History Main / SpritePolygonMix

* ''VideoGame/MythTheFallenLords'' was a rare RealTimeTactics example. The world was fully 3D and included factors like elevation (and weather in the sequel), but units were rendered with sprites.

Another tool was to only use this for sprites that would look "correct" when viewed from any angle. The only such object for which this would even remotely be true would be perfect spheres. Even sphere-like objects can show problems, since any lighting effects applied to the sprite would not properly shift as the camera moves around. Even so, this worked well enough for games of the era, like the the rolling spheres in ''VideoGame/SuperMario64''.

* ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVII'', and the UsefulNotes/PlayStation and UsefulNotes/NintendoDS remakes of ''[[VideoGame/DragonQuestIV IV]]'', ''[[VideoGame/DragonQuestV V]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/DragonQuestVI VI]]''

* ''VideoGame/{{Rayman 2}}'' has pickups made from sprites. In the UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 port (titled ''Rayman Revolution''), however, the pickups are now full polygon models.

* ''Disney's Disney/{{Hercules}} Action Game'' rather awkwardly has 2D cel-animated characters amid 3D scenery and enemies.

* The crowd in wrestling games past the first few lines of seats around the ring, still used to this day even if usually pushed back to far rows, some can still be found right in front of the camera during entrances or victory pose such as in Legend Of Wrestlemania on [=PS3=]. These, in this case, are not oriented to the camera but in their seat direction which can allow the player to see them as being made out of cardboard so to speak, which gets especially silly in games where you can actually crawl over the divider into the fan's seats and watch said cardboard cutout fans slide away from you.

* ''VideoGame/EternalEyes''
* ''VideoGame/HoshigamiRuiningBlueEarth''
* ''VideoGame/{{Strider}} 2''

Can overlap with VideoGame3DLeap, DigitizedSprites. Compare ThreeDEffectsTwoDCartoon, where CGI elements are used in otherwise 2D animation.

Can overlap with VideoGame3DLeap, DigitizedSprites. Compare ConspicuousCG.

* ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom2'', ''VideoGame/CapcomVsSNK2MarkOfTheMillenium'', and ''VideoGame/BlazBlue'' have sprite characters on 3D backgrounds. It actually looks pretty cool.

[[caption-width-right:350:It's your brave sprite heroes against this fully textured dragon!]]

[[folder:2D foregrounds, 3D backgrounds]]

[[folder:2D backgrounds, 3D foregrounds]]
* Handled extremely well in ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBros'' and its sequels- Mario and several enemies are the only 3D objects.

* ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog4''. The characters are prerendered polygon sprites.

* Regular stages in ''VideoGame/SonicRush'' and its sequel, and the DS version of ''VideoGame/SonicColors''. The rest of these games are all polygonal.

* ''VideoGame/{{Grandia}}'' features a 3D world populated by characters represented with 2D sprites. Battles on the other hand took place on flat image backgrounds with 3D effects used for spells.

* The original ''Franchise/AloneInTheDark'' trilogy, providing the template for most later SurvivalHorror games.

* The original ''Franchise/CrashBandicoot'' trilogy has this for, obviously enough, wumpa fruits, as well as several visual effects or the "CHECKPOINT" letters. And yet the spinoff, ''Videogame/CrashTeamRacing'', brings more 2D/3D confusion to the desk: the wheels, the smoke, the vortex and the wumpas are all sprites, but the race position numbers are actually 3D models.

** The ''Franchise/ChaosRings'' series are more recent Creator/SquareEnix [=RPGs=] with the same style.

[[folder: Early non-examples ]]

* Most pre-''VideoGame/{{Quake}}'' [[FirstPersonShooter FPSs]] have an appearance consistent with this trope, but technically do not qualify since their environments do not use polygon meshes (as defined today) to create walls. They use various methods to create pseudo-3D backgrounds, with enemies, powerups and decorations being scaled sprites. ''Doom'', for example, uses a texture fill method similar to 3D extrude functions to give an otherwise flat map an illusion of height, though the engine has no meaningful Z (vertical) axis and does not use polygon meshes. Some later examples use voxels (I.E.: [[VideoGame/DukeNukem3D Build]] [[VideoGame/{{Blood}} engine]] [[VideoGame/ShadowWarrior1997 games]]) or polygons (I.E.: ''VideoGame/{{Dark Forces|Saga}}'') for some objects as well.

[[folder: 2 D foregrounds, 3 D backgrounds ]]

* ''VideoGame/StarFox''. Yes, the SNES one, and it is probably the earliest console example: the much-touted Super FX chip built into its cartridge is basically the first console 3D accelerator. Low poly count, but polys nonetheless. Explosions, ejected reptilian pilots, and asteroids are all sprites overlaid with Mode 7.

%% * ''VideoGame/{{Grandia}} I''

* Also from the ''Franchise/MegaMan'' franchise, ''VideoGame/MegaManMaverickHunterX''. 3D renders of everything about the SNES original...except the spikes (they're even pixillated!). Elements of the backgrounds (e.g. the jets in Storm Eagle's stage) are obviously 2D as well, so this example could fit in any of the other sections of this trope. Course, it is an action game on PSP, which only has so much memory to spend on moving/exploding objects...

* ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}}'': Has aged particularly poorly, due to the low quality of sprites rendering them messy blobs of pixels even at normal camera angles, though the 3D elements have held up better than other contemporary examples.

* The original ''VideoGame/TalesOfDestiny'' overworld engine, used by ''Destiny'' and the ''[[VideoGame/TalesOfPhantasia Phantasia]]'' remake. Uses the in-town sprites laid on a 3-D globe.

** The tree part also applies to ''Quest 64''.

* The old 3D Maze screensaver for Windows: Even though it's not a video game, the maze and multifaceted things that turn the viewer upside down are in 3D, while the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Start button]], the random hovering UsefulNotes/OpenGL text, the happy face at the finish, and the roaming mice are sprites of the "same appearance from every angle" variety. This results in mice always facing right, which can cause them to seem to walk backwards or sideways despite the optional maze overlay showing otherwise.

** For ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters XII'' and ''XIII'', the sprites are drawn over polygonal models in a manner similar to [[{{Rotoscoping}} rotoscoping]]. Creator/ArcSystemWorks did similarly for ''VideoGame/BlazBlue''.

* Done for stylistic purposes in ''VideoGame/PaRappaTheRapper''. The characters are [[PaperPeople paper-thin]], [[{{Toon}} cartoonish beings]], while the rest of the world is three-dimensional and [[ConspicuouslyLightPatch semi-realistic]].

* ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' used billboarded sprites for dropped non-block items before version 1.4.6. After this version, 2D sprites are used only in Fast graphics mode, while in Fancy graphics mode, items are 3D models. Dropped block items are rotating 3D models of the blocks in all versions.
** Saplings and other flora seem to be billboarded sprites, but are actually textures mapped to an X-shaped model, giving the illusion of an intricate 3D model. The texture "flips" depending on what side of the plant the player is facing. This can be jarring if looked at closely, but in normal gameplay it is not noticeable at all. Looking at wheat, carrots, potatoes or sugarcane from above shows a # shape, four overlapped sprites.

[[folder: 2 D backgrounds, 3 D foregrounds ]]

* Regular stages in ''VideoGame/{{Sonic Rush|Series}}'' and its sequel, and the DS version of ''VideoGame/SonicColors''. The rest of these games are all polygonal.

* Again, the first ''VideoGame/StarFox'' game, but this time it's the planet/space scenery backgrounds which are fully 2D, with some tilting and occasional distortion effects. The ground has to appear especially featureless so it would stand in as any generic ground.

[[folder: Mixed and Other]]

* ''VideoGame/OctopathTraveler'' have all characters and creatures as 2D sprites, while the environments are 3D. Lighting and particle effects react as though the sprites were 3D, with the overall style being referred to by the devs as "HD-2D".

* ''VideoGame/OctopathTraveller'' - the characters and NPCs are 2D sprites while the backgrounds and worlds are 3D. Lighting and particle effects react as though the sprites were 3D.