What was the first game you remember that impressed you graphically?

I’ve never been all that interested in “lifelike” looking games.

But as a kid I remember being impressed by The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess.

(Being that I just came from playing Windwaker at the time.) I loved how the atmosphere was so dark and gritty compared to other games. Link looking all grown up was cool too.

I remember seeing World Games on Commodore 64, at friends house.

And the graphics just blew me away. It was basically the first time I've seen video games in action, you see.

So, needless to say I did lot of chores and suchlike, and saved and saved, till I could buy Commodore 64 too!

So, the first game I ever saw was the one that impressed me the most.

After that, pretty much every first game I played on every new console/computer was the one that blew me away.

Sword of Sodan on the Amiga (and Apple IIGS). Crap game. But, I liked its looks.

Final Fantasy VIII on the PS1.

At the time, the visuals were stunning. I remember telling myself that in a few years, those CGI graphics will be possible on the next playstation. Indeed that happened with the PS2 tech demo, at least rather close to it.

Not sure, but I guess Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed.

Final Fantasy X. Thought Ps1 FMV graphics were insane but that game went a step beyond. Almost real both in game and CGI scenes

@sakaixx: That’s one I forgot to mention. Loved the cinematic cutscenes in FFX and still do.

I was use to crudy NES looking games and saw friend's computer that had shit like Prince of Persia and Wolfenstein3D and was amazing, but seeing Tomb Raider for first time and playing that game, it was beginning of what would become.

Short answer, every PS1 game, Tomb Raider being earliest ones I remember as being reasons I need a PS1. I had seen great shit prior, especially in arcades, but I definitely feel Tomb Raider was the precursor to what video games would become.

Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine looked so awesome when I played it at the first time.(I was also impressed that character lips were moving and they also used body talk in cutscenes.

Tough to pinpoint first, so will just state various Survival Horror games in the 128-bit generation.

It's these games that caught off guard with how much detail can be put into games. And how good lighting and shadows can create sombre and unsettling tones.

Sonic adventure on dreamcast.

@robert_sparkes: Sonic Adventure 2 is still my favourite out of the sonic games I think. :) Is it weird that I like Sonic Unleashed though?

I tried playing Sonic Generations. It was good, but I couldn't properly get into it for some reason. I played it on PS3 first but I wouldn't recommend playing it on PC. It feels weird. The motion blur and speed that Sonic runs at gives me a headache.

Super Mario Bros

The Smurfs on Colecovision. I was like whoa, that looks very similar to the cartoon!

Sonic 2. Going from playing mainly only Intellivision games to all those bright colors was amazing.

I've been gaming since 1979,so games were block/stick men at the time and pretty lame,but I think it was arcade games is what turned me on towards console gaming. PC's were untouchable at the time with it's price, so I got a Gemini soon after.

I had a pretty weak computer and then xbox 360 slim was released. My last console was n64 as a kid.

I worked in summer as a teenager and bought myself an xbox 360 slim.

When I first saw assassins creed. gears of war. halo reach. elder scrolls oblivion. woooow it blew me away like so much! Today I still look at those games and think woow. graphics are better today but not blewing me away anymore

Graphics has never really been important to me as long as the story is good.

If the game is pure gameplay than graphics matter and here a game like Crysis and also RDR 2 has impressed me.

But as a kid i was impressed by Resident Evil 1 , got a playstation and a few games and that and Crash was epic compared to previous games.

There were probably some before but one that I remember quite vividly was walking into my local arcade and seeing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Arcade Game for the first time.

First time I remember being totally impressed by a game's visuals was when I first saw a FFVII cinematic. Or it wasn't exactly a cinematic, it was more of a cinematic for a spell. Spell animation, I guess? I remember the guy conjured up a dragon or something.

Oh that's a good one. Wish EA went back to NFS roots, made more "serious" (but not too sim-like) car racing games, not this douchebaggy stuff they've done for the past few games.

It did look really good for the time, too. Hell I still think it looks pretty OK for being as old as it is.

Altered Beast. It was playable on the Sega Genesis display in the electronics store departments, and being that all I'd known was NES in the 80's, my mind was blown.

Ninja Gaiden, the first game that really made good use of the cinema cutscene.

Mario 64 did it for me. It looked so solid and the 3d world was so unlike anything I'd seen before it felt like I was playing an animated cartoon.

The only other game since then was Sonic Adventure on the DC, the solidity and colors in the game blew me away, it was a massive step up from any console before.

I think we've now reached the point where that won't happen anymore though, future consoles will all simply be an evolution of what went before rather than a true revolution.

@l34052: That’s true. Plus they’ve reached the point of photo realistic graphics now. So “better graphics” will soon be a thing of the past. We can now only rely on gameplay and story. Lol

Mortal Kombat. Has not aged well, but at the time I though it looked sooo realistic.

@speeny:

First game that impressed me was Halo 2 on Xbox Original. And Doom 3. Whichever came first.

Starwing on the SNES. Think that was the first “3d” game I owned, and it blew me away.

Star Wars Rebel Assault on pc. The cd quality sound and what looked to me as “just like the movie!” graphics back then blew my mind. Going back...the game kinda sux lol.

Flashback: The Quest for Identity waaaaay back on the SegaCD. I thought that the cut scenes were amazing... I was very young.

Donkey Kong Country for SNES looked unlike anything I've ever seen on the system. I was maybe 10 at the time.

@MarkAndExecute: Great memories myself playing Donkey Kong Country. I’d only play up to the underwater stage though. Always liked playing as the swordfish.

I remember seeing Dragon's Lair in an arcade and was blown away by the graphics. It's more a complex interactive movie than a game but it was fantastic to look at compared to other arcade games at the time. And the graphics for 7th Guest impressed me when I played it for the first time. The 3D visuals and live-action movies impressed me greatly. MYST was pretty impressive too.

Pool of Radiance

This game got me hooked to the television and it could only get better, in case it was a CRT Monitor through VGA, but I was content with standard definition. Amazing title!

Donkey Kong Country, for Snes. Graphics were so cool.

The first one that comes to mind is Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix on PS2. I remember at the time thinking that game's graphics were lifelike.

@johndmgs: Funny you mention that because I played it on the DS and I didn’t like it very much. Lol. I really loved the first 2 Harry Potter games though.

I remember Gran Turismo looking amazing (look at it now, looks terrible!) and the same with Tekken 2.

I also remember getting my PS3 and playing Motorstorm for the first time. Those graphics were insane!

Motorstorm was a big turning point for me as well. One of my first 'holy shit' moments. I remember playing it on a demo kiosk when the PS3 first came out and being blown away by it.

Final Fantasy X blew me away graphically. I immediately fell in love with that game and imo it still holds up today whether it's the remaster or the original version

The original Gran Turismo. Honestly don't understand how I could have possibly thought that game was so realistic looking.

Not that retro but I remember being impressed with black on the ps2.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 in the arcade. Grew up on NES and 16bit visuals were a big leap.

This will probably give away my age, but remember Real Sports Baseball for the Atari 2600. I thought..."It doesn't get any better than this".

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=realsports+baseball+atari+2600+atariage&view=detail&mid=4E8D97C99D3EBAF31C794E8D97C99D3EBAF31C79&FORM=VIRE

It was earthworm jim and later Mario 64 was really impressive, i was like 11 years old.

Probably Halo CE on Xbox.