The best looking fighting game?

Andy and Adam posed this question to me while I was in New York, and I'm sure they would love to hear your thoughts on this, but what looks best:

TTT (PS2), DOA2 (any platform) or Soul Calibur (DC)?

ice-9

 

DOA2 on PS2. All two true.

 

VF3

=)

 

TTT (PS2), DOA2 (any platform) or Soul Calibur (DC)?

Out of the three games you listed or all fighting games?

Out of the three I would have to say Dead or Alive II.. The game looks friggin incredible in some areas. But you really haven't made this an easy choice, lol.. Tekken Tag Tournament is probably the most impressive "technically" since it's pushing so many polygons and there's So much activity going on in the backgrounds. Soul Calibur looks Awesome in some levels but I have always thought that the backgrounds could be livened up a bit, would be nice if that large statue animated in the lava level.

Personally I have always preferred the look of Virtua Fighter III and Dead or Alive II..


Ridge Racer V to me is the absolute BEST looking racing game to ever grace consoles.

 

I hate the character designs of DOA2 it's like they decided to make some peverted male fantasy videogame. I much prefer the character designs of VF 3 or Soul Calibur. In term of graphical "pertyness" I have to say DOA 2 but in term of fluidity I say either Guilty Gear X or VF 3. I think Shenmue is the overall "pertyiest" game any genre.

Under the surface of the most jaded cynic lies a dissappointed idealist- George Carlin

 

DOA2 on the Jap DC looks best IMO. so seamless (aside from the wrists).

TTT looks good, but everyone looks really ugly to me. personally, I'd rather have characters who look a little stylized/anime-ish (DOA or SC) than an attempt at realism that looks ugly like TTT. The BG's are impressive, but the flat seamed floors are tired.

SC is really great, I have no complaints, I just like DOA a little more.

I also agree with rich that vf3 wins for it's overall artistry/beauty, but unfortunately it suffers a little from being 5 years old.

DOA2 Jap DC (cleaner than hardcore) to me wins.

spotlight

 

To me, the little details really make a difference, and VF3 is filled to the brim with them.

Whenever I see Kage's hair and the way it's directly affected with movement - I cringe at the thought of Soul Calibur's "helmet" hair; as much as SC is a pretty game, full of flashes and colours, the clothes are still very poorly modeled (i.e. contrast Mitsurugi's 2P outfit with Aoi's 1P sleeved outfit), the hands don't react well at all, the facial features are underplayed, etc. Moreover, I cringe at the thought of a stage that isn't solid, with just a "floating" ring and a few BG elements, most of them are high-resolution images.

the recent TTT outing on the PS2 is, for me, in many respects, a joke. Observe, for instance, Lei's clunky hair and his traditional outfit, which suffers no geometry deformation whatsoever, instead just hanging like a solid church bell around him. Again, the colours are pretty, and there is a lot of polygonal detail on some of the characters (i.e. Jin's muscles that aren't just a texture) but I'd never buy the "floating disco floor" stages after playing VF2, and that was in '94.

DoA2 is a very pretty game, in my opinion, and it goes much further than recent ports of TTT or SC as far as visual cohesiveness is concerned - solid stages, some well-modeled elements of clothing; but still, most characters' hairs aren't good, and it's all too "clean", as another member recently pointed out.

Overall, I find that VF3 being almost 5 yrs. old only adds to the impact and reassures its beauty very objectively. The solid scenarios, deformable clothing geometry, realistically-modeled hair, eye movement, different physics for each character (yes, for me it does have a direct visual impact), hands that contract and dynamically respnd to movement have a big impact, despite being comprised of ellipses (state-of-the-art back then, they weren't just a solid clunk); there are just too many things that I love about the visuals of the game - realistically, not just for the sake of going "against the flow". There's a visual/artistic cohesiveness about it all that simply wasn't matched in other games, in my opinion.

cheers,

 

Everyone's put up a good amount of discussion on the topic and there's nothing I can really add. I love the detail of VF3, as Great Deceiver points out. Each time I play the game it's like there's something more. To me, THAT'S ART!

Anyways, I'm gonna admit to straying a bit off of the specifics. However. To me, VF2 looks far better than Tekken 3 or TTT (arcade). I mean this in ALL aspects (otherwise I probably would include TTT PS2).

It (practically obviously to me) is cleaner, more solid, and everything just stands out in detail and design. Was kind of annoying how everyone was comparing the graphics in Tekken 3 to Virtua Fighter 3 at times. VF3 just had a lot more for it.

PS2 TTT looks impressive in some areas, but overall just doesn't grab me. The Attract mode was cool imo, I like the game itself for playing, but its visuals just don't grab me. I think some characters look cool and all, but I only see hollow designs. Remakes of popular figures. Inspired? yes. Original? Not to me.

As far as Soul Calibur goes, i will admit that the motion capturing drew me in when I first played that game (arcade). It didn't look all that clean to me, but the animations were just very cool to me at the time. And I'll admit, I like Mitsurugi's character, particularly the bum variation in SC. Though I can guess he was probably ripped out of a Kurosawa flick, but I still thought the image was cool.

I like the look of DoA2 in its own right. It's not that much like the other games, somewhat unique, and speaks on its own as being its own art style in terms of fighting games. Feels more animated, but it's intended to be.

-Chanchai

 

IMO
SC will have to take the crown.

too many reasons to lists currently.
6 am now. I'm finally tired.

But, tomolo.
I shall come back with the reasons.

<font color=red>SummErs' 'mibu's lone wolf'

 

Mitsurugi is representative of a recurring "character theme" - the stray samurai, the ronin. That sort of character has appeared in many fighting games for many years now, but I believe the first accurate portrayal of the figure was in Samurai Spirits, with Haohmaru. In my opinion, that archetype is based off the historical japanese samurai figure, Musashi. Look carefully and you'll agree with me that Mitsurugi is a lot like a 3d Haohmaru, sans sake bottle

In Kurosawa's "seven samurai", there is one archetypical ronin, Kikuchyio. It's a traditional and recurring theme;

Back on topic, though, I find Soul Calibur's (and the original Soul Edge's) character designs very inspired - take Voldo, for example. It's a very nice mix of traditional and quirky (Li Long comes to mind - I still prefer him tenfold over Maxi); the motion capture is deservedly acknowledged as a technical marvel, and I still find it very impressive to this day.

Overall, I find SC a much more creative/entertaining game to play than Tekken, if not too particularly stimulating on a mechanical level

cheers!

 

Oh yeah, there's no doubt that Mitsurugi (in SC) is practically a polygonal Haohmaru (heck, look at some of the moves hehehe). But I really like some of the character added to him. Sipping from the gourd, etc. Definitely like him in the Ronin look.

Li Wu Long was practically my favorite character in Soul Edge. I definitely like him more than Maxi.

Speaking of Samurai Spirits/Showdown, despite the eyepatch, I really liked Jubei. Thought he was interesting and was fun to play as well.

-Chanchai

 

Samurai Spirits has, in my opinion, some of the most successful character designs of all 2d fighting games. The culmination is, for me, part 2 - so many great & memorable characters, drawn directly from japanese myth/culture - and so many great moments/concepts: the classical conflict between Genjuro & Haohmaru, Hanzo, still the most imposing "ninja" ever to be portrayed in a fighting game... I don't think there is a single character I dislike, except, maybe, for Galford (I always cringe when I hear his "arigato"

I have a MVS cabinet set up in my kitchen (hehe), and undoubtledly the most oft-played game on it is SS2, to this day. '94... those were the days. sigh.

cheers

 

I've had the chance to check out TTT (PS2) in some depth and I have to say the game does look great in some areas. Its like Soul Calibur, some of the characters and stages look great while the others are kinda blah. Technically TTT is pushing the most. But I think DOA2 and SC win for the overall look of the game. If I saw all three games running I would say DOA2 (DC, I've never seen the PS2 version) looks the best.

Myke can you add that poll function to this thread somehow?
Thanks.

CrewNYC

 

I know I love to mention this game and maybe my memory is a bit off but I remember Wushu on konami's Cobra board looking a step up from vf3 in terms of poly count while maintaining the same "feel".

DOA2 would be my second choice because it looks nice in all areas,though I prefer TTT player models.

 

Hmm I was underwhelmed to say the least when I first saw RRV,maybe I was expecting too much but what exactly is it about the graphics that's so appealing?.

To tell you the truth I thought Driving Emotion Type S looked better (yes I know it handled like crap : )