Best Technical Achievement games ever

[Strider]

Radiant Silvergun: for allthe reasons already mentioned

Shinrei Jusatsushi Taromaru: Has a variety of amazing and inventive bosses and reminds me very much of treasure (rumours persist that some treasure people actually worked on it).

Space Harrier/Afterburner/OutRun: Like others who have already mentioned Space Harrier, I was totally gobsmacked by the sheer amount of speed and huge number of sprites on screen. The same goes for the other two as well.

Contra: Hard Corps?: Sure, it was fantastic on the SNES, but it was the Megadrive version that perhaps most impressed me.

[hankwangford]

Contra: Hard Corps?: Sure, it was fantastic on the SNES, but it was the Megadrive version that perhaps most impressed me.

Hard Corps was a Megadrive revolution. I still can't believe it actually produced that visually.

[dreamylittledream]

The first real wow I remember was Super Probotecter on the SNES - the moment when the plan flies over and firebombs the ground sticks in my memory as clearly as it did that Xmas morning - this is why I wanted this console!

The last time a game really wowed me technically was Panza Dragoon Orta - the second level (with the best water effects yet) had my jaw on the ground

[tokyochojin]

Don't think anyone has mentioned Rise of the Robots? Saw this one on Bad Influence and Games master! I couldn't believe what i was seeing. It looked stunning, and then it was released and well............ you know the rest!

Apart from that i though crazy taxi and HOTD 2 were graphically amazing. True arcade gaming for the first time ever!

[MD]

Really should mention

ESPgaluda

Does this run on 16 Bit Hardware? Yes it is. Not the 68000 with the usual Z80 that is used in the Neo Geo and Megadrive? Indeed it is.

Remember it's not how many bits you have it's what you do with them that count.

[charlesr]

I'm going to have to disagree. I remember everyone going on about Ridge Racer on the PS, so when I saw it, I was highly disappointed. I was a big fan of the arcade and my initial and lasting memories were that home consoles have a got a long way to go. Horrific graphics and awesome tearing. A+ for effort C+ for results. I was playing it on a digital pad which probably didnt help.

Software Farm hires games on the ZX81 were pretty impressive. But Doom did it for me too.

[MD]

I only played the Software Farm games a few years ago and they were really impressive, now days it looks fairly basic but as the display hardware is a masterpiece of engineering it is nice to see a few people pushing the envelope a bit further.

If any techies want to find out how the ZX81 did the display then read here

[charlesr]

Class. So on zx81 emus, is there an option for "modified 16k ram pack mode"?

[Leon Retro]

I'm going to have to disagree. I remember everyone going on about Ridge Racer on the PS, so when I saw it, I was highly disappointed. I was a big fan of the arcade and my initial and lasting memories were that home consoles have a got a long way to go. Horrific graphics and awesome tearing. A+ for effort C+ for results. I was playing it on a digital pad which probably didnt help.

Imo RidgeRacer was highly impressive. Obviously it was much lower-res and lacked some finesse, but it got fairly close. Most importantly it retained the feel and exuberance of the arcade and thats what made it a great title.

[Lebowski]

sonic Mega Drive
I rember seeing this and thinking wow that looks amazing, great graphics big sprites colourful levels and super fast game play, cant believe no ones mentioned it as at the time this came out there was nothing to match it

Tomb Raider Ps1
At the time this really was quite immersive and vertigo inducing and gave you a real feeling of treading were no one had been in years it also felt quite isolated in places, the series never progressed and got worse with every new outing imho but the first was something never seen before in 3d with its massive levels and clever puzzles

wipeout Ps1
This combined a cool sci-fi feel with stylish futuristic racing, it tied this together with the designers republics bold futuristic graphics and the sounds of orbital and chemical brothers, to create a slick stylish gaming experience that moved games away from kids bedrooms and into clubs.

Crazy taxi Arcade/DC
When I first played this in the arcade I rember think wow that is so cool, it was a massively in votive drive any ware game that created a believable city with multiple routes, and for a change had advertising with a real purpose that benefited the game play, the thing that always impresses me in games is how they manage to build believable locations, after only a few goes the crazy taxi city becomes memorable whether it be flying down the san franciscio style jumps at the start or taking a short cut through the multi-story car park to get to pizza hut on time J

metal gear solid ps1
again for its set pieces and its immersive story lines and its truly unique puzzles the thing that really impresed me was when Psycho mantis reads your mind and tells you that you have been playing certain games via reading them off your memory card in my case he new that I had been playing castevania sotn and bust a move 2 class that and having to switch around the pads so he cant read your mind was fantastic.

[112]

Shouldnt Tomb raider be the saturn version? As it was originally released on the dear machine months before the PS version. I do agree with what you say mind, as it wa something which was hard to find anywhere outside a PC.

112

[anephric]

Another World on Amiga: intro made me very happy in my pants.

Vectorman on Megadrive: it's pushing the hardware Quite A Bit.

Need For Speed on 3D0: I can hear the 3DOA wheezing...

Thunderhawk on Mega-Cd: just to see mode-7ish stuff on a Seeeega console.

Shenmue: Amazes me to this day (even if you see the compromises, it's still *amazing*)

[Kotatsu Neko]

Doom and Quake surely. The sense of total wonder and amazement when first seeing those games is something I suspect will never again occur.

Doom 3.. I hope may recapture a little of that.

[anephric]

Doom and Quake surely. The sense of total wonder and amazement when first seeing those games is something I suspect will never again occur.

Doom 3.. I hope may recapture a little of that.

Don't get your hopes up, dooder. It looks *okay*...

Personally, I got quite excited by Descent...

[Corrupt Rose]

Can anyone remember the story that came in the instruction manual for that game? After reading that, and then starting to play the game, it felt incredibly atmospheric. Watching the sun set as you walked left for miles to get to that really scary cave...

I don't remember it word for word, obviously, but the basic synopsis is that you were stolen as a child by the Beast Lord and subjected to many thaumaturgic experiments that turned you into the fighting machine that you play in the game.

You know nothing of your past, save for the most dream-like memories. One day, while executing a bunch of villiagers who displeased your Dark Master, you realise that an old man is actually your father, and dash off on a revenge-trip to slay your old boss.

Pretty hackneyed when you strip it to it's bare bones, but it's written extremely well, and sets up the story nicely. Psygnosis' version of 'Barbarian' also featured a fantastic story...