Worst 2D to 3D Video Game Series

[@Angielos]

I love Earthworm Gem. So underrated, it’s a real hidden jim

[@saysthemanbehindthemask]

Yuh it's such a creative game waaaaay ahead of it's time with significant variety of gameplay throughout the game. Never knew this 3D version existed and I feel like it was a huge mistake to transition to 3D. They should have kept it as 2D but just used the new technology to improve upon what was already there. What a waste.

[@Thor-Orion]

But everybody knows about EWJ it was a huge hit Alien Soldier is a hidden gem

[@Angielos]

@@Thor-Orion shoulda renamed that shit to Alien Soldjim

[@Lord_Deimos]

The early 3D era was the wild west, every developer was making their first steps into uncharted territory and some projects ended up as failed imitations of their 2D originals. Still, incredibly nostalgic...

[@48hourrecordsteam45]

Nintendo is one I can say took their time and really tried, when it came to bringing 2d games into the 3d realm, They really focused on fun factor

[@Lord_Deimos]

@@48hourrecordsteam45 I can't stand nintendo but I gotta give them credit for actually making great 3d games out of their legacy series... Super Mario 64, F-Zero, Zelda, Metroid, etc...

[@48hourrecordsteam45]

@@Lord_Deimoswhich is why they held position and survived the 32bit era and Sony’s hostile takeover…. 🤦🏾‍♂️ Because for me in my opinion the n64 was total ass.! Apart from having 64 bit powerful hardware, that controller was ass, the hardware although fast and churning decent polys was ass. When it came to textures and character models and the rubbish cartridge decision. Sega should have buckled down and realized what was coming was gamers that wanted a splash of realism in their games. 1.more fleshed out stories 2.more smoother animation and gameplay variations that destroyed super repetitive ness 3.longer games ,more in depth gameplay variable and themes and controls If they used the BURNING RANGERS ENGINE with a tighter camera system to create 3d games for their ip’s from master system & genesis era .. they would have came out the gate swinging ..

[@KasumiRINA]

@@48hourrecordsteam45 DreamCast was such a good console, it wasn't SEGA doing anything wrong it was the fact that ANYTHING would have been destroyed by PS2, it was another league of popularity, nobody could have predicted that. It killed everything else and first Xbox and GC sluggishly paced through only for console competition to be saved by x360 and Wii popularity.

[@randybobandy9828]

Imo 32bit games should have mostly stuck with pixel art/spirits, the games that were pixel art look so good and hold up substantially better nowadays. 1st gen 3d looked awful and very few games are even playable anymore imo.

[@AguilaDeOnix85]

The Metal Slug transition is really a shame because the Ratchet and Clank series showed how 3d 3rd person shooters should be done and I imagined that style is the path SNK should have taken.

[@elucidatedvoyyd]

nevver in my life could i have thought to compare metal slug and ratchet and clank in any way whatsoever

[@AguilaDeOnix85]

@@nando3d491 it does feel like an evolution of Contra Hard Corps- the huge enemies, the slide mechanic, the unrelenting intensity.

[@goranisacson2502]

... Man that COULD have been the way forward for them, true. Though it should be admitted that ratchet & Clank is a little bit more "platformy" games than Metal Slugs more shoot-em-up style, I can see a "faster, more intense" variation of Ratchet and Clank as a good source of inspiration for a Metal Slug game.

[@elucidatedvoyyd]

i rly dont think the 3d looks that bad but i havent played them, only real isue is the tiny view area seems crappy for sure but i like the way the 8directional commando-but-3d gameplay looks

[@AguilaDeOnix85]

@@goranisacson2502 yes, that's exactly what I was thinking. They both have those comedic tones, obscene weapons and vehicular combat. Speed that pace up some, and you have a winner.

[@homerhat420]

I had no idea Metal Slug had a 3d entry. What a horrible idea.😅

[@hicknopunk]

Nor I

[@dvdbox360]

it was great i enjoyed it back then on my ps2 it was one of the earliest game i have i still remember how at first i don't even know how to enter a tank because i don't even know where l3 button is

[@randybobandy9828]

It actually didn't look that bad,​ looked kinda fun @@dvdbox360

[@drlight6677]

Legacy of Darkness is fantastic, movement is much tighter and it doesn't feel like you're walking on ice the entire game like in C64, plus you can adjust the position of the camera using the up/down buttons on the d-pad for way better views. And of course the restoration of the colossal amount of content that was planned for but left out of C64 because of time constraints including a ton of music, stages, bosses, enemies, Cornell and his campaign, Henry's bonus campaign, primary and sub-weapon upgrades, etc. etc. It's a great game.

[@ralfvanbogaert3451]

Imagine a modern 16:9 Metal Slug remake that includes all the content from 1-7, with handdrawn 30fps animation running at 1080p 60fps, featuring online co-op and maybe even a roguelite mode. Done right, it would be the ultimate run & gun.

[@powerstones7722]

If it’s gonna end up like ghosts n goblins resurrection. No way!

[@CassiDS]

​@@powerstones7722What's wrong with Resurrection, if you don't mind me asking?

[@michaelfrost6503]

People didn’t like the art style and the extreme difficulty

[@SeveredLegs]

​@@CassiDSit looked like a flash game. Why not just do pixel art if that's what you're trying to recreate anyway?

[@piratesephiroth]

You want someting like Cuphead. That would take several years and cost a ton of money. It's much more realistic to just ask for more pixel art (although that level of quality is still difficult to be found nowadays)

[@ghostito]

It would be nice to see a third part of the series with the redeeemed series, the ones with bad first3D titles but with great second attempts. This has come to my mind precisely with the first two games, as you mention, The Sands of Time was great, and Neo Contra is another amazing game.

[@Idekii]

For that matter, wasn't the PS2 3d Castlevania game supposed to have been pretty good? Haven't played it but I seem to remember hearing good things about it.

[@ghostito]

@@Idekii Yeah, I played the first one and it was pretty good, it felt a bit like Devil May Cry, which was cool since DMC felt to me like Castlevania in 3D with a modern twist.

[@goranisacson2502]

​@@IdekiiAs someone who played it, it was okay- not in DMC-tier action-wise, not as rich with secrets to find as the Igavanias on GBA. I think that I expected more from it, and maybe I shouod have been satisfied with "decent"... but the older ones had been "great". Always hard to readjust to that.

[@HereticHydra]

Too bad Contra would unredeem itself with Contra Rogue Corps. That's one of the most boring games I ever played.

[@KasumiRINA]

Mortal Kombat is a weird example: PS2 games actually played worse than MK4, they were very sluggish and had wonky animation but otherwise looked good and gameplay was okay. Armageddon was the last farewell to that style and ANOTHER reboot was received far better (it still used combo system from PS2 era but way faster pace and better animation).

[@darkfalzx]

I loved Castlevania 64 and Legacy of Darkness. Yes, they were a little rough around the edges, even for the time, but both games were a ton of fun, and had some genuinely cool and memorable moments. The difficulty goes a tad off the rails toward the end though, especially in Cv64.

[@Azuris190]

I agree, played it 2018 the first Time an it has a really nice Atmosphere.

[@conorl1894]

Same. Got them both when they came out and thought they were both a challenges as well as having some clever gameplay and puzzle ideas

[@cpt_bill366]

I tried when it was new. I really put some hours into it. In the end it was such a disappointment I completely forgot about it until many years later when AVGN reviewed it. That's the only game so bad for me it remained a suppressed memory until the internet brought it back.

[@thatradiogeek]

It's a great game. The Duel Tower can fuck itself though.

[@DanielCenciD]

Yeah I love this two too

[@Imgema]

Earthworm Jim 3D sucks but the 3D model of Jim himself was top tier for the time. He even had individual fingers. I remember being impressed with the fluid animation of his hands as he looks left and right.

[@Autotrope]

I think what examples like this show is that developers had done a lot of work on the technical aspects of some of these games but the games were let down by level design or mechanics issues

[@Boogie_the_cat]

Totally. At that era of gaming, most characters (90%) in games had hilarious seal flippers.

[@omegaweapon116]

​@@Boogie_the_catFinal Fantasy 7 with their blocks for hands outside of battles

[@gerhalt5663]

Jim 3D is an okay game. At least the pc version. It's not superb or outstanding mind you, but as far as the 3D platformers go around by the end of the 90s, Jim 3D is completely fine. How do I know? Because I played it recently. Moreover I intentionally threw my personal archive containing the special "test" version from my laptop running win7 to my wife's running win10, and it worked like a charm. I also managed to launch the pc version of Jim SE but that's another story....

[@KasumiRINA]

@@gerhalt5663 One cannot under-appreciate old PC games that still WORK! Tim Cain said that Miscrosoft refused to certify original Fallout because Windows 95 games needed to "fail gracefully" on NT, but FO worked flawlessly... so instead of ruining it, Interplay just added a check that made the game refuse to install on NT, and MS accepted that... fast forward, all Windows version since XP are based on NT 4.0, SO any game that worked on NT still works on 7 and 10 from the box. People often hate Microsoft and I understand why, but no system has such long backwards-compatibility - if an old game doesn't work on modern Windows, it's the devs fault, not MS.

[@jeremybowers3181]

What sucked overall for me was the lack of SPEED that many games lost when converting to 3d.

[@ShadowEl]

That's one thing I appreciate about Sonic Adventure, especially for a release in 1999. When so many series were failing to translate their core appeal into 3D, I don't think anyone can say Sonic Adventure failed at conveying the sense of speed the title character commands.

[@BagzAndPresident]

@@ShadowElwrong theres too many obstacles in sonics way

[@Zikar]

@@BagzAndPresident You're given so much room at freedom of movement you'd almost have to deliberately hit most obstacles in Sonic Adventure.

[@Boogie_the_cat]

Consoles went 3D one generation too early. If PS1 had stuck to 2.5D and sprite scaling games, with the occasional 3D games (racing, etc...) I would have been just as happy. PS1 and N64 didn't really have the horsepower or memory to do 3D justice. I was a PC gamer using 3D accelerator cards and when I first saw a PS1 game, I was amazed at how people could take the cutscenes seriously when all the models and textures warped and jiggled all over the place when there was camera movement (some games pulled it off better than others, but the PS1 lacked a hardware "Z-buffer" which the games used to determine the depth of polygons in the Z axis. Without the z-buffer characters sometimes looked like they were having mini seizures, and I was blown away that people thought it looked fine)

[@scottdecowski4913]

Blaster Master on PS1 played a lot like the dungeon exploring in the Mega Man Legends game for the same console. I enjoyed it for that aspect & I appreciated the effort of voice acting when some games got lazy at the time & just had you read along. A hidden gem for me 😂

[@Grandtheftauto1998]

Same here, i own Blaster Master on the PS1 and i really enjoy it, if i do have one major complaint it's that the Sophia feels a bit loose when it comes to turning.

[@orinanime]

I absolutely love the PS1 Blaster Master. I still own my copy. The gameplay is pretty good and the soundtrack is great. It's honestly the ONLY good Blaster Master sequel.

[@NoMorePlz]

I recently found your channel and love your upload cadence! Thanks for putting out quality content

[@SegaLordX]

Thanks for the comment and the kind words!

[@grantexploit5903]

Another example of a video game series that had a very rough transition from 2D to 3D is SimCity-its first† jaunt into 3D with SimCity 64 (2000) had an exceptionally limited release, SimCity Societies (2007) was criticized for its small scale with high performance demands and its simplistic and unorthodox mechanics, like SimCity 64 but less severely its third 3D entry SimCity Creator for the Wii (2008) never really went beyond a niche audience, and when they finally decided to go all in with the mainline series in SimCity 2013, you know... †SimCopter (1996) and Streets of SimCity (1997) were built around 3D-rendered SimCity 2000 maps, but didn't allow you to actually build a city. SimCity 3000 (1999) was originally intended to be fully 3D with the same engine, but was redeveloped to use 2000's isometric/dimetric perspective, and while SimCity 4 (2003) had 3D terrain, vehicles, and animals, the bulk of the assets were 2D sprites or "billboards".

[@bdoehner]

If I remember correctly, you could import simcity 2000 cities into simcopter

[@Thor-Orion]

Streets of Sim City, I played that game a lot as a kid.

[@ANIMALCRACKERS85]

Now we just need a best 3D to 2D series! 🙃

[@toadsniff]

oh man I really had to think if there were any 3d to 2d games at all. And then Grunty's Revenge came to mind. It was trash, but would qualify as "best" if there is no competition? most in the category probably only exist on the GBA.

[@clementnunes5070]

@@toadsniffThe only game I can think of is Bloodrayne

[@clementnunes5070]

Or Sonic games like Sonic Mania ?

[@lmcgregoruk]

Or Worms, if we include 2D to 3D back to 2D, where the 3D ones were BAD.@@clementnunes5070

[@Autotrope]

Tomb Raider went to 2d on the GBA

[@xxFORDIExx]

Going back to the castlevania games on n64, they're nowhere near as bad as some might think. The atmosphere is good and that's down to some great audio and music. I can see why it's regarded way less than the best of the 2d games.

[@ady123181]

I agree. I loved it, l was sick to death of nintendos overly difficult platformers at the time. Sorry but I don't consider memorizing enemy patterns to avoid cheap deaths to be fun. Castlevania 64 had a full world you could explore, it was mind blowing at the time.

[@jclkaytwo]

​@@ady123181what overly difficult platformers are you referring to?

[@ady123181]

@@jclkaytwo on the old NES, pretty much all of them. The 16 bit era was also a heavy focus on platformers. That's why during the 16 bit era I mostly played racing games and beat m ups. By the time the n64 came around l and many other kids were totally burned out on those types of games. Once the n64 came along I wouldn't even play a game that was 2d.

[@jclkaytwo]

@@ady123181 there are tons of 2D games on the NES and SNES that are not difficult

[@ady123181]

@@jclkaytwo I didn't have a snes, I had a sega genesis. I don't think I ever finished a single game on the NES. Genesis I could beat sonic 2 and I think that's it. I know I was much younger, but I just found platformers to be boring and repetitive. When I played Mario 64 and Zelda OOT, that's when my love of video games really started.

[@mercster]

You have to admit, the actual animation in the Dragon's Lair one is really good... it looks like the hand-drawn cartoon. Thanks Lordster! SEEEEEEEGAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

[@deftones8717]

I came to the comments for this very reason, to see if anyone else felt the same. I really dig the cel shaded art style

[@RappingNinja]

Honestly love that game. Captured the look and feel perfectly and made it actually interactive!

[@Renegaiden_]

After seeing this video and that Contra 2D to 3D bit of the video, I was thinking of a topic for you to cover. I don't know how to name it, all I can say is that where Contra 3D failed, "ONE" and Apocalypse for PS1 tried the formula and showed em how it's done. I hope this gives you some ideas, Sega Lord X.

[@navibc31]

"ONE" is definitely an underrated game!

[@Renegaiden_]

@@navibc31 Yessir!!!

[@GameBoyGuru]

I had no idea the developer behind Bubsy 3D was also responsible for Syphon Filter! That's one of my favorite original Playstation games, and a true highlight on the console, IMO. It's crazy the jump in quality between the 2 games. SP is still very fun and playable, but Bubsy 3D is such a mess, it's hard to believe it ever got greenlit for a retail release.

[@KasumiRINA]

Syphon Filter 2/3 were the most replayed games in my family, apart from Tekken and CTR. They had fun multiplayer and a lot of secrets in levels for replayability.

[@keyboard_g]

I really wish they were able to finish Castlevania on Dreamcast. That leaked build looks much more polished than they had time to do on N64.

[@Athesies]

Joe from gamesack gonna be devastated with that blaster master inclusion. I'm pretty sure blasting again is one of his favourite games next to craig stadler's pebble beach golf.

[@jsr734]

Yes, I love it too. 🥰

[@3diamonds524]

Do you think you get yours inside mine? 😅

[@tonythesuperperson]

So much of this is devs going from something they had mastered to something they’re still finding out how to use.

[@SegaLordX]

Yup, and some did it a lot better than others.

[@randybobandy9828]

Also going from good looking 2d sprite work to garbage looking 3d was a big turn off.. maybe not at the time but playing PS1 era 3d games is hard to like based on visuals while older SNES/Genesis games still look as good as I remember as a kid.

[@ViceCityGamerzPodcast]

Brother, I love your videos! Each one feels like a quality documentary ❤ I grew up with Nintendo but you’ve gotten me to check out so many Sega bangers!

[@SegaLordX]

Glad to hear you are happy with the content. Thanks for watching.

[@forrestredd2706]

He's been like this for as long as I can remember, he pumps out more content at better quality than most content creators. It's crazy.

[@bawitback]

Final Fight Revenge added the element of opening crates and using weapons like in the previous games, so it wasn't your typical fighter. similar to how Power Stone wasn't your typical fighter. But I do agree with you on being a lackluster transition to 3D from the iconic series.

[@hngdman]

Rainbow Cotton is getting re-release soon. Let's hope it will get some refinements instead of being a straight port.

[@LordelX]

I knew Castlevania would come up. Yeah, Castlevania 64 was rough…but Legacy of Darkness was actually enjoyable. The PS2 games were much more technically proficient, but boring as hell. Legacy of Darkness is ironically the only 3D Castlevania from this era worthy of the name “Castlevania”.

[@randybobandy9828]

I was 10 years old when I got Castlevania 64 and boy what a stinker of a game that was... I hated it and I really tried to like it since I didn't have many games to choose from.

[@lhfirex]

SLX must have only put 2 minutes into Mega Man X8 to say it's "not much better" than X7. It's a huge improvement in gameplay since it sticks to 2.5D, although it does have a couple of bad but short 3D stages: the ice stage, and the city stage. The rest of it is a blast to play through. Mega Man Legends should also never be on a list of anything but "the best PS1 games." I get that it's not a classic Mega Man game in 3D, but it's still a really good 3D Zelda game in the Mega Man world.

[@ZEKESPILLEDINKMUSIC]

21:49 These days, people remember this game for the laughably bad English voice acting for Hyenard and his infamously constant screams of "BURN TO THE GROUND! BURN!"

[@tidepoolclipper8657]

Castlevania 64 is rough by today's standards. However, they did try to stay faithful to the atmosphere of the Castlevania series (aside from skeletons on motorcycles showing up way too early in the timeline). Not to mention it has a pretty decent story.

[@drlight6677]

Rainbow Cotton is actually getting an HD remaster by ININ Games. 60fps, widescreen, better controls/targeting system, restored art, etc.

[@ZEKESPILLEDINKMUSIC]

1:33 Yeah, Prince of Persia 3D was bad, BUT the Prince of Persia series got a much-needed second chance with The Sands of Time in 2003. The 3D graphics in that game were amazing, and the smooth combat and time manipulation controls were easy to master. That last part would especially come in handy when solving the many deadly puzzle traps if the player made a mistake. All they had to do was "Rewind" if the Dagger of Time had enough sand.

[@blackmesacake5361]

No wonder that Metal Slug game never made it over to the US

[@JoeyJ0J0]

Castlevania 64 got a decent upgraded version. Its pretty decent, you can play as a wolfman

[@juststatedtheobvious9633]

His campaign plays like a cross between Tomb Raider and Strider. The stiff animation is the only major issue. The newly remixed level design and combat aren't top tier, but they were decent enough for the time. They're way better than Journey from Darkness and Angel of Darkness. It was only disappointing when compared to Symphony of the Night and Ocarina of Time. By that insane measure, only the best games of all time deserve to exist.

[@TanookiSuit]

While you're right about Castlevania 64, Legacy of Darkness you're dismissing by association. Yes it's still 3D, yes it's not as rapid fire fast, but it's 3D, and in an environment like that one it really can't so it's designed more to mix exploration and combat. But despite that, it did fix the actual technical and bug problems of the first. Back in the day EGM ratted out Konami for shoveling CV64 because it's part of a game, the game LoD was supposed to just be alone less than a year later, seemingly done to appease japanese stock holders to make a yearly(quarterly?) margin. The bad camera that turns and can turn enough to detach you from a ledge, broken physics where 2 jumps can't land in the same space(great over pits with posts to land), collision that kills where you're not touching stuff since it's offset, and other stupidity are repaired with other enhancements. Sadly or not, it's the best of the 3D Castlevania experiences but should be openly tried at least once.

[@jamesreece9502]

I bought Castlevania 64 and played it until I beat it. Enjoyed every minute!

[@elvis723]

lol, same here!

[@TheBeird]

My brain says Fade to Black should be on here. It was the original sequel to Flashback, and doesn’t play anywhere as well along with aging far worse But it has a place in my heart because it lit up my imagination when it came out because I was at such an impressionable age, so I can’t put it on such a list

[@SomeOrangeCat]

Controversial pick of my own: Doom 3 was the first Doom game to take place in an actual 3-D engine, and while its a decent survival horror game its no Doom! Doom was all about blasting through enemies, discovering secrets and traversing levels at breakneck speed. Doom 3 is slow, methodical and constantly has you fending off monster attacks with severely nerfed weapons. So it should come as no surprise that it's entire storyline was excised from the new canon when Doom 2016 came out.

[@theyouth2000]

I actually loved Street Fighter EX. Played it to death back in the day. 😊

[@anthonymaslow798]

Street Fighter EX is fucking amazing.

[@PS1Fan1991]

It is an amazing game. The visuals were great for their time, memorable stages and roster, solid gameplay even if floaty and the music is top tier.

[@theyouth2000]

I can still hum to the tunes today. Great soundtrack.

[@anthonymaslow798]

@@theyouth2000 hell yeah. Plus, that gameplay was smooth AF.

[@hepwo91222]

yeah, I liked all 3 SF EX games, my only gripe was how different jumping felt, other than that played well and controls were responsive and the new characters were goofy and fun. Super moves were so over the top they were like as much of a show a as a MK fatality, but not in a violent way, a funny way.

[@IkariMetalSlugger]

The game ONE on PS1 is probably the closest you'll come to a 3D Contra from that era done right. It's not perfect, but it's a much better game.

[@nobodyinparticular9640]

There's also that PS1 game with Bruce Willis that's pretty close to being a good-ish 3D Contra game, I guess.

[@Jiren261]

Apocalypse. Also there was a game called C12 final resistance thwt was a good Contraesque game.

[@KasumiRINA]

@@Jiren261 Apocalypse was very old school cool. Effectively a twin stick shooter in the era where that wasn't really a thing.

[@Boogie_the_cat]

The Contra 3D games were such a shame, and that game "Contra: Attack of the Stupid Pandas" didn't help convince fans that Konami was interested in anything except Pachinko machines.

[@roldanrosario8292]

You really didn’t get into MK4?! It was dope. Throwing objects. Weapons. When you combined it all together it made a unique combo system. The main issue is that the game was playable without using the new features. I remember having Sega Lord X’s reaction at first. But, that all changed after a couple of hours of repeat plays and updating my fighting style to match the new system. The new finishing moves were also a reason to own this title.

[@phantom8157]

MK4 was my mortal kombat game. Yes I did play and love the first 3, but 4 was my jam. I used to be so good at it I would play it on the hardest difficulty with random 2 on 2 action and never lose. There was so many options in each fight that it never got stale. I never understood the hate it got.

[@thestranger9608]

Obviusly its not x-mk1 lore or gameplay wise buyIt was one of my fav ps1 games. Reiko was my guy.

[@roldanrosario8292]

@@thestranger9608 I kept it classic by using Scorpion. I was like “wait, there’s a sword” first time I did it by mistake. Then you figure out you can enable it during a combo. And you can throw it at them. If you messed up now they can pick it up and use it also.

[@roldanrosario8292]

@@phantom8157 Wow. Not bad. You know first hand what I’m talking about. Because to get that good you weren’t playing the game like it was MK3. You were throwing boulders, heads, swords at people and comboing the sh*t out of them.

[@KasumiRINA]

MK4 was the last one with simple and fast gameplay of original Mortal Kombats, all games later tried badly to have a weird Tekken vs SF-like inputs (no generic punch strings or sweeps everybody has all combos are dial-in), and I don't think it works for limited movesets of MK... ALL Mortals are _fine,_ it's just I miss the frantic pace and button mashy nature of MK1-4.

[@crispyjuice2110]

Damn that's a terrible shame about Rainbow Cotton. I mean look at those graphics! it's absolutely gorgeous :(

[@brentgranger7856]

Yes, "Castlevania 64" isn't a great game, especially one to carry such a great legacy into 3-D. I may be in the minority, but I really enjoyed this one regardless of its flaws. Yes, it does have a game-ending glitch in level 4 that will require a reload of your save file if you improperly mixed the ingredients. Yes, that very same game-ending glitch is part of a very "explosive" puzzle. Yes, the game requires an N64 Game Pak for saves. However, it does have (what I feel is) one of the greatest Dracula boss fight in the entire series - fully in 3-D! Imagine fighting Dracula as you would in most Castlevania games, and turn that into a 3-D battle.

[@drlight6677]

Legacy of Darkness restores a crazy amount of content that was left out of C64 because of time/budget constraints while also refining the camera, controls, etc. It's an amazing game

[@brentgranger7856]

@@drlight6677 I'm sure it is. Thank you for the recommendation. I'm hoping to play it someday. I just haven't yet.

[@drlight6677]

Legacy of Darkness is fantastic, if you do play it, make sure to immediately change the camera with the d-pad to the "slightly further back and higher up off the ground" angle, it's a million times better than the default camera. Also, in Castlevania 64 on the Castle Centre stage where you have to mix the mandragora thing to make the explosive, if you do mix it wrong, there's a room where you can dispose of the incorrectly mixed materials to do it over again. Please don't go by James Rolfe/Mike Matei in the AVGN video, they're morons when it comes to playing games (though I do love the AVGN series as entertainment) @@brentgranger7856

[@JohnnyTong215]

FF Streetwise got its ass kicked by Yakuza the same year!!!!!

[@guaposneeze]

So many retrogaming videos give me a nostalgia for being young and excited about when the games were new. This one's like, meh, yeah, those games did get released, I guess I had forgotten most of them. Now I can forget them all over again.

[@edonslow1456]

Something about EWJ transitioning to 3D is particularly offensive. The whole point of the original games was the hand drawn animation. Art style was a huge part of its appeal, and they threw that all in the bin for the sake of keeping up with the latest trends. Ray Man proved that what you could do with 2D on 32 bit consoles, and hinted at what EWJ could have been.

[@roberto1519]

Not sure if this was intentional, but back then, my brother and I found MK4 on the PS1 so hilarious we played it and we could hardly play a single round without laughing hard, from the character voices, the exaggerated movement, comic and over the top violence and weird victory poses. The MK series was a bit more serious but MK4 was basically a satire in our eyes, but again, if it was intentional or not, I can't tell.

[@JonLeung1]

Mortal Kombat is, overall, an incredible series, but the 3D era was a little weak, bookended by the worst ones (MK4 and MKvsDCU). Mortal Kombat 4, despite (or maybe because of) the leap to 3D, felt like one of the most cookie-cutter sequels. Other than Quan Chi and MAYBE Fujin, I don't think much of interest really came out of it. (EDIT: my mistake, they debuted, game-wise, in Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero, so MK4 offered even less). Somehow the pixelated violence in the earlier games seemed more gratuitous and impressive than the unmemorable Fatalities in MK4.

[@roberto1519]

Possibly right, my brother and I were like 12yo~ so we found it very funny to play, we learned many moves. The game is actually so broken that it has infinite combos, or you can keep grabbing the opponent when it's downed, and it will automatically limit how much damage you can deal by pushing your character back to break the streak. I don't think magazines bashed on this game, actually they didn't do it even with Bubsy 3D, I think. Keep in mind I don't even hate MK Mythologies, I'm not a huge fan of MK in general, but back then, we had a lot of fun learning combos and fatalities from magazines. Some kids from school were really dedicated to stuff like that, it was some sort of status to them.

[@thestranger9608]

Disagree I had no long term issues with 4. It took a minute but it was fun to play.

[@JonLeung1]

@@thestranger9608 Compared to the other Mortal Kombat games, though, it hasn't aged well, and doesn't feel as dark or serious as the others.

[@thestranger9608]

@@JonLeung1 i understand its not 10/11 or the recent 1 but it was fun game back then. The acting was kinda hammy but thats ny only complaint.

[@hw5091]

I'm one who thinks castlevania 64 was pretty good at the time. I had a lot of fun with it. back in '99, it wasn't a worn out level design format either. I could see how anyone playing it in the last 15 years or so would think it doesn't hold though Most N64 games haven't held up well, bare bones 90's 3d was ancient looking by the ps3 era.

[@elvis723]

I loved Castlevania 64 back in the days. Like you said, in today's standards it doesn't hold up, but watching this video makes me want to clean the dust off of my 64 and play it again.

[@hw5091]

or play it on an emulator with all the hd enhancements. Sure, you can see the tiling a bit here n there, but they play great and look really good. @@elvis723

[@ncapone87]

Legacy of Darkness fixed a lot of the problems Castlevania 64 had. It was great. Different than that 2D games but I kind of liked the more ambient atmosphere

[@TheAlphaOmegaX3]

Unfortunately it also cut some things too. Cut voices out of cut scenes for example. I like the remixed levels of the original characters outing, but still prefer the original levels as they were. Both are worth playing to see all the differences in levels, bosses, and story elements.

[@sp3ed279]

The best part of Bubsy 3d was the KZbin that ulillillia made talking about the secrets of level 2 after playing 500 hours. That video was amazing at the time.

[@cogitoergodumm]

I'm actually a fan of Mega Man Legends, but I can understand that many people were probably disappointed by this entry in the series. Other than that, it seems interesting to me how wildly the quality differed in these early 3D games. They may have been clunky, but they sort of had a unique charm to them.

[@mjrtensepian1727]

Lol, I knew when you released the previous video that Bubsy 3D was bound to get a mention. Still remember, as a Saturn owner, flipping through game magazines of the time comparing press photos of Mario 64 to Bubsy 3D(when it was still slated for Saturn), trying to convince myself they'd be comparable. Wishful thinking😂

[@namelessking3826]

Just got off work thanks

[@WhoIsLudwig]

I wasn't even aware that Metal Slug had tries the transition to 3D. Now that I've seen it, I cannot unsee it?

[@JoeyXSmith]

I will still defend MK4. MK Gold not so much but it was last game that John Tobias did. It still had that dark MK atmosphere ( just ignoring the cheesy FMV endings) that seems to disappear in the most recent games.

[@imagixion]

I defend MK4 too. Including the FMV, back in the day it was amazing for me.

[@juststatedtheobvious9633]

I liked that the AI stopped cheating. 2 and 3 ignore collision detection and secretly decide your success via RNG - unless you meta game bait the AI or get lucky, their single player campaigns are unwinnable.

[@SylveonTrapito]

I really loved Prince of Persia 3D, the amazing graphics and music, the gameplay from the first one where you have to be carefull walking slowly for traps, the combat wasn´t that good but the ambiance was incredible. Years later, on Internet, everyone was calling it horrible.

[@jsr734]

I haven´t played it but it looks interesting to me. Maybe woth giving a chance.

[@Bluemushroom44]

Whaw I never knew that a 3D Metal Slug even existed, what were they thinking??

[@GeorgeWeeman]

I got to disagree....I owned Dragon's Lair 3D for the Gamecube, and was blown away by how close it looked to the original! I thought it played fine, and all the music, and voices are intact, but we all have differences in opinions.

[@ginger-ham4800]

> Video about worst 2D to 3D games > immediately opens up with Sonic Heh

[@jeremygregorio7472]

Bubsy 3D is terrible but I can't get too angry at it because it started Life as a 32x game. I cannot imagine the chutzpah needed to make somebody think they could make a 3D platformer work on the 32x.

[@sillagescents]

It’s funny, but I love most of these games! The nostalgia of janky and low-poly 3rd person games brings me back to the wonder of this era when I was a kid. I find joy in these broken games! 😂

[@jsr734]

I kind of liked and enjoyed lots of these games. The Castlevanias on N64 had a nice "horror" feeling unlike Simphony of Night, Blaster Master Blasting Again gets fun and interesting when you learn how to navigate the maps, even Bubsy 3d can be enjoyable when you learn the controls and start looking for secret areas. Sure they are not perfect games by any means. I think if you´re not that picky you can get some fun out of these games.

[@jorgezaldivar3113]

I think Rainbow Cotton looks like a good rail shooter. Sure it looks rough around the edges, but I wouldn't say it's a bad jump to 3D.

[@Mr.GuGuGaCucaSnooch]

I think this video might exaggerate how "bad" the 3d Rainbow Cotton is. Maybe its bad in comparison to its previous titles but I think its fun.

[@meh78336]

The digital control schemes they used were the worst part of many of them, especially with no camera control, it just felt clunky even in the better games. In my opinion, it wasn't until the early PS2 generation with dual analogues being the norm, that these more 3d games became bearable on consoles at least. The games that played to the strength of the controls were usually better by far, or those that just played like 2.5D games.

[@SegaLordX]

The camera in the on foot sections of Blasting Again were atrocious. Made it almost unplayable.

[@apollolux]

When people forget that Bubsy 3D existed, we get that ridiculous half-assed Bubsy 2018 or whenever it was that semi-recently came out. We must be ever vigilant and keeping the scourge of Bubsy 3D from resurrecting.

[@JamesMincks-ff6td]

Saw the title for the video and Mortal Kombat 4 immediately came to mind.

[@DontKnowDontCare6.9]

With the slight exception of Sonic Adventure (Dreamcast only), almost all 3D Sonic games from the past 2 decades can fill this list. Even Castlevania learned how to do go 3D after less than a decade.

[@FloridaEbikes]

Rite on time once again.

[@MrTamiya89]

Right. 😒.

[@kyledodson2992]

I actually have some good memories with the 2 castlevania n64 games lol they were capitalizing on the tomb raider style games the same way the 3rd person Duke nukem games did lol I kinda like these

[@juststatedtheobvious9633]

Plus, the characters, story, and atmosphere were all better than most games in the series. I'm especially fond of the shopkeeper who tries to take your soul if you buy too much from him.

[@zimmermichael1408]

I hope Final Fight makes a comeback, considering we're having somewhat of a beat-'em-up renaissance lately with Streets of Rage 4, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Toxic Crusaders (there's a show I can't believe I missed out on in the 90's), and G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra (another one with the great Tee Lopes gifting us his magical 80's retro-inspired touch). All we need is Final Fight and Golden Axe next.

[@SolCresta3405]

Contra: Legacy of War was one of the biggest wastes of time I ever had in my entire life, having got it for Christmas of 2005. Hell, that mistake alone was one of the reasons why 2005 was one of the worst fucking years of my life.

[@BitScout]

I agree with most of these, but Castlevania 64. I thought it was a good experience. I it’s not for everybody I understand.

[@britneyspearsvillarosa]

Prince Of Persia 3D started on the PC two years earlier in 1997, the Dreamcast was the updated version. Mortal Kombat 4 on PS1 was awesome..

[@youuuuuuuuuuutube]

Flashback => Fade to Black

[@HydefHyde]

The weirdest aspect of Hang On GP for me is the "bees in a tin can" engine sounds. What were they thinking?

[@Adamtendo_player_1]

It didn’t help that contra legacy of war wasn’t developed by Konami themselves formed out to a lowly third-party western developer disreputable one at that. What’s funny about Bubzy was that Bubzy wasn’t even good in 2-D, so it’s no surprise that Bubzy 3-D sucked.

[@Sargentwhitey]

Having owned Bubsy 3d back in the day I can pretty much agree.. though there is something to it's aesthetic that does keep me booting it up every once in a while.

[@eigengrau1]

As "Kids/Teens" we played Mortal Kombat 3D for uncountable hours; And imho it's still a fun game.

[@parappatherapper4141]

I just knew Bubsy would make it to this video as soon as I saw the title. In fact I'd give it a big thumbs down otherwise. Great video as usual, SLX.

[@Jac2Mac]

I agree with you on the fact that Blaster Master: Blasting Again was a weak 3D entry for the Blaster Master franchise and it doesn't help that it doesn't even have the original NES game as an unlock able for beating the game.

[@juiceala]

Golden Axe should’ve been here, Beast Rider was bad, also I’d argue Mega Man Legends was the first 3D Mega Man and I know many people who like that but it just never clicked with me personally.

[@SegaLordX]

I wasn't covering the first 3D Mega Man in general. I was covering the first 3D Mega Man X title.

[@tyneishalewis9917]

Another awesome video, Sega Lord X! I would love to see more in this series. Your commentary is hilarious as always

[@Parker--]

Sonic deserves a lifetime achievement award just for the sheer number of 3D failures that continues even decades later. Even on the odd chance you get a good 3D Sonic game, you’re almost assured the next will be trash.

[@ynotwalk7391]

one can only imagine a Zool 3D

[@nobodyinparticular9640]

Ninjabread man? Lol

[@markmckenzie2197]

I absolutely love the Castlevania N64 games. They definitely had a lot of issues but the atmosphere and story telling was a head of its time. I would love to see a remake of these games, fixing all of the issues like the camera and jumping stuff. I would describe it as a flawed masterpiece if that makes any sense.

[@coreymcmanus4749]

Why there was never a direct sequel to contra shattered soldier is beyond me.

[@Johnlmooring]

Dragons Lair was one of my favorite games! I never knew it was a 3D game! Wow!

[@chrisviglietta9870]

How did I know Bubsy would be the headliner just by reading the video title? I owned that piece of crap as a teenager.

[@hatebreed516]

I have to ask,did anyone here try final fight streetwise? it is the most misunderstood and under rated game ever in my opinion, it was a great,smooth beat em up and I really think if you either havent played it or played it in awhile give it another shot, at the time people dissed it because of the unfinished final fight seven sons

[@GarryGri]

Can't agree with Rainbow Cotton, it has some view issues but isn't a bad game IMO.

[@Edwinschuur]

To be fair Fighting Force was the first Final Fight in 3D. They changed the title. That was actually a fun game.

[@slowcoin2183]

I agree with everything except Saturn's Hang-On GP, it's super fun with the 3D pad and has 2 player support!

[@InitialDL84]

Maaaan that Contra game on PS1 was such a letdown. I remember renting it from Blockbuster feeling hyped to play it, especially after playing Hard Corps on the Genesis. I fonally played it and was just like 'WTF?!'. Hurt my soul.

[@Mighty-VizioN]

When the PlayStation came, it felt like all the games became an experiment

[@thetalentedmrrapley]

I actually love the look of bubsy 3d. It's 90's nostalgia

[@alvarochaves1999]

Donkey Kong 64 was so disappointing the Donkey Kong Country Returns became a 2.5D plataformer.

[@TiffanyStarrxxx]

I came in here with Bubsy 3D and Earth Worm Jim 3 on my mind. Glad you nailed them both.

[@aldoushuxleysghost]

Earthworm Jim fell the hardest in its 3D transition

[@starsatellite2413]

For important matters the worst video game jump from 2D to 3D that should've been on the list is C:The Contra Adventure and it's the worst Contra game ever played.

[@neetpride5919]

Castlevania 64 was underrated

[@G.G.___162]

I once checked out Final Fight Revenge to see how bad it was for myself; And honestly, although it's not a great game by any stretch of the imagination: I actually quite enjoyed it for a bit when playing with a friend of mine