Head-to-head on polygons, textures, and framerates
If you’re the kind of person who cares about graphical fidelity, Eurogamer’s Digital Foundry articles should be at the top of your reading list. They provide, without a doubt, the most in-depth analysis of video game visual effects that you can currently find on the internet. And today, Digital Foundry goes head-to-head with Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed. In the article, they pit the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and Wii U versions of the game against the recently-released PC version of ASRT, and predictably, the PC version seems to win pretty handily, though they give props to the Wii U release as being the best of the three console versions:
Putting the strong PC port aside, we’d pin the Wii U version down as the console version to opt for based on flexibility alone. Despite being a launch title, the range of options it boasts above the competition is commendable, with support for all original Wii control configurations, plus the GamePad and Classic Pro. Once set, all five players can also be taken online as a group, and, best of all, the visuals and performance aren’t noticeably cut down in the process of adding these new modes and features.
You can check out the full article, with tons of screenshots, comparison videos, and framerate stability charts right here.
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Sooooo (without being a fanboy) Wii U wins? That’s nice.
In the framrate test against all 3 versions, the PS3 version didn’t fare so well….but all were still wonderful!
Wish there was a City Escape level…
@Ricardo
It’s performance is rather sad when you consider it’s a 2012 system going up against systems with hardware from 2005 it should be dead locked at 30 fps at all times instead of the 360 achieving that goal closer , also sad that this new system marketed as a next gen console can’t handle this game at actual 720p let alone 1080p but I guess rendering a separate screen and streaming it over to the gamepad eats into performance thanks Nintendo!
It can support 1080p and 60 fps, games already have done it, one eshop game has done it i forget what its called, this game was just made by devs that focus so much on graphics and forget about FPS and quality.
@SSJ- SUMO cannot sustain a solid 30 on all consoles; takes too much time to iron out. And also, they meant for each console to be exactly the same, graphically too.
You know what, I’d continue on, but in the end, you’ll still hate Nintendo no matter what, so I’ll end my comment here. Good day!
Ultimately, PC wins.
@SSJSonicXX14
Let’s just pretend that Resident Evil 6 looks as good as The Last of Us or Halo 4. Let’s also pretend that The Last of Us and Halo 4 look just as good as Lair and Halo 3. (If you can’t figure out what I’m trying to say, you’re dumber than I gave you credit for.)
Reminding me once again of one of the many reasons I decided to get a gaming PC instead of an outdated game console and a laptop.
I honestly didn’t expect the Wii U to beat out the other console versions, considering all the framerate bugs it had before release. It shows they did a good job in ironing them all out, which is nice.
The textures on the PC version alone made me drool, particularly when taking into account the accuracy of the lighting and clarity from scene to scene of each level, certainly a no-holds-barred frenzy of pixel and polygons. If you are playing for graphics and graphics alone, coming down to one choice is a no-brainer here, folks.
Is it me or does this game, in general, have really good water effects?
@Skai Cyan
That’s no excuse when Dreamcast launch titles including a great number of ports looked amazing compared to PS1 and N64 and supported 480p, and if you’re trying to say that only first party devs can produce the best graphics and performance well that’s a flat out lie (Resident Evil 4 on Gamecube says hi). If you are talking about something else completely here it’s your fault for being vague instead of trying to have an actual dialogue here.
@Hifihedgehog
It has a absurdly pretty almost CG look to it on PC, I’m amazed that my CPU from 2007 and midrange GPU from 2010 are able to run it at a nonstop 60FPS at 1080p.
@chaos_controller
Nah it’s some of the best water I’ve seen in a game period.
@SSJSonicXX14
My laptop, which is more or less 1 year old, can also run it pretty well but the framerate is almost always in the 25-30 FPS range? What up with that, right?
I think Sumo has done a great job with this game overall, the game plays quite well on every home console I play it on, and the PC version is very well optimized as well. I think they have really taken their time to optimize the game to play on every platform’s strengths.
Quit complaining about the framerate, just look at what the 3DS version’s…
The Wii U may have more features, the PC may have better graphics, etc., but when you boil it down it’s the same game. Comparisons are nice, but saying that one version is so much better, or that it’s sad that the Wii U is on par with the PS360, is irrelevant because they’re practically the same game. If Sumo wanted to make different games, they would have done so, but they wanted everyone to play the same game regardless of console (and that would’ve been too expensive anyway).
Basically, it’s the same game, so stop using this article to fuel your opinions of consoles/PCs.
@SSJSonicXX14
Resident Evil 6 doesn’t look as good as The Last of Us or Halo 4 because they are exclusives. Those games are built around the ‘Station and the Xbox alone so they can optimize all of the system’s feature set more efficiently. The Last of Us and Halo 4 look better than Lair (I should have said Resistance 1, it’s a better comparison) and Halo 3 because it took the respective companies 5/6 years to make them. They came out later when the companies knew more of how to utilize the system’s strengths and downplay it’s weaknesses. The games have not always looked as good as they do, it takes time to learn how to do it. The Wii U version looking like (and besting) what the PS360 do now when the devs are unfamiliar with it’s feature set and architecture is a GOOD SIGN. THE DEVS CAN ONLY GET BETTER! Your anti-Nintendo fanboyism is preventing you from seeing that. I should stop giving people even the little bit of credit that I do and just assume they’re morons, it’d certainly help my heart.
@Metal Ryan: Actually they aren’t identical 60 fps compared to 30 fps makes a massive difference, just look at dmc on PC, I knew dmc felt and looked slow and clunky on consoles and now it makes sense, I played the mgr: revengeance demo and it was definitly running at 60 fps. And no I don’t hate consoles, but start look at more pc games and you’ll gradually notice the difference, and I’m basing this off videos, I have an xbox 360, so no i don’t hate consoles.
@Skai Cyan
I include many Nintendo games including several recent ones under my list of all time favorites but nice try with the fanboy strawman.
The Wii U saddens me on many levels but I fully expect the next Xbox and PS4 to have the same effect on me if the rumors are true about the numerous anti-consumer measures they are might be taking. I hold no allegiance to these billion dollar hardware companies when they take efforts to screw people over and act like every decision they make shouldn’t be questioned by anyone. It’s hard to take the bad with the good when the bad is so utterly unignorably backwards.
@Sonic Warrior
Ditto, there is a difference. It really bothers me when people say PC ports are no better, then I go to their house and the low fps on new games just get under my skin.
Also, I don’t hate consoles either, it’s just that I either had enough money to buy just a gaming pc or a laptop and a current gen console which was out of date even when I bought the PC(August 2011).
For what it’s worth, it’s opinion. There are alot of games I love that are only on PC, and there are alot of games other people love that are only on consoles. But for me personally, it was just a better decision to buy a gaming PC as I would get more out of it. So this video is reassuring me of that, as I love Sonic, and this is a Sonic game, and it is slightly better to play on PC.
I really hope the next Sonic game is on PC or I’ll be eating those words..
@SSJSonicXX14
Really, could have fooled me with the outright bullshit you spout about Nintendo.
Bullshit all around, fellas. No one is safe from criticism.
@chaos_controller: If you have an Intel graphics chip, you already have your answer because a fast processor and slow graphics chip will never give you good results and, as a matter of fact, I just mentioned this to someone on the Sega forums but they reaffirmed they in one way or another can run many popular modern games at the fullest settings with such a setup, impossibly true when real world experience and the proven tests say otherwise. In reality, look at the minimum requirements for this game and see where your graphics chip stacks up in this graphics card hierarchy chart from Tom’s Hardware (below). It’s practically complete, from the dawn of time with an Nvidia TNT at the bottom of the pack to the current graphics champion, the GTX 690, at the top of the heap. If your graphics chipset or card falls below the one listed in the game’s minimum requirements, don’t expect miracles.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html
EDIT: I was kindly reminded by my subconscious memory that the listed graphics requirements for Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed are vague and ambiguous, making them very unhelpful to you. It merely lists that a Shader Model 3.0 compatible card with 256 MB is required, not giving us much to go on and so I would recommend that SSJSonicXX14 post his graphics card specifications to give you a starting or reference point in this case.
@Hifihedgehog
I can’t find my GeForce GT 650M on that list, where would it go?
@A: It is probably the equivalent of the Geforce 650 Go (mobile), so it is more than enough. That is, given that it is in a laptop where, usually when there is a high-end graphics chipset, the adjoining hardware is also up to snuff, you have nothing to worry about.
EDIT: I confirmed that the listed Geforce Go 650 is the Geforce GT650M. Since many have said that old hardware runs this game well, you, with your recent hardware as of early 2012, should have absolutely no problem unless something in your system is rudely consuming system resources like a hog. And we all know that such things as viruses, poorly written drivers and hard drive corruption are all so common these days that they lie in the technical wallow and make a dreadful pigsty of things. But if not, buy and play without worries! It was my pleasure to help!
@Hifihedgehog
Thanks man
I don’t really mind the graphics, but it’s nice to hear that Wii U did well because I am planning on getting it.