what was the more important thing in 8/16-bit era gaming?

[termis]

I thought the SMS definitely had better graphics, but it just wasn't a mind-blowing difference.  Better looking NES games could definitely match the average SMS games, but the best looking SMS games clearly looks better than what most NES games had to offer.  (R-type, PS I-esp. the maze scene, Sonic, etc.)

If you compare games that were released on both platforms -- Double Dragon, After Burner, Renegade, etc -- It wasn't too difficult to see that SMS versions looked better.

[FM-77]

Yeah, but nobody liked those multi platform games anyway.

[Kitsunexus]

Play Gamecube games instead. There are many "pick up and play" games on that system.

And that is the only reason I own the system.

[FM-77]

I got a Gamecube for Zelda The Wind Waker... which was a massive disappointment. I'm glad I kept it (in the closet - I didn't use it) though, because Twilight Princess, on the other hand, was insanely good. So good I cannot possibly describe it with words. I'm really enjoying Four Swords Adventures now too, even though it is a 2d game (I prefer my Zelda games in 3d).

[Kitsunexus]

I was under the impressions that Four Swords was just LttP with four characters...

[FM-77]

Definitely not. Four Swords is a "pick up and play" game. It has stages, like a Mario game, and you get no permanent items/upgrades/equipment (you get those things, but they disappear when you finish the stage you got them in). It features Zelda 3-esque graphics, and many similiarly designed areas, but is a completely different game.

[Kitsunexus]

Nice. Sounds like I need to pick that up sometime...

[Joe Redifer]

Yeah, but nobody liked those multi platform games anyway.

VERY TRUE!  I remember when Double Dragon came out, it sold maybe 3 or 4 copies on the NES.  People hated that game.  I remember large crowds of kids throwing their NES's away because they didn't want a system with Double Dragon on it.  Instead of videogamers, they grew up to be accountants and country music superstars.  Same thing happened with After Burner.  People were setting their Master Systems on fire left and right because such a hated game was on the console.  Many people died in large house fires, but it was deemed "worth it".

[Kitsunexus]

The same with Battletoads...can we stop pretending that game is good now?

[kenomac78]

Do you think that the cool kids at school would be bragging about 256 color Pac Man and Burger Time while the losers were stuck with Super Mario Bros 3 and Mega Man 2? If it was all about the graphics, no kid back in the day would've been caught dead touching an NES, they'd all be playing the Sega Master System.


Not only that, but they knew that the NES also had gameplay as good as 16-bit games, so they had to use graphics to convince you to blow money on new consoles.

I stand by my original statement! the knee-jerk reaction of "blah-blah good graphics" from every 7-13 year old kid from that time period drove me insane!
 
because there were more games which handled great and didnt look so great compared to those like megaman and mario 3.but there were piles of junk which tried to look good and fell short on gameplay. yet every stupid brainwashed nintendo kid stood by saying 'got good graphics' it made you feel like  complete 'mo if you didnt agree and get on the graphics bandwagon. of course anymore about that and i will spiral into my rants about nintendo's attempts to rewrite history in their own image.

perhaps from a developers standpoint the whole game is what mattered. but from a sales standpoint, and in the opinions of 95% of all kids from that time, graphics are the only thing that ever mattered!

it is a bit contradictory when these same kids have now grown up, and are espousing the new nintendo philosophy 'gameplay over graphics'

[FM-77]

Yeah. It's always been "graphics are the most important part of a game", until Nintendo's press conference when they announced the Wii and some games and their philosophy.

Now, when you say "the graphics in that Wii/DS game are really bad" (which anybody would've said two years ago) you get bashed til no end ("MORON, GRAPHICS ARE COMPLETELY IRRELEVANT, YOU GRAPHICS-WHORE"). Aah, I love those guys... what did you call them? Snerds. That's it. They rock. They really do.

Always funny though, when a new anticipated Wii game finally gets announced with some screenshots, and even the most hardcore snerds say: "but... why are the graphics so unbelievably bad...?".

[Kitsunexus]

Yeah. It's always been "graphics are the most important part of a game", until Nintendo's press conference when they announced the Wii and some games and their philosophy.

Now, when you say "the graphics in that Wii/DS game are really bad" (which anybody would've said two years ago) you get bashed til no end ("MORON, GRAPHICS ARE COMPLETELY IRRELEVANT, YOU GRAPHICS-WHORE"). Aah, I love those guys... what did you call them? Snerds. That's it. They rock. They really do.

Always funny though, when a new anticipated Wii game finally gets announced with some screenshots, and even the most hardcore snerds say: "but... why are the graphics so unbelievably bad...?".

I guess I'm a Snerd, but I KNEW that Nintendo's graphics have sucked since the N64, and I hate them for it. I want my games to look as good as they play. Nintendo seems to be incapable of doing this, so PC/360 it is.

[Black Tiger]

I dunno, most Master System games weren't exactly graphically impressive compared to NES games. Sure, it could display more colors on screen, but honestly, I never ever heard anyone say "hey, look at the amount of colors on screen!!". The Master System didn't have cool graphics, like Mega Man, etc. It had lame graphics, like Psycho Fox. And at least where I live, people always said the Master System was weaker than the NES graphically, even those that had a Master System!

We've been through this before. Just because you're not overly familiar with the SMS, it doesn't mean that it kicks any less ass than it really does.






There's a bigger difference in graphics between the SMS & NES than there has been between competing consoles ever since.

[Kitsunexus]

But you didn't show any NES games, why are we to believe you?





For the record, both systems had shit graphics. End of discussion.

[Black Tiger]

But you didn't show any NES games, why are we to believe you?

For the record, both systems had shit graphics. End of discussion.

I guess you think that the TG-16 has shitty graphics too huh?