What's the best port of an arcade game (that's not emulation) on a home console?

[mr_me]

4 hours ago, NE146 said:

...

As much as I liked/enjoyed it, I never thought 2600 Space Invaders was improved over the arcade because for all the new features, it missed some of the gameplay features that were integral to the original game (varying UFO bonus would have been nice.. even without shot counting).  That said the SNES version is great that it provides the original Taito moon background, but it's sad how they missed out on the green overlay  of the shields area leaving them and your base a generic white. How friggin hard could it have been??

I appreciate the idea of including the original space invaders moon background artwork but I just don't like how it looks (compared to the real thing).  Even in mame I have to turn off the background artwork underlay for space invaders.  I do turn on the colour filter overlays.

 

I still like Atari 2600 space invaders eventhough it's not a faithfull reproduction.   I even like the sound effects.  I've been impressed with the Atari 2600 version of Phoenix.

Edited July 26, 2019 by mr_me

[Flojomojo]

Night Driver on the Atari 2600 is pretty sweet. 

[DragonGrafx-16]

On 7/24/2019 at 6:56 PM, DragonGrafx-16 said:

Grind Stormer (V-V) on Genesis is nearly identical to the arcade version minus the aspect ratio differences. You could also cheat and say every Neo Geo game...

How did I not notice it was spelt wrong, fixed it here lol

[TheCoolDave]

All Neo-Geo MVS games ? They were actually the arcade games in a cart...

[DragonGrafx-16]

3 hours ago, TheCoolDave said:

All Neo-Geo MVS games ? They were actually the arcade games in a cart...

MVS were the arcade carts... the AES was the home system.

[TheCoolDave]

14 hours ago, DragonGrafx-16 said:

MVS were the arcade carts... the AES was the home system.

Right, Sorry but, what I was meaning to say the AES games were all pretty much the same thing as the MVS...

[Tanooki]

There is no pretty much, other than I believe like one game where stuff was changed a bit, MVS=AES.  They just did different pinouts so that smart arcade owners couldn't buy cheaper AES carts for their cabinets.

[mbd30]

My personal favorite arcade port is NES Marble Madness. I don't know if it's the best.

 

[Atariboy]

I was impressed at how well the Genesis handled Roadblasters when I tried that conversion out a few years ago. Surprisingly close to the arcade original for a home console that launched just two or three years after the arcade game appeared. Colors aren't identical and the voices are gone, but otherwise it's almost 100%. 

[BydoEmpire]

I know I'm in the minority, but I prefer 7800 Galaga to the arcade version.  To me it's the best port of the game because it's the most fun and playable. Not arcade-perfect, of course, but imho that's a good thing.  Similar for NES Donkey Kong - sure it's missing the pie level, but it plays really well.

 

I always enjoyed 5200 Pac Man. Excellent and pretty accurate port.

[Flojomojo]

I agree, the Genesis port of Roadblasters really holds up well. 

 

The Lynx version is pretty good, too. I always liked this Robert Jung review of it. 

 

Quote

From: xx004@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Atari SIG)
Subject: LYNX: Roadblasters
Date: Tue Feb 26 21:13:45 1991




>From: jjung@aludra.usc.edu (Robert Jung)

==============================================================================
ROADBLASTERS
for one player
by Atari Corp. for the Atari Lynx
$39.95

OVEVIEW:
  We don't really need a storyline for this game, and the one that comes
with the manual is a bit on the cheesy side, so let's skip it. ROADBLASTERS
is an adaptation of the arcade hit by Atari Games/Tengen, which also had
the dubious distinction of being one of the earliest video game/toy tie-ins
(Play the game, buy the Matchbox cars). People who are familliar with the
arcade game can skip the next two paragraphs; this Lynx adaptation has it
*ALL*.

  The game, in a nutshell, is SPY HUNTER crossed with POLE POSITION, thrown
into the 21st century. This is a concept that long-time Los Angeles residents
(like myself) will appreciate: You drive a high-performance sports car
through 50 crowded, twisting races. Other cars in your path are out to stop
your commute, so either pass 'em or shoot 'em. Complicating the matter are
third-party obstacles: roadside obstacles and cannons, immobile mines in the
road, and roving spikers. Contact with any obstacle destroys your car.

  To be fair, you have a few tricks on your side. Your only major concern
in this game is fuel -- run out of gas, and the game ends. There is no
time limit, and collisions are only annoying because they slow you down.
Furthermore, at various points in the race, a jet will fly by and air-drop
"power-ups" for your car. These range from the high-speed Nitro injector
to the all-destructive Cruise Missile (my favorite).

GAMEPLAY:
  As I wrote above, people familliar with the arcade game will be right at
home with this one. Just like the Lynx version of KLAX, this adaptation
features *ALL* of the gameplay from the arcade, intact. Indestructable blue
limos, high-turbine motorcyclists, level warps, power-up weapons, the bonus
multiplier...The only things missing from the arcade to this card are the
coin slots, the high score table, and the free T-shirt contest. If you
lose a run, you can continue (up to four times) if you want.

  The game is really fast and challenging, and it's hard to find anything
wrong with the game. The game promises to be a no-holds-barred, high-speed,
action-packed thriller, and it delivers. My only gripe comes with the
controls; as with most home video driving games, steering with a
joypad/joystick is not as accurate as using a steering wheel/control yolk.
This is doubly annoying in ROADBLASTERS, because you need precision steering
to both dodge obstacles and shoot well. With a little bit of practice,
though, you will get used to the controls, and *REALLY* enjoy the game.

GRAPHICS/SOUND:
  One reason this Lynx adaptation is so close to the arcade comes from the
audios and visuals. Visually, everything looks either identical or VERY
close to their arcade counterparts. The graphics are well-detailed,
distinctive, and very colorful. The Lynx's graphics hardware are put to
great use -- the smooth scaling and fast scrolling work together to make this
one of the slickest, fastest, and most exciting driving games for ANY home
video game system currently available. This game shows off the Lynx at its
best.

  Sounds are, similarly, a little short of perfection when compared to the
arcade. The opening title tune, digitized voices, and game sounds are all
from the arcade (I love the whine of the motorcycles when you pass them).
However, the digitized voices have a bit of static to them (especially
dissappointing when you realize how clean the voices on KLAX are), and the
music is louder than the rest of the sounds, causing an annoying imbalance
as you play. All in all, though, the game sounds fit the game accurately.

SUMMARY:
  This is a mind-blowing *AWESOME* adaptation. I'd recommend it to most
video-game players -- fans of driving games, fans of shooting games, fans
of action games, and fans of the arcade original. It's a challenging,
well-balanced arcade/action game, faithful to the original, worthy of the
Lynx and offering lots of hours of fun.

  This goes right up there with BLUE LIGHTNING as one of the best Lynx games
around. Grab yourself a copy, but don't be surprised if they dissappear FAST.

                GAMEPLAY:        9.5
                GRAPHICS:        9.0
                SOUND:           8.5

                OVERALL:         9.0

==============================================================================

 

 

[Zoyous]

I never had a Lynx, but I was always impressed that many of their arcade conversions were extremely accurate graphically (Ninja Gaiden, Double Dragon). Instead of scaling down the graphics to the lower resolution, it seemed they often opted to match the graphics and just display them in a smaller "camera" view. On the other hand, when they did re-scale the graphics, it was done very well (e.g. A.P.B.).

 

Gauntlet 4 on the Genesis is a good example of an extremely accurate remake of an arcade game, that also incorporated many interesting improvements to give it more longevity as a home game. It was one of the first projects by M2 who are now famous for being perhaps the greatest developers devoted to creating emulation-based conversions with added improvements... however, from what I've read, Gauntlet 4 was built from scratch just by observing the coin-op original.

 

There's a great homebrew version of Shinobi for the Genesis that has been in the works for a while - I don't know if that project will ever be completed, though. I think there could have been many more accurate ports of early-to-mid-80s arcade games on the 16-bit platforms, but it must have been decided that the market wasn't there to make such efforts sustainable.

Edited July 29, 2019 by Zoyous

[negative1]

3 hours ago, BydoEmpire said:

Similar for NES Donkey Kong - sure it's missing the pie level, but it plays really well.

 

The 25th anniversary Wii in Europe had the pie level added to it:

https://www.gamesradar.com/europe-gets-exclusive-perfect-version-of-nes-donkey-kong-in-its-mario-25th-anniversary-wiis/

 

 

later

-1

[Flojomojo]

That version of DK was given away on the 3DS as a promo, too. It's neat. 

[zzip]

I was always impressed with the Datasoft Mr. Do conversion for the Atari 8-bit.   The C-64 version was very good as well.   I know these aren't technically consoles, so might not count here.

[+FujiSkunk]

1 hour ago, Flojomojo said:

That version of DK was given away on the 3DS as a promo, too. It's neat. 

And it's an actual NES game.  With a flash cart you can run it on an NES.

[mbd30]

5 hours ago, Flojomojo said:

I agree, the Genesis port of Roadblasters really holds up well. 

 

The Lynx version is pretty good, too. I always liked this Robert Jung review of it. 

 

 

 

Never played Roadblasters on the Genesis, only the NES port. The NES port is decent, but it's also way too easy once you understand how the score multiplier works. I don't know if it's similarly easy on the Genesis.

 

[Flojomojo]

Well go find out! 

 

I don't think we are overhyping it. The game is legit good. 

[DragonGrafx-16]

1 hour ago, mbd30 said:

 

Never played Roadblasters on the Genesis, only the NES port. The NES port is decent, but it's also way too easy once you understand how the score multiplier works. I don't know if it's similarly easy on the Genesis.

 

The NES port was the first NES game I ever beat that wasn't Zelda lol also the Genesis version is much harder.

Edited July 29, 2019 by DragonGrafx-16

[TheCoolDave]

21 hours ago, mbd30 said:

My personal favorite arcade port is NES Marble Madness. I don't know if it's the best.

 

I'll have to compare them... I have it for the Master System, NES and a few other systems....  Oh, by the way, I have a System 1 cab that is running Marble Madness, yes, the full arcade machine. So I can give a solid compare

 

I just rebuilt both the trackballs, so it runs like brand new.... forgot how hard the arcade game actually was...

Edited July 30, 2019 by TheCoolDave

[mbd30]

1 minute ago, TheCoolDave said:

I'll have to compare them... I have it for the Master System, NES and a few other systems....  Oh, by the way, I have a System 1 cab that is running Marble Madness, yes, the full arcade machine. So I can give a solid compare

 

I just rebuilt both the trackballs, so it runs like brand new.... forgot how hard the arcade game actually was...

 

Nice. That's such a cool cabinet.

 

I've never played the original arcade with the trackball, only the ports on the NES and Genesis (EA).

 

I've scored 180,020 on the NES port.

 

[Magmavision2000]

6 minutes ago, TheCoolDave said:

I'll have to compare them... I have it for the Master System, NES and a few other systems....  Oh, by the way, I have a System 1 cab that is running Marble Madness, yes, the full arcade machine. So I can give a solid compare

 

I just rebuilt both the trackballs, so it runs like brand new.... forgot how hard the arcade game actually was...

Do I see a Star Wars arcade cab on the right? 

[TheCoolDave]

1 minute ago, mbd30 said:

 

Nice. That's such a cool cabinet.

 

I've never played the original arcade with the trackball, only the ports on the NES and Genesis (EA).

 

I've scored 180,020 on the NES port.

 

Trust me, it's the only way the game SHOULD be played. It is a LOT harder with a trackball but, it's as the game was originally designed.  I did have the NES version (that I completed many times) before I got myself a System 1 cab.  My Arcade system 1 cab plays a few different games but, my fav is marble madness. 

 

If you were local, I'd say bring a few brews and lets play

[TheCoolDave]

Just now, Magmavision2000 said:

Do I see a Star Wars arcade cab on the right? 

Yes, that is a Star Wars cockpit.... It was/is a passion and a dream

 

Read a little more about it here.. I have a 19" monitor in it and I have all the parts to restore a 25" tube in it (as it came originally) !

 

 

[mbd30]

2 minutes ago, TheCoolDave said:

Trust me, it's the only way the game SHOULD be played. It is a LOT harder with a trackball but, it's as the game was originally designed.  I did have the NES version (that I completed many times) before I got myself a System 1 cab.  My Arcade system 1 cab plays a few different games but, my fav is marble madness. 

 

If you were local, I'd say bring a few brews and lets play

 

Some people say that it's easier with the trackball. But it seems to me that it would be a lot harder to hold diagonals with the trackball than with the NES pad. I'd be curious to try it with trackball though.