@rearnakedwindow Treasure imagined an alternate future where big sprites won out over polygons lmao
In a way you could say a lot of that stuff anticipated modern indie games
Quite recently I was pokin around in that Fist of the North Star branded Yakuza-like, and this was the first time I'd played a game very much of that type since GOD HAND… I legit found myself wishing that everything was snappier and I could dodge cancel out of attack animations and dodging was on the right control stick… no brawler will ever feel the same
@TheFragranceOfDarkCoffee Just played Donkey Kong ‘94 on your recommendation, and you’re absolutely right. It is a great example of the kind of creativity you can get when you see influential and classic games not as static relics, but as forks in the road, where the industry took one path, but a somewhat different one was possible. In that way it feels very similar to a lot of first-gen indie games, e.g. Cave Story (which I reckon was also about 13-ish years removed (maybe on average a little bit more than that) from much of its “source material”).
Vigilante 8. Back when all we had to compare it to was Twisted Metal, it was miles beyond in almost every way.
One particular thing that jumps to mind is the terrain deformation. Certain weapons could blast holes in the ground and that was mind blowing to me in 1998.
Difficult to convey just how good Omega Boost looks in motion with a picture, but what's really modern about the game is the movement. The acceleration of your ship as you orbit targets combined with Panzer Dragoon-like lock-on is tuned in a very contemporary way. But what do you expect of a flying mech shooter from Polyphony Digital?
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Would also put Ace Combat 3 and Wipeout 3 in this category — graphical tricks and control-level nuance that you wouldn't really see until the following generation.