The coolest graphics of the generation: 32-bit and 64-bit

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Graphics have never stopped being a hot topic and in the previews for major releases, it is often the hottest topic of conversation, even though it is a factor that actually has very little connection to how good the gameplay is. Really nice graphics are simply very popular and obviously the first thing we notice when we go from one console generation to another.

This makes it difficult to choose the best-looking game in the world, as you always have to take into account when they were released. For example, can Battletoads for the NES be compared to Soul Calibur for the Dreamcast or Gears of War for the Xbox 360? That's why I'm going to try to choose the ten best-looking games of each generation and only compare within that generation.

The focus is on consoles because they have the clearest generational divisions, and after first ranking the so-called 8 and 16-bit generations, it is now time for the one that is somewhat carelessly called the 32-bit generation, (I write carelessly because here the concept lost meaning, I therefore choose to include the Nintendo 64, but not the Xbox even though it was also a 32-bit console).

(10) Wave Race 64 (Nintendo 64 / 1996)

Wave Race 64 was a very unexpected game, and few would have asked for a water scooter game, least of all from Nintendo, led by Shigeru Miyamoto. But that's exactly what Nintendo delivered, possibly inspired by the work with water in Super Mario 64, which was infinitely better than anything we'd seen before. The game quickly became one of the generation's clearest examples of how 3D could be managed in the right hands, offering water effects we still remember today. Competitors struggled with angular polygons and flat surfaces, and often unimaginative design, while Nintendo built a 3D world that was alive. Coupled with smooth animations, stable image updating and a colourful aesthetic, Wave Race 64 became a textbook example of how technology and design can interact in a true masterpiece.

(09) Parasite Eve (PlayStation / 1998)

Square was basically only known for Japanese role-playing games, when after a series of successes they decided to try something new with Parasite Eve. Here we were treated to an unsentimental realistic version of New York with pre-rendered backgrounds used in a way Capcom could only dream of with the Resident Evil games, often with animations and things moving. Added to this was a creative use of lighting effects that became style defining and set the bar for a long time to come. Parasite Eve was never a big hit, but fans haven't forgotten it and to this day there are calls for a continuation of the series, with the graphics undoubtedly being one of the elements that made it so unforgettable.

(08) Nights: Into Dreams (Saturn / 1996)

Relatively few games were released for the Saturn, simply because the console was not as popular as the others. Plus, it was considered a pain in the arse to develop for. But... in the right hands, it was absolutely phenomenal. And Sega themselves led the way between the device's many processors that needed to be programmed to work together in the best way. In the masterpiece that was Nights: Into Dreams, all the pieces fell into place in a fully three-dimensional adventure, and to experience it properly, it came with the first modern analogue stick controller (undoubtedly inspired by the Nintendo 64, the design of which was however abandoned even by Nintendo themselves). A colourful, silky smooth and absolutely incredible game that also served as a tech demo for a piece of hardware that never really got the chance it deserved.

(07) The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (Nintendo 64 / 2000)

Ocarina of Time is often mentioned in lists of the world's best games. But the fact is, I always preferred Majora's Mask. Instead of just offering a natural continuation of the former, we got Link's perhaps darkest adventure ever where design and technology came together to offer a real Halloween-scented adventure. With powerful effects, further developed animations and overall better performance than in Ocarina of Time, this is truly a game that showed what the Nintendo 64 was capable of.

(06) Banjo-Tooie (Nintendo 64 / 2000)

When Banjo-Tooie premiered, it was already written in stone that no one was better at graphics than Rare. Where Banjo-Kazooie had been focused and compact, the sequel went all in: bigger worlds, more detail and a technology that almost felt too advanced for the machine. Many compared it to Pixar films at the time, which today might seem odd, but that was certainly how the game felt. Every surface was filled with colour, movement and small details that made the environments feel alive. Combined with the fact that the Nintendo 64 games had virtually no loading times, it offered something neither the PlayStation nor the Saturn could match in this category.

(05) Tekken 3 (PlayStation / 1998)

Already Tekken was a kind of powerful milestone when it was released, and Tekken 2 was in a completely different league. And then there was Tekken 3. While there was Dead or Alive and Virtua Fighting 2 for the Saturn (both of which were considered for the list), neither of these and nothing else for the PlayStation could compare to Tekken 3. Where most 3D fighting games of this generation today feel hopelessly outdated (unlike the 2D games that were ironically at their peak), you can still play Tekken 3 and recognise its speed, intensity and enjoy its actually quite impressive effects.

(04) Panzer Dragoon Saga (Saturn / 1998)

Looking at pictures alone, it may be hard to understand what Panzer Dragoon Saga is doing on the list, but if you've played it, you may wonder why it's not higher. Few titles of this generation had such a clear identity complete with an entire three-dimensional world, where other Japanese role-playing games of the same generation were mostly two-dimensional or three-dimensional with pre-rendered backgrounds. The world felt genuine and exciting with ancient ruins, organic machines and of course dragons, which blended together into something almost poetic. This was most evident in the Uru ruins, which I still remember as one of the most powerful things I have ever seen. Panzer Dragoon Saga is, in short, the most impressive Japanese role-playing game of this generation... With one exception.

(03) Wipeout 2097 (PlayStation / 1996)

The first Wipeout was a game changer and I played the accompanying PlayStation demo over and over again. Physics, speed, design and technical brilliance came together in something we'd never seen before. But... it was with Wipeout 2097 that everything fell into place. Outside of Sonic the Hedgehog, no single game has done more to make gaming cool. Instead of looking to Japanese colourfulness, Psygnosis went the other way to create something darker with a style clearly borrowed from German club culture. It wasn't just futuristic speed, but an entire idiom that was finally realisable on Sony's console. Sure, Wipeout 3 was a notch better technically, but the overall look with visual brilliance from design collective The Designers Republic made me think this still deserves the bronze medal of the list.

(02) Final Fantasy IX (PlayStation / 2000)</em>

Final Fantasy VII and VIII were already incredibly beautiful, but it still feels like Square had learned so much more when it came time for Final Fantasy IX (which was released two years after Dreamcast). Here, it's no longer just polygon figures standing out from pre-rendered backgrounds, but everything had been harmonised much better. It was a much more cohesive package, adding to the feeling of experiencing a Japanese fairy tale with crooked castle towers, small villages with windy roofs and enchanted forests all populated by adorable inhabitants and creatures. The result is a game where aesthetics and story interact, and where each frame can stand on its own as small works of art.

(01) Conker's Bad Fur Day (Nintendo 64 / 2001)

The generation was really on overtime here. In the same month that Conker's adventure was released, Sega decided to shut down the Dreamcast, and the PlayStation 2 had been released the year before. Just a few months later, it was also time for the Gamecube and Xbox. Then Microsoft bought all of Rare the following year. Luckily, the generation and Nintendo's partnership with Rare got the best possible send-off with Conker's Bad Fur Day. The game was insanely fun and so outrageously daring that Nintendo didn't even dare to publish it themselves (while Microsoft easily censored it in the new version), and therefore still stands today as an extremely important proof of how fun gaming can be without moral constraints.

It was the graphics we were going to talk about here, and the utterly improbable performance Rare managed to find in the Nintendo 64. They sort of worked around all the console's flaws, loading it up with improbable effects and a coherent presentation, and topping it off with a living world that made you regularly peek under the TV bench as if to verify that it was actually the Nintendo 64 you were playing on and whether it was melting. The generation offered so many memorable things but nothing was more beautiful than this.