WORST Arcade-To-Home Translations!

[Aswald]

Ah, remember when you bought a new cartridge (or CD, later on), often with your hard-earned money, eager to play it because it was a version of your (current) favorite arcade game? You waited, you finally got it.

You got it home, took it out of the box, plugged it in, fired it up...

%&@!!%!!

Only to be SERIOUSLY disappointed!

Sorry to say, but while there were a lot of wonderful home versions of our favorite arcade games, there were at least as many failures, games so bad, you wanted to bury them all in a landfill (preferably on another planet). Along with whoever was responsible.


So- what games made YOU wonder "is there any way I can get my money back on this...?"


Atari 2600-

Pac-Man tops the list, but once the early 1980s hit, and the level of sophistication of arcade games skyrocketed, it was often, though not always, a bad idea to try. Crazy Climber and Congo Bongo come to mind, as well as Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Jr.


Atari 5200-

Congo Bongo. I'm not familiar enough with this system to know of any others.


Atari 7800-

Xenophobe. Galaga. And Double Dragon was by far the weakest of the versions available at the time for "current" systems. Atarian magazine actually showed photos from Tandy computer versions while advertising for Atari consoles in one case!


ColecoVision-

Space Fury. Omega Race. Subroc. Time Pilot. Q*Bert's Qubes. Victory. And to a lesser extent (lousy graphics, but good gameplay) Popeye, Mr. Do!, Q*Bert, Frogger, and Gyruss.

[Neil Koch]

NES Double Dragon -- now I can see that this is a pretty decent game in its' own right, ut how can you have a game called DOUBLE Dragon that's only one-player.

SNES Pit Fighter -- a big steamy pile of poo

[Raccoon Lad]

NES Q*bert, ugly, and doesn't play as well as the arcade game

SMS Ms. Pacman, They tried "updating" the graphics on this one, and did a HORRID job. Ms Pac-man's mouth doesn't open as wide as in the arcade, so it looks like she's nibbling instead of chomping, and the ghosts are just AWEFULL! There are other serious things wrong with this game, but I don't like to 'Dis on the Sega, so I'll just end by saying- Shame on you Tengen, you really screwed up this time!

[Aswald]

Now that you mention it, Ms. Pac-Man for the Sega Genesis was also disappointing. It was dark, and proved that if you have enough memory to do a souped-up version, you should also include the original version, too.

[Sotenga]

SNES: Final Fight

The graphics and sound are pretty good, but there isn't any fourth stage, Rolento's missing, there is no two-player action ( :grumble: ) AND WHERE THE @#$% IS GUY?!?!?!?!? :angry:

[Gamereviewgod]

Now that I go back and play it after playing the Arcade version again on MAME: TMNT: The Arcade Game on the NES....talk about wonky hit detection....

[NE146]

2600 AMIDAR.. What a pile of poop!

People will say 2600 Zaxxon as well.. Yeah it wasn't a good arcade translation (it aint even close) but it's a pretty decent 2600 game when it stands on it's own.. maybe if they named it something else besides Zaxxon and bringing everyone's hopes up :P

[hamburgler]

Neo geo: Ninja combat

I mean come on, the game is way too easy and could be beaten in a couple of hours without any trouble which doesn't give a challenge at all. Not worth to buy at all costs. :angry:

[The Unknown Gamer]

The 3 worst arcade translation ever...

Ten Yard Fight - NES

Shinobi - SMS,NES

Bad Dudes - NES

None of those games even play at the arcade speed. In fact in Bad Dudes you look as if your playing in slow motion.

[xolik]

Street fighter 2 for the Gensis. The crappy sound in that game made me sell it back the next day. I lost $20 on that! :angry:

[Arqueologia_Digital]

Shinobi - SMS,NES
SMS version??, naaaaaaa!!!!
NES is very bad
I think the only bad arcade translation for SMS is Ms. Pac man (i think the same that Racoon)

[JLukas]

Final Fight as mentioned, was butchered. Still a lot of fun, though.

SNES Mortal Kombat, replaced fatalaties...

And I'll probably get some angry responses for this one, SNES Street Fighter 2. Yes, it was a great port for a game from that era, and I still played it countless hours. However, I was really disappointed when I put in the cart for the first time and saw the smaller character sprites, the missing background details, and the changed bonus round. I had known about those details from the magazine previews but didn't think it would be so drastic.

[swlovinist]

Time Killers for the Sega Genesis has got to be one of the most gosh awful translations I have ever seen. You can barely play the game, and man it is slow and unresponsive! The arcade game wasnt that good, but it was way better in terms of funfactor! I put it up there with Pac Man for the 2600.

[Gamereviewgod]

Time Killers wasn't even a good game to begin with and that was half the trouble. But yes, the Genny version was pitiful.

[ManekiNeko]

Several of Midway's arcade games were poorly translated to home systems. Those games include Defender for the 2600, Defender II on the NES, and Mortal Kombat for the Sega CD. Smash TV on the Genesis was a dreadful mess, and not nearly as good as the coin-op that inspired it.
I have a big beef with several of Nintendo's third parties, who released many games that were only loosely based on popular arcade titles. Strider, Bionic Commando, and (shudder) Ninja Gaiden were three good examples. I found this immensely frustrating... when I buy a game called "Ninja Gaiden", I want to play the game I remember from the local arcade. Don't give me something entirely different.

JR

[ManekiNeko]

Street fighter 2 for the Gensis. The crappy sound in that game made me sell it back the next day. I lost $20 on that! :angry:

Oh, COME ON. You're going to call the Genesis version of Street Fighter II one of the worst arcade translations you've ever played just because the voices are rough? Everything else was spot-on. Capcom was so concerned about the quality of this game that they actually went back and reprogrammed it from scratch, and they did a wonderful job with it.
I've had it way up to here (steps on his tiptoes and puts his hands above his head) with people damning the Genesis version of Street Fighter II simply because the sound effects were mediocre. Perhaps that's the case, but it's also worth mentioning that the graphics are very close to the Super NES version, and the gameplay (with Sega's awesome six button arcade pad) is superior. That HAS to count for something!

JR

[WiseSalesman]

Except the Genesis d-pad was so amazingly uncomfortable for playing fighters that I couldn't stand to play them for more than thirty minutes at a time max. Playing SamSho2 on that thing used to rip skin OFF my thumb. Sorry, Neko, but for my money the SNES SFII still reigns.

[ArnoldRimmer83]

Toobin for Nes was a horrible port. Gone are the lighthearted bright visuals of the arcade version, the graphics were hideous in the home port. The dreary colors gave the game almost a sinister feel, instead of a comical one. Also the two player simultaneous mode is gone, replaced by alternating. And the worst part is how the game handled deaths. In the arcade version when you lost a life, you instantly reappeared where you died. In the Nes version when you die, you start the entire stage over again, and the stages in the game are very long and it's often very easy to die.

[Mark III]

I'm suprised that no one's mentioned The Punisher for the genesis, and Aliens Versus Predator for the SNES. Both great arcade games, both ported horribly, especially Alien vs Predator, what a waste of a great liscence.

[Dire 51]

AvP SNES was a totally different game than AvP arcade. Activision created that horrible SNES game, whereas Capcom did the arcade game. The only thing they had in common besides the license was the style of gameplay.

[Kid Fenris]

Indeed. Activision's Alien vs. Predator hit the market a year before Capcom's. Sadly, Capcom evidently lost the Alien vs. Predator license shortly after making AvP, as the game never surfaced in any ported form. I don't even remember a rumor of it coming to a home console.

Anyway, I've got to mention some of the rough arcade ports that hit the Saturn and PlayStation. Sega's home version of Daytona is a far, far cry from the arcade game, and Samurai Shodown III for the PSX is lousy. Granted, neither was unplayable or unrecognizable as a port, so they're probably not as a bad as some of the Atari-era translations mentioned above.

[Pantechnicon]

My vote goes to Burgertime for the 2600. I can excuse just about anything on the 2600 with respect to grahical limitations but that Burgertime port was just plain shoddy work :shameful:

[swlovinist]

I second Burgertime, which if I never play again on the 2600 is fine by me. Robotron 2084 on the 5200 is AWFUL, I dont care if you can use two sticks, who would want to with that port of it?(The 7800 version is MUCH MUCH better!)

[Retsudo]

I would say War Gods for the PS1. The arcade game wasnt all that , but it was worst on the PS. Xmen Children of the Atom for the PS was really wack. Not too bad on the Saturn. Street fighter the movie sucked bad on the saturn.

[AB Positive]

SNES - Fatal Fury

Uh... where'd that second fighting plane go? You know, the one I USE REGULARLY IN THE ARCADES? The thing about Fatal Fury that made it... FATAL FURY????

So glad I rented this. Next week I rented the Genny version and promptly bought it afterwards.


...argh.

-AG

[AB Positive]

Neo geo: Ninja combat

I mean come on, the game is way too easy and could be beaten in a couple of hours without any trouble which doesn't give a challenge at all. Not worth to buy at all costs. :angry:


...

you do know AES cartridges have the exact same code as MVS carts, right? I'm so confused by this post.

-AG

[tssk]

The C64 had conversions that just shouldn't have been attempted.

Anyone remember the awfulness of these conversions.

Afterburner

Outrun

And speaking of the old 2600.

Remember Zaxxon?

[thegreatescape]

Pretty much every conversion of Hard Drivin.
And on behalf of my Mega Drive, I too would say that those SF2 sound complaints are unjust. :o

-SMi

[xfactor1984]

Revolution X for snes and genesis(never played the saturn and ps version but heard they were just as bad). They game had awful slowdowns, they cut out like half of the levels, the sound was horrible.

[Aswald]

The C64 had conversions that just shouldn't have been attempted.

Anyone remember the awfulness of these conversions.

Afterburner

Outrun

And speaking of the old 2600.

Remember Zaxxon?


Zaxxon? He's still around. LOL

[The Unknown Gamer]

Altered Beast - NES Although I never played the cart. Hell, I don't even know was this piece of crap was ever released in the US. I just played the rom on my PC. It just could not get any worse

[Aswald]

Oh, yes- Pooyan for the Atari 2600. Bad. Really, really bad.

[rxd]

I second Burgertime, which if I never play again on the 2600 is fine by me. Robotron 2084 on the 5200 is AWFUL, I dont care if you can use two sticks, who would want to with that port of it?(The 7800 version is MUCH MUCH better!)

I realise everyone is entitled to their own opinion but this is just silly. The 5200 version of Robotron is great. One of the best versions ever.

[Raccoon Lad]

Altered Beast - NES Although I never played the cart. Hell, I don't even know was this piece of crap was ever released in the US. I just played the rom on my PC. It just could not get any worse

It WASN'T released in the US. That's a Famicom ROM you're playing.

[Arcade Antics]

The worst 2600 arcade-to-home title, contrary to popular belief, is NOT Pac-Man. :) The worst 2600 arcade-to-home game is DOUBLE DRAGON. It's unplayable. Say what you want about Pac-Man, but at least you can PLAY it if you want to. Double Dragon, on the other hand, can't be played no matter how much you might want to. Utterly horrible trash with utterly horrible controls. 2600 Pac-Man is pure GOLD next to 2600 Double Dragon.

And like NE1 mentioned, Amidar on the 2600 is also much, much, MUCH worse than Pac-Man. It's closer to Sssnake than Amidar.

[RiotoftheBlood]

I'll throw up another vote for Revolution X on the SNES. I loved that game in the arcade, and I WAS a little cautious about how the home versions would turn out. But nothing could prepare me for how bad it actually turned out. It was so bad that it really turned me off to the game overall.

I've made better SNES graphics myself with Mario Paint.

[buttasuperb]

SNES MK1. And not because of the censored fatalities. That wasn't really a big deal. The game just did not play right, simple 2 hit combos did not work properly. I'm very glad they stepped it up for MK2.

[NE146]

Double Dragon, on the other hand, can't be played no matter how much you might want to. Utterly horrible trash with utterly horrible controls. 2600 Pac-Man is pure GOLD next to 2600 Double Dragon.

I hear ya bro. Although I do remember some online maps to the game though from some guys out there who have actually played and finished 2600 Double Dragon much to our shock and surprise @_@ Now THAT'S dedication LOL

[gwaine]

Pit Fighter for Lynx...ugh

[SoulBlazer]

Pit Fighter in ANY form. It was'nt that good of a arcade game to start with.

[Gamemaster_ca_2003]

The worst 2600 arcade-to-home title, contrary to popular belief, is NOT Pac-Man. :) The worst 2600 arcade-to-home game is DOUBLE DRAGON. It's unplayable. Say what you want about Pac-Man, but at least you can PLAY it if you want to. Double Dragon, on the other hand, can't be played no matter how much you might want to. Utterly horrible trash with utterly horrible controls. 2600 Pac-Man is pure GOLD next to 2600 Double Dragon.

And like NE1 mentioned, Amidar on the 2600 is also much, much, MUCH worse than Pac-Man. It's closer to Sssnake than Amidar.

Another conversion that is bad in my eyes on the 2600 is its version of commando. the NES and INTV versions are better.

[Jorpho]

I rather liked the Colecovision's arcade ports, actually. The control in Victory is much more straightforward.

Nothing looked particularly good on the Spectrum, I'd say.

[devilman]

Spectrum ports could obviously not compare graphics-wise, but most were pulled off pretty well. Out Run, however, shouldn't have even been attempted. The machine couldn't cope with the sprites from the original game.. they should've re-done them as the game was unplayable in parts (namely the tunnel section).

[bargora]

I was disappointed by Atari 2600 Front Line.

And NES Twin Eagle sucks konkey dong.

[Epicenter]

I loved the 32x port of T-Mek .. but the SNES port of Aero fighters / Sonic wings was abysmal.. the raiden one could've been a lot worse.

[cheesystick]

The SNES version os Super Street fighter II alpha was not a good translation. Although the game was not bad, it expeirenced some severe slowdown. Also, at the beginning of the fight were the announcer chimed "1-2-3-fight", there was about a 5-7 second pause, and then the fight began. Shame shame.....
-crispy

[Aswald]

The worst 2600 arcade-to-home title, contrary to popular belief, is NOT Pac-Man. :) The worst 2600 arcade-to-home game is DOUBLE DRAGON. It's unplayable. Say what you want about Pac-Man, but at least you can PLAY it if you want to. Double Dragon, on the other hand, can't be played no matter how much you might want to. Utterly horrible trash with utterly horrible controls. 2600 Pac-Man is pure GOLD next to 2600 Double Dragon.

And like NE1 mentioned, Amidar on the 2600 is also much, much, MUCH worse than Pac-Man. It's closer to Sssnake than Amidar.


True, Double Dragon was horrible, and Commando and Rampage were pretty awful, too- but Pac-Man was worse because, well, nobody really expected the 2600 to be able to handle those other games; we just knew that the 2600 Pac-Man was a terrible rush job. Ms. Pac Man proved this.

[Ed Oscuro]

@ Jorpho:

I'm surprised that as many came off as well as they did. Ghouls 'n Ghosts, Ghosts 'n Goblins, Shinobi, Shadow Dancer...not as bad as you might think. Bad Dudes vs. Dragonninja was pretty good considering how awful it easily could've been. Even Contra (er, Gryzor, there) is a good port, aside from the music that is LOL

[Arcade Antics]

True, Double Dragon was horrible, and Commando and Rampage were pretty awful, too- but Pac-Man was worse because, well, nobody really expected the 2600 to be able to handle those other games; we just knew that the 2600 Pac-Man was a terrible rush job. Ms. Pac Man proved this.

To date, three people have actually played 2600 Double Dragon. 3,500,000 people have played 2600 Pac-Man. And lots of them even enjoyed it. :)

I see where you're coming from, but whether or not anyone expected the games to be well done has nothing to do with their quality. We can all agree that 2600 Pac-Man should have been much better, but that doesn't change the fact that it's still a better game than 2600 Double Dragon. ;)

[Aswald]

As far as actual quality goes, you're probably right. Some games just never should've attempted for the 2600.

[Tripntrancr]

I noticed a mention that Galaga was a poor translation on the 7800... WHAT THE EFF?!?!?!?! Jeez, man, that was like one of THE reasons I was so hot for the 7800! That translation is almost dead on. The game is superb. (I am curious as to what you were on when playing it, but then again, I really dont want to know)

As for my vote on bad translations:

Lynx - Piss Fighter (ugh, ugh, ugh.. hmm, I need to visit a latrinne)

Other than that.. not really pissed off or upset about other translations.
Perhaps I should find more games to play! ;-)

-Wesley