- SHADOW OF THE COLOSSUS PS2 HD MOF 720P
- SHADOW OF THE COLOSSUS PS2 HD MOF FULL
- SHADOW OF THE COLOSSUS PS2 HD MOF PS3
The immediate impression you get from the HD version of Ico is that Bluepoint has done a good job in making the visuals shine in high definition.
SHADOW OF THE COLOSSUS PS2 HD MOF 720P
Use the full-screen button for 720p resolution or click the link below for a larger window.
SHADOW OF THE COLOSSUS PS2 HD MOF PS3
The intro sequence of Ico running on PS2 in its original guide up against the PS3 in 720p mode. (If you're not keen on our full-screen switching edit, a continuous A to B comparison is also available.) Owing to the relative simplicity of the visuals, h.264 video compression is that much more effective, so while most of our comparison videos need to be slowed down we can run this one at full-speed with original audio.
So, how has Ico turned out? Here's an initial comparison of the extended introduction sequence, with the PS2 version compared with the new HD "remix".
SHADOW OF THE COLOSSUS PS2 HD MOF FULL
In scaling up to either 720p or 1080p, the chance to "unlock" the full detail of the original artwork is mouth-watering (as we tried to showcase in last year's Ico/Shadow of the Colossus HD emulation piece), but at the same time the danger remains that there just isn't the quality in the original assets to present a viable high-definition experience - exactly the issue we had with the first two games in the recent Splinter Cell remakes. The low resolution of the original release means that an HD remaster presents both challenges and opportunities. Base resolution for Ico is a rather low 512x224 (going up to 512x256 in PAL mode, with a frame-rate reduction to 25FPS), with the title actually forcing the PlayStation 2 hardware to forego a traditional interlaced video output in favour of low-resolution progressive scan. While elements such as lighting, detail and animation were clearly ahead of their time, there are some hints of the game's less technologically advanced origins. Initially planned for the original PS1 console, its protracted development period eventually saw it appear on CD for PlayStation 2 some four years after producer Fumito Ueda first devised the concept. Let's kick off by taking a look at the HD remastering of the game that started it all: Ico. Could the original games scale up to high-definition resolutions and still retain their magic? It's safe to say that this is the most eagerly anticipated high-definition remaster since Bluepoint's debut outing, so we were especially curious to see how the conversion would be handled.
To ensure a quality product, Sony handed off the conversion work to Bluepoint Games - the development studio that handled the original, really rather superb God of War Collection, who in turn worked closely with the original developers to ensure an authentic recreation of the games. As development of Sony Japan's The Last Guardian enters its final stretch, the platform holder has finally released its high-definition PlayStation 3 remakes of the new game's predecessors: the epic Ico and Shadow of the Colossus.
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