3D Polygon Games On 8/16-Bit Consoles

[TL]

In another thread we went a bit off-topic talking about this after my purchase of Steel Talons for the Mega Drive. Elsewhere on the forum we are also talking about the port of Star Fox to the Mega Drive. This got me thinking and I thought it would make a great thread.

To quote this post:

Cannot think where i read interview with coder behind F-22 on MD, but in those pre-SVP chip days, i'm sure he+team used not only the M68000 of the MD to generate the polygon visuals, but also the Z80 and anything else they could fool into giving a little more power to the maths needed.

Sounded like some really creative coding for sure.

From what i recal, as well as the 2 processors, the coders tapped into the part of the MD hardware which 'read' the cartridge, talk about pulling power from every last area of the hardware.

Looking back at what the most talented coders got from the stock MD hardware, still amazes me today:Polygons, FMV, sprite Scaling etc.

The hardware limitations seemed to be viewed more as a challenge than an obstacle and better still, as well as being technically superb, games always seemed to be bloody great as well (Gunstar Heroes, Red Zone, F-22 etc).

This was a great way of exploiting the hardware of the MD and utilising the Z80 co-processor that was usually reserved for playing Master System games and driving the sound chip.

What other great examples are there?

[TL]

Here is a video of F22 Interceptor on the MD:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLih6SyjpBs

[nakamura]

F1 on the Mega Drive from Domark was excellent. It seems to feature some basic polygons for the scenery and looks great as a result.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qofonsN3Nwc

[Rogue Trooper]

F1 on the Mega Drive from Domark was excellent. It seems to feature some basic polygons for the scenery and looks great as a result.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qofonsN3Nwc

Based on Atari ST 'Vroom!' (Love that name).

Very decent game engine considering the MD was'nt geared towards this type of 3D.

[TL]

F1 on the Mega Drive from Domark was excellent. It seems to feature some basic polygons for the scenery and looks great as a result.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qofonsN3Nwc

Based on Atari ST 'Vroom!' (Love that name).

Very decent game engine considering the MD was'nt geared towards this type of 3D.

I was actually telling Nakamura that earlier on!

I actually picked up F! just this last week and am really impressed by how fast it is.

[Rogue Trooper]

Only got as far as a 'tech demo' but...

Elite on Mega Drive anyone?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnr3g81nS7U

[Rogue Trooper]

Starfox on stock MD?

Try the bonus stage from a CANNED game by Psygnosis on MD, 'RESQ':

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sXgFmZ-tM0

[Rogue Trooper]

Only an intro but:

Star Cruiser on MD:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIMEfxYh3lc

[TL]

Dammit RT I just had to delete my whole post as I was just posting the exact same video!

I was saying that seeing Star Fox on the MD reminded me of that game. It's a really impressive looking sequence.

Elite on the MD looks really good, shame it never made it out.

[TL]

Core Design were experts at pushing hardware and they did it again with Corporation on the Mega Drive, very smooth if basic 3D engine:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QocuSsovRJg

[Rogue Trooper]

Beat me too it on MD Corporation.

Anyone remember the 'cool' feature on the ST/Amiga versions? you sent CORE a photo of yourself and a blank disc, they returned said items, load disc into game, BINGO YOUR photo on your in-game ID Card.

[Rogue Trooper]

F1 World Championship:Beyond The Limit i think used simple 3D Polygon models and basic texture mapping on things like the grandstands.

[TL]

Going back to Steel Talons, it was attempted on both the Mega Drive and of course the Atari Lynx with different results so let's look at both. Shame there are not really any good videos for them though!

Mega Drive version:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exiIGahcUPI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GbxKmrbkw8

Atari Lynx version

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7xt7lIMMPQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZNcuSMrTHc

[nakamura]

Some interesting videos in here.
I remember reading a lot about Corperation in Mean Machines and being very interested. I never got to play it though.

Cool intro from Star Cruiser there. I really like flat shaded polygons.

The Psygnosis game, did it come after Starfox? It looks as blatant a rip off as Fighters History was on SF2!


A few SNES ones worth looking at. All feature Super FX but still awesome despite the add on hardware.

Vortex is excellent and a very underrated gem. Very much a computer style game on a console. Incredible music and quite a bit of depth to the gameplay.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBEqnTzWx-4


Dirt Trax FX. A really cool motorcross racer, something similar came out for the Jaguar I think. Plays well and despite the terrible music, is a decent racer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SPlN-0J63w


Race Drivin. The game is crap on both formats but certainly better on the MD.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1DFK0hw_s0

[Rogue Trooper]

Great shout there with Vortex, MY kinda game (and groovy music to boot!).

From a purely technical viewpoint, think i'm more 'impressed' by what's being done on a stock MD with clever coding, rather than the SNES FX based stuff, which is really just delivering visuals i'm expecting from a dedicated 3D maths chip, where as the MD coders are taking the hardware into the unknown for myself in a lot of cases.