[Rant] Cel-Shaded, Transparency Effects, BLOOM, GOURAD SHADING!

A tangent before I get started. With my avatar and signature tipping my hand, I've been playing through the Thunder Force series. Whilst holding about a 3 month infatuation with overall presentation and cohesion the series provides, I figured I'd try and make a contribution to these forums with all these wonderful little ideas popping off in my head.

It is my opinion that the one standout thing about good games (or just popular games if you happen to dislike a title, YOU KNOW YOU DO) is that the persons involved in development have an overall appreciation for the world/universe/thing they're working with. A very short article/interview at Gamespy with the guy behind R-Type: Final had him quoted as talking to his development crew and saying something along the lines of "Let's make the best R-Type game we can! That's why we joined Irem, isn't it?"

Seeing Technosoft's work on Thunder Force V - Perfect System (PSX) and comparing it to Thunder Force V (Saturn), sparked a thought in me. Now, it is a given that the PSX version is a port and is graphically inferior to the Saturn version (though it has many more gameplay modes as well as additional bonus content). What I noticed though was how much more I enjoyed watching the Saturn version, and how much more I wanted to play it even though I'd played the PSX version countless times.

Today, in this "Next Generation" of consoles, we see what this technology is capable of and I notice that there is usually a collective set of disinterest in these supposedly impressive capabilities. We will more than likely look back at this generation and find little gems of our own as well, so here's one I found in the 32-bit era.

YouTube Video

So, again, the Saturn version of Thunder Force V. This video is of Stage 3 (note the awesome background music, at least I think it's awesome) and Stage 4, respectively. The theme is that you're defending an underground city built underneath the ruins/rubble of the previous city. Now, when I had first played Thunder Force V - Perfect System, I was asking myself why the stage looked so boring. Where was this supposed "City" the beginning text referenced? I then saw this play-through and took notice to the background.

If you look closely, you'll see that the Saturn's transparency capability shows that very city "under the rubble" I referenced. The kinetic feel of the stage is enhanced as you see those little blue pillars shifting by as you rocket through the stage, gunning down enemies. At least compared to flying through gray rubble in the PSX version. Overall, I just have to say, "Pretty clever there Technosoft!"

I remember all the discourse I used to hear about how the Saturn did polygons better and how it had transparency effects (more RAM) and it is only now at an older age that I notice why this was even a point. As a player, are then any graphical effects you've taken notice of as you've played games? Mode-7? BLAST PROCESSING? Care to share a rant of your own?

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I have to say that I'm waiting for the overall homogenized feel most games have visually to leave these days. It's not so much nostalgia, I just know that it's gonna take some time for developers to get in stride. As for the Dragon Force stuff, I've never seen it in action so that was a first for me. I remember reading the Saturn previews in EGM back in 1997 and how much it sucked to be poor at that time.

I wonder if I'd have had the same outlook on games if things were more readily available? Eh.

And that lose quote from the Generals in Dragon Force is hilarious. "What a disappointment." Looking to be a little more than just a "disappointment" there, guy.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Presentation wise, I'd say it's one of the best shooters I've played. At that, it's a really decent pick up and play... which, unfortunately, I cannot say for most other shooters. I'd recommend it to people on the basis that they'd be able to finish the damn thing. Sadly, there just aren't a lot of people who don't find blowing up several times to be conducive to fun.

I'm actually pretty interested in what more power can do for celshading. Especially being a fan of Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter and Shin Megami Tensei.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.