Like a fine wine, game consoles mature with

Most Memorable Graphical Jump: This is the game with visuals so good it changed the way you viewed the console. Suddenly, the true power of the system was revealed, and previous expectations were left in the dust.

This is the game with visuals so good it changed the way you viewed the console. Suddenly, the true power of the system was revealed, and previous expectations were left in the dust.

Technical Excellence: This is the game that best capitalised on the hardware from a visual standpoint. This is a developer who knows the system inside out eking every last ounce of performance and eye candy.

This is the game that best capitalised on the hardware from a visual standpoint. This is a developer who knows the system inside out eking every last ounce of performance and eye candy.

Serving A Creative Vision: This game used visuals to serve a highly creative end or in conjunction with an expansive concept.

This game used visuals to serve a highly creative end or in conjunction with an expansive concept.

Worst Visuals: This is the game that best showed how not to work the hardware. Bear in mind we're choosing winners for this category from well-known games – every system has truly awful obscure releases, but we want to shame developers that should have done – and known - better.

This feature is focused exclusively on graphics. We're going to take a stroll through every console designed for 3D graphics and hand out four awards to games that pushed the envelope. They are:In Part 2 we'll be checking out the Dreamcast, PS2, Xbox and GameCube, then the final instalment will wrap things up with the PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii. Apologies to PC and arcade gamers that we're not tackling your platforms of choice, but this set of features is all about looking at closed systems.Let's get on with the show...

PlayStation

Most Memorable Graphical Jump

Winner: Metal Gear Solid Released: Sept 1998 (JP), Oct 1998 (US), Feb 1999 (PAL)Metal Gear Solid wasn't just one of the most mature games in content on its release, it was one of the most mature in presentation too. It depicted realistic environments and characters with confidence – the style spoke where the muted colour scheme didn't. Metal Gear Solid also made the bold step of presenting all cutscenes using the in-game engine – a big statement not only on the strength of the graphics in the game, but in the need to keep players immersed in the gameworld. A big visual step up from other games at the time, and utterly memorable.

Technical Excellence

Winner: Tekken 3 Released: May 1998 (JP), Oct 1998 (US), Nov 1998 (PAL)One of the only games at the time to run at the maximum resolution of the PlayStation – NTSC 640x480 (most PlayStation games ran at NTSC 320x240), Tekken 3 leapt out of the screen at the player. Characters may still have been quite blocky, but the game ran at a silky smooth frame rate, the loading times (as with all early Tekken games) were close to non-existent and the conversion from the System 12 arcade board was impressive. This was an awesome showcase for the system.

Serving A Creative Vision

Winner: Final Fantasy VII Released: Jan 1997 (JP), June 1997 (US)Final Fantasy VII was epic in every sense of the word, but the presentation truly took the medium – and the PlayStation - to new heights. Gameplay featured polygonal characters on gorgeous pre-rendered backdrops (so yes, there's a 2D component), while battles showed off some impressively over-the-top spell animations. The game's more than 40 minutes of FMV were the icing on the cake, and truly jaw dropping for the era. FFVII represented an all-round visual package that tied in wonderfully with the story Squaresoft was trying to tell and the tone it was trying to capture.

Worst Visuals

Winner: The Simpsons Wrestling Released: April 2001 (US), Mar 2001 (PAL)Words really can't describe just how wretched this game was. The Simpsons Wrestling was obviously made with very little time, very little money and very little support from Fox – it had none of the perks that you would assume working on a license like The Simpsons would bring. It certainly didn't look or feel finished either. Shocking character animation, clipping and frame rates were just a few of the problems. Ugly, awful and cynical. The Simpsons + Wrestling? Give us a break.

Click through to the next page for the best and worst awards for Saturn and N64.