Here’s an assortment of polygon counts in various games. I discovered most of them myself by ripping N64 models, so naturally, most of these games are for N64. Exceptions will be marked with an asterisk and the source (or at least the type of source, if that’s all that is available) will be given.
“Scene” is how many polygons were present during a model dump. This indicates how many polygons are being displayed and processed. However, the number of polys actually on the screen may be significantly lower. (For example, Kirby 64 keeps entire levels in memory, when only a small segment is actually onscreen at any given time. Oh, and speaking of Kirby 64- that’s a pretty impressive demonstration of realtime cutscenes, isn’t it? 60 frames per second, and several thousand polys onscreen!)
“Model” is, unsurprisingly, how many polygons are used to make a single model. I try to get the main character, plus a few extras, although that’s not always possible.
Note: The N64's supposed polygon rate is ~100,000 polygons per second (about 1700 per frame at 60 frames per second, and 3300 per frame at 30fps). You’ll notice that some games push past that (F-Zero X does almost 3000 at 60fps in the vehicle select), and others don’t even try (that’s you, Star Fox!). GCN, in comparison, supposedly does 7-12 million polygons (117,000-200,000 at 60fps or 233,000-400,000 at 30fps) and peaks at 15 million. But do the model rips measure up?
Name |
Scene |
Model |
007: The World Is Not Enough |
6501 (start of first mission), 5262-6594 (mid-mission cutscene), 4988 |
673 (Receptionist), 599 (Bond’s arm), 579 (James Bond) |
Automobili Lamborghini |
1985 |
228 |
Banjo-Kazooie |
2562 (opening), 3699-4553 (file select), 3354 (spiral) |
783 (Banjo), 1323 (Banjo and Kazooie in opening), 503 (low-poly Banjo), 276 (ant), 166 (Kazooie’s upper body) |
Beetle Adventure Racing |
2398 |
? (the game removes polygons not in direct view) |
Castlevania |
2761 (castle intro), 2829 (at first skeletons) |
~1300 (castle), 248 (skeleton), 403 (Carrie) |
Deadly Arts |
1816 |
719 (Kai), 716 (Azami), 22 (shadows) |
Diddy Kong Racing |
2309 (start of Star City), 2753 (character select) |
253 (Rare), ~200? (character upper body) 291 (Diddy’s full body) |
Donkey Kong 64 |
5835 (Production room, viewed through a window) |
704 (Donkey Kong), 452 (Kasplat) |
F-Zero X |
2859 (vehicle select), 1296 (start of Rainbow Road), 1998 (4P on Fire Field), 382 (Time Attack start) |
144 (Blue Falcon) |
Goldeneye 007 |
4443 (beginning of stage 1) |
1018 (Nintendo logo), 748 (Bond in the intro), 281 (enemy), 161 (silenced PP7), 411 (hand) |
Kirby 64 |
4618 (opening), 1982 (title), 3336 (first cutscene), (5260 first stage) |
736 (Kirby), 399 (Dedede), 1020 (Kirby cutscene), 589 (Fairy thing cutscene) |
Jet Force Gemini |
2089? (Sekhmet first room) |
? (jumbled rip) |
The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask |
5272 (Clock Town in intro) |
802 (Link (as seen in intro- with equipment?)), 180 (Majora’s Mask), 717 (mask man), 406 (carpenter) |
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time |
2925 (Hyrule Field in intro) |
757 (Teen Link (with shield)), 492 (Epona) |
Mario Golf |
2632 |
468 (Peach) |
Mario Kart 64 |
730 (Yoshi Valley) |
4 per character (no kidding) |
Mario Tennis |
3996 (character select) |
1948 (high-quality Toad), 365 (Toad), 458 (Mario), 495 (Peach), 464 (Bowser) |
NFL Quarterback Club 2000 |
10874 |
203-359 per player |
Perfect Dark |
1578-2784 (Carrington Institute), 6848 (Carrington Villa start) |
239 per arm, 388 (Institute guy (low-detail?)), 776 (Institute girl), 384 (sniper rifle), 873 (Joanna) |
Pilotwings 64 |
1740, 2542, 3086 |
306 (Lark) |
Pokémon Stadium |
1610, 2112, 2717 (Intro), 908, 1581 (in battle) |
700 (Scyther, Nidoking), 710 (Sandslash), 600 (Charizard), 300 (low-poly intro Pikachu), 723 (Pikachu), 692 (Jigglypuff) |
Pokémon Stadium 2 |
1687 (starting battle), 1980 (in battle), 1440 (Eevee game), 1658 (Cleffa/Igglybuff game) |
254 (low-poly mini-game Cleffa) 285 (low-poly Eevee), 648 (Eevee), 677 (Poké Ball), Pokémon have the same polygon counts as in Stadium 1 |
San Francisco Rush 2049 |
8879 (start of track 1), 7075 (track 1), 8076 (start track 2), 7338 (start track 3), 9275 (start track 4) |
585 (Rocket ZX) |
Star Fox 64 |
2334 (title screen), 868 (early in Corneria), 973 (Corneria city) |
419 (full-detail Arwing (with Fox head)), 461 (Fox) |
Super Mario 64 |
1377 (haunted stage), 2352 (Bob-Omb Battlefield) |
1213 (high-poly Mario head), 752 (Mario), 144 (Goomba), 1002 (Bowser) |
Super Smash Bros. |
1444 (room), 2497 (running scene), 1122 (Sector Z), 3874 (Yoshi team intro screen), 5623 (polygon team intro) |
474 (Master Hand), 320 (Mario), 256 (Kirby), 317 (Pikachu), 306 (Fox), 338 (Link), 318 (DK), ~200 for low-detail models (when the camera zooms out) |
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*The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess |
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~7000 (Link), ~4000 (Zelda) (downloaded rip) |
*Resident Evil |
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~25000 per character (online source) |
*Resident Evil 4 |
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~10000 (Leon) (rumour) |
*Sonic Adventure 2: Battle |
12987 (start of Green Hill) |
2941 (Sonic) (downloaded rip) |
*Sonic Heroes |
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2740 (Sonic), ~3000 (various characters) (downloaded rip/replica) |
*Super Smash Bros. Melee |
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~5000 per character (viewed a model rip) |
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