Retro Best looking SNES game?

[curl-6]

Nintendo's beloved 16-bit console is known for its vibrant graphics; what game do you think is the best looking ever to grace it?

 

[Krvavi Abadas]

there are so many ways to go about answering that question.

from a pure pixel art perspective, it's an extremely difficult choice. but i think i'll draw attention to Tales of Phantasia, not just because of the incredible graphics, but because it also has a full vocal theme song on SNES.


pre-rendered visuals are easy, it's clearly going to be Donkey Kong Country.

and for pure realtime 3D visuals, there's very few options. but stunt race fx definitely makes the most use of the Super FX chip, so it fits.

 

[Deleted member 2]

I'm gonna have to say Seiken Densetsu 3, aka Trials of Mana as of 2020.

 

[Phosphorescent Skeleton]

I would say Earthbound, still one of the best looking Nintendo games.

 

[jnWake]

I was gonna say Trials of Mana, but bellydrum got there first. It's super impressive, especially stuff like grass and such.

Second place for me would be Yoshi's Island, such a charming artstyle that aged perfectly.

 

[Soul Skater]

generic answer and arguably doesn’t hold up artistically as well as some of the later JRPGs and stuff but the Donkey Kong Country games straight up spirit bombed Sega

Sega was pushing the 32x, CD hundreds of dollars worth of add on and Nintendo just drops something that looked like that and can be played just on the base system was a massive punch and the gut and made Sega look completely stupid for ever even trying to push those peripherals.

 

[kimbo99]

Chrono Trigger

Star Fox 2

Star Ocean - needs an English port.

 

[Kenka]

Chrono Trigger

Star Fox 2

Star Ocean - needs an English port.

First Departure R is available in English. It's a remake though.

 

[chocolate_supra]

I was gonna say Chrono Trigger but then @bellydrum had to come in here and change my damn mind with those screenshots.

Was Trials seriously that pretty? I feel kinda ripped off now for playing the new 3D version, geez.

 

[Deleted member 2]

Was Trials seriously that pretty?

Yes it was! And it's available in the Collection of Mana on Switch, too.

Also, as a major Mana stan I would posit that the Trials of Mana remake - while not as stunning as the gorgeous and intricately designed 16-bit original - does the game justice. If for any reason it's because they kept the horizon curve at the Heavensway cliff.

 

[Mbolibombo]

DKC3
Star Ocean
Trials of Mana
Tales of Phantasia
Terranigma

Those are my top 5 - late generation RPG's generally looked really good. Shame many of these never came to the west at the time.

 

[neil]

The one that wowed me was Street Fighter II

Quick edit - A lot of SNES games actually wowed me but SFII sprang to mind

 

[Brock Reiher]

gotta give it to Super Metroid (assuming you fix the pixel ratio) or Super Mario RPG

 

[PixelKnight]

One that always springs to mind for me is Super Aleste (AKA Space Megaforce in NA). I loved the special weapons, pixel art and mode 7 effects at the time. It probably doesn’t hold up too well against later SNES games but it’s stuck in my memory for 30 years.



Same goes for Super Probotector/Contra III. Those were the games I thought looked great at the time, the pacing probably helps, also that most of the JRPGs didn’t release here.

 

[sir_crocodile]

Without a special chip : Seiken Densetsu 3
With: Star Ocean - I think it looks nicer than the PSP remake honestly, esp for backgrounds:

SFC:

PSP:

This is the same scene.

 

[jirou]

Unfortunately can't say Dragon Quest here... so it's Kirby's Dream Land 3!!

 

[curl-6]

Some great picks here!
The Donkey Kong Country games will always stand out to me; it's hard to overstate just how mind-blowing they were at the time, and even today their vibrant and atmospheric style holds up.

 

[fiendcode]

Tengai Makyo Zero

 

[kimbo99]

Tengai Makyo Zero

Looks solid, didn't even know this existed.

I'd like to add Slam Dunk - Heat Up to the mix. The game looks phenomenal on SNES.

 

[curl-6]

Super Mario RPG is another great looking game on SNES with such a classically mid-90s style

 

[shoptroll]

Yes it was!

Yea, I don't think you can go wrong with any of the post-Final Fantasy VI Squaresoft titles in the graphics category.

 

[Celine]

I lazily copy & paste an old post of mine.
Just a word of advise, the team at Natsume was good at making games with somewhat "arcade-like" graphics on SNES (Gundam Wing: Endless Duel, Wild Guns and Ninja Warriors), and their current incarnation, Tengo Project, still possess the same skillset, go play Pocky & Rocky Reshined if you don't believe me!

ActRaiser 2 (1993)

Wild Guns (1994)

Street Racer (1994)

Demon's Crest (1994)

Donkey Kong Country trilogy (1994-1996)

Super Turrican 2 (1995)

Rendering Ranger (1995) - the asteroids storm sequence is incredible

Seiken Densetsu 3 (1995)

Wonder Project J (1995):

Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Endless Duel (1996)

Magaman & Bass (1998)

 

[Celine]

In topic, a long time ago I created this image to show off Squaresoft's games graphical evolution during the SNES era (in between late NES game and early PS1 game):

 

[curl-6]

Big shoutout to Yoshi's Island, a stunning game that has aged like fine wine

 

[chocolate_supra]

Big shoutout to Yoshi's Island, a stunning game that has aged like fine wine

Ah yes, the game that made me wary of dandelions

 

[shoptroll]

In topic, a long time ago I created this image to show off Squaresoft's games graphical evolution during the SNES era (in between late NES game and early PS1 game):

That glow-up with Secret of Mana / Final Fantasy VI when the "house" style changed

Not pictured: Live A Live pulling a COMBO BREAKER because it slipped its release date

 

[PixelKnight]

SNES games will always look beautiful to me. There’s so many I still haven’t played, it was such a hard choice as a kid when they were £40+ each even 30 years ago.

 

[codacious]

Probably DKC1 or Super Mario World for me. I love the jungle environments of DKC1, while SMW just has an overall great/intriguing world and atmosphere.

 

[Megafan96]

Nuts, Terranigma is usually my go to for its creature design and animation. Usually, I'm a horror fiend but SNES doesn't have too much for that, especially with graphics that make me shudder.
But come on, Clock Tower?

There is a palpable moodiness and visual dread that's conveyed in everything- the animations, the mechanics, especially the sound design and OST. But the visuals are what sets it apart- the weather effects it incorporates are genuinely fantastic and helps further obscure the...Uhh, 'terrifying' Scissorman.
Look, say what you want, anyone trying to set me back in a 2.5d point and click game played on an SNES controller has the title of horrifying creature based on intent alone.

 

[Koren Lesthe]

Mr Nutz (SNES) :
This game is gorgeous and moves at a constant 60 FPS without any single struggle, no matter what happens on the screen. It's a far from perfect game but I often go back to it. Also the soundtrack is amazing (and CarboHydrom did an amazing cover of the Forest level)

Cover by CarboHyrom :




Super Turrican 2 (I had to put this game here, it's the law) :
Factor 5' farewell to the franchise and the Super NES. They put everything they could on the cartdrige, mode 7, rotation, zoom, full screen effects, dolby surround and even some animated prerendered cutscenes (and three endings) !

Star Ocean :
Another "late to the party" game, by Enix. And another massive game. It's such a pity that the remake of the game destroyed the overwold details and replaced it with an horrendous 3D map.

But to be honest, I think the SNES game that features the best visuals is, IMHO, Trials of Mana. The game put the console under so much stress that opening a menu takes between 2 to 4 seconds.


@Celine Love your tastes ^^

 

[souio]

Another game I'd like to add is Treasure of the Rudras.



The fact that it has monster design as detailed as FFVI, yet all of them as well as characters are fully and smoothly animated (like Bahamut Lagoon) is a technical marvel. They did sacrifice by only having like 3 different dungeon tilesets for most of the game, but when played on a CRT, it can look like an early PS1 game.

Speaking of early PS1 games someone mentioned Demon's Crest earlier and I def agree with that. You could rip some of the sprites of bosses/demon forms and put them into SOTN and they wouldn't look out of place at all.

 

[PixelKnight]

Another game I'd like to add is Treasure of the Rudras.



The fact that it has monster design as detailed as FFVI, yet all of them as well as characters are fully and smoothly animated (like Bahamut Lagoon) is a technical marvel. They did sacrifice by only having like 3 different dungeon tilesets for most of the game, but when played on a CRT, it can look like an early PS1 game.

Speaking of early PS1 games someone mentioned Demon's Crest earlier and I def agree with that. You could rip some of the sprites of bosses/demon forms and put them into SOTN and they wouldn't look out of place at all.

Reading up on it, this seems like a quality deep cut! I’d have loved to have played this. So many games that never left Japan.

 

[curl-6]

Rendering Ranger R2 pushed a lot of cool technical tricks including pre-rendered sprites

Demon's Crest has some really fantastic pixel art with an awesome gothic style

 

[shoptroll]

Reading up on it, this seems like a quality deep cut! I’d have loved to have played this. So many games that never left Japan.

Yea, it's pretty crazy that the Squaresoft catalog for the West cuts off at Final Fantasy VI, Chrono Trigger, and Super Mario RPG but kept going for several more years in Japan. So many things just couldn't come over here due to how long it would take to localize coupled with the increasing pressure that the PS1 and looming N64 launch were putting on the SNES as a platform.

Rudra in particular would've been a huge undertaking due to how the magic system works. It's still impressive that Gideon Zhi was able to get it to work in the fan translation. But! If you squint you can sorta see where some of the concepts in later games like the Materia system have their inspiration.

Getting into emulation and learning about fan translations back in the late 90's / early 00's was eye-opening similar to discovering there were 4 more seasons of the Transformers TV series in Japan after what came out in the US

 

[Tamantayoshi]

I didn't grow up with it, but the snes was and will always have the greatest looking visuals ever for a vgc.

 

[PixelKnight]

Yea, it's pretty crazy that the Squaresoft catalog for the West cuts off at Final Fantasy VI, Chrono Trigger, and Super Mario RPG but kept going for several more years in Japan. So many things just couldn't come over here due to how long it would take to localize coupled with the increasing pressure that the PS1 and looming N64 launch were putting on the SNES as a platform.

Rudra in particular would've been a huge undertaking due to how the magic system works. It's still impressive that Gideon Zhi was able to get it to work in the fan translation. But! If you squint you can sorta see where some of the concepts in later games like the Materia system have their inspiration.

Getting into emulation and learning about fan translations back in the late 90's / early 00's was eye-opening similar to discovering there were 4 more seasons of the Transformers TV series in Japan after what came out in the US

At least you got FFVI and Chrono Trigger, we didn’t even get that

 

[shoptroll]

At least you got FFVI and Chrono Trigger, we didn’t even get that

Oh right, other regions were completely passed over in that era

 

[PixelKnight]

Oh right, other regions were completely passed over in that era

Yeah, SNES had something like 1450 games in Japan, 720 released in NA and only 520 in Europe. Such a shame that so many classic rpgs were left out when we got tons of the licensed shovelware. It’s bad enough that NA only saw half the games but in Europe we only saw just over a third, let alone South America etc.

It’s left me with a lifelong interest in the platform though, like I didn’t know Treasure of the Rudras existed until Souio mentioned it above. Live A Live I didn’t know was a thing until the remake, which was why I was so excited to play it (and really enjoyed it!). Trials of Mana was another that didn’t release here and I only played the recent remake. They might have all had the odd blurry screengrab in the back of a grey import section of a games mag thirty years ago, that’s the closest I would have come to them!

 

[PixelKnight]

Rendering Ranger R2 pushed a lot of cool technical tricks including pre-rendered sprites

Demon's Crest has some really fantastic pixel art with an awesome gothic style

Great picks. Demons Crest I only played relatively recently although I did quite enjoy Gargoyles Quest on the GB.

 

[shoptroll]

It’s left me with a lifelong interest in the platform though, like I didn’t know Treasure of the Rudras existed until Souio mentioned it above. Live A Live I didn’t know was a thing until the remake, which was why I was so excited to play it (and really enjoyed it!). Trials of Mana was another that didn’t release here and I only played the recent remake. They might have all had the odd blurry screengrab in the back of a grey import section of a games mag thirty years ago, that’s the closest I would have come to them!

Time to start trawling HG101

Super Nintendo / Super Famicom – Hardcore Gaming 101

www.hardcoregaming101.net

 

[PixelKnight]

Time to start trawling HG101

Super Nintendo / Super Famicom – Hardcore Gaming 101

www.hardcoregaming101.net

I spend a lot of time watching SNESDrunk too!

 

[souio]

Yeah, SNES had something like 1450 games in Japan, 720 released in NA and only 520 in Europe. Such a shame that so many classic rpgs were left out when we got tons of the licensed shovelware. It’s bad enough that NA only saw half the games but in Europe we only saw just over a third, let alone South America etc.

It’s left me with a lifelong interest in the platform though, like I didn’t know Treasure of the Rudras existed until Souio mentioned it above. Live A Live I didn’t know was a thing until the remake, which was why I was so excited to play it (and really enjoyed it!). Trials of Mana was another that didn’t release here and I only played the recent remake. They might have all had the odd blurry screengrab in the back of a grey import section of a games mag thirty years ago, that’s the closest I would have come to them!

Yeah, this is why I feel like romhackers are some of the unsung heroes in gaming. With literally half the games staying in Japan (I'm aware most are crap tho lol), whenever a new translation comes out for SNES it's like a brand new SNES game has been released! Same with other 90s consoles. Since there's so many games that haven't left Japan (especially 2D PSX games since North America wanted it to focus on 3D), there's so many old games we don't even know of that we can look forward to.

 

[Clov]

Honestly, I like EarthBound's visuals the best! It's all in the style.

 

[Tangerine_Cookie]

I was always a fan of Plok's presentation, music, use of color, etc

 

[PixelKnight]

I was always a fan of Plok's presentation, music, use of color, etc

Plok’s an interesting one. I remember when it launched and I liked the chunky bold colours, it reminded me of Lego. But when recalling 16-bit platformers 20 years later, I couldn’t remember it at all. It was only when someone showed me a video that my memories came flooding back despite its strong art style. Why does my brain retain memories of so, so many mediocre platformers but not actually good ones?