Good looking 90's 3D games

Accoun · Mar 17, 2019

I absolutely disagree about the post, but if you want explanation for this:

Jobbs said:
but for some reason it was common back then

Back then textures were still using set palettes instead of the full 16/24-bit used later and this gave developers more colors to use for shadows. At least that's how it was in Quake.

roguesquirrel · Mar 17, 2019

Oscillator said:
Rayman 2: The Great Escape

PC version screenshots, though the Nintendo 64 version also fares well, especially with the Expansion Pak.

The textures for this and Tonic Trouble are so clean on the pc versions they look like something out of the early 00s instead of 99

RedSwirl · Mar 17, 2019

A2Z90 said:
I remember most Sega games have great looking 3D visual games, like Shenmue, Crazy Taxi..
and my favorite; Virtua Fighter 3

Deleted member 39479 · Mar 17, 2019

deftones r cool said:
My answer to this question will always be Jet Force Gemini. I nearly shat my pants as a kid.

No freaking way. You just brought back so many good memories for me, I forgot this game even existed but it was one of my faves as a kid.

AaronMT · Mar 17, 2019

I Wanna Be The Guy · Mar 17, 2019

Real Renaissance Man said:
Not quite 90s, but still PS1.

That gif oh my god I want to play this game! What is it?

MysticGon · Mar 17, 2019

Buff Beefbroth · Mar 17, 2019

To heck with the haters. I love early 3D. Can't wait til indie games start chanelling this look over 8/16-bit.

Sub Boss · Mar 17, 2019

there is no such thing

Giga Man · Mar 17, 2019

Eylos said:
Usualy when we talk about game graphics that aged very well its usualy mostly 2D games, sprite art etc., especialy games from the 90's .

So which 3D game from the 90"s that you think the graphics still looks good.

My choice will go to
Megaman Legends 1 and 2

I think its amazing how well the game still holds up, and its a great game

Mega Man Legends was on my mind the moment I saw this thread. That series is a joy to look at.

Deleted member 21601 · Mar 17, 2019

Wolfenstein 3D (1992):

Doom (1993):

Quake 1 (1996):

Commonly played in 800x600 to1024x768 When GL Quake released.

Quake 2 (1997):

I used 1600x1200 to play this.

Quake 3 Arena (1999):

Played this in 1024x768 @ 150 HZ back in 1999. Until it was patched you needed at least 127 FPS to avoid an engine bug to have correct movement.

The motion blur is from the video processing.

Just look at this and say there are no good 3d games in the 90s.

Accoun · Mar 17, 2019

I Wanna Be The Guy said:
That gif oh my god I want to play this game! What is it?

Sheep, Dog & Wolf. Known as Sheep Raider in the US, I think?

Deleted member 39479 · Mar 17, 2019

Buff Beefbroth said:
To heck with the haters. I love early 3D. Can't wait til indie games start chanelling this look over 8/16-bit.

Have you checked out Paratopic yet? I haven't played it yet but it totally nails the early 3D look.

Buff Beefbroth · Mar 17, 2019

pseudotsuga said:
Have you checked out Paratopic yet? I haven't played it yet but it totally nails the early 3D look.

Wishlisted, thanks!

I'm aware of a few other early 3D throwback games but this one is new to me.

Theta · Mar 17, 2019

There's probably alot I am missing, but from the top of my head, I liked Battle Isle 4: Incubation and Sin. Both were released in 1997.

Deleted member 41931 · Mar 17, 2019

I Wanna Be The Guy said:
That gif oh my god I want to play this game! What is it?

Sheep Raider or Sheep, Dog 'n' Wolf depending on region.

Gabbo · Mar 17, 2019

Xwing vs Tie Figher '97

Grim Fandango '98

Unreal Tournament from '99

Krysuk · Mar 17, 2019

SNRUB said:
If you made some minor adjustments here and there, the Crash games can easily pass off as early PS2 titles.

They're that good looking. Visually speaking, on the same level as Jak 1 IMO.

Somebody needs new glasses, this statement is not even close

Deleted member 10737 · Mar 17, 2019

Real Renaissance Man said:
Not quite 90s, but still PS1.

i loved that game. fantastic art style, hold up amazingly well.

Deleted member 721 · Mar 17, 2019

KDR_11k said:
I believe there's a PC version of at least the first game. Obviously that can be run at 640x480.

there's a nintendo 64 version called megaman 64 it has better res and AA, but worse draw distance{

Edit: founded this comparison (it looks like emulator though but you can see the difference)

The_jMag · Mar 17, 2019

Skyfireblaze · Mar 17, 2019

The_jMag said:

What game is this? :o

PlzUninstall · Mar 17, 2019

Skyfireblaze said:
What game is this? :o

Sonic The Fighters/Sonic Championship. It was an arcade game. :)

Used to have one at the Sega World in London a long time back.

KDR_11k · Mar 17, 2019

RedSwirl said:

Greatly helped by fighting and racing games generally being the prettiest genres on any system (fighting having only two characters and a simple 3D scene so they can get more details and racing having a fairly predictable viewpoint and cars are relatively easy for 3D hardware to render). First Person Shooters and RTSes tend to be the ugliest, FPSes because the camera gets so close to things and can look from anywhere, exposing graphical trickery and RTSes simply have large terrain areas filled with large numbers of units.

SNRUB · Mar 17, 2019

Krysuk said:
Somebody needs new glasses, this statement is not even close

Ok then, let's here what you have to say.

JMC · Mar 17, 2019

I submit Freespace 2 and I-War (or Independence War).

Deleted member 21709 · Mar 17, 2019

mazi said:
i loved that game. fantastic art style, hold up amazingly well.

They nailed that 'scene' in the second gif, wow.

Skyfireblaze said:
What game is this? :o

Sonic the Fighters, one of the worst fighting game ever made according to science.

RedSwirl · Mar 17, 2019

Frontier Elite II -- 1993

Basically the same thing as Elite Dangerous and No Man's Sky today. 1:1 scale procedurally generated Milky Way Galaxy. You could enter the atmospheres of planets and land in cities. Even the gameplay hasn't fundamentally evolved that much in the newer games. The only immediate massive difference is that the graphics in Elite II looked like Star Fox 1 -- which came out that same year.

KDR_11k said:
Greatly helped by fighting and racing games generally being the prettiest genres on any system (fighting having only two characters and a simple 3D scene so they can get more details and racing having a fairly predictable viewpoint and cars are relatively easy for 3D hardware to render). First Person Shooters and RTSes tend to be the ugliest, FPSes because the camera gets so close to things and can look from anywhere, exposing graphical trickery and RTSes simply have large terrain areas filled with large numbers of units.

You still can't deny how crazy SEGA arcade boards were in the 90's, even compared to PC gaming. Naomi was probably the tail end of that era.

The_jMag · Mar 17, 2019

Skyfireblaze said:
What game is this? :o

As PlzUninstall mentioned, it's Sonic The Fighters. It's actually pretty fun for a simplistic fighter (3 button control scheme like Virtua Fighter and other Model 2 games) and the aesthetics remind me of old Disney cartoons mixed in with that 90s tude. Mirror matches have the characters in black and white as well giving that cool 1920s toon vibe. Would of been nice to see the game get a Saturn port back then, but it's available for Xbox One via 360 backwards compatibility.

Sgt. Demblant · Mar 17, 2019

I just spent the afternoon playing G-Darius, Tron Bonne and Wipeout 3. So... I'll go with those.
(I also played the original Tomb Raider but it definitely does not qualify for this thread, lol)

It was my first time playing G-Darius, I was expecting a 2D game. But the 3D ships and enemies are fantastically designed. Their sharp 3D look adds a ton of personality.

Modi · Mar 17, 2019

Skyfireblaze · Mar 17, 2019

PlzUninstall said:
Sonic The Fighters/Sonic Championship. It was an arcade game. :)

Used to have one at the Sega World in London a long time back.

Ingueferroque said:
They nailed that 'scene' in the second gif, wow.

Sonic the Fighters, one of the worst fighting game ever made according to science.

The_jMag said:
As PlzUninstall mentioned, it's Sonic The Fighters. It's actually pretty fun for a simplistic fighter (3 button control scheme like Virtua Fighter and other Model 2 games) and the aesthetics remind me of old Disney cartoons mixed in with that 90s tude. Mirror matches have the characters in black and white as well giving that cool 1920s toon vibe. Would of been nice to see the game get a Saturn port back then, but it's available for Xbox One via 360 backwards compatibility.

Thanks, the more you know! I heard the name before but I never actually really saw the game. I doubt I'll have the chance to ever play it in my life but if I have the opportunity I now have the morbid-curiosity to do it! :P

Velocity:Design:Comfort · Mar 17, 2019

The_jMag said:

Modi said:

But no 90s 3d looks good guys. None.

Deleted member 21709 · Mar 17, 2019

KDR_11k said:
Greatly helped by fighting and racing games generally being the prettiest genres on any system (fighting having only two characters and a simple 3D scene so they can get more details and racing having a fairly predictable viewpoint and cars are relatively easy for 3D hardware to render). First Person Shooters and RTSes tend to be the ugliest, FPSes because the camera gets so close to things and can look from anywhere, exposing graphical trickery and RTSes simply have large terrain areas filled with large numbers of units.

What a strange way to look at it. How about giving art direction and game design props when due? Why this diminishing attitude?

Not all 90's FPS games were 'bad looking'
Not all 90's 3D fighting games were 'good looking'
Not all 90's 3D racing games were 'good looking'

Skyfireblaze said:
Thanks, the more you know! I heard the name before but I never actually really saw the game. I doubt I'll have the chance to ever play it in my life but if I have the opportunity I now have the morbid-curiosity to do it! :P

That part about it being bad was a Giant Bomb Ranking of Fighters reference, it's actually a pretty good game. You can still play it on XB1 and PS3.

DarkShame3 · Mar 17, 2019

I have to second the Quake games for sure. I still play Q3A on a regular basis, and the graphics may be old/blocky, but they still look "good" in their own way to me. The settings are also atmospheric, and I still enjoy them.

KDR_11k · Mar 17, 2019

Ingueferroque said:
What a strange way to look at it. How about giving art direction and game design props when due? Why this diminishing attitude?

Not all 90's FPS games were 'bad looking'
Not all 90's 3D fighting games were 'good looking'
Not all 90's 3D racing games were 'good looking'

However on average those genres have a leg up/down on other games of their generation. Fighters and racing games often look a generation ahead of their peers.

RobotHaus · Mar 17, 2019

nbnt said:
90's 3D is my favorite 3D, so most of PS1/Sega Saturn titles look very appealing to me, a lot more so than PS2 era games, which to me just look ugly with none of the charm.

Since you like the look of MML, you should check out The Misadventures of Tron Bonne, a spin off with the same engine and similar gameplay. A couple more examples of kinda cel shaded PS1 games would be Hokuto no Ken and Dr. Slump:

I love this style. Is there a name for this type of modeling/texturing?

Y2Kev · Mar 17, 2019

I get sad when I see people say all 90s 3D games were ugly. I think they are charming and designed in a way that leverages the creativity of the designers to get around limitations.

Shpeshal Nick · Mar 17, 2019

Most of Sega's Arcade stuff still holds up. Particularly the late 90s stuff.

SoulCalibur on Dreamcast as well.

Why are so many people using emulator shots of the PS1 games?

j^aws · Mar 17, 2019

As mentioned above, Sega's arcade output was amazing, and so was Namco's in the 90s for 3D.

I was going to post pics, but can't tell if they have been tampered with online. Anyway, below are some examples I played on a CRT, and they still look good:

Resident Evil, PowerVR 3D accelerated version on PC:

Outcast on PC using voxel technology:

Homeworld on PC taking advantage of spectacular vistas in outer space:

Freespace 2 on PC, with spectacular space combat:

Virtua Fighter 3TB on Dreamcast, great models taking advantage of two characters on-screen:

Soul Calibur on Dreamcast, looking very sharp and making the most of two characters again:

Einhander on PS1, a 2.5D shooter and very stylish:

R-Type Delta on PS1, another 2.5D shooter, with chunky looking, yet appealing graphics:

Necronomicon on Saturn, a pinball game making good use of fixed camera and hi-res:

Soukyugurentai on Saturn, an overhead 2.5D shooter which has this low-res and chunky look to it:

Deleted member 18407 · Mar 17, 2019

I love the aesthetic of Bladeforce on 3DO.

Oscillator · Mar 17, 2019

Y'know, Wave Race 64 doesn't look too bad.

tiesto · Mar 18, 2019

Breath of Fire 4, Tobal 2, Threads of Fate, iS Internal Section, and Ridge Racer Type 4 still look really nice.

Piggychan · Mar 18, 2019

I was impressed with what Sega managed to pull out of the Saturn even with Fighting Vipers and Megamix especially with destructible walls and breakable armor... or maybe I'm easily impressed

flashman92 · Mar 18, 2019

Kirby 64 and Paper Mario are probably cheating, but they probably hold up the best

Barry Sandwich · Mar 18, 2019

LeroyOctopus · Mar 18, 2019

It's full of pop in, but the strong art direction makes Ape Escape still stand out.

Council Pop · Mar 18, 2019

JangleLuke said:
Tomba! looks pretty good

Though the 2D sprites do play a big role in the game's aesthetic.

Tomba! 1 and 2 are honestly two of my favourite games ever and it's great to see someone on Era reference them. Wish someone would make a spiritual successor or something.

Wood Man · Mar 18, 2019

Always thought Tekken 3 looked really good for the time

PeakPointMatrix · Mar 18, 2019

LeroyOctopus said:
It's full of pop in, but the strong art direction makes Ape Escape still stand out.

I miss the look of the early AE monkeys! Begging for a remake.

Good looking 90's 3D games

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