Street Fighter EX series by Akira Prince of Persia 3D aka Arabian Nights on Sega Dreamcast Also *cough cough* Golden Axe Beast Rider and Final Fight Streetwise, which you already covered in Franchise Killers episode.
I guess most people would say Metal Gear was better in 3D The only other example I can think of is the Worms series going 3D, it was awful Edit: I remember another one, Sonic wings/Aero Fighters, the N64 game was bad enough to bankrupt the developer and end the series There's a lot of bad 3D N64 sequels to 2D series not previously from a Nintendo system now that I think about it...
Shinobi on the PS2 was definitely good but hard for its time--probably the hardest ninja game until Ninja Gaiden upstaged it 2 years later. Speaking of Ninja Gaiden, that franchise also got better in 3D. As for games that got worse in 3D, you could mention how Samurai Shodown on the Neo Geo 64 was a wash at best and a step down at worst.
Interesting (and disturbing) fact. The Swedish manual for the Mega Drive version of Paperboy was incredibly hilariously poorly translated even by the standards at the time. The worst offense being translating The Grim Reaper to "the vicious rapist". I'm seriously not joking!
When you first mentioned Mega Man I was thinking "Oh no... he isn't going to crap on Legends is he?" But you crapped on X7 and that's completely fine. As to how anyone could enjoy Bubsy? Well... when you're 9 and only got a couple new games every year, you made do with with what you had. Even when a well meaning parent bought you Bubsy.
Even Konami's worst TMNT games were better than most of Ubisoft and Activison's. Seriously though, glad you could see some positives, that 2003 game is a favorite of mine.
I feel like i has that difficulty like a classic Resident Evil, it kicks your ass at the begining, but then you start understanding the flow of the gameplay.
Man. I gotta say something. I have been following this channel for years and every time you post something new it's like a drug and I just have to see it or add it to my watch later list to see it as a winding down therapy kind of thing.
Same dude… I’m over here trying to devise a way to mainline this video somehow… my syringe keeps clogging though …. No really though, I seriously do get a nice surge of dopamine every time Joe posts a video. I get such a feel good vibe from seeing all of the older, forgotten games of my childhood, plus Joe is just funny as hell and he’s awesome! Cheers man 🍻💉🥄💊
GTA would likely be the best jump from 2D to 3D. A series that I never thought made a great jump to 3D was Pitfall, though. Perhaps playable but the 2D ones will always be a better experience.
i guess metal gear too even if the 2d ones weren't bad. same goes for duke nukem.. the first two games were great, but 3 is the one that defined the franchise... not sure on the more recent releases though.
I have such good memories of the early 3D days. Some of these feel clunky nowadays but there are times where an of-the-era below average 3D platformer is just what the doctor ordered
@@JoshuaJacobs83 I appreciate you taking the time to type that but you couldve used that to look up the word Semantics. This is a lighthearted channel who jokes around. Sounds like you're the true edge lord & this isn't the channel for you
Speaking of Konami, Suikoden is another franchise I'd toss in there. The first two are exceptional 2D RPGs... especially Suikoden II with its beautiful spritework and animation. The jump to 3D was rough and in my opinion, the series wouldn't really recover until Suikoden V.
Maximo: Ghosts to Glory is an awesome game. It captures the feeling of the old 2d games while adding cool new features like the power up system. I'm surprised Joe hasn't played it.
I love Castlevania 64. If you play it with Carrie, it's very enjoyable. The camera isn't perfect, but you get used to it. The level design is great, and atmospheric. And the music is beautiful. To be honest, I find the first Castlevania for the NES, a lot more frustrating.
I look forward to your future Castlevania episode. I stand by the 64 games being pretty good. They’re definitely “of the era,” and a few gameplay tweaks would have made a world of difference, but it was early 3D. Guess I’m an apologist.
Good luck with that lol I'm not sure if you've noticed, but Joe HATES pretty much ALL PS1/N64/Saturn-generation games, based solely on the graphics alone in all honesty. Pay attention when he reviews any of them in any video (not just this one). Everything he says always starts with "I HATE the way this game looks, it's terrible!" or something exactly like it, followed by a nit-picky list of things he would've either made excuses for or would down-right ignore as part of "the charm of that particular game era" if it's any older game from HIS younger years. He'll admit it himself sometimes, and him and his old cohost/best-friend used to go back and forth about it all the time before he left the show for the most part. It still makes me absolutely hate biased episodes like this, when he also always talks about how remaining impartial and professionally critical of games from an unbiased point-of-view is so critically important for "real, adult game reviewers who want to be taken seriously" while also making the conscious decision to hold on to his weird obsessive level of hate for PS1 graphics, and anything similar from the same gaming generation, not to mention the one after it, other than games he specifically likes. Those are okay. Don't expect much if your game wasn't a world-shattering, literal game-changer.... And though I truly do love the N64 versions of Castlevania (especially the original), it wasn't a critically acclaimed 10/10 hit, like I said: I wouldn't expect much any time soon lol that's all
I saw Mega Man X show up and I immediately thought Joe was going to say MegaMan Legends was a bad transition. Yes, X7 was indeed bad. On the other hand, I'm surprised Joe didn't take the opportunity to say "I'd say that Sonic Adventure was a bad transition, but Sonic has NEVER been good. I hate Sonic."
@@atre5763 Sonic Adventure was well received at the time it came out. It's fair to say it hasn't aged very gracefully. The games in this video however were considered bad even back then.
Metal Gear, to me, would be the defacto game series that got better in 3D. Cinematics, the worlds, all of that was so much cooler. I hear Maximo was good!
Maximo is actually quite good for a "jump to 3D". It's a reasonably fast-paced 3D hack-and-slash (with surprisingly decent platforming) with what some would call a "Souls-like" level of difficulty: healing is hard to come by so you HAVE to learn an enemy's patterns or you will die. A lot. (And it has a limited lives/continues system on top of that)
I really enjoy playing Off Road Challenge on the N64, there's very few racing games I like on the system but this one is a lot of fun for me. It's better emulated so you can overclock the CPU to get a smoother frame rate, usually I prefer original hardware but N64 games definitely benefit from emulation.
Just wanna take time to appreciate the editing of your videos. The Game Sack banner and fade into an ad is much better than cutting to an ad mid sentence like most RU-vidrs. 👍🏿
Ads ? What are ads ? Never seen one myself. I hear ads give you ED, and they're all just a bunch of scams anyway. Never seen one myself since 2008, and I have a much better life. When I stopped watching ads, my dog came back to life and my ex wife came back too.
Correction: in Paperboy (N64), the difficulty you select is what actually determines whether you go in a set path or can roam freely. As far as I'm aware, there's no difference in how Paperboy and Papergirl play.
Good choices overall, apart from the MK4 (pretty decent gameplay, you could do a lot worse than this game when jumping to 3d) and Mega Man X7 which does not seem to qualify for this video, since we are talking about transition to 3d and this isn't the first 3d game in the series.
The first 3D Contra game came out too early because there were games eventually that really worked well as shooters from that perspective... probably when twin-stick shooters became a thing, but that would come years later. The first 3D Contra game came out so early that one stick wasn't even a thing on the Playstation yet let alone somebody coming up with the idea of using two. So on some level, I give that game leniency. Shouldn't have played that way by design without sticks, but it is what it is. By the time Rogue Corps came out though... yeah. It did have the right idea and did the twin-stick shooter thing, but its design was atrocious. Among the numerous things wrong with it, I thought it needed to do the same thing that Sonic Generations did where it's equal parts old and new.
You're the worst kind of pedant, an incorrect one. "Literally" has been used as hyperbole or to mean "figuratively" for _centuries_ now. Seriously. Literally your entire life it has had this other meaning Mark Twain and Jane Austen and F. Scott Fitzgerald used it this way just to name a few. It's not some new trend to use it this way. And the meaning you want "literally" to have, to mean "actually" or "in a literal manner or sense; exactly", that's not even the original definition of the word "literally"! Why are you adamant that the 2nd definition of literally is the only one that's OK. But for the 1st and 3rd meanings of "literally" you think they don't count? The original definition of "literally" was when something had to do with writing, like "concerning the writing, study, or content of literature, especially of the kind valued for quality of form." Essentially it's what we use "literary" for these days. So why don't you whine about how you're using the updated changed new definition of "literally"? Why do you only whine about the 3rd meaning of it, and not the 2nd meaning? And literally every day you use words that have changed definition. Some of them actually mean the *opposite* of what they originally did. Like you've definitely used the word "awful" to mean something that's bad. Originally it meant something great and amazing, that filled you with awe, awe-ful. It's what we use "awesome" for these days (and "awesome" is another example, it used to mean something that was great in a horrible terrifying way, not "great" as in "good", just something very big and powerful and scary) Or how about "terrific" which originally meant something that was incredibly frightening or bad, terror-fic. Nowadays it means something that's really great or good. That new definition of the word "terrific" came about in the 19th century, the same exact time that the definition of "literally" that you hate so much came about. It's literally the same age as the definition for "literally". So why do you whine about one and not the other? They're the same age, both "new" definitions. If you were in any way consistent, you'd be whining about the "new" definition of "terrific" because it's the same exact age as the "new" meaning of literally. But you aren't consistent. This is literally the only word people like you care about even though there's thousands of examples of words that have the same age of the newest meaning. 19th century meanings of words like literally. You care only about appearing smart, not actually being smart. If ylu were smart you'd know how old that definition of literally is. Is it because you don't really know what you're talking about and just wanna hang on this one word you hate, but because you don't know how English works, you've never read a book on it or on linguistics in general, you want to appear smart by whining about the word but you're not actually smart enough to research it and either whine about *every* word that changed definition, or just accept that this is how language works? English is a descriptivist language. Meaning it constantly changes. "Correct English" is simply the English that English speakers speak and write every day. That's why English dictionaries are constantly updating and adding new words. It's not like a prescriptivist language like French, where there's a central body in Paris who decide what is officially French and what isn't. French is based on what the dictionaries say, and vice versa for English, where English dictionaries are based on what English speakers say and write. Ultimately, English works through context. The words as a whole, a whole sentence, is what gives meaning. Not the individual words. It's always obvious when the person means *literally* literally and when they are using it as hyperbole or to mean "figuratively". That's why English can be used to imply things without ever explicitly stating it. It's why "reading between the lines" is a thing. It's why English poetry can be so beautiful and have tons of meanings simultaneously. Because English works through context. You know exactly what they mean when they use "literally" that way, so it's very successful at communicating with you. That's all that matters.
why did they even display X front and center on the cover of MegamanX7 when for the majority of the time you play as AXL and Zero and you unlock X much later in the game?
Since I’m currently replaying Mario 64 DS I thoight the same, sure you can unlock Mario fairly soon in the game bjt why name the game after him and have him front center on the cover and he’s not playable until much later? He isn’t even rewarded in the ending.
Man, when you're more than satisfied with the video and go to like it and the post credits skit starts so you wait and it just doubles your enjoyment. Good stuff Joe!
I don’t remember how I discovered game sack but I’m glad i did and it was recent so there were already hundreds of episodes to go through and with Lockdowns had time to play games even my old ones.I like Jrpg’s so while playing ps1 jrpg classics i turn down the volume and binge watch all episodes starting from the 1st episode of course,now that I’ve caught up for a while now will always be waiting for new ones to come out...keep up the good work 👍👍
Mk4 was actually quite good. Graphics just didn't age well and they sacrificed a lot to get it to 60 fps. It went downhill after that IMO which required the MK9 reboot.
Cant believe you said MK4 was terrible! How dare you! I loved the game... but I can see why its on this episode. Great video! Cant get enought of them!
Castlevania 64 is actually very underrated and has terrific atmosphere. You might be surprised by it Mr Ballsack lol Also Grand Theft Auto vastly improved when it went to 3D
GTA was always 3D, it was just a top down view and used 2D textures on the ground, the buildings and other stuff were already in 3D. In fact i wouldn't mind a modern take on the top down GTA style. ...maybe i should look into Shakedown Hawaii.
Hard disagree on the Turtles games. I get so unimpressed when people denounce them solely because that's not "their" generation of Turtles. While the first game from 2003 is admittedly limited in scope and repetitive as the combat was the bulk of the game, the controls and combat were stellar enough. Getting huge combos and a higher score is pretty old-school in of itself so I don't get the hate. The sequels are all different as far as combat but they are honestly better than the first game and of course they include the arcade originals as bonus unlockables--minus the original soundtracks. I'm not saying there aren't bad 3D Turtles games--in fact, saying this would be lying....Konami put out TMNT Mutant Melee the same generation and its quite possibly the worst one of them all. What I am saying is that the 3 beat em ups before Mutant Melee are actually very good and worth playing. They aren't bad just because they don't do what an older retro game did.
Can I just say that I appreciate you actually make spots in your vids for the commercials... that way it doesn't take me out of the moment, I appreciate the effort!
Sort of glad Sonic wasn't anywhere near this episode! Okay okay I know some people actually like 3D Sonic games so probably a good call there. Still, I was sort of turned off from 3D games at the start as most developers just couldn't figure out how to make it work!
Honestly MK4 wasn't *that* bad, the game plays fine and can be played competitively and for the time that was among the better looking 3d Pixel tech. Also you forgot street fighter EX lol you put mk 4 but forgot sf ex? 😅😜
@@RetroRuss Deadly Alliance was novel at the time and a big improvement over MK4, but in hindsight it wasn't really that great either. That already became fairly obvious by the time Deception rolled out. MK9 is where the series finally found its footing in 3D, and ironically it was by taking the gameplay back to its 2D roots.
@@RetroRuss Deception was fun but broke af lol... thr extra modes were cool though chess and puzzle kombat. Deadly Alliance was before Deception, and the first real 3D MK game. Mk 4 was technically 2.5D at best, you could step in and out/sidestepping but as far as fully 3D MK Deadly Alliance was the first fully 3-Dimensional MK game to come out.
@@Astfgl MK 9 was only 3D in graphics only and paved by MK vs DCU(which was also similar to MK 4 with not fully 3D nor fully 2D, MK 9 having fully 2D and went back to nostalgic territory combined with updated gameplay making it one of the best MK's ever. MK vs DC was also the first to really redesign the story format and wasn't entirely bad in it's own right, people just hate the watered down MK in that game but Yeah Deadly Alliance was their first fully 3D MK game, and while it was received better than MK 4 and overall the most balanced 3D MK game of the following games (Deception and Armageddon) it wasn't totally without it's flaws, the super slow gameplay and limited moves alongside one fatality per character was kind of a bummer. But as always storyline wise evolved MK. Hopefully at some point we get MK 4 and Deadly Alliance online in a retro pack or something, those are the 2 MK games never to have online play (no counting mame of course) but legitimately for any console. Perhaps that'll change down the road. I hope NRS makes an ultimate MK Klassic Kollection with MK 1, 2, UMK3, MK 4 and Deadly Alliance all available with online play with improved netcode. That would sell insane.
When we originally created our channel, we intended to create a series of videos showing great 2D games against their sub-par transitions to 3D. We never created the series, but this video touches on a lot of the games we intended to showcase.
Sonic the Hedgehog falls into this category perfectly for me. But not for the reasons you might think. It's not because of "3D" Blast or even Sonic Adventure. Those games were flawed, but also had some good about them. No, I'm talking about the OTHER 3D Sonic games... Sonic R, Sonic the Fighters (albeit not as bad), and Sonic World in the Sonic Jam collection. You want a rough transition to 3D? The Saturn Sonic games got that topic covered.
@@AndalusianLuis eh, I think most sonic fans have come to terms, that’s why there’s a “sonic cycle.” I don’t think the 3D games are as universally bad as some do, though. More of a mixed bag.
I'm so glad you're still pumping out informative and funny videos with excellent quality. Been a fan for years, even before I had a google account. Thanks for being awesome! EDIT: Lmao those side affects tho XD
Got worse: Worms. The 2D games were awesome. I have so many memories playing those with friends and family bug never enjoyed the 3D games nearly as much. Got better: Catacombs, Duke Nukem, and Wolfenstein. I liked the 2D games but enjoyed the first 3D game of each more, and the first and third series listed only got better from their first 3D game IMO.
You mention Wolf, and I'd argue Doom as well. Doom 3 wasn't a favorite, but it still did well for what it was even before the Bethesda reboots, which were more like the originals with a mix of Metroid Prime.
@@lukasperuzovic1429 Kind of. The early games were all 2D sprites, programmed to make an illusion to be "3D". FPS weren't truly 3D until Quake, Duke (which had more 3d rendering alongside 2D sprites), and even Goldeneye.
@@nintyfan1991 I feel calling Doom a 2D game is disingenuous to everyone. All games are 2D if you want to get technical as its displayed on a 2D plane (obviously not including VR). Having the game use no not use polygons isn't the debate here. Its can you explore the space in 3 dimensions, and Doom qualifies for exploring a space in 3 dimensions.
I don't recall any pre-3D Doom games. I thought the series started as a First Person Shooter and didn't know there were any 2D games before the 93 FPS. Were they stealth games like the 80s Wolfenstein games?
It could be argued that these games transitioned just fine to 3D, but here are some series that I wished stayed 2D (at least A little longer): Gex- loved the first but couldn’t get into the 3D versions. Legacy of Kain - ditto. I really wanted a 2D sequel. Rayman - ditto but it’s good to see this one go back to 2D again Sonic - seems we have more bad 3D sonic games than good.
@matt allan 9/11 made that game bad they should of had vice city come out first because 9/11 ruined games that take place in New York because you can't fly airplanes in GTA3 and other games with NYC.
I only played MK4 on the PC at the time - it looked far better than the console versions and while the later verisons were better? it was VERY well balanced and very popular.
Good to see that you didn’t mention Sonic Adventure since you already talked about it before. Not a huge Sonic fan but it did good in 3D, and still plays well despite awkward camera and control issues. 3D Sonic games continue to be good after ups and downs since Sonic 06 and again Sonic Boom Rise of Lyric. But who knows, maybe the next Sonic game be great or worst again. I just want Sega to do good quality with Sonic like what Nintendo is doing with Mario these days.
The thing with 2D games for a while was, apparently Nintendo & Sony didn't want 2D games on their systems. I wish I could find he article but capcom allegedly had to tell sony if they wanted Resident Evil they had to allow Megaman X4 and Megaman 8 onto their system. Sony even asked Falcom to change the opening animation and character to prerendered 3D characters in their PS2 title of Ys- and the original anime intro is accessible with a code. Reviewers around the PS1/N64/Sat days were apparently super down on 2D games. Which, sure I'm sure the mentality was "it makes their console look weak" but the 2D games are what stood out and look better than the majority of the 3D titles released around that time
If you weren't around during that time, then it would definitely be really hard to understand today. Back then, the thinking was that 2D games were a thing of the past. You have to understand that they had been making 2D games for over 2 decades. 3D was a new thing and they could do things not previously possible in 2D. Nobody was interested in 2D games anymore, they wanted to see those cool new 3D games. You're correct about Sony not wanting 2D games, but Nintendo was actually just fine with 2D. The N64 did have a few 2D games on it believe it or not. The reason there weren't more of them is because of what I said above, but also most likely because the N64 was made specifically for 3D games. It was the most powerful console at the time, capable of making these big beautiful (at the time) 3D games, so making a 2D game would have probably made you feel like you were severely underutilizing the hardware.
@@JMFSpike Trust me, I was there and had/have played the games that were 2D. But 64 had far, less, 2D games to my knowledge- or at least to my knowledge. With PS I was happy to play stuff like Megaman 8 and X4 & X5, along with mixed 2D games like Breath of Fire 3/4 (yes, they operate on a 3D map but the sprite work and the texture work felt like it was pushed toward a 2D RPG) The thing is I recall all that flack back then but not caring too much? When I got Final Fantasy Tactics I was told "you might not like it, it looks old" because of the 2D sprites and such but I LOVED it then and I love it now. Maybe I was more caught up in being poor & not having a lot of gaming options but I didn't really care. When I got FFVII my jaw was on the floor because of the spectacle but I played X4 2 years later and was beyond happy
I saw it as a slow transition but it's a shame that 2D games became old news for so long. I remember buying Earthworm Jim 2 for PS1 around the time of Tekken 3 (which I also had) and my friends didn't understand wanting to go back to 2D games. Soon after I bought a SNES again and they didn't understand that either
@@breakfasthole3851 People still do that nowadays, they trade in their old systems and games as soon as the new generation starts to get the new console, since they can't imagine playing old tech. Casuals will always be casuals, they don't look at games as individual experiences since they only see the technology.
@@Jordan3DS My brother is exactly that. Must have new consoles when they launch, everything from before gets sold. He just wants to play the latest things, doesn't dip into older stuff too much. He sees that as 'going backwards'. I wouldn't describe him as casual though. Just different perspectives and gaming behaviours. He puts serious hours into playing and gets very good at whatever games are his current thing.
@@breakfasthole3851 I would say it's pretty "casual", since those kinds of gamers only play a very small percentage of what's out there. It'd be like if a movie buff refused to watch anything not in theaters, a music buff refused to listen to anything that didn't just come out, or a book buff refused to read anything that didn't release that year. They can't really be called true fans of the medium if they say that most of it is just "outdated garbage". Plus, I think someone can spend a lot of time with a game and still be considered a casual. Lots of people spend dozens of hours a week playing Madden or Call of Duty or Fortnite, yet the fact that they scoff at actual games while only playing casual games is mainly what makes them a casual gamer.
Great video! I looked at this title and immediately thought “donkey Kong 64”. What a mess that game was. Poor earthworm Jim. 3D could have been great for him. RIP EJ
Great episode! I would love an episode around series that made a great jump to 3D. I love these kinds of episodes too, but episodes based around good games are great because I usually find a couple games I've not played before to try.
Castlevania 64 is a good game. Especially when compared to the slop on the n64. I'll even go so far to say most people thought it was good till that avgn episode. Also, stop saying the second 64 title is a remake of the first one. That is wrong and when people regurgitate that over and over its becoming more and more accepted as truth
I believe Game Sack is the last remaining bastion of RU-vid content that actually makes me happy. I still refer your channel every time I buy something online from Microcenter, as they have you listed in their drop down. I have no idea if this helps anything, but it makes me feel like I have done something.
Yup, see, all of the experts agree that the first TMNT for the NES is a great game, & it most definitely is! Hating a game simply because you're not good enough to beat it is your own fault, not the game's. Once you get your skills right, you will learn that the game actually controls very well & is a ton of fun to play. It also has some of the best music on the NES.
@@thedeadpoolwhochuckles.6852 Lol no... It is truly an excellent game. It's just tough. I don't like it cus it's tough, I like it cus it's a great & fun game that just so happens to be tough.
7:46 - "...it feels like Midway took their Cruisin' engine, dumbed it down a few notches, and then slapped some Off-Road action onto it." After firing up the arcade version in MAME I can say with a million percent honesty that... yes. Yes they did. ESPECIALLY in the arcade. :P
Doom 3, for sure. It was a bit of a graphical beast at the time, but damn, we're there some bad gameplay decisions, like unequipping a gun for the torch, too many sudden spawns for cheap jumpscares, terrible gun audio etc. The 2016 one showed how 3D Doom should be done
You know, I don't really mind the aesthetic of Paperboy on the N64. I think it's unique and neat for its time. Maybe if they made it for a more powerful console like the Dreamcast it would work better.