What do you think of pre-rendered graphics? Did you like them when they were new? Do you like them now? Should more games be made in this fashion? Or would that be redundant since systems like the PS4 have the UNLIMITED POWER of the future? Is chocolate better than vanilla? Is pie better than cake?
I didn't care about prerendered graphic as itself, but i remember priding myself about having a genesis and being able to play vectorman 1 and 2. I thought it was the way of the future for gaming.
In the 90s me and my firends played some games just for the "super awesome" FMV-cutsceens. Do anyone care about FMV-cutsceens and pre-rendered graphics in the same way today? I'm not sure.
@@darrnellnott07 this, except that I like my churros slathered with milk caramel. Anything slathered with milk caramel is good, really - even prerendered graphics!
@@Miraak22 mmm, I've always thought of them as more like a TV show: 1. High production values 2. They have the air of presenters - getting out of the way of the content - rather than UA-cam 'personalities' 3. Quality content delivered without begging for likes or excessive plugs for merch 4. The format / structure feels TV-like in a way I can't articulate
I agree. These guys remind me of the video game magazines back in the day, just genuine cool reviews by genuine nerds. Today I feel like people are SO fake they always putting up some kind of front (always trying to be funny, are asskissers for likes and subscribes)
Shame they had to plug a Switch game at the end though. UA-camrs who plug the Switch are nearly always terrible, I come to them to get away from that crap.
@@JoeyJ0J0 Ya know, that is one of a test for these developers and artists to pass. If they could make something 20 years ago and still have it look great today, they did something right. Especially when you see how far graphics have come. It goes to show how important game design. The realism of the graphics doesn't make a good game. It is more about game design and the art style itself.
I just don't like the 3rd one. Too old now to care for the baby character. Even when I first played in back in the 90's I felt it was corny. THe first 2 are great, though :)
It still surprises me how many people don’t care for the 3rd one. I definitely have some nostalgia as I first played it at a friends house as a kid (that was how I found out the game even existed, which was a cool moment). But even as an adult, playing the 3 in order recently I found the 3rd game to be such a refreshing change of pace compared to the often times punishing difficulty of those later DKC2 stages. The visuals are candy, the island theme is soothing (which was well needed) and that music is great right from the title screens. I really enjoyed playing it, it was more fun than stressful, despite the child like bent. The only thing I can say I genuinely disliked about DKC3 is that elephant who’s afraid of mice. But overall I really found it to be a joy to play and enjoyed the new tricks and gimmicks.
I hope we get an episode focusing on console-based backwards compatability methods someday. It feels like it's been a VERY long time since we've gotten a hardware-focused episode.
I truly believe the DKC trilogy completely holds up in terms of graphics. I play them on Wii U, and I still am blown away by the visuals and art design. Maybe I'm biased, as I don't really enjoy modern games, but still...
you should try modern 2d games like Ori and the blind Forest, Hollow Knight, Odin Sphere, i assure youll love them, also newer pixel art games like shovel knight, celeste and dead cells
The problem with pre rendered graphics on the Megadrive was that the console's colour pallette made it look worse to me in comparison to Donkey Kong Country
The colour palette of the Sega genesis has 63 colour, horrible , what were they thinking ? PC engine has a 128 colour palette and SNES 256 . Pretending to have movie style game with 63 colour was the worst idea ever
@@MzuMzu-nx1em The Mega Drive palettes are perfectly fine otherwise it wouldn't boast many of the best-looking games of its time (Sonic series, Streets of Rage 2, Devil Crash MD, Thunder Force IV, Super Fantasy Zone, Panorama Cotton, Mickey Mania, Ristar, Flink, Mega Turrican and so on...) and even with FMV games they still work well as long as the best video codecs are used as with Ground Zero Texas or Tomcat Alley for instance. Also the color advantage that other systems can have is lessened since these systems are meant to be displayed on CRT screens which smooth out the visuals with their scanlines + typical glow. And aside from colors, the Mega Drive has the edge over the PC Engine in basically every other aspects (and even colors wise, many multiplats have better graphics on Mega Drive such as Strider, Golden Axe, Puyo Puyo 1 and 2, Atomic Robo-Kid and so on...) and it has the edge over the SNES in the areas that matter more: CPU, resolution, sprite flexibility... (and also, IMO, much cooler sound!). The resolution in particular is very interesting since most PC Engine games and 99,99% SNES games are stuck in a limited and flawed resolution of 256x224 pixels which makes for limited screen estate and stretched graphics with often wrong aspect ratio once in 4:3 whereas the Mega Drive mostly use 320x224 pixels meaning wider screen estate and good aspect ratio once in 4:3. In short: Sega were thinking right when they designed the Mega Drive with wisely chosen priorities. And it's crazy because it was released more than 2 years before its main competitor, the SNES, and was overall the less expensive system of its time. And it still kickass to this day with awesome homebrews such as Pier Solar, Tanglewood, Omega Blast or the forthcoming Xeno Crisis!
@@ryzmaker11 This. I'd argue that colour palettes *are* an issue whenever gritty, realistic graphics come into play, but at least that ugly dithered effect (the weird checkerboard shading) seen in those games works way better on a CRT. The Genesis/MD may have had its limitations, but for launching in 1988, it's pretty impressive all around. A well-balanced design.
@@3dmarth As far as 4th gen ("16-bit") graphics go, the Mega Drive palettes are suitable for everything including pre-rendered/digitized graphics which can be considered as the most demanding ones and as demonstrated in games such as Sonic 3D: Flickies’ Island, Toy Story, Jurassic Park, VR Troopers or Tomcat Alley. Also having to work under certain color restrictions gives to the games a distinctive look that I personally love. And this along with the Mega Drive distinctive sound really makes for a system with a strong personality. This is something that, sadly, disappeared later on when everything started to be "standardized", especially from the PS2 era and onwards. This is why to me the 3rd, 4th and, to a lesser extent, 5th generations will always be special. As for dithering, every systems up to the N64 use dithering, notably on NEC PC-88/98, Commodore Amiga or Mega Drive but also PC Engine or SNES (there are many SNES games that use dithering including Super Mario World, Star Fox, Prince of Persia or the Final Fight trilogy). Dithering is a good way to create shading as long as it's done right and CRT screens smooth out such effects for great results. Every systems have their limitations but overall the Mega Drive hardware has the best balance out of its generation and multiplatform games is a good way to witness this (Golden Axe, Hellfire, Strider, Puyo Puyo, Gods, Earthworm Jim, FIFA, Mickey Mania and many others... (check out my playlist "VG comparisons | 4th gen")).
I still love the way DKC looks. Rare did a great job. Of course the tight controls and amazing music also helps add to the enjoyable experience. I think that, and StarFox, helped Nintendo avoid the awkward early CD-ROM years, and get a bit more mileage out of the SNES. before moving onto the N64.
Dear Gamesack... I write this letter out out of love.. You are my favorite gaming show ever.. The best.. I think i may sound dumb.. but i just wish you would give each game about 20 more seconds and include more of your own dry sense of humor.. you guys are the best... i cant even complain. NEVERMIND!!! SACK FOREVER!! CACACACACACACOMBO BREAKER!
Not sure Vectorman is a great example. He's a bunch of ball sprites animated by movement. Sonic 3D Blast would have been a much better example on the Genesis.
Toy Story too. Never really noticed how refined those visuals were until Game Hut started making videos about those old Traveler's Tales games, but man, it's impressive for that hardware.
Like a lot of technologies there's more examples of growing pains than refined examples, Diablo 2 was probably one of the best and holds up nicely. DKC works well not just from being more cartoon based but also a lot of care to make sure the details are big enough to show up at that resolution. Yeah that plastic look, exactly why Toy Story was done before any other Pixar film, just couldn't avoid that sheen yet. Seemed to work better on 32-bit systems as the color demands are high for the method just like video sprites, basically why Genesis examples don't look so great. :\ They used a lot rendering to a black background but my buddy figured rendering to transparency would have lightened the results especially in the outer fringes.
Abe's Oddysee still looks good today. Doom 64 and Age of empires also used pre-rendered graphics and I like how they look even today. Another one is Blood Omen, the cinematics are ugly but the game itself hasn't lost its charm.
@@masterneme Sanitarium was good too, some nice palettization work there that still has color, easy to get a grey haze often like Rollercoaster Tycoon. 480p was really a nice step up for the pre-rendering pre & post 2000 era of PC gaming, Grim Fandango and Starcraft hold up very nicely, or Fallout2, Heart of Darkness, and Planescape: Torment to name a few more. Yeah Doom 64 was great, would have liked to see more of that visual route with richer polygon environments and 3D Sprites, Disruptor was pretty good on PS1.
It Could be avoided, it just that without it youll lost that "CGI" fell that you are selling on the box, is like especial effects on hollywood movies that a lot time are done "just not perfect" so people notice them, if the effects are perfect no one is gonna notice them (as they SHOULD, i remembre clearly looking at the monstrosities in transformer movies or the plain bad effects in the Matrix movies and people going WHOA WHAT GREAT EFFECTS, but in movies like Guardians of the Galaxy, or the first 2 pirates of the caribbean no one noticed the astounding amount of onscreen effects
@@enriquedossantos3283 Do you work on CGI since you sound concerned? Me I'm a practical effects fan so all the CGI looks cartoony and unreal to me next to real people, I really much prefer CGI for animated features, Smallfoot was pretty good. :D I ALWAYS notice CGI but good story telling can distract me from it like GOTG1&2 are decent but those Pirates movies are awful, the first one was fun but they just keep making terrible, terrible sequels. Transformers yuck. :P I don't see much work going into avoiding how fake CGI looks as they seem to aim straight at highlighting the fact with generic unchanging lighting on green screen actors, no deep shadows, unmotivated 360 camera moves, and putting CGI objects directly in front of the camera for closeups. CGI is just cheaper & easier IE. worse looking but higher density per second per dollar.
Pre-rendered graphics are fine when done right. When I think of pre-rendered graphics I think of Pulstar on the Neo Geo and Prehistoric Isle 2 or the mediocre fighting game Ragnagard. As always thank you guys for another great Game Sack episode.
The problem with pre-rendered graphics on the 16-bit consoles was the limited color palette, especially on the Genesis/MD. Just look at Donkey Kong and Vectorman. I'm sure the Vectorman devs did what they could, but with so few colors available, it couldn't look good. Most levels are either dark, grey or blue. The sequel is even worse, it's mostly brown or black.
I picked up both Vectorman 1 & 2 at the Mile High Flea Market years ago for $2 apiece. I've never even played 'em yet. I need to change that cuz they look pretty cool! Like digitized sprites, I'm a sucker for pre-rendered graphics. I just dig it.
Vector man is really fucking cool when it came out. Every store had a Sega demo set-up and I played it. Very iconic at the time... sad that time is its only real enemy
Yes! I love when there is new Gamesack episodes available. I've been following GS for many years now and I've learned lots if things and discovered lots of new games thanks to you. GameSack is great!
🎶🎵 *Play hard, with the feeling, Play hard, you've got nothin' to lose, Play hard, with the feeling, Be a boy or a man, it's up to you... PLAY HARD!* 🎵🎶 [Orchids theme]
Well... in 1993 the Amiga computer (yes, I'm from Europe) was still my main gaming system. In that year the game Stardust, made by Finnish (how's that for "exotic"?) programming team Bloodhouse (brutal name!), was released. It used raytracing techniques (a form of pre-rendering surely) to create unbelievably realistic looking asteroids. Which was really cool, because this game is basically an enhanced Asteroids but beautiful looking. With a stomping soundtrack and a brutal difficulty level. There were also pre-rendered 3D tunnel sequences that looked so good, they still make console owners of the day insanely jealous! Thanks for yet another super entertaining episode guys!
I just can't get enough of game sack already watched all the videos when all the way back to the beginning took me awhile but did it..love you guys.. keep it up.
Finally figured out the difference between digitized and pre-rendered huh? Digitized is real world things turned into graphics ala Mortal Kombat. pre-rendered is 3D models turned into sprites.
Awesome video! One of my favorite pre-rendered games on the SNES was Rendering Ranger R2, developed by Manfred Trenz, who also did the Super Turrican series. Try it out, if you can get a copy!
My dad gave me his old Killer Instinct cartridge for the SNES. I got a Yobo TwinFam in 2020 to play it on and I was surprised to see that it saved all of his and my cousins' high scores from when they previously played it... from before I was even born. It's still on the original battery as I speak!
@11:40 , Johnny Bazookatone, my god it took me forever to figure out how to play that stage. You need to keep giving the boatman a coin while shooting off a bunch of enemies. It's so easy to get knocked off too! At the beginning I thought you just keep shooting the gun to glide across as you show here as well....
I love the way you put the actual game in the machine that you are talking about. It's these little things that make your videos and channel one of the best. Keep up the good work boys, big fan from Hull England
Who knew that the plot of Disney Pixar’s Wall-E was inspired by Vectorman! And Killer Instinct was one of the first games I owned growing up. I think it aged pretty well imo.
If only the Ultra 64 could actually handle the arcade versions of KI 1 and 2, it would've been glorious. My friend who owned a playstation was laughing hard that day.
@@gozinta82 That wasn't exactly the case. Nintendo decided because of the N64's late launch that Killer Instinct would be ported over to the SNES and Nintendo didn't see a need for Killer Instinct 1 to be ported over to the N64. Killer Instinct Gold was based on Killer Instinct 2 but was degraded due to memory rom space on the cartridge. Nintendo released the Expansion Pak to eliminate the memory limitations of the N64 later on but it was too late. Killer Instinct 1 was developed for N64DD but N64DD never released in the U.S. and those who have them had obtained them from developers. I personally have played the N64 DD version of Killer Instinct at a retired developers home in Utah and it was Arcade perfect. He wanted to sell it to me with every N64 DD game that was created including the N64 for only $50. In my ignorance, I told him no thinking I could get a hold of these games using emulators but I was wrong.
I loved these games back then, especially for the graphics. Heck, it's why when I create my own games I use pre-rendered graphics myself, so I really appreciate this episode. Thanks guys!
The Westminster Mall's Arcade was awesome, I loved going there! I didn't get to go very often because it was so far (I lived in Commerce City) but most of my Arcade time was at the Arcade at the Thornton Town Center (My bro worked at the laser tag place next door so I spent much time hanging out there)
who the frick does not like GameSack???? why the thumbs down?? is it those bad boys Game Chaser guys? I'll have to subscribe to them and show them thing or two.
First Game Sack video for me,I have to say I enjoyed it and look forward to going through your back log. Believe it or not Billy's fake satire "worst game sack videos" made me subscribe..lol
Vectorman looks AMAZING, especially for a Genesis game! It uses basically every graphical trick/effect the Genesis can pull off (real-time lighting! sprite scaling and rotation! multi-jointed, fluidly-animated goodness!), and for that alone I think it's worthy of a playthrough or two!
I still remember how mind blowing DKC's pre-rendered backgrounds looked at the time on SNES when they were brand new. This was still years before we'd get the famous RE1 on PS1 with pre-rendered backgrounds as well, so it was pretty impressive and wasn't being taken for granted yet.
@@txcforever yeah, Genesis games in general benefit a lot from playing on an actual CRT (or using some kind of TV filter with your emulator), as it blends near pixels with each other, and results in games looking like they're using more colors than they actually are. The waterfalls in Sonic are a great example of developers using this to their advantage back in the day.
Yes, Thunder was the best character in Killer Instinct, but the best fighter game on the N64 can only be Clay Fighter 63⅓ ..and I have impeccable taste, so.. *sips wine* However, I do applaud your new appreciation for Vectorman, because that game is honestly rad. And since I used the word "rad", you know what I'm saying is true and not at all based on any influences from the 90's that have ultimately created who I am today... a person who says rad without a hint of irony. Also, great video, medium t-shirts until I die.
It is insane seeing all of these games, looking at these pre-rendered graphics, then seeing something like 'Senuas Saga' and knowing ALL OF IT is done in engine..I know people say it often, but damn, we have come a long way!
20:25 i like how the nodes on the side of the ship have sparks coming off of them as they scrape the wall when the ship goes through that small passage. very nice attention to detail
What no "Ballz" 😂😂😂 ... i hated all games that used this method except Vectorman .. they all had that poorly cropped photoshop look and stiff animations ... Ve torman didnt have any of these problems
My roommate shat on my bathroom floor, my grandfather in law succumbed to cancer, and GameSack is here to lull me to sleep. If I sleep I shall wake up and thank//hate myself for falling asleep. At least ad blocker is off. Keep up the stellar work of cataloguing the illustrious past of games.
I hope we get another episode on games like this. I still love the aesthetics of old pre-rendered games. Maybe it's because I grew up with early CGI movies like Toy Story and whatnot, and have a certain nostalgia for them, but I can appreciate how good they looked for the time. My favorite game to use pre-rendered graphics, and perhaps my favorite game in general, would have to be Golden Sun on the Game Boy Advance.
A GREAT pre-rendered graphics game you missed is *Mr Bones* for the Saturn. The gameplay is varied (but not all stages are perfect) the main character is a bro and the soundtrack is killer.
Nice to see Baku Baku get a mention! That game is a blast with a friend. Speaking of Johnny Bazookatone, if anyone wants their eyes to bleed, try the 3DO version. Not only is the visual quality questionable like with the other versions, but the low framerate will really do a number on one's senses.
What do you think of pre-rendered graphics? Did you like them when they were new? Do you like them now? Should more games be made in this fashion? Or would that be redundant since systems like the PS4 have the UNLIMITED POWER of the future? Is chocolate better than vanilla? Is pie better than cake?
Yes. Yes. No. No. No. No. Chocolate. Neither: churro
I didn't care about prerendered graphic as itself, but i remember priding myself about having a genesis and being able to play vectorman 1 and 2. I thought it was the way of the future for gaming.
It scared me as a kid. Donkey Kong gave me nightmares.
In the 90s me and my firends played some games just for the "super awesome" FMV-cutsceens. Do anyone care about FMV-cutsceens and pre-rendered graphics in the same way today? I'm not sure.
@@darrnellnott07 this, except that I like my churros slathered with milk caramel.
Anything slathered with milk caramel is good, really - even prerendered graphics!
i love watching you guys. no dramaturge competition, no begging for subscribing and likes. just pure, simple gaming stuff. fan forever!
That's why i hope some tv channel buys their show and fund them, they definitely deserve it.
Videos should be able to out-live the site they're posted on.
If you fill it up asking for MySpace "likes" it's not going to age well.
@@Miraak22 mmm, I've always thought of them as more like a TV show:
1. High production values
2. They have the air of presenters - getting out of the way of the content - rather than UA-cam 'personalities'
3. Quality content delivered without begging for likes or excessive plugs for merch
4. The format / structure feels TV-like in a way I can't articulate
I agree. These guys remind me of the video game magazines back in the day, just genuine cool reviews by genuine nerds. Today I feel like people are SO fake they always putting up some kind of front (always trying to be funny, are asskissers for likes and subscribes)
Shame they had to plug a Switch game at the end though. UA-camrs who plug the Switch are nearly always terrible, I come to them to get away from that crap.
I think DK Country still looks good today.
People today play minecraft and roblox... Let no one make fun of DK country or Earthworm Jim etc, those graphics fucking rule.
@@pizzahighfive2612 or even Metal Slug ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
@@Abel-Alvarez Metal Slug is the height of pixel-art. But it is not pre-rendered.
It still looks fantastic
@@JoeyJ0J0 Ya know, that is one of a test for these developers and artists to pass. If they could make something 20 years ago and still have it look great today, they did something right. Especially when you see how far graphics have come. It goes to show how important game design. The realism of the graphics doesn't make a good game. It is more about game design and the art style itself.
I still find the Donkey Kong Country trilogy to a fun and beautiful series.
I agree.
Yes, they aren't VR 3D 4k 60FPS. But they still look really colorful and pleasant to the eye.
I just don't like the 3rd one. Too old now to care for the baby character. Even when I first played in back in the 90's I felt it was corny. THe first 2 are great, though :)
It still surprises me how many people don’t care for the 3rd one. I definitely have some nostalgia as I first played it at a friends house as a kid (that was how I found out the game even existed, which was a cool moment). But even as an adult, playing the 3 in order recently I found the 3rd game to be such a refreshing change of pace compared to the often times punishing difficulty of those later DKC2 stages. The visuals are candy, the island theme is soothing (which was well needed) and that music is great right from the title screens. I really enjoyed playing it, it was more fun than stressful, despite the child like bent. The only thing I can say I genuinely disliked about DKC3 is that elephant who’s afraid of mice. But overall I really found it to be a joy to play and enjoyed the new tricks and gimmicks.
Yep! I think the first three look gorgeous. Maybe it’s nostalgia goggles, but it makes me feel good.
+Robert Anthony
You are not alone. It's apparent and lot of effort and love was put into that series. The graphics and animation still impress me!
Can we get 10 hours of Dave dancing? Asking for a friend.
I second this...also asking for a friend.
Best part of the episode. Praising for a friend.
yes to this. Asking for myself.
tactical dot .
:) smiling for a friend.
Killer Instinct Gold was so much fun. Way better than Rise of the Robots.
rise 2 was pretty competent tho
Who ever said that Rise of the Robots is better than Killer Instinct Gold? :D
Watching 2 fruit flies fight is better than Rise of the Robots. That's a low bar to hurdle... like, the bar is on the floor.
@@MrRedFoxorMrelzorrorojo ditch is probably more apt than bar for R.O.T.R. :-)
@@beezle1976 Yeah, and a deep ditch too.
"What are pre-rendered graphics?"
In terms we'd understand today? Stop-motion sprites done with CGI.
That’s a terrible way of explaining it, my friend.
In actual modern terms:
Pictures of 3D models
I need a gif of Dave dabbing to throw over the haters
Cringe
I hope we get an episode focusing on console-based backwards compatability methods someday. It feels like it's been a VERY long time since we've gotten a hardware-focused episode.
The Genesis episode was pretty recent.
Tomba! For the ps1 was a good one!
Oh wow I forgot about that one. Awesome
I truly believe the DKC trilogy completely holds up in terms of graphics. I play them on Wii U, and I still am blown away by the visuals and art design. Maybe I'm biased, as I don't really enjoy modern games, but still...
the still do look amazing
I agree.
you should try modern 2d games like Ori and the blind Forest, Hollow Knight, Odin Sphere, i assure youll love them, also newer pixel art games like shovel knight, celeste and dead cells
It was great to see Ron Perlman from Blade at the end of the video
The problem with pre rendered graphics on the Megadrive was that the console's colour pallette made it look worse to me in comparison to Donkey Kong Country
The colour palette of the Sega genesis has 63 colour, horrible , what were they thinking ? PC engine has a 128 colour palette and SNES 256 . Pretending to have movie style game with 63 colour was the worst idea ever
@@MzuMzu-nx1em The Mega Drive palettes are perfectly fine otherwise it wouldn't boast many of the best-looking games of its time (Sonic series, Streets of Rage 2, Devil Crash MD, Thunder Force IV, Super Fantasy Zone, Panorama Cotton, Mickey Mania, Ristar, Flink, Mega Turrican and so on...) and even with FMV games they still work well as long as the best video codecs are used as with Ground Zero Texas or Tomcat Alley for instance.
Also the color advantage that other systems can have is lessened since these systems are meant to be displayed on CRT screens which smooth out the visuals with their scanlines + typical glow.
And aside from colors, the Mega Drive has the edge over the PC Engine in basically every other aspects (and even colors wise, many multiplats have better graphics on Mega Drive such as Strider, Golden Axe, Puyo Puyo 1 and 2, Atomic Robo-Kid and so on...) and it has the edge over the SNES in the areas that matter more: CPU, resolution, sprite flexibility... (and also, IMO, much cooler sound!).
The resolution in particular is very interesting since most PC Engine games and 99,99% SNES games are stuck in a limited and flawed resolution of 256x224 pixels which makes for limited screen estate and stretched graphics with often wrong aspect ratio once in 4:3 whereas the Mega Drive mostly use 320x224 pixels meaning wider screen estate and good aspect ratio once in 4:3.
In short: Sega were thinking right when they designed the Mega Drive with wisely chosen priorities. And it's crazy because it was released more than 2 years before its main competitor, the SNES, and was overall the less expensive system of its time. And it still kickass to this day with awesome homebrews such as Pier Solar, Tanglewood, Omega Blast or the forthcoming Xeno Crisis!
Matthew Simplay yeah I’m surprised Joe didn’t mention that
@@ryzmaker11 This.
I'd argue that colour palettes *are* an issue whenever gritty, realistic graphics come into play, but at least that ugly dithered effect (the weird checkerboard shading) seen in those games works way better on a CRT.
The Genesis/MD may have had its limitations, but for launching in 1988, it's pretty impressive all around. A well-balanced design.
@@3dmarth As far as 4th gen ("16-bit") graphics go, the Mega Drive palettes are suitable for everything including pre-rendered/digitized graphics which can be considered as the most demanding ones and as demonstrated in games such as Sonic 3D: Flickies’ Island, Toy Story, Jurassic Park, VR Troopers or Tomcat Alley.
Also having to work under certain color restrictions gives to the games a distinctive look that I personally love. And this along with the Mega Drive distinctive sound really makes for a system with a strong personality. This is something that, sadly, disappeared later on when everything started to be "standardized", especially from the PS2 era and onwards. This is why to me the 3rd, 4th and, to a lesser extent, 5th generations will always be special.
As for dithering, every systems up to the N64 use dithering, notably on NEC PC-88/98, Commodore Amiga or Mega Drive but also PC Engine or SNES (there are many SNES games that use dithering including Super Mario World, Star Fox, Prince of Persia or the Final Fight trilogy). Dithering is a good way to create shading as long as it's done right and CRT screens smooth out such effects for great results.
Every systems have their limitations but overall the Mega Drive hardware has the best balance out of its generation and multiplatform games is a good way to witness this (Golden Axe, Hellfire, Strider, Puyo Puyo, Gods, Earthworm Jim, FIFA, Mickey Mania and many others... (check out my playlist "VG comparisons | 4th gen")).
I still love the way DKC looks. Rare did a great job. Of course the tight controls and amazing music also helps add to the enjoyable experience. I think that, and StarFox, helped Nintendo avoid the awkward early CD-ROM years, and get a bit more mileage out of the SNES. before moving onto the N64.
One thing I miss is pre rendered backgrounds. They were so beautiful.
We love you game sack!
Thank you for continuing to release great content!
Who’s we?
Me and your mother.
I wanna see a game sack with pre rendered graphics
Dear Gamesack... I write this letter out out of love.. You are my favorite gaming show ever.. The best.. I think i may sound dumb.. but i just wish you would give each game about 20 more seconds and include more of your own dry sense of humor.. you guys are the best... i cant even complain. NEVERMIND!!! SACK FOREVER!! CACACACACACACOMBO BREAKER!
Not sure Vectorman is a great example. He's a bunch of ball sprites animated by movement. Sonic 3D Blast would have been a much better example on the Genesis.
Sonic 3D came to my mind too. It's not really 3D it's just pre rendered land.
Toy Story too. Never really noticed how refined those visuals were until Game Hut started making videos about those old Traveler's Tales games, but man, it's impressive for that hardware.
@@barry-allenthe-flash8396 oh yea. Toy Story game looks really nice.
15:56
PEAK MALE PERFORMANCE: DABBING DAVE
Dave in the house !
Like a lot of technologies there's more examples of growing pains than refined examples, Diablo 2 was probably one of the best and holds up nicely. DKC works well not just from being more cartoon based but also a lot of care to make sure the details are big enough to show up at that resolution. Yeah that plastic look, exactly why Toy Story was done before any other Pixar film, just couldn't avoid that sheen yet. Seemed to work better on 32-bit systems as the color demands are high for the method just like video sprites, basically why Genesis examples don't look so great. :\ They used a lot rendering to a black background but my buddy figured rendering to transparency would have lightened the results especially in the outer fringes.
Abe's Oddysee still looks good today. Doom 64 and Age of empires also used pre-rendered graphics and I like how they look even today. Another one is Blood Omen, the cinematics are ugly but the game itself hasn't lost its charm.
@@masterneme Sanitarium was good too, some nice palettization work there that still has color, easy to get a grey haze often like Rollercoaster Tycoon. 480p was really a nice step up for the pre-rendering pre & post 2000 era of PC gaming, Grim Fandango and Starcraft hold up very nicely, or Fallout2, Heart of Darkness, and Planescape: Torment to name a few more.
Yeah Doom 64 was great, would have liked to see more of that visual route with richer polygon environments and 3D Sprites, Disruptor was pretty good on PS1.
Never heard of Disruptor, I'll check it out.
It Could be avoided, it just that without it youll lost that "CGI" fell that you are selling on the box, is like especial effects on hollywood movies that a lot time are done "just not perfect" so people notice them, if the effects are perfect no one is gonna notice them (as they SHOULD, i remembre clearly looking at the monstrosities in transformer movies or the plain bad effects in the Matrix movies and people going WHOA WHAT GREAT EFFECTS, but in movies like Guardians of the Galaxy, or the first 2 pirates of the caribbean no one noticed the astounding amount of onscreen effects
@@enriquedossantos3283 Do you work on CGI since you sound concerned? Me I'm a practical effects fan so all the CGI looks cartoony and unreal to me next to real people, I really much prefer CGI for animated features, Smallfoot was pretty good. :D
I ALWAYS notice CGI but good story telling can distract me from it like GOTG1&2 are decent but those Pirates movies are awful, the first one was fun but they just keep making terrible, terrible sequels. Transformers yuck. :P
I don't see much work going into avoiding how fake CGI looks as they seem to aim straight at highlighting the fact with generic unchanging lighting on green screen actors, no deep shadows, unmotivated 360 camera moves, and putting CGI objects directly in front of the camera for closeups. CGI is just cheaper & easier IE. worse looking but higher density per second per dollar.
Pre-rendered graphics are fine when done right. When I think of pre-rendered graphics I think of Pulstar on the Neo Geo and Prehistoric Isle 2 or the mediocre fighting game Ragnagard. As always thank you guys for another great Game Sack episode.
The problem with pre-rendered graphics on the 16-bit consoles was the limited color palette, especially on the Genesis/MD. Just look at Donkey Kong and Vectorman.
I'm sure the Vectorman devs did what they could, but with so few colors available, it couldn't look good. Most levels are either dark, grey or blue. The sequel is even worse, it's mostly brown or black.
Sonic 3D blast was at least bright.
I picked up both Vectorman 1 & 2 at the Mile High Flea Market years ago for $2 apiece. I've never even played 'em yet. I need to change that cuz they look pretty cool! Like digitized sprites, I'm a sucker for pre-rendered graphics. I just dig it.
You're likely to live them, particularly the first one. Would be interesting to watch on your channel.
Vectorman was like the only game my dad tried to play when I was growing up, but he got stuck in the water level and called it quits lol
Vector man is really fucking cool when it came out. Every store had a Sega demo set-up and I played it. Very iconic at the time... sad that time is its only real enemy
@@pizzahighfive2612 time might still be it's friend. Since Sega keeps re releasing it over and over and over and over lol. I have it on 360 atm
Yes! I love when there is new Gamesack episodes available. I've been following GS for many years now and I've learned lots if things and discovered lots of new games thanks to you. GameSack is great!
Joe, had to pause to say, the more fit you get, the more you are starting to look like Chuck Norris. Beard ‘n all. Long live Chuck....
Fit????? Lol that cracked me up.
Yeah he looks like chuck norris
pre-rendered graphic is my favorite kind of graphics. Thanks Game Sack!
agree
The best part of this video for me is when Dave dances while the killer cuts track was playing. ..LOL
🎶🎵 *Play hard, with the feeling, Play hard, you've got nothin' to lose, Play hard, with the feeling, Be a boy or a man, it's up to you... PLAY HARD!* 🎵🎶 [Orchids theme]
Well... in 1993 the Amiga computer (yes, I'm from Europe) was still my main gaming system. In that year the game Stardust, made by Finnish (how's that for "exotic"?) programming team Bloodhouse (brutal name!), was released. It used raytracing techniques (a form of pre-rendering surely) to create unbelievably realistic looking asteroids. Which was really cool, because this game is basically an enhanced Asteroids but beautiful looking. With a stomping soundtrack and a brutal difficulty level. There were also pre-rendered 3D tunnel sequences that looked so good, they still make console owners of the day insanely jealous!
Thanks for yet another super entertaining episode guys!
🎵🎶Killer! Killer! 🎶🎵😂😂
🎵yeah! yeah! yeah!🎵
🎵To The Killer Grove🎵
Absolute gold 😂😂😂
No joke, I still keep the OST in my car for anytime I wanna get in the killer groove behind the wheel
@@metalslugfest I have this song on my phone in case I go to the gym
I like the back and forth banter in this episode - you guys should bring that back
I think Shock Troopers 2 and Prehistoric Isle 2 looks quite good for prerendered graphics.
Pulstar and Blazing Star also look great .
I just can't get enough of game sack already watched all the videos when all the way back to the beginning took me awhile but did it..love you guys.. keep it up.
Finally figured out the difference between digitized and pre-rendered huh?
Digitized is real world things turned into graphics ala Mortal Kombat.
pre-rendered is 3D models turned into sprites.
Well, technically BOTH are digitized, but only one can be pre-rendered.
I keep coming back to this video just for that bit of Dave dancing at 15:52. God damn that always makes me day.
I’m with you Dave, killer instinct is the best fighter on n64.
It's sad the system doesn't have many fighters to begin with.
Ah, Joe and Dave, my favorite pre-rendered hosts
Awesome video! One of my favorite pre-rendered games on the SNES was Rendering Ranger R2, developed by Manfred Trenz, who also did the Super Turrican series. Try it out, if you can get a copy!
That is if you can afford a copy, it’s crazy expensive.
My dad gave me his old Killer Instinct cartridge for the SNES. I got a Yobo TwinFam in 2020 to play it on and I was surprised to see that it saved all of his and my cousins' high scores from when they previously played it... from before I was even born. It's still on the original battery as I speak!
@11:40 , Johnny Bazookatone, my god it took me forever to figure out how to play that stage. You need to keep giving the boatman a coin while shooting off a bunch of enemies. It's so easy to get knocked off too! At the beginning I thought you just keep shooting the gun to glide across as you show here as well....
Thanks guys. Every Gamesack Sunday is a little better than normal.
Blazing Stars and Shock Troopers 2nd Squad are my favorites !!!
I love the way you put the actual game in the machine that you are talking about. It's these little things that make your videos and channel one of the best. Keep up the good work boys, big fan from Hull England
Somehow I found this graphic style charming... on backgrounds.
Man the music cd skit was gold. Miss Dave but love Joe still has this going. You guys are amazing!
Who knew that the plot of Disney Pixar’s Wall-E was inspired by Vectorman! And Killer Instinct was one of the first games I owned growing up. I think it aged pretty well imo.
And Wall-E itself was a mini Johnny 5
Mike won't get mad at you for talking to other game channels?
If only the Ultra 64 could actually handle the arcade versions of KI 1 and 2, it would've been glorious. My friend who owned a playstation was laughing hard that day.
@@gozinta82 That wasn't exactly the case. Nintendo decided because of the N64's late launch that Killer Instinct would be ported over to the SNES and Nintendo didn't see a need for Killer Instinct 1 to be ported over to the N64. Killer Instinct Gold was based on Killer Instinct 2 but was degraded due to memory rom space on the cartridge. Nintendo released the Expansion Pak to eliminate the memory limitations of the N64 later on but it was too late. Killer Instinct 1 was developed for N64DD but N64DD never released in the U.S. and those who have them had obtained them from developers. I personally have played the N64 DD version of Killer Instinct at a retired developers home in Utah and it was Arcade perfect. He wanted to sell it to me with every N64 DD game that was created including the N64 for only $50. In my ignorance, I told him no thinking I could get a hold of these games using emulators but I was wrong.
I loved these games back then, especially for the graphics. Heck, it's why when I create my own games I use pre-rendered graphics myself, so I really appreciate this episode. Thanks guys!
What if you woke up one morning and looked in the mirror only to see you've become a low poly bitmapped pre render of yourself? What would you do?
Hope the wife has a body like Kitana’s
Just throw some barrels around.
Smoke weed about it possibly drop acid
I remember playing Vectorman as a demo on Sega Channel. Couldn't wait for the full version to come out. So much fun!
As you can tell by my username, my favorite character was also left out of Killer
Instinct 2.
Ki1 > ki2. that's a fact
I loved this episode so much, pre-rendered graphics have a special place in my heart!
Good job, but one thing Don't put red line down under the thumbnail I thought I watched the video before.
That's actually good advice. Thanks. I'll probably change the colors and re-upload the thumbnail soon.
@@GameSack thanks to you guys, I realy Love your high quality content, you guys deserve more subscribers keep it up ❤
The Westminster Mall's Arcade was awesome, I loved going there! I didn't get to go very often because it was so far (I lived in Commerce City) but most of my Arcade time was at the Arcade at the Thornton Town Center (My bro worked at the laser tag place next door so I spent much time hanging out there)
Disagree. I loved pre rendered graphics then, love em now
at first i didn't like it either. especially back in the day. now i like it
Love the stop motion animation in your intro. Good job!
who the frick does not like GameSack???? why the thumbs down?? is it those bad boys Game Chaser guys? I'll have to subscribe to them and show them thing or two.
It's the MJR crew. They are still mad at Joe parodying Metal Jesus with his... wait of it... hidden gems. (eye roll)
Xyйлo that’s my fav hahaha
@@PutlerHuyIo Oh please tell me Metal Jesus isn't actually mad about that. You gotta be able to laugh at yourself.
Been Binging all your vids lately after the final vids with Dave, loove them!
Nice, got some sack tonight!
This video just dropped and I already know it's a good one. That's how much of a Sackhead I am!
How about Project Overkill for the Playstation?
The Final Fantasy games on playstation had beautiful pre rendered backgrounds. Was hoping to see them covered here.
I rate this episode 1/10, too much baldaphobia. My fellow bald brother Dave's dabbing rescued it from being a zero
First Game Sack video for me,I have to say I enjoyed it and look forward to going through your back log. Believe it or not Billy's fake satire "worst game sack videos" made me subscribe..lol
Vectorman still looks pretty amazing but most prerendered games do look like ass now.
Well, keep in mind those were made with CRT TVs in mind. On those a lot of these games are still pretty decent.
Vectorman looks AMAZING, especially for a Genesis game! It uses basically every graphical trick/effect the Genesis can pull off (real-time lighting! sprite scaling and rotation! multi-jointed, fluidly-animated goodness!), and for that alone I think it's worthy of a playthrough or two!
I still remember how mind blowing DKC's pre-rendered backgrounds looked at the time on SNES when they were brand new. This was still years before we'd get the famous RE1 on PS1 with pre-rendered backgrounds as well, so it was pretty impressive and wasn't being taken for granted yet.
@@txcforever yeah, Genesis games in general benefit a lot from playing on an actual CRT (or using some kind of TV filter with your emulator), as it blends near pixels with each other, and results in games looking like they're using more colors than they actually are. The waterfalls in Sonic are a great example of developers using this to their advantage back in the day.
How the hell do you not have more subs? This is easily my favourite gaming channel
Yes, Thunder was the best character in Killer Instinct, but the best fighter game on the N64 can only be Clay Fighter 63⅓ ..and I have impeccable taste, so.. *sips wine* However, I do applaud your new appreciation for Vectorman, because that game is honestly rad. And since I used the word "rad", you know what I'm saying is true and not at all based on any influences from the 90's that have ultimately created who I am today... a person who says rad without a hint of irony. Also, great video, medium t-shirts until I die.
It is insane seeing all of these games, looking at these pre-rendered graphics, then seeing something like 'Senuas Saga' and knowing ALL OF IT is done in engine..I know people say it often, but damn, we have come a long way!
Dave and me have the same hair.
Glad to see you guys covering these, I never thought they were ugly, as opposed to what the rest of the internet seems to think...
Two Words: Agent Armstrong
that game was somehow better than johnny bazookatone too
Always stay till the end of a Game Sack Vid. This was an especially funny outro.
I picked up Skeleton Warriors today before this went up.
my condolences... *presses F*
I hope you picked it up from a dumpster...
Loved pre-rendered graphics back then and still love them now
Where's the 1am notification squad at ?😁
Ayyy
Still waiting for 1 am
20:25 i like how the nodes on the side of the ship have sparks coming off of them as they scrape the wall when the ship goes through that small passage. very nice attention to detail
I love Baku Baku animal!
so do I
Wooo! Game Sack! Now my Saturday is complete.
What no "Ballz" 😂😂😂 ... i hated all games that used this method except Vectorman .. they all had that poorly cropped photoshop look and stiff animations ... Ve torman didnt have any of these problems
My roommate shat on my bathroom floor, my grandfather in law succumbed to cancer, and GameSack is here to lull me to sleep. If I sleep I shall wake up and thank//hate myself for falling asleep. At least ad blocker is off. Keep up the stellar work of cataloguing the illustrious past of games.
RE 2 is the best pre-rendered game ever.
It’s delicious to wake up early on a Sunday and have breakfast while I watch Game Sack
I turned off RE 2 Remake to watch my GameSack!
I Stopped watching nyotengu on the pole for a good cause...
Game Sack time
Game Sack.
@@cax1175 good boy
That's the first time I've ever seen Dave Say "Hello! Welcome to Game Sack!" Joe's face is priceless!
Can you look at Godzilla Video Games ?????????????
I would watch that too! Great idea!
@@Boojakascha Dude, this is like the 100th vid this guy has typed this same question.
@@moviemetalhead Haven't noticed^^ This gentleman seems to be very passionate about Godzilla then =)
This is the first Game Sack video I've watched.
Hopefully not the last. :)
@@GameSack I watched this in 2019, about the same time this video was uploaded.
Problem with this kind of graphical style is it aged horribly. Good pixel art is timeless
it depends. Ki, the arcade one, still holds pretty well
Not really. Look like a good ole retro game to me
I got a whole warehouse saying
KA KA KA COMBO BREAKER!!!!!!
Everything somebody made a mistake or accident.
I hope we get another episode on games like this. I still love the aesthetics of old pre-rendered games. Maybe it's because I grew up with early CGI movies like Toy Story and whatnot, and have a certain nostalgia for them, but I can appreciate how good they looked for the time. My favorite game to use pre-rendered graphics, and perhaps my favorite game in general, would have to be Golden Sun on the Game Boy Advance.
I love the editing of your videos. You guys are informative, funny and entertaining at the same time. Keep up the good work!
I think of Final Fantasy 7, 8, and 9 when I think of best games with pre-rendered graphics. I love pre-rendered graphics!!
I always liked pre-rendered graphics, it made the models look more “concrete” and less cartoonish, which was a good thing IMO.
Nice episode guys, waiting for the part 2.
Finally! Someone one understands that Double Dragon Neon's music was godlike!
Take my thumbs up! 😁
“Did you just say tits?”
“No, I said BALLS.”
Haven’t laughed this hard at a Game Sack episode since Michigan: Report From Hell
Loved that bit with you guys raving it up to Killer Instinct's companion CD. Smashed it :)
Yay! I'm always looking forward to your videos guys. Good subject today.
A GREAT pre-rendered graphics game you missed is *Mr Bones* for the Saturn. The gameplay is varied (but not all stages are perfect) the main character is a bro and the soundtrack is killer.
Another great episode. The show reminds me of something that might have aired on Tech TV a long time ago. Damn I miss Tech TV. Good job guys.
Nice to see Baku Baku get a mention! That game is a blast with a friend. Speaking of Johnny Bazookatone, if anyone wants their eyes to bleed, try the 3DO version. Not only is the visual quality questionable like with the other versions, but the low framerate will really do a number on one's senses.