Poopy Polygons - The Ugly Switch from 2D to 3D Graphics

Remember 1995? That was the year the Playstation (PSX) came out. Remember 1996? That's the year the Nintendo 64 (N64) came out. Final Fantasy VII and the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time were two of the biggest games of that generation, and heralded by many gaming communities as some of the greatest games of all time. But what those fanboys and fangirls love to deceptively hide about that those game is that both of those games look butt ugly in the future (of the past) (which is present as of right now) (the games look like ass today).

"Graphics don't get any better than this!!" - you, age 10

“But dude, those games had AMAZING graphics for its time, bro! You can't deny that! Don't be a controversial naysayer!” you're probably saying as you flip between this blog and a webpage tab containing FFVII Cloud's buster sword 1:1 replica listings on eBay. Yes, for it's time; unfortunately, games of the PSX and N64 era's (as well as many PC titles, lets not forget games like Quake or Fallout) have, for the most part, aged much more terribly than the 2D-dominant era before it. There are several factors associated with the “butt ugly era” of video games (yeah, I'm gonna name it that).

First is the technology of its time: polygonal 3D graphics were in its early stages, with few complex renders and designs being implemented. The limitation brought upon video game characters and environments looking like blocky shapes slabbed together with no real overall smoothness to their graphics models and assets: pretty much everyone looked like wooden toys. You can argue that the developers and graphic designers did pave the way for great graphical feats seen in the current video game generation, but the butt ugly era is not immune from being sh*tty looking just because it was a transitional stage.

Next is the aesthetic difference between 2D and 3D. While 3D was in its early stages, 2D was thriving quite well. Games such as Street Fighter III, Super Mario RPG, and the Japanese-only sequel to Secret of Mana (Seiken Densetsu 3) had amazingly detailed sprites (two-dimensional images) and animations. A game such as Kirby 3, released at the end of the SNES life cycle, had a particularly unique, stencil-like animation that worked wonderfully.

It looks like a six-year-old drew the game. A VERY TALENTED six-year-old.

Unfortunately, these 2D wonders also happened to be the “peak” of 2D graphical interest: once the PSX and N64 console juggernauts came into play, everyone was raving over 3D graphics, and developers knew what they had to focus on. Nobody can blame them though, since 3D rendering was essentially easier to deal with and developers no longer had to lock their artists in shoddy basements, forcing them by gunpoint to individually draw Kirby's suck-and-blow frames so they can see their families again.

Of course, that means that once 2D peaked, 3D was in its infant stages. People didn't notice how primitive the 3D technology was at this moment in time because, hey, it's 3D polygons and the newest leap in graphics. One of the major reasons why polygonal graphics of that era aged terribly is because of awesome sh*t like this; polygonal graphics and rendering have come a long away, haven't they? It's nowhere near perfection, but it's definitely easier on the eyes than Bubsy 3D.

When it comes down to it, it's much easier for me to play a game from the past that I haven't yet played that didn't fall within the ugly radius of the PSX/N64 era. A friend of mind recommended The Secret of Monkey Island for me to play (because I'm a super idiot for never playing the series before), and when I began playing it, I was impressed with the animations and presentation: though it was from 1990 and in 2D, it was a great looking game with plenty of details in the environments and scenes.

Witty dialogue AND it looks good? Monkey Island owns.

However, another friend recommended for me to play the first Resident Evil (since I've only played the second one onwards), and, well, the graphics were way too dated for me to move on. It wasn't even the gameplay that was turning me off; it was simply because of how terrible Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine and everything else looked in that game. That's probably why there was a remake with an updated graphics engine on the Gamecube; so that people from this generation could stand to play the original if they haven't yet.

Gamers thrive to justify their nostalgia. We love to say that Ocarina of Time, FFVII, and Super Smash Bros 64 are timeless gems that won't look disgusting to most people today. Ironically, some of these same people say they won't even play the original Super Mario Bros, backlog on other Final Fantasy games, or sift through the Mega Man games just because “it's 8-bit” or “it's 2D, so it's outdated.” Regardless, the PSX/N64 era remains butt ugly, doesn't age well at all, and its grotesque visuals transcend even the most powerful barricade of nostalgia.

Basically what I'm trying to say is, if an SNES game and a PSX game got into a fight at a bar over who's prettier, I would kindly ask the PSX game to leave and proceed to console the SNES game*.

*I hope you enjoyed the pun.