Worst Port of a Great Game?

[Tupin]

I hate the Mortal Kombat I and II on the original Gameboy.

What's your least favorite?

[MrSparkle]

haha yea mk1 on gameboy was pretty damned rough i had that back in the day. Worst port... dragons lair on nes.

[Pantechnicon]

Atari 2600 Burgertime :shameful:. Spinning red squares are no substitute for a real Mr. Hot Dog.

[eskobar]

I am a huge fan of the grandia games, it really hurt when i played the ps2 port of Grandia II ... the game did not have any extras and it had too many glitches in a far more powerful system ....

I think that the Castlevania Symphony of the Night for Saturn was very inferior to the Ps version, the item menú and the game was slow ... and the game did have loading times between areas :( inexcusable for a port done in a console well known by Konami


Forgot about the Atari 2600 pacman ...SUCKEEED reallly bad

[Zebbe]

My initial thought was any arcade port to Game Boy, but an even funnier thread would be worst port of an awful game. Which still would be an arcade port to Game Boy, Mortal Kombat :D.

[Tupin]

My initial thought was any arcade port to Game Boy, but an even funnier thread would be worst port of an awful game. Which still would be an arcade port to Game Boy, Mortal Kombat :D.
Mortal Kombat is awesome on in the arcade/Genesis, just not on the Game Boy.

[NytroSkull7]

Mario Kart Super Circuit for GameBoy Advance

[Tupin]

Mario Kart Super Circuit for GameBoy Advance
That was a new game, not a port.

[diskoboy]

Pac-Man on the VCS.

Turning this game on for the first time got me grounded for swearing.

I was only 8, when proclaiming "What the hell is this shit?". I had no idea my mom was standing behind me when I said it.

[davidbrit2]

Dreamcast Daytona USA. That's some of the worst control I've ever seen in a racing game. It's a damn shame, because everything else is amazing, yet the control renders it nearly unplayable.

[willowmoon93]

Oooh, this is an easy one for me -- right off the bat, the first thing that comes to mind is "Double Dragon" for the Atari 2600. Horrible control which makes the game ridiculously difficult.

[7th lutz]

Karateka for the Atari 7800. This was tough one since I've played PAc-man for the 2600.

[eugenek]

X-Men vs. Street Fighter for the PS1. What a terrible port compared to the Saturn version. Granted, the Saturn required the RAM cart, but boy did that game run like butter...

[Tupin]

Oooh, this is an easy one for me -- right off the bat, the first thing that comes to mind is "Double Dragon" for the Atari 2600. Horrible control which makes the game ridiculously difficult.
Yeah, just the fact that the controller only has one button makes that obvious.

[Tron 2.0]

Paperboy (NES) To me a down grade lack the graphics and sound of the arcade version.

I know when it comes to ports it isn't every thing.

Still given,how much i played paperboy in the arcades it's not hard to be spoiled.

[shivers]

kings quest V on NES wasn't a bad port just a dumb idea.

[Graham Mitchell]

kings quest V on NES wasn't a bad port just a dumb idea.

It's not THAT bad on an idea. It plays okay. Back then, a NES was much cheaper than a PC, and my family didn't have one. I was always jealous of my friends with PC's or even the Apple IIgs because they had access to Sierra games. So, maybe not a bad idea, but it occurred either too early (the home console really couldn't do the VGA graphics well at that time) or too late (Kings Quest I-III would have made more sense, and probably would have been an improvement over the originals).

Anyway my vote is for 2600 Pac-Man. It's a fucking abortion. THE MAZE IS WRONG. HOW CAN YOU HAVE A MAZE CHASE GAME, CALL IT PAC-MAN, AND NOT HAVE THE PAC-MAN MAZE? Cuz that's, you know, kind of what makes it Pac-Man and not K.C. Munchkin or whatever. But really, beyond the technical problems with it (because there are probably ports that are even more disappointing than Pac-Man) the reason I think it's the worst is because of the widespread negative impact it had on the industry. E.T. was a fiasco for sure, but I've read in several places that one of the more crucial fuck-ups leading to the crash was Atari's inability to produce a decent home version of Pac-Man, even after hyping it up prior to release. My best friend remembers very clearly the day he bought that cartridge. He saved forever to get that stupid game. It cost him $40, and he remembers spending 3 minutes with it and saying "fuck Atari!" He never bought another Atari game after that, and there may have been others who felt the same way.

[lynchmcgahee]

The first game that came to mind was Final Fight for SNES.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

I recall Samurai Shodown III for PS1 was just god awful.

It looked nice in still pictures ... but the game itself was missing TONS of animation frames in comparison to the Neo Geo version which subsequently threw the combat WAY WAY off.

I was also not a fan of the Dreamcast version of Vigilante 8 2nd offense, they didn't do a great job of tweaking the controls for the Dreamcast controller, it felt like they just took the PS1 game code and maximized the resolution with no other adjustmens made in the translation.

[SpaceHarrier]

Outrunners for the Sega Genesis. Why am I playing split-screen single player? This worked for Mario Kart because the second screen was a MAP, not another car. Oh and there was just a ton of detail missing. Yes, the arcade was an advanced setup, but still. Split-screen AND barely there graphics..

[Haoie]

Historically speaking, it has to be, without a doubt, the Atari Pac-Man.

That, directly or indirectly, was a factor in the great video games crash.

[emceelokey]

two more current fighting games come to mind and it's SNK vs Capcom 2 and Marvel vs Capcom 2 for the PS2. The gameplay is as solid as in the arcades for both o these games but the character are so f'n pixelated that it gets to the point where it's distracting.

[DigitalSpace]

Definitely agreed on 2600 Pac-Man.

As for something that hasn't been mentioned yet, R-Type III on the GBA is up there. Here's a couple old posts I dug up that explain why it's such a poor port:


R type III is a pile because they lost the original code and had to resort to emu to make the game....which turned out broken.


swlovinist hit the nail on the head. R-Type III is a really bad port due to those reasons. Clipping errors, scoring errors, massive hitbox, etc, etc.

(Also, seeing the Game Boy version of Mortal Kombat mentioned here reminded me of this thread (http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=79468).)

[Damaramu]

I'll throw in my vote for 2600 Pac-Man. I never had a 2600 as a kid, so I used to play at a neighbor's house. I remember thinking how Pac-Man did not look or sound like the arcade version and being disappointed.

Until....I got a 5200 for Christmas. That was more like it. All the neighborhood kids came to MY place to play Pac-Man and Super Breakout. Fun times.

[Tupin]

Speaking of the 2600 Pac-Man, do you know that they were so sure it was going to be a hit that they skipped over extra development time and released the PROTOTYPE instead? :drinking:

[davidbrit2]

Outrunners for the Sega Genesis. Why am I playing split-screen single player? This worked for Mario Kart because the second screen was a MAP, not another car. Oh and there was just a ton of detail missing. Yes, the arcade was an advanced setup, but still. Split-screen AND barely there graphics..

Ooh, I totally forgot about that one. The fact that you always have an obnoxious CPU opponent really kills it. And that's to say nothing of the lackluster visuals and sound.

Turbo Outrun suffered a very similar fate of mediocrity. At least original Outrun got a pretty nice conversion.

[Zing]

It's probably because I rarely had the chance to play Pac-Man in the arcades back then (Ms. Pac-Man was the one in my arcades), but I didn't see anything wrong with the 2600 Pac-Man at the time. I thought it was fun and played it quite a bit with no complaints.

I just wanted my favorite game, Mario Bros. When it finally did hit the 2600, it was pretty disappointing.

[ubersaurus]

Atari 2600 Space War. Way to take one of my favorite arcade games and remove everything that made it excellent.

I swear, why can't that game get a good port? Even the Vectrex one is iffy.

[Rob2600]

Based on a recent thread, I'd say the Mega Man computer ports were disasters, whereas the original NES versions were great.

The Contra computer port was horrendous, too. The CGA graphics and sub-Atari-2600 sound effects were appalling compared to the arcade and NES versions.

One game I always thought could've been ported better was the Atari 2600 version of Donkey Kong.

Other horrible ports are Karate Champ (NES), Ikari Warriors II: Victory Road (NES), and Pit-Fighter (SNES), although to me, the original versions weren't that great to begin with.


I didn't see anything wrong with the 2600 Pac-Man at the time. I thought it was fun and played it quite a bit with no complaints.

I just wanted my favorite game, Mario Bros. When it finally did hit the 2600, it was pretty disappointing.

I agree about Atari 2600 Pac-Man. It wasn't anywhere near as good as the arcade version, but it was still a fun, playable game. I played it all the time as a child.

I disagree about Atari 2600 Mario Bros. though. I thought it was well done, especially considering the hardware. I was impressed when I played it at my friend's house in the late 1980s.

[Push Upstairs]

Ooh, I totally forgot about that one. The fact that you always have an obnoxious CPU opponent really kills it. And that's to say nothing of the lackluster visuals and sound.

Turbo Outrun suffered a very similar fate of mediocrity. At least original Outrun got a pretty nice conversion.

Right on both accounts.

How come "Turbo Outrun" never gets any love?

[MrSparkle]

Based on a recent thread, I'd say the Mega Man computer ports were disasters, whereas the original NES versions were great.


They weren't even really ports just games with recycled names they had original levels and bosses. Though the were pretty damned bad lol. Id like to add a game to my previous statement donkey kong on the 2600.

[skaar]

He saved forever to get that stupid game. It cost him $40, and he remembers spending 3 minutes with it and saying "fuck Atari!" He never bought another Atari game after that, and there may have been others who felt the same way.

Yes, there may have been.

*cough*

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_video_game_crash_of_1983

[BobaFettHotep]

The Nes version of Robocop was no where near a good as arcade version, the nes version had no jump very toned down graphics and played slower

[DigitalSpace]

I just thought of another one - Marble Madness/Klax on the GBA. Klax is fine, but for whatever reason, the last three levels in Marble Madness were cut out - once you reach the goal in the third level, "Game Over" appears on the screen. Extremely lame.

[BobaFettHotep]

I just thought of another one - Marble Madness/Klax on the GBA. Klax is fine, but for whatever reason, the last three levels in Marble Madness were cut out - once you reach the goal in the third level, "Game Over" appears on the screen. Extremely lame.

I Remember you showing me that, That is Super lame

[plastic]

Not to say the original is particularly phenominal... But, my God, the Nintendo 64 Gauntlet Legends is abyssmal.

[DigitalSpace]

I Remember you showing me that, That is Super lame

BobaFettHotep and I, along with a couple other friends, had went to a GameStop to check out their B2G1 sale, and Marble Madness/Klax was my free game (had I actually read some reviews beforehand, I would have avoided it). After that, we went to eat dinner at IHOP, and while we were waiting for our food, I played the game on my SP and made the discovery.

The next day, I took it back to GS and exchanged it for Scurge: Hive.

[Rob2600]

Nintendo 64 Gauntlet Legends is abyssmal.

Actually, the N64 version received above average reviews (7.3 out of 10). The PlayStation version, however, did not (6.2 out of 10).

[BobaFettHotep]

Not to say the original is particularly phenominal... But, my God, the Nintendo 64 Gauntlet Legends is abyssmal.

Me and a Bunch of High school buds used to play this all the time

[TonyTheTiger]

Mortal Kombat Advance. A horrific (and I do mean horrific) port of Ultimate MK 3. This game barely functions.

Second vote for X-Men vs. Street Fighter (PS1). In fact, the PS1 ports of any of Capcom's Vs. games can work here. Many PS1 SNK ports can, too.

I never played it but I hear the GBA version of Tales of Phantasia wasn't all that great.

Street Fighter Alpha 2 (SNES). I feel a little torn on this though. On one hand, it's worse than the other versions. On the other hand, it's a passable port on a console that had no business running a game like that which makes it very impressive.

Mega Man Anniversary Collection. It's not "bad" but considering what it consists of, Atomic Planet did some lousy work.

The PC versions of Resident Evil 4 and Devil May Cry 3 kinda sucked.

The Saturn port of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (Nocturne in the Moonlight) was lazy. I didn't find it as terrible as most people do, though.

The PS1 port of Chrono Trigger was horrid thanks to damn near intolerable loading times for very menial (and repeated) tasks like entering the menu.

[Greg2600]

I definitely concur on Paperboy, which still stunk on Genesis. Frankly most of Atari's late 80's/early 90's arcade ports stunk. Also agree on any of the Ikari Warriors.

[ShinobiMan]

As the AVGN pointed out in his last video, the port of Batman: Return Of The Joker from NES to Sega Genesis is laughable. The NES versions graphics are superior by far IMO.

[davidbrit2]

Not to say the original is particularly phenominal... But, my God, the Nintendo 64 Gauntlet Legends is abyssmal.

Buh? I thought it was a pretty good conversion. Sure, the home versions would have been much better off had they not replaced the Desert and Forest with the horribly tedious Ice and Town realms, but the gameplay still stands up well (and of course the N64 supports 4 players, whereas the PS1 version is limited to 2).

Now, you want to see abysmal? Try the GBA version of Dark Legacy. Ha ha.

[Famidrive-16]

I didn't like the Gamecube port of Alien Hominid because the control settings didn't allow B as shoot and A as jump. That's more picky than anything, but still, I remember the PS2 version having way more options in that area.

[Chuplayer]

Dreamcast Daytona USA. That's some of the worst control I've ever seen in a racing game. It's a damn shame, because everything else is amazing, yet the control renders it nearly unplayable.

Sensitivity sliders are your friend.

My most epically disappointing port is Dead or Alive 2 Ultimate. It's amazing how badly they cocked that one up. All they had to do was take the DC version and give it better graphics, but no. They changed around so much stuff. I was especially surprised that they took out some of the really sprawling stages. The Lei-Fang vs. Jan Lee and Ein vs. Helena fights lost so much in the Ultimate port because the stages suck!

[Tron 2.0]

The Nes version of Robocop was no where near a good as arcade version, the nes version had no jump very toned down graphics and played slower
Agreed as well another game i realy enjoyed in the arcades.

Then it hit's the,NES and i feel like i'm playing some water down version of the game.

[The Old School Gamer]

There have been alot of bad ports over the years, VCS Pac-Man being the most well known, but the one game that haunts me to this day is the Intellivision Port of Donkey Kong. Its so bad the Mattel locked out Coleco's ports when they made the Intellivision II. Another bad one is Donkey Kong JR. on the VCS, both are far worse to play then good old Pac-Man(which still sucks). I've never played the VCS port of Double Dragon, but that game should not exist. Oh and don't forget the NES port of Ghostbusters that game was ass.

[davidbrit2]

Sensitivity sliders are your friend.

Oh believe me, I tried. I tried all kinds of crazy setups, ranging from no dead-zone to huge dead-zone, and never was able to make it playable.

[j_factor]

Virtua Cop for the R-Zone. Worst. Port. Ever. I really want to know who the hell at Tiger decided Virtua Cop would be a good game to put on the R-Zone.

[c0ldb33r]

My most epically disappointing port is Dead or Alive 2 Ultimate.
What? really? That's my favourite version of DOA2. Wow.. I'm very surprised that someone nominated that. I actually played through and unlocked everything, and I never do that.


Virtua Cop for the R-Zone. Worst. Port. Ever. I really want to know who the hell at Tiger decided Virtua Cop would be a good game to put on the R-Zone.
Also Virtua Fighter for the R-Zone. OR anything for the R-Zone. (link to Dr. Ashens R-Zone review will explain this to everyone: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09so0ghPYG4)


My vote is something pretty recent. Burnout for the DS. It's absolutely terrible. I absolutely love any other Burnout game and had high hopes for the DS version. I was crushed. It's total bullshit. It's not just the crap graphics and "its raping my ears" music but it killed the gameplay - and that's what burnout relies on.

Check out this vid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHOyrUtPopo&NR=1

He's not playing it poorly. It just actually controls like that. What? You want to turn - no problem NINETY DEGREES TO THE LEFT!

[Rickstilwell1]

I haven't gotten my hands on an Tiger R-Zone yet, but I still have that Tiger Game.com and its awful ports of Mortal Kombat Trilogy, Fighters Megamix and Sonic Jam. Even some simple games from Williams Arcade Classics suffer from lag. Only barely decent one on there is Robotron 2084.

You won't believe how bad the physics on the Sonic Jam game are though. It has to be the worst port of a 2D Sonic game on any system. The levels are nowhere near the same as they are in the Genesis versions so calling it a compilation is a lie.

This game made me think of James Rolfe and the things he would be saying if he tried playing this on video. Tiger Game.com may sound like it has cool game ports because of the titles involved, but if someone buys it, they will learn that a game's name doesn't mean everything.

But I say: I'm a collector and I love to torture myself with super challenging things like this. I hope someday I can beat that Sonic Jam game when I'm really bored. If anything I'll add the game to my TheGameCollector series on youtube.

[GM80]

Sonic Jam on the game.com (mentioned above) featured "ported" levels and other assets from the Genesis Sonic games, in 4-tone grayscale running at 1/8th the speed on an LCD panel with such blur that you couldn't even see the characters ... which made the delay of about a second when you pressed a button not such a big issue. I say it's the worst port ever.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbD2SP37s3o

[kupomogli]

I'll throw some RPGs and stick with them for the most part(some arcades.) Arcades and RPGs receive the most ports from system to system and the arcade titles have already been picked apart.

Gunsmoke for the NES. While it's good, it's worse than the arcade version due to the scoring system. You can keep looping the stage until you decide you want to pick up the Wanted poster, where as the arcade version you get to the end of the stage and own the boss.

Puzzle Bobble on Taito Legends 2. I love Puzzle Bobble and they raped the game(graphically atleast.) Sure it features the same gameplay, but Bub and Bob are nowhere to be seen in the game.. Instead, the characters are replaced with wheels and the backgrounds are changed to crappy world landmarks.

Final Fantasy 4 for the GBA. The NTSC-U/J versions had terrible slow down during battles and multiple flaws. The PAL version did fix the problem with the slow down and not quite as many flaws, however, the ATB pauses after every movement and then there's a pause after it fills as well and if you ask me that's just as bad. Atleast Squaresoft learned from their mistake and FF5A and FF6A didn't suffer from the same problems.

Star Ocean the Second Story for PSP. Don't get me wrong. It's still an amazing game. However, the triple attack being added to the game is a flaw in my opinion. Not just that though, the biggest problem in the game was the voice acting. While the voice acting was generally good enough to not care, the fact that you couldn't skip the voice acting is the problem. Not skipping as to just not read the story, but perhaps you may have the sound off and want to read and then just press the button to skip, or maybe you don't have much time and don't want to sit there through one of the 15 minute to 30 minute audio but again, would like to read what is said and then press the button. The fact that this game has voice acting in literally every story part in the game and a ton from personal actions, you have to wait quite a bit.

Final Fantasy Tactics PSP. First off there's the lag when casting most special abilities. For a game that was originally on the PSX, Squaresoft once again, just like FF4A, makes a version full of lag. But that isn't the only thing. Squaresoft decided to relocalize the ENTIRE script and every ability in the game. I'm not a fan of the dialogue and definitely not a fan of the ability changes. The dialogue changed to "medievil" type, while some of the abilities were nice changes, the majority of them were there just to make a change but some were just plain stupid to be changed at all. I especially like the change of the Geomancer abilities Marsh/Swamp and Swamp/Marsh(just switched the attacks names just to make some sortof change because EVERYTHING has had a change.)

[Diosoth]

Shadow Man for PS1.

The PC version was already at near-Xbox graphics levels. Port it to Dreamcast, it takes a few hits. The N64 version was lower, but playable. The PS1 port looked awful, had constant load times and put a strain on the CD motor.

[Sonicwolf]

Doom on the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer springs to mind. That system had so much potential and the company that ported it must have had their heads stuffed in their asses. It was a disaster to put it mildly.

[CelticJobber]

San Francisco Rush for the PS1 was really horrible.

[Kid Fenris]

Squaresoft decided to relocalize the ENTIRE script and every ability in the game. I'm not a fan of the dialogue and definitely not a fan of the ability changes. The dialogue changed to "medievil" type, while some of the abilities were nice changes, the majority of them were there just to make a change but some were just plain stupid to be changed at all. I especially like the change of the Geomancer abilities Marsh/Swamp and Swamp/Marsh(just switched the attacks names just to make some sortof change because EVERYTHING has had a change.)

Did you ever play the original Final Fantasy Tactics on the PlayStation? Its English translation was an incomprehensible mess. The PSP version's script is an improvement in every possible way.

[mobiusclimber]

Doom on the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer springs to mind. That system had so much potential and the company that ported it must have had their heads stuffed in their asses. It was a disaster to put it mildly.

I don't think there was a GOOD port of Doom until the PSX version.

I'd like to mention the Ultima series here on the NES/SNES/Master System, but since I've never played the originals all I can say is how awful they are.

I also agree w/ everyone's mention of Pac Man on the Atari. Truly disappointing.

Grandia II on the PS2 has also been mentioned and I'll just second that as well.

Altered Beast on the Turbo Grafx was a real abomination. It plays like you're underwater or something.

[adam_devry]

I would say double dragon meets battle toads I like the idea but i could never get passed the first boss

[j_factor]

I seem to remember there being some early 3D games, created for Amiga and ST, that had 8-bit ports to Commodore 64 and Spectrum, and ran at something like two frames per second (not an exaggeration). But I can't think of an example off the top of my head.

[Ed Oscuro]

House of the Dead on PC, wtf, why do I have to type now ?_?

and floppy port doesn't take the gun controller ;-;

[Daltone]

I haven't gotten my hands on an Tiger R-Zone yet, but I still have that Tiger Game.com and its awful ports of Mortal Kombat Trilogy, Fighters Megamix and Sonic Jam. Even some simple games from Williams Arcade Classics suffer from lag. Only barely decent one on there is Robotron 2084.

I can't believe that that almighty Game.com has only just been mentioned. Resident Evil 2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yk9ORXhzZ6A&feature=related) and Duke Nukem 3D (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcxbR8xzQw8&feature=related) are both hilariously bad (there are probably better videos out there, but you get the idea.)

[c0ldb33r]

House of the Dead on PC, wtf, why do I have to type now ?_?
troll ;)


I don't think there was a GOOD port of Doom until the PSX version.
Or even afterwards, I recently got the Saturn version and it is a slow choppy mess. The 32X version is better.

[Game Freak]

Marble Madness on the Genesis
Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen....effed up the nostalgia

[MarioMania]

Pac-Man - VCS
Street Fighter 2 - Sega Master System

[bangtango]

Like a couple others said, VCS Pac Man was a sham compared to the arcade version. However it was still a playable game. The biggest problem to me with the game was the fact it was called Pac Man. It sure as heck wasn't the game itself, which I thought was a half decent "eat the dots" game on its own. 2600 Pac Man wasn't unplayable. Shitty graphics, dumb sound effects, missing fruit and different looking "dots" doesn't make the game any harder or make it unplayable.

People can say 2600 Donkey Kong or Venture were bad ports, too, compared to their arcade counterparts. However limited both games were, though, they featured passable graphics, sounds and control. Neither of them were unplayable. Very repetitive and easy, yes, but not unplayable.

You could say the same about fighting games that were ported from the arcade to both the SNES and Genesis. The Genesis versions may have been an obvious step down but they were still fun to play on their own and usually controlled very well (SFII games or MK games).

Someone who can't have fun with a game like Genesis Mortal Kombat II is a bit of a tight ass because a few missing features shouldn't be the kiss of death in this day and age. Maybe it was more important when the game is about to be released but not today.

To me, the first games that come to mind on a list of "Bad Ports" are games that are unplayable due to lousy controls or framerates. That is an entirely different thing than a slight drop in graphics, music or features (i.e. missing weapons or enemies from 32X Doom or missing stages from Genesis MKII).

[sebastiankirchoff]

I was heavily dissapointed in the Wii port of Resident Evil 4. I was expecting some easy to control, realistic gun controls and maybe some extras only available on the Wii version, but I didn't recieve any of that. The aim curser sucks ass, and trying to hit an enemy that is about to hit you is near impossible due to crappy aim cursers. Then, I was expecting some more minigames that were Wii-only, but instead it was the same stuff as the PS2 version, except for a trailer for Umbrella Chronicles.

[RPG_Fanatic]

720 on the NES was a pretty shitty port.

[klausien]

Another vote here for the 2600 Pac Man. They made up for it with Jr. Pac Man and Ms. Pac Man though. And I agree, the game is very playable; it's just not Pac Man.

In terms of the more obscure, the Colecovision version of Keystone Kapers pales in comparison to the 2600 version, more powerful hardware be damned.


I don't think there was a GOOD port of Doom until the PSX version.

The Atari Jaguar says hello. No music during the gameplay, yes, but it is an excellent port of the original.

That said, I like the PSX port of Doom even better than the original because of the killer atmospheric soundtrack. I would say the worst port I've played is a toss up between the Saturn and 3DO. You could say the SNES version is the worst, but it is pretty impressive considering the system it's running on.

Along these same lines, I would say the SNES version of Wolfenstein 3D is pretty abysmal. Censorship and a choppy frame rate killed it. On the flip side, the 3DO version is the best Wolfenstein 3D I've ever played, even better than the original. The soundtrack alone takes the title. It's truly epic.

[CelticJobber]

Wasn't there a Genesis/Megadrive port of Duke Nukem 3D? I never played it, but it couldn't have been very good.

[bangtango]

NFL Quarterback Club 2000 & 2001 each came out for both the Nintendo 64 and Sega Dreamcast.

Logic would dictate that the Dreamcast version(s) would be better.

Wrong.

Both of the QB Club entries on Dreamcast are unplayable with a lousy control scheme and poor framerate.

Yet they both play fairly good on Nintendo 64. Go figure.

[Diosoth]

Wasn't there a Genesis/Megadrive port of Duke Nukem 3D? I never played it, but it couldn't have been very good.

It's a Tec Toy "original". Seems licensed by both Sega and 3D Realms, but it's basically Wolf 3D with Duke 3D graphics and sounds.

And I know it's not "retro" but Serious Sam on GBA is horrendously unplayable.

[Ed Oscuro]

Also, the Toaplan shooter ports on FM Towns are mostly terrible, just terrible. Usually poorly remixed music and tiny lil' fake vert screen, aagh :(

Example: Flying Shark. Fire Shark seems somewhat better, though.

[RCM]

The original Sonic the Hedgehog GBA port is awful...

[blue lander]

Also, the Toaplan shooter ports on FM Towns are mostly terrible, just terrible. Usually poorly remixed music and tiny lil' fake vert screen, aagh :(

Example: Flying Shark. Fire Shark seems somewhat better, though.

Virtually all vertical shmups for the FM Towns are terribly crippled. I think the worst was Image Fight. There's nothing more frustrating than a pixel perfect port of an arcade game where you can only see half the screen at any given time.

I'd like to second Karateka for the 7800 as well. It might not have been that bad if you hadn't played the original on the Apple ][, though.

The whole Game.com library deserves nomination, but I think the Williams arcade collection takes the cake. I can understand the Sonic and Duke Nukem and Mortal Kombat ports being shitty, but something like Joust should have been well within the system's limits.