What NES games were greatly improved on the PC Engine?

[Anthony1]

I know that a number of NES games were also made on the PC Engine and they usually featured better graphics and sounds.

Which NES remakes were the best on the PC Engine?

[esquire]

Shinobi
Ninja Gaiden
Image Fight
Bomberman
Xevious
Gradius
Salamander (Lifeforce on the NES)
Kyuukyoku Tiger (Tiger Heli on the NES)
Strider (Arcade CD)
1943 Kai (1943 on the NES)
New Adventure Island (Adventure Island on the NES)

There were also sequels to NES games including:

Afterburner II (Afterburner on the NES)
Terra Cresta II (Terra Cresta on the NES)
Super Star Soldier (Star Soldier on the NES)
Galaga '88/Galaga '90 (Galaga on the NES)
Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts (Supergrafx required)
Dracula X - Rondo of Blood (Castlevania series)
Double Dragon II - The Revenge (not sure if this is something new altogether).
Lode Runner: Lost Labyrinth

Of coure, there was also Bonk's Adventure/PC Genjin on both machines, but I think it came out on the PC Engine/TG16 first.

IMO, all of the above were better on the PC-Engine.

[maxlords]

Anything that was released for both is better on the PCE, no question.

[slownerveaction]

A lot of these are shared arcade ports or vastly different games with the same name.

NES Lifeforce/Salamander is significantly different from PCE Salamander. The PCE one is pretty close the arcade version, whereas the NES one (in typical Konami NES port fashion) heavily reworks the game.

Double Dragon II is a CD game that updates the NES version of DD2 (which in turn is quite different from the arcade version). I haven't had a chance to play it, but I'm a huge fan of the NES one so I'd love to get my hands on it some day.

I've heard some bad things about PCE Ninja Gaiden. It's a port of the first NES NG, but the controls are supposed to be inferior.

So I'd say in a lot of cases it's a matter of taste. In most cases, when a game was ported straight to the NES and PCE, the PCE version is the winner. But because that wasn't always the case, it's usually worth it to check out both versions!

[Dire 51]

Shinobi
Ninja Gaiden
Image Fight
Bomberman
Xevious
Gradius
Salamander (Lifeforce on the NES)
Kyuukyoku Tiger (Tiger Heli on the NES)
Strider (Arcade CD)
1943 Kai (1943 on the NES)
New Adventure Island (Adventure Island on the NES)

There were also sequels to NES games including:

Afterburner II (Afterburner on the NES)
Terra Cresta II (Terra Cresta on the NES)
Super Star Soldier (Star Soldier on the NES)
Galaga '88/Galaga '90 (Galaga on the NES)
Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts (Supergrafx required)
Dracula X - Rondo of Blood (Castlevania series)
Double Dragon II - The Revenge (not sure if this is something new altogether).
Lode Runner: Lost Labyrinth

Of coure, there was also Bonk's Adventure/PC Genjin on both machines, but I think it came out on the PC Engine/TG16 first.

IMO, all of the above were better on the PC-Engine.

Most of the games mentioned here were ports of arcade games on both the NES and PCE. Ninja Gaiden, Bomberman and Double Dragon II are about the only ones listed here that are actually NES to PCE ports. New Adventure Island is more or less a sequel to the NES games, as is Super Star Soldier and Dracula X (and I'm guessing Lode Runner as well).

The only games I believe worth mentioning as an answer to the question would be Ninja Gaiden, Bomberman and Double Dragon II. Since most of the others mentioned were arcade ports, I don't think they qualify.

Bonk did come out for the PCE before the NES, yes, and it was Ghouls 'N Ghosts (Daimakaimura) that was released for the Supergrafx, not Super Ghouls 'N Ghosts (Chohmakaimura). G'NG was also a port of the arcade game, and a damned good one at that.

[kainemaxwell]

I thought NG for the PCE was based off the arcade port, though I've never seen the PCE version of NG.

Got any comparision screenshots of some these games by chance?

[hu6800]

dragon spirit

[Dire 51]

I thought NG for the PCE was based off the arcade port, though I've never seen the PCE version of NG.

Got any comparision screenshots of some these games by chance?

The PCE game was definitely a port of the NES game, not the arcade. Check it out:

NES

http://www.classicgaming.com/ninjagaiden/images/ng1-02.gif

PC Engine

http://www.classicgaming.com/ninjagaiden/images/nturbo01.gif

and just for those of you not familiar with the original NG arcade game:

http://www.classicgaming.com/ninjagaiden/images/ngar-02.gif

Dragon Spirit was another arcade port for both systems. In fact, the NES version debuted after the PCE version.

[LazingBlazers]

RBI Baseball '91 (Pro Yakyuu World Stadium '91)

Even though it doesn't totally qualify, it's one kick-butt game... and it certainly blows away the RBI Baseball sequels on the NES.

I haven't beaten my copy of PCE Ninja Gaiden yet, I've only played the first few levels, but I don't understand the whole control issue. It plays fine to me, and I recommend checking it out if you're interested.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that the PCE version of Super Dodgeball is inferior to the NES. Even though they're not completely the same game, I like the console original version better.

[Push Upstairs]

I wonder how Salamander/Lifeforce looks on the PCE

Anyone have any pics?

[Milk]

http://img30.photobucket.com/albums/v90/milkier/salamander_pce.png

[Push Upstairs]

Thanks! It looks great.

I've been on a "Lifeforce" kick recently and i wanted to see what the other versions of it look like.