The beauty of prerendered backgrounds

Back in the day when I would play a Final Fantasy game or a Resident Evil on PS1 I didnt think much about the use of prerendered backgrounds. It all blended together for me. Now on the other hand when I go back its very clear that the games are just simple 3D characters moving around on whats basically a still picture. The backgrounds might have some 3D element to them to make them feel more alive but are almost completely prerendered.

This stands out even more now days since the 3D characters look very dated while the backgrounds even if they are low res still look very good. So when Im exploring the world in Final Fantasy IX Im still able to enjoy and be impressed by the beautiful backgrounds.

Writing this post actually makes me want to go back and play the Gamecube remake of Resident Evil 1 which has some of the best prerendered backgrounds in any game. But Im playing way too many games at the same time right now so Im gonna have to wait until I beat at least one of them.