Graphical Conundrum

[Jason Tandro]

Okay. The graphics in Illusion of Gaia were simply much better than in Terranigma, but Terranigma was released after IoG. Is there any reason for this? I mean it's a silly thing to nitpick about, but it bugs me.


Also, I've noticed that graphically speaking the only thing these three games have in common is the text and textboxes which are all very similar and in some areas identical.

[tay120n64]

It's because the games were made with the same engine, but Terranigma had both more content, and more advanced sprites. By sacrificing basic cosmetics, more movement could be made. It's very common in 2-D series for the creators to do this.

[Jason Tandro]

tay120n64 wrote:

It's because the games were made with the same engine, but Terranigma had both more content, and more advanced sprites. By sacrificing basic cosmetics, more movement could be made. It's very common in 2-D series for the creators to do this.

The only example prior to this that I had seen was Super Mario Bros 2 and then Super Mario Bros 3. But I figured it was something like that.

[Edit: Still, I think few would deny that IoG was one of the more visually stunning games of the SNES era.]

[tay120n64]

Ummmmmm...

The American SMB2? That wasn't a Mario game. And besides, the original SMB2 was just an updated version of SMB 1.

A better example would be Gauntlet.

Though the first Gauntlet looked good, they went and tried to make the second one look better by taking away all the BGM and voice-overs. In the end, we were left with a boring and dismal experience, that I simply couldn't play.

Gauntlet

Gauntlet 2

[Jason Tandro]

tay120n64 wrote:

Ummmmmm... The American SMB2? That wasn't a Mario game. And besides, the original SMB2 was just an updated version of SMB 1.

You're right! I forgot about that!

[psychokind]

Jason Tandro wrote:

Okay. The graphics in Illusion of Gaia were simply much better than in Terranigma, but Terranigma was released after IoG. Is there any reason for this? I mean it's a silly thing to nitpick about, but it bugs me.

WHAT?! the graphics in Terranigma were million times better than IoG I mean, it's that far apart it can't even be compared...

[EverPhoenix]

psychokind wrote:

Jason Tandro wrote: Okay. The graphics in Illusion of Gaia were simply much better than in Terranigma, but Terranigma was released after IoG. Is there any reason for this? I mean it's a silly thing to nitpick about, but it bugs me. WHAT?! the graphics in Terranigma were million times better than IoG I mean, it's that far apart it can't even be compared...

i think the iog sprites are more detailed. probably because is a much larger game, with more content (from what ive seen of iog its ridiculously linear, still about halfway through it)

[Jason Tandro]

EverPhoenix wrote:

psychokind wrote: Jason Tandro wrote: Okay. The graphics in Illusion of Gaia were simply much better than in Terranigma, but Terranigma was released after IoG. Is there any reason for this? I mean it's a silly thing to nitpick about, but it bugs me. WHAT?! the graphics in Terranigma were million times better than IoG I mean, it's that far apart it can't even be compared... i think the iog sprites are more detailed. probably because is a much larger game, with more content (from what ive seen of iog its ridiculously linear, still about halfway through it)

Um, the level design in Illusion of Gaia is VASTLY more detailed and beautiful. Character sprites may be less detailed but the colorful towns and dungeons make up for it three-fold!

[Ratty Randnums]

I've not played them yet, but didn't Akira Toriyama design the sprites for one of them? Looked similar to the Chrono Trigger character sprites. (Which I've heard he also designed.)

[inferiare]

Ratty Randnums wrote:

I've not played them yet, but didn't Akira Toriyama design the sprites for one of them? Looked similar to the Chrono Trigger character sprites. (Which I've heard he also designed.)

Nope, I think you're thinking Dragon Quest. Kamui Fujiwara did the designs for Terranigma, a shoujo manga artist (whose name I'm too lazy to look up) did the art for Illusion of Gaia, and I'm not sure about Soul Blazer, but the art on the soundtrack cover doesn't look like Toriyama's stuff.

[Jason Tandro]

And on that note, the character designs for the original Japenese manual book was WEIRD...

[psychokind]

Jason Tandro wrote:

EverPhoenix wrote: psychokind wrote: Jason Tandro wrote: Okay. The graphics in Illusion of Gaia were simply much better than in Terranigma, but Terranigma was released after IoG. Is there any reason for this? I mean it's a silly thing to nitpick about, but it bugs me. WHAT?! the graphics in Terranigma were million times better than IoG I mean, it's that far apart it can't even be compared... i think the iog sprites are more detailed. probably because is a much larger game, with more content (from what ive seen of iog its ridiculously linear, still about halfway through it) Um, the level design in Illusion of Gaia is VASTLY more detailed and beautiful. Character sprites may be less detailed but the colorful towns and dungeons make up for it three-fold!

what? the animation quality, the gaming speed and the light effects and stuff... all the sprites with higher resolution. I can't find the point IoG triumphs here.

[Flamez]

wtf you smoking jason? characters, world map, dungeons, EVERYTHING is better graphically in terranigma, everyone in IoG looks way overweight for one thing and the areas are rather bland.

[Yet One More Idiot]

Flamez wrote:

wtf you smoking jason? characters, world map, dungeons, EVERYTHING is better graphically in terranigma, everyone in IoG looks way overweight for one thing and the areas are rather bland.

I agree with this statement.

Well, maybe except the bit about the IoT sprites looking fat.

[inferiare]

While yes, Terranigma had some really gorgeous sprite work (and Terranigma is my favourite out of the series, so I'm not being biased here)...



I think Will wins out in looking smoother when the sprite is made just a little bigger.