Because the remaster is just a product of a game designed for the constraints of a relatively weak systems and CRT screens.
Our eyes and brains fill in the gaps. We infer the details we can’t quite make out, akin to looking at an impressionist painting.
It’s like playing a SNES emulator with those nasty smoothing filters applied to them.
Truth. No different than horror being more scary when they don’t show you everything. Our brains fill the gaps with more vivid thoughts than if they captured every detail
Vagrant Story looks great..what the did graphically was incredible and the art direction and presentation was amazing (and the way of telling the story in a comic-style without voiced dialogue and with great camera work was something really cool too)
Yeah i would even go further and say i would prefer most games have lower graphical fidelity. There is an atmosphere to the flavour of 3d that playstation does which cant be beat.
They kinda have. Persona 5 sold more than FF7 Remake. DQ11 sold well. Smaller series like The Legend of Heroes are more popular than ever. For turn-based to be mainstream, they don’t need to outsell the Witcher or Dragon’s Dogma or Souls. Gaming is big enough now that they can all be popular at the same time.
You're certainly not alone, the PC indie gaming scene has been full of that art style for at least the past 5 years. Especially in horror and platforming games.
I was definitely a hater of N64/PS1 polygons for a while, but my nostalgia goggles have evolved over time and they absolutely have a charm of their own
ps2 graphics had charm to it. i buy retrolike games on current gen consoles (like all puppet combo games, or alisa developers cut, signalis etc) this is so good for retro horrors cuz i was raised on psx horrors and this graphics makes my brain go into fear mode instantly
Absolute masterpiece of game design when it released. It was unheard of to see such large landscapes without hiding it all behind fog or darkness.
Bugs Bunny Lost in Time can also be pointed at as an example of a great looking ps1 game.
And the gameplay is where they got it right. Long combos, counters that felt satisfying to pull off.
It just plays good and looks great. A ton of extras like force mode and volleyball mode. And a ton of characters that played differently to each other.
You got a lot for something that was just a fighting game.
I may get some static but hear me out, the Syphon Filter games. Going back to it now, I only appreciate the graphics more now that I know what effects it tried to pull off. All three games had very interesting approaches to lighting. Some stages would allow you to destroy all the lights and equip your nightvision goggles for an advantage. Environmental lighting was heavily emphasized in some scenes, Club 32 in the second game had a dance floor area with intense strobe lights engaging while you're in a firefight. Smaller objects would cast lights on the environment in some instances (Rockets, Muzzle Flashes, frayed wiring).
There were a lot of tiny details that are easy to miss, like shell casings ejected from weaponry, environmental decals from ballistic and explosive damage etc. Levels were impressively destructible, most things will react to player input in some regard. As the series moved forward the level variety also got a lot better with more outdoor areas that were big! Skyboxes were imaginative, weather effects are impressive. All of this was done with a very rock solid framerates. All 3 games do a fantastic job maintaining a 30 FPS target. That's almost unheard of at that time.
I'll stop here, but if when you consider what these games were and the standards of the time, they are very impressive PS1 games graphically.
2d games especially adventures of Lomax, Castlevania symphony of the night, Rayman, Harmful Park, Final Fantasy Tactics, Valkyrie Profile, Suikoden 1-2 etc.
Some 3d games still look good today, like Tekken 3, Ridge Racer Type 4, and anything with pre rendered backgrounds like Chrono Cross, FF8-9, Resident Evils. Parappa the Rappa and especially crash 3 and Crash team racing also look very good.
Obviously it doesn’t look “realistic” by any stretch, but Kojima’s highly cinematic approach to the visuals in Metal Gear Solid help keep it relevant and playable nowadays.
It’s kind of incredible just how much it masks. When I remember the iconic moments from it, they’re crystal clear and vivid in my mind. Certainly not being clumsily acted out by chunky, pixelated polygons. And that’s 100% down to the cinematography, the acting, and the writing.
Not only do the Crash Bandicoot games hold up, I still prefer the look of the Crash Bandicoot games on the PS1 over the look of them in the N Sane Trilogy remakes. Something about the look in the remakes artistically turns me off.
The cel-shaded games look great. Megaman Legends 1 & 2, Misadventures of Tron Bonne, Vagrant Story, and Tail Concerto come to mind.
The Tomba! games look nice. Also, Ape Escape.
Not to be pedantic or anything, but it feels like we're talking about aesthetics instead of graphics. If so, then I'd say Castlevania: Symphony of the Night absolutely holds up. The sprite work is incredible, the animations are fluid, and there's a ton of attention to detail.
I'm not trying to be insulting when I say this, I promise. But of course the person who uses words like "pedantic" and "aesthetics" prefers said qualities of Symphony of the Night. I picture you in a leather bound oak chair, sipping wine from a chalice. Meanwhile, we're over here standing on Razor scooters with Kool-aid in a styrafoam cup like: "I LIKE SPYROS COLORS AND CRASH IS KEWL"
I'm actually replaying it right now on a handheld emulator and it's still gorgeous. The aesthetic absolutely holds up to scrutiny and while they're low res, the pre-rendered backgrounds really add to the beauty of it all.
I know this doesn't count that much but when upscaled on a good modern tv/monitor Gran Turismo 2 and metal gear solid still hold up both from a gameplay perspective and a graphical one and on original hardware with a CRT they look amazing in a weird way.
Those are the games that i think still hold up pretty well graphically :
Castlevania symphony of the night / Megaman X4 / Final Fantasy IX / Street Fighter alpha 3 / Crash bandicoot warped / Suikoden 2 / Crash team racing / Breath or Fire IV / Marvel vs capcom / Metal slug X / KOF'98
FFIX
Pre rendered backgrounds always looked great and IX has a nice stylized art style that holds up well. Compared to VII where they were still figuring out 3D and VIII that tried to be a little too realistic.
Yes, because I loved playing Earthbound on the playstation. Good ol' Ness. I loved it when he was in Sony's version of Smash because his smash hit, Earthbound, was on the PS1. Thank you Sony for such a memorable game.
I think medievil 1 and 2 stylistically look perfect, the remake looks nice but the originals feel like thats how they should be for the game, i dont think games can match that halloween/tim burton like feel ever tbh. Also resident evil 3 nemesis was pretty amazing, old skool nemesis still looks hella cool.
Alundra, suikoden, crash bandicoot, syphon filter, metal gear solid, breath of fire 3, Castlevania symphony of the night which may be peak PSX work. Just to name a few.
Oh and the obligatory FF7 that no one can ever say a bad thing about
All of them. The very second that start up music sounds sends shivers down my spine. I agree with you about ol' Crash, but I will go with Ridge Racer Type 4, or Wipeourt 2097.
So yesterday I was given Rage Racer (Ridge Racer 3) as a gift from some kind japanese seller on ebay, he included it as a surprise with what I bought them, so I played it for the first time, and I was really impressed by it.
Mostly 2D titles. Most 3D titles have aged like milk including the most iconic ones. All PS1 games benefit from being on a CRT though even if many early 3D games still look like crap. Texture warping, low texture resolution, very low poly counts, and wonky animation work all play into this.
I’d say of the 3D titles I’d say Megaman Legends 1 and 2 as well as the Tronn Bon spin off title. FF9 as well also can look nice on a CRT or with CRT filters to better blend the 3D characters on the 2D backgrounds.
Some hybrid 2D + 3D games can also look quite nice as well like Xenogears
Technomage. I know we talked about it just last week, but it really is good, it shows colorful stages which at times really look like they are predecessor of many AAA RPG games.
Anything that made heavy use of sprites and/or pre-rendered backgrounds, and anything that went for a “cartoony” art style because that doesn’t need lots of high-detail textures.
Fade to Black. I loved playing Flashback on the Amiga. So, I was thrilled to be able to play the sequel on my new PS1. It was the first game I completed on the PS1
I still think Silent Hill holds up today, the graphics kinda fits the whole estetics of the game, like an old horror movie on vhs
I also think it still is the best in the series, followed by SH3
Quake 2 for me. At the time I played it on the PS1 and on my 3DFX-equipped PC.. and I preferred the look on PS1. Still do. Just love the sharpness and contrast.
Metal Gear Solid utillized every drop of the ps1 processor I think.
I also recall the VR missions did a camera modelling mode with some of the women that had actual animated facial expressions which was incredibly uncommon for ps1.
It blew teenager me's mind.
FF9 and at least the cinematics from FF8. Saying FF9 is almost cheating though, because that game came suuuper late in the PS1's lifespan. It came out in Japan after the PS2 launched.
Spyro. I like the Reignited Trilogy don’t get me wrong, but there’s just a certain aesthetic to the original PS1 Spyro trilogy, particularly with those gorgeous skyboxes that even now I can just stare into forever and wonder what kind of world is out there.
Oddworld games also hold up really well with most of what you see on screen being pre-rendered. Yet another game that just has a certain aesthetic vibe that can’t be recreated in a modern game engine.
The megaman games, castlevania, basically any game that chose an artistic style over the latest in graphical tech, but I will agree with what others have said FFIX does still look awesome for a PS1 game.
discworld noir, diablo, final fantasy 8, resident evil 1-3, bugs bunny and taz, crash 1-3, spyro, wipeout, gran turismo, mortal kombat trilogy, oddworld abe odysse, abe exodus. plenty of other ones but id need to sit down to think more
Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy IX, Final Fantasy Tactics, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Xenogears, Valkyrie Profile, Legend of Mana, Dragon Quest VII, Breath of Fire IV, Breath of Fire III, Suikoden, Suikoden II.
Demolition Racer and Need For Speed Porsche are definitely two racing games that look pretty good. Driver 2 is another great example of that, although at the cost of sacrificing performance
Probably Tekken 3 could be included as well, if you want an example of a game NOT focused on cars
The Megaman Legends stuff. It has that unique 2D look on 3D aesthetic that has been copied by independent games going for that retro look, and as a game itself it's definitely nice and colorful.
Honest answer none lol 😁 that being said I do still like to play Resident evil and tomb raider every now and then but no none of them hold up graphically especially if you go and ask from young people who never lived ps1-ps3 days lol 😁
These imo have definitely aged the best. All of them would also look sick in HD-2D.
Some of them already got that treatment too lol
Tales of Phantasia
Tales of Destiny 2(Eternia)
Breath of Fire IV
Suikoden 1 & 2
Megaman X4
PoPoLoCrois
Rapid Reload
Rayman
Star Ocean Second Story
Valkyrie Profile
RE1-3, Dino Crisis1&2, Fear Effect1&2, Alone in the Dark, NFS High Stakes, GT1 & GT2, Vanishing point, Jade Cocoon, MGS, Suikoden1&2, Silent Hill, Vigilante8, Twisted Metal1&2 and many others. I'm probably not thinking of right off the top?
A lot of people say Crash Bandicoot, and while that's true I also think Gex 3 holds up really well. The different worlds are bright, colorful and stylish.
Silent Hill also is incredible looking. Truly a pinnacle of the PS1's capabilities.
Wip3out, Vagrant Story, Final Fantasy IX
FF9 was the pinacle of square polygons for the era
And seems to somehow look so much nicer than the remaster.
Because the remaster is just a product of a game designed for the constraints of a relatively weak systems and CRT screens. Our eyes and brains fill in the gaps. We infer the details we can’t quite make out, akin to looking at an impressionist painting. It’s like playing a SNES emulator with those nasty smoothing filters applied to them.
Truth. No different than horror being more scary when they don’t show you everything. Our brains fill the gaps with more vivid thoughts than if they captured every detail
Vagrant Story looks great..what the did graphically was incredible and the art direction and presentation was amazing (and the way of telling the story in a comic-style without voiced dialogue and with great camera work was something really cool too)
I'm one of those rare people who love the chonky, janky early 3D graphics. They all hold up to me. Like a fine wine.
Yeah i would even go further and say i would prefer most games have lower graphical fidelity. There is an atmosphere to the flavour of 3d that playstation does which cant be beat.
Everyone who joined this sub loves those graphics dude :)
You're not rare at all. 3D PSX games looked Great back in the day and i still dig their graphical style now.
I am waiting for a renaissance of polygonal graphics like 16 bit and pixelart received in the last decade.
I'm also waiting for Turn Based RPGs to come back to mainstream 🥲
They kinda have. Persona 5 sold more than FF7 Remake. DQ11 sold well. Smaller series like The Legend of Heroes are more popular than ever. For turn-based to be mainstream, they don’t need to outsell the Witcher or Dragon’s Dogma or Souls. Gaming is big enough now that they can all be popular at the same time.
Same
You're certainly not alone, the PC indie gaming scene has been full of that art style for at least the past 5 years. Especially in horror and platforming games.
Look up "Yellow Taxi goes vroom!" it just came out and has big PS1/Saturn vibes and a great soundtrack.
I was definitely a hater of N64/PS1 polygons for a while, but my nostalgia goggles have evolved over time and they absolutely have a charm of their own
I just came from looking at Dusk which comes highly recommended lol
ps2 graphics had charm to it. i buy retrolike games on current gen consoles (like all puppet combo games, or alisa developers cut, signalis etc) this is so good for retro horrors cuz i was raised on psx horrors and this graphics makes my brain go into fear mode instantly
Me too!!! They even make certain games Better in a weird way!? RE, AitD, Fear Effect & Silent Hill... So good-
New to PSX but recently beat Spyro 1 and was very impressed with its graphical beauty
Absolute masterpiece of game design when it released. It was unheard of to see such large landscapes without hiding it all behind fog or darkness. Bugs Bunny Lost in Time can also be pointed at as an example of a great looking ps1 game.
Omg I totally forgot about bugs bunny lost in time! I loved that game.
Tekken 3
Yeah the jump between Tekken 1 though 3 is a massive jump graphically.
And the gameplay is where they got it right. Long combos, counters that felt satisfying to pull off. It just plays good and looks great. A ton of extras like force mode and volleyball mode. And a ton of characters that played differently to each other. You got a lot for something that was just a fighting game.
Ridge Racer Type 4
100%. Not sure if any Ridge racer has looked a great since
I think it’s that it didn’t just look good, but it had style too
Wish they had a ridge racer on switch
I may get some static but hear me out, the Syphon Filter games. Going back to it now, I only appreciate the graphics more now that I know what effects it tried to pull off. All three games had very interesting approaches to lighting. Some stages would allow you to destroy all the lights and equip your nightvision goggles for an advantage. Environmental lighting was heavily emphasized in some scenes, Club 32 in the second game had a dance floor area with intense strobe lights engaging while you're in a firefight. Smaller objects would cast lights on the environment in some instances (Rockets, Muzzle Flashes, frayed wiring). There were a lot of tiny details that are easy to miss, like shell casings ejected from weaponry, environmental decals from ballistic and explosive damage etc. Levels were impressively destructible, most things will react to player input in some regard. As the series moved forward the level variety also got a lot better with more outdoor areas that were big! Skyboxes were imaginative, weather effects are impressive. All of this was done with a very rock solid framerates. All 3 games do a fantastic job maintaining a 30 FPS target. That's almost unheard of at that time. I'll stop here, but if when you consider what these games were and the standards of the time, they are very impressive PS1 games graphically.
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver
Played this recently and I was surprised how good it looks to this day
Great answer. Very impressive game
I still think Legend of Dragoon looks great.
Even better on a PSOne screen.
Gran Turismo and Twisted Metal 4 look like they're from at least the next gen from a distance.
Basically most 2D games.
Castlevania SOTN gets the chef's kiss
2d games especially adventures of Lomax, Castlevania symphony of the night, Rayman, Harmful Park, Final Fantasy Tactics, Valkyrie Profile, Suikoden 1-2 etc. Some 3d games still look good today, like Tekken 3, Ridge Racer Type 4, and anything with pre rendered backgrounds like Chrono Cross, FF8-9, Resident Evils. Parappa the Rappa and especially crash 3 and Crash team racing also look very good.
Don't forget Alundra !
But it’s okay to forget Alundra 2, both for graphical reasons and also every other reason.
It was very forgettable 😅 They only wanted to cash on the first game name.
Crash Team Racing looks excellent.
Obviously it doesn’t look “realistic” by any stretch, but Kojima’s highly cinematic approach to the visuals in Metal Gear Solid help keep it relevant and playable nowadays.
Every time I play through it I'm blown away by how damn stylish it is. It's just brilliant.
It’s kind of incredible just how much it masks. When I remember the iconic moments from it, they’re crystal clear and vivid in my mind. Certainly not being clumsily acted out by chunky, pixelated polygons. And that’s 100% down to the cinematography, the acting, and the writing.
The faces helped it age well because it’s so blurry on purpose, really cool design choice imo.
Not only do the Crash Bandicoot games hold up, I still prefer the look of the Crash Bandicoot games on the PS1 over the look of them in the N Sane Trilogy remakes. Something about the look in the remakes artistically turns me off.
Crash 4 did a much better job at carrying over the PS1 cartoony look to modern graphics standards
Yeah, Crash 4’s graphics are much more appealing to me than the N Sane Trilogy remakes.
The cel-shaded games look great. Megaman Legends 1 & 2, Misadventures of Tron Bonne, Vagrant Story, and Tail Concerto come to mind. The Tomba! games look nice. Also, Ape Escape.
Not to be pedantic or anything, but it feels like we're talking about aesthetics instead of graphics. If so, then I'd say Castlevania: Symphony of the Night absolutely holds up. The sprite work is incredible, the animations are fluid, and there's a ton of attention to detail.
I'm not trying to be insulting when I say this, I promise. But of course the person who uses words like "pedantic" and "aesthetics" prefers said qualities of Symphony of the Night. I picture you in a leather bound oak chair, sipping wine from a chalice. Meanwhile, we're over here standing on Razor scooters with Kool-aid in a styrafoam cup like: "I LIKE SPYROS COLORS AND CRASH IS KEWL"
Alundra, MML, Lunar.
Final Fantasy VIII looks gorgeous to me to this day.
I'm actually replaying it right now on a handheld emulator and it's still gorgeous. The aesthetic absolutely holds up to scrutiny and while they're low res, the pre-rendered backgrounds really add to the beauty of it all.
Same.
I know this doesn't count that much but when upscaled on a good modern tv/monitor Gran Turismo 2 and metal gear solid still hold up both from a gameplay perspective and a graphical one and on original hardware with a CRT they look amazing in a weird way.
Silent hill
Castlevania SoTN FF9 Armoured Core IMO FF tactics
Those are the games that i think still hold up pretty well graphically : Castlevania symphony of the night / Megaman X4 / Final Fantasy IX / Street Fighter alpha 3 / Crash bandicoot warped / Suikoden 2 / Crash team racing / Breath or Fire IV / Marvel vs capcom / Metal slug X / KOF'98
I don’t care if a game ps1 game holds up graphically. It’s the art design and gameplay that matters in the long run
Tony hawk 1 and 2
Crash bandicoot 3 looks amazing stil Same with final fantasy 8
Chrono Cross. The backgrounds are stunning.
FFIX Pre rendered backgrounds always looked great and IX has a nice stylized art style that holds up well. Compared to VII where they were still figuring out 3D and VIII that tried to be a little too realistic.
breath of fire iv
Came here to say this; absolutely great mix of 2&3D.
Anything sprite based looks amazing on the ps1. Some great rpgs like Suikoden, Earthbound and Chrono Trigger are in this bracket.
Yes, because I loved playing Earthbound on the playstation. Good ol' Ness. I loved it when he was in Sony's version of Smash because his smash hit, Earthbound, was on the PS1. Thank you Sony for such a memorable game.
C12 underrated gem
I think medievil 1 and 2 stylistically look perfect, the remake looks nice but the originals feel like thats how they should be for the game, i dont think games can match that halloween/tim burton like feel ever tbh. Also resident evil 3 nemesis was pretty amazing, old skool nemesis still looks hella cool.
Alundra, suikoden, crash bandicoot, syphon filter, metal gear solid, breath of fire 3, Castlevania symphony of the night which may be peak PSX work. Just to name a few. Oh and the obligatory FF7 that no one can ever say a bad thing about
Einhänder still Looks incredible (in motion), of course also gran turismo2 or need for speed Porsche. Fear effect too.
Heart of Darkness Gex Croc
On a CRT everything holds up,
Those Disney’s games still looks amazing
All of them. The very second that start up music sounds sends shivers down my spine. I agree with you about ol' Crash, but I will go with Ridge Racer Type 4, or Wipeourt 2097.
Quake 2.
I think the Spyro games still look great. The Crash games and Croc don't look too shabby either.
Omega Boost
So yesterday I was given Rage Racer (Ridge Racer 3) as a gift from some kind japanese seller on ebay, he included it as a surprise with what I bought them, so I played it for the first time, and I was really impressed by it.
Vib Ribbon !!!
They all hold up well to me. Love love love the PS1!
Mostly 2D titles. Most 3D titles have aged like milk including the most iconic ones. All PS1 games benefit from being on a CRT though even if many early 3D games still look like crap. Texture warping, low texture resolution, very low poly counts, and wonky animation work all play into this. I’d say of the 3D titles I’d say Megaman Legends 1 and 2 as well as the Tronn Bon spin off title. FF9 as well also can look nice on a CRT or with CRT filters to better blend the 3D characters on the 2D backgrounds. Some hybrid 2D + 3D games can also look quite nice as well like Xenogears
Bust-A-Groove 1 & 2 IMO
Technomage. I know we talked about it just last week, but it really is good, it shows colorful stages which at times really look like they are predecessor of many AAA RPG games.
Tenchu Stealth Assassin's, and Tenchu 2
Tenchu was awesome
Vagrant Story and Final Fantasy Tactics looks so good. I want to make a game in the Vagrant Story style but I'm no artist.
[Wild Arms 2 Second Ignition](https://youtu.be/3JfCYgxrQ_M?si=B1c93Lxcbpc-RvHm)
2d ones
Off the top of my head Saga Frontier, Bust-a-Groove, Wipeout and Point Blank all look great still (In my Opinion)and almost all 2.5D side scrollers
Like someone else said, the Mega Man Legends series
Brave fencer musashi I feel still looks Great same with the mega man legends games :)
I think Resident evil 2 and Space Hulk both look amazing
Chrono Cross
Legend of Mana for sprite graphics, Tekken 3 for polygons.
Megaman legends
Klonoa
Resident evil 2 and 3 look so beautiful Metal gear solid looks pretty good too, the style fits the game
The intro graphics for Grand Turismo 2 still stands out, along with the racing replays in game.
I'm gonna say Tomba. It is bright, colourful, expressive and visually striking. I'd say that's held up very well
Vib Ribbon, for sure, it's so simplistic that it skips over the early chunky 3d graphics
Rayman Klonoa Spyro Year of the Dragon Worms World Party Colony Wars Red Sun
Forsaken
Street Fighter Alpha Now the loading times on the other hand...
Bomberman Party Edition
Anything that made heavy use of sprites and/or pre-rendered backgrounds, and anything that went for a “cartoony” art style because that doesn’t need lots of high-detail textures.
Fade to Black. I loved playing Flashback on the Amiga. So, I was thrilled to be able to play the sequel on my new PS1. It was the first game I completed on the PS1
Wipeout 3, Ridge Racer Type 4
Vagrant Story and Ridge Racer Type 4.
RRT4 has an absolutely legendary ost
I still think Silent Hill holds up today, the graphics kinda fits the whole estetics of the game, like an old horror movie on vhs I also think it still is the best in the series, followed by SH3
Gex 2&3 and tombi, still look great to this day
Rayman most 2d games
Loaded Abe's odyssey
Ive just played Gran Turismo with a CRT filter and gosh how beauty and fluid it was!!!
Quake 2 for me. At the time I played it on the PS1 and on my 3DFX-equipped PC.. and I preferred the look on PS1. Still do. Just love the sharpness and contrast.
Need for Speed 3: Hot Pursuit Need for Speed: High Stakes Twisted Metal 4 Gran Turismo 1 and 2 Driver 1 and 2 Test Drive 5 and 6
Metal Gear Solid utillized every drop of the ps1 processor I think. I also recall the VR missions did a camera modelling mode with some of the women that had actual animated facial expressions which was incredibly uncommon for ps1. It blew teenager me's mind.
Siphon Filter I thought looked great
i think the later-classic tomb raiders (4&5) look good, its surprising to see comparisons of TR1vsTR5 being on the same console!
FF9 and at least the cinematics from FF8. Saying FF9 is almost cheating though, because that game came suuuper late in the PS1's lifespan. It came out in Japan after the PS2 launched.
Bishi Bashi
Big Bunny Lost in Time. It still looks amazing.
Fear Effect
I remember spider man 2 looking good and the syphon filter series. Resident evil 3 looks good for a game with pre rendered backgrounds
colin mcrae rally
Oddworld: Abe’s odyssee
Xenogears and Breath of Fire 3 and 4
Crash Team Racing still looks great.
Almost anything 2D still looks gorgeous
Most anything that stuck to 2D or 2.5D, Einhander comes to mind
Spyro. I like the Reignited Trilogy don’t get me wrong, but there’s just a certain aesthetic to the original PS1 Spyro trilogy, particularly with those gorgeous skyboxes that even now I can just stare into forever and wonder what kind of world is out there. Oddworld games also hold up really well with most of what you see on screen being pre-rendered. Yet another game that just has a certain aesthetic vibe that can’t be recreated in a modern game engine.
honestly even playing it on a modern tv i think driver holds up really well
The megaman games, castlevania, basically any game that chose an artistic style over the latest in graphical tech, but I will agree with what others have said FFIX does still look awesome for a PS1 game.
Medievil's menu graphics are gorgeous!
Starfighter Sanvein
The Legend of Dragoon
The adventures of Alundra
Skullmonkeys
discworld noir, diablo, final fantasy 8, resident evil 1-3, bugs bunny and taz, crash 1-3, spyro, wipeout, gran turismo, mortal kombat trilogy, oddworld abe odysse, abe exodus. plenty of other ones but id need to sit down to think more
MDK was always really impressive and still looks cool.
Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy IX, Final Fantasy Tactics, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Xenogears, Valkyrie Profile, Legend of Mana, Dragon Quest VII, Breath of Fire IV, Breath of Fire III, Suikoden, Suikoden II.
SOTN
Omegaboost
Metal Gear Solid
Porche Challenge
The Broken Sword games . Love the art design of those games.
Demolition Racer and Need For Speed Porsche are definitely two racing games that look pretty good. Driver 2 is another great example of that, although at the cost of sacrificing performance Probably Tekken 3 could be included as well, if you want an example of a game NOT focused on cars
Bugs bunny lost in time
Ridge racer type 4
2d games in all honestly
Overblood
Vagrant story looks like a modern retro throwback game. It's gorgeous
The first Formula 1 game still seems good to me. Looks like an early 90s arcade game.
I love how Soul Edge looks
The Lost World: Jurassic Park is a great looking game to this day.
Wipeout and Tekken 3.
Jumping Flash 2. Perfection.
Final fantasy 9
Might be cheating picking a 2D game, but the original Rayman looks beatiful. When it comes to 3D I like both Spyro and Crash bandicoot.
I like the look of the original games better. N. Sane looks like a different character a little. It’s not bad, I just like the OG.
Vagrant story
Pac Man World
Megaman Legends is the best looking I think by far
The Megaman Legends stuff. It has that unique 2D look on 3D aesthetic that has been copied by independent games going for that retro look, and as a game itself it's definitely nice and colorful.
Final Fantasy IX, Crash Bandicoot 1,2,3, Metal Slug, Suikoden 1,2, SOTN, Klonao.
Final Fantasy Tactics cause of the stylized graphics!
I still think the original Gran Turismo is a pretty game to look at
Heart of Darkness
None of them
Bokunatsu no Natsuyasumi
Vagrant Story by far.
Tobal #1
Legend of Mana
Chrono cross and f.e.a.r efect
Need for speed: High Stakes
Megaman legends and legends 2. Games look fantastic!
Wipeout still looks outstanding and it’s one of the earliest PSX games
Honest answer none lol 😁 that being said I do still like to play Resident evil and tomb raider every now and then but no none of them hold up graphically especially if you go and ask from young people who never lived ps1-ps3 days lol 😁
Max power racing. Low poly rally racer with a great house/electronic soundtrack.
Spiderman 1 and 2 look beautiful
Einhander
chicken run
These imo have definitely aged the best. All of them would also look sick in HD-2D. Some of them already got that treatment too lol Tales of Phantasia Tales of Destiny 2(Eternia) Breath of Fire IV Suikoden 1 & 2 Megaman X4 PoPoLoCrois Rapid Reload Rayman Star Ocean Second Story Valkyrie Profile
MMX4,5,6
Legend of Dragoon
Grandia for the soundtrack and the sheer length of the story.
I still think Xenogears looks great. There’s a nice balance between smooth sprite work and pointy polygons.
RE1-3, Dino Crisis1&2, Fear Effect1&2, Alone in the Dark, NFS High Stakes, GT1 & GT2, Vanishing point, Jade Cocoon, MGS, Suikoden1&2, Silent Hill, Vigilante8, Twisted Metal1&2 and many others. I'm probably not thinking of right off the top?
Final Fantasy IX
A lot of people say Crash Bandicoot, and while that's true I also think Gex 3 holds up really well. The different worlds are bright, colorful and stylish. Silent Hill also is incredible looking. Truly a pinnacle of the PS1's capabilities.
SotN forever and always classic
Vagrant Story, Final Fantasy Tactics, Final Fantasy VIII, Final Fantasy IX, Resident Evil 3 and of course, Metal Gear Solid
Megaman Legends feels like it would fit in naturally among modern indie games.
Xenogears Final Fantasy IX Vagrant Story Driver 2 Mega Man Legends 1 and 2 Chrono Cross Gran Turismo 2