 is crying from this image comparison.

Crying from laughter I hope thanks to the N64 version's gutted dialogue and other sound related issues.

You win some you lose some.

[AppleQueso]

Crying from laughter I hope thanks to the N64 version's gutted dialogue and other sound related issues.

You win some you lose some.

I don't remember any dialogue being outright gutted. Sound was definitely muffled because of everything being down-sampled, sure, but I don't think anything was missing bar that ending song and some other really minor stuff.

But you're right though, it is a trade-off no matter how you slice it.

OMG a couple of jaggedy lines and a slightly decreased draw distance!! Oh, The horror!!!


Seriously guys, it's not that bad.

Not sure what this is about. I'm just saying that I feel the N64 typically handled 3D better overall than the Ps1.

You pretty much agreed with me a few posts back when you were talking about RE2.

EDIT: hey does anybody know of any 3D games that were on Saturn, Ps1, and N64?

[isiolia]

EDIT: hey does anybody know of any 3D games that were on Saturn, Ps1, and N64?

Hexen and Duke Nukem 3D. Also Doom, technically, though Doom 64 in particular was vastly different from any other edition making that comparison invalid.

I think all of them are using sprite based enemies as well, which may not fully illustrate the different capabilities of the systems.


My impression has always been that the N64 was far and away the most capable machine of that generation for 3D - but it was hobbled by storage and VRAM (leading to the prevalence of garoud shading and fog).

[harper]

Not sure what this is about. I'm just saying that I feel the N64 typically handled 3D better overall than the Ps1.

You pretty much agreed with me a few posts back when you were talking about RE2.

It wasn't directed towards you. More towards this:

Wow that ps1 version looks horrible

I know it's all a matter of opinion, but I wouldn't say by any means that it looks "horrible". I can hardly even tell the difference in the Mega Man comparison at first glance to be honest. And yes RE2 looks better on the N64 (and probably even better on the Dreamcast- never played that one) but that doesn't mean that I had a hissy fit when I saw the PS1 version. Like I said, my eyes adjusted to it and that was that. Not a big deal (to me).