History Main / VideoGame3DLeap

* ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne'' for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 is the only game in the [[VideoGame/ShinMegamiTensei mainline series]] to conduct battles in full 3D. All further mainline games returned to 2D battles (with the [[SpritePolygonMix occasional 3D models for some of the bosses]]). This can be correlated to a ChannelHop of the mainline series to the [[UsefulNotes/NintendoDS Nintendo DS]] and later the [[UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS 3DS]].

* ''VideoGame/{{Shantae}}: Half-Genie Hero'', unlike previous games in the series which were fully 2D, is a SpritePolygonMix with 2D hand-drawn sprites on 3D backgrounds.

* Discounting ''DA!'', ''Chronicle'' is the first ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyo'' game to be presented fully in 3D. Gameplay is still the traditional rule sets, but the cut-ins are now 3D models, much like how ''39'' presented theirs. ''Chronicle'''s RPG mode also utilizes a 3D free-roaming overworld.

* Although ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime'' skipped a generation, it also got loads of acclaim with its leap, keeping the non-linear adventure [[Franchise/{{Metroid}} the series]] is known for in its change to a first-person perspective.

** ''VideoGame/Kirby64TheCrystalShards'' had almost everything rendered in 3D, but kept the gameplay from the rest of the series intact, taking advantage of the new presentation by utilizing curving paths and dynamic camera angles.
** This remains for the later ''VideoGame/KirbysReturnToDreamLand'' and applies to both ''VideoGame/KirbyTripleDeluxe'', ''VideoGame/KirbyPlanetRobobot'', and ''VideoGame/KirbyStarAllies'', the former two also include a way for Kirby to jump between the foreground and the background. Only ''Planet Robobot'' kept some of ''Kirby 64''[='=]s more dynamic design, however.

** When ''Return to Dream Land'' was known as "Kirby [=GCN=]" and was a Gamecube game, early screenshots show they had attempted at one point to make it into a full 3D game. They ended up changing it to a traditional sidescroller and ''Kirby'' still has not made the leap like other platformers. However, ''Planet Robobot'' does feature an experimental score-based subgame called ''Kirby 3D Rumble'', which translates the gameplay into a 3D environment for the first time in the series. This was later expanded into the adventure-based ''VideoGame/KirbysBlowoutBlast''.

* ''VideoGame/DukeNukem3D'' was outrageously more successful than its [[VideoGame/DukeNukemI two]] [[VideoGame/DukeNukemII predecessors]], becoming massively more violent and with the main character's attitude significantly changing at the same time. Despite its namesake, ''Duke Nukem 3D'' wasn't a true 3D game, but a 2.5D game that used clever level design tricks like room-over-room and sloped surfaces to create an illusion of verticality and 3D space. It wasn't until ''VideoGame/DukeNukemForever'' and some of the spin-off games that Duke went truly 3D.

* Sid Meier's ''VideoGame/{{Civilization}} IV'' gives 3D landscape and characters to the franchise, but still plays similarly to the third game.

* ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'' brought ''VideoGame/{{Sonic|TheHedgehog}}'' into 3D and had a huge overworld complete with full voiceovers and multiple characters. Depending on who you ask, it also first bumped its noggin on the PolygonCeiling here. Sonic was supposed to make the jump with ''VideoGame/SonicXTreme'' on the UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn, but that game was cancelled.

* ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'' brought ''VideoGame/{{Sonic|TheHedgehog}}'' into 3D and had a huge overworld complete with full voiceovers and multiple characters. Depending on who you ask, it also first bumped its noggin on the PolygonCeiling here.

*** Follow the series' acquisitionn by Creator/{{Bethesda}}, it made the leap and the gameplay changed significantly. What was an isometric turn-based tactical role-playing game became a WideOpenSandbox FirstPersonShooter with {{RPG}} elements and many similarities to its ''The Elder Scrolls'' sister series. The new version has been generally well-received, though [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks grouchy old-school fans might point out]] that it took so long for the 3D ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'' to come out that most people who play it have never played the 2D originals - and despite being set in the same universe, there's little story connection between ''3'' and the 2D games, though its sequel ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'', developed by the developers of the original games at Creator/ObsidianEntertainment, contain multiple {{Continuity Nod}}s to earlier games.
*** An earlier version of ''Fallout 3'' from the series' original developers, codenamed ''[[VideoGame/FalloutVanBuren Van Buren]]'', [[WhatCouldHaveBeen would've fit into the latter category]], keeping gameplay nearly the same, but switching graphics entirely to polygonal 3D.

** This also applies to the ''VideoGame/FZero'' series.

* ''WebVideo/JoueurDuGrenier'' had a special on [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90V_yIBjH2M early 3D games]], mostly focusing on the ones that turned well-known 2d games into utter crap like Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog, VideoGame/MortalKombat, and the infamous {{VideoGame/Bubsy}}.

* ''VideoGame/Disgaea6DefianceOfDestiny'' is the first in the series to use 3D character models, where all the previous games used character sprites.

* For the ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigi'' games that used 3D graphics, the the gameplay was kept the same as in the 2D games.

* The only handheld games in ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' series with polygonal graphics that don't fall under the "presentation upgrade" category are both enhanced versions of the Nintendo 64 games. ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaPhantomHourglass Phantom Hourglass]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSpiritTracks Spirit Tracks]]'' are both top-down games played with the touch screen, and ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkBetweenWorlds A Link Between Worlds]]'' intentionally plays like ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast A Link to the Past]]'' due to its status as a fairly direct sequel.
* ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'' was even more careful in this regard. ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVII'' only just barely went above being a 2D game with polygons, while ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVIII'' was a full presentation upgrade.
** The 3DS remake of ''VII'' played this more straight, with the entire world and its characters presented in 3D after the DS rereleases of ''IV'' through ''VI'' remained in 2D after the graphics upgrade.

* The ''VideoGame/{{Rayman}}'' series is a [[ZigZaggedTrope very strange]] case. The initial entry in the series was a 2D platformer that underwent a 3D upgrade for the [[VideoGame/{{Rayman 2}} second]] and [[VideoGame/Rayman3HoodlumHavoc third]] entries, while [[VideoGame/RaymanOrigins Origins]] switched back to 2D animation and gameplay.

* ''VideoGame/SpaceInvaders [[http://www.infinitygene.net Infinity Gene]]'' was originally a 2D ShootEmUp released for the [=iPhone=] which takes the ''Space Invaders'' formula and gradually turns it into a modernised shmup. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VoUvIQiDIY The PlayStation Network/Xbox Live Arcade version]] takes the concept to its [[LogicalExtreme logical conclusion]] by implementing 3D levels in addition to the 2D levels. Your ship still moves in a horizontal axis in the 3D levels, but it definitely allows for more creative boss battles.

* ''VideoGame/PhantasyStar'' is one of the few RPG series to make a full upgrade, since the gameplay was changed from menu based to MMORPG style action.

* ''VideoGame/MegaManLegends'' was an EnforcedTrope for this, since Capcom was told by Sony they needed to make a 3D ''Franchise/MegaMan'' before they could make 2D games for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation. As a consequence, it's more of an ActionAdventure[=/=]RPG than a run-n-gun platformer like [[VideoGame/MegaManClassic the main series]]. As you would expect, it turned out to be a very polarizing game, with some viewing it as an excellent game in its own right, while others view it as a bizarre example of PolygonCeiling, with the UnexpectedGameplayChange, clunky gameplay and annoying camera controls. They later ''would'' release a main-line [=3D=] installment of a ''Mega Man'' game in the form of ''VideoGame/MegaManX7'', but opinions are more unanimous on it having hit the PolygonCeiling, with the random jumps between camera angles and poor level design.

* ''VideoGame/MegaManLegends'' was an EnforcedTrope for this, since Capcom was told by Sony they needed to make a 3D ''Franchise/MegaMan'' before they could make 2D games for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation. As a consequence, it's more of an ActionAdventure[=/=]RPG than a run-n-gun platformer like [[VideoGame/MegaManClassic the main series]]. As you would expect, it turned out to be a very polarizing game, with some viewing it as an excellent game in its own right, while others view it as a bizarre example of PolygonCeiling. They later ''would'' release a main-line [=3D=] installment of a ''Mega Man'' game in the form of ''VideoGame/MegaManX7'', but opinions are more unanimous on it having hit the PolygonCeiling, with the random jumps between camera angles and poor level design.

* ''VideoGame/MegaManLegends'' was an EnforcedTrope for this, since Capcom was told by Sony they needed to make a 3D ''Franchise/MegaMan'' before they could make 2D games for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation. As a consequence, while it's commonly regarded as an excellent game, it's more of an ActionAdventure[=/=]RPG than a run-n-gun platformer like [[VideoGame/MegaManClassic the main series]]. They later ''would'' release a main-line [=3D=] installment of a ''Mega Man'' game in the form of ''VideoGame/MegaManX7'', but it hit the PolygonCeiling, and quite hard at that with the random jumps between camera angles and poor level design.

* In ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigi'' the series, the developers just changed the graphics.

* Creator/{{Nintendo}} has been careful not to shove every series in 3D, and in the case of the ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' and ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigi'' series, the developers just changed the graphics.
** The ''Fire Emblem'' series did add elevation bonuses to ''VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn'' but removed it in later games.
** The only handheld games in ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' series with polygonal graphics that don't fall under the "presentation upgrade" category are both enhanced versions of the Nintendo 64 games. ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaPhantomHourglass Phantom Hourglass]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSpiritTracks Spirit Tracks]]'' are both top-down games played with the touch screen, and ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkBetweenWorlds A Link Between Worlds]]'' intentionally plays like ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast A Link to the Past]]'' due to its status as a fairly direct sequel.

** Technically, even the EX games played primarily in 2D outside of the occasional sidestep maneuver.