October 31st, 2010
Posted in 
“Face Your Fear in this Retro Deathmatch!”
 |
 |
 |
 |
|||||||||
| Capcom |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
Capcom | |||
| Capcom | 1 Disc | 1 Disc | Capcom | |||||||||
| Survival Horror | Stereo | Stereo | Survival Horror | |||||||||
| Release: 03/30/96 | 7 Sec | 12 Sec | Release: 08/31/97 | |||||||||
| ESRB: Mature |
NA | NA | ESRB: Mature | |||||||||
 |
 |
|
Retro Head2Head Resident Evil: In this Retro deathmatch we bring you two titans from the 32 Bit era, Resident Evil for the Sony Playstation and Sega Saturn. |
|
 |
 |
|||
Welcome to this special Halloween Retro Head2Head! In this Retro Head2Head we bring you a battle between two Survival Horror giants, Capcom’s one and only Resident Evil. The two systems battling it out are the original Playstation (where the classic made its debut), and the Sega Saturn (a system known for its difficulties in programming 3D). This one should be easy…so you think! Enter our mansion of horrors to see which version walks out alive.
How we captured: All the Rollover pics you see have been captured using S-Video cables for both systems and our capture device set to default to ensure an equal and level playing ground. The original game for the Playstation was released in March of 1996 while the Saturn version didn’t make it out until August, 1997.
Graphics/Sound: Many of us on the staff thought this would be an easy category for the Playstation to win. Much to our surprise, the Saturn version is the one which actually looks the best…in most instances that is. The game’s graphics consist of 3D polygonal characters and objects superimposed over pre-rendered backdrops, so both versions backgrounds looked about the same. As for the character models, the Sega Saturn version got a complete overhaul by boosting the polygon count by almost double. The Saturn version also re-skinned all of the textures on character models as well as some of the enemies. At our default capture setting, color also seems to be richer and slightly more vibrant on Sega’s machine. This might be due to the fact that Capcom had an extra year to get their 3D programming correct, not to mention the company loved working with Sega’s system – developing near-perfect arcade ports of their 2D library on the Saturn.
Unfortunately the Saturn still losses in the graphics department, let us explain. Before the introduction of in-game cinematics that most of today’s games have, games in this era told their stories with pre-rendered cut-scene videos or simply FMV (Full Motion Video). All of the Saturn FMV’s were displayed a slightly smaller screen and a lower resolution throughout, also the Saturn FMV’s displayed some nasty artifact/pixelation when compared to the crisper PlayStation videos. Furthermore, any scene involving water or a fire didn’t look nearly as good as it did on Sony’s Machine. 3D transparency seemed to be nearly impossible on the Saturn and any scene featuring a transparent effect just couldn’t match the Playstation’s visuals. As for the sound, both versions sounded as spooky as ever, and during our capture time we couldn’t tell the difference between the two.
Performance/Controls: Because Resident Evil had pre-determined camera angles, having a responsive controller was very important, and remember this was before Sony’s introduction of the analog controller, so using the D-Pad was kinda tricky. Luckily, besides the slightly different button layouts between the two controllers, both consoles D-Pad response times were identical. On the performance side both versions had zero screen tearing and no slow down during gameplay, ending this category in a tie.
Loading: This category is one the PS1 wins hands down. Opening doors took an average 7 seconds on Sony’s system. The Saturn’s average load time when opening a door was around 12 seconds – nearly double the time. Even when picking up a clip or flipping through a book in game, the Saturn just takes longer. Here are a few sample times from our original capture.
PS1: 1st Load 1:57 – 2:04 2nd Load 2:23 – 2:30 3rd Load 3:51 – 3:58 4th Load 4:10 – 4:17
SAT: 1st Load 2:00 – 2:13 2nd Load 2:34 – 2:46 3rd Load 4:16 – 4:27 4th Load 4:42 – 4:52
Roll over the image to see the Differences. Notice the “beefier” look the characters have in the Saturn version.
Roll over the image to see the differences. Notice the Clock looks better on the PS1.
Roll over the image to see the differences. FMV was displayed in a smaller screen on the Saturn.
Roll over the image to see the differences
Roll over the image to see the differences
Roll over the image to see the differences
More Rollovers, Conclusion, Technical Score, and Staff Choice on Page 2>>>
Pages: 1 2
Tags: 
No way! Ps1 smash out sega saturn version.
I own both versions and i can assure that RE on sega saturn looks terrible!
Double poly characters? I don’t think so…
Even that SS is missing “lighthing” every single 3d object look flat as you can see volume on ps1 3d models.
And Sega saturn does not perform transparency ( at least not in this one, and many other games) on the bottom character shadow or any other area showing a terrible effect.
Agreed! I have both versions as well…and the Saturn is far crappier for sure. Double poly count also strikes me as doubtful…there might be the odd instance of more polygons here and there…but I think the difference is that there is more texture detail on the character in the Saturn version, but the Saturn definitely seems lower resolution so the added texture detail doesn’t pay off. (look at the last roll over on the first page to see what I mean)
Also as said, the lighting, transparencies, and other effect are just missing or terrible…the PS1 version really was better version in my opinion
Actually…the more I look at these pics and my memory is jogged…isn’t the Saturn version just better textures on a much lower poly count model? That is why everything is “fatter” on the Saturn…they are bigger, less complex models. Just a thought…I am too lazy to go boot them up.
Actually, the Saturn version character models definitely have more polygons than the PlayStation version. For example, reference the last image on the first page.
Its clear that his pants in the Saturn version have more geometry applied to them creating a baggy cargo look compared to the PlayStation flat look.
Also check out his butt, please keep the comments to PG-13, his ass has been merged with his legs, which again takes more vertices to accomplish. Anyway thanks for commenting.
Yeah…looks like more polygons for sure from that pic…still not sure about the textues on the Saturn. I’ll have to go boot them up…I spent a long time comparing the two of them when the Saturn version came out and remember likely the visuals on the PS1 much better (and I was a bigger fan boy for the Saturn back then for sure). Well nice head-to-head anyways…always nice to re-open old wounds and discussions.
How can there be lighting in either version when the entire game consists of pre-rendered backgrounds? I don’t think either version had any lighting.
Look at the backgrounds in the pictures the lighting doesn’t change at all between the two systems. It looks to me like the lighting is painted on each wall because it was already rendered into the specific background. PS1 def wins but not by as much as I thought.
There was some lighting if I remember correctly…though it has been a long time and I’ve played the Gamecube version since. Not a lot…and very little dynamics lighting (if any), though I thought I remembered some whirling red lights casting across some rooms and some other dynamics lights (though, as I said…my memory could be tainted by the Gamecube version).
I also thought there was some lighting is other places as well…more statics or maybe not true lighting but glows and effects on some objects. Maybe someone who’s played it recently could shed some more light on the subject.
Awesome H2H! I knew the PS1 was gonna win but damm, the Saturn doesn’t look as bad as thought it did!
This brings back memories.
I remember the arguments between PS vs Saturn back in the day.
Huh, interesting, I lived in the boonies and never knew the Saturn version existed. This was quite interesting, thanks Lens.
By the way, can you guys bring out a Retro Head2Head between the PS2 and the Xbox version of “Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance” sometimes in the future? I would love to see it.
Oh man…I waited the Xbox version was awful from what I remember…I spent a long time flipping back and forth while running both versions. The biggest conclusion I found was that the Xbox version ran far slower than the PS2 version. I didn’t play the Xbox version all the way through…so maybe there was surprises…but it just felt like Snake was running in slo-mo on the X-Box.
I really enjoy these retro H2H’s. Keep them coming please!
i actually own the saturn version of the first one, and the directors cut on ps1. figured in some world thats acceptable
This is so weird! I’m playing RE right now for Halloween. Now lets see a RE2 Ps and N64 head2head.
“first survival horror game” ??
everyone forgets alone in the dark. came out 4 years earlier..
Hey sushi! Of course we didn’t forget about Alone in the Dark, but really it was sort of a thriller game and on the P.C., and come on, “You are now about to enter the world of Survival Horror” came from one game…Resident Evil. RE is the game that spawned many, many clones, not Alone in the Dark. Anyway here is the excerpt for our Resident Evil Retro Review (not this Head2Head)
“Alone in the Dark may have had a role in the creation survival horror games but the genre didn’t truly begin until 1996. For that year Capcom released an original IP for Sony’s Playstation titled, Resident Evil. At a time when horror games were non existent, the game would go on to spark countless imitators and cement itself as the leader of the survival horror genre, forever.”
http://www.lensoftruth.com/?cat=38
well piss.. well i also hate the term.. “doom clone” lol
I’m not sure how you concluded the higher poly count bit on the Saturn. It’s clearly lower, and the textures are of lower fidelity. The colours are almost cartoony looking in fact.
The audio overall is downgraded, be it music or effects, same with the lighting. There is a little bit of slowdown in the guardhouse. Just enter the main area leading to dorm 202 and let the bees chase you.
The only advantage the Saturn had were the backgrounds themselves. There are small differences in few of them with added detail, and they have less compression artifacts.
The real incentive however is extra content. You get a second tyrant fight with Chris, and there is the battle mode upon beating it. It’s similar to CODE Veronica’s, and you get to fight a zombie Wesker.
The last bit of trivia is that the Saturn version was developed by Nextech Corp. They handled all versions of Veronica, and are known as simple Nex Entertainment. Their last game? The atrocious Bayonetta PS3 port.
do a head2head on the japanese biohazard vs the “director’s cut” resident evil and show whats STILL missing. lol
Characters look better on the saturn and the sound quality is the same. both systems have a 44.1 kHz sampling rate so where would the difference be? I love the Saturn BTW
.
plz make Resident Evil 2 n64 vs ps1 version
I second this. Resi 2 is still my favorite of the series. I even had a Leon Kennedy bowl cut at one point. I still regret it, and the pictures to this day!
im not sure if it’s a joke but who the hell vote saturn besides me…obiously ps1 it’s far better
i did a cross platform comparison for ign once on every re title across everything they were on up to 4. and my own personal preference was resident evil 2 for dreamcast. it was hella nice. full screen fmv, sharp as a dolphin’s fart
Good work LoT.
I finished this game in 1997, on Sega Saturn. I loved this game (1000 times better than RE5).
Good old times.
Shadows on Saturn is way better than the black circle of death on the PS version.
love this head to head, I always wanted to see this comparison of RE psx and saturn.
Thanks
“Roll over to see the differences. Notice that they both look like crap.”
I don’t think the Saturn version has double the polygon count, seems like a figure plucked out of thin air. The PSOne used triangle polygons while the Saturn used square polygons. PSOne could render a lot more polygons than the Saturn (unless you count a Saturn square polygon as two) so porting PSOne games to Saturn was always going to be difficult as a result of those two reasons. Plus the PSOne had a lot of hardware supported effects while on Saturn many things had to be done by software such as CG, FMV, transparencies etc. This was very time consuming and results were often inferior looking to the PSOne. Saturn was best at 2D.
DAMN! THESE RETRO H2H’s…
are absolutely fantastic guys!
As for ResEvil? I own BOTH for PS1 & Saturn and I have to say, myself being non-biased towards either platform, the PS1 version is a much nicer experience overall. Sure, Chris has more oomph in his combat pants, but he lacks the shading and overall smoother appearance found in the PS version. As aresult, the Saturns attempt at finer detail is wasted here imo, which is a shame. Overall, I think the character models in the Saturn release were ‘less’ by comparison. Not to mention the tell-tale Saturns ‘transparent’ and somewhat meshy blood puddles found throughout!
AND…
do you take Retro H2H requests (via narrowing down and ultimately a poll perhaps?).
I love the games that were spread across many platforms – like FlashBack for example on Jag, 3DO, SNES & MD! Did I miss any?
Thanks for the kind words NeoGeoNinja!
Like Jamie said in the MK H2H, we all love and collect retro games, and are looking forward to doing many more of these retro Head2Heads. We have quite a few of these lined up for the future but if there is a specific retro Head2Head you want to see, please don’t hesitate to let us know! Again, thanks for the comments.
YOU’RE WELCOME AARON…
I assure you, they’re sincere and well justified. It’s such a great concept for a gaming site. No myths, no legends – just the facts, although gameplay outside of the comparison shots will almost certainly come down to opinion > fact i.e. MK1 >_<;
AS FOR…
any specific H2H's; where do I give my ideas and thoughts? Here? Or is there somewhere else I should (effectively) post? No doubt the best H2H's are the one's that are most similar but different, as opposed to games merely sharing the same title (i.e. NOT Aladdin on MD & SNES?).
Thanks guys!