I think the back drops for RE1 aged better, and that’s from 96
Mun0425
Gotta say, i think Unreal in 1998 was the craziest thing ever dropped in the gaming world. This art style and lighting is fantastic though
OoDelRio
Half Life was more immersive anyways
Gb-dmg
Even my goldfish looked more CGI than this.
powerhcm8
I think Thief the dark project.
mufcordie
Finding out that you could go to the back alleys and inside most houses blew my mind as a kid.
Defiant_Bandicoot99
At the time few games looked as good as this.
Middle_Snow2692
Final fantasy 7 looks better than this I’d even argue resident evil 2 as well
Melchior2001
What’s written on that picture is false. You did not have full freedom of motion, this was a pre-rendered background, i.e. just a picture and you ran around empty space. It was very obvious that you are running on top of the picture. The 3D models clashed with it and didn’t blend in at all. And no you couldn’t go anywhere. There were only predetermined spots you could enter and exit the “picture”. This probably looked good in a magazine and was most likely designed as visual marketing.
Who comes up with these nonsense memes?
Mechanized1
It didn’t even look this “good” lol
Soggy_Yak_5577
This was the peak in 1998
EnigmaCross78
I mean going from 2d to 3d in gaming was a huge shock to the system. I remember being sorta overwhelmed playing OoT as a kid.
WhiteCisRadDude4Real
To me, this and the prerendered shot of the temple of time were mind blowingly realistic as a kid.
staggs
Everything in the past was the best it ever was, that was when it was all new. But now what? Games are realistic, but its at a point I’m not sure what else could possibly be done new besides talking to AI-response NPCs? Maybe there are already AI players winning multiplayer games?
Chlamydia_Penis_Wart
The undertaker throwing mankind off hell in a cell into the announcer’s table
Scoobydewdoo
Yes, the original System Shock, Thief 1, Planescape: Torment, Quake, Unreal, and many other PC games.
TriLink710
I mean it was pretty nuts for the era. Hell some modern games dont compete witb OoT
Retrofraction
Um no, Sonic Adventure was released that year. Plus, a plethora of other games had just as good of better graphics that “realistic”.
As a still it’s fine, but everyone who played OOT knows that your locked into a space.
The25003
They did what Final Fantasy 7 did, just have pre rendered backgrounds you move around in a set course. Fun fact, Final Fantasy 7 wasn’t intended to be a Sony exclusive, just that to get what you can do with a disk it would have to have taken like 60 cartridges.
onthegrind7
Yeah, Mystical Ninja: Starring Goemon was also released in 1998 on n64, and it has actual towns, not pre-rendered backgrounds like this.
SurefootTM
If you want pre-rendered backgrounds like this, Myth II.
Otherwise that year was Half Life, Fallout 2, Thief: The Dark Project, Baldur’s Gate and Starcraft. Peak gaming there.
passtheblunt
Metal Gear Solid
billyjack669
Half-Life anyone?
jhawkins93
Viewing this game on a CRT helped a lot with the sharp edges and aliasing. Your brain sort of filled in the rest.
AydinTN
Which Zelda is it
anonkun666
Actually there was
Half life looks much much better and came in 1998
TrainerAiry
Metal Gear Solid would probably have looked more realistic at the time. Spyro the Dragon is more cartoony than either OoT or MGS, but has more freedom of movement and has aged better graphically. But OoT feels the most lively to me.
bearvert222
Shenmue in 1999 was incredible. You literally could go into the main house and inspect its drawers. They really tried to render a small japanese town.
peter-man-hello
OOT being the follow-up to A Link to the Past was truly quite mind-blowing back then. It felt so incredibly big and epic.
Luiaards
In my memory ‘Driver’ on PS1 was also very realistic and large. But that was released a year later.
Dimensionalanxiety
Daggerfall came out in 1996. While its graphics were lower quality, it was seemingly more immersive.
DYMAXIONman
That town looked like shit because the N64 didn’t have enough storage for high quality 2d backgrounds
mkwas343
This was earth shattering for the time. Watching video games progress from the Atari/arcade era to modern pc and console gaming has been kind of a dream come true for this now very old nerdy kid.
OilOk4941
depends on what you mean. because in terms of just graphics sonic adventure and half life both came out in 98 too. and ran at higher res, higher fps, and more detail over all.
edit: oh and unreal too
Pleasant-Put5305
Half life was 1998, that was much bigger and much more detailed. I imagine this quote was aimed at N64 users.
Vlaed
I remember playing the demo version of it at a K-Mart in 1998. 11-year-old me was blown away by the graphics. My neck was killing after staring up at the TV at the top of the case too.
KenjiBenji18
Peak gaming, everything went downhill from here.
SirChancelot11
Still one of my favorite games hands down… Though Majora’s mask was better, but nobody wants to talk about that
SleepyGamer1992
I loved this game a lot as a kid. It was my drug of choice along with Super Smash Bros.
MysticalMystic256
Unreal came out that year too
ScottyC33
Everquest would come out in early march the next year, and the towns/cities in that game had incredible levels of freedom for the time too.
backsing
Counter Strike / Half Life existed in 1998.
darryledw
even to this day my eyes can’t tell the difference (I live in Hyrule)
blitherblather425
I have never been so excited for a video game in my entire life. I knew I was getting it for Christmas that year so I didn’t think about anything else that month. I looked at the pictures of the game in Nintendo power constantly.
Nasty_Ned
Sorry, bro. I was too busy playing Fallout 2.
Tangentkoala
I’d so want a hyper realistic 4k zelda game now.
GrandAlchemist
The original Unreal was released in 1998
The-Car-Guy
OG Gran Turismo releasing in 1997 springs to mind.
48 Comments
I think the back drops for RE1 aged better, and that’s from 96
Gotta say, i think Unreal in 1998 was the craziest thing ever dropped in the gaming world. This art style and lighting is fantastic though
Half Life was more immersive anyways
Even my goldfish looked more CGI than this.
I think Thief the dark project.
Finding out that you could go to the back alleys and inside most houses blew my mind as a kid.
At the time few games looked as good as this.
Final fantasy 7 looks better than this I’d even argue resident evil 2 as well
What’s written on that picture is false. You did not have full freedom of motion, this was a pre-rendered background, i.e. just a picture and you ran around empty space. It was very obvious that you are running on top of the picture. The 3D models clashed with it and didn’t blend in at all. And no you couldn’t go anywhere. There were only predetermined spots you could enter and exit the “picture”. This probably looked good in a magazine and was most likely designed as visual marketing.
Who comes up with these nonsense memes?
It didn’t even look this “good” lol
This was the peak in 1998
I mean going from 2d to 3d in gaming was a huge shock to the system. I remember being sorta overwhelmed playing OoT as a kid.
To me, this and the prerendered shot of the temple of time were mind blowingly realistic as a kid.
Everything in the past was the best it ever was, that was when it was all new. But now what? Games are realistic, but its at a point I’m not sure what else could possibly be done new besides talking to AI-response NPCs? Maybe there are already AI players winning multiplayer games?
The undertaker throwing mankind off hell in a cell into the announcer’s table
Yes, the original System Shock, Thief 1, Planescape: Torment, Quake, Unreal, and many other PC games.
I mean it was pretty nuts for the era. Hell some modern games dont compete witb OoT
Um no, Sonic Adventure was released that year. Plus, a plethora of other games had just as good of better graphics that “realistic”.
As a still it’s fine, but everyone who played OOT knows that your locked into a space.
They did what Final Fantasy 7 did, just have pre rendered backgrounds you move around in a set course. Fun fact, Final Fantasy 7 wasn’t intended to be a Sony exclusive, just that to get what you can do with a disk it would have to have taken like 60 cartridges.
Yeah, Mystical Ninja: Starring Goemon was also released in 1998 on n64, and it has actual towns, not pre-rendered backgrounds like this.
If you want pre-rendered backgrounds like this, Myth II.
Otherwise that year was Half Life, Fallout 2, Thief: The Dark Project, Baldur’s Gate and Starcraft. Peak gaming there.
Metal Gear Solid
Half-Life anyone?
Viewing this game on a CRT helped a lot with the sharp edges and aliasing. Your brain sort of filled in the rest.
Which Zelda is it
Actually there was
Half life looks much much better and came in 1998
Metal Gear Solid would probably have looked more realistic at the time. Spyro the Dragon is more cartoony than either OoT or MGS, but has more freedom of movement and has aged better graphically. But OoT feels the most lively to me.
Shenmue in 1999 was incredible. You literally could go into the main house and inspect its drawers. They really tried to render a small japanese town.
OOT being the follow-up to A Link to the Past was truly quite mind-blowing back then. It felt so incredibly big and epic.
In my memory ‘Driver’ on PS1 was also very realistic and large. But that was released a year later.
Daggerfall came out in 1996. While its graphics were lower quality, it was seemingly more immersive.
That town looked like shit because the N64 didn’t have enough storage for high quality 2d backgrounds
This was earth shattering for the time. Watching video games progress from the Atari/arcade era to modern pc and console gaming has been kind of a dream come true for this now very old nerdy kid.
depends on what you mean. because in terms of just graphics sonic adventure and half life both came out in 98 too. and ran at higher res, higher fps, and more detail over all.
edit: oh and unreal too
Half life was 1998, that was much bigger and much more detailed. I imagine this quote was aimed at N64 users.
I remember playing the demo version of it at a K-Mart in 1998. 11-year-old me was blown away by the graphics. My neck was killing after staring up at the TV at the top of the case too.
Peak gaming, everything went downhill from here.
Still one of my favorite games hands down… Though Majora’s mask was better, but nobody wants to talk about that
I loved this game a lot as a kid. It was my drug of choice along with Super Smash Bros.
Unreal came out that year too
Everquest would come out in early march the next year, and the towns/cities in that game had incredible levels of freedom for the time too.
Counter Strike / Half Life existed in 1998.
even to this day my eyes can’t tell the difference (I live in Hyrule)
I have never been so excited for a video game in my entire life. I knew I was getting it for Christmas that year so I didn’t think about anything else that month. I looked at the pictures of the game in Nintendo power constantly.
Sorry, bro. I was too busy playing Fallout 2.
I’d so want a hyper realistic 4k zelda game now.
The original Unreal was released in 1998
OG Gran Turismo releasing in 1997 springs to mind.