When discussing all-time greats, I’d suggest focusing on games that have stood the test of time, rather than recent titles whose visual fidelity benefit from recent technology.
Terranigma, Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy VI, and Donkey Kong Country were highlighted—these games looked astounding upon release and remained visually stunning for years.
There are several others that evoke the same sentiment for me: Sonic the Hedgehog 1 & 2, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Secret of Mana, Super Mario 64, Wave Race 64, Final Fantasy VII, VIII, and X, Resident Evil 2, Sonic Adventure, and Skies of Arcadia.
I’d love to see more people compiling lists that stretch back into the depths of gaming history for those that impressed visually. Because if we just go with graphical fidelity then anything we discuss here today will be obsolete in 2-5 years time. That’s my interest, anyway.
Sonic 1 and 2 impressed me with their flashiness and parallax graphics, showcasing what the Mega Drive was all about. You could probably include Streets of Rage in that list. The parallax effects looked phenomenal on the 3DS later on, and I doubt we'll see anything like that again until AR/VR fully embraces them.
A Link to the Past—released early in the SNES era—demonstrated how smooth a top-down game could be.
Secret of Mana (or Seiken Densetsu) captivated me with its large sprites, flashy elements, dynamic animations, and diverse environments. That impression lingered with me for a long time.
Donkey Kong Country was a pivotal release, likely the most anticipated game outside of Super Mario Bros. 3 at the time. The pre-rendered graphics were a major draw. Even on more modern displays, where they might appear grainy, they still have a certain charm. Other noteworthy titles from this wave included Killer Instinct, Unirally, and Kirby Superstar.
Super Mario 64 and Wave Race 64 can be grouped together as representatives of the N64’s graphical leap. The standout feature for me was the incredible water effects. To this day, it’s perhaps the single most impressive visual element I’ve encountered in video games. Lylat Wars also made a significant leap but didn’t leave quite the same lasting impression.
Final Fantasy VII took the advancements made in Donkey Kong Country and elevated them further. For many, it was their introduction to the Final Fantasy series, though many fans had already experienced earlier instalments through imports or emulations. The backgrounds in FFVII still hold up beautifully on a proper display. I’d love to see a remaster of those backgrounds—I'd prefer that over the remake.
Resident Evil 2 and Final Fantasy VIII both utilized pre-rendered graphics within gameplay segments like no other game before them. They didn’t just pioneer this approach—they arguably did it better than any game had ever done and would ever do. The FMVs in Final Fantasy VIII remain some of my favourite video game scenes, even 25 years later.
(Squall will bump into Deadpool)
Sonic Adventure and Skies of Arcadia on the Dreamcast were groundbreaking at the time. The Echidna Pyramid in Sonic Adventure and even simple things like the view of the reef from Sailor’s Island in Skies of Arcadia were breathtaking. Exploring the vast, beautiful world in Skies of Arcadia was an unforgettable experience.
Lastly, Final Fantasy X still impresses me visually. Even twenty years later, the remaster didn’t significantly enhance the graphics, unlike the character models in Final Fantasy VII and VIII, which saw drastic improvements. The original game remains stunning to this day.
Xenoblade Chronicles and Xenoblade Chronicles X, despite the outdated hardware, managed to impress me, perhaps more than any other game since the Dreamcast/Early PS2 era.
I describe myself as a little dose of toxic masculinity.
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