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Versions of games you know aren't as good but you prefer anyway


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I have a few that come to mind:

 

-Double Dragon on the NES. As glitchy and distant as it is from the arcade game, I love it. The leveling up system is really cool, gameplay is decent, and the music rules. The SMS version is an honorable mention; it plays great and is closer to the arcade version.

 

-Speaking of the SMS, Wonder Boy. I like it better than the arcade version and the "NES version" (aka Adventure Island). I find it more balanced and fun to play.

 

-1943 on the NES. Like a ton of other arcade ports to the NES, the made up for the lack of power with cool features in the games. Even though the arcade version is great, I like this one better.

 

-Dragonfire on the 2600. There are other, more graphically intensive ports for other consoles, but the 2600 version is perfect just the way it is. Plays fast and precise, too.

 

-Popeye on the Colecovision. It's technically inferior to the NES and Arcade versions, but the CV plays a mean game of Popeye! This is also the version I had as a kid, which doesn't hurt.

 

-The EA NHL games on the Genesis always felt superior to the ones on the SNES at the time. The game played smoother and faster. Must be the "blast processing". :lol:

Oh 1943 on the NES is good... but the best by far is 1943 Kai on the PC-Engine.

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Here's a random one for me:

 

AD&D: Treasure of Tarmin (Aquarius): I think this game lends itself much better to a computer keyboard than a keypad, even if the difference seems trivial. I think that's the biggest reason I actually like the version of this game that came out for the wacky, bizarre, and obscure Aquarius more than I do the Intellivision version, which is better in basically every other respect.

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Although graphically and sound wise the original arcade games seem superior - unlike the 2600 and other consoles, arcade games were never designed to be "fun".

 

Right, right on. Now we know that the only reason arcades were so popular back in the day was frustration, not fun. Interesting theory :)

While it's true that some arcade games were tweaked so that you'd lose them lives quick in an unfair fashion, most were simply set in the hard-but-fair mode zone (the opposite of often infuriatingly unfair Nintendo-hard console games). That made them not only fun but pushed you to actually make an effort, git gud instead of sleepwalk and devise interesting strategies. The only frustrating thing was not enough money to play (hence hours spent watching others) but this is not a problem in the MAME age.

 

Regarding the OP, as somebody who grew up with ZX Spectrum I was exposed to countless ports from superior machines. There were many awful ones, but plenty managed to be a lot of fun despite the obvious hardware limitations. Bionic Commando, Super Hang On, Bubble Bobble, Chase HQ or Bomb Jack for example. And Renegade is still my favourite version, that port was just amazing.

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In the early eighties, wouldn't that be most any arcade game on home consoles? LOL

 

Honestly, Pac Man for 2600 is right up there. It gets hate because it's not like pacman, but honestly, at That point I was hitting burn out on pacman, and appreciate that it's not like the arcade.

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In the early eighties, wouldn't that be most any arcade game on home consoles? LOL

 

Honestly, Pac Man for 2600 is right up there. It gets hate because it's not like pacman, but honestly, at That point I was hitting burn out on pacman, and appreciate that it's not like the arcade.

I feel that way about the Tomytronic Pac-Man I have. It's so far off what is considered normal it's stupidly decent fun, especially since you can only chomp in one direction so it's harder.

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In general, the Parker Bros. Atari 2600 games are excellent, especially the Arcade ports.

 

Popeye, Q-Bert, and Frogger all got tons of playing time in my house. They seemed to put a level of polish on their games that Atari themselves didn't really do until later on in their catalog.

Q-Bert on the 2600 is way better than the NES version, but the one I played most as a kid was the VIC-20 version. Sure it was missing features and had sprites in Black boxes, but I loved it.
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In the early eighties, wouldn't that be most any arcade game on home consoles? LOL

 

Honestly, Pac Man for 2600 is right up there. It gets hate because it's not like pacman, but honestly, at That point I was hitting burn out on pacman, and appreciate that it's not like the arcade.

yeah... I wouldn't go that far. 2600 Pac-Man is just badly made, all around. It's not so much the difference with the arcade (which are glaringly awful) but just that it really doesn't play well. The controls are shit, Pac-man seems to float, you can barely see the ghosts with all the flicker, and the sound is borderline torture.
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I prefer:

 

Colecovision

1. Gorf -- I like it more than the arcade version. I like the black sky better on the first stage.

2. Frenzy-- I like it much more than the 7800 and arcade versions. It just plays really well, and sounds better. I think the grahics are even better.

3. Burgertime-- Plays best on Colecovision, although the Intellivision version is great too

 

Atari 2600

1. Dragonfire-- Best gameplay

2. Space Invaders-- This one is close. Can't beat the mirrored screen of the arcade machine, but the different variations and color graphics make it a contender!

 

Nes

1. Double Dragon II-- Plays better than arcade/other versions

2. Contra--Better gameplay

3. Bionic Commando--Better gameplay

4. Mike Tyson's Punchout-- More variety/Better gameplay

Edited by Noah98
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yeah... I wouldn't go that far. 2600 Pac-Man is just badly made, all around. It's not so much the difference with the arcade (which are glaringly awful) but just that it really doesn't play well. The controls are shit, Pac-man seems to float, you can barely see the ghosts with all the flicker, and the sound is borderline torture.

I always liked the sounds of the 2600 when he ate a dot. Err, hyphen. ;)

 

That "drr" sound is fun

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Dig Dug on Atari 2600 -- much easier to pump up than arcade and other console computer versions

Space Invaders on Atari 2600 -- just more fun than the arcade or any console or computer

Miner 2040er on VIC 20 -- the precision of the controls is better than other versions

Jouste on C64 -- easier controls than arcade Joust

Edited by thetick1
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Rygar on NES - the arcade version is more polished but the levels get monotonous.

 

I'm glad that Tecmo didn't make Ryger too long considering that it lacks a save feature. Once you know what you're doing you can beat it in an hour or less. It's just the right length for what it is and pretty fun.

It is glitchy as hell though.

Edited by mbd30
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Since we're going there with Rygar on the NES. Let's throw down with Strider on NES too. I'm more of a fan of that than the arcade game. I just feel it plays better and is more entertaining with the whole hunt aspect of it with how much they radically changed the game for the system over the linear arcade original.

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I can't remember if it was mentioned earlier, but I'd rather play Tetris on the NES than any other system, including the GameBoy. I know it was the trendy game for it, but I just never got into the original GB. Lynx came out at the same time and took my attention away from the GB. I've played the original on the GB, NES, arcade, the PC from that burnt orange box with the floppy discs, others I've long forgotten, and the NES. NES for the win.

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I guess if you're a purist this fits, but I think for most people it would be wrong to mention it, but Ms Pac-Man by Tengen (black cart) for the NES is the better game to prefer. Looks and sounds great, but no it's not 100% accurate. Yet the game adds some really nice options to spice up the game for added longevity.

 

It gives you different play style maps. There's the original arcade, then mini, big, and strange which changes the whole size of the map in scope. You can also tweak the speed from normal, then down to easy and then hard and crazy which are meaner/faster. There's also this strange Pac-Booster option that does a kind of speed up. Also sort of like the Coleco little mini arcade of the early 80s, it's not just a 1P then 2P goes type game in competition on scoring, but also competitive mode.

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@Tanooki's post on Ms Pac-Man by Tengen reminded me of another game that I totally dig on the NES- Rolling Thunder! I love this port of the game.

 

also.. even though there are better for sure, one of my fave ports is BurgerTime for the 994A. (If you can't tell by now, that old wacky computer is my favorite of the home computers) The sprite flickering gets a little annoying, but I personally like the speed and movement of the bad guys on the stages.

 

I'm also super-partial to Lode Runner for the C64.

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I could not agree more. Tengen got dumped on for their shenanigans, but back then they had some really solid interesting takes on arcade games that while inferior to the original going for a purists eye, they were in fact superior in ways too making them a bit more fun or with more choices. Some stuff though was basically bare bones (like Road Runner which is still fun) yet a game like Rolling Thunder was very fun on there. And while they did it but mindscape put it out, there's no knocking Gauntlet II on the NES as it's 4P and has all the digital samples/voices run over the DPCM too which was a surprise to say the least.

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Always got on fine with C64 Blue Max.

 

Put in as many hours on it as i did the A8 version.

 

Loved 2600 Spiderman. .

 

Going to say 2600 Defender as a nipper..what i would think of it now is another thing.

 

 

C64 Operation Wolf..blocky graphics but it played so well, espically with a mouse.

 

Playstation Star Fighter 3000..draw distance was awful, but i wasn't buying a 3DO or Acorn A3000 just to play it.

 

Plsystation:Return Fire And Space Hulk..i know 3DO versions are said to be superior, but i got on fine with them.

 

 

C64 Robocop...128K ZX Spectrum version superior and C64 version had game breaking bug, but i loved it.

 

Found the ST version more dissapointing to be honest.

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Street Fighter II was like that as well ... albeit much later! A great home port.

 

I'm glad someone else said it first! My dad, myself and all our friends used to play the hell out of SFII and it's various iterations on SNES back in HS days. Our button mapping felt superior to the arcade. The game looked and ran great. Anytime I played the arcade version the controls felt stiff. Probably sacrilege, but oh well.

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I'm glad someone else said it first! My dad, myself and all our friends used to play the hell out of SFII and it's various iterations on SNES back in HS days. Our button mapping felt superior to the arcade. The game looked and ran great. Anytime I played the arcade version the controls felt stiff. Probably sacrilege, but oh well.

I feel like the arcade music was a little worse, too. Same with arcade vs Saturn versions of Virtual Fighter, thanks to the CD audio in the home version.
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I feel like the arcade music was a little worse, too. Same with arcade vs Saturn versions of Virtual Fighter, thanks to the CD audio in the home version.

 

The custom Sony sound chip on the SNES had distinctly different sounds than the Yamaha based CPS-1's. The SNES version had a bit more bass and some of the music voices were that trademark SNES sound.

 

Here's a great video comparing them:

 

 

The arcade version had slightly crisper graphics.

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