Christophero Sly

Capcom vs. SNK Pro (PS1) This game and, more specifically, this port, has its share of issues, but I've always been able to look past those issues and have quite a bit of fun with this one.

Fatal Fury Special (SNES) Beyond playing a brief bit of it in the PS2 Archive collection, I have no experience with the original Neo-Geo version of this game, so I can't speak to the quality of this SNES port as a conversion. Nevertheless, I think this is a decent game when considered in and of itself. It's one of the better fighting games on the SNES, IMO. It plays quite well, looks good, has a large roster of fighters, and the controls are, generally, responsive. However, the specials are difficult to pull-off consistently. Not as hard as AoF in that regard, but far from the effortlessness of the SFII games. I'm not a fan of the soundtrack. The game is quite challenging. In fact, frustratingly so at times, largely because the desperation specials are overpowered. The CPU likes to spam its desperation specials when it gets down in a match, and if you're not vigilantly guarding against them, you can go from dominating the match to being back on your heels in the blink of an eye. Conversely, the aforementioned difficulty with getting special moves to register in the game, especially the more complicated desperation specials, makes it hard to turn the tables on the CPU in the same way. Dirt Trax FX (SNES) While the visuals are 3-D, the gameplay is decidedly one-dimensional. Functional, I suppose. Maybe even technically impressive, but the boring and simplistic gameplay makes the game seem like little more than an attempt to cash-in on the hype that surrounded the SuperFX chip. F-Zero (SNES) My favorite 16-bit racer, but the only F-Zero game I've ever liked. I've never cared for any of its sequels. I haven't played through it in years, and I forgot just how challenging it could be. Has one of the greatest soundtracks in 16-bit gaming. Scratch that. It has one of the greatest soundtracks ever in gaming. Outstanding game.

Those '86 Breakouts are still mis-listed as PAL.

Art of Fighting (SNES) Hooked up the SNES today on a whim. And whenever I hook up the SNES, I always play through this game. I don't really know why I enjoy this version of the game as much as I do. Objectively, I admit, it's substandard. I guess I just find something charming in it. I've always preferred the renditions of Micky's and Lee's themes in this version of the game to any others. They're permanently stuck in my head. I always forget, however, just how hard it is to pull off the special moves in this version. I can usually get the flying kick to come out with a hcf+k motion instead of the stock db(hold)-->f+k, but I can almost never get the Lightning Punch to come out when I want. I really need to try the Genesis version of this game sometime and see what the differences are in regards to control. Also, I can now corroborate the enormous AI hole (reverse kick jump in-->throw) that goldenband discovered in this version. I can't believe I never discovered it myself. Kind of sad, however, because it does completely break the game. Street Fighter Alpha 2 (SNES) This port has too many critics. Sure, it's not the Saturn version, and substantial cuts had to be made to the backgrounds, animation, and game modes, but when you consider all the comparative limitations of the SNES hardware, not enough credit is given to this port for what it manages to preserve. I've always found the complaints about the loading times in this version to be especially petty. You want to experience loading times? Play the PS1 versions of the Street Fighter games. Waiting a beat and a half in the SNES version for the BGM to load before each fight is a trivial delay in comparison.

Resident Evil 6 (PS3) Probably the worst game of the past generation; certainly the dumbest. Resident Evil 6 is an extreme example of spectacle over substance. It's a bombastic extravaganza of QTE prompts, cutscenes, and button-mashing, and it's plagued throughout by poor design, lousy mechanics, and a convoluted narrative. Resident Evil 6 epitomizes everything wrong in modern gaming. In fact, it is so pitch-perfect in that regard that I'd swear it was deliberate satire... if only it wasn't so ludicrously earnest at every turn. Evidently, Capcom was hoping to use Resident Evil's brand recognition as leverage to carve out for themselves a slice of the lucrative cinematic-action segment of gaming. However, RE6 makes it clear that Capcom is well outside their element in that arena, lacking any real understanding of what it is that makes cinematic-action games compelling and popular to begin with. I don't know how games like this happen, but I'm almost certain the explanation can be found at the intersection where corporate interest collides with creative endeavor. Whatever the reason, I've never played anything so utterly mis-conceived. It's like that time Homer Simpson designed that giant green automobile for his brother's car company: Absolutely wondrous to behold, but monumentally, monstrously, staggeringly awful.

Headhunter: Redemption (PS2) Definitely flawed, but much better than its metacritic score would lead you to believe.

He posted some remarks in the comments section.

Source?

Right... because I can't dislike the Genesis D-pad unless I'm some sort of SNES fanboi.

Good one.

God of War 2 (PS2) It's been a few years since I played it, but I remember enjoying the first GoW quite a bit. A second time through, however, and I find the formula to have worn quite thin. The fixed camera is awful. The tunnel-vision it imposes on the experience makes everything feel exponentially more restrictive and linear than it already is. The save system sucks. I just don't have time anymore for games that don't let me save whenever and wherever I need to. And, finally, I hate QTE's. My enthusiasm for any game tends to be inversely proportional to the amount of QTE's it contains, and GoW 2 is the archetype for QTE-based gameplay. I'm sure it can be proven that GoW 2 is better-than-average, but I lost my interest in it about halfway through and had to gut out the final chapters just so I could say I finished it.

I checked this one out after reading your post. Spent a couple hours on it Thursday, but couldn't beat it. Came back to it today, figured out the proper strategy, and beat it in a half-a-dozen attempts. Like you say, a fun little diversion. I may try for 4096 some time.

No. Those Majesco D-pads are horrible. I thought that was a given. I'm talking about an MK-1653. And mind you, I'm not saying it's terrible. It's nowhere near as bad as the Majesco. In fact, "sloppy" probably carries connotations in most peoples minds that are too strong for what I'm saying about the MK-1653. "Sloppy" should probably be reserved for a description of the Majesco pad. Nevertheless, the D-pad on the MK-1653 is imprecise enough to be noticeable and annoying. I especially have problems with it in the Street Fighter games. It's the primary reason I prefer the SNES versions of those games.

I don't like the Genesis D-pad either. I don't even like it on the 6-button controller. Imprecise and sloppy, IMO. Still love the Genesis though.

Generation went on WAY too long.

My launch SNES came with both RF and AV cable.

http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-2600-vcs-breakout_18134.html Pretty sure these are NTSC, not PAL, variants.

Those '86 Breakouts are still mis-listed as PAL.

Atari VCS, easily.

I haven't shipped internationally for years because of these sorts of issues. Moreover, international buyers almost always expect you to lie on the customs form, which I will not do.

Terrible article. A factually inaccurate hatchet job.

Actually, my comments there weren't intended as a direct response to your post. I was responding to the thread topic at large. I recognized the inherent subjectivity of your remarks; I wasn't raising any objection to them. I might not share your opinions, but I respect them.

Yeah, I wouldn't go to battle for the Apple II version or anything. There's a reason it was last on my list. And as you point out, I certainly wouldn't award it any prizes for visual or aural fidelity, but in terms of gameplay I think it's a faithful port. All the ports have their quirks. I don't think the quirks of the Apple II port are ultimately any more substantial than those of any other version.

ESPN Baseball Tonight (Genesis) Entirely mediocre, with one exception: the batter-pitcher confrontation is the best I've encountered in 16-bit baseball. Cal Ripken Jr. Baseball (Genesis) Doesn't have all the bells-and-whistles that its fully-licensed contemporaries possess, but the core gameplay here is rock-solid. Batman Begins (XBOX) Ultra-linear. In fact, it's probably the most linear game I've ever played. There's only one path through the game, and there's no getting off script. I don't even think there are any secrets to be found. However, the game doesn't attempt to disguise these facts. On the contrary, it embraces them. The graphics are impressive, the voice acting is good, the pacing is brisk, and there's just enough variety, stage-to-stage, to keep you invested. That single path is smoothly paved, and the game just kind of pulls you along with minimal resistance. Before I knew it (~6 hrs), it was over, and I had been, more or less... entertained.

There is no definitive version. They all have strengths and weaknesses. That said, the A8, Ocean C64, TI-99/4A, and Apple II versions are the top-tier ports.