Video game graphics are constantly evolving and, thanks to new technologies and increasingly powerful hardware, this will continue to be the case for the foreseeable future. Nevertheless, every now and then it is worth taking a look back into the past. Because even if old games can't keep up with modern graphics, there are still some titles that still look damn good today.
This also applies to a PlayStation 2 game from 2001, as many fans think. It was not for nothing that it was a real milestone in video game graphics at the time.
23 year old racer still looks fantastic today
We're talking aboutGran Turismo 3: A-Spec. The game was originally released exclusively for the PS2 in 2001. But even today it doesn't have to hide its appearance, as a short video from Redditor Slep1k impressively shows:
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Despite the flat screen TV, this is not an emulated version; the user plays directly on his PS2, which is next to the TV. Accordingly, no graphic mods are used here. Instead, we see the actual optics as they flickered on tube televisions over 20 years ago.
With such impressive lighting effects as can be seen from 0:58 in the video, it is of course amazing. Of course, it should be noted that the developers had to do a lot of technical tricks back then. While today the sun's rays are calculated in approximately real time, back then they were purely static.
But it always looks good. Slep1k sums it up pretty well in his comment on the video:
"I can't believe what a graphical achievement this was for a game in 2001! (I wish we could get something similar today!)
Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec is the best example of a graphical leap. Nothing even comes close to what happened in 2001, nothing!"
With the graphic of a published in 2022Of course the old PS2 game can't keep up. But it shows that the series has always valued stylish graphics and lighting effects and that they deliver:
Of course, Gran Turismo 3 isn't the only old game that still looks great today. In the comments, fans share other titles that were pioneers of their time. User Different-Class1771 names the direct successor Gran Turismo 4, which to him "almost looks like an early PS3 game."
In addition, the graphical leap from Final Fantasy 9 to Final Fantasy 10 or from Metal Gear Solid to MGS 2 are also mentioned as positive examples.
If you think back to the PS2 era: What do you think were the best games on the market back then?
