Best games to test the hardware limitations?

[Bonkers225]

PS2- Zone of Enders 2 is my main. If it can run this at 60fps, than it most likely can handle anything else you throw at it. Other good games to test are Sly Cooper, God of War 2, and Shadow of the Colossus

GBA - Final Fantasy VI. You'll know from the intro narration if your hardware can handle it. Like ZoE2, if it can handle this, it can handle anything else you throw at it.

Please add your own.

 

[nks]

Chrono Cross on the PS1 is usually my go to.

 

[RanmyakuIchi's icon RanmyakuIchi RanmyakuIchi]

Whenever I download Pcsx2 on a new PC I usually throw MGS3 Snake Eater at it, since that's the most demanding game I'd want regular access to.

 

[CaptainToad]

Would like to hear what are good benchmarks for all of the consoles. For 2D arcade stuff it seems like the CPS3 games (MvC, JoJo, etc.) and the later 2D Konami stuff (TMNT, Sunset Riders) are a pretty good test for emulating 2D arcade stuff in general.

 

[Nebulon_Galaxy]

Gran Turismo series?

 

[RanmyakuIchi's icon RanmyakuIchi RanmyakuIchi]

I've had trouble running ST-V games in M.A.M.E, like Cotton 2, at full speed more than anything else, so maybe those for arcade emulation.

 

[Shameless]

Armored Core: Last Raven can push the ps2 at times, in some missile heavy fights the game slows down to as low as 10fps.

 

[Advil Lavs]

I'd say Smashing Drive for the GBA. It has music with lyrics as clear as the Gamecube version in my opinion and also pretty impressive 3D graphics. I can also think of A LOT of games that push the limits of the 3DS hardware

 

[pHoeniX_WRIght]

Tekken 5 and ZOE for pcsx2, and I think Tekken 6 for PPSSPP

 

[DunkeyKong]

I'd recommend you to test any games for the N64. It can be GoldenEye, Perfect Dark, Conker's Bad Fur Day, Super Mario 64, etc. Because the N64 is one of the hardest console to emulate, so if you can even run if not most then some of those games at all then you can run any system until the 6th gen (depends on the emulator and your settings of course)

 

[RanmyakuIchi's icon RanmyakuIchi RanmyakuIchi]

I'd recommend you to test any games for the N64. It can be GoldenEye, Perfect Dark, Conker's Bad Fur Day, Super Mario 64, etc. Because the N64 is one of the hardest console to emulate, so if you can even run if not most then some of those games at all then you can run any system until the 6th gen (depends on the emulator and your settings of course)

Mario 64's not too bad, I've managed to get it running smooth on a 8 year old tablet with 1.5 GB Ram. Everything else you listed is pretty demanding though. Perfect Dark in particular is a nightmare.

 

[DunkeyKong]

Mario 64's not too bad, I've managed to get it running smooth on a 8 year old tablet with 1.5 GB Ram. Everything else you listed is pretty demanding though. Perfect Dark in particular is a nightmare.

True that, and that's just Perfect Dark lmao

 

[daro_glez]

Blue Dolphin for Naomi and Wipeout Pulse for PSP (I think both were compress so it may add to the difficulty to be emulated at full speed). N64 Mace the dark ages is pretty demanding too.

 

[Evaccaneer Doom]

Your hardware is cooked if any of the 3DS Fire Emblem games run like molasses

 

[Stookymalarkey]

For PS2 emulation, I try God of War 2 since it's one of the most demanding games released on it. For SNES, I'd use Donkey Kong Country 2 and Earthworm Jim 2, the latter due to some weird quirks that reliable emulator would handle.

 

[gundamnut14]

Generally, I try PS3 emulation to see if any upgrades to my hardware have made it a smoother experience (it's still very dodgy) and Cyberpunk 2077 has also been a PC game I try to see the effect of any upgrades. Cyberpunk is my go-to because it's probably the most recent and graphically intensive game that i've actually enjoyed playing.

 

[Bonkers225]

Would like to hear what are good benchmarks for all of the consoles. For 2D arcade stuff it seems like the CPS3 games (MvC, JoJo, etc.) and the later 2D Konami stuff (TMNT, Sunset Riders) are a pretty good test for emulating 2D arcade stuff in general.

Mortal Kombat games are my goto. Well, I guess those are 2.5D. Others include Spider-Man, Ninja Baseball Men, Golden Axe Return of Death Adder.

 

[moonbits]

Hypothetically speaking.. I'd use Dolphin emulator and scale the resolution and record how much time it takes to compile shaders for basic tests. As for a specific game I'd probably do something that does a lot of rendering like Xenoblade Chronicles or F-Zero GX.


PCSX2 is such a piece of crap I don't think anyone should use it to check their system

 

[Bonkers225]

Some more for SNES

DBZ Hyper Dimension. During the intro when the Dragon Ball collects. If it stutters, you're cooked. Also, the character intro animations for Gohan, and Fat Buu.

Star Fox 2, the intro, especially during the laser shot.

Legend of Legaia on the PSX. The intro once you start the game, especially when the train monster is shown, and the fog effects come in.

Tekken 3 on the PSX.

 

[plaindillo]

When I think of consoles that really push the limits, i can think of none other than the SNES/SFC.
I think it was truly that one era when they pushed the limits of the hardware to the absolute breaking point, and made some truly beautiful and impressive games. Not to mention, all able to be easily emulated on my Wii!

I have a handful that come to mind.

Star Fox & Star Fox 2 (the latter especially. It's genuinely one of my favorite games.)
Final Fantasy VI
Chrono Trigger
Bahamut Lagoon
Star Ocean (Which I believe is the largest game on the super famicom in terms of storage)
and Tales of Phantasia.
Those last two I find particularly impressive. Star Ocean managed to have an entirely voice acted intro which at the time of my discovery, I thoughy was completely unheard of for the snes. And I was blown away by Tales of Phantasia's extensive use of voice acting, with an even more impressive vocal theme for the opening.

 

[Barriel]

C.O.P The Recruit - Nintendo DS, open world, runs well, made by the same developers of Driv3r (GBA), which is also a open world game.

 

[Malibu_Batman]

There's a YouTube channel called Sharopolis that mainly discusses the games that pushed the limits of various consoles and handhelds and how they were able to do so.

 

[Retroviews]

Back in the day, Castlevania III/Akumajō Densetsu was a good game to see if an NES emulator was good enough, because of the extra audio chips. Nowadays I think anyone can play this game well.

For SNES, I remember that Top Gear 3000 took years to be emulated correctly. In my experience, any game with FX chips is a good test for weaker hardware, like Chinese handhelds.

In relation to the PS1, Bloody Roar 2, Dead or Alive, Tekken 3 are the games that I saw have problems on more limited systems.

And as far as I remember, the GameCube port of True Crime: New York City has so many problems that the Dolphin developers openly recommend people play the PS2 version.

 

[PaleFolklore]

I feel like if I ever purchased an old machine from the late '90s or early 2000s, I'd want to install an emulator such as Genesis Plus GX or ares to test its capability of emulating the SEGA CD, especially the Record of Lodoss War title released for it.

It's a perfect demonstration of what makes the SEGA CD capable of rendering beautiful (and I really mean BEAUTIFUL) animation, despite its limited specs.

I've mentioned in previous posts here on the forum how much I love ROLW's animation quality, but the fact that a 1994 game could render so many of the anime's iconic scenes in wonderful FMVs is jaw-dropping, to say the least.

 

[DanCalibur]

For Sega Saturn I use Virtua Fighter 2, if you can get 60fps at that, you can run the full library.