By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close

Forums - Nintendo Discussion - What is the best graphical showcase for the Wii U?

 

Which game is the best graphical showcase for the Wii U?

Bayonetta 2 82 17.15%
 
Mario Kart 8 138 28.87%
 
Xenoblade Chronicles X 145 30.33%
 
FAST Racing NEO 23 4.81%
 
Pikmin 3 18 3.77%
 
Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker 7 1.46%
 
Yoshi's Woolly World 10 2.09%
 
Need for Speed: Most Wanted U 26 5.44%
 
Other 26 5.44%
 
Total:475
curl-6 on 15 December 2015
bunchanumbers said:
Captain Toad is the real answer. Graphically its very impressive and at a locked buttery smooth 60 fps with all effects. Graphically its quite a showcase. The other games show limitations and have some technical issues that Captain Toad does not.

Bayo 2 and Mk8? No AA. XCX is 30 fps. FRN? Sub 720p fps at times and no AA. Yohshi and NFS are the closest ones to touch Captain Toad, but in the end, its the total package of great effects, great graphics, nice AA and 60 fps. The other games have some impressive graphics and do the Wii U proud, but Captain Toad is a graphical and technical achievement.

On the other hand though, those games are doing things Toad does not. FRN for example has physically based rendering, a good level of anisotropic filtering, dynamic ambient occlusion, all of which are missing from Captain Toad.

Don't get me wrong, Toad is one of the prettiest games on the system, and is technically polished to a ridiculous degree, but it also benefits from not pushing as many demanding techniques as some other Wii U games.



Around the Network
kopstudent89 on 15 December 2015

Mario Kart 8 is super



Goodnightmoon on 15 December 2015
SvennoJ said:

 pixelated 640x720. 22% of Wipeout HD's resolution 6 years ago.

That has been updated on Digital Foundry, is not 640X720

UPDATE 14/12/15 5:20pm: After spending more time with the game, we wanted to clarify the issue of rendering resolution in Fast Racing Neo. While results as low as 640x720 are possible, and evident in many of our examples, it doesn't tell the whole story. The game operates at 1280x720 with a re-projection technique not completely unlike that of Killzone Shadow Fall's multiplayer mode.

Here, though, the re-projection technique is most effective on edges composed against areas with proper depth buffer information. As the skybox used in the game lacks any z-buffer entries, polygon edges contrasted against this area of the screen cannot be effectively reconstructed. It is this type of scenario that produces lower resolution results evident in some of the screen captures.

Basically, the apparent resolution of an edge depends on where it falls within the image. Edges of geometry placed against other objects within the world can actually appear to operate with a width of 1280. Yet, when contrasted against the skybox, these edges lose information and instead appear to operate with half the pixels. The end result is sharper image quality than 640x720 could allow but not quite as clean as a native 1280x720 either. It's good middle ground for the game that makes the smooth frame-rate possible.



Volterra_90 on 15 December 2015
bunchanumbers said:
Captain Toad is the real answer. Graphically its very impressive and at a locked buttery smooth 60 fps with all effects. Graphically its quite a showcase. The other games show limitations and have some technical issues that Captain Toad does not.

Bayo 2 and Mk8? No AA. XCX is 30 fps. FRN? Sub 720p fps at times and no AA. Yohshi and NFS are the closest ones to touch Captain Toad, but in the end, its the total package of great effects, great graphics, nice AA and 60 fps. The other games have some impressive graphics and do the Wii U proud, but Captain Toad is a graphical and technical achievement.

Nice to see I'm not alone, although with your avatar that's a given :P. The level of polish in Captain Toad is just ridiculous. First time I played that game I looked in awe to the level of detail that game has, and it's one of the most prettiest games I've ever seen. Sure, it's just an improvement on SM3DW, but what an improvement. I think it looks so much better. 





SvennoJ on 15 December 2015
curl-6 said:

If you're gaming on a projector at 92" I can see why you'd place a premium on image quality.

I was calling it a graphical showcase based more on the game's technological makeup rather than its visual appeal when blown up to that size.

True, but should some base image quality not be part of a graphical showcase. Is AC Unity the best graphical showcase this gen for its advanced lighting techniques? You can make a real time ray traced game running at 320x200 or 10fps, is that then the best graphical showcase?
Imo they sacrificed too much image quality to make it the best graphical showcase.
I would showcase / show off MK8 on a projector which looks very good upscaled, not fast racing neo.

Goodnightmoon said:
SvennoJ said:

 pixelated 640x720. 22% of Wipeout HD's resolution 6 years ago.

That has been updated on Digital Foundry, is not 640X720

UPDATE 14/12/15 5:20pm: After spending more time with the game, we wanted to clarify the issue of rendering resolution in Fast Racing Neo. While results as low as 640x720 are possible, and evident in many of our examples, it doesn't tell the whole story. The game operates at 1280x720 with a re-projection technique not completely unlike that of Killzone Shadow Fall's multiplayer mode.

Here, though, the re-projection technique is most effective on edges composed against areas with proper depth buffer information. As the skybox used in the game lacks any z-buffer entries, polygon edges contrasted against this area of the screen cannot be effectively reconstructed. It is this type of scenario that produces lower resolution results evident in some of the screen captures.

Basically, the apparent resolution of an edge depends on where it falls within the image. Edges of geometry placed against other objects within the world can actually appear to operate with a width of 1280. Yet, when contrasted against the skybox, these edges lose information and instead appear to operate with half the pixels. The end result is sharper image quality than 640x720 could allow but not quite as clean as a native 1280x720 either. It's good middle ground for the game that makes the smooth frame-rate possible.

Unfortunately I'm looking towards the horizon to see where the track is going to go later. It works better in KZ SF as you move around relatively slow and often stop to check the surroundings. It still looks far less sharp than singleplayer. In FRN you always move at breakneck speed, exemplified by stretching the image out on boost. It gives it a very low res and less than 60fps feel.

Anyway it's fun, fast, great sense of speed. Just not all that pretty in motion. The poll seems to agree :)



Around the Network
WhiteEaglePL on 15 December 2015

MK8.

Then I would say Bayonetta 2, then XCX then Smash.

THAT'S NOT THE BEST BAYONETTA PIC YOU COULD HAVE FOUND!!!! lol



zippy on 15 December 2015

Need for Speed just looks gorgeous. if only other 3rd party devs followed the same lead.



d21lewis on 15 December 2015
Vodacixi said:
d21lewis said:

 

Why? Because it actually has collision detection?

First of, I know the game has flaws like the one you mentioned. By any means I think is perfect, not even from a technical point of view. So, you can save your jokes for yourself.

Second, Dragon's Dogma is not even 720p on neither 360 or PS3. It is rendered in some sub-par resolution (I don't know the number exactly). Xenoblade X on the other hand, is native 720p. Also, IIRR from my last playthrough of that game, DD struggles to mantain 30fps on the previous gen (sometimes with really noticiable framerate drops), while Xeno X is almost rock solid 30fps with some minor drops in very few situations.

Third, Dragon's Dogma has nowhere near the same scale, distance draw, variety of landscapes and wildlife as Xenoblade Chronicles X. We can discuss if Dragon's Dogma has some little things equal or better than Xeno X (I think minor things like the fire effect are better than Xenoblade), but in general, Xeno X looks better at the same time that it offers a far richer world and visual experience than Dragon Dogma ever did with PS360.

Yes, it may not have collision detection in some situations (with enemies and cars in the city mostly), and popping is definitley there, but at least it does not appear suddenly like other games, developers of this game were aware of the issue and they tried to controll it by setting a patern and animation for things to appear and they set a distance to appear. That's pretty much it though. DD performs far worse, has lower resolution, is far limited in scale... So basically, you're are wrong.

 

Hey. Just wanted to say that I fired up Dragons Dogma and you're right. Doesn't look as good as I remember and doesn't look as good as Xenoblade. I'm not above admitting when I'm wrong.  

X still has the issues I named but, at least amongst the games I own, it is technically superior.



Skullwaker on 15 December 2015
TimCliveroller said:
This topic is full of bias: people vote the games they love without decent / objective graphical analysis. I love bayonetta, but the game shouldn't even be in this poll; same for half the games. By this logic, I can't see why Splatoon isnt in there...

The games in the poll are mere suggestions based on which games are most praised in terms of graphics on the system. If you believe that other games deserve mention, then you have every right to mention them yourself. That's also why the option of 'other' was listed in the poll.

I didn't list Splatoon simply because, while I absolutely adore its aesthetics, I don't believe it achieves much that makes it a 'showcase' aside from 60fps. But if someone believes it is deserving of mention, they can do so.





Official Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Thread

                                      

Ljink96 on 15 December 2015

These are all great choices, but Mario Kart 8 man...it's pure candy.