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> Did you ever wonder why explosions and other effects looked so much cooler on the original PlayStation than they did on the Nintendo 64? Begging the question

> Did you ever wonder why explosions and other effects looked so much cooler on the original PlayStation than they did on the Nintendo 64? Begging the question, aren't we?! Of the examples displayed, I much prefer Star Fox's fx to Silent Bomber's. They fit the game's style well, and the explosions when killing an enemy are just the right amount of rewarding, while not being so ostentatious as to be distracting. SF64 nailed the game feel of destroying enemies, those small little intangibles that make the game satisfying on a visceral level, as Nintendo is so good at doing.

ricardobeat 6mo ago
You missed the point, it is not about art direction. The effects in Star Fox have normal alpha blending and look "solid", you can see them as a floating poster board, while the PS ones actually look like light effects.
deleted 6mo ago
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Chazprime 6mo ago
The Starfox explosions lack a realistic brightness level. They don’t appear to be emitting light the way the Playstation’s explosions do. Even the afterburner effect on Starfox’s ship looks muted.
Wowfunhappy 6mo ago
> Of the examples displayed, I much prefer Star Fox's fx to Silent Bomber's. They fit the game's style well ...I feel like the "style" you're reacting to is the "N64 style", which is to say that you've become habituated to seeing games built to the N64's specific limitations. If the N64 had launched with better alpha blending, then "N64 style" would include PS1-esque explosions, but it didn't, so you don't. It's like how people prefer 24 fps, because movies have long been recorded at 24 fps. Obviously, this is just my intuition and we'll never the know the alternate history. But objectively, I don't see why explosions which resemble physical spheres better fits the aesthetics of Star Fox. But, those sorts of explosions absolutely do evoke the N64. If I was creating an N64-esque indie game, I would want to avoid alpha blending.
- applfanboysbgon 6mo ago
  The point is that good art direction within technical constraints matters more than the constraints. For example, Wind Waker holds up significantly better than any realistic PS2 or X360 game from that era. Is the GameCube a less powerful console than its competitors, yes. But Nintendo built a beautifully stylistic game within those limitations, while 'realistic' games without stylised art direction just ended up looking both shoddy and generic as their platforms became obsolete.

ricardobeat 6mo ago

You missed the point, it is not about art direction. The effects in Star Fox have normal alpha blending and look "solid", you can see them as a floating poster board, while the PS ones actually look like light effects.

deleted 6mo ago

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Chazprime 6mo ago

The Starfox explosions lack a realistic brightness level. They don’t appear to be emitting light the way the Playstation’s explosions do. Even the afterburner effect on Starfox’s ship looks muted.

Wowfunhappy 6mo ago

> Of the examples displayed, I much prefer Star Fox's fx to Silent Bomber's. They fit the game's style well ...I feel like the "style" you're reacting to is the "N64 style", which is to say that you've become habituated to seeing games built to the N64's specific limitations. If the N64 had launched with better alpha blending, then "N64 style" would include PS1-esque explosions, but it didn't, so you don't. It's like how people prefer 24 fps, because movies have long been recorded at 24 fps. Obviously, this is just my intuition and we'll never the know the alternate history. But objectively, I don't see why explosions which resemble physical spheres better fits the aesthetics of Star Fox. But, those sorts of explosions absolutely do evoke the N64. If I was creating an N64-esque indie game, I would want to avoid alpha blending.

applfanboysbgon 6mo ago
The point is that good art direction within technical constraints matters more than the constraints. For example, Wind Waker holds up significantly better than any realistic PS2 or X360 game from that era. Is the GameCube a less powerful console than its competitors, yes. But Nintendo built a beautifully stylistic game within those limitations, while 'realistic' games without stylised art direction just ended up looking both shoddy and generic as their platforms became obsolete.