Other y2k aesthetic game out there?

[Ikagura]

I would love to see a revival of this era!

Similar games:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2078510/VIVIDLOPE/

https://store.steampowered.com/app/473770/BallisticNG/

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1492420/EQUALINE/

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1592360/Kitten_Burst/

[revoblam]

引用自 Ikagura：

I don't know if it's y2k but this looks interesting https://store.steampowered.com/app/1492420/EQUALINE/

oh one look and it absolutely fits, aesthetics on point with Y2K

[Ikagura]

引用自 revoblam：

引用自 Ikagura：

I don't know if it's y2k but this looks interesting https://store.steampowered.com/app/1492420/EQUALINE/

oh one look and it absolutely fits, aesthetics on point with Y2K

But strangely it also feels like a PSP game.

That console was in the turning point of the end of Y2K and the next era (Frutiger Aero for some since it's the spiritual successor of it).

[revoblam]

引用自 Ikagura：

引用自 revoblam：

oh one look and it absolutely fits, aesthetics on point with Y2K

But strangely it also feels like a PSP game.

That console was in the turning point of the end of Y2K and the next era (Frutiger Aero for some since it's the spiritual successor of it).

PSP games also had limited graphic capabilities and the Y2K aesthetic tends to be minimalist with less emphasis on powerful 3D graphics, a good mix for low-power consoles or devices.

[Ikagura]

引用自 revoblam：

引用自 Ikagura：

But strangely it also feels like a PSP game.

That console was in the turning point of the end of Y2K and the next era (Frutiger Aero for some since it's the spiritual successor of it).

PSP games also had limited graphic capabilities and the Y2K aesthetic tends to be minimalist with less emphasis on powerful 3D graphics, a good mix for low-power consoles or devices.

I just remembered about Mercury on the console https://youtu.be/EexdhOlSZdQ

On the other hand does this game count as y2k? It has the cyber aesthetic going on but it feels a lot less 90's https://youtu.be/ZqwlEaNDyL0 Maybe we could qualify it of a "post-y2k" cyberfuturistic game.

[Ikagura]

From https://aesthetics.fandom.com/wiki/Y2K#Video_Games :

Recently, the Indie game scene started to get inspired by the Y2K revival wave and the developers to revisit the aesthetic. One of the first games is CROSSNIQ+, a puzzle arcade game mimicking the Dreamcast puzzles made by Max Kriegler. BallisticNG is a futuristic racing game inspired by the Wipeout series. Another example is Hypnospace Outlaw, and its upcoming sequel, Dreamsettler, with Hypnospace Outlaw, a game taking place in 1999, having its last parts of the game taking place in an upgraded operating system with Y2K stylization, and its upcoming sequel Dreamsettler taking place in 2003, with a OS inspired by Y2K stylized operating systems of its time, like Mac OS X and Windows XP. The upcoming indie games Bomb Rush Cyberfunk, Neon White, and varied indie first-person shooter games SPRAWL, Ghostware: Arena of the Dead, and EXOCIDE, all yet to be released soon, embrace this aesthetic as well. Roblox is also involved, with Y2K skins and accessories for example. A new proof, that this trend is not ready to stop.

[LCT]

So, a while ago somebody mentioned SEGA's "Cyber Troopers Virtual-On" series (VO for short), and I somehow ended up digging a bunch of info around, since the series is relatively niche. I have time to waste, so I'm going to dump most of my findings here.
First off, VO is a 3D mecha fighting game series, which debuted on arcade in 1995. The series fits the y2k bill primarily through it's mechas, robot-voice announcer and the dynamic, minimalistic UI. The music is hard to qualify or compare, but I'd say it fits the y2k aesthetic too.
The 2nd and 3rd games of the series have small competitive scenes (since VO is ultimately a fighting game series), and the 4th and 5th games aren't as important imo.
4 more posts incoming.

[LCT]

This playlist https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIKmG48vJAw_RtY2Nc528CD0lKHy7A-Ey contains awesome tournament matches for the 2nd and 3rd VO games (and another unrelated-but-similar game), so you can get a feel for what the games look like. Just make sure you don't look at the video titles to avoid spoilers, start at the end of the playlist for the first VO Force match and work your way up the playlist. Also, if you wonder why they keep doing short hops in the matches, it's because jumps make you lock onto enemies but make you vulnerable, so they cancel the jump early to stay safe.
Note how the games' UI have neat subtle visual cues - square brackets when you are in melee range, an enemy distance indicator when they are out of your sight, in VO Force you have a flashing "lock-on alert" when you're being targeted by both enemies, etc.

[LCT]

If you want more gameplay, this Youtube user has various playlists with their gameplay for most VO games: https://www.youtube.com/@Zaarock/playlists
Then, this Youtube user here has some more uncommented gameplay, plus some footage of live arcade tournaments: https://www.youtube.com/@virtualondojo7653
For the arcade gameplay, note the unique controller setup - two piloting sticks, each with a weapons trigger and a dash button.

Anyway, after that the 4th game is apparently bad, and the fifth is a Japan-only cross-over with an anime for some reason, haven't bothered to check it out so dunno if it's relevant.
Next post: getting to actually play the games...

[LCT]

Playing the games is a little tricky, because the ports are all over the place and some are Japan only.
For the first game, there's a hackish port with fixes to make it run properly on modern Windows (and Windows only). You can get the installer near the very bottom of this page, after the screenshots and comments: https://www.myabandonware.com/game/cyber-troopers-virtual-on-baq#download Pick the third download, "Installer 70 MB". I also had to install a "_inmm238" program, lost the link I used but this one seems okay https://www.play-old-pc-games.com/compatibility-tools/_inmm-dll-tutorial/. When the game is running, press Alt+G or click the menu bar, there are many settings you can change, including the controls because the default keyboard scheme is garbage. For gamepad, it seems you need to run a gamepad-to-keyboard program like JoyToKey. All worked fine for me.

[LCT]

Haven't tested the 2nd game yet, but getting a ROM of the Dreamcast port and running an emulator should be simple enough.
The third game is available for digital purchase worldwide on Xbox360, I think. Wikipedia says the port is region-free, though I'm not sure if it has an English translation.
The first 3 games were also released in a Japan only PS4 collection. Apparently you can make a Japanese PSN account on a regular US/EU PS4, then add Yen funds to the account using third party Yen card resellers to play the game. However, the collection has online-only multiplayer, no split screen option. More info in this forum thread: https://www.oratan.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1668&sid=53409094f281bccf136b8a3850529bf7

[LCT]

And finally, to top it all off: There was a collector's edition for the 4th game that included a 6 disc compilation of all the soundtracks up to that game. Because it was a limited edition, this website here https://www.originalgamescores.com/cybertroopersvirtual-on4x6 decided to upload it in both lossy mp3 and lossless flac audio - perfect if you like the soundtracks! Although I found that the metadata had a bunch of annoying typos, so you might want to use this link to get the correct track names: https://vgmdb.net/album/20435
And Youtube also has 3 remix albums for the soundtracks:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5UVxu_SMts&pp=ygULVk8tQXJyL0x6XzI%3D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJOog_QAbKU&pp=ygULVk8tQXJyL0x6XzI%3D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkvNnTYyvXw&pp=ygULVk8tQXJyL0x6XzI%3D
Unfortunately the remix albums are Japan-only CDs and I haven't looked for any lossless audio uploads (yet?).

That's all for Virtual-On, sorry for the long posts.

[Ikagura]

Added this to the OP https://store.steampowered.com/app/1592360/Kitten_Burst/

[Awesomov]

引用自 revoblam：

引用自 Ikagura：

But strangely it also feels like a PSP game.

That console was in the turning point of the end of Y2K and the next era (Frutiger Aero for some since it's the spiritual successor of it).

PSP games also had limited graphic capabilities and the Y2K aesthetic tends to be minimalist with less emphasis on powerful 3D graphics, a good mix for low-power consoles or devices.

Y2K retrofuturism really wasn't minimalist considering it arose from excitement for the future, so if anything games at the time were actually trying to push the limits as a result. They always have, but especially back then, because, you know, the future. It seems quaint now because we've still kept pushing graphics further since, but it blew peoples' minds back then. And minor note, people can try to claim 'til the cows come home otherwise, but it really wasn't culturally relevant beyond 2001, and I'll answer to that by adding to this:

引用自 Ikagura：

On the other hand does this game count as y2k? It has the cyber aesthetic going on but it feels a lot less 90's https://youtu.be/ZqwlEaNDyL0 Maybe we could qualify it of a "post-y2k" cyberfuturistic game.

Science fiction is a spectrum, and Y2K retrofuturism was drawn from that, but what makes the aesthetic what it is, is having to do specifically with the turn of the millennium and attitudes from the time about it. Still a cool thing, but the further after 2001 you get, the less likely something really fits the bill, because those attitudes had generally died down after that point; that's what is key is not just the imagery, but the intention and feelings behind it. If anything, go back earlier into the 90s, because it's a 90s aesthetic that started earlier than a lot of people think, like with the Virtual-On example.

I'll add, too, Equaline in particular doesn't not fit Y2K at all, but I wouldn't look at it and immediately think it could've been from it, either. Likely would've been more colorful if it really came from the time.

[Ikagura]

I think that the y2k aesthetic trend is barely starting.

Indies have reached the PSX/Saturn/N64 era of aesthetic so we'll need a bit more years to have the Dreamcast/PlayStation 2 era to be trendy.