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

[TheCoolDave]

3 minutes ago, mbd30 said:

 

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.

 

 

I think the NES version was fairly easy compared to the Arcade game.... 

 

Anyway, to the OP, didn't mean to hijack this thread....sorry about that.. 

[+FujiSkunk]

The NES port is a really good version of Marble Madness.  The SMS version should be just as good, but they royally messed up crucial parts of the game, not the least of which is the control.  Not intuitive at all.

 

Haven't played them enough myself to have an opinion, but the Amiga and Japanese Mega Drive ports are generally considered the best of the bunch.

[+GoldLeader]

I thought about this answer after reading the original question...Then I skimmed some posts but haven't read it all.  Apologies if someone has already said all of this haha...

 

I gotta say I consider it a loaded question (which is OK BTW), due to the word "best".  It can mean most accurate or it can mean one's personal favorite;  i.e. Favorite arcade ports...

 

And this would be a moving target as well.  In 1982 ColecoVision's pack in Donkey Kong looked and sounded virtually identical to our young minds, which were collectively blown...Nowadays we can compare it to MAME and really see all the differences easily.

 

With that out of the way,

 

For accuracy, I think all of those arcade comps that came out for PlayStation, (The Williams, Atari, Konami, and Namco Museums etc.,) would be the best, and seemed identical to me at the time...Not sure if they were or if it just seemed that way.

 

For personal favorites:  I think Ladybug, Star Castle Arcade, Phoenix, and now Galaga for Atari 2600 are Awesome!

 

I love Star Castle for Vectrex...And most Cinematronics games on Vectrex TBH...

 

I consider Team Pixelboy's Joust on ColecoVision to be better than the real thing since the flaps are more powerful and your bird doesn't bounce around like an out of control pinball like in some versions (NES)...

 

Plus,

 

Mr. Do! on SNES is Amazing.  It's easier to develop strategies on SNES than on MAME, which is more random, as far as which direction the enemies will go etc., and FWIW, I compared MAME to the actual arcade game and would say the arcade version is Even more random.  I'm Great at the SNES version, Pretty good at MAME and good at the arcade game...

 

And the Best as in All Time Personal Fave...(imagine a drumroll)

 

Ultimate Qix on Sega Genesis!  (Volfied in the arcade and on Mega Drive)...

 

This version of Ultimate Qix is the most playable....Compared to the arcade game, it is slightly less fast on the Nomad and Genesis (though I think some revisions of Genesis play it at different speeds) and it makes all the difference in the world.  The learning curve just seems right.  Every time I've seen it emulated, it plays too fast for some reason.  I can often get 99.9% on 4 or 5 levels when I'm really doing well...And there's not a lot of games I'm actually good at haha...

[imstarryeyed]

Sega Ages versions of Space Harrier, OutRun and After Burner on the Sega Saturn are quite perfect and not emulations.

 

Many Saturn games are examples of that... Elevator Action Returns, Liquid Kids, Williams Collection, Atari Collection all are great.

 

[+FujiSkunk]

The Williams and Atari collections on the Saturn are emulations, if I'm not mistaken.  Same with the PlayStation versions.  The Namco collections, which I don't think made it to the Saturn, are ports.  In fact, even the first PS2/XBox/GameCube release of NamcoMuseum used ports.  Namco didn't use emulators until the 50th Anniversary re-release of NM for those systems.

[NE146]

The Williams Arcade Greatest Hits on the SNES was always interesting to me. i.e. Obviously not emulated but the gameplay feels accurate more or less.

 

Robotron for example has a smaller playfield, yet the gameplay matches pretty well with the arcade. It's kind like a nifty stepping point in-between say.. the 5200 version, and emulated.

 

SNES

 

Arcade

[negative1]

3 hours ago, NE146 said:

The Williams Arcade Greatest Hits on the SNES was always interesting to me. i.e. Obviously not emulated but the gameplay feels accurate more or less.

 

Robotron for example has a smaller playfield, yet the gameplay matches pretty well with the arcade. It's kind like a nifty stepping point in-between say.. the 5200 version, and emulated.

 

SNES

 

Arcade

 

Wow, the Williams classics for both the genesis and snes are way off in every way for both versions, and all the games.

 

Joust behaves completely different for the shadow lords that come later on. also, the pterodactyls don't come out in the proper places

Robotron 2084 is way to fast in ramping up the difficulty level, with the tank levels especially.

Defender and Stargate has enemies that move way too fast.

Sinistar is rotated onscreen, and still plays just as hard if not harder than the arcade.

Bubbles is close, but too sensitive to control.

-----------

I can max out the arcade joust at 10 million, but can barely make it to a million on the SNES.

Same with robotron. My scores on all the arcade games are much higher than the console versions, which are way too hard, even on the easiest settings.

 

 

I have videos on youtube of joust, and robotron on those versions for comparison.

 

 

 

I've played all the arcade versions extensively, so NO, these are not very close at all,

in sounds, or controls.

 

The videos are emulated versions, but i have the original cartridge and consoles, and they

play just the same on the physical versions also.

 

Not sure what you guys are actually comparing.

 

later

-1

Edited July 31, 2019 by negative1

[NE146]

1 hour ago, negative1 said:

 

Wow, the Williams classics for both the genesis and snes are way off in every way for both versions, and all the games.

I've played all the arcade versions extensively, so NO, these are not very close at all,

in sounds, or controls.

 

The videos are emulated versions, but i have the original cartridge and consoles, and they

play just the same on the physical versions also.

 

Not sure what you guys are actually comparing.

 

later

-1

lol I think you missed my point about their gameplay feeling close ("It's kind like a nifty stepping point in-between say.. the 5200 version, and emulated.)". Put it this way, are they closer than the 5200 version?   They aren't emulated man.   I could say the same thing about Lynx Robotron for the most part, but then you would come in and say how it's different from the arcade version, something that is obvious and known to all of us. 

 

But I stand by my point. I know you're pretty good at a bunch of arcade games.. But I've hit a million a number of times in arcade Robotron standard difficulty since the 80's so I'm at least pretty familiar with THAT game. The SNES version does play pretty close I have to say for a rewritten port that has a tinier playfield. ?

[John Stamos Mullet]

This whole thread is people naming their favorite arcade console ports, and then someoen calling them wrong because of tiny minutia that no one else would ever notice.

 

lol. 

 

Choplifter for the SMS would be pretty close to perfect if it wasn't for all the sprite flicker.

[+save2600]

7800 Ms. Pac-Man would have been perfect if it weren't for the 5 lives at start. And the rectangular "dots". And the TIA sound.   ?

 

btw: I prefer the true pink first stage maze.  ?

[negative1]

58 minutes ago, John Stamos Mullet said:

This whole thread is people naming their favorite arcade console ports, and then someoen calling them wrong because of tiny minutia that no one else would ever notice.

 

lol. 

 

Choplifter for the SMS would be pretty close to perfect if it wasn't for all the sprite flicker.

i'm talking about basic fundamental gameplay elements that anyone would notice, if they've ever played the arcade game.

guess you've never played any of the williams games, or it would have been obvious.

 

it's not that hard to spot the differences, especially if people are claiming that they're in the same ballpark.

 

later

-1

Edited July 31, 2019 by negative1

[mbd30]

That the SNES versions are harder might actually be a draw for those who are already pro at the original arcade versions.

 

[mr_me]

9 hours ago, NE146 said:

The Williams Arcade Greatest Hits on the SNES was always interesting to me. i.e. Obviously not emulated but the gameplay feels accurate more or less.

 

Robotron for example has a smaller playfield, yet the gameplay matches pretty well with the arcade. It's kind like a nifty stepping point in-between say.. the 5200 version, and emulated.

 

SNES

 

Arcade

You can ask jeffvav as he programmed it.  They had the original source code, not sure how it was used.

http://www.classiccmp.org/cpmarchives/trs80/mirrors/www.vavasour.ca/jeff/games.html#snes

 

Even if you're porting original code the programmer has an opportunuty to modify controls or adapt the gameplay for home players.

Edited August 1, 2019 by mr_me

[negative1]

22 hours ago, mr_me said:

You can ask jeffvav as he programmed it.  They had the original source code, not sure how it was used.

http://www.classiccmp.org/cpmarchives/trs80/mirrors/www.vavasour.ca/jeff/games.html#snes

 

Even if you're porting original code the programmer has an opportunuty to modify controls or adapt the gameplay for home players.

Yes, i read that before, but it doesn't mention the issues in the conversion, and the clock speed used, because that would

impact how the gameplay progresses.

 

The issues with joust and character behavior is probably more of a logic issue.

 

later

-1

 

[Cynicaster]

If the original reason for the existence of home console ports was to "provide a way of playing such-and-such arcade game in the home" then their need to exist in fulfillment of this role has arguably gone away, thanks to MAME.  

 

That's why I'm generally pretty ruthless in judging console ports of arcade games.  For example, I love the original arcade Donkey Kong, so I kind of cringe when people hold up some home port that is missing one of the 4 screens and say it is a faithful rendition.  To me, that's like listening to a bad cover version of one of your favorite songs where the band completely leaves out a verse because they lack the talent to perform the song in its entirety.  I mean, if that crappy band were the only way to hear the song, that would be one thing, but when the original is readily available.... 

 

For me nowadays, the only real value of console ports comes from nostalgia for specific titles I had as a kid (which is fleeting), and also the factor of historical curiosity.  As in, "hmmm... I wonder what such-and-such game would be like when shoe-horned onto such-and-such hardware."  I play for 2 minutes to satisfy that curiosity, then move on to MAME if I really want to play the game.

 

There are anomalies, though.  I think NES Contra is a better game than the arcade version.  I really enjoy Gravitar on Atari 2600, even though it is crude and I never played it as a kid.  Asteroids on Atari 7800 is maybe more of a "re-imagining" than a port, but it's really fun, especially if you use a proper Asteroids-style controller.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

[NE146]

Exactly.. that's what all the posts earlier were asking: Are we talking ACCURACY, or a good port for a console (e.g. 2600 Crystal Castles), or what? Because you can go all over the map on this discussion. Nowadays everyone has access to emulation, so it's pretty pointless to talk about how 5200 Defender isn't pinpoint accurate to the arcade. Duh.. Of course it isn't. Go play emulated Defender in so many forms if you want that. Is the 5200 version a good port that's fun? Of course it is! Especially for its time. 

 

I wanted to mention VCS Q-Bert as my other nominee. It's usually noted as a horrible port but when I was a kid, playing it actually made me better at the arcade game and I'm not even lying.  You can't say that about a lot of VCS ports, but Q-Bert was definitely one where "practicing it at home" with the Atari actually made a difference, at least to me

[VectorGamer]

9 minutes ago, NE146 said:

I wanted to mention VCS Q-Bert as my other nominee. It's usually noted as a horrible port but when I was a kid, playing it actually made me better at the arcade game and I'm not even lying.  You can't say that about a lot of VCS ports, but Q-Bert was definitely one where "practicing it at home" with the Atari actually made a difference, at least to me

I didn't do Q*bert back in the day. I was late to the party and started playing it on the ColecoVision. Man is that game addicting.

[Magmavision2000]

6 minutes ago, NE146 said:

Exactly.. that's what all the posts earlier were asking: Are we talking ACCURACY, or a good port for a console

When I made the thread I was talking about accuracy (e.g. space invaders SNES), pushing console limits (e.g. battlezone 2600) or just a fun conversion (e.g. Williams arcade greatest hits). 

[Noah98]

On 7/25/2019 at 2:10 PM, John Stamos Mullet said:

Joust for the Atari 7800 is arcade perfect.

I respectfully disagree. The sound and resolution are noticeably downgraded. I play the arcade version all the time at the Arcade Museum in Daytona Beach.

 

I think we should be more judicious with the phrase "arcade perfect"

[Flojomojo]

To be fair, our standards have become a lot more exacting in the 21st century. Many Colecovision games were "close enough"

back in the day even if they're not exact copies, which is way more obvious now that we can compare them side by side with MAME. 

 

You can have a home port that captures the essence without being the same. Phoenix, Night Driver, Jungle Hunt, Stargate, Gravitar, Reactor, Frogger, Gorf on Atari are close enough for me to enjoy. 

 

I think Burgertime on Intellivision is BETTER than the arcade. 

[Noah98]

On 7/29/2019 at 12:54 PM, BydoEmpire said:

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.

Yikes! I can't stand the 7800 version of Galaga. Still, I think it's interesting to see what version people like best. For example, I like the TI version of Burgertime even more than the arcade, but I know it's not an accurate port. To me, it's just more fun. I can see what you are saying about Galaga on the 7800, even though it's no fun to me. I actually like the nes and PS1 versions better. However, now that I have an Arcade1up Galaga machine, I play that version the most.

[Flojomojo]

I have always liked the NES version of Spy Hunter and wish it would come to the Nintendo Switch. 

[John Stamos Mullet]

5 hours ago, Noah98 said:

I respectfully disagree. The sound and resolution are noticeably downgraded. I play the arcade version all the time at the Arcade Museum in Daytona Beach.

 

I think we should be more judicious with the phrase "arcade perfect"

Ok, 

 

this thread asked for for the best PORTS of arcade games to home consoles. This should make it reasonably understood that any PORT is going to be played at the native video resolution and audio capabilities of the home console it has been ported to. 

 

Discounting MAME, other arcade emulation apps, Joust for the Atari 7800 is as close to arcade perfect there is, understanding that it is a PORT to an 8bit home console that obviously has different resolution and audio capabilities than the original arcade machine. 

 

I would also add that given Joust for the 7800 was coded and released in 1984 (in the New York and northeast test market) that makes it much more impressive looking, sounding, and playing than any other port of Joust before, or since.

 

 

[Flojomojo]

Fair enough mullet, but that doesn't make it "arcade perfect," just a good arcade port. Maybe we can all agree on that and keep this nice shiny floor from getting spattered with nerd blood. 

 

From the top of my head, the 7800 I owned in the 1980s had Very Nice Ports of these games. I might have considered them "arcade perfect" back then, but I'm wiser now. I owned and remember liking

 

Joust

Robotron

Dig Dug

Galaga

Xevious

Food Fight

Xenophobe

Pole Position II (packed in!)

Ms. Pac-Man

 

There might have been others, but I've got little use for arcade ports in this age of the e-word. 

 

And 7800 Asteroids looked and sounded better than the original. 

[mbd30]

I'm a huge fan of Bump n Jump on the NES. I beat it not too long ago. But it's another one that is quite unlike the arcade version.