Pixelation

General => General Discussion => Topic started by: QuickSilva on June 19, 2008, 06:04:26 pm

Title: Best graphics in a NES game
Post by: QuickSilva on June 19, 2008, 06:04:26 pm
In your opinion what are the best games on the NES in terms of graphics? Screenshots would be great :) I will hold off with my choices as I really want to see what other peoples views are.

Jason.
Title: Re: Best graphics in a NES game
Post by: ndchristie on June 19, 2008, 06:15:16 pm
kirby's adventure impressed me a year or two ago when my girlfriend at the time showed it to me - might be a bit biased but i'll look for screens to see if it was actually good or not :P
Title: Re: Best graphics in a NES game
Post by: Helm on June 19, 2008, 06:41:28 pm
QuickSilva

BATMAN, possibly.
Little Samson as well is very good.
Title: Re: Best graphics in a NES game
Post by: ptoing on June 19, 2008, 07:39:25 pm
What they said.

Then there are:

Shatterhand which looks very good and also has great gameplay.
Mega Man 6 looks pretty awesome (but lacks gameplay wise compared to the older ones)
Super Mario Bros.3 is nothing jawdropping but very well done and consistant.
Recca (a manic shmup) is also brilliant esp in regard what it squeezes out of the NES.
Title: Re: Best graphics in a NES game
Post by: Hugo on June 19, 2008, 08:56:41 pm
The Battle Of olympus (i love Greek mythology)          http://www.emunova.net/veda/test/2081.htm

Mega man 2         http://artofwar.free.fr/dossiers/dossier_megaman_sur_nes.php

Solstice (isometric)    http://www.flyingomelette.com/reviews/nes/solstice.html

Gremlins 2     http://www.mobygames.com/game/nes/gremlins-2-the-new-batch__/screenshots
Title: Re: Best graphics in a NES game
Post by: AdamAtomic on June 19, 2008, 09:08:35 pm
Those are some really ugly, boring games there Hugo! :D
Title: Re: Best graphics in a NES game
Post by: vierbit on June 19, 2008, 09:49:20 pm
Its interesting to see the graphical progress on the megaman games.
I say super mario bros. 2, color selection and the visual consistens (wich is far more important on such limited systems like the nes)
are very good.
Title: Re: Best graphics in a NES game
Post by: Atnas on June 19, 2008, 10:26:31 pm
The first thing that came to mind was XEXYZ. Some might say it's not the best, but it struck me as amazing when I brought the cartridge home from the store and plugged it in.  :P Nice SOLID graphics.

No other NES game I've owned came close, save maybe Super Mario Bros. 3.
Title: Re: Best graphics in a NES game
Post by: chriskot on June 19, 2008, 10:32:46 pm
Here's a good screen from "Kirby's Adventure": (http://www.weeklygeekshow.com/images/kirbyadventurenes.gif)
I agree, it was quite a good lookin' game for the NES.

"Totally Rad" wasn't bad graphically, although I don't know if it was one of the best. Some of the bosses looked pretty good for the NES (even if they did take place on blank backgrounds). Here, I pulled them from my emulator.
(http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i220/chriskot/TRboss.png)

As Ptoing stated previously, Shatterhand is also a really good one.
Title: Re: Best graphics in a NES game
Post by: Ben2theEdge on June 20, 2008, 02:05:28 am
Ninja Gaiden 3 was pretty impressive at the time.
(http://www.mobygames.com/images/shots/original/1170403755-01.png)

Although I think my favorite NES games are the ones that went for a clean, simple look. The original Megaman sprite is pixel perfection. In fact Capcom put out a whole bunch of very clean-looking and great-playing games, a lot of them based on Disney liscences. Ducktales used to occupy me for hours and looking back on it now, it was a gorgeous game for the system.
(http://www.mobygames.com/images/shots/original/1051495186-00.gif)

Darkwing Duck has a great aesthetic and it's technically fantastic as well. I believe it even had parallax; by this point I think Capcom's artists had a fine-tuned knowledge of what the NES was capable of.
(http://www.mobygames.com/images/shots/original/1051575977-00.gif)
Still gorgeous.

Title: Re: Best graphics in a NES game
Post by: AdamAtomic on June 20, 2008, 03:19:41 am
I think darkwing duck has a pretty good aesthetic.  Of course, I only know this from having played it, because MOBYGAMES DOES NOT ALLOW HOTLINKING
Title: Re: Best graphics in a NES game
Post by: Ben2theEdge on June 20, 2008, 04:07:54 am
*Cue sad music*

It worked for me but I guess that's because I had the images in my cache already. Shame on you, Mobygames.
Title: Re: Best graphics in a NES game
Post by: ptoing on June 20, 2008, 06:36:49 am
"Totally Rad" wasn't bad graphically, although I don't know if it was one of the best. Some of the bosses looked pretty good for the NES (even if they did take place on blank backgrounds). Here, I pulled them from my emulator.
(http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i220/chriskot/TRboss.png)

That is because the bosses ARE backgrounds, most likely with some extra sprites on top. This goes for most big bosses on the NES. Everytime you have a big boss where a big part just moves xy and does not animate you can be pretty sure that it's a bit of background.
Title: Re: Best graphics in a NES game
Post by: Panda on June 20, 2008, 06:41:42 am
I think darkwing duck has a pretty good aesthetic.  Of course, I only know this from having played it, because MOBYGAMES DOES NOT ALLOW HOTLINKING

You can always copy-paste the picture's URL, go to it and reload.
Title: Re: Best graphics in a NES game
Post by: HughSpectrum on June 20, 2008, 03:02:30 pm
There's also Batman: Return of the Joker that was also made by Sunsoft and is pretty much a spiritual sequel to the Batman NES game.

Vice: Project Doom is another decent looking game.
Title: Re: Best graphics in a NES game
Post by: QuickSilva on June 20, 2008, 03:10:46 pm
I agree with nearly all of these too. I`ve always had a soft spot for NES graphics. Games at that time somehow managed to take you away to a different place. Sometimes less truly is more I think. As the player, you had to fill in the blanks with your own imagination.

On a side note and being a huge Megaman fan did anyone else know that there was a NES conversion of the SNES`s Megaman 7? Doesn`t seem to be by Capcom though and the graphics are not as good as the the previous one. Still it remains pretty true to the game. Check it out here:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=rockman+7+8-bit&search_type=

Has anyone played it?

Batman and Shatterhand had great graphics that looked a lot different from most of the other NES stuff. Megaman also looked great towards the end of the series but sadly the gameplay seemed to diminish. Capcoms other stuff was always cool and very nice and clean looking as Ben2theEdge mentioned. Little Sampson is another fav, thanks Helm for reminding me about that one :) Ptoing, I`ve never heard of Recca but I will check it out. (BTW any chance of a U-Head update? Hopefully you are still working on it.)

Keep em coming guys!

Jason.
Title: Re: Best graphics in a NES game
Post by: chriskot on June 20, 2008, 03:41:36 pm
That is because the bosses ARE backgrounds, most likely with some extra sprites on top. This goes for most big bosses on the NES. Everytime you have a big boss where a big part just moves xy and does not animate you can be pretty sure that it's a bit of background.
Ah. I actually sort of figured as much. Doesn't mean that they don't look good though.

Ducktales used to occupy me for hours and looking back on it now, it was a gorgeous game for the system.
I forgot about that one! DuckTales did look good (and was also one of favourite shows when I was younger).
Title: Re: Best graphics in a NES game
Post by: ptoing on June 20, 2008, 09:42:37 pm
That is because the bosses ARE backgrounds, most likely with some extra sprites on top. This goes for most big bosses on the NES. Everytime you have a big boss where a big part just moves xy and does not animate you can be pretty sure that it's a bit of background.
Ah. I actually sort of figured as much. Doesn't mean that they don't look good though.

Of course not. It's clever, given the limitations.
Title: Re: Best graphics in a NES game
Post by: QuickSilva on June 21, 2008, 07:10:04 am
Yes the developers had to use all sorts of tricks back then to achieve some of the effects that they wanted. In a way working within strict limitations can be lots more fun than being given full freedom. I`m sure many artist in general would agree especially pixel artists.

Here`s another one. Vice: Project Doom (Never heard of it personally but has a definite Batman feel to it especially midway through this level. Sorry I couldn`t find a decent screenshot.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZPxtA3HI0M

On a different note does anyone have a few decent screen shots of Little Samson? They seem pretty hard to come by. I recall it looking pretty swell back in its day.

Cheers,

Jason.
Title: Re: Best graphics in a NES game
Post by: Darien on June 21, 2008, 08:35:47 am
hmm... it's interesting how much Batman and some of the other games use so much pure black, never really thought about it.  it's a result of limitations, I'm sure, but it's definitely a significant  element of NES game aesthetic.  does anyone know of any post NES spec pixel art examples that play around with a heavy use of fading to pure black?  I'm thinking mostly in games, i guess, but i'd like to see anything
Title: Re: Best graphics in a NES game
Post by: vierbit on June 21, 2008, 12:15:31 pm
I only want to point at vgmuseum, there are tons of screenshots for all kind of systems.
http://www.vgmuseum.com/nes.htm (http://www.vgmuseum.com/nes.htm) for nes.
And little samson looks indeed very good.
Title: Re: Best graphics in a NES game
Post by: Ben2theEdge on June 21, 2008, 03:48:53 pm
hmm... it's interesting how much Batman and some of the other games use so much pure black, never really thought about it.  it's a result of limitations, I'm sure, but it's definitely a significant  element of NES game aesthetic.  does anyone know of any post NES spec pixel art examples that play around with a heavy use of fading to pure black?  I'm thinking mostly in games, i guess, but i'd like to see anything

It's my favorite thing about the NES era actually. Once SNES came out and they had fewer space restrictions, there was no need to hide things in shadow and games all lost that dramatic film noir-esque lighting. I work with cell phone games where we have to keep games extremely small, filesize-wise and a lot of these NES tricks still yield good results today.
Title: Re: Best graphics in a NES game
Post by: AdamAtomic on June 21, 2008, 04:19:08 pm
Black is also awesome for working in silhouettes, a nice way to imply a lot of detail without actually using more than a color or two to execute it.
Title: Re: Best graphics in a NES game
Post by: Cow on June 21, 2008, 06:37:44 pm
Quote
does anyone know of any post NES spec pixel art examples that play around with a heavy use of fading to pure black?
Demon's Crest. Well, maybe not pure black, but close. Super Ghouls and Ghosts maybe too, but to a lesser extent.
Title: Re: Best graphics in a NES game
Post by: Feron on June 21, 2008, 08:00:36 pm
A lot of Henk Nieborg's works, use the fade to black technique.  It's perfect for creating atmosphere as well as providing a simple solution as to where everything goes...

Check:  http://img131.imageshack.us/img131/9427/ulysesxl1.gif   and    http://img45.imageshack.us/img45/2997/firefv5.gif

(backgrounds from Atlantis on the GB)
Title: Re: Best graphics in a NES game
Post by: ptoing on June 21, 2008, 08:54:04 pm
Well, GBC has similar tile restriction to the NES, just 8 instead of 4 tile palettes and choice from 15 bit colours instead of 50something. So using a single colour (like black) as filler between the different tilepalettes makes a lot of sense.
Title: Re: Best graphics in a NES game
Post by: HughSpectrum on June 22, 2008, 02:01:50 am
Quote
And little samson looks indeed very good.
I just looked at screenshots for this.  While the pixel art is indeed incredible, a lot of the background stands out as much as the foreground does and affects the readability.
Title: Re: Best graphics in a NES game
Post by: QuickSilva on June 22, 2008, 07:06:46 am
I agree that Little Samson can look a bit too detailed in places for its own good but it still looks great. As has been said above, the best NES work seems to be the minimalistic ones.

On the subject of GBC games check this one out,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6b5W754z02Q

The game has some nice smooth animation and is rumored for a rerelease on the Wii virtual console or possibly DS. Another one of those games that looked like fun but I`ve never even heard of.

Screenshots here,

http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3142774

Looks great for a GBC game. One of the best that I have seen.

Jason.
Title: Re: Best graphics in a NES game
Post by: Hugo on June 22, 2008, 08:09:09 am
"Black is also awesome for working in silhouettes, a nice way to imply a lot of detail without actually using more than a color or two to execute it."
yeah, images with sunset creates black foregrounds (only silhouettes). great trick often used with limited palettes.
Title: Re: Best graphics in a NES game
Post by: Conzeit on June 26, 2008, 07:06:35 am
Another good looking game was Gargoyle quest 2. Bonk's series have some funny graphics with odd expressions...think of Wario Land's precursor.

Since we're on the subject of Gameboy

Wario Land series, Mario Land2, Star Ocean Blue, Metal Gear Solid, the "xtreme" megaman games, Tomb Raider and Trip World are something to look out for.

I Forgot! of course Henk Nieborg's work on Atlantis.

EDIT: Megaman fans...PREPARE TO LAUGH YOUR ASS OFF!

(http://i.ytimg.com/vi/EG_GnjntufY/default.jpg)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EG_GnjntufY
(http://i.ytimg.com/vi/u4D25DTON-Y/default.jpg)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4D25DTON-Y
(http://i.ytimg.com/vi/hdr_gc_Z3SU/default.jpg)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdr_gc_Z3SU


Remember those B&W Anime Gifs that used to be about chickens shitting explosive eggs? it seems now they are AMVs with original graphics and audio....and these feature the geekiest Megaman mishaps you could possibly imagine =O
Title: Re: Best graphics in a NES game
Post by: wah_wah_69 on June 27, 2008, 03:52:22 pm
http://www7.atwiki.jp/wakuwakusuru/pages/13.html

The link "ver.0802a アーカイブ"

Downloading right now.
Title: Re: Best graphics in a NES game
Post by: AdamTierney on June 27, 2008, 04:30:24 pm
Speaking of NES art, have you guys seen Megaman 9?

http://blue-bomber.jvmwriter.org/community/index.php?showtopic=1505

NES-restriction art, done today.
Title: Re: Best graphics in a NES game
Post by: Ben2theEdge on June 27, 2008, 05:24:38 pm
I am way excited about Megaman 9 although I wish it were a little snazzier-looking. Mega Man 6 was a gorgeous game, and still is... I'm impressed that Capcom has the balls to do this though.
Title: Re: Best graphics in a NES game
Post by: QuickSilva on June 27, 2008, 05:56:25 pm
Me too. I love Megaman games, especially the classic NES ones. In the interview the developers say that it will push 8-Bit graphics to the edge, offer a decent challenge like the originals did and have authentic NES music. He also metions that he hopes to better the series fave, Megaman II. I cannot wait! I wonder how long it is going to take them to finish an 8-Bit game nowadays. This is a dream come true for me. I hope that it doesn`t disappoint. Regarding the graphics, maybe they are just place holders whilst better original graphics are being worked on. I agree that it doesn`t look as nice as Megaman 6 at the moment. Time will tell I guess.

BTW is Rockman 7 a NES Rom or a PC game? Anyone tried it out yet?

Jason.
Title: Re: Best graphics in a NES game
Post by: wah_wah_69 on June 27, 2008, 11:33:47 pm
OFMG, when I read that capcom was producing megaman 9 I thought it would be some kind of 3d crap.

Hats off capcom!

I wonder what the difference in cost of production will be, and I wonder if it'll create a new trend of "retro-makes", if it's economically viable it will.

Yes the Megaman 7 is a pc doujin game, as the install does not run in wine I haven't been able to test it yet.

Going back to the topic:

There's an issue here with "best graphics ever game" NES games due to the limited hardware of the console used several helper chips (called mappers) they would offer extra memory,memory operations, sound chanels whatever.

Early NES games like Super Mario Bros did not use any mapper at all, others like Castlevania 3 (japanese version only) or Llagrange point, added an extra sound chip.

The point it's not fair to compare then all in the same category as they do not use all the same hardware.
Title: Re: Best graphics in a NES game
Post by: Antago on July 02, 2008, 12:26:42 am
I agree, Megaman 6 is divine. Is simply is, those people made not only some of the most creative moves (and that's surprising!) but it looks and feels like some sort of mechanical world. It's let's be honest, it's NES.

Kirby was always splendid; the graphics were pretty simple but still beautiful

Adventure Island 3 is a masterpiece as well: http://mobcity.info/2008/05/06/adventure-island-3.html
Ya, it's no Megman 6 or Super Mario Bros 3, but the cute dinosaurs did the trick