Games done better on the "technically inferior" console

[+FujiSkunk]

Outside of the arcade, Marble Madness is best on the Commodore Amiga, but the NES version is actually a hair better than the Genesis version in my opinion.

I agree that the Genesis port by Electronic Arts is a major letdown, but you should check out the

.

 

Whoa, that is beautiful! Thanks for the tip!

[+thegoldenband]

You're welcome! I bought it a little while ago, and though I spent more than I'd ever paid for a single game (~$60 for a CIB mint copy), I have no regrets at all. In some ways it's my favorite item in my gaming collection.

[108 Stars]

Sonic the Hedgehog 1 was better on the Sega Master System than on Genesis.

 

I don't agree with that one. StH1 on the 8-bits was good, no question, but the game was designed to take advantage of the Genesis's state-of-the-art-at-the-time hardware, and it shows.

 

Of course it does not look quite as pretty on the SMS, but still the gameplay is just better. Bits and pieces were cut, levels were shortened and make for a much more fun experience. Basically all of the more tedious parts of the Genny-version were taken out, making this the better Sonic 1 overall imo.

[tz101]

Donkey Kong on VCS is my favorite version. I have it on Intellivision, NES, Colecovision, and soon on 7800, but VCS Kong rules.

[Algus]

I like test drive unlimited for the ps2 better then the xbox360 version, mostly because i don't play online, and the offline version of the ps2 is better.

 

Really?

 

I LOVE TDU but the online is effectively dead in it now. Mayhaps I should check out the PS2 version. Its probably cheap.

[Major Havoc 2049]

Pitfall on the 2600 over the Intellivision and Colecovision versions.

 

Pifall II on the 2600 over the Colecovision version.

[BrianC]

Bits and pieces were cut, levels were shortened

 

Same themes != same levels. Sonic 1 SMS/GG has levels unique to that version (GG and SMS ones have their own differences, but they are pretty similar). Bits and pieces weren't cut. The level layouts are different from the Genesis levels, even the ones with the same names.

 

Space Invaders on the Colecovision is the most obvious one to me.. arcade accurate, and all the tricks & techniques built in which blows away the NES / 5200 versions etc.

 

From what I played of it, the Famicom one doesn't seem like a bad port to me. It has that odd spacing, but it's still more accurate than the 2600 (I like that port quite a bit, though) and, from what I remember, has the wall of death (which I know is missing from the SG-1000, the 2600, and the plug and play Taito stick versions). I wish I didn't miss out on the opcode release of SI (didn't miss out on CV Pac-Man, though. Wow! Good stuff!), but that one did have the ROM released on the atariage forums and it's quite slick. I like how the SNES one has more accurate sounds and the overlay/color options. It seems Japan got some similar ports for Saturn and PSX, though. Japan also got a PC Engine (TG-16) version.

 

Centipede 7800 and Missile Command 2600 are much better than their counterparts in the arcade classics collection for Genesis (the versions in this collection are ports of these versions rather than the arcade). Good thing the Genesis Williams collection turned out much better.

Edited December 22, 2010 by BrianC

[Austin]

The excellent port of Smash T.V. to the NES is leagues above the Genesis, Game Gear and Master System versions. It probably doesn't look better than the Genesis one in particular, but it sure plays a hell of a lot better.

[akator]

Maybe the best example is Space Invaders on the VCS. I still love the original arcade best, but my wife and many others prefer the 2600 version. Many feel the Atari version was an improvement. I can see it, and I love it on the 2600, but I would still pick the arcade first any day of the week.

 

There are a ton of Apple II games that while "inferior" to other systems based on color, speed, and/or sound still are the definitive versions... at least IMO. Those include Karateka, Prince of Persia, early Carmen Sandiego titles, and many others. Even though the Apple II series was long in tooth by even the early 80s, many amazing games originated on that platform and somehow feel more authentic when compared to the flashier, faster, and better sounding ports on other systems

 

The SMS version of R-type is stunning, even to this day. I don't think any other version on any other home hardware compares to that one.

 

The B&W Mac 68K version of Shufflepuck Cafe is another favorite. Other systems had color and were therefore better, but somehow it feels right on the Mac and the others less so.

 

I'm sure there are dozens, if not hundreds more examples. Lesser hardware does not always mean a lesser gaming experience.

[BrianC]

Galaxian 2600 is better than the Atari 800 and 5200 versions

Jr. Pac-Man Atari 2600 is better than the DOS and C64 versions

Millipede 2600 is better than the Atari 800 and NES versions

Spy Hunter 2600 and CV are better than the NES version

[malducci]

The SMS version of R-type is stunning, even to this day. I don't think any other version on any other home hardware compares to that one.

 

The SMS version is pretty great. Rtype 2 was on Gameboy (also levels in the DX remix of I & II). Looking at that(the DX one's colors), the SMS should have gotten a port of Rtype 2. It could have been pretty decent too, IMO.

[Rev. Rob]

Examples where you feel that the supposedly technically inferior console did a better job with a port than the supposedly superior console.

 

Just about any Xbox 360 game that was also released on PS3.

[WatchVenusSpa]

I can't believe nobody's mentioned Winter Games for Atari 2600 and Commodore Vic 20. They were vastly superior to the NES version which blew chunks!

[R.O.T.S]

Sonic the Hedgehog 1 was better on the Sega Master System than on Genesis.

 

I do not really agree with this either and i think most versions of Marble Madness were close to the arcade.

I too prefer the Atari 2600 asteroids to the arcade and i think that the VCS version of Berzerk is better than anything that has tried to clone the arcade game on any other format since.The C64 version of Operation wolf is better than the Amiga version because of the speed of play and this also implies to games made classic on the SNES but remade boring on the N64 inc Starfox,Mario Kart,F-zero.I am very tempted to mention the BBC version of Elite as well

[Rev. Rob]

Sonic the Hedgehog 1 was better on the Sega Master System than on Genesis.

 

 

What fucking drugs are you on, motherfucker?

 

I'm sayin' you should mass produce that shit, yo. You'll be a motherfucking millionaire.

 

Edited December 26, 2010 by Rev. Rob

[Almost Rice]

"Joust" on the Atari 400/800/XL/XE/XEGS is my favorite of all time. Graphically, it's lacking. The birds-sprites are one color. But the playability! It's fast and excellent. You can get to bouncing off the top of the screen and landing on foes - better than any other version.

 

I agree. I like playing it more than the 7800 version, even though the 7800 version looks better.

Edited December 26, 2010 by Almost Rice

[littleman jack]

Atari 2600 Centipede, Galaxian, Asteroids, and Millipede over later console versions.

[nathanallan]

Only read the title, but Columns was done better on the SMS and GG than on the Genesis. Better music on the Genny sure, but the gameplay was better imho on the other two.

[kool kitty89]

Neo Geo was so ahead of its time. Released around 1990 and still holding its own years later in terms of 2D graphics prowess. Not that I've ever owned one. I've only played it in arcade machine form, and on emulators.

Not really ahead of its time... no more so than the System 16 some 4/5 years earlier. Like the System 16 it was aimed as a lower-cost mid-range arcade board with high cost effectiveness in that role. As such it wasn't anything really amazing, but it did end up pretty well suited to the role and got exceptional software support in several areas and a very long life. (the latter contributed to some extremely large ROM sizes -to the point of even resorting to bank switching on the rather large address space available)

 

As a home console it was totally niche (and best as a dedicated rental platform or in some cases used in hotels iirc), though it probably had potential to be more heavily modified into the cost competitive range for the early 90s home console. (they'd have had to hack it down to a 1 or 2 ROM bus design -the NES is the only commercial cart console with more than 1 external bus- and a single relatively compact PCB edge connector... and not use direct versions of the Arcade games, but very high quality cut-down versions -the cost of the games was a much bigger issue than the high price of the console itself) Of course, that didn't happen.

I think at one point Namco even considered doing something like that (cut-down derivative) with one of their arcade boards.

 

 

The Sega Saturn always did the 2-D fighting games way better than the PS1. Many times back in the day.....the Saturn got the better review score on games like the Street Fighter Alpha's, Marvel Superheroes, Xmen vs Street Fighter....etc.etc.

 

The Neo Geo did 2D fighting games better than ANY 32-bit system and even the N64. You had to move up into Dreamcast/PS2/XBOX/Gamecube territory before you could find a system that looked as good. King of Fighters probably looks even better in some ways on the NG than the Dreamcast.

That's due to technical reasons... mainly due to sheer memory used and the expense thrown out the window for very fast ROM on several buses and massive amounts of ROM. That's true across the board for arcade stuff (other than really outdated arcade hardware -ie eventually the NG got too dated to compete with larger amounts of RAM at very high bandwidths as such).

The Jaguar, PS1, Saturn, N64 (at least with a decent 2D oriented microcode), and maybe even 3DO could do better otherwise.

 

That's also part of why the Saturn had an advantage in 2D, technical superior performance, when taken advantage of. (the strong point of the Saturn is the 2D background generation of VDP2, the sprite/blitter performance of VDP1 is pretty weak compared to the jaguar's object processor or PSX's GPU in "sprite mode" but with any heavy 2D BG effects, that makes up the difference) That's also why some Saturn games really chug in 2D, as I recall, some sloppy ports opted to use VDP1 to drive all graphics and it can't hold a candle to what the PS1 can churn out in terms of sprite objects/textures (a fraction of the bandwidth and less RAM -without cutting into main RAM), but with VDP2 at full force and VDP1 only for "sprites" it's far more powerful and has more RAM without digging into main memory. (512k for VDP1 textures and 512k for VDP2 tiles against 1 MB for shared framebuffer+texture space in the PS1 -using VDP1 alone throws away that 512 kB)

 

 

 

So "technically superior" really depends on the context: there's raw power, perceived power (by media, games released, etc), practical ability (ie taking programmability into account and how much power could be practically tapped -the PS2 vs Dreamcast would be an extreme example of raw power locked away in a ridiculously difficult architecture and an extremely developer friendly programmable platform).

There are fairly definitive cases though, like the Colecovision or SG-1000 vs the NES. (albeit you could get picky and argue the NES's graphics take up more space as 2BPP rather than 1BPP )

 

NES vs SMS is far less clear with a lot of trade-offs (memory use being one), much more so if you include the mappers and sound chips Nintendo designed the NES to facilitate. (and got from Nintendo and 3rd parties -albeit sound in Japan only, though the SMS also got the YM2413)

N64 vs PSX would also be totally unclear. (even N64 vs Saturn for that matter)

 

 

If you want to base it purely on how the mass media pegged things, that's a very specific context, but one that's not too hard to find many applicable examples for.

 

 

 

Ms. Pac-Man on the Colecovision

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMH9y-vhbgs

 

 

 

Pac-Man on the NES

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHOLR0bdBXc

I don't get it... CV version is in lower res (albeit that's one common trade-off of different ports -some use full res with scrolling as on the NES, SMS, Genesis, and SNES while a few others have cut-down screens with full view -some allow both like the GameBoy version), has a good bit of flicker, mixed bag of sound (some closer to the arcade, but some just better sounding on the NES), better color on the NES, etc.

Edited December 29, 2010 by kool kitty89

[NE146]

I don't get it... CV version is in lower res (albeit that's one common trade-off of different ports -some use full res with scrolling as on the NES, SMS, Genesis, and SNES while a few others have cut-down screens with full view -some allow both like the GameBoy version), has a good bit of flicker, mixed bag of sound (some closer to the arcade, but some just better sounding on the NES), better color on the NES, etc.

 

Well the CV version is a port of the actual arcade CODE.. so the game's behavior is totally identical to the original arcade game. It's like an emulation of it but it isn't. The rest of them are recreations.

Edited December 29, 2010 by NE146

[earthdefence]

mouse trap on colecovision

[Coleco Gemini]

Asteroids! 'Nuff said! LOL!

Edited January 1, 2011 by Coleco Gemini

[high voltage]

Donkey Kong on VCS is my favorite version. I have it on Intellivision, NES, Colecovision, and soon on 7800, but VCS Kong rules.

First screen on VCS is the only version like the arcade, 7 platforms.

[littleman jack]

Donkey Kong on VCS is my favorite version. I have it on Intellivision, NES, Colecovision, and soon on 7800, but VCS Kong rules.

First screen on VCS is the only version like the arcade, 7 platforms.

 

I really like the VCS Donkey Kong as well, because it looks good and is fun. But I think the Atari 800 version is about as good as it gets.

[TheGameCollector]

Bust-A-Move 1 is better on the Neo Geo CD than the 3DO. The 3DO is supposed to be 32-bit and the Neo Geo CD is supposed to be a 24 bit system. But the 3DO version looks like it was just a copy of the 16-bit SNES version's graphics with a CD quality soundtrack. Look at the smoothness of the bubbles in the different versions and you will see what I mean.

Edited January 8, 2011 by TheGameCollector