Your most memorable landscapes in gaming?

[Groovejackson]

What is the most memorable landscape you have experienced within a game? It might be from a game last year, or another decade, but think about the aesthetics, the atmosphere, the experience – what made it special to you?

[Zagrebo]

Karamoon from Shadow of the Beast II always felt really atmospheric, I think the music helped.

An obvious choice from the last decade is Vvardenfell from Morrowind which is a fascinating place and really helped the Elder Scrolls series step away from the identikit "dwarfs and goblins" Tolkien cargo cult it emerged from.

[MattyC64c]

IK+ on the C64 has a pretty cool background. You fight at sunset (or sunrise) and the refection of the sun on the water in the background is impressive because it's moving! At the time I didn't think much of it, but looking at it now it looks great.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mI9oz2A0PNA

[Kenz]

Three spring to mind:-

1. Hunter (Amiga). Love the remote feeling you get on an island with just the occasional bird cheep + sea / wind (?) fx

2. Another World (Amiga). You get a real "otherworldy" feeling when you first teleport to the alien world and start exploring.

3. Unreal (PC). There's a fantastic moment when you get out of the crashed ship at the start of the game. I *love* the music that plays when you take your first steps onto the alien planet.

[The Laird]

The first game that sprung to mind for some reason was the stunning hardware scaled landscapes of Blue Lightning on the Atari Lynx.

I remember just spending ages flying low to take them in!

[Mayhem]

Phendrana Drifts in Metroid Prime, the soundtrack was equally as good

[samhain81]

I would have to say my top 3 are:

1. Super Mario 3 world 1 map
2. Shenmue Dobuita
3. Sonic 2 Chemical Plant

[nakamura]

Good shouts on Blue Lightening and Metroid Prime.

Personally the greatest gaming landscape ever is from Final Fantasy XII. It just feels like one mega continent of connected locations which feels both western and eastern in terms of art. Truly a stunning place to be, certainly in the Paramina Rift with the changing weather and lovely music.

Mayhem, if you liked Phendrana you will like Paramina.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=GB&v=vpkAJsZeOaM

[djcarlos]

The landscape of Borderlands is the one that pops into my head most often, loved the cheerfully-desolate world.

[pratty]

Starfox Adventures is full of some beautiful landscapes and scenery, including some very nice water and rain effects for the time.

[Morkin]

Ico. Predictable, but I never tire of that scenerary.

[r0jaws]

Not really retro but Grand theft Auto, Vice City.

I spent time ignoring the missions and just cruising around listening to the music and enjoying the scenery. The first time I nearly felt immersed enough in a game to just enjoy the background.

[jcdentont1000]

The obvious one - and I'm amazed we've made 11 posts without it cropping up - The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Yes, we all know the majesty of wandering out onto Hyrule Field for the first ever time, the wonder of the incredible draw distance, the soaring soundtrack - all the better in the 3DS remake (still the best reason to own a 3DS, IMHO.)

My second choice is a strange one, but I'm going to go with the Phoenix Wright series; whilst technically they are just still backgrounds, some of the artwork is absolutely exquisite and as you play through the series it's a lot of fun looking out for the 'in jokes' and references to previous jokes and characters, as well as the usual internet humour. Accompanied by Masakazu Sugimori's music, it is fun just wandering around 'examining' everything and absorbing oneself in the game universe.

Spotters badges for Skyrim, Xenoblade Chronicles and the utterly beautiful Yamanose/Dobuita in Shenmue - one of my favourite games of all time.

[IronMaidenRule]

Flashback always sticks in my mind, especially the first level, just something about all the over grown vegetation and platforms.

[tachi]

For me it is the Eagle Level of Golden Axe, I remember being really surprised when I realised where we were!:


And everything in Myth, be it the bowels of hell, the lightning storm aboard a viking ship or the depths of Stygia fighting Medusa and the Hydra, both the visual and audio style was amazing: