I miss the beautiful ugliness of Playstation 1 era games [Lots of screenshots]
- Thread starter Era of not Yakuza
- Start date
- Sony Retro Screenshots
I loved the PS1 era. They did so much with 3D graphics for what they had. You're imagination filled in the blanks of the details, which made me love old school horror like RE and Silent Hill because some parts of the imagery were so vague your mind went wandering.
On a CRT the games looked amazing. They still do... on a CRT. They don't upscale well on modern tvs unless you have one of those HDMI mods in your console, and even then, they were never meant to be on 65" tv's. Most people back then had half that size unless you were uber rich.
On a CRT the games looked amazing. They still do... on a CRT. They don't upscale well on modern tvs unless you have one of those HDMI mods in your console, and even then, they were never meant to be on 65" tv's. Most people back then had half that size unless you were uber rich.
Small correction, you can still get these games displaying nicely without HDMI modded consoles - an OSSC, or even better yet, a Retrotink 5X does an amazing job upscaling the games onto newer TVs while retaining the same look, and low latency controls that you'd get on a CRT. Couple that with proper cables and its one of the best ways to play these games these days, aside my Neo Geo Ive basically managed to move all my retro gaming over to my big TV now.
Granted it does cost a couple of hundred bucks to get the upscaler, but for the results, its well worth it in my opinion.
Thanks for both the correction and tip, you are correct, it's not the only way. I've been wanting a retrotink but I'm in Australia and it's prohibitively expensive to import, so I've been trying to keep an eye on ebay/ local markets to get one when someone just wants to get rid of. Every time I find one they get snapped up and it's usually only the 2x version anyway, would prefer the 5x.
Ideally I'd mod all my consoles with HDMI out is what I meant!
I always loved how the PS1 didn't have a Z Buffer so some games the floor would just loose its shit when you moved.
I think there was something special about the way the games looked. Especially coming from Genesis and SNES, the 3D polygonal worlds even if small were ground breaking at the time.
They got rid of the 3d backgrounds, lowered the resolution, shrunk the textures and downsampled the SFX.
While I appreciate the nostalgia for the era (I was a young teen as it was getting started) I have a special hatred for it since these ugly ass 3D games killed my beautiful 2D ones. I feel, within the last few years, that we're finally getting back to where we were headed had not 3D come in. I understand why it happened, I understand how it happened, I understand you have to crawl before you can walk, but fuck if 14 year old me wasn't pissed cuz I saw the charm of 2D games just when they were getting really good (check my avatar) get supplanted by shit that was ugly even for the time.
I know it gets shit for it, but I actually like the faceless models in Granstream Saga (and the look of the game in general, too)
For many years I felt like ps1 graphics hadn't aged well, but I've come around to really appreciating their "beautiful ugliness" again.
As a kid, going from wresting games on my genesis to WCW vs the World blew me away
Still got my ps2 hooked up, maybe it's time to dive back into some of these old games..
For many years I felt like ps1 graphics hadn't aged well, but I've come around to really appreciating their "beautiful ugliness" again.
As a kid, going from wresting games on my genesis to WCW vs the World blew me away
Still got my ps2 hooked up, maybe it's time to dive back into some of these old games..
Nah, only thing that really aged well from the PS1 are the unfiltered pixel art textures.
The models itself usually are just too abstract. Although I can find appreciation for the solutions they came up with to make the most out of those few faces. Mad respect to the modellers of that era. Especially given how tedious it was back then to create and animate 3d objects.
The models itself usually are just too abstract. Although I can find appreciation for the solutions they came up with to make the most out of those few faces. Mad respect to the modellers of that era. Especially given how tedious it was back then to create and animate 3d objects.
This thread reminds me of some PSX games I need to play.
Which is considered the better emu these days, Duckstation or Beetle PSX HW via Retroarch? I mostly want to play Xenogears.
Which is considered the better emu these days, Duckstation or Beetle PSX HW via Retroarch? I mostly want to play Xenogears.
I love retro games - I even play old Atari and Colecovision games so old graphics don't bother me. But PlayStation One games (for the most part) are downright painful to look at.
Yooo this is great.
I'm glad this thread is showing more of the chunky jittery PS1, and less razor sharp polygons from the emulators.
So glad this thread was bumped! Always up for more Vagrant Story appreciation <3
I wouldn't say I "miss" the PS1 aesthetic, since that implies I'd like it to return, but I'm glad I experienced it at the time. It made me appreciate technology evolution as a whole, but I think more importantly highlighted how a lot of the skill in game art design is approximating and creating the illusion of more detail and effects than a target hardware is capable of. Vagrant Story is definitely the king of that. The texture design is outstanding given the PS1 capabilities:
And they even approximated rim lighting for their cutscenes:
![37760-Vagrant_Story_[U]-18.png](https://r.mprd.se/media/images/37760-Vagrant_Story_[U]-18.png)
Ludicrously impressive game, and I honestly think its art direction and cinematography are strong enough to stand the test of time. It's the gameplay that will likely put off modern players, rather than the visuals.
Come ooooonnn PS1 classics. If they don't end up being announced at some point I think I'm gonna be heartbroken.
I just stumbled across this game Paratopic on my Switch. It's a short "alt-horror" walking sim. Very interesting in general, and the graphics and sound design are top notch. It fits perfectly in this thread.
It's definitely one of those strange walking sim games that I enjoyed, but I struggle to recommend. Feel like you have to have a free evening and just let the game do it's thing. Very cool little title.
Consider me someone indifferent to the CRT thing. This era of 3D was born from limitations but it doesn't have to be confined by those limitations today to be enjoyed as an aesthetic. Playing these games on Duckstation with all the improvements reminds me of playing the PC version of a multiplat back in the day, same overal graphics aesthetics but with better PC hardware you could push them much further.
I am really surprised to hear people claim they skipped over the PS1 gen because of the graphics. Maybe it's because I was a kid but I never once questioned the graphics of PS1 games or thought they were bad. It was just the way things were.
This is the most bizarre though. PS1 era definitely was the NES era of 3D not the Atari 2600. There was earlier examples of 3D in games that was comparable to early 2D, consisting of flat colored polygons. The original Star Fox anyone? Compare SNES Star Fox to N64 and it's night and day!
I am really surprised to hear people claim they skipped over the PS1 gen because of the graphics. Maybe it's because I was a kid but I never once questioned the graphics of PS1 games or thought they were bad. It was just the way things were.
This is the most bizarre though. PS1 era definitely was the NES era of 3D not the Atari 2600. There was earlier examples of 3D in games that was comparable to early 2D, consisting of flat colored polygons. The original Star Fox anyone? Compare SNES Star Fox to N64 and it's night and day!
There are grest suggestions on this page :
www.denofgeek.com
60 Underrated Playstation One Games
Here are our picks for the top 60 underrated PlayStation One games for the console that changed home gaming as we know it...
www.denofgeek.com
Same here. Tekken as a series was so damn impressive (even on PS2).
Yep, that's a good way of describing it. And as long as someone is willing to devote just one hour there's not much lost on giving it a shot.
Yeah but that was only a handful of games in a predominantly 2D generation. Plus, despite its low poly count I actually think Star Fox looks better than some PS1 games. Mainly because it didn't have ugly, muddy, pixelated textures as most PS1/N64 games did.
I preferred the visuals on the N64 far more than on PS1, but I still have nostalgia for the games. I've been playing some of my games on my PS One here recently. I have the one with the built in screen, still in darn near mint condition.
So yeah, I think this looks a thousand times better:
...but there's just something about this I still love...
So yeah, I think this looks a thousand times better:
...but there's just something about this I still love...
If you're looking for something roughly similar (or at least in the same ballpark), Sagebrush is an easy recommendation. Really nails the landing too.
I believe it was in one of the itch.io mega-bundles released over the past couple years, so if you nabbed one of those it should already be in your library.
Also can't wait to get my hands on Lorn's Lure. Though that may be considered closer to Quake-era style of presentation.
The idea that PS1 era games didn't age well is just flat out wrong. There's a ton of beautiful looking games. It's just got a very different visual style to those which pixel art fanatics like.
Doing the most with the tools available is an art form in itself, and like you say, there are still good looking PS1 games.
Ridge Racer Type 4 remains one of the most stylishly good looking games I've ever seen, and I don't anticipate that changing.
PS1 3D rules and I'm still waiting for the 8bit/16bit nostalgia fodder to be replaced by 32bit nostalgia fodder.
I still play PS1 games, and honestly I still think PS1 games are better than PS3/PS4/PS5 games.
Today Developers looks like they do it because it is a job, unlike PS1 era.
Today is more like "Let's create something that people want"
PS1 era was more like "Let's make a game that we want to play".
Today Developers looks like they do it because it is a job, unlike PS1 era.
Today is more like "Let's create something that people want"
PS1 era was more like "Let's make a game that we want to play".
It helps that Nintendo fostered that nostalgia through availability, marketing and merchandise whereas Sony largely ignored it. Hopefully if we get PS1 classics back that'll help change this.
Stuff from that late-90s era is so good. The cool effects/tricks that developers were putting out in games from that time was really impressive. Still is to me in the context of what that machine was capable of, and certainly when comparing early releases like Toshinden, Jumping Flash, and Motor Toon Grand Prix to later releases like Vagrant Story, Ace Combat 3, and Metal Gear Solid. Amazing progress in a single generation, which is one of the things I love so much about fixed hardware spec.
I preferred the visuals on the N64 far more than on PS1, but I still have nostalgia for the games. I've been playing some of my games on my PS One here recently. I have the one with the built in screen, still in darn near mint condition.
So yeah, I think this looks a thousand times better:
...but there's just something about this I still love...
For me this is a gen-wide thing than specifically just the PS1. PS1 was the most popular platform of that gen so it makes sense to use it as the label for it more than calling it 5th gen. Same with 6th gen too where most people would probably call it the PS2 era but that includes the Gamecube and Xbox which were more powerful than the PS2 but collectively have a distinct look to them.
Saturn is my favorite console but I have a preference for Sega arcade game graphics like model 1-3. They had a certain polish to them that the consoles didn't have at the time. Part of me feels they should have been the aim of home consoles. But of course costs.
Honestly thinking about this more fighting games benefitted most from this. A lot of quality stuff back in the day on both psx and Saturn.
Honestly thinking about this more fighting games benefitted most from this. A lot of quality stuff back in the day on both psx and Saturn.
Massive facts here, running it in Duckstation is unbelievable, and even without the upscaling the art direction of that game is timeless.
The indie horror scene has been diving into this headfirst in recent years, a lot of itch.io-core games using 32bit styles to great effect. Concluse comes to mind as a really great one, and I know No Players Online is arguably a little more Quake-esque but it feels like it carries a similar vibe and it has caught a lot of attention. Another one that comes to mind is Please, and a wildcard one is Groaning Steel, which is hilariously weird and I've played a lot of it.
I feel using Breath of Fire IV is an unfair comparison as that game was just stunning visually lol (Agree with your premise though Dice, the mix was fantastic)I liked how the 3D and 2D were mixed in PS1 videogames...but all 3D was just so ugly.
And they even approximated rim lighting for their cutscenes:
I believe the technique the devs used for rim lighting was to have a duplicate 3D model with different attributes and it's not a plain texture, but I see where you're trying to get. The amazing lighting/shading on the environments is all texture work though, done that way due to the limitations of the PS1. To this day I still believe the aesthetics of Vagrant Story stand up as some of the best in any game I've played.