Monday Update #6:D Nov 15 2009 News 4 comments. Woot its monday again, single Force and Fire make a first appearance, Amber White model (Gunstar Yellow) is now about 90% complete!
Sega Genesis Games That Pushed The Limits of Graphics & SoundI have been recently been fascinated by the history of the various machines that have battled for our living rooms. Each machine has had its strengths and weaknesses, and as a programmer, I’m amazed by some of the ways developers have harnessed the power of consoles and pushed them to their limits resulting is some marvelous games.I usually try to emphasize that gameplay is more important that graphical quality. However, I thought it would be interesting to take a look at games that were the most demanding when it came to a console’s limited system resources.Long-time readers of this site may realize this is an expanded and revised article that I am still trying to perfect. That said this project is still a bit of a work in progress, so If you think I missed any games, please feel free to leave a suggestion with an explanation in the comments section. Vectorman & Vectorman 2Release Date: October 24, 1995 & November 15, 1996 respectivelyKey Techincal Features:.
Used pre-rendered 3D models to give the game a “next-gen” look. Pieces of characters individually animated. Beautiful, scrolling backgrounds.
Cranked out more colors with highlight/shadow technique. Huge bossesWhat Makes The Game Special:Vectorman was obviously Sega’s answer to the Donkey Kong Country series and its pre-rendered, 3D-like graphics. Fortunately, for Sega fans, Vectorman not only looked beaufitul, but also provided some animations that were even more impressive than DKC.Vectorman’s developers, Blue Sky Software, made use of an impressive new program called “Vector Piece Software”, which allowed the spheres making up Vectorman’s body to be individually animated.
This software techinique allowed the Vectorman character to move smoothly and glide in and out of his various transformations.According to Vectorman’s head developer, Richard Karpp, A large percentage of the levels implemented a creative use of the Genesis’ scrolling backgrounds For example, it was possible to specify a different scroll offset for each horizontal line, which could give a parallax effect. It was used vertically in a few levels as well, even though vertical scrolling was limited to 8 pixel chunks. Some examples for of its uses were for waterfalls and the conveyor belts.The bosses were all designed around this scrolling technique as well. The first boss that you encounter in the game, which looks like a fighter plane, is actually implemented in the second scrolling playfield, and they used scroll offsets to make it look like it was rotating.One of the more subtle effects we used was the highlight/shadow mode of the Genesis, which allowed the artists to use more on-screen colors than games typically used. To round out the rest of the graphical effects, you can see dust motes above light fixtures, shimmering arctic waterfalls and some impressive lightning effects. This late Genesis title kept Sega fans interested as Sega prepped the Saturn.Gunstar HeroesRelease Date: September 9, 1993Key Techincal Features:. Intense graphical effects such as warping, scalling, and rotation.
Mulit-sprite bosses. Slowdown-inducing combat due to explosions & many character sprites at onceWhat Makes The Game Special: Its nearly impossible to talk about the Genesis and technical mastery and not have Gunstar Heroes come up in the conversation. If there was one developer that knows how to push 2D consoles to their limits, it’s Treasure (the same group that brought you Contra on the NES). This run-n-gun classic has mobs of sprites that litter the screen at any one moment.
The two player game features a moderate amount of slowdown, but it’s not enough to significantly detract from the game.Every graphical element in Gunstar Heroes is impressive: from the rotating, pseudo-polygonal intro logo to the warping, scaling, and rotation effects throughout the actual game. And, much like Metal Slug, the bosses in Gunstar Heroes are made up of tons of sprites that move and jiggle independently. Not only did Gunstar Heroes’ graphical effect enhance the visual appearance of the game, but it also help increase the variety of the gameplay.No other game on the Genesis pushed the system as far as this technical marvel. In fact, nothing on the Super Nintendo scaled objects as well, or moved this fast or smoothly with the possible exception of a few Super FX chip games.Alien SoldierRelease Date: February 24, 1995Key Techincal Features:. Large, well-animated character sprite. High quality sound effects and voicesWhat Makes The Game Special: This run-n-gun is considered one of the hardest games ever developed by the cult-classic factory, Treasure, and was released only in Japan and Europe.
It is very difficult to find in either region.As usual, Treasure really put a lot of creativity into Alien Soldier’s graphics and animation. The characters are large, extremely detailed and fluidly animated. Some excellent choices, I didn’t have a Genesis(Megadrive over here;)) back in the day. But I still managed to get plenty of play time on one. And have been catching up with various retro anthologys etc.I’m suprised that you didn’t mention anything about the sound in Castlevania Bloodlines. Its meant to be some of the best music on the Genesis.I’ve been playing quite a bit of Comix Zone recently.
You made some excellent points about the great subtle effects. My favourite would have the be the trippy water effects.I finished Disney’s Aladdin on the SNES and loved the graphics. I always remember the game had a very rich colour scheme.A few quick fixes,the “Gameplay Video Clips of Vectorman” text isn’t a link. Also “Febryary” nder Alien Soldier’s date.Great read as always.
Hi There!I wanted to mention a few more games that in one or more ways pushed the Mega Drive to its limits:01.Red Zone!!! It’s maybe the best genesis game when talking about grafix and fx and pushing the console to it’s VERY limits, being the second genesis game that has a FMV (the other one’s Sonic 3D)02.Wrestle Mania: The Arcade Game03.Toy Story04.Robocop vs. Terminator05.Primal Rage06.Pitfall07.Lawnmower Man08.Jurassic Park 2: The Lost World09.Hard Drivin’10.Earthworm Jim 1&211.Batman Forever12.TheAdventures of Batman and Robin13.X-Perts14.Sonic 3D BlastI’m happy if I was of help!Cheers, Bob.
Gunstar heroes classic - help the two superhero brothers rescue the world from the sinister empire, which develops super weapons in a huge orbital fortress. Red and Blue, the main heroes of this Android game, challenged the totalitarian empire, which wants to conquer the whole world. They penetrated the space base of the enemy and must destroy the den of villains. Control the heroes during the battles against numerous enemies. Combine weapons of different types to get incredible fire power. Defeat strong bosses. Surprise friends with your records!Game features:.
2 brave heroes. Several difficulty levels. 4 types of weapons.
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