video games that turned out worse on more powerful hardware

[Lost Dragon]

Going from the ST to Lynx versions of certain games sometimes saw disappointment..

 

Lynx:APB was missing the prisoner confession screen.

 

Shadow Of The Beast whilst visually a great improvement, lacked the flying sections.

 

Viking Child was cut down in terms of quests etc and the Lynx version lacks in-game music which the inferior game Boy manages to have.

 

Lemmings.. I personally found having the control icons on the pause screen, crippled the frantic nature of the game.

[Gentlegamer]

Actually, All-Stars is literally just the 8-bit NES coding running on 16-bit hardware but with minor updates to the gamefile to fix a few bugs and glitches from the NES versions.

 

Then why do the "physics" feel off?

[Lost Dragon]

Starfighter 3000.

 

As much as i loved the PS1 version, the 3DO version is superior.

[CatPix]

Going from the ST to Lynx versions of certain games sometimes saw disappointment..

 

Lynx:APB was missing the prisoner confession screen.

 

Shadow Of The Beast whilst visually a great improvement, lacked the flying sections.

 

Viking Child was cut down in terms of quests etc and the Lynx version lacks in-game music which the inferior game Boy manages to have.

 

Lemmings.. I personally found having the control icons on the pause screen, crippled the frantic nature of the game.

No one will deny that the Lynx is certainly the most beefy portable console of it's era, but I don't think it was more powerful than the Atari ST

[Austin]

XGRA turned out worse on Xbox compared to the Game Cube version. It probably should have had the slight edge, but ended up looking more muddy and it had framerate issues. Game Cube version looked cleaner and ran at a better framerate overall.

 

Ninja Gaiden Trilogy on the SNES as was stated earlier. The SNES compilation has some added colors which is a bonus, but occasionally the framerate can stutter (while eating your controller inputs simultaneously), the music can be grating in comparison and many background effects are completely missing (like the dark scene/bright scene changes in Ninja Gaiden II, or the final stage's background scrolling in Ninja Gaiden III). The slight color improvement aside, the NES versions are better in just about every way possible.

 

Battletoads on the Genesis has some improved visuals over the NES version here and there, but it has a ton of downgrades as well (more simplistic enemy layouts at points, degraded visual effects at points, clunkier combat, smaller boss sprites, and even added glitches and bugs). This should have been the best version (and it may have been had it actually been ported by Rare), but it wasn't.

 

Didn't Jaguar Pitfall:Mayan Adventure run at 30 FPS compared to 60 FPS on the Megadrive?

Yes, the Jaguar version ran at a lower base framerate, and on certain stages it dipped even farther (the water stages in particular). It certainly looked nicer, but that framerate killed it for me. MD/SCD version all the way.

[mbd30]

XGRA turned out worse on Xbox compared to the Game Cube version. It probably should have had the slight edge, but ended up looking more muddy and it had framerate issues. Game Cube version looked cleaner and ran at a better framerate overall.

 

Ninja Gaiden Trilogy on the SNES as was stated earlier. The SNES compilation has some added colors which is a bonus, but occasionally the framerate can stutter (while eating your controller inputs simultaneously), the music can be grating in comparison and many background effects are completely missing (like the dark scene/bright scene changes in Ninja Gaiden II, or the final stage's background scrolling in Ninja Gaiden III). The slight color improvement aside, the NES versions are better in just about every way possible.

 

 

It really sucks that we didn't get a Super Ninja Gaiden. I mean, a better programmed compilation of the original NES trilogy would have been nice, but imagine what they could have done with a brand new game specifically designed for the SNES. Ugh.

[Austin]

It really sucks that we didn't get a Super Ninja Gaiden. I mean, a better programmed compilation of the original NES trilogy would have been nice, but imagine what they could have done with a brand new game specifically designed for the SNES. Ugh.

I agree. I am kind of surprised it didn't happen. Then again, it didn't seem like Tecmo did a whole lot during that generation outside of some sports games and a few other random titles. Weird, huh?

[Punisher5.0]

Doom SNES>Doom 3DO

[Tanooki]

Despite the colorful cut scenes and the wrong sword at least doing a scratch of damage on a mismatched enemy type... Crystalis NES > GBC

 

Story is better (not mutilated entirely), musical score and sound effects far nicer, and view area isn't compromised (didn't redraw NES visuals to fit the smaller space).

[mbd30]

Doom SNES>Doom 3DO

 

At first I didn't believe you.

 

Then I looked up Doom 3DO on Youtube... Ouch.

[Lost Dragon]

No one will deny that the Lynx is certainly the most beefy portable console of it's era, but I don't think it was more powerful than the Atari ST

Larger

No one will deny that the Lynx is certainly the most beefy portable console of it's era, but I don't think it was more powerful than the Atari ST

Lynx had 4096 colours to choose from..my STFM had 512.

 

Lynx had a blitter, hardware assisted scrolling, sprite scaling and i assume a more powerful sound chip than the AY chip used in the STFM.

 

So isn't a more powerful 2D system than the STFM as it's not relying on clever software routines in areas the ST would be?

 

If not..i withdraw my application

Edited July 16, 2018 by Lost Dragon

[Lost Dragon]

Genuine question here.

 

Isn't the ST little more than a fast CPU

in terms of hardware?.

 

Ideal for fast polygon 3D...but not so great for sprite handling.

 

The AY soundchip some way behind Pokey and SID?

 

It has no hardware scrolling. .

 

It's kind of like a souped up ZX Spectrum? .

 

Lynx by comparison is something of a sprite handling monster, pulls off a lot of fancy zooming and distortion effects with relative ease and in that respect is more powerful than the Mega Drive and PC Engine..both which in terms of sprite based games, out did the ST?.

 

I might of gone in blind when i bought into the console boom, but i was under the impression in the area of 2D games, consoles were leaving the ST for dust.

 

They just fell down when it came to polygon 3D and thus needed DSP chips on cartridge?.

 

Games i mentioned earlier are 2D, so was i mistaken going into them expecting better than ST results?.

 

I just honestly was very surprised to see the cuts made to APB..Loved that bonus stage...and SOTB..which otherwise blew the awful ST version out of the water.

 

 

As for Viking Child..couldn't believe it when the primitive GB version had in game music, Lynx version didn't.

[Lost Dragon]

Nope. Mayan Adventure was a snooze.

I've tried it several times on the Megadrive, it just leaves me stone cold.

 

Yet i hammered Pitfall on the 2600.

[Love Cowboy]

Defender of the Crown is arguably better on C64 than on Amiga, though that pertains only to gameplay, not fx of course. Amiga version was rushed and lacks some strategy features.

 

Slightly off-topic, but have you or anyone else here played the PS2 remake of Defender of the Crown?

[youxia]

Slightly off-topic, but have you or anyone else here played the PS2 remake of Defender of the Crown?

 

Nope, I was (am?) a Cinemaware-of-old zealot and was worried this would be a bit of a Re-Animator/Monkey's Paw kinda experience. It may be an okay-ish game though, who knows. Now I kinda want to try it.

 

But, I do refuse to acknowledge the existence of the action (shudder) port of It Came From The Desert for the Megadrive

[NE146]

Joust on the NES was a total turd in comparison to even the not-exactly-arcade-perfect Atari 8-bit version. Same for NES "Defender II".

[mbd30]

Joust on the NES was a total turd in comparison to even the not-exactly-arcade-perfect Atari 8-bit version. Same for NES "Defender II".

 

I dunno why NES Defender II wasn't more faithful to the arcade. They dumbed it down.

Edited July 16, 2018 by mbd30

[PhoenixMoonPatrol]

Daytona U.S.A. (Saturn) > DreamCast version and XBox versions.

I know the DC version had better everything but one important thing,control.

That game is so twitchy on the DreamCast its just meh. Whereas the Saturn version,for all its faults, has such amazing control.

It's still my go to console version even though the arcade port to the XBox pretty much is really awesome,the arcade control has its own feel that isn't quite Saturn. Again it is missing that weightier control that the cars have,which make powersliding feel so damn good. I guess Sega's teams just wanted to change the car's feel on the road for the home port on Saturn because you really can tell a difference when playing it next to all other versions,I love it allot. Saturn version for me.

Edited July 16, 2018 by PhoenixMoonPatrol

[Tempest]

Many people say Virtua Racing on the 32X is better than the Saturn version.

[mbd30]

Daytona U.S.A. (Saturn) > DreamCast version and XBox versions.

I know the DC version had better everything but one important thing,control.

That game is so twitchy on the DreamCast its just meh. Whereas the Saturn version,for all its faults, has such amazing control.

It's still my go to console version even though the arcade port to the XBox pretty much is really awesome,the arcade control has its own feel that isn't quite Saturn. Again it is missing that weightier control that the cars have,which make powersliding feel so damn good. I guess Sega's teams just wanted to change the car's feel on the road for the home port on Saturn because you really can tell a difference when playing it next to all other versions,I love it allot. Saturn version for me.

 

I was a fan of Gran Turismo and DC Daytona was a colossal disappointment for me. I couldn't control it! What a shit game.

[Flojomojo]

I agree about Dreamcast Daytona ... but the PS3/XB360 versions made up for it. Those are better than the arcade, controls included. I cannot go back to the chunkerrific Saturn version.

[PhoenixMoonPatrol]

Me too. Though the Saturn version has a beefier single player if I'm remembering correctly.

I like them both but no doubt the 32X version runs awauy with it in being more faithful to the arcade port.

Though the PS2 version looks miiiiighty beautiful. But Sega got the handling wrong on that one too. Its way too forgiving when taking corners and going into powerslides, there's no feeling of tension in the handling where if you push too far, you'll spin the car out,thats what made the 32X version so good. It was always a rush to take corners while keeping your car on the road,control felt good.

Many people say Virtua Racing on the 32X is better than the Saturn version.

Edited July 16, 2018 by PhoenixMoonPatrol

[PhoenixMoonPatrol]

No argument here. They really got the control wrong,such a shame. Game had such excitement when it was releasing then the shit hit the fan when people actually played it.

 

I was a fan of Gran Turismo and DC Daytona was a colossal disappointment for me. I couldn't control it! What a shit game.

[PhoenixMoonPatrol]

Yeah its brutal looking nowdays. But I was a day one Saturn owner, a massive Sega fan, and even though it was a rushed port I loved it. Played it everyday for a long time. Was just amazing to finally have Daytona at home and drive with that car feel that the home port had. But if you're not a big massive Sega racing fan, I can see how many just don't care for it,its quite a rush job visually.

I agree about Dreamcast Daytona ... but the PS3/XB360 versions made up for it. Those are better than the arcade, controls included. I cannot go back to the chunkerrific Saturn version.

Edited July 16, 2018 by PhoenixMoonPatrol

[Lost Dragon]

Bought a Dreamcast steering wheel off the editor of RetroGamer magazine no less, just to try and get some enjoyment out of DC Daytona USA as it was utter wank with a pad.

 

Played it twice with the wheel, hated it.

 

Sat in the box for years.

 

Finally got shot of it just before Xmas.

 

Not a great investment by myself there.