Wind Waker is probably the go-to answer for this. I think Xcom 2 is a good example too, even though it’s fairly recent.
Wind Waker is definitely my answer whenever this question pops up. It’s one of the few fully-3D games from that era that still holds up moderately well today. A lot of Gamecube games definitely look like Gamecube games when emulated with out-of-the-box settings, but Wind Waker looks like an indie game that could’ve come out last year when emulated.
The Zelda art teams really are masters at their craft.
The art direction at Nintendo in general is really top tier. I was looking looking at their WiiU games not too long ago. I noticed they don’t usually have a lot of complex shapes in their models, they use a surprising amount of flat area, but they jazz them up with extremely well done texturing and shaders.
Honestly, a lot of first party GameCube games have aged incredibly well. Mario Party, Wind Waker, Warioware, Smash, Sunshine, Luigi’s Mansion etc. all still look fantastic today, resolution aside.
Any game that isn’t trying to go for realistic graphics. Some off the top of my head:
- Braid
- Okami
- Outer Wilds
- Ori and the Blind Forest
That reminds me: the Braid anniversary edition came out recently and I need to play that game again.
The Portal games.
Jet Set Radio
RollerCoaster Tycoon 1 and 2. They still look as good as the day they were released, while RCT3 looks terrible now.
Wind waker. The cell shading will always look good.
Yup. Sly Cooper still looks great as well.
Transistor
Katamari Damashi.
NaNa nanana nanananananana na Katamai Damashiii
Age of empires 2
Okami
Pong is still unmatched, even after all these years
I’d also consider Tempest.
Yeah, but nothing can beat the Magnavox Odyssey’s graphics
Unless you had a 17" tv
Journey
Definitely Minecraft
Terraria
My son was playing Sunset Overdrive the other day, and I had forgotten how cinematic it was. Very fun, very punk rock.
